#5

When I was a little girl (from about ages 0-16), my sister Elsie would read to me for hours on end. The most memorable books I remember were Uncle Tom's Cabin and one about a boy who suffered through major abuse from his father; both when I was between 12-14. I know there were many others but those stood out. Looking back, I don't know how she did it. I dread reading out loud; I'm terrible at it and despite having plenty of little bookworms in my family, manage to avoid it for the most part. But here she was, reading books to me until I was WAY past having learned to read. The books we read were varied but usually a little more serious than I might have chosen. However, they pushed me to read beyond my level, to sit still (probably the only time I did sit still in those days), and helped form the love of books I still have today. For many years, I would lament the fact that I would probably never get that again.

Scroll forward a few years and here I sit, gazing lovingly at my husband reading to me from book 8 of a very long series of very long books. It's still a little bit unbelievable to me that I've found a man who will read to me for hours on end while I drive (or play tetris). Take that traditional gender roles!

Pillars of Creation, book 7 of the Sword of Truth series, was quite good. Not as good as the previous one in the series, Faith of the Fallen, but much much better than some of the other duds before it. My respect for Terry Goodkind's writing didn't go up though. There was too much repetition, reminding the reader about something he'd mentioned two paragraphs before in the exact same words. There is only some many times you can be reminded that "her red hair frightened people" before it becomes mockable. But there were some new characters introduced that I am interested in seeing how they will develop and Richard finally has found a non-murderous, non-psychotic family member that he doesn't have to end up killing. How refreshing!

#4

I'm not a big fan of long series' of books. Rather, I tend to go on an author trail where once I read one book that's on the good-to-fantastic scale, I will try quite a few of the authors books until I get distracted or run out. With Terry Pratchett, the latter is almost impossible to do as there seems to be a never-ending stream of Discworld adventures that, more or less, stand alone (although for Discworld novices, I highly recommend the Color of Magic as a starting point).
    I'm a solid Pratchett fan. Captain Vimes is my hero, I want to visit Death in his ever-so-cool-and-completely-useless home, Granny Weathersmith cracks me up, the Wizard university has more than one character that reminds me of my academic days and I'd rather go to The Mended Drum for a drink than any swanky cocktail bar I've ever seen. Having said that, I was not that enthralled with Soul Music. Chock full of cliches that weren't amusing and full of very forgettable characters. The only character that I enjoyed was Susan, the frumpy, no-nonsense, unlikely-named granddaughter of Death who temporarily takes over his role while he has an existential crisis. To my happiness, the next book I started featured her as well.

Harbour Centre. Good view for reading! 

#1, #2, #3

      Another spectacular failure. I managed to get in about 3 blog posts before coming to a screeching halt. The good news is, I did just about manage my book-a-week goal so I will probably renew it and try to blog accordingly . My goal is to read 50 books this year that I at least mention here. Ultimately, writing about the books is just my way of being accountable to A. Read instead of watch tv, B. Read good books that I'm not ashamed of posting here and C. Try to think critically about books and formulate opinions. If someone reading feels inspired to take on one of these, so much the better.

      My first book of 2015 I started reading at a New Year's Eve party. 

      Yup! I read at a party. Anyone who knew me as a kid or teenager won't be surprised but for the most part this was a guilty pleasure I've weaned myself off of ( see previous post about how I'm not an introvert). However in a moment of weakness I flipped it open and I couldn't put it down. I surfaced long enough for a midnight kiss, champagne and a ride home. I finished it before the end of January 1.

      I love reading a book that takes off with you.Divergent was a very easy adventure  read but with a nice flavouring of thought and ideas. Geared to the young adult reader, it nonetheless deals with difficult topics of identity, belonging (as so many YA books do), values and virtues, and politics in a dystopia society that runs based on factions. The factions are based on the personality strengths and weaknesses and dictate every aspect of life, from education, focus, career, friends and more. Although it is very easy to identify with at least one of the factions, ultimately the idea is that we all have multiple strengths and weaknesses and shouldn't be defined or valued based on one or two of them. I didn't enjoy the second and third books as much but of course, finished them off promptly!

Each faction has its own manifesto. The Abnegation faction eerily reminded me of some of the more conservative Mennonites and maybe that's why their manifesto (albeit not their personalities or focus) resonated with me.

"I will be my undoing If I become my obsession.

I will forget the ones I love If I do not serve them.

I will war with others If I refuse to see them.

Therefore I choose to turn away from my reflection,

To rely not on myself

But on my brothers and sisters,

To project always outward

Until I disappear.

And only God remains"

Good way to start 2015!