Dracula

Bibliography
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Read by David Horovitch, Jamie Parker, Joseph Kloska and Alison Pettitt.
Naxos Audiobooks. 2015. Audiobook.

image from: http://www.naxosaudiobooks.com/0190.htm


My Thoughts
I started listening to this book during a full moon. When the narrator describes the full moon in the story, as Jonathan first sets out to the Count's home, I thought that was eerie.

The story's pace is slow. The description is superb. The violence is hardly there by modern standards. I was so proud to finally have this "classic" story read (even if I actually listened to it). I made connections about who Van Helsing is and now know the "rules" of vampires. I kept thinking about how popular "vampire stories" are now, and in part, without Stoker's story, I'm not sure we'd even have the genre.

Chapter Two gives a vivid description of Dracula. I could see him in my mind throughout the story. He is not the Count from Sesame Street! HA!

When the other characters' stories began, I wondered why we were going off in another direction with the story and not staying with the Count and Jonathan. Listening to Mina & Lucy's letters back and forth made progress in the story slow for me, but then they finally connected to the Count.

I liked Van Helsing's role in the story. I was amazed at how fast he could travel from England to Amsterdam, so I wondered for awhile if he was "inflicted" or not.

There was a reference to a character being a "stranger in a strange land." I wondered if that is where Robert Heinlein got the title for his book.

I'm glad that Mina was a strong, female character. She played a crucial role in helping make the connections to hunt down Dracula.

Dodger

Bibliography
Pratchett, Terry. Dodger. Read by Stephen Briggs. Harper Audio. 2012. Audiobook.

image from: www.amazon.com


My Thoughts
As I listened to this book, I kept thinking of Charles' Dickens' Great Expectations. In fact, "Charlie" Dickens is even mentioned in this story.

Dodger is a tosher-a person who goes through the sewers of London looking for lost/valuable things. When he stops a lady from being abducted, his fortune changes. Several important people enter his life to help this young lady (who turns out to be someone of prominence herself).

I enjoyed the narrator's voice in this book. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd like to listen to a story set in England, but the narrator (and Pratchett's writing), made it work for me. The story has mystery (who is this girl and why are people after her?). The story has political & socio-economic issues (Dodger's upbringing) as well as a romance. There is subtle humor and even murder.

Dodger's friend becomes a moral compass and guide for living like a gentleman. Again, this reminded me of Pip in Great Expectations.

As it has been a few months since listening to the book and writing this post, I can't remember all of the book, but I do still think about Dodger toshing in the sewers and that made me think of "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Rowe.

Beautiful Creatures

Bibliography
Garcia, Kami and Margaret Stohl. Beautiful Creatures. Read by Kevin T. Collins with Eve Bianco. Hachette Audio. 2012. Audiobook.

Image from:http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kami-garcia/beautiful-creatures/9781619698437/#details



Plot summary (from the publisher)
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. - 

My Thoughts
I've seen this book come across the counter many times, so I put it in my mental "to read someday" pile. When I got the opportunity to get a free audiobook, I was excited. I began listening and found it easy to keep up with the many characters (and there are many!). I also found that I enjoyed the music that accompanied certain scenes, and wondered how that music looked in the print source (was it there or just something added for the audiobook?).

I liked the tie-in and references to Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird (which I'm seeing now as a coincidental pattern for the year). For example, the dog's name is Boo.

The story itself is a teenage love story, with some mystery and rushed drama.There is humor. There is rushed and contrived plot. When, as a listener, I was questioning something, it was if the narrator heard me and then answered.

The readers in the story did not have consistent dialects, and I wondered if there were just too many characters for two people to "voice." [This is a complaint against the audiobook, not the story].

I LOVED that there was a secret library in the real library. YEA!

Uncle Macon refers to mortals as "Beautiful Creatures" hence, the book title.

Even though I know there are several books in the series, I do like that Book 1 ends with the song changing from "16 moons" to "17 moons"--a sure clue to the reader/listener there is more story. I will probably pick up the second book, but not immediately.

After the story, there was a lengthy interview of the authors included in the audiofile. I enjoyed hearing their process of co-writing this book and how their own personal lives are included in the story.

After I listened to the book (which I enjoyed), I watched the movie. I know that liberties must be taken and that a movie is never as good as the book, but honestly, I thought the movie was HORRIBLE! I'd read the book and was lost while watching the movie. I guess some of the explanation is left on the cutting floor.

Sold

McCormick, Patricia. Sold. New York: Hyperion, 2006. Print.
image from: patriciamccormick.com



Plot summary (from the inside cover)
"Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Her family is desperately poor...Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid working for a wealthy woman in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi undertakes the long journey to India and arrives at 'Happiness House' full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution."

My Thoughts
The content of the book made this a tough read. How can young girls (9-18) be subjected to this kind of life, and we (the rest of the world) seemingly do NOTHING to change their plight? Well, that's not exactly true. There are many people trying to stop this form of slavery.

The novel is written in verse form. It starts with her meager life in the mountains. Her stepfather accepts 800 rupees for her (McCormick 53). Does he know where she's really going and what she'll have to do? When she packs, she has:

my bowl, 

my hairbrush, 

the notebook my teachers gave me for being the number one

girl in school, 

and my bedroll.

Inside my head I carry: 

my baby goat, 

my baby brother,

my ama's face, 

our family's future. 

My bundle is light.

My burden is heavy. (McCormick 60)

On her journey, she learns that if she tries to run away, her head will be shaved and she will be publicly disgraced. When she arrives at Happiness House, she wonders if this is "where the movie stars live" (McCormick 91). That broke my heart seeing that she was still so hopeful for her future. Just a few pages later, she learns what her future really will be. She must do whatever she is asked to do. 

McCormick writes a powerful story that has stayed with me. I think about the countless girls (and boys) who are promised things and then must endure such atrocities because they "owe" their captive. When Lakshmi decides she will work hard to pay off her debt, she quickly learns that her "expenses" are never met with the money she's made. She is devastated. "Because if [another girl] is right, everything I've done here, everything that's been done to me, was for nothing" (McCormick 239). She does get hope to escape, but even that is painful. "This affliction--hope--is so cruel and stubborn, I believe it will kill me" (McCormick 256). 

Even though her character is fictional, McCormick writes about the research she did to create Lakshmi's story. 

Splintered/Unhinged/Ensnared

Bibliography
Howard, A. G. Splintered. New York: Amulet Books, 2013. Print.
Howard, A. G. Unhinged. New York: Amulet Books, 2014. Print.
Howard, A. G. Ensnared. New York: Amulet Books, 2015. Print.

image from :www.maximumpop.co.uk

My Thoughts:

I thought I'd write about this series instead of each book at a time. I met A.G. Howard two years ago at library conference. Book Two's cover was being unveiled. (Oh, it is SO pretty!). I got my book autographed and it stayed on the shelf. The next year at library conference, I saw her again, and got the second book autographed (and a picture with her. I think we could be sisters!). Finally, this summer, I started reading this Alice in Wonderland retelling. Except it isn't, but it is.

Howard takes a story and weaves Lewis Carroll into it. We see some "corrections" to Carroll's story.I enjoyed reading the details. I took my time while to imagine the scenes, characters and places that Howard describes. I was transported to another place through the books.

When I started reading Unhinged, I started making notes for this blog. Well, 2 1/2 months have passed since reading these books, and I'm just now blogging. I was stuck in what to say. How much detail do I give you or do I let you experience the story for yourself? (This wins.). When I read the third book, I marked pages or "interesting" things that I thought I would include here. I'm not doing that after all. I think I could reread this series and have different passages that "speak" to me. Truly, this is a series that will either capture you or drive you mad (pun intended).  There are a few flaws with the story (especially for me in the third book. I didn't like the jump in time nor the Epilogue insertion).

I'm not much of an Alice in Wonderland person. I didn't grow up with those stories (which is now on my to read pile), but I very much enjoyed Howard's spin and infusion of Wonderland. I very much enjoyed the details and characters. I liked almost playing detective while reading, figuring out how things connected together. I enjoyed the attention to detail that Howard writes that made the story truly come alive in my brain. I liked how the covers mirrored the characters in the book (sometimes the book covers don't fit. I think the person who created all three beauties actually read the book!).

I read all three books in this series with just reading a few minutes a day. This is a very descriptive series that will attract fantasy lovers, readers who enjoy classic stories retold, and those who enjoy a good versus evil driven plot.

Zebulon Pike: Explorer and Soldier

Bibliography
Doak, Robin S. Zebulon Pike: Explorer and Soldier. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2006. Print.
image from: www.amazon.com
My Thoughts
With only 95 pages of text, this was a super quick read, exactly what I wanted to learn more about Zebulon Pike. I'm heading to Colorado this summer, so I wanted to refresh why Pike's Peak was named. The book only spends a few sentences on this topic. The rest of the book gave me more information about Zebulon Pike's life.

Pike's Peak
Pike was an explorer. On one trip, he was sent to the western mountains to explore and find the source of the Arkansas and Red rivers (Doak 45). In November of 1806, he found a very large mountain that "in his journal, Pike named the mountain Grand Peak. He was convinced it would never be scaled or climbed" (Doak 60). Many years later, in 1842, John Charles Fremont recorded "in his journal that he had spotted 'Pike's Peak.' The name stuck, even though Pike never made it to the top" (Doak 60).

Other interesting facts about this mountain that Doak records:

• it is more than 14,100 feet high
• in 1820, four Americans climbed to the top
• motto for many miners was "Pike's Peak or Bust!"
• in 1893, Katharine Lee Bates "was so impressed by her trip to the top...she wrote the lyrics to the song 'America the Beautiful'" (60).

While on this same expedition, conditions became very harsh for Pike and his fellow travelers. In fact, the group had to be split. When Pike sent relief parties back, some of the men "spent along pieces of their gangrene-ridden toes, begging Pike not to abandon them" (Doak 69). These men would be later rescued by Spanish troops. 

As I really didn't know about Pike, I found out that on one exploration, he was captured by the Spanish and held prisoner. "Pike was housed  with Juan Pedro Walker, a New Orleans native who spoke Spanish, French and English" (Doak 80). I found it humorous that Walker asked Pike to pay rent while living there.

The Spanish thought Pike was a spy. Even after they released him, his reputation was tainted by his association with others. He did write a book about his explorations, but it caused the publisher to go bankrupt.

My objective was met with this book's content, and I learned a little more than I expected.

  

Rebecca

Bibliography
Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca. Read by Anna Massey. Hachette Audio. 2014. Audiobook.
image from: www.amazon.com

My Thoughts
I listened to this book. Anna Massey did a phenomenal job reading. I found myself mimicking her voice and pronunciation to certain things. She also had a creepiness about her voice with a few characters that added to the suspense of the book.

Plot summary (from Amazon) "The reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten—a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife—the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca."

The book was originally published in 1938 and is 27 chapters long. As I was listening, I kept thinking, "Where's the action? This is supposed to be a suspense novel? How long is this going to drag on? Oh, this is so British!" Then, I hit the apex chapter and got very excited. I wanted to hear more. I had to know what was going to happen. In fact, I was at scrapbook retreat listening to this book! I had to find out what was next for these characters. When I finished the book, I was surprised. I expected one resolution only to find a different one. The story continues until the very last word. WOW! 

We are never told the narrator's first name. We are, however, told of Rebecca, the late first wife of Maxim de Winter. As the unnamed second Mrs. de Winter imagines what life was like or scenes from her husband's past or scenes of how something should occur, I thought about how we all do that--imagine scenarios. The narrator has quite the imagination of what life MUST have been like at Manderley with the beautiful late wife. Boy, was she wrong!

I'm not sure if I read this book, I would have stuck with it. However, listening to it was a great experience.