“The Beauty of the House is infinite; its kindness immeasurable.”
Piranesi knows the House, a labrynth, like the back of his hand. He knows its vestibules and many hallways, where the statues lie, where to get food and where to go for safety. He is the only there except for the Other, the person he meets up with two times a week to help with his project of Great Knowledge. Then one day the Other warns him about a third person who has entered the house and is extremely dangerous. But as Piranesi begins to uncover the truth behind the third person, he learns that not is all as it seems with the house, who he is or how he got there.
If there was one criticism that some members of book club had, it was that the story was so slow, but I would argue that is what is its strength. Susanna Clarke ensures that the reader is totally immersed in Piranesi’s world, that each day’s adventure to another part of the house is just as exciting. So then Clarke peels back the layers of truth one by one, we are just as shocked as Piranesi.
It’s the final reveal that made a huge impact. It centers on who Piranesi is and how he came to be that is so tragic, but at the same time bittersweet. In the end, one as to wonder who Piranesi chooses to be.
That is the question that I posed to my book club members. He wasn’t who he was when he first entered the house and he isn’t “Piranesi” so who is he? Clarke does a great job in describing the effects of psychological trauma without it being in your face. Some would argue that it is too vague but I think it’s nuanced enough that the reader can understand what Clarke is trying to say without her saying it directly.
So this week’s Top 10 Tuesday is a genre freebie and I struggled with it a bit. I really didn’t know what I wanted to write about. As I did some research, epistolary novels caught my eye.
OK, I had a genre, but what about it? I began to peruse the few books that I had read that fit into that category. It dawned on me that most of the epistolary novels that I have read and loved have been by female authors. Not sure if that is a coincidence or not, but all the same, it was an interesting tidbit I thought I would share. So here are the ones that I keep on my shelf because they either really affected me or I adore them.
Spring is coming! At least one can hope. In upstate NY, we tend to get what we like to call “fake Spring”, when we get a few days of warm weather and then winter comes back with either a snowstorm or freezing temperatures. Typically we really don’t see consistently warm weather until April/May. However, considering how cold and snowy this winter has been, I will take those few sporadic warm days gladly. In fact, I saw this coming Saturday is supposed to be 54 degrees. I couldn’t be happier.
Now on to reading for the month. I have an ambitious reading list but I am ahead on my blog and on YouTube (I have a planner channel). That leaves me time to get more reading time in at night after I get home from work and get my son to bed. It’s the routine I have been trying to get to. Whether I have succeeded remains to be seen. I also have a lot of books on my reading list that are books I have been wanting to get to. Though I do have my book club reads on here, one is short and the other is one I was looking forward to.
My March book for the Capital District Book Club for the theme of young adult. I have seen this book around the book community when it first came out and I was intrigued by it, but never picked it up. I am glad that I finally get to, especially because it revolves around Native American culture, something that I think we need more literature on. I have heard nothing but good things about this and the fact that it has received numerous awards makes me all the more excited to read it.
This is the April discussion title for my Modern Library Book Club. John Banville is an author that keep popping up on authors to read for me and I am glad that I am finally getting around to him. From what I have read, this book centers on a man who returns to childhood town to reflect on his life after the passing of his wife. We have read a lot of books in this book club lately about older people who reflect on their life and they have all left me with something. I am sure this book is going to do the same. I have heard nothing but beautiful things about this one.
This has been on my bookshelf for a few years. It was supposed to be a book we read in a friend’s book club but I never got around to it. As I perused my shelves, the premise caught my attention. I read the first page or two and found myself smiling and getting engrossed. I know it’s about a promise the main character makes to share the story of an older woman’s life upon her passing and the things that come to light from that story. I am definitely intrigued. This book has gotten mixed reviews so I want to get it off my TBR and find out what the hype is about.
I absolutely loved “The Dictionary of Lost Words” and this is another book about books. This time, it’s about a woman who works in a bindery at a press. And it appears, that Williams will once again delve into the themes of who creates the tools of knowledge, who has access to it and the things that get lost in the process. These were the themes that made me fall in love with her other novel so I can’t wait to see how she tackles it here.
Ann Hood is an automatic read for me and I am slowly making my through her backlist. I realized that I still had not read her newest novel which takes place during World War I. What I love about Ann Hood is how she can weave dual story lines in separate time periods or places, and make them connect in the end. It’s why I fell in love with “The Obituary Writer”, my introduction to her writing, “The Book That Matter Most”.
This is probably the oldest unread book on my shelf. I remember “stealing” this book from my sister when I was still a girl, but it has lived on my shelves ever since. I have tried reading it multiple times but for some reason I just always end up putting it down and then reading something else. So why now? I really need to get this off my TBR once and for all. I was looking for a classic to read and realized that I missed the spin for the Classics Club which was at the beginning of Feburary. However, since this was the book on my Classics Club list I would have gotten to read until the end of March, I figured I can loosely participate.
Curse the name D’Uberville. As soon as the Durbeyfield family finds out their lineage hails from this well-known namesake, Tess Durbeyfield’s fate is changed forever. No matter what decision she seems to make, it is always the wrong one, something that ends up putting her or those she loves in danger or fated with ill luck.
Tess’ first mishap occurs when she ignores her gut’s warning of foreboding and succumbs to her family’s insistence that she go to Tantridge to be known to the D’Ubervilles that live there. It is this decision that ends up changing the trajectory of Tess’ life, one marked with hardship, heartbreak, and despair. Even when she does find reprieve and even love in her life, it all is taken away when people learn about her past.
Some may say Tess is partially to blame. Some things she could have avoided if she had made better decisions or just communicated, instead of keeping silent. Sometimes she appears too hasty, charged with emotions that put her in harm’s way. Yet one can’t help feel sorry for her. She always tries to put things to right and is somehow thwarted, mostly by the people in her life.
Through this beautiful, but tragic story, Thomas Hardy describes the hypocrisy of society, especially for women. It is infuriating to watch as Tess, who is marked as a fallen woman through no fault of her own, struggles to make something of the life she is dealt. It’s unfair. And yet, many woman in a similar situation as Tess today may find themselves in similar situations, labeled unfairly and judged just as harshly. Society today is not so much different as the times of Hardy in that everyone is a critic and a judge. For that reason, this story still resonates.
I didn’t expect this story to hit me like it did. By the end, I had tears running down my face and wondered if maybe Tess was better off with the way her story ended than if it had been any other way. It’s been a month since I read it, but it still haunts me.
It appears that 2026 is the year that will test me and my family. February has been a whopper of a month. Between the never ending winter weather in upstate New York and the random life hurtles thrown at us, I am kind of glad that this month is coming to a close. On the plus side, I am ending a bad month on vacation, which was perfect timing. It’s giving me the chance to just take a breath, rejuvenate and start a new month refreshed.
Vacation is also allowing me to catch up on some blog posts that I have ignored as well as some reading. Before this week, I had a lot of books started but only two finished for the month. Now I have a wrap-up worth writing about with many reviews for the books already scheduled in the coming weeks.
I am so glad that I took the slow and steady route with this book. Having started in January, I thought at one point this was going to end up being a DNF. However, there was something about the book that kept bringing me back and I am so glad. This ended up being a 5-star read. It is definitely a tragic story, one filled with heartbreak and despair that is still lingering with me so many weeks later. It’s definitely worth the read. You can read more about my thoughts in my review coming on Saturday.
“Piranesi” was a book I was not expecting to like. For one thing it’s fantasy, and another thing, it’s been so hyped up in the book community, I traditionally end up going the other way. And then I cracked it open and it caught me in its lair. I devoured this book in four hours and sat thinking about it for days afterward. What struck me the most is the impact Piranesi’s experience had on him. That impact struck a nerve that I wasn’t able to forget about. I wasn’t the only one. Our book club was also pleasantly surprised by this story and it was an enjoyable discussion about Piranesi and the other characters who helped to shape who he is and his experience in the House. And if the plot wasn’t your thing, than simply Susanna Clarke’s writing will be. Her descriptions of the world she created were something I wanted more of. I will definitely be reading more Clarke in the future.
I read “Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day” while on vacation and it was one of those books that came just at the right time. I have been struggling with the life/work balance and fitting in the things I want to do versus the thing I “have” to do, without feeling overwhelmed. Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky do a great job in outlining how you do have time, but without making you feel like you have been wasting your time or doing it all wrong. Rather they outline four simple steps to help shape your day, but encourage the reader to make it fit their life, not the life “society deems to be correct”. They also provide a variety of options or tricks to succeed at each step, explaining that nothing is wrong. It’s all about trial and error. I borrowed this book at the library but I plan to pick up a copy for myself because I think this is a good book to refer to when life gets messy.
This is book three in the Legends and Lattes series, and second of the three on the “meh” meter for me. When I was reading it, I was into it, but once I put it down, I wasn’t compelled to pick it up again. Mainly because the story is just really slow and I was kind of bored by it. I was surprised because I actually enjoyed “Bookshops and Bonedusts” more than “Legends and Lattes”, which is why I was compelled to continue with the series. The story did end up getting a little more entertaining halfway through until the end, but not sure if the series is worth continuing.
Well, well, well. We are full of surprising reads this month. If there was one book I actually thought I wouldn’t get through this month, this would have been it. And the opposite happened. Once I got past the first two chapters, which were a little slow, I was flying through this book. I picked it up every chance I got. It’s definitely a little out there, with random dream sequences and nonsensical passages but I think that is what made it so alluring. The underlying theme of the book is good versus evil and the hypocrisy of people who rely on one faith over another. I am still reading it but considering our book club discussion is the coming Wednesday, I will probably finish it this weekend. Figured I might as well throw it on my wrapup since this post is going up a day or so before the end of the month.
What did you end up reading this month? Have you read any on this list? Would love to hear your thoughts.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a reflective novel that acts as a mirror to our souls. It’s a book that transcends time. Many readers can find this relatable even in modern times. It’s no wonder that the book caused such an uproar at the time it was published.
Dorian Gray is a youth that has been graced with good looks and a charisma that causes many to admire him. It makes him vain and selfish. When an artist friend paints his portrait, Dorian finds himself admiring it to the point of jealousy. His portrait will mock his youth as he ages and Dorian finds himself wishing to remain young forever. But at what cost?
This is a great look at morality and what happens to the human soul when someone uses their looks as power. The portrait becomes a mirror to Dorian’s soul, something he learns to hate, the more he plunges into depravity. While his “sins” could be seen as mild to today’s standards, it still causes some self reflection on the reader. How many of us have used an excuse to justify a behavior that may have caused someone else harm? How many of us were wrong about something but came up with a reason to why we thought we were right?
It is a great discussion topic, one that was the focus of a debate among our book club group for over an hour. It was further exemplified when discussing the other characters and their roles into Dorian’s choices. Some thought they represented good and evil, how one tries to propel him further into sin while the other tries to be his moral compass. We also saw the effect on other characters and how everyone that Dorian comes into contact with, essentially falls to their own worst fate. Was it their own fault or was it Dorian’s?
There are several lines in the book that makes it clear that Wilde is making some type of criticism on society and how they treat people who have, not only look, but money, class, status, etc.
“His great wealth was a certain element of security. Society, civilized society at least, is never ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating.”
When critics attacked him following this books publication, Oscar responded with: “The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
This is worth a read and even a reread. It’s one of those books where you will get something different out of it every time you read it.
This week’s Top 10 Tuesday, by That Artsy Reader Girl, is sharing quotes about books or reading. If there is one thing I will annotate in any book I am reading is a good quote about books. They always seem to catch my eye, even if the quote doesn’t really have anything to do with the plot. The below are just a few that I have found in books read over recent years.
“That’s what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you to another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It’s geometrically progressive – all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.” ― Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“ I think what matters far more with a book is how it affects you.” ― Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
“I read for pleasure and that is the moment I learn the most.” ― Margaret Atwood
“All morning I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes — characters even — caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you.” ― Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale
I hope you have been having a good month. Life continues to throw things at us over here. It’s been leaving me overwhelmed and exhausted. Between the kiddo illnesses, random house project emergencies and other unexpected things, I am ready to throw in the towel for February.
The good thing is that I am on vacation this week. It’s a staycation with my husband. We decided that with the kiddo in daycare, we can take some time to spend some much needed quality time together during the day. I have actually blocked out time while he is dropping the kid off at daycare to get my cleaning in so I am not spending the whole day or all of my vacation doing the things that have just fell to the wayside. As I sit here writing this, I have just gotten done with one whole room and then some in the 40 minute round trip. My husband is back but we have decided to go to lunch with my mother-in-law so we are using the time in between for personal time. I have chosen it write this post.
There are no new major reading updates, except that I have started “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie. It was a slow start but now that I understand his rhythm of writing and how he writes, it’s going much faster and it’s actually interesting. I find that I am picking this up way more than “Brigands and Breadknives” which I have yet to finish. I hope to finish both this week and end the month on a high note.
How many of you are recovering from Superbowl last night? My husband and I paid a babysitter and went to a friends house. It was nice getting out after the week we had with a sick kid all week. He is finally on the mend, and mom and dad are no longer losing their minds. This past weekend has been good for reading. It’s been very good, and besides our friend’s house, we pretty much stayed in. Perfect reading weather and I managed to finish two books and start another.
This post is a little late, but life keeps interrupting. We are two for two with the sick season. Both the baby and I had gotten the flu at the beginning of January, and now the baby got sick yet again this past week resulting in a double ear infection and me working from home. So it’s put me behind on many things, not just this space. However, he is on the mend, and while he is currently napping, I have some time to write this quick post about my anticipated reads for the month. Some of these are leftovers from last month that I want to try to finish and others are books I need to get in, with one or two sprinkled in for pure enjoyment if time allows.
This is the book I chose to get off my Classics Club list and I am loving it so far. Loving it in the sense of the story, but woe is the character of Tess. My heart breaks for her mistrials, and at the same time, I find myself frustrated by the choices that she makes. I only have less than a 100 pages left of this read so I expect to finish it any day. I hold my breath to find out what will happen in the end, though I will be very surprised if it is a happy ending.
I have only heard good things about this book, but honestly, I am intimidated by it. I am not sure why. While I had wondered what the fuss was about, it was something I didn’t really care to pick up. But since it’s the book club’s pick for February, the least I can do is make an attempt at reading it. All I know about this book is that it takes place in a labyrinth known as the House. I am not one that really reads speculative fiction but who knows, I might be pleasantly surprised.
This is another book club read that I am hesitant about. I have tried to read a different Salman Rushdie book once before and it didn’t go well. While I did like his memoir about his attack, his fictional pieces seem to go beyond me and take some work to really comprehend the meaning behind. Magical Realism is another genre that I don’t typically gravitate to, so I am hoping that I can get through it. I am curious to read it just to see what caused the indignation that caused the attempted assassinations on his life.
I think I am going to need some light reading at some point this month and I have been dying to get to the third book in the Legends and Latte series. I really liked the character of Fern in the second book so I am interested to read about her adventures in this one.
This is the recommended reading for month two of the Master Plan course I am working through from Jane’s Agenda. The master plan is all about increasing productivity and planning ahead. I learned so much from “Atomic Habits” the first book in the course, that I am expecting to learn even more from this. It’s about mastering your time during the day and learning to focus on the things that matter. He uses a simple four-step process, which I wanted to read about.
These were book club reads for January that I just didn’t finish. They were also rereads so I am not completely at a loss here, but I was enjoying the reread and want to make an attempt to finish these if there is time.
Book Admirer 