With the excessive heat and sunshine of August, I spent less time reading and writing and more time at the pool! I completed seven books, and am in progress with a couple others. I know that I will miss the ease of summer when the winter snows arrive, but I am definitely looking forward to the cool days of Nebraska autumn.
August put me at 70 books read so far this year--30 more to reach my goal! Without further ado, my August booklist:
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy ★★★★/5
I love the untamed drama of Thomas Hardy's novels. If you think everything has gone wrong for a character, think again. It always gets worse. Almost without fail, Hardy's characters 'get what's coming to them' everytime; no action is without consequence. The Mayor of Casterbridge in particular highlighted how envy and greed can entirely twist and form a person's character. I would still rate Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd as my favorite Hardy novels, but this one was also quite intriguing.
I made the mistake of reading four Moriarty novels in a row, so the lines are blurring a bit, but I think this is my favorite. Spoiler alert--you find out within the first few pages that Alice, the title character, is suffering from accident-induced amnesia and has 'lost' 10 years of her memory. In essence, she feels like the person she was 10 years prior, which turns out to be radically different than her current self. I found myself considering for days after, what would my life look like if this happened to me? It was quite thought provoking!
I enjoyed this Moriarty novel also. My major complaint with her books overall is they are all lengthy without a cause. This book, like the others, could have been edited down significantly. That aside, I enjoyed the plot of this novel, and the characters felt like they could be real people. I particularly enjoyed the way she wrote from different perspectives throughout the novel. I am looking forward to watching the show at some point, although a friend has warned me of its inconsistencies with the book.
Truly Madly Guilty dragged on and on. I found it to be fairly anti-climactic, kind of like this review, but at least this is short.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ★★★★★/5
I just finished Pride and Prejudice for my upcoming bookclub meeting and it grows more delightful with every perusal. I laugh, I cry, and I sometimes get so angry with Lydia that I throw my book. Jane Austen has an uncanny ability to portray people just as they are. She doesn't hyperbolize their faults or their admirable qualities; all of her characters feel like they could be real people, even 200 years later. This novel is definitely in my top ten favorite books of all time (ooo I need to do a post on this topic). Well worth a read (or a reread...or a re-reread).
Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic by Esther Perel ★★/5
Woof. A friend recommended this to me, and while a very small portion of this book brought about interesting thoughts and conversations (ie you are a person independent of your partner even after marriage and it's good to remember that), I would say that overall it was very sad. The utter selfishness that is the drive of the sexual relationships given as examples in this book is the actual problem, not domesticity or eroticism. I found myself feeling upset for all of these couples who were using each other for pleasure, got bored, and then wondered why they weren't happy. In short, the vibe was "hooray sexual revolution and sex without consequences (lol false dichotomy); we no longer know how to be basic humans in a relationship because we are so selfish, but hooray sexual revolution for making everything awesome." There were so many issues with the logic (or lack thereof) that I'm not going to take the time to elaborate on. In short, I do not recommend. You'd be much better off reading Love and Responsibility or Theology of the Body.
Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy ★★★/5
I could hardly believe this was a Thomas Hardy novel. Unlike all of his other books I've read (Tess, FFMC, Jude the Obscure, Mayor of Casterbridge) this novel was sweet and whimsical. I won't read it again, but the gentle romance and hilarious church choir made it well worth my time.
