August Status Report

August was a good month! I've discovered two classics worthy of the title of "one of my FAVORITE books." Jane Eyre and The Picture of Dorian Gray were revelations.

After I finished Jane Eyre, I spent the next week watching the two big miniseries done on the book. The oldest one was most faithful to the book, practically walking you through page-by-page (and taking 8 wonderful hours to do it). The newer version from 2006 took a few liberties, but nothing completely out of left field. I think I enjoyed it more, because I enjoyed the actor who played Rochester more. He really made the character come alive and helped me see why Jane loved him.

I also watched the film version of Dorian Gray, which was riveting. It's fun to enjoy these books so much on the page and then see them come to life on the screen. I was talking with a friend the other day who told me she won't allow her son to watch a book-based movie until he's read the book first. I thought that was a nice policy! Let your kid use his own imagination about the characters before subjecting him to someone else's vision.

BOOK 65: The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: The writer finds himself in Hell boarding a bus bound for Heaven. The amazing opportunitiy is that anyone who wants to stay in Heaven, can. Lewis's revolutionary idea is that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside.

I read this book back in February. My book club was reading it for August, though, and I wanted to re-read it. So I'm counting it again!

This book only gets better on the second reading. I didn't spend so much time stumbling around the allegory, but I could dive right into the meat of these conversations between the angels of Heaven and their visitors. It opened my eyes to the vices and characteristics that might keep me from progressing in the eternities. The big, overarching one: Pride. Other obstacles: Unforgiving, selfish, unloving, disdain for truth, nagging, etc... Extremely fascinating. Again.

BOOK 64: Raising Happiness, by Christine Carter

Rating: 3 stars

Cover synopsis: A wide array of scientific studies show that happiness is a learned behavior, a muscle we can help our children build and maintain.

This book didn't tell me much of anything I didn't already know. I was wondering if there was some secret to raising happy kids, but it's about what I thought. They have to have happy parents, be taught optimism, gratefulness and you have to build a nurturing environment around them. Well...duh.

My favorite part was the 10-step solution to resolving a dispute between your two kids, such as they both want to play with the same toy. Have them sit down, take turns discussing how they feel, have them write it down...Oh, come on! This woman claims she has kids, but I can't think of a single child I know who would make it further than 1 or 2 of the steps.

Still, it was nice to see that I'm doing some things right, and to be reassured that my efforts may not have a huge pay off now, but when they're adults looking back on their childhood.

BOOK 63: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: The passionate love between Jane Eyre, a young girl alone in the world, and the rich, brilliant, domineering Rochester has, ever since its publication in 1847, enthralled readers. It lives as one of the great triumphs of storytelling and as a moving affirmation of the perogatives of the heart in the face of disappointment and misfortune.

I vaguely remember reading this in high school, but apparently it didn't make much of an impression on me. I'm so glad I tried it again. I've been completely absorbed in it all week, hardly able to think of anything else, hiding away so I can read a few pages and, yes, I admit, putting movies on for the kids so I could read a lot of pages!

I'd say this novel rivals -- or exceeds -- some of Jane Austen's work. It's action packed, crammed with emotion, moral dilemmas, secret identities, long lost relatives, fortune, poverty, mysteries in the attic, supernatural voices, and more. Now I'll have to put some of the screen adaptations in my Netflix clue to continue my Jane Eyre fix.

BOOK 62: The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, by Rick Riordan

Rating: 4 stars

Cover synopsis: What would happen if you discovered that your family was one of the most powerful in human history, and that the source of the family's power was hidden around the world? What if you were given a choice -- take a million dollars and walk away or get the first clue? Amy and Dan Cahill take the Clue -- and begin a very dangerous race.

This is a fun new series. It reminds me a lot of the movie National Treasure: The characters have to comb the world -- and history -- to track down clues on a scavenger hunt that will, apparently, save the world. Lots of action, lots of education, lots of mystery.

I only give it 4 stars, though, because a lot of the characters are pretty unbelievable. And the plot was fairly predictable. But still, I enjoyed it, and can't wait to pick up the next clue -- er, I mean, book.

BOOK 61: A Season of Gifts, by Richard Peck

Rating: 4 stars

Cover synopsis: It is 1958 and a new family has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel -- a family in desperate need of her help.

This is the third book in Peck's "A Long Way From Chicago" series that stars Grandma Dowdel. This time, the story is told by her 12-year-old neighbor Bob. Dowdel is in her 90s now, but just as fiesty as ever.

I love a good holiday-themed book. And "A Season of Gifts" was an entertaining read. Peck has a penchant for great anecdotes -- especially the story about Mrs. Dowdel recruiting Bob to go cut down a Christmas tree (and "borrow" his father's car to do it despite the fact that he doesn't know how to drive). But I didn't feel it was quite of the calibur of the first two books in the series. Bob is more of an observer -- I don't feel like he grew or learned much over the period of the book, whereas in the other two books the narrators gain some interesting insights.

Still, Peck hasn't lost his talent for story telling. But I must say, by book 3, I'm starting to wonder how anyone in that town could doubt that despite her crusty exterior, Mrs. Dowdel has a heart of gold. Isn't it common knowledge by now?

BOOK 60: The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

Rating: 2 stars

Cover synopsis: Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality, and literature is taken very, very seriously. When someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature, it's up to Special Operative Thursday Next to track down the villain and enter a novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide.

The synopsis of this book sounds pretty silly. But it got rave reviews and was a New York Times Bestseller. The Wall Street Journal calls it "Monty Python, Harry Potter, Stephen Hawking and Buffy the Vampire Slayer" rolled into one. How could I resist?

Turns out, it is as silly as the synopsis. It was really unbelievable. People are time traveling, cloning and popping in and out of books for no apparent reason. Then Fforde throws in vampires, werewolves, bullet-proof villains and mad scientists. Really? With each turn of the page my eye-rolling got bigger. I'm all for creativity, but this was downright outlandish.

I did, however, enjoy the storyline of Thursday's lost love, and how she helps reconcile Jane Eyre. Though, it's worth noting that the book may be called "The Eyre Affair," but Bronte's novel doesn't even come into play until chapter 27 -- page 264. Sigh.

BOOK 59: The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Rating: 3 stars

Cover synopsis: Struggling to graduate from NYU, Nanny takes a position caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved to ensure that a Park Avenue wife, who doesn't work, cook, clean, or raise her own child, has a smooth day.

As a funny satire of the uber-rich NYC set, this book had it moments. I found myself rooting for Nanny and Grayer, her charge.

Though, even as a mom, I wondered if I would have the fortitude to withstand some of the situations Nanny found herself in. The humiliation, degredation and utter lack of respect was maddening -- no, it wasn't from the 4-year-old child as you would expect. It was at the hands of the child's parents, particularly his mother.

The book did a good job of describing the feeling of being torn in two directions. On the one hand, wanting to quit because the mother is so hard to work for. But on the other hand, not wanting to leave the child alone with such inconsiderate, petty and distant parents. At the end I'm relieved Nanny got out of there, but heartsick that the child is left behind.

BOOK 58: The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: A young man sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. The dandy remains forever unchanged -- petulant, hedonistic, vain and amoral -- while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years.

Wow. This was an incredible examination of the human mind and soul, good and evil, choice and destiny. I'm sure I will be mulling over it for weeks to come. The Picture of Dorian Gray was an interesting look at the influences that corrupt -- and how one under corrupt influences can in turn influence others.

It shows us how vanity, selfishness and weakness of mind can be not only one's moral downfall, but the means to one's physical end as well. Fascinating.