Owlowiscious Girls

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is another book I read for English Lit. in college.  The one thing I remember is that I really liked it but I could also understood why others would not like it.  I wish I remembered more and this would be a great book to revisit.  I also remember it being on the short side because I had originally read it in an anthology book, but I found a nice copy at Goodwill.  I really wish I had more to say on this book, but I am running late on this updates as it is.  I have to wash the dishes and make the kids stop watching TV some time, right? 

Here we are.  I have 3 books on this list for which I feel guilty for not liking...very much....at all.  I refrain from using the word 'hate' though because I feel I should give these three books at least ONE more chance and I have not been able to find the time or the WANT to read these these works again.  This is one of those...... Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  I read this book for college.  It was painful.  It was boring.  It was not what I expected.  My expectations were great because I had read A Tale of Two Cities and I loved that book (see what I did there?).  But I don't know what happened.  Great Expectations was so drawn out and I didn't understand Pip's love for that girl that I can't remember her name.  And the creepy bride woman?  What even WAS that?  Probably symbolism that I don't get.  I also thought I owned this book but I guess I was too traumatized to keep it.  I picked it up at Goo...

This is kind of a confession: yes, I have seen Game of Thrones .  This is a show with a lot of sex and violence- not something I usually endorse or even take part in.  But I have some influences in my life and it wasn't something I could necessarily avoid.  It is alright though.  I ended up kinda liking it- a guilty pleasure, a VERY guilty pleasure.  So after noticing the book on the list I was a little excited about actually reading it.  I thought a certain someone had all these books but I think they are being put away or borrowed.  In any case I did find the first book at the Goodwill.  Game of Camping Chairs- I mean Thrones because "Summer is Coming" Yup, we even have the wine This is a fun clip but my favorite one is My Favorite

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is a book everyone has had to have heard of because it is one of the greatest works ever written or so I have been told.  I have never read the whole thing, but we read snippets of it in various college courses so I know about the wind mills and I remember some funny stuff.  It has been a long time though.  Don Quixote was mentioned in two of the books I just finished- The Count of Monte Cristo and The Da Vinci Code .  I had no idea this book was so HUGE.  Not as big as the Count but it is over 900 pages.  I can not give much thoughts on this book because the hour I spent with it I was listening to and reading the introduction and various notes by the translator.  I don't own this book but I definitely should because of the great amount of praise this book gets and how long it might take me to read it. 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is a book I have seen people reading in my Popsugar Reading Challenge group for the prompt "a book with an animal in the title" or "a book about mental health".  It is on the short side, takes us to England, and explores a mystery with a boy who is on the autism spectrum.  This is the kind of book I like.  My first impression: puts you in someone else's shoes, gives you perspective, mysterious, easy to follow, and I think I will really like this book.  This is a library book, but it would be a nice book to have.  I thought you should know that since The Great American Read List came out I have checked off five more books of the list:  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (mostly listened to it while I was sick), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the first book I checked off the list after the list came out), The Color Purple (I had a great reading day at the park and it wasn't too long), ...

*1. A book made into a movie you've already seen:  The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown- DONE *2. True Crime: Truevine: Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy-DONE *3. The next book in a series you started: Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery-DONE * 4. A book involving a heist:  The Heist by Janet Evanovich- DONE *5. Nordic noir:  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson (January Group Read)- DONE  *6. A novel based on a real person: Gods and Kings  by Lynn Austin-DONE *7. A book set in a country that fascinates you: On the Road with Francis of Assisi: A Timeless Journey Through Umbria and Tuscany, and Beyond by Linda Bird Francke- DONE *8. A book with a time of day in the title: Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle- DONE *9. A book about a villain or antihero: How to be a Villain by Neil Zawacki- DONE 10. A book about death or grief: NOVEMBER GROUP READ *11. A book with a fe...

Here is another book I am not familiar with at all- The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah.  We are back in Brooklyn.  I was just here about 100 years in the past with Francie Nolan ( A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ) and now I am back with a girl named Winter and the year is around the early to mid 1990s.  Could these two girls be any different?  Francie is white, Winter is black.  Francie loves learning, reading, and going to school, Winter barely attends school and would rather be getting her hair and nails done than read a book.  Francis' mother works herself to the bone just to get by and Winter's mom basically does nothing but throw parties and dressed up in designer dresses.  But both these girls are from Brooklyn and have strong, complicated fathers.  Francie's father is an Irish town drunk and Winter's pop is the drug kingpin.  As I didn't know what to expect from The Coldest Winter Ever I was worried about another book that was not m...