Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

Author: Charles Dickens

Published By: Signet Classics

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

Genre: Classics

Pages: 528

Recommended Age: Young Adults, Adults

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

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

The Other Wes Moore

Author: Wes Moore

Published By: Spiegel & Grau

Date Published: April 27, 2010

Genre: Autobiography/Biography, non-fiction

Pages: 233

Recommended Age: Young Adults, Adults

Reviewed By: Me

Rating: C/3

I borrowed this book from the library.

Summary:

Two boys with the same name are born within blocks of each other.  One grew up to be an honored veteran that works in the White House, while the other is serving a life sentence for murder.

My Thoughts:

I liked the way Wes Moore told his story and the story of the other Wes Moore. The way Moore told the stories made the book flow nicely.

 I personally think the other Wes’s mother should be a shamed of herself by being more concern with how young she still looked and about going to the clubs to pick up a new boyfriend than being with her two boys. It made me dislike her right from the start. I believed that played a lot in the direction her sons took. 

They had no true guidance or decent role models, but at the same Wes should be hold accountable for his own actions. He knew right from wrong and yet he still chose the immoral path. His brother Tony disgusts me with his lack of remorse, which makes me wonder if he even has a conscience.

I liked Moore’s mother because she was so determined that he get on the right tracked that she begged for donations to send him to a good military school when she saw the path he was heading down. She risked her pride to save her son. That’s love.

I gave this book three stars and a grade of C because I liked this book, but it did nothing for me. It did not move me emotionally in any way.  I did like that in the epilogue Mr. Moore told us what had become of the key players in both of the boys’ lives. It tied up many close ends.

Parents:

Language: Some swear words

Adult Content: lots of drug use and selling of drugs, Adult Subject Matter, Heavy topics

Violence: gang violence, shoot outs.

The Hancock Boys by Thomas William Simpson

The Hancock Boys

Author: Thomas William Simpson

Published By: Bantam

Date Published:  February 29, 2000

Genre: Suspense

Pages:  528

Recommended Age: Mature adult

Reviewed By: Me

Rating: A/5

I borrowed this book from the library

Summary:

Two twin brothers at a young age decide to share one life.  They share the same career, wife, and family until one starts to lose his sanity.

My Thoughts:

I really, really loved this novel.  Simpson came up with a tale that keeps the reader riveted.  I could not put this book down, and when I was finished reading it I just sat in stunned shock.  At first, I didn’t like their wife because I couldn’t believe how stupid she was that she didn’t know one twin would come in and pretend to be her husband for periods at a time, but everything comes together in the end, leaving the reader amazed.

I gave this book five stars and a grade of an A+.  This book was just off the charts and liked it so much that I wrote the editor and publishers of the book telling them how much I liked it and thought it would make a good move.  I loved it that much.  I have never written editors or publishers of books before, but I felt compelled to do so on this one.  It was that good.

Parents:

Language:  swear words

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

Violence: violent murder and suicides

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones

Author: Alice Sebold

Published By:  Little, Brown & Company

Date Published: August 29, 2006

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 384

Recommended Age: Adults

Reviewed By: Me

Rating: D/2

This book is from my own collection.

Summary:

It’s a sad story about a murdered young girl who from Heaven watches her family deal with her death and how her murder gets away.

My Thoughts:

I didn’t care for this book. This book was very boring. If I was grading it on it’s boring-ness it would get an A, but I am not.  It’s surprising this was on the best seller list at all.  I feel I should be compensated for the time I lost reading this book instead of reading another more interesting one.

I did like the father of the dead girl.  He never wavered in trying to find out the truth and wanting justice for his daughter’s death.  I can’t say the same for the mother.  She just wanted to forget it about and try to start a relationship with the handsome police office.

This book is mostly likely a fantasy, because we do not know what Heaven is like.  Everyone has a different perception of what the After-life will hold.  I gave this book 2 stars and grade of D because it started out well, but after the first 2 chapters it plummeted.   If you like the book What Dreams May Come, then I would recommend this book, other than that, I would say stay clear of it.

Parents:

Language: none

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

Violence: Violent Rape and murder scene

In the Garden of Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson

In the Garden of Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin

Author: Erik Larson

Published By: Crown Publishing Group

Date Published:  January 1, 2011

Genre: Contemporary Non:Fiction

Pages: 365, Kindle edition

Recommended Age: mature adults

Reviewed By: Me

Rating: C/3

I received this book from Amazon.  It was one of Amazon’s free Kindle books they were giving away on a particular day.

Summary:

When none of the regular government politicians will take the post as the American Ambassador in Germany during the time of Hitler’s reign in 1933, William E. Dodd, a mild-mannered history professor from Chicago is given the post.  Professor Dodd brings along his wife, son, and audacious daughter, Martha.  Through Ambassador Dodd’s letters and journals and through Martha’s journals Erik Lawson tells the reader what Berlin was like during 1933 and 1934.

My Thoughts:

In the Garden of Beasts was okay.  I liked being able to “see” what Germany was like through an American’s eyes.  It shows that Hitler and his army treated anyone horrible that didn’t fit his view of the perfect German or follower.  Even Americans staying in Germany for one reason or another was treated badly.  It’s sad that a lot of people, mostly the Germans saw nothing wrong with how the Jews were treated; for example the one man telling Martha why a woman was being dragged through the street.  It was because she was planning to marry a Jew. He was blasé about it; the man said it as if she deserved the treatment and was even disgusted that the woman would marry a Jew. It disgusts me that there were people like that.  They actually believed that Jews were evil and were the cause of all their problems just because one man said so. It makes me wonder if these people were already subconsciously racists and were relieved to show their hatred for another race and culture that was different from theirs?  Or were they easily manipulated and brain washed and not able to think for themselves?

I really didn’t care for Martha Dodd at all. She had to be an embarrassment for her father.  I found her to be a self-indulgent slut who disrespected her parents’ home by bringing all those men in the house and having sex with them up in the family library. I also did not like that she had turned a blind eye to what was truly going on in Germany, even when reports were coming in about Americans being attacked.  She always took the Nazis side, saying things like, “well, they must have done something” and she was also known to say she approved of what Hitler was doing.  She believed Hitler was making Germany a better place. It was only when the injustice started hitting too close to home and affecting her friends did she open her eyes.  I found her to be a very selfish, “it’s about me me me me” kind of woman.

I gave In the Garden of Beasts three stars and a grade of C because I really didn’t like it all that much. I didn’t like that the last 25 percent of the book was reference pages; it made the book seemed quite short in my opinion. Yes, I know that references must be included in any non-fiction work, but Erik Larson could have made the book longer somehow.  It might have helped if it was more detailed orientated and more descriptive. In the Garden of Beasts seemed to just list the basic facts, pulled from journals and letters. It was quick and to the point. 

It also seemed to talk more about how other people in America’s government was against Ambassador Dodd from the beginning, because he wasn’t rich and didn’t live flamboyantly like they thought an Ambassador should live. It seemed that the other government officials were constantly trying to put Ambassador Dodd in a bad light and embarrass him. They cared less about what Hitler was doing to fellow human beings.  All they wanted was to be on good “party” terms with the German government and retrieve back the money Germany owed America.  It also made the American President a push over, who listen to the men around him and did not follow his gut.  I was quite disappointed in the President, as I was in this book.  If you “see” what Germany was like through an American’s eyes, I recommend In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson.

Parents:

Language: some

Adult Content: some sex, heavy topics about the treatment of Jews and Americans in Germany

Violence: Some violence against Jews and Americans

Updates

I've been away for awhile, but I'm back.  I am making some changes to my blog to make it even better. I will still post reviews of the books me and others read, but now I have added genre pages for your convenience. Now, you can find listings and reviews from Amish Romances to Merrytime (Holiday) reading. I posted a new book review earlier, and I will have more in the days to come.  Happy reading!!!!

A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolf

A Vintage Affair

Author: Isabel Wolf

Published By: Bantam Books

Date Published: June 29, 2010

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 346

Recommended Age: Adults

Reviewed By: Me

Rating: B/4

I borrowed it from the library

Summary:

Phoebe Swift owns a boutique dealing with vintage clothing called Village Vintage.  She is also dealing with the loss of her best friend and her guilt over the part she played in her friend’s death.  While at an elderly Frenchwoman, Thérèse Bell’s apartment looking through old clothes she may buy she comes across a child’s sky-blue coat, an item which Bell is stubbornly reluctant to part with.  As she becomes friends with the dying Thérèse, Thérèse tells her the story of why she will never part with the coat. Hearing the tale, Phoebe discovers a connection between herself and Thérèse, one that will heal her own pain and help her to love once again.

My Thoughts:

I am surprised that I actually like this book. When my book club voted on what book to read this month, I had voted against this book and was disappointed it got majority of the votes.  It didn’t seem like a book I would choose to read on my own…a book about clothes, really? 

It is well written and easy to read. Yes, it talks a lot about clothes. It talks about the designer, the year the clothing was made and the costs, but it also tells the history of who last wore the dress, pants, or even the accessories like a purse. It seems that some of the clothing gave the women courage to do things they felt they couldn’t do on their own, like blow the whistle on their bosses, or break up with an overbearing and bossy boyfriend.  Some of the stories are quite touching such as the story of the Jewish girl during WWII, which has a big part in making the book more interesting for me as I am fascinated by stories of WWII and the plight of the Jewish people during the war. A Vintage Affair is emotionally tugging and I found myself crying towards the end of the book.

I gave A Vintage Affair four stars and a grade of B because I enjoyed the book and found myself actually wanting to finish it, and not dragging my feet, kicking and screaming through it because I had to have it read for my book club. If you like contemporary fiction, I recommend A Vintage Affair by the internationally bestselling author, Isabel Wolff.

Parents:

Language: none

Adult Content: Talks about concentration camps from WWII and other forms of death, some sex

Violence: none