September and October Reading Challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow I forgot to post about the September reading challenge, so I'm combining the September and October posts.

September was the month of standalones. I only got two standalones read in September and I've already posted reviews for both of these books, so I'll post the books and links to the reviews here.

 

 

Sweetwater and the Witch isn't technically a standalone, it's part of a very long companion series of books that function as standalones. So, to me it counts as a standalone, especially since I don't plan on reading any of the other books. Here' s a link to my review.

 

 

Here's a link to my review of the Gabriel Hounds. 

The Reading Challenge for October was titled Owned in October. We were supposed to read as many of our physically owned books as we could. I have a lot of books on my bookshelf waiting to be read, but I chose three that I wanted to get to in October.

 

-The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

-Sanditon: Jane Austen's Last Novel Completed by Jane Austen and Another Lady (Anne Telscombe aka as Marie Dobbs)

and

-Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

 

I ended up reading those three plus an extra one. 

-Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler.

 

Here are my reviews:

  

I already posted a review for this one. See it here.

 

 

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Classic
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Content: Clean

 

Sanditon—an eleven-chapter fragment left at Jane Austen’s death completed by an Austen devotee and novelist— is a charming addition to Austen’s novels on England’s privileged classes and the deception, snobbery, and unexpected romances that occur in their world. When Charlotte Heywood accepts an invitation to visit the newly fashionable seaside resort of Sanditon, she is introduced to a full range of polite society, from reigning local dowager Lady Denham to her impoverished ward Clara, and from the handsome, feckless Sidney Parker to his amusing, if hypochondriac, sisters. A heroine whose clear-sighted common sense is often at war with romance, Charlotte cannot help observing around her both folly and passion in many guises. But can the levelheaded Charlotte herself resist the desires of the heart?

 

I was looking forward to reading another completion of Sanditon and overall, I really liked this one. This is the one that I actually thought I was reading when I read the one by Juliette Shapiro. There are things I liked about the version by Juliette Shapiro better than this one, but then there are things in this one I liked better. I think this one overall, is a better completion of the story. I like the way this one ends a lot better, and I like the way the romance comes together better. I definitely got some Pride and Prejudice vibes from this book. I did, however, like the stories for a couple of the minor characters better in the Juliette Shapiro version. 

No completion of another author's work is going to be perfect, especially not one of Jane Austen's works. There were some differences in writing style that I could tell, but I didn't find it that different. I couldn't tell exactly where the original story stopped and the new addition began. I had to look it up in both books. I ended up marking it with sticky notes in them so I would remember if I reread them. I went into this with an open mind, and basically just wanting closure for the story. I felt satisfied with both endings, but this ending is the one that made my heart skip a beat. 

 

 

“What harm could there be in returning smile for smile and in allowing the most charming man she had ever met to conquer the few remaining corners of her heart where common sense retained a last fleeting hold?”

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fairy Tale, Romance, Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

 

This book has been recommended to me by several friends, and you would think that I would have read this one a long time ago, since I like Beauty and the Beast retellings, and I've made a point to read them several times. I have no idea why, but for some reason I always overlooked this one. Anyway, I finally got around to reading this and I really enjoyed it. 

I have to say that I believe Disney got quite a few ideas from this book for their version of Beauty and the Beast. Because I've seen that version already, this one didn't feel as fresh or new, but that's just not fair to this book. It was fresh and new when it was published way back in 1978, long before the Disney version. I liked the ideas that it brought to the story. I liked the characters, and the way the Beast's story is told. I do wish we could have gotten another chapter at the end, but overall I enjoyed this book from start to finish.

 

“And since I am the only one who sees you, why are you not then beautiful?”

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Classic
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language, Racial Slurs

 

Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.

 

This is the second book in the Philip Marlowe series and I liked it, but not as much as The Big Sleep. I think I just liked the characters better in The Big Sleep, plus I have all those fond memories of watching Bogart and Bacall in the movie. For the most part I enjoy the nostalgic feeling of going back in time to the 1940s when I read these. And, as I said, it also brings back fond memories of watching the old film noir movies that were made from them.

I have to add that this book is definitely a product of its time. There's lots of smoking and drinking and attitudes about certain things were different then. There were several terms used that would never be used today, including racial slurs. In the beginning, I had forgotten I was reading a vintage book that could very likely have those things in it, and it caught me off guard. It's a hard boiled detective book written in 1940, so keep that in mind if you read it.

One thing I enjoy the most about these books are the inner thoughts of Philip Marlow. I get a good chuckle out of it most of the time. It's just so quotable. I could add so many quotes into my review, but it's better to just discover them while reading, so I've only included a few.


“He smiled his first smile of the day. He probably allowed himself four...He was doing an awful lot of smiling that day. Using up a whole week's supply.”


I remembered in the movie that Marlowe gets pretty roughed up, more than once, and it really does happen in the book. I watched the 1944 version of this Starring Dick Powell that was retitled Murder, My Sweet. There were several changes made for that movie version, but I still like it. Originally, I didn't like Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe as much as a couple of the other actors that played him, but after reading a couple of the books I think he's closer to what Raymond Chandler had in mind than the other actors.


“Time passed again. I don't know how long. I had no watch. They don't make that kind of time in watches anyway.”

 

 

 

 “It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.”