Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Hello!
Happy Monday my fellow book lovers,
My chosen book for Goodreads Monday this week is one that I read as an abridged version when I was a child and would love to read the full version in the near future.
The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is washed up on a desert island. In his journal he chronicles his daily battle to stay alive, as he conquers isolation, fashions shelter and clothes, first encounters another human being and fights off cannibals and mutineers. With Robinson Crusoe, Defoe wrote what is regarded as the first English novel, and created one of the most popular and enduring myths in literature. Written in an age of exploration and enterprise, it has been variously interpreted as an embodiment of British imperialist values, as a portrayal of ‘natural man’ or as a moral fable. But above all it is a brilliant narrative, depicting Crusoe’s transformation from terrified survivor to self-sufficient master of his island.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
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I have had a wonderful weekend spent in Norfolk celebrating my best friends birthday. It was so nice to see everyone and spend some time adventuring around Norfolk.
Anyway, here is what has been happening this week on the blog.
I’ve been seeing this book tag a great deal on instagram but I thought it looked fun to do on my blog as well. If you like the post consider yourself tagged!
5 Books You Love
These are just a selection of my favourite reads and they are books that I will happily read again and again.
4 Autobuy Authors
Andy Weir – After reading The Martian I knew that I would buy any book that Weir published and so as soon as I hear a book is coming out I get it preordered.
Elly Griffiths – I adore the Dr Ruth Galloway series by Griffiths and it was through this series that I first came across Griffiths. This has meant for the last 3 years I have bought any new books and past books by Griffiths.
Philippa Gregory – I have loved reading books by Gregory since I was a teenager and she has been an autobuy author since then. It doesn’t mean I have read all of her books yet but I am working on it.
Alison Weir – I had read a few books by Weir but then I read her Six Tudor Queens series and I just fell in love with her writing and ever since I have been buying all her newly published books and working my way through her back catalogue.
3 Favourite Genres
Fantasy – My love of fantasy started when I read The Lord of the Rings as a teenager, ever since it has been one of my favourite genres that I always go back to.
Historical Fiction – I love historical fiction and I will read about any time period. My love first started with historical fiction set in the Tudor period but now I will happily read any time period.
Classical literature – The first books I ever really read were classics and this has always been my first love.
2 Places You Read
Bed – I always read before I go to sleep as it helps calm me.
Sofa – I always like to start my day with a bit of reading whilst drinking my first mug of tea of the day and this always happens on the sofa in the lounge. Sometimes I have a cat companion as well which is nice.
1 Book You Promise to Read Soon
This will be my next classic read for this year so I hope to start reading it soon.
Happy Reading
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My chosen poem this week is by another new poet for me. John Updike (1932-2009) was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art and literary critic.
August
The sprinkler twirls.
The summer wanes.
The pavement wears
Popsicle stains.
The playground grass
Is worn to dust.
The weary swings
Creak, creak with rust.
The trees are bored
With being green.
Some people leave
The local scene
And go to seaside
Bungalows
And take off nearly
All their clothes.
John Updike
Happy Reading
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Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens’s story of a powerful man whose callous neglect of his family triggers his professional and personal downfall, showcases the author’s gift for vivid characterization and unfailingly realistic description. As Jonathan Lethem contends in his Introduction, Dickens’s “genius . . . is at one with the genius of the form of the novel itself: Dickens willed into existence the most capacious and elastic and versatile kind of novel that could be, one big enough for his vast sentimental yearnings and for every impulse and fear and hesitation in him that countervailed those yearnings too. Never parsimonious and frequently contradictory, he always gives us everything he can, everything he’s planned to give, and then more.”
Review
This was my next classic for my Classics Club challenge and I was so happy that I had decided to include it on my list. This isn’t my favourite Dickens novel as that is A Tale of Two Cities but it is definitely a very close second. I could not put the book down.
There is so much going on within this book which is all linked with Dombey, so many lives all touch even if just briefly. Though the real reason all these lives connect is because of Dombey’s children, Paul and Florence. Paul Dombey is the wanted son whose father has so many big plans for and Florence is the daughter who is not wanted and ignored. But Florence still loves and worships her father and tries to do everything in her power to make him love her. In a way this book is Florence’s story rather than her father’s story.
This book focuses on the Dombey household mainly which after the death of the mother becomes a very sad household which starts to become dysfunctional. This is put into stark contrast with the other two households we encounter in the book which are so full of love and happiness although they are poorer financially than the Dombey household but they are richer in so many other ways.
There are so many interesting characters within this novel. The forever smiling James Carker who is always compared to a grinning cat. The adorable Captain Cuttle who is terrified of his landlady but will do anything and give anything to those he loves. The wonderfully strong Susan Nipper who protects Florence and loves Florence with every fibre of her being. The faithful Walter whose faith never wavers. The loving Uncle Sol who will do anything for his nephew. Then there is one of my favourite characters the devoted Mr Toots, who is funny without meaning to be and gets into some interesting scrapes and friendships. Then there is Edith, who I felt sorry for but who I also disliked greatly because of the pain she caused.
Dickens addresses so many things in this novel; pride, deceit, the value of love, child and parent relationships, unrequited love, revenge and much more. Dickens is such an expert in exploring and writing about the human condition and even though he was writing in the Victorian times so many of his themes are as relevant today as they were today. I laughed out loud whilst reading this book, I cried, I got angry, I went through so many emotions whilst reading this book. I loved this book so much and easily give it 5 out of 5 Dragons and it is definitely one of my favourite books this year.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
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The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I’ve been having a good week catching up on jobs around the house and in the garden and doing some teaching. I reward myself with reading which has been very nice.
What I am Currently Reading
Another Murderbot book that I can’t put down.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I absolutely loved this book. Every book I read by George Eliot I fall more and more in love with her writing.
What I Think I will Read Next
There are so many books that I want to read, I am struggling to choose what to read next every time I finish a book.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
A day to put aside those phones and instead enjoy a good book. To celebrate this day I have decided to list ten of my favourite short reads which are 300 pages or less.
Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Hello and Happy Monday!
I have spent a lovely day working in the garden and reading. I also did a little bit of teaching which was good.
My chosen book today is one I should have no excuse to read. My husband has also never read this book but he owns many copies. Every time we go to a second hand bookshop my husband looks for The Vicar of Wakefield and if there is an old copy that is particularly nice he buys it. Hence, we have a lot of copies in the house.
Oliver Goldsmith’s hugely successful novel of 1766 remained for generations one of the most highly regarded and beloved works of eighteenth-century fiction. It depicts the fall and rise of the Primrose family, presided over by the benevolent vicar, the narrator of a fairy-tale plot of impersonation and deception, the abduction of a beautiful heroine and the machinations of an aristocratic villain. By turns comic and sentimental, the novel’s popularity owes much to its recognisable depiction of domestic life and loving family relationships.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. I’ve had a much better week blogging and reading so I am feeling very happy and more relaxed. I always feel more relaxed when I can get a good amount of reading in.
I was rather naughty and started Rogue Protocol today but I couldn’t resist any longer. I am reading a bit of each book everyday and absolutely loving each one.
Happy Reading
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
Lady Book Dragon 