Book of the Month (TBT - June): JANE EYRE

Of all the books I have ever read (and I have read a lot of them) there is one I like more than others. It's a book that got me trough some though times. The book I'm talking about is labeled as a "classic". I'm a female, so you're probably thinking: "It's Jane Austen. It's always Jane Austen." Well, you'd be wrong. It's still a female author and with familiar topics of writing. And the title also has a Jane in it.

Yey, if you're thinking that the book I'm talking about is Jane Eyre, congratulations are in the order - you were thinking right.

Jane Eyre made my day when I was going through a tough time when I was about eleven or twelve. All of the sudden I felt like I was missing out on life. Everyone knew everything that was going on. I felt lost, and this might sound cliche, but I got a feeling everyone around me knew what they were doing except for me. I had no idea what to do. I've read a lot of books before, but when you're twelve, all of the sudden you realize that books on children and young adults section aren't as interesting as they once were.

I discovered Jane Eyre by accident. I was looking at the books in the library and there was this lovely blue book in soft print. I thought, "Hey, this book looks good and I heard it's supposed to be great." What was the turning point was the fact it was in soft print. All those years ago, it was rare for a book to be in a soft print. And I always choose the longest books. I believe I already had ten other books, so one in soft print wouldn't do much of the difference in the weight I had to carry home (it's a twenty minute walk from the library to my home).

I took my time before reading it. But when I did, I feel right into it. I left the 21st century and traveled back in time on this amazing journey with an orphan from Longwood. Jane Eyre was brave, though and intelligent. She was all I wanted to be and at the time, this book gave me courage to be who I am. To be brave enough to fight for what I want (and it wasn't to party) and stand behind what I believe in. Because no matter what, I had it better that Jane, I had (and still have) a family that loves me, stand by me and supports me. And for a teenager, full of hormones and all about pushing its rights, it was a revelation of the century.

There are a lot of books out there that are labeled as "classics". To me, most of them are boring. Maybe it's because I'm a child of modern age, were everything needs to be filled with suspense and action. Things should always move, stories should always have something going on. Or maybe I just don't understand what all the fuss is about. I don't care if the book is labeled classic or a fan fiction or a biography. As long as it has an interesting story plot to follow and it's well written I'm all for it.

Book Of The Month: E. Bronte: Wuthering Hights

I got so into over my head the past month that I forgot to write Book Of The Month Series for December 2013. But not to worry, I'll write it now. Truly, I hadn't decided which book I want to present for the magical time of December. There are just so many great books that capture that Christmas Spirit we're all talking about in December. I'll do my best and pick one (hopefully) till the end of January and wrote what it's about, what other people say about it, what I think about it and of course, why you should read it.

This time I chose a classic, I picked up from my bookshelf and fell in love with the story all over again. I'm talking about Emily Bronte book Wuthering Heights. I remember a new movie adaption came out not long ago (one or maybe two years) and out of curiosity I checked iMdb to see how many movie adaptation this book has. I counted 10 movies (one had a different titles and some were just a TV movies). Am I the only one who thinks that's a bit much? I mean you'd need more than one day to see all the versions. When I'll have too much hands in my hands I'll definitely do that and wrote all about how they were (I'll rank them from on to ten based on different criteria, like accuracy or hotness of the actors...).

Emily Bronte is one of the writing Bronte sisters (her sister Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre). Wuthering Heights is her only published book, which was published after her death when she was 30 years old. If you want to learn more about her I recommend English Wikipedia or Sparks Notes.

I don't want to write a lot about what the book's about, because then people are either mad because I spoiled them all the important parts, or they think those twenty sentences can replace the entire book and they don't read it at all. But the first type of people at least read it. Story follows the life of Catherine and Headcliff, both of whom grew up on Wuthering Heights. The story starts when Heathcliff is a owner of Wuthering Heights and a man named Lockwood comes to the estate. Lockwood then narrates the story about Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights with the help of house keeper Nelly.

Wuthering Heights is considered one of the best stories in the English literature. With its "wildness" and "rawness" Emily Bronte created a one of a kind story. Even though critics were are still are skeptical about into which literary category the story belongs. The author called it a novel with "a story within a story" and occasionally even "a story within a story within a story", which was highly unusual for the 19. century when the book was written and published. These days some authors write books with more parallel stories that effect one another.

Another word to be used when describing Wuthering Heights is, as I wrote before: a classic. This is one of those books that you just have to read or at least know what's about. I don't know about your high school, but in mine we studied this book. Well , we didn't have to read it, but we had to know what's about, who wrote it, when it was written and stuff like that. I think this is a usable knowledge. I know what you think: "I don't care if some lady wrote a book in 19th century. This was two hundred years ago. That's like old and so out of fashion!" But what if (this is a total cliché, but I think it's still the best reason to have a basic knowledge of, well everything) you'll once meet someone you'll like and they'll loved this book. I don't know about you, but I like to hear from a guy (or girl) that they know what I'm talking about  when they ask me what I love. Mostly because I'm kind of a book nerd. I could talk books all day and night. Seven days a week. Basically all the time. And because the people I meet usually don't ever read something that it's not absolutely mandatory for school or work. With some exceptions that also read Cosmo (female friends) or Penthouse (male friends)  type of publications (this is not entirely true I have friends that read a lot, I just want to make things more black and white and easier to understand).

THE VERDICT:

The book is a classic and it's definitely worth of the time it takes to read it. I found the story a bit too sad and depressing for me, but it's beautifully written and the storyline is wonderfully executed. I think it's a perfect book for book clubs (even if you only read vine labels). The story can be interpreted in many different ways and this can create some interesting conversations and insights of your friends (or whoever is in the same book club) way of thinking and perception. Overall I think you should read it.

xxx

Lucy Jane

Book of the Month November; S. E. Phillips: Just Imagine

After a long time, I finally got my hand on Susan E. Phillips book Just Imagine. The book was first published in 1984 with a title Risen Glory. It was out of print for a long time, but the fans of miss Phillips demanded that its re-print. And they (we) got it. The author changed it a bit and the book got a new title: Just Imagine.

The story is the same in the both books, so it doesn't matter whether you got the Risen Glory or Just Imagine. But if you're not very fond of old books, than you'll probably read the Just Imagine version, like me.

The story takes place after the Civil War, when Kit Weston, comes to New York from a small southern town. She is dressed as a boy, and is on the mission to get back the only thing that matters to her, The Risen Glory plantation. To do that, she is convinced she has to kill the Yankee that inherited it. Yankee is Colonel Chain, whose late mother that left him the plantation was Kit's stepmother.

As it turns out Chain didn't only inherited the plantation, but is also appointed as Kit's guardian. They reach an unusual agreement, that sends Kit at a New York's finest school for ladies, and Chain to the South, where he takes care of The Risen Glory plantation.

The next time they meet, Kit is all grown up and... Well for more you'll have to read the book.

I liked the story, and I read it in less that a day. Or maybe it was because I wanted to read it for more than three years now and got my hands on it just recently. As I said, the book is good, maybe I'll even read it more than once, but the truth is, I prefer the books that S. E. Phillips set in the present (like Ain't She Sweet or What I Did For Love or Breathing Room). I read all of her books and I liked them all (except for Hot Shot, I just can't make myself to read it again from the beginning to the end, because the first time I read it I was in a hurry and read the first and last three chapters. Oh, and Hot Shot is also the only romance book I read that has a different end; The heroin doesn't end up with the guy she fell in love at the beginning.), but Just Imagine is different. If I'm not mistaken, it was S. E. Phillips first book and the story is set in a completely different area and time than the rest of her stories.

THE VERDICT:

The book is worth reading on a cloudy, grey day, because it will definitely cheer you up.

I would give it four stars (mainly because I prefer her other stories and know that she can write even better stories than Just Imagine)

Fer-well, my fellow bookworms,

Lucy Jane