Below is the chapter breakdown that will take us all the way to May 15th. There’s only one more recap to go, which I’ll be doing on the 15th, and then I’ll do an overall review of the book on the 16th.
This week’s recap is for Chapters 10, 11, and 12. If you’re a little behind, that’s ok! I’ll clearly mark any spoilers.
This week’s chapters were a little better than last weeks.
*Spoilers* Esteban kicks Nicolás out of the house and Nicolás supposedly moves to North America. Blanca continues to secretly see Pedro. Alba is sent to a British style girl’s school, and after that, she continues on to university, where she meets and falls in love with Miguel. The two of them join a protest that the police manage to break up, but not before Alba begins bleeding heavily, gets returned home, and Miguel finds out that she’s Esteban’s granddaughter. Later, the Socialist party wins the election, and the country is thrown into chaos as those on the Conservative side believe that the Soviets are going to show up any minute. They begin clearing out bank accounts and fleeing the country. Esteban and several others begin planning ways to bring down the government, which eventually leads to them deciding to use military force. Alba is told by one of the Mora sisters that she should escape the country in order survive violent events in the future. *End Spoilers*
I’m really beginning to wonder what the point or message of this book is unless Allende is trying to tell us that men during this time, except maybe Socialists like Pedro or Jaime, were horrible? I find any story that tries to imply that a particular belief system automatically makes someone better than another to be suspect at best, and blatant propaganda at its worst. So, I’m really not sure how I feel about this book altogether, but as of right now, I’m a bit irritated.
What do you think of the story so far? All comments about the book are welcome, but please mark any spoilers.
The Questions:
1. How do you organize your shelves? I organize my shelves by hardcover to mass market paperback and by height. So, my tallest hardcovers are on the left side of the top shelf and my shortest paperbacks are on the bottom shelf (I have a lot so they’ve got their own shelf) I try to keep books by an author together, but sometimes that’s impossible, and I also keep series together as long as I own them in the same size/type of book.
2. What is one of your favorite books that isn’t in one of your favorite genres? I don’t have one; every single one of my favorite books has come from my favorite genres.
3. What is the last five-star book you read? The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg.
4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon? I really want to finish The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon.
5. What book do you recommend the most? That greatly depends on who I’m recommending a book to. Sometimes it’s Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, other times it’s The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, still other times it’s The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
It’s that time again! I’m super excited about this Bout of Books because, with the exception of two Final exams, I’ve got the whole week to read, read, read!
This list has changed a bit since my sign up post:
I will be updating with one post each day with the number of books I’ve read that day, the titles of the books I’ve finished, and the total number of books read. If I wasn’t able to finish a book that day, I’ll put the number of pages read instead. I’ll also list any mini-challenges I participated in.
Currently Reading: A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall, a review book, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende for the Classics Club Spin #9, and The Coffee Legacy by Katharina Bordet.
Finished: At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen, which I won’t be reviewing until after Bout of Books 13.
Challenges:
Total pages read for the week: 526 pages and 66% of The Coffee Legacy.
Total # of books for the year: 27. Despite Finals, I got quite a bit of reading done. I’ve got two Finals left, and then I’ll have the rest of the week to dedicate to Bout of Books 13. With the exception of my #FitReaders check-in and Read-Along Recap, I won’t be posting anything other than my daily Bout of Books updates this week, but be on the lookout for some great posts next week, including Thursday’s Things #5!
Top Commenters: This week, my Top Commenter was Shaina @ Shaina Reads.
What are you reading this week?
I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I think George Sand is my spirit animal. I knew of her, but I didn’t know much more than that she was a French author who got her books published under a pen name. I’ve never read any of her novels, but I fully intend to now that I’ve learned what an amazing woman she was, and how much I could relate to her and her life, especially in regards to her relationship with her mother and her heartache from one failed romance after another.
Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand this is Historical Fiction, but George Sand’s character came to life for me in such a way that I often felt like I was reading an autobiography, which is an experience I’ve never had before. I wouldn’t doubt that Elizabeth Berg had to become George Sand in order to write this book, and I don’t care that not everything in it is factually true and liberties were taken where there wasn’t a consensus on the details. This story is real to me in my heart, and that’s what matters. I sympathized with her during the parts in which I didn’t have a personal experience I could directly relate to hers. I empathized with her during the parts in which I could. I felt for her and cried for her, and I got exasperated with the men in her life when she was forced to figure out ways around them in order to ensure her needs were met. I wanted to comfort her as if she were my younger self in need of comforting. I loved that she defied so many social norms and continued to do so well after her defiance was useful. I also loved that she wasn’t perfect. She made mistakes and she was a little too trusting with her heart and a little too forgiving of those who were no good for her. She didn’t have the highest self-esteem, but she did have confidence in herself as a writer. She also suffered from depression, which is something I’m very familiar with, but unlike a few of my other well-loved authors, she handled it better.
I need to stop there before I give away the whole story. Suffice it to say, this is a book that needs to be read by anyone who considers themselves to be even the tiniest bit Feminist, anyone who loves anything to do with France, especially during the 19th century (my favorite time period), and anyone who loves Classic literature or Historical Fiction.
I borrowed this book from the Boyfriend.
The Boyfriend had been trying to convince me to start the Dresden Files for almost as long as we’ve known each other. I kept putting it off to read other books because I was afraid I might not like it, and it happens to be the Boyfriend’s all-time favorite series. Then I watched the Boyfriend devour the latest book, Skin Game, in a day, which I had never seen him do with any other book. So, I decided that I needed to know what was so great about it that the Boyfriend would spend more time reading than playing video games.
As I opened the cover, I happened to glance at one of the quotes in the praise section, which mentioned that lover’s of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton would love this series too. That piqued my interest more since I do love Hamilton’s books. While I didn’t finish Storm Front in a day, that’s not for lack of trying. Life got in the way. Don’t you hate it when that happens?! I finished it in three days, and I now know that the Dresden Files will be one of my go-tos when I hit a reading slump. I’ve already got a bookmark in the second book, Fool Moon, but I’ve been forcing myself to wait until I could find the time to write this review as well as try to finish up some of the other books I was already in the middle of reading; otherwise, I might not ever finish them, and this blog would turn into a Dresden Files fan page. Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen, no matter how much love I have for the books.
Now that the Boyfriend and I have something else to geek out about together, it’s a priority of mine to get everyone else to do the same. Please, PLEASE, give Storm Front a chance. I’m sure you can find it at your local public library, and if you love Urban Fantasy or the Anita Blake series, you’ll enjoy reading about Harry Dresden’s adventures.
