Mount TBR Reading Challenge
Almost a year ago I signed up to the 2015 Mount TBR Reading Challenge (hosted by My Reader's Block) and committed to read 12 books owned prior to 1 January 2014.
I successfully completed the challenge and here's what I read (in order):
1. Wild Wood | Posie Graeme-Evans
2. Ajax Penumbra 1969 | Robin Sloan
3. The Shining | Stephen King
4. The Room Beyond | Stephanie Elmas
5. Naomi's Room | Jonathan Aycliffe
6. The Museum of Literary Souls | John Connolly
7. The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde
8. Looking for Alibrandi | Melina Marchetta
9. The Pearl | John Steinbeck
10. Stoner | John Williams
11. Signora da Vinci | Robin Maxwell
12. Frankenstein: Prodigal Son | Dean Koontz
It's always rewarding to read a book you've been looking forward to for ages, and of these, I've wanted to read Signora da Vinci by Robin Maxwell for 4 years!
Carpe Librum!
If you've been following my reviews here for a while, you'll know I'm a big fan of Dean Koontz. I've read 27 books by Koontz, reviewed 18 of them and Frankenstein - Prodigal Son is the 28th.
The first in a series, Frankenstein is a mash-up of genres, including crime, science fiction and supernatural elements and while the character of Deucalion intrigued me, the story fell kind of flat.
Having said that, here's a great quote from page 41:
"Anger, like a long-repressed hunger, rose in Deucalion. Once anger had been his meat, and feasting on it, he had starved."
Prodigal Son is the first in the Frankenstein series, which contained five books at last count, but unfortunately I don't think I'll be reading any further.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
Robin Maxwell is one of my favourite historical fiction authors and she's written about some famous and influential female figures from history, including: Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I.
Signora da Vinci is told from the perspective of Leonardo da Vinci's mother, Caterina. We begin in 1452, when Caterina gives birth out of wedlock to Leonardo. Her heart is broken when her lover's family refuse to accept the match and rip Leonardo from her arms to raise in their - more noble - family.
Caterina is an apothecary after her father, who is a well-travelled, well-read and respected man in their little town of Vinci in Italy. When her son becomes a man, he moves to Florence and Caterina wishes to see him. Not being able to travel alone (as a woman) and fearing recognition from Leonardo's father, she disguises herself as a man and changes her name to Cato.
Her disguise works and the novel really takes off from here. Lorenzo de' Medici becomes Leonardo's patron and Cato one of his closest friends.
Signora da Vinci is filled with art (the great Botticelli is also a character), religion (including the making of the Shroud of Turin by Leonardo) alchemy and the pursuit of knowledge, however forbidden it might be.
Cato is invited to join The Platonic Academy and I thoroughly enjoyed his deception and the insights Caterina was able to get from carrying herself as a man. I also have a new appreciation for the portrait of the Mona Lisa, but no spoilers here.
Not much is really known about Leonardo's mother Caterina, and so when reading Signora da Vinci you will enjoy it more if you suspend your disbelief and just dive in. It's fair to say that a number of liberties have been taken with dates and events, but the period has been well researched and this is a fun 'what if' read.
My Rating = ****
Carpe Librum!
Copy courtesy of Penguin Random House*
Stoner by John Williams is possibly my favourite book of 2015. It's the story of William Stoner, who is born into a poor farming family with little means. Touchingly, his father suggests that he attend University to study agriculture in the lead up to taking over the family farm.
Whilst at University, Stoner unexpectedly falls in love with literature and decides to put his agricultural studies - and the family farm - aside to become an academic. His relationship with his uneducated parents suffers as a result of this choice and his once close bond with them begins to fade.
We follow Stoner as he commences what will be a quiet and underwhelming career as a university academic, although his rivalry with a colleague gives way to some of the funnier parts of the novel.
His marriage is a failure and his relationship with his daughter is painful, and throughout the novel I longed for Stoner to shout or put his foot down and make a stand to improve his home life.
This is a deeply honest portrait of an average man, living an average and sometimes depressing life, but it's told with such care and beauty that I really was swept away.
I finished reading Stoner a few weeks ago and the final paragraph still makes my chest ache with sadness (similar to the ending of Cloudstreet, the one difference being I didn't cry this time, but it was close).
My rating = *****
Carpe Librum!
* I received this novel from Random House last year, as part of their National Book Bloggers Forum (NBBF14) and if it wasn't for this, I don't know if I'd ever have discovered Stoner on my own.
The Pearl is the first book I've read by John Steinbeck, better known for Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.
I thought I'd start with something easy, and a parable of just under 100 pages seemed like a good place to start. I should also admit to being influenced by this stunning clothbound classic; I'm in love with these lately.
Kino is a hardworking pearl diver living a simple life, until he finds the pearl of a lifetime. Happy and content with his life before the pearl, he suddenly desires more than he has and is surrounded by greed and envy.
Kino's experience from the moment he discovers the pearl to the bitter end, is an example of how greed and evil can cloud your decisions, and the consequences when we fall victim to these desires.
I read that Steinbeck was inspired to write The Pearl based on a Mexican folktale, and it doesn't surprise me.
Readers who enjoyed The Alchemist will love the simple life lessons contained in The Pearl. I also think this parable is suitable for younger readers, from middle school right through to high school age.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
* Copy courtesy of Penguin Random House*
I received this gorgeous hardcover edition of Looking For Alibrandi from Random House last year, as part of their National Book Bloggers Forum (NBBF14) and finally got around to reading it last month.
For those who don't know, Looking For Alibrandi was written by Australian author Melina Marchetta and published in the early 1990s.
Based in Sydney, it's essentially a YA coming of age novel focussing on teenager Josephine (Josie) Alibrandi as she attends a Catholic school on scholarship, falls in love, argues with her mother and grandmother, meets her father and decides her future.
Considered a modern Australian classic, I enjoyed Josie's sense of humour and Marchetta's ability to capture the character of an Italian nonna so very well.
I'd recommend Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta for YA readers of either gender.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
The Museum of Literary Souls is an enjoyable novella with an enticing premise: when a book becomes very popular and is read by thousands, this can bring the main characters to life.
Mr. Berger prefers the company of books, and after an uneventful career as a Closed Accounts Registrar, and never marrying, he retires to the English countryside with his books.
However, Mr. Berger sees a person he thinks looks like a famous character from a book, and following her leads him to the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository.
I loved the character of Mr. Berger, and the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository is every booklover's dream! With that aside, I just wished The Museum of Literary Souls was longer.
I'm confident there's enough content in this story for author John Connolly to make it a novel, and I'm sure many readers would love to join Mr. Berger and explore the Book Depository further.
Great read, great price (less than $2 for the ebook), and brilliant concept, but only three stars because I was disappointed by the brevity.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
As a lover of literature, it's hard not to notice the many great quotes from Oscar Wilde. Here's a few to refresh your memory:
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
“The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.”
“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”
Despite my admiration of his intellect, I've never actually read any of Oscar Wilde's work, and thought it best to remedy that this year. So it was that I picked up the beautifully designed Penguin edition of The Picture Of Dorian Gray, the only novel ever written by Oscar Wilde.
I'll admit I was a little apprehensive in the beginning, (what if Wilde is too high-brow for me?) but that was soon put to rest as early as Page 3 when Lord Henry says:
"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are!"
I knew then I was safe in expert hands, and continued willingly discovering this once offensive text. We all know the premise (so I won't waste time recounting it) but what I was surprised to learn was that the sins Dorian Gray gets up to are never really expanded upon. His cruel treatment of lovers is there for all to see, but his sexual exploits are only ever alluded to, never described in full. What a pity.
There are countless homoerotic scenes - particularly between Lord Henry and Dorian Gray - but there is never any evidence to suggest they were ever together or even whether they loved each other. Lord Henry clearly loves Dorian for his youth and beauty, and in my opinion Dorian admires Lord Henry's ideals and freedoms, but that's as much as we ever really know for sure about them.
I was looking forward to reading a gothic horror story of sorts, taking me through the slow degradation of Dorian's soul - reflected in the portrait - however The Picture of Dorian Gray often read like an essay; the character of Lord Henry a mouthpiece for Wilde's own thoughts on society, religion, youth and beauty.
In summary, I enjoyed the writing immensely, the plot less so and I'm left to wonder what Oscar Wilde would write about if he had the freedom to write for us today. He was shocking in his time, would he shock us still now? I think he would.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe is the best 'ghost story' I've read in a long time.
Four year old Naomi goes missing from a toy store on Christmas Eve when shopping with her father and is later found murdered.
A photographer watching the house during the case captures Naomi's image on his camera and Naomi's father is disturbed by strange sounds in the house. Investigating the history of the family home, he also discovers some horrific secrets.
Naomi's Room is a classic ghost story, however I was thrilled when it took an unexpected turn. I believe this change took courage from the author but I want to be clear that it's not a twist (e.g. the narrator is not a ghost or anything).
The plot was so refreshing that it took this novel from a solid three stars to an easy four stars for me. I highly recommend Naomi's Room for those who enjoy a quick and easy ghost story with a touch of horror.
My rating = ****
Carpe Librum!
