Books Ninety Five and Ninety Six
Nov. 2nd, 2010 11:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spooky_missRegarding the last entry, all my anxieties were unfounded and I had a brilliant time! Whitby is such a lovely place, and I love the seaside, so to have it combined with goths is just brilliant, hehe! Everyone just looks so lovely as well - I wish people dressed up that smart "normally", especially the men! I will write a longer entry soon, with pictures of Katie's award winning costume, haha, but just thought I'd write a short comment for now! One particularly amusing moment was when someone drove past, deliberately slowed down and shouted out the window "get some proper clothes"....I was wearing a primark velvet skirt and a dorothy perkins top, and Katie had on a long pinstripe skirt and a primark top!!! And I bet you the person in the car was wearing leggings or a tracksuit or something - I bet all the goths were dressed far more "proper" than them anyway!!
I've decided for this next "challenge" day I'll combine my book reviews with the "fictional book" day.
day 13 → a fictional book
Book Ninety Five - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
This tells the story of Fanny Price, who is bought to live at her cousins grand house from her own poorer family, and brought up with her rich cousins. I've read other books by Jane Austen, but I did find this confusing in places, although it got better towards the end. As in all the Austen books I've read, part of the main focus is on finding the girls of the family suitable husbands, but there is also a bit about the friendships which the family have with each other and their various relatives and friends. One thing which I have found difficult in Austen's books - although not in other older books - is that there are so many rules of society which the characters do and do not follow, that I get a bit lost. For example in this book there was something about a group of young people putting on a play - but then when the father came home there was a big scandal about them putting a play on? I was confused as to why it was so bad! I know I'm looking at it with modern eyes, but I can usually work out why, but I was confused this time! Overall it was an ok book, but not the best Austen I've read. 7 / 10
Book Ninety Six - The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne
I have been wanting to read this book for ages, so I was really pleased that the new book club I have joined have chosen this as their book for this time. I will try and write this review without any spoilers, as I want everyone to read it! :) It follows the story of Georgy, who at the beginning stops a Grand Duke of Russia being killed by an assassin's bullet - fired by Georgy's best friend - and is taken to St Petersburg to be a friend / bodyguard of Alexei, the youngest son of the Tzar. He is not told at first about his haemophilia (not sure if thats spelt right..) so doesn't at first realise how serious his role is, but they do tell him in the end. It describes how Georgy's life changes, while the lives of the Tzar and his family are changing due to the political changes going on in Russia at that time (1915 - 1918). It also has about the influence of Rasputin on family. The book is also one of those ones which goes back and forward in time, so in between the chapters about Georgy's life in Russia, there are also stories set in the more present day (well, from 1970s - 1980s) about his life in London with his wife Zoya. It is clear that there is something in their past, related to their time in Russia, which they are trying to hide, and all through the book you are trying to work out what it is. I really like books like this, and I liked this one better as I am really interested in Russian history from this period. The book describes Georgy and Zoya's life, what they've suffered with through their life - their daughter dying, and some events which happened in Paris before they moved to London - and how they are thinking about them more as Zoya is now dying. The ending made me cry as well, although there was a slight moment of predictability which was a little disappointing! I'd definately recommend this book to everyone though - especially if you like Russian history. 10 / 10
I've got one more book to write about, which was also brilliant, and my review of Whitby, but I think I'll leave them for another time. I think now I'm only one book out in my count on the internet and in the book i write everything down in - on here I've read 97 books and on paper i've only read 96! So I think I need to re-count them somewhere. Hopefully I don't have to go too far back to edit the numbers!!
The Rest Of The Days
day 14 → a non-fictional book
day 15 → a fanfic
day 16 → a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
day 17 → an art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
day 18 → whatever tickles your fancy
day 19 → a talent of yours
day 20 → a hobbie of yours
day 21 → a recipe
day 22 → a website
day 23 → a YouTube video
day 24 → whatever tickles your fancy
day 25 → an object/a belonging
day 26 → a place
day 27 → a poem
day 28 → a food
day 29 → something that makes you amused
day 30 → whatever tickles your fancy
I've decided for this next "challenge" day I'll combine my book reviews with the "fictional book" day.
day 13 → a fictional book
Book Ninety Five - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
This tells the story of Fanny Price, who is bought to live at her cousins grand house from her own poorer family, and brought up with her rich cousins. I've read other books by Jane Austen, but I did find this confusing in places, although it got better towards the end. As in all the Austen books I've read, part of the main focus is on finding the girls of the family suitable husbands, but there is also a bit about the friendships which the family have with each other and their various relatives and friends. One thing which I have found difficult in Austen's books - although not in other older books - is that there are so many rules of society which the characters do and do not follow, that I get a bit lost. For example in this book there was something about a group of young people putting on a play - but then when the father came home there was a big scandal about them putting a play on? I was confused as to why it was so bad! I know I'm looking at it with modern eyes, but I can usually work out why, but I was confused this time! Overall it was an ok book, but not the best Austen I've read. 7 / 10
Book Ninety Six - The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne
I have been wanting to read this book for ages, so I was really pleased that the new book club I have joined have chosen this as their book for this time. I will try and write this review without any spoilers, as I want everyone to read it! :) It follows the story of Georgy, who at the beginning stops a Grand Duke of Russia being killed by an assassin's bullet - fired by Georgy's best friend - and is taken to St Petersburg to be a friend / bodyguard of Alexei, the youngest son of the Tzar. He is not told at first about his haemophilia (not sure if thats spelt right..) so doesn't at first realise how serious his role is, but they do tell him in the end. It describes how Georgy's life changes, while the lives of the Tzar and his family are changing due to the political changes going on in Russia at that time (1915 - 1918). It also has about the influence of Rasputin on family. The book is also one of those ones which goes back and forward in time, so in between the chapters about Georgy's life in Russia, there are also stories set in the more present day (well, from 1970s - 1980s) about his life in London with his wife Zoya. It is clear that there is something in their past, related to their time in Russia, which they are trying to hide, and all through the book you are trying to work out what it is. I really like books like this, and I liked this one better as I am really interested in Russian history from this period. The book describes Georgy and Zoya's life, what they've suffered with through their life - their daughter dying, and some events which happened in Paris before they moved to London - and how they are thinking about them more as Zoya is now dying. The ending made me cry as well, although there was a slight moment of predictability which was a little disappointing! I'd definately recommend this book to everyone though - especially if you like Russian history. 10 / 10
I've got one more book to write about, which was also brilliant, and my review of Whitby, but I think I'll leave them for another time. I think now I'm only one book out in my count on the internet and in the book i write everything down in - on here I've read 97 books and on paper i've only read 96! So I think I need to re-count them somewhere. Hopefully I don't have to go too far back to edit the numbers!!
The Rest Of The Days
day 14 → a non-fictional book
day 15 → a fanfic
day 16 → a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
day 17 → an art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
day 18 → whatever tickles your fancy
day 19 → a talent of yours
day 20 → a hobbie of yours
day 21 → a recipe
day 22 → a website
day 23 → a YouTube video
day 24 → whatever tickles your fancy
day 25 → an object/a belonging
day 26 → a place
day 27 → a poem
day 28 → a food
day 29 → something that makes you amused
day 30 → whatever tickles your fancy
