The Turn of The Screw

 

Book Title: The Turn of the Screw

Author:  Henry James

Published By: Tom Doherty Associates

Date Published:  October 15, 1993 (First published 1898)

Genre: Classics,  Psychological Thriller

Pages:  146

Recommended Age: Young Adults

Read and Reviewed By:  Me

Rating: F/1

I got the book from the library.

Summary:

 A young woman agrees to take the position of governess over two children. The uncle of the two children tells the governess never to bring any concerns to him.  The Governess is left with the two children at a country manor with only servants as adult companions. The house seems to be plagued with ghosts.

My Thoughts:

Henry James writes a wordy psychological thriller. Well, it’s supposed to be a psychological thriller but it falls short.  James’ descriptions are wordy and tedious; it was like swimming through a muddy swamp. With no one but the governess seeing the supposed spirits of the late Governess and her lover, it makes the reader wonder if the governess is crazy, or are the children so fully possessed by the spirits that they will lie for them? 

The language used is so ambiguous that reader wonders if the late governess and her lover were mistreating the children in some way that may be sexual, but then again the reader could never really tell what  James’ was trying to install in the reader’s imagination.  This book was not a “page turner” as one would think a psychological thriller should be. The only good thing I can say is that it is a quick “death”.   For these reasons, I give The Turn of the Screw one star and a grade of an F.  Unless, you have to do a book report, I do not recommend reading The Turn of The Screw by Henry James.

Language: None

Adult Content: None

Violence: None

Little Shop Of Homicide, by Denise Swanson

 

A Devereaux"s Dime Store Mystery

Book Title: Little Shop of Homicide

Author: Denise Swanson

Published By:  Obsidian

Date Published: March 6, 2012

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 250

Recommended Age: Adult

Read and Reviewed By: Me

Rating: B/4

I got the book from the library.

Summary:

Devereaux Sinclair has left her fancy job and moved back to her small town in Missouri to buy the town’s five and dime store.  She was commissioned to make a gift basket for her ex-boyfriend by his fiancé, Joelle Ayers.  When Joelle Ayers was found murdered in her hotel room by articles from the gift basket Dev Sinclair is the prime suspect.

My Thoughts:

Denise Swanson is the author of the popular Scumble River Mysteries, and now she has given her readers a new series. Swanson has done a wonderful job creating another world for her readers to fall into.  I like how Swanson interweaved Dev’s past into the story line so the reader would know why the Detective was keen on thinking Dev was the only suspect he should look at. 

I also liked the sarcastic humor the characters have and how Swanson paints the scenes.  It makes the reader feel as if she is right there in the town, at the Five and Dime store or the parish playing Bingo.  I just didn’t like the weird names the characters had. They were kind of out there.  Then there was the U.S Marshal coming to Dev’s rescue with all the sexual tension seemed to be straight out of a romance novel.  Taking all that into account, I gave Little Shop of Homicide four stars and a grade of B.  If you have read the Scumble River Mysteries and liked them, I recommend Little Shop of Homicide.  If you haven’t read the Scumble River Mysteries but do like mysteries, I recommend you read the Scumble River Mysteries and Little Shop of Homicide.

Parents:

Language: Some

Adult Content: Sexual tension, Adult Subject Matter, Heavy topics

Violence: some violent descriptions

Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

Book Title: Sense and Sensibility

Author:  Jane Austen

Published By:  Public Domain Books

Date Published: October 4, 2009 (first published 1811)

Genre: Classics, Historical Romance

Pages: 336

Recommended Age: Young Adult, Adult

Read and Reviewed By: Me

Rating: C/3

I received this book free from Amazon.

Summary:

A tale about two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who learn that love does not come easily. After their father died, their half brother and greedy sister-law refuse to share and of their father’s money and have the move into a small cottage in another county, where Marianne meets and falls in love with the womanizer Willoughby. Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrar, who is a man who is long-time engaged to another, although secretly.

My Thoughts:

Sense and Sensibility has many colorful characters, as my favorite was the comical Mrs. Jennings.   The characters were all well written.  I truly wanted slap the girls’ sister-in-law when it was made clear to the reader that she thought she should keep Marianne’s piano because she felt she was more worthy of it. 

I gave Sense and Sensibility only three stars and a grade of C, because although I liked it somewhat, I found it long and boring. Jane Austen would take extremely long sentences to describe something or some sort of action that by the time I reached the end of the sentence I have become confused as to what Austen was referring to.  I also found it quite annoying to read about Marianne chasing a man by letters and begging him to talk to her in front a crowd. I felt pity for the girl.  Austen has written better books and this was not one of them. I spent the time wondering when the book would end. If you are on a quest to read all Jane Austen’s books then I recommend reading Sense and Sensibility.  If it is not a goal that matters to you, then I suggest passing the book up.

Parents:

Language: None

Adult Content: None

Violence: None

The Killing's at Badger's Drift, by Caroline Graham

 

 Book Title: The Killing’s at Badger’s Drift

Author:  Caroline Graham

Published By: Adler & Adler Publishers

Date Published:  January 1, 1988

Genre: Mystery, British Literature

Pages: 264

Recommended Age: Adult

Read and Reviewed By:  Me

Rating: A/5

I borrowed this book from the library.

Summary:

Miss Emily Simpson is an 81 year old spinster whom everyone likes in the small English village of Badger’s Drift, so why did someone kill her?  That is what Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby intends to find out, and in the process he finds out everyone’s sordid affairs.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book.  I have been watching the series Midsomer Murders, portraying Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and his bumbling immature and very handsome Sergeant Gavin Troy on A&E for many years now, and one of my favorite episodes is The Killings at Badger’s Drift.  I knew the series were based on the mystery novels by Caroline Graham and recently decided to read her novels.  They did a great job with the television series. If they had not, I probably would never have decided to pick up the books.  

 The Killings at Badger’s Drift is the first novel in the Chief Inspector Barnaby Mysteries.  I am glad I decided to read Graham’s book series.  Graham was able to embody that small-town English village ambiance made popular by Agatha Christie while throwing in modern touches; for example, more violence and sexual deviances.

Graham is very descriptive in her details about the village and the people living in it.  The way she described some of the village people made this one reader laugh. I also love how Graham allows the reader to know what Sergeant Gavin Troy is thinking, although he is not the one solving the crimes, but is just assisting Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby.   Knowing what goes on in Troy’s mind with his truly immature thoughts makes the reader laugh, while Barnaby keeps the reader serious and focused on the task at hand.   

There was one occasion when Troy was checking out his reflection in the car’s mirror and fixing his hair. His thoughts at that moment let the reader know that he knew he was cute, and the way Graham described his reddish curls made this reader what to reach inside the book and touch his curls just to see if they were really soft.

Graham, writing Chief Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy as complete opposites made the whole partnership believable and interesting. Furthermore, allowing the reader to have the back story on some of the village people and their secret resentments of each other helped make the village people seem more real and three dimensional to the reader. Therefore, I had no choice but to give The Killings at Badger’s Drift five stars and a grade of an A. I believe it to be an excellent read.  If you like mysteries, especially ones set in English villages, I recommend The Killings at Badger’s Drift and the rest of the Chief Inspector Barnaby Mysteries by Caroline Graham.  Read them and you will be transported in different scenic English villages, and you may even develop a soft spot for Sergeant Gavin Troy.

Parents:

Language: Some strong language

Adult Content: Sex scenes, Alcohol use, Adult Subject Matter, Heavy topics

Violence: Murder

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

 

Book Title: Great Expectations

Author: Charles Dickens

Published By: Signet Classics

Date Published: February 3, 2009 (first published 1861)

Genre: Classics, Mystery, Fiction

Pages: 528

Recommended Age: Young Adults, Adults

Read and Reviewed By: Me

Rating: A/5

I borrowed this book from the library.

Summary:

Pip is an orphan living with his sister and her kind husband. Pip is hired by Miss. Havisham as a companion for her and her adopted daughter, Estella. During his time with Miss Havisham creates a desire in Pip to rise above his station in life and to become a Gentleman.  Pip gets his wish fulfilled when a mysterious benefactor provides him with "great expectations" and the means to be schooled as a gentleman.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed the book very much.  It was well written and the characters were well developed.  Pip was a cute adorable child being raised “by hand” by his mean and abusive sister, who was only known as Mrs. Joe Gargery.  It really irked me the way Mrs. Joe Gargery would be verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive to her little brother and her husband.  She would even beat them with a device she called The Tickler.  What kind of name is “The Tickler” for something used to bring pain to someone?  I can only imagine that she got pleasure from dishing out the abuse.  I know she enjoyed causing that fight between her husband and their employee.

Pip disappointed me deeply as he settled into the life as a gentleman. He enjoyed the life of leisure and luxury so much that he spent his money foolishly, as if there was no end to it. Pip also turned into a snob and threw away everything he once loved and valued to pursue his own selfish wants.  As my mother would say, he “forgot where he came from.” When Pip discovers the identity of his benefactor he is highly disappointed and filled with shame.  All he can think about is what Society would think instead of being grateful.  I grew to be ashamed of Pip.

As for Mrs. Havisham, I felt sorry for her. I kept thinking if she lived during this time she wouldn’t let one man ruin her life and drive her inside.  She would think her the best revenge would be to live her life to fullest and let the man see what a good thing he gave up.  Instead she let her run away groom send her down into madness and train her adopted daughter to not to love.  She realizes to late the damage she has caused her beloved daughter and the hell she has sentenced her to. It is truly sad.

I also noticed how Charles Dickens used shades of the color Yellow a lot throughout the book, and not in a flattery sense.  For example, when he first introduced the color it was to describe Miss. Havisham’s wedding gown. He described it as  white-yellow. Dickens did that to show the reader how old the gown was and that it was losing its whiteness.  I made the reader actually see how sad Miss Havisham and her environment were.  The color Yellow came to represent something old and ugly.

I enjoyed Great Expectations so much I gave it 5 stars and a grade of an A.  Charles Dickens did a fantastic job weaving a tale of mystery and morale values.  If you enjoy reading the Classics or clean, wholesome stories about morality and human weaknesses, I recommend Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.

Parents:

Language: None

Adult Content: None

Violence: None

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

 

Book Title: Wuthering Heights

Author: Emily Bronte

Published By:  Signet Classics

Date Published: March 1, 2011

Genre:  Classics, British Literature, Gothic, Romance

Pages: 322

Recommended Age: Young Adults, Adults

Read & Reviewed By:  Me

Rating: B/4

I borrowed this book from the library.

Summary:

Heathcliff, an abused orphan falls in love with Lady Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of his benefactor. She loves him just the same, but because he is not a rich educated gentleman she marries her neighbor Mr. Linton. Heathcliff vows to avenge his broken heart at all means possible. He makes sure all her family suffers the misery he feels that is equal to his pain.

My Thoughts:

I quite enjoyed this tale about unrequited love. Emily Bronte did a fantastic job of holding the reader’s interest, and she had the right amount of characters that there was never any confusion about who was who.  Bronte had written her characters well enough that the reader actually dislikes and pities Heathcliff at the same time and feels nothing but disgust for the selfish and cruel Catherine Earnshaw. The reader also feels completely and utterly sorry for each of their children because they ended up being pawns in Heathcliff’s diabolical plan.

I gave Wuthering Heights four stars and a grade of B, because it held my attention within the first three chapters, and I was as eager to hear Mrs. Dean’s tale of Heathcliff and Catherine as much as Mr. Lockwood did. Bronte is a great story teller, and sadly, this is the only book she had written before she passed away. The world has missed out on many terrific tales woven by Bronte.  If you enjoy the Classics, I recommend Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.

Parents:

Language: Just the word “hell” occasionally.

Adult Content: Mr. Hindley Earnshaw is a drunkard.

Violence: Heathcliff is a violent man.  He is mean to animals and strikes Catherine Earnshaw’s daughter, Cathy.

A Little Note

I've decided that my summer's reading list will consist of the Classics, since I have read very few of them and the ones I have read were long ago in high school. I will be reading a variety of the classic authors, but I have always favored Charles Dickens so I will be reading a lot of Charles Dickens' works starting with my favorite of his, Great Expectations. I hope that I will be able to have my concentration in Charles Dickens when I enter the grad program at CSU for English.