The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

So I must admit, I really had no interest in this book at first, with all the hysteria of the movie and all. But I decided to give it a chance, and I was pleasantly surprised. The writing was fluent and seamless, language beautiful, and even though some parts weren't historically accurate Gregory make you feel like it was possible for it to have happened. Plus, I didn't realize how in-depth her research for this book was, and I must admit, I was impressed.

The main vocialization of the novel comes from the lesser known Boleyn, Mary, and I really felt that when the story opened and Mary was a young girl that I could see her maturing and growing up with the book. It just didn't jump from one age to another, it flowed very well, and I think that was a major strong point of this novel.

My Father Had A Daughter by Grace Tiffany

Before I begin I would like to add that even though I had Dr. Tiffany last year for my Shakespeare class, it has no influence of why I loved this book. It merely means that I found this book in the first place. Anyway this book was right up my ally, it was a historical fiction-esq of Judith Shakespeare's life. From what I know of her, most of the things that happen to her are pretty much made up, but I could always be wrong about some of the stuff. But it is an interesting tale none the less. If flows well from her childhood and the death of her twin brother (who she believes most of her life that it was her fault that he drowned and the source of her rage because she also blames her father.), to her several years later leaving for London and pretending to be a young boy which results in her joining her father's company (which was her plan all along).

After being discovered by Nathan Hale and her father she is sent back home and that's when the story gets a little slower, but it is still very good. She grows up, and eventually goes back to London, and her father returns, she gets married, and that's about it. Possibly the most exciting thing about the second half of the book is that Judith returns to London and picks up a "relationship" with Nathan, and as much as I wanted them to get married and live happily ever after, I knew deep down that this couldn't happen.

One of the reasons why I liked the book so much is because it was a quick read and as I mentioned earlier the writing flows very well. Dr. Tiffany meshed the modern English language and the old language very well. And unlike one of her other books Will I could understand what the characters were saying right off the bat. Which, don't get me wrong, a challenge is nice every now and then, but with the term i just got done with, it was a pleasant surprise.

So over all I'll give it a 4 (I'm docking it a point because I can be surprisenly petty when it comes to romance stuff in books. ;D )

The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

Book six begins by reminding the reader that the Quagmire triplets are still being held hostage, and that the Baudelaire orphans are off to yet another new home. This time things actually look good. They’ll be staying with the Squalors in their fancy penthouse. The Baudelaire siblings actually return to their hometown but a few blocks away, on Dark Avenue, the trendiest place in the city. This is epically evident in Esme one of their new guardians, mainly because it would appear that orphans are “in”. As the story progresses, the siblings find that Olaf is posing as Guther the “in-est” auctioneer in town. They attempt to find his hiding spot, which they think is in the abandoned elevator shaft. But instead they find the Quagmire triplets. But alas, no matter what they do, they get stolen away again, this time in a large stuffed fish, and the actual one adult that seemed to care about them, Jerome, abandons them.

I must say though, this book was a bit of a disappointment, epically because I enjoyed the last one so much. I didn’t think that there was a whole lot of plot to this one, only that they lived in the great place, have a great guardian in Jerome, and you know it won’t stay like that. But Olaf didn’t have his usual ever-looming presents in this one. It just kind of seemed he let Esme run the show. Though I must admit, having Esme turn out to be one of Olaf’s cronies, was a wonderful surprise, I like the new introduction of characters and them appearing in more than one book.

Just as a random thought, I’ve noticed more and more of how people with good hearts are typically portrayed as weak. For example, Phil in the Miserable Mill, and Steven (I think that was his name) in The Austere Academy and now Jerome in this book. These three guys are portrayed as weak individuals with good hearts, and you could even though Aunt Josephine in the The Wide Window as being weak but had a good heart. And yet, despite them being good people, it seems like they won’t ever stand up for themselves, and are content with not making waves. Maybe it’s because their scared, or maybe they really don’t want to make waves, but it is becoming more of a theme with each passing book.


So, I guess I'll have to give this book a 2.3 (I added a .3 becuase it made me think a litte about character patterns.).

Cymbeline by William Shakespeare

Cymbeline was one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote before it all came to a close. It’s a Tragicomedy, and contains all the parts a tragicomedy should. It has a happy ending, but still has Cloten’s head being lobbed off in Act IV, and of course the evil Queen dies just after she goes mad at the end of the play. I thought this was one of the easier plays to read, but than again that might just because I’m getting used to the language. I though there were very funny parts, for example of the interchange between Imogen and Cloten after his failed attempt to woo her and Imogen tells him he’s not worthy of Posthumus’ “means’t garment”, and he just can’t seem to get over that. And it has creepy moments, like when Iachimo is in Imogen’s room and sneaking around very stalkerish. However, what I didn’t like was how the ending seemed so rushed. It just kind of seemed that all the loose ends were being tossed together just so it could end.

In my opinion, the most fascinating character relationships to discuss are that of Imogen and Posthumus. I find it interesting that Imogen is put on such a high pedestal and that she is nearly perfect. So should Posthumus have the right to brag in his exile about the faithful ness of his wife? One should think so, but it is that attitude that got him into trouble. Iachimo ended up tricking Posthumus and in a way it lead to Imogen getting into all that trouble later on. It almost cost her, her life when Cloten was seeking after her. And at the end, even though she was disguised at the time, Posthumus strikes her. I don’t know it’s just kind of weird and complex with a simple ending.

All in all I think I’m giving it 3 out of 5.

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

Okay. I know it doesn’t sound like I’m taking this seriously when I start with a children’s lit. book, but it just so happened to be what I finished this past week, so bear with me. This blog is going to be about all the types of books that I read. And I do enjoy children’s lit, especially when my brain needs a rest from college material. Plus I haven't read this series, I thought that I’d give it a shot.

So, The Austere Academy is the fifth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. It picks up where the last book (The Miserable Mill) left off. Mr. Poe takes the Baudelaire Orphans to Prufrock Preparatory School, where they met the awful Vice Principal Nero, two of the three Quagmire triplets and the awful Carmelita Spats. Not to mention Count Olaf in disguised again, as "The finest gym teacher in the world".

Actually I like most of this book. I thought it was a lot better than The Miserable Mill, this might sound crazy but I thought this one pulled on my heart stings more. Granted, child labor sucks in any story, but having you’re friends being kidnapped when all they were trying to do was help, yea, pulls on the strings a bit.

That brings me to the Quagmire triplets. Now, they were very interested characters. I like that they were there to relate to the Violet, Klaus and Sunny, and that for once they had someone sane on their side. However, I’m not sure how that them getting kidnapped, and having the Count with him is going to play out into the next story (if at all, maybe he’ll just kill them off…). In my own little fantasy world, it all works out, but this series is not meant for happy endings, is it?

At first I really didn’t like the whole concept for Olaf making the orphans doing S.O.R.E. (Special Orphan Running Exercises) all night and really did not see the point of it at first. But as I got to the last few chapters I began to realize how it fit it. And I was pleasantly surprised.

The one thing that really started to bug me was Snicket’s rants about Beatrice. Now, normally I love those rants, they are what make the books fun and not horribly tragic all the time. But mention it once, cool. Twice…all right. Three…please stop. But hey, if that’s my only grip, than well done.

I know this is a pretty lame over view and review, but I’m doing this without the book in front of me, I had to turn it back into the library because I got it though MELcat. I promise a better one next time.

All in all I give it 3.5 out of five.