2021 Reading Goals

I am planning on doing the Back to the Classics reading challenge for the 4th year in a row! For those not familiar with the challenge: There are 12 categories (which are meant to be filled with 12 different books). In order to qualify as a classic, the book has to have been published (or written) 50+ years ago, so 1971 or older. There are several other minor rules (like having to read all the books in 2021), which you can read at the link above. If you are interested in joining the challenge, the deadline to sign up is March 31st. I'd love for others to join me in doing this!

As with previous years, I'm going to add extra challenges on top of it all! I usually make sure to read at least 1 play (which happens to be one of the classic categories this year) and 1 Christmas story. I also am working on 3 author challenges and clearing out my TBR shelf. Here is what I plan to read:

     -finish reading all of the completed Bronte books (2 books left) - COMPLETE!

     -finish what's published of the Circle Universe by Tamora Pierce (7 books left)

     -read the Arrows Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey (3 books)

          -hopefully, I'll get to read other Valdemar books by Lackey (31 books left after Arrows)

     -read as many books on my TBR shelf as possible (goal: 8 books)

Update 1/6/21: I have always added my own challenges on top of Back to the Classics, but I've never actually joined another blog challenge. This year that's going to change! I have avoided several of the books on my TBR shelf due to their length, so I'm going to join the Chunkster Reading Challenge 2021. The books (whether individual novels, collections of short stories, or a series) must be 450+ pages long to apply to this challenge.

Update 3/8/21: I've also just started a virtual book club with some of my friends called The Book Hoarders. We have a category for each month, starting in March, and 2 book suggestions for each category. If someone doesn't like the choices, then they can choose a different book that fits the category.

Below are my reading lists for 2021. 

I will link my reviews to the book titles below throughout the year.

Back to the Classics Challenge:

1. 19th-century classic (published 1800-1899)

-The George MacDonald Treasury (1858-1895) - TBR 1

    -Phantastes   

    -The Light Princess

    -The Giant's Heart

    -The Golden Key

    -At the Back of the North Wind

    -The Princess and the Goblin

    -The Princess and Curdie

    -Lilith

by George MacDonald (Scottish, 1824-1905)

2. 20th-century classic (published 1900-1971) 

-The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) - TBR 2

by GK Chesterton (English, 1874-1936)

3. Classic by a woman author

-Shirley (1848) - Bronte 1

by Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)

4. Classic in translation

-Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights (1967)

by Ryu Mitsuse (Japanese, 1928-1999) - originally written in Japanese

5. Classic by BIPOC author

-The Brave African Huntress (1958)

by Amos Tutuola (Nigerian, 1920-1997)

6. Classic by a new-to-you author

-Fahrenheit 451 (1953) - TBR 3

by Ray Bradbury (American, 1920-2012)

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author

-The Professor (written 1846 - published posthumously 1857) - Bronte 2

by Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)

8. Classic about an animal (or with an animal in the title)

-The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956) - reread for TBR

    -The Magician's Nephew

    -The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

    -The Horse and His Boy

    -Prince Caspian

    -The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

    -The Silver Chair

    -The Last Battle

by CS Lewis (British, 1898-1963)

Note: I would like to reread all 7 books before reading the commentary I have on the series. The commentary has been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while. I plan to read in chronological order instead of publication order.

9. Children's classic

-Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old - 20 Christmas short stories

(2002; 17 stories first written/published 1841-1966)

by 20 different authors

Note: I searched each short story to find when they were originally written/published: 12 stories 1895-1966, 1 story 1995, and 1 story 1996. Six of the stories I couldn't find a publishing date, so I went off of the author's birth year (plus 10) and year of death: 5 stories 1841-1953 and 1 story 1922-1983. Even after you take the 3 stories from (possibly) after 1971, the book is still about 300 pages, so I will count this category complete, even though the entire book does not fit within the 'classic' time frame.

10. Humorous or satirical classic

-Associated Shades (1895-1901) - quartet omnibus

by John Kendrick Bangs (American, 1862-1922)

or

-The Carpet People (1971)

by Terry Pratchett (English, 1948-2015)

11. Travel or adventure classic 

-Idylls of the King (1859-1885) - TBR 4

by Lord Alfred Tennyson (British, 1809–1892)

12. Classic play

-Press Cuttings (1909) - play

by George Bernard Shaw (Irish, 1856-1950)

Author Challenges:

1. Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

-The Circle Opens Quartet
     -Magic Steps (2000) - Sandry
     -Street Magic (2001) - Briar
     -Cold Fire (2002) - Daja
     -Shatterglass (2003) - Tris
-The Circle Reforged Quartet (unfinished)
     -The Will of the Empress (2005) - Sandry
     -Melting Stones (2008) - Daja
     -Battle Magic (2013) - Briar (Prequel to The Will of the Empress)
     -Untitled Tris Book (TBD) - not yet published

2. Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

-The Arrows Trilogy

    -Arrows of the Queen (1987)
    -Arrow's Flight (1987)
    -Arrow's Fall (1988)

*Additional Valdemar books by Lackey?

Chunkster Challenge:

1. The George MacDonald Treasury (1858-1895) - 650 pages

by George MacDonald (Scottish, 1824-1905)

2. Shirley (1848) - 480 pages

by Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)

3. The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956) - 1,540 pages

by CS Lewis (British, 1898-1963)

4. The Circle Opens Quartet - 1,266 pages
by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

5. The Will of the Empress (2005) - 539 pages
by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

6. Battle Magic (2013) - 464 pages

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

7. The Arrows Trilogy - 936 pages

by Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

8. The Complete Father Brown Stories (1911-1936) - TBR 5 - 770 pages

    -The Innocence of Father Brown - 167 pages

    -The Wisdom of Father Brown - 152 pages

    -The Donnington Affair and The Incredulity of Father Brown - 24 and 147 pages

    -The Secret of Father Brown - 135 pages

    -The Scandal of Father Brown and The Mask of Midas - 135 and 10 pages

by GK Chesterton (English, 1874-1936)

The Book Hoarders' Book Club: (the choice I will most likely read is starred)

1. March - Published 1800-1899

-Lilith by George MacDonald*

-Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

2. April - Female Author

-Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown

-When Women Ruled the World by Kara Cooney

*Instead I read:

-Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

3. May - Published 1900-1999

-The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton*

-Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

4. June - Travel or Adventure

-The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

-Idylls of the King by Lord Tennyson*

5. July - POC Author

-Becoming by Michelle Obama*

(This was the only book we all agreed on!)

6. August - Children’s Chapter Book

-The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe by CS Lewis*

-Moxie by Jen Mathieu

7. September - Published 2000-2021

-To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

-The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview 

edited by Bassham and Walls - TBR 6*

Note: I want to reread all of The Chronicles of Narnia before I read this.

8. October - New-to-You Author

-The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

-Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher

*I will probably read a different book.

9. November - Humorous or Satirical

-A House-Boat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs*

-We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

10. December - New-to-You Book by ‘Fave’ Author (CS Lewis)

-Mere Christianity (read portions)

-Out of the Silent Planet (already read)

*I will probably read instead:

-On Stories and Other Essays on Literature - TBR 7

-The Dark Tower and Other Short Stories - TBR 8

If you're actually keeping count, then, with The George MacDonald Treasury being counted as 2 due to length and The Complete Father Brown Stories being counted as 5 as they were published, I have 38 books to read this year!

As I said earlier, I hope you consider joining the Back to the Classics 2021 reading challenge with me! (Over double the number of people signed up this year compared to last year!)

2020 Reading Wrap-Up

#1. Exile's Honor (2002)

by Mercedes Lackey

#2. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)

by Anne Bronte

#3. A Singular Life (1895)

by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward

#4. Take a Thief (2001)

by Mercedes Lackey

#5. Daja's Book: The Fire in the Forging (1998) – Circle of Magic Quartet, #3

by Tamora Pierce

They say hindsight is 2020, but I think everyone would have appreciated some foresight into 2020 before it began. It was a strange year, but books will always be a constant one can rely upon. I exceeded my goal of reading 20 books this year and actually read 30! First I will link to the 12 books in my dual reading challenges and then I will rank all 30 books from the year together!

I created monthly categories for my own reading challenge and I also participated in the Back to the Classics reading challenge! (The link will bring you to the 2021 categories.) I changed a couple of the books from my original post, but I still read 1 book for each of the dual categories. That means I get 3 entries into the BTTC drawing!

January - Winter (Cold / Dark) 

-Classic by a Women Author

Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
by Ursula K. Le Guin (American, 1929-2018)

February - Black History Month
-Classic by a Person of Color
The Garies and Their Friends (1857)
by Frank J Webb (African-American, 1828-1894)

March - Women’s History Month 

-19th Century Classic (Published in the 1800s)
Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
by Anne Bronte (English, 1820-1849) 

April - Easter / Religion 
-Classic with a Person’s Name in the Title
Doctor Faustus (1592) 

by Christopher Marlowe (English, 1564-1593)

May - Spring (New Beginnings / Children)
-Classic in Translation
Mio, My Son (1956)
by Astrid Lindgren (Swedish, 1907-2002)

June - LGBT Pride Month
-Genre Classic (Science-Fiction)
Babel-17 (1966)
by Samuel R. Delany (African-American, 1942- )

July - American / Patriotic  

-Classic with Nature in the Title
The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
by J. D. Salinger (American, 1919-2010)

August - Summer (Travel / Sun)  

-Classic Adaptation 

Treasure Island (1883) 

by Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish, 1850-1894)

September - Fall (School / Teachers) 
-Classic with a Place in the Title
Villette (1853)
by Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)

October - Halloween / Horror
-Abandoned Classic 

Dracula (1897) 

by Bram Stoker (Irish, 1847-1912)

November - Thanksgiving / Family
-Classic About a Family
The Whole Family (1908)
A collaboration of 12 authors edited by: 

Elizabeth Jordan (American, 1865-1947)

December - Christmas / Santa
-20th Century Classic (Published 1900-1970)
Letters From Father Christmas (1920-1943)

by JRR Tolkien (English, 1892-1973)

(NOTE: The Tower Treasure (1927), will count as my 20th-century classic if the Christmas book is disqualified due to being considered a picture book.)

   

In addition to the 12 books for the reading challenges, I read 18 other books! I also am working on 3 author challenges (Bronte sisters, Tamora Pierce, and Mercedes Lackey) AND I'm trying to get through my TBR shelf. Of the 30 books I read, 6 of them were non-fiction. 

Here are the 24 fiction books ranked:

1. Exile's Honor (2002) - 9.6/10

by Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

2. Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) - 9/10

by Anne Bronte (English, 1820-1849)

3. A Singular Life (1895) - 8.7/10

by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward (American, 1844-1911)

4. Take a Thief (2001) - 8.7/10

by Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

5. Daja's Book - The Fire in the Forging (1998) – Circle of Magic #3 - 8.7/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

6. Babel-17 (1966) - 8.3/10

by Samuel R. Delany (African-American, 1942- )

7. Sandry's Book - The Magic in the Weaving (1997) – Circle of Magic #1 - 8.3/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

8. Exile's Valor (2003) - 7.9/10

by Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

9. Letters From Father Christmas (1920-1943) - 7.9/10
by JRR Tolkien (English, 1892-1973)

10. Left Hand of Darkness (1969) - 7.6/10
by Ursula K. Le Guin (American, 1929-2018)

11. Treasure Island (1883) - 7.6/10
by Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish, 1850-1894)

12. The Spirit of Christmas (written before 1936) - 7.5/10

by GK Chesterton (English, 1874-1936)

13. Briar's Book - The Healing in the Vine (1999) – Circle of Magic #4 - 7.3/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

14. Tris's Book - The Power in the Storm (1998) – Circle of Magic #2 - 7.1/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

15. The Handmaid's Tale (1985) - 6.9/10

by Margaret Atwood (Canadian, 1939- )

16. The Garies and Their Friends (1857) - 6.7

by Frank J Webb (African-American, 1828-1894)

17. Mio, My Son (1956) - 6.3/10
by Astrid Lindgren (Swedish, 1907-2002)

18. Dracula (1897) - 6.1/10
by Bram Stoker (Irish, 1847-1912)

19. Redwall (1986) - 6/10

by Brian Jacques (English, 1939-2011)

20. The Whole Family (1908) - 5.7/10

A collaboration of 12 authors edited by:
Elizabeth Jordan (American, 1865-1947)

21. Doctor Faustus (1592) - 5.4/10

by Christopher Marlowe (English, 1564-1593)

22. The Tower Treasure (1927) - 5.1/10
by Franklin W. Dixon (Canadian, 1902-1977)

23. Villette (1853) - 4.6/10

by Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)

24. The Catcher in the Rye (1951) - 1.7/10
by J. D. Salinger (American, 1919-2010)

Reading six non-fiction books is impressive for me! I tend to avoid non-fiction in general, but these had all been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while and I figured it was time to finally read them. I don't have a ranking system for non-fiction books, but half of them I would consider 'good' and the other half 'meh.'

Good non-fiction:

A Dog Called Hope (2016)

by Jason Morgan (American, ?- ) and Damien Lewis (British, 1966- )

Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology (2010)

by Jennifer K. Stuller (American, 1975- )

The Supergirls: A History of Comic Book Heroiness (2009)

by Mike Madrid (American, 1950s(?)- )

Meh non-fiction:

Complete Guide to Money (2011)
by Dave Ramsey (American, 1960- )

Perfectly Yourself (2006) - couldn't find my copy, so it's not in any photos in this post
by Matthew Kelly (Australian, 1973- )

The Four Purposes of Life (2011)
by Dan Millman (American, 1946- )

Sometimes you start a book and just have no interest to finish it. 

That happened once this year.

Abandoned book:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
by Mark Twain (American, 1835-1910)

I already have a rough idea of what I want to read for the Back to the Classics 2021 reading challenge and I'm hoping to publish that blog post soon! If you like to read books that have been published 50+ years ago, I highly suggest checking out the challenge!

A Dog Called Hope by Morgan and Lewis

Title: A Dog Called Hope: A Wounded Warrior and the Service Dog Who Saved Him

Authors: Jason Morgan (American, ?- ) 

and Damien Lewis (British, 1966- )

Originally published: 2016
Page count: 324


Dates read: 12/8/2020-12/23/2020
2020 book goal progress: 30 out of 20
Reading category: TBR Shelf


Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.

Description on back of book:

A Dog Called Hope is the incredible story of a service dog who brought a devastated soldier back from the brink and taught him how to be a true father. It is the story of Napal, who built bridges between his wheelchair-bound battle buddy and the rest of able-bodied humankind. It is the story of Jason, who found life's true meaning with the help of his faithful companion. Humorous, intensely moving, and uplifting, Jason and Napal's heartwarming tale will brighten any day and lift every heart.

First sentence:
"The air is slick with moisture yet burning hot all at the same time."

Review:

This was a good read. I may have cried several times, but it was inspirational. I have wanted to raise service puppies for a while now and, though it will be hard to give them away after about 18 months, this book has only encouraged me to do so!

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Morgan and Lewis have the last words:

"Even if there was no chance that what I said was true, I still preferred to nurture hope. For without hope, what is there?"

"We define people by the physical, by what we can see. The ability. The physical beauty. The stature of the warrior. But actually what matters is the person inside."

Letters From Father Christmas

Title: Letters From Father Christmas

Author: JRR Tolkien (English, 1892-1973)
Penname: Father Christmas
Originally written: 1920-1943
Page count: 203

Dates read: 12/5/2020-12/17/2020
2020 book goal progress: 29 out of 20
Month category: Dec. - Christmas / Santa
Back to the Classics category: 

20th Century Classic


Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.

Description on back of book:
Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for JRR Tolkien's children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful drawing. They were from Father Christmas, telling wonderful tales of life at the North Pole.

From the first note to Tolkien's eldest son in 1920 to the final poignant letter to his youngest daughter in 1943, this new edition celebrates the centenary of that first letter with a stockingful of charming letters, pictures, and decorated envelopes.

First letter:

"Christmas House, North Pole

1920 (Love to daddy, mummy, Michael, & auntie Mary)

Dear John,

I heard you ask daddy what I was like and where I lived. I have drawn Me and My House for you. Take care of the picture. I am just off now for Oxford with my bundle of toys - some for you. Hope I shall arrive in time: the snow is very thick at the North Pole tonight.

Your loving Father Christmas"

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 7.9/10 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 10
Atmosphere   - 10
Writing Style - 10
Plot                - 5
Intrigue          - 5
Logic             - 5
Enjoyment     - 10
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

This is such an adorable and wonderful short book! I'm glad I splurged and pre-ordered the new 2020 edition! It has all 34 letters in the 22 years that Father Christmas wrote his letters to the Tolkien children (1920 and 1923-1943). Each year there's a Christmas letter from about Dec 20th to the 25th. Sometimes there's also an early letter from about Oct 31 to early Dec... or sometimes there's a late letter from after Christmas. 

Most letters are addressed to all the children of 'stocking' age, with 2 exceptions. In 1924, Father Christmas wrote a letter addressed to John and another addressed to Michael (Christopher was only 1 month old and Priscilla had not been born). In 1934 (the only year with 3 letters), Father Christmas wrote a letter addressed to Christopher and another addressed to Priscilla (John and Michael were both past 'stocking' age by then). I wish some of the letters from the Tolkien children to Father Christmas were included in the book, too.  

The letters range from a couple of sentences to 7 pages long and most of them include a drawing. It's fun to see the simple writing grow to actual storytelling as his children get older. Father Christmas writes in shaky print (because he's old and cold), Polar Bear writes in thick, bold letters (because of his fat, heavy paw), and Ilbereth, an elf secretary, writes in nice cursive. I enjoyed all the typography of the letters - they are really beautiful. (I am glad the letters were transcribed, though. The originals can be difficult to read.)

You meet many characters throughout the letters: Snow Man (who's the gardener), other elves, gnomes, goblins, polar cubs, snowboys, and more. One particularly fun year is 1937, which was the year The Hobbit was first published. There were references to the book and a blurring of the lines between Santa's elves and the Elves of Middle-earth (which I've always toyed with in my imagination). Ilbereth, the elf secretary, even writes 'A very merry Christmas to you all' in Elvish! (Then Polar Bear feels like he's being shown up, so he writes in runes.)

Starting in 1939, the letters don't have the same spark of joy to them. This might be because her Father (Christmas/Tolkien) is only writing to Priscilla and knows he doesn't have many years left... but more likely it has to do with the war. The last 4 letters all mention the war, either directly or indirectly by talking about having low toy supplies and not being able to find all the children because so many have moved. As I started to read the last letter, I wondered if Tolkien knew this would be his last letter - and he did. He basically is saying goodbye to Priscilla and it's pretty sad. Overall, though, it really is a great and fun book - it just also happened to be written during a significant time in history.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Father Christmas (JRR Tolkein) have the last words (and picture):

"We were beginning to get the first lot of parcels down out of the storerooms into the hall. Polar Bear insisted on taking an enormous pile on his head as well as lots in his arms. Bang Rumble Clatter Crash! Awful moanings and growlings.

I ran out onto the landing and saw he had fallen from top to bottom onto his nose leaving a trail of balls, bundles, parcels, and things all the way down - and had fallen on top of some and smashed them. I hope you got none of these by accident? I have drawn you a picture of it all."

-1928

Sample Typography:

bold  

Polar Bear

squiggle print

Father Christmas

CURSIVE

Ilbereth, elf secretary

bold

Polar Bear

(CURSIVE

Ilbereth)

The Spirit of Christmas by GK Chesterton

Title: The Spirit of Christmas: Stories - Poems - Essays

Author: GK Chesterton (English, 1874-1936)
Originally written: before 1936
Page count: 80


Dates read: 11/24/2020-12/1/2020
2020 book goal progress: 28 out of 20
Reading category: TBR Shelf


Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.


Description on back of book:
This new edition of Chesterton's writing includes his beautiful Christmas poems and a selection of stories as lively and imaginative as one might expect from the creator of Father Brown, together with penetrating and often hilarious comments on Christmas past and present.

A critic has said that Chesterton was "especially the poet of Christmas, as Charles Dickens was the prose master of Christmas." (My review of Dickens at Christmas.)

Mini-reviews and favorite quotes:

I love fiction, but I struggle through both poetry and non-fiction. Since a large portion of this book consisted of poetry and non-fiction essays, it wasn't an ideal read for me. I knew about the poems and essays before I started to read the book (thanks to the title), but even the heads up didn't make it better - I wish there were more stories in this collection. Overall, I enjoyed the "Christmas Spirit" in the whole book. Much of the reading was humorous in a satirical way, which I appreciated.

When looking at collections like this, I like to know what exactly is included, so I'm going to have the list of contents with mini-reviews and favorite quotes.

I. A Child is Born (Early Poems, 1894- 1900)

-Xmas Day

-The Nativity

-A Christmas Carol

-Joseph

-The Wise Men (My favorite from this section.)

The child that ere worlds begun

(We need but walk a little way,

We need but see a latch undone.)

The child that played with moon and sun

Is playing with a little hay.

(stanza 7 out of 10)

II. Sausages and Stars (Essays, Comment, and a story)

Note: The only difference I can tell between the 'essays' and 'comments' is the length. Together, they range from 2 sentences to 5 pages, with most being a half to a full page.

-Christmas that is Coming

+I found this particularly humorous.

-The Christmas Ballads

-Christmas Pudding

-Dickens' Christmas Tales

+I enjoyed this especially because I read all of Dickens' Christmas books last year. The link is in the description above.

-Turkey

-Mock Turkey

-Sausages and Stars

-The Shop of Ghosts (story)

+This was my favorite, not only of this section but of the whole book! I found it a clever Christmas ghost story. Below are the first several sentences. If you're interested, and I highly suggest the quick read, the title links to the whole story.

Nearly all the best and most precious things in the universe you can get for a halfpenny. I make an exception, of course, of the sun, the moon, the earth, people, stars, thunderstorms, and such trifles. You can get them for nothing. But the general principal will be at once apparent. In the street behind me, for instance, you can now get a ride on an electric tram for a halfpenny. To be on an electric tram is to be on a flying castle in a fairy tale. You can get quite a large number of brightly colored sweets for a halfpenny.

III. The Inn at the End of the World (Poems of Middle Life, 1900-1914)

-A Child of the Snows (favorite)

And at night we win to the ancient inn

Where the child in the frost is furled,

We follow the feet where all souls meet

At the inn at the end of the world.

(stanza 3 out of 4)

-The House of Christmas (favorite)

A child in a foul stable,

Where the beasts feed and foam;

Only where He was homeless

Are you and I at home;

We have hands that fashion and heads that know,

But our hearts we lost - how long ago!

In a place no chart nor ship can show

Under the sky's dome.

(stanza 3 out of 5)

-A Word

-The Truce of Christmas

-A Song of Gifts to God

IV. A Feast of Fools (Essays, Comment, and a Story)

-More Thoughts on Christmas

-Dickens Again

-A Christmas Present

-The Theology of Christmas Presents (favorite)

Christmas is something better than a thing for all; it is a thing for everybody. And if anyone finds such phrases aimless or fantastic, or thinks that the distinction has no existence except in a refinements of words, the only test needed is the permanent test of the populace. Take any hundred girls from a board school and see whather they do not make a distinction between a flower for each and a garden for all. 

 

-Christmas and the Professors (favorite)

-Some Fallacies and Santa Claus

-A Further Thought

-The Modern Scrooge (story)

+This was another heart-warming, Dicksonian Christmas ghost story. I enjoyed the short story, but, even with 'favorites,' a special quote doesn't always jump out to me.

V. The Turkey and the Turk (The Mummer's Play)

-The Turkey and the Turk: The Mummer's Play

+I was looking forward to reading a Christmas play, but it was a great disappointment. It was just a strange tale that could almost be considered sci-fi - which normally would be a good thing, it just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. I was not a fan. 

The first lines:

FATHER CHRISTMAS:

Here am I Father Christmas; well you know it,

Though critics say it fades, my Christmas Tree,

Yet was it Dickens who became my poet

And who the Dickens may the critics be?

VI. The Spirit of Christmas (Essays, a story, and a Comment)

-The Contented Man (favorite)

-Dickens at Christmas

-Christmas Must Go

-Christmas and Geoffrey Chaucer

-The New Christmas (story)

+This was a strange story about a futuristic Nativity from the Wise Men's' perspective. This was not a favorite, despite it being a story.

-Snow in Bethlehem (favorite)

-The Heart of Bethlehem

-The Spirit of Christmas (favorite)

-The Three Gifts (favorite)

There were three things prefigured and promised by the gifts in the cave of Bethlehem concerning the Child who received them; that He should be crowned like a King (gold); that He should be worshipped like a God (frankincense); and that He should die like a man (myrrh). And these things would sound like Eastern flattery, were it not for the third.

VII. Gloria in Profundis (A Last Poem)

-Gloria in Profundis

Glory to God in the Lowest

The spout of the stars in spate - 

Where the thunderbolt thinks to be slowest

And the lightning fears to be late:

As men dive for a sunken gem

Pursuing, we hunt and hound it,

The fallen star that has found it

In the cavern of Bethlehem.

(stanza 4 out of 4)

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let GK Chesterton have the last words:

Our ignorance about fairy tales refers back to that ultimate ignorance about life which makes life itself a fairy tale. Some complain that parents will not tell their children whether Santa Claus exists or not. The parents do not tell them for the excellent reason that the parents do not know.

-'Some Fallacies and Santa Claus' from Section IV. 

 

The child who doubts about Stanta Claus has insomnia. 

The child who beleieves has a good night's rest.

-'A Further Thought' from Section IV, in it's entirety.

The Whole Family by Twelve Authors

Title: The Whole Family

A collaboration novel written by 12 authors!

Editor: Elizabeth Jordan (American, 1865-1947)
Originally published: 1908
Page count: 313

Dates read: 11/1/2020-11/21/2020
2020 book goal progress: 27 out of 20
Month category: 

November - Thanksgiving / Family
Back to the Classics category: 

Classic About a Family


Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.


Description on back of book:
One of the most fascinating experiments in American literature resulted in The Whole Family. The idea for this collaborative venture originated with William Dean Howells in 1906. Under the guidance of Elizabeth Jordan, who Howells hired as editor, each of the authors invited was to write a successive chapter in the story. Howells, who wrote the first chapter, envisioned the novel as a definitive depiction of American family life. But the original plan underwent a dramatic reversal with a controversial chapter two by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. From that point, the novel became a more involved story of family misunderstandings and rivalries.

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 5.7/10 - ⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 6
Atmosphere   - 5
Writing Style - 7
Plot                - 4
Intrigue          - 6
Logic             - 5
Enjoyment     - 7
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Overall Review:

There is a very loose and disorganized plot to this novel. That said, I was expecting it to be more of a series of short stories with little to no connection to each other, other than them all being in the same family. I was pleasantly surprised when the book actually turned out to be a semi-cohesive story.

Rant one: The first chapter, by William Dean Howells, threw me off right away because it was written in the first person by the neighbor who has a conversation with the father. He proceeds to have deep and knowledgeable thoughts about the whole family, even though he doesn't seem very close with any of them. Reading the neighbor's perspective was strange since I was expecting it to be from the perspective of the father himself. All the other chapters are written in the first person from the perspective of the person named in the chapter title.

Rant two: Henry James' chapter is 41 pages long, which is nearly twice as long as 25 page average of all the other chapters. Most of it is just whining about family members instead of moving the plot along. If he had summed up his 33 pages of whining into 10 pages and expanded his 8 pages of actual story into 10-12 pages, then the chapter might have been actually worth something.

Random thoughts: I wish I knew the actual ages of all the characters. Everyone seems to be against co-educational college and I don't understand why. It's an outrageous story with many Dicksonian coincidences.

Here are some quotes and specific thoughts of each chapter and the author who wrote them:

Chp 1. The Father (Cyrus Talbert)

by William Dean Howells (American, 1837-1920)

First sentence: "As soon as we heard the pleasant news - I suppose the news of an engagement ought always to be called pleasant - it was decided that I ought to speak first about it, and speak to the father."

Favorite quote: "A curious thing about it was, that though my arguments seemed to convince them, they didn't convince me. Ever notice, how when another person repeats what you've said, it sounds kind of weak and foolish?"

Mini-review: This chapter was hard to follow, sexist, and very bland. Nothing really happened and it did nothing to help jump-start the plot. The only thing we learn is that Peggy has been recently engaged and no one has met who she's engaged to yet. The father ends up being a minor character in the novel and he doesn't really come up again until the last chapter.

Chp 2. The Old-Maid Aunt (Aunt Elizabeth / Lily, sister of 'Father')

by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (American, 1852-1930)

First sentence: "I am relegated here in Eastridge to the position in which I suppose I properly belong, and I dare say it is for my best spiritual and temporal good. Here I am the old-maid aunt."

Favorite quote: "Since - well, never mind since what time - I have not cared an iota whether I was considered an old maid or not. The situation has seemed to me rather amusing, inasmuch as it has involved a secret willingness to be what everybody has considered me as very unwilling to be. I have regarded it as a sort of joke upon other people."

Mini-review: This was a very forward-thinking and feminist chapter that championed single women living satisfying lives. By 'old-maid,' they mean she's about mid-thirties and not married... which apparently is a travesty at this time in history. The old-maid ends up being a central character that everyone uses as a scapegoat. The 'contraversial' plot twist mentioned in the book description is that Harry Goward, who is engaged to Peggy, is actually more interested in the old-maid aunt.

Chp 3. The Grandmother (Evarts, mother of 'Mother')

by Mary Heaton Vorse (American, 1874-1966)

First sentence: "The position of an older woman in her daughter's house is often difficult."

Favorite quote: "I very seldom open my mouth to anyone in this house, for it is more than ever the fashion for people to disregard the advice of others, and the older I get the more I find it wise to save my breath to cool my porridge - there come times, however, when I feel it my duty to speak."

Mini-review: I appreciated this chapter and how forward-thinking and unprejudiced the grandmother was. It was refreshing to see a break from the stereotypical judgemental elderly character, though she still ragged on the maiden aunt. She sometimes wrote in paragraphs that were over a page long, which was annoying.

Chp 4. The Daughter-In-Law (Lorraine)

by Mary Stewart Cutting (American, 1879-1924)

First sentence: "I  have never identified myself with my husband's family, and Charles-Edward, who is the best sort ever, doesn't expect me to."

Favorite quote: "Maria makes little side digs at me because I haven't been pickling or preserving or cleaning. Once, Maria asked me at dinner what days I had for cleaning. And I said, as innocently as possible, that I hadn't any; that I perfectly loathed cleaning, and that we never cleaned at home! Of course it wasn't true, but we never talk about it, anyway. Charles-Edward said he nearly shrieked with joy to hear me come out like that."

Mini-review: I liked Lorraine's character. She had feminist views and kept her worldview from being affected by her in-laws. She was focused on her own interests and not keeping her house perfect and clean, which everyone seemed to expect.

Chp 5. The School-Girl (Alice)

by Elizabeth Jordan (American, 1865-1947)

First sentence: "Except for Billy, who is a boy and does not count, I am the youngest person in our family; and when I tell you that there are eleven of us - well, you can dimly imagine the kind of time I have."

Favorite quote: "Finally I crept out of the house without saying a word to her or letting her know I was there, and I leaned on the gate to think it over and try to imagine what a girl in a book would do."

Mini-review: She is about fifteen, but is written much younger to me, which was weird. She's a bit of a busybody but is one of the few people who actually likes the maid aunt. The cohesiveness of the plot begins to break down and get confusing.

Chp 6. The Son-In-Law (Tom Price)

by John Kendrick Bangs (American, 1862-1922)

First sentence: "On the whole, I am glad our family is no larger than it is.  It is a very excellent family as families go, but the infinite capacity of each individual in it for making trouble, and adding to complications already sufficiently complex, surpasses anything that has ever before come into my personal or professional experience."

Favorite quote: "We cannot always help ourselves in the matter of our relations. Some are born relatives, some achieve relatives, and others have relatives thrust upon them."

Mini-review: This was quite humorous and probably my favorite chapter. There's a part where he is talking about Adam and Eve and makes a comment that true gentlemen don't use women as a copout or scapegoat - and basically called Adam a coward in blaming Eve for his eating of the forbidden fruit. (That's a paraphrase of several paragraphs, otherwise, I would've done a direct quote.)

Chp 7. The Married Son (Charles-Edward)

by Henry James (American-British, 1843-1916)

First sentence: "It's evidently a great thing in life to have got hold of a convenient expression, and a sign of our inordinate habit of living by words."

Favorite quote: "When you paint a picture with a brush and pigments, that is on a single plane, it can stop at your gilt frame; but when you paint on with a pen and words, that is in all dimensions, how are you to stop?"

Mini-review: I have read Henry James before and did not like The Bostonians at all, but I tried to keep an open mind despite my negative bias. Nope. This was a horrible and quite sexist chapter. Every time he talks about his wife, it is in a very demeaning manner. The sentences are long and complicated and I had a hard time understanding anything.

Chp 8. The Married Daughter (Maria Price)

by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward (American, 1844-1911)

First sentence: "We start in life with the most preposterous of all human claims - that one should be understood. We get bravely over that after a while; but not until the idea has been knocked out of us by the hardest."

Favorite quote: "Perhaps if Fate ever broke him on her wheel it was at that moment. His destiny was still in his own hands."

Mini-review: This had lots of action, which was refreshing after getting through James' drudgery. There was a lot of clever wordplay and several Dicksonian coincidences.

Chp 9. The Mother (Ada)

by Edith Wyatt (American, 1873-1958)

First sentences are my favorite quote: "I am sure I shall surprise no mother of a large family when I say that this hour is the first one I have spent alone for thirty years. I count it, alone. For while I am driving back in the runabout along the six miles of leafy road between the hospital and Eastridge with mother beside me, she is sound asleep and she will sleep until we are home."

Mini-review: This was a confusing chapter with a very abrupt ending.

Chp 10. The School-Boy (Billy)

by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews (American, 1860-1936)

First sentence: "Rabbits. Automobile. (Painted red, with yellow lines.) Automatic reel. (The 3-dollar kind.) New stamp-book. (The puppy chewed my other.) Golly, I forgot. I suppose I mustn't use this, but it's my birthday next month, and I want 'steen things, and I thought I'd better make a list to pin on the dining-room door, where the family could take their pick on what to give me."

Favorite quote: "It wasn't exactly cross-examination, because he wasn't cross, yet he fired the questions at me like a cannon, and I answered quick, you bet."

Mini-review: This was an annoying and repetitive chapter. It was written more like a letter rather than a stream of thought as the other chapters are and it just felt strange. This was the only chapter where the author's gender did not match the character's gender.

Chp 11. Peggy (recently engaged middle daughter)

by Alice Brown (American, 1857-1948)

First sentence: "'Remember,' said Charles-Edward - he had run in for a minute on his way home from the office where he has been clearing out his desk, 'for good and all,' and he tells us - 'remember, next week will see us out of this land of the free and home of the talkative.'"

Favorite quote: "Things are mighty critical. It's as if everybody, the world and the flesh and the Whole Family, had been blundering round and setting their feet down as near as they could to a flower. But the flower isn't trampled yet. We'll build a fence round it."

Mini-review: I feel like she tried to tie up most of the loose ends from everyone else's chapters - but it just got even more confusing and jumbled than it already was. Since Peggy is the central figure in the whole novel, along with the maid aunt, her chapter and thoughts of what's going on should have been sooner in the story - or saved for the very last.

Chp 12. The Friend of the Family (unnamed)

by Henry Van Dyke (American, 1852-1933)

First sentence: "This was the telegram that Peter handed me as I came out of the coat-room at the Universe and stood under the lofty gilded ceiling of the great hall, trying to find myself at home again in the democratic simplicity of the United States."

Favorite quote: "Independence was a sacred tradition in the Talbert family; but interference was a fixed nervous habit, and complication was a chronic social state."

Mini-review: Despite several family friends already being introduced, this author decided to create a whole new character for the last chapter of the book. The 'friend' seems to be mainly a friend of Father and not of the whole family, which is annoying. The unnamed friend has traveled a lot, but he's extremely racist and ethnocentric. The ending is outrageous and abrupt. It's like Van Dyke had a way he wanted it to end and he just forced his way into making it work, even though it didn't really make sense with the rest of the story.

Closing review:

Some chapters were quite feminist, while others were pretty sexist. It was strange never really knowing what to expect from chapter to chapter. Overall, I would say the book is forward-thinking, it just also is a product of its time in history. I appreciate that out of 12 authors, only 4 of them were men. It's interesting to note that, though John Kendrick Bangs wrote my favorite chapter, the other 3 male-written chapters were by far my least favorites.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let two of the authors have the last words:

"I do not care so much what people believe, for I am not bigoted, as that they should believe something, and that with their whole hearts." 

-Grandmother, Chp 3. Grandmother by Mary Heaton Vorse

"Remember, it is the bruised herb that gives out the sweetest odor." 

-Aunt Elizabeth, Chp 11. Peggy by Alice Brown

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Title: Dracula

Author: Bram Stoker (Irish, 1847-1912)
Originally published: 1897
Page count: 454


Dates read: 10/1/2020-10/28/2020
2020 book goal progress: 26 out of 20
Month category: October - Halloween / Horror
Back to the Classics category: Abandoned Classic



Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.


Description on back of book:
Earnest and naive, solicitor Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to organize the estate of the infamous Count Dracula at his crumbling castle. He finds himself imprisoned and experiences all manner of supernatural horrors. In England, Lucy and her friend Mina, Harker's fiance, are under threat from the Count as he attempts to quell his appetite for human blood.

First sentence:
"Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late."

Favorite quotes:

"There are things done today in electrical science which would have been deemed unholy by the very men who discovered electricity - who would themselves not so long before have been burned as wizards. There are always mysteries in life."

"It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way - even death - and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment."

"I do but say what we may do - what we must do. But indeed, indeed we cannot say what we shall do. There are so many things which may happen, and their ways and their ends are so various that until the moment we may not say."

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 6.1/10 - ⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 7
Atmosphere   - 6
Writing Style - 6
Plot                - 7
Intrigue          - 5
Logic             - 6
Enjoyment     - 6
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

Through the book, movies, and TV shows, most people are familiar with the story of Dracula. That said, there will be spoilers in the following review. The novel was OK, though a bit disappointing and not anywhere near as scary as I was expecting. The novel is epistolatory and written mostly through several characters' journal entries, which were not always chronological and sometimes confusing. 

It can be broken into roughly 3 sections: intro to the Count through Jonathan Harker's imprisonment (about 60 pages), intro to Van Helsing and other characters through the Count's attacks on Lucy (about 200 pages), and the hunting of the Count to save Mina and humankind (about 200 pages). 

I enjoyed the first part of the story. It was relatively simple and chronological. It also was told solely through Harker's journal. Once we shifted to the second part, Harker was abruptly cut off and we switched to multiple characters' journals. This was a bit jarring and overwhelming and it was soon after this switch that I abandoned the book the first time I read it. The book became confusing because you are quickly introduced to a lot of new characters and I initially didn't know how they fit in with the first part of the story. The second part is long, drawn-out, and quite repetitive. Here's a brief summary:

Lucy looks pale. Let's get her a blood transfusion. A madman collects flies. Oh, Lucy is looking pale again. Let's get her another blood transfusion by someone else. The madman collects spiders and feeds them the flies. Lucy doesn't look so good. She probably needs another blood transfusion by a different man. The madman captures a couple of birds and feeds them the spiders. Wow, these blood transfusions don't seem to be working because she's really pale again. Might as well try yet a fourth transfusion from yet another person. The madman asks for a cat and, upon refusal, he eats the birds himself. Oops, Lucy died - but not really. Now we need to kill her to let her soul rest in peace. (Note: blood types weren't discovered until 4 years after the book was published.)

Professor Van Helsing knows what is happening to Lucy but doesn't say anything because he doesn't think anyone would believe him. He basically just lets her die and turn into a vampire to prove to everyone what he already knew and probably could have avoided if he had just been more open. The second part had way too many descriptions and not enough action. If this second part had been summed up in less than 100 pages, instead of being 200, I think the book overall would have been much better.

The third part of the book was full of action, which made it worth drudging through the second part to get to. I liked the ending, though it seemed to happen too quickly and easily. I wanted them to actually have to face and fight Dracula, rather than just kill him in his sleep.

Random side notes: There were parts of the book that were borderline feminist, but mostly the book was very sexist, which just left a bad taste in my mouth. My favorite character was the madman who collected and ate flies and spiders. I have very limited knowledge of vampire mythology due to only having watched Interview with a Vampire once, Only Lovers Left Alive twice, and I'm mostly through watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time. (No - I have never watched or read anything Twighlight.) I will always choose Buffy over Dracula - though I greatly enjoyed watching the Dracula episode in the midst of reading the book. Xander even got to represent my favorite character - the crazy man!

Fun Fact: In the first half of the book,  the word 'vampire' appears twice - both times referring to bats. A little past halfway through, when Lucy is revealed to be a vampire, they are initially referred to as the Un-Dead. The word 'vampire' is found 21 times in the second half of the book - all referring to the mythological being. Of those references, 10 of them are on 2 pages. So, all things considered, for a book about the most notorious vampire, the word 'vampire' is used quite sparingly.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Bram Stoker have the last words. Here are some short proverbs:

"Though sympathy can't alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable."

"I suppose a cry does us all good at times - clears the air as other rain does."

"I sometimes think we must be all mad and that we shall wake to sanity in strait-waistcoats."

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Title: Villette


Author: Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)
Originally published: 1853
Page count: 462


Dates read: 9/09/2020-9/29/2020
2020 book goal progress: 25 out of 20

Month category: September - Fall (School / Teachers) 

Back to the Classics category: 

Classic with a Place in the Title

Read my other Bronte Sister book reviews.
Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.

Description on back of book:

Based on Charlotte Bronte's personal experience as a teacher in Brussels, Villette, is a moving tale of repressed feelings and subjection to cruel circumstances and position, borne with heroic fortitude. Rising above the frustrations of confinement within a rigid social order, it is also a story of a woman's right to love and be loved.

First sentence:
"My Godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of Bretton."

Favorite quotes:
[Conversation between an older lady and a female teenager.]

" 'I told you I liked him a little. Where is the use of caring for him so very much? He is full of faults. All boys are.'

'More than girls?'

'Very likely. Wise people say it is folly to think anybody perfect; and as to likes and dislikes, we should be friendly to all, and worship none.' "

"No mockery in this world ever sounds to me so hollow as that of being told to cultivate happiness. What does such advice mean? Happiness is not a potato, to be planted in mold, and tilled with manure. Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of Heaven. She is a divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the bloom and golden fruitage of Paradise."

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 4.6/10 - ⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 5
Atmosphere   - 5
Writing Style - 5
Plot                - 4
Intrigue          - 4
Logic             - 4
Enjoyment     - 5
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

I didn't enjoy this book. It was slow, boring, and quite depressing. There were some very unlikely coincidences and characters with double names - which annoyed, rather than charmed, me. I had to keep flipping to the back of the book to read translations from French, which just made it a stop-and-go read. I didn't particularly like any of the characters - actually, most of them I actively did NOT like.

One character, in particular, had a short temper and was abusive psychologically and emotionally. As we learn more about him, we find out that in specific scenarios he can be very loving and self-sacrificing. Now, don't get me wrong, it's great to have characters change and develop, but being self-sacrificial in a certain way because of a past event doesn't absolve or excuse someone from being currently abusive and manipulative. He never should have become the hero he seems to be in the end.

The book seemed set up as an early feminist novel, which maybe it was in its own time, but it didn't go far enough for me. In the end, it was the men who saved the day and provided for the women. The story also focused too much on romance, though, 'almost' or 'passing' romance is probably more accurate. To be fair, there were times when feminism was represented (as in the below quote from Lucy), but, for the most part, the book just rubbed me the wrong way. 

"Whatever my powers - feminine or the contrary - God had given them, and I felt resolute to be ashamed of no faculty of His bestowal."

The ending was unsatisfactorily ambiguous, which irritated me. Without giving too much away - the romantic in me wanted the happy ending, but the feminist in me wanted the sad ending. There even is a ghost substory in the novel, similar to the one in Jane Eyre (which is one of my favorite books). Unfortunately, the ghost story just took too long to come about and I didn't have much investment in it by the time the mystery was resolved. 

Overall, I didn't like this novel, but the intro of the book talked about two different readings: reading it for the first time, focusing on the surprising plot twists, and reading it for the second time, focusing on character development with prior knowledge of the plot twists. Maybe one day I'll read it again, but it won't be for a while.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Charlotte Bronte have the last words:

"Peril, loneliness, and an uncertain future are not oppressive evils, so long as the frame is healthy and the faculties are employed; so long, especially, as Liberty tends us her wings, and Hope guides us by her star."

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Title: Redwall 


Author: Brian Jacques (English, 1939-2011)
Originally published: 1986
Page count: 333


Dates read: 8/27/2020-9/8/2020
2020 book goal progress: 24 out of 20
Reading category: TBR Shelf

Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.

Description on back of book:
Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well... until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming - Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde - Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice - a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back... and become a legend himself.

First sentence(s):
"Matthias cut a comical little figure as he wobbled his way along the cloisters, with his large sandals flip-flopping and his tail peeping from beneath the baggy folds of an oversized novice's habit. He paused to gaze upwards at the cloudless sky and tripped over the enormous sandals. Hazelnuts scattered out upon the grass from the rush basket he was carrying. Unable to stop, he went tumbling cowl over tail. Bump!"

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 6/10 - ⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 8
Atmosphere   - 7
Writing Style - 7
Plot                - 5
Intrigue          - 4
Logic             - 5
Enjoyment     - 6
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

This was an OK book. It started out well and I expected it to get deep and complex. Instead, it stuck very much to a children's story. It was a simple and predictable story, and most characters were one-dimensional. I almost stopped reading it because there's a character, Cornflower the fieldmouse, which plays an extremely stereotypical women's role and the sexism bothered me. It irritated me that every time we saw her someone was commenting on her figure and beauty... and in the end, she's given away (by the Abbot/leader of Redwall, not even her father) in an arranged marriage as a prize to a warrior - though it's not stated that way and both involved approve of the marriage.

BUT I finished the book because I recognized there was a myriad of incredible female characters to go along (and lead) with the other male characters! Constance the badger is big and strong, and a great fighter. Jess the squirrel is an expert climber and strategist whose husband is very much in the background, as most wives would typically be represented. Warbeak is the Queen of the sparrows. Sela the fox is a sly, two-timing witch doctor. Guosim the shrew is the co-leader of a democratic guerrilla group of shrews - and the list could go on. Other than Cornflower (and possibly the main character, Matthias, who was a bit annoying to me), all the characters, both male and female, were really neat to me and all had individual personalities - even if most of them were pretty one dimensional.

Overall, as a children's book, it's a great story! I highly suggest you read it with your kids. If you're an adult looking for a good fantasy story, I would look elsewhere for a more fulfilling read, though.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Brian Jacques have the last words:

"We are none of us too old to learn."

"Don't be ashamed, I know why you cry and grieve. It is because you are kind and good, not hard-hearted and pitiless. Please listen to me. Even the strongest and bravest must sometime weep. It shows they have a great heart, one that can feel compassion for others."