Me? Listen to Audio?! #18

I listened to several books this week. 

The Enchanted April. Elizabeth von Arnim. 1922. Dramatised by Vivienne Allen. Directed and produced by Tracey Neale. 1 hour and 15 minutes.  

I've seen the movie. I've now heard the drama. I still haven't read this one...yet. I keep meaning to read it. I really do. I enjoyed the radio drama, but I think the movie was easier to follow. If I'm honest--and I do try to be honest in all my posts--it was hard to keep all the women straight in the radio drama. I think if I'd read the book it would have been easier.

Essentially, the plot is that four women--essentially strangers to one another before--agree to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April. No one can afford to do it on their own; but together anything is possible. Will this vacation live up to their expectations?!

Episode one, two, three, four, five.

Ender's Game. Orson Scott Card. 1985. Over eleven hours. Narrated by Scott Brick, David Birney, Christian Noble, Don Schlossman, M.E. Willis, Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir, etc. [Library]

I haven't read this one in ages. But there was a time I read it once a year or so. It was great to revisit an old favorite. One thing I noticed is that I tend to skim over language--bad language--as I'm reading. That's a lot harder to do in an audio book. Certain words are jarring to my ears. And this book is far from clean--in terms of language.

As for the book itself, I love it. I'm not sure if I'm more of an Ender's Game or Speaker for the Dead fan. But the books are really dependent on one another, I think. I will have to seek out Speaker now.

While I've reread Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead multiple times. I haven't really reread the other books Ender's Shadow and those sequels. 
 

© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. Jeanne Birdsall. 2008. 308 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence from the prologue: Their mother had been here in the hospital with the new baby for almost a week.

First sentence from chapter one: Four years and four months later.

Premise/plot: The Penderwicks are back home from summer vacation. School has started again. And life is settling down. Or is it?! Aunt Claire comes with presents and a surprise. The surprise? A letter to Mr. Penderwick from his dead wife; she is pleading with him to start dating again, to love again, to be happy. Aunt Claire is insistent that he goes on FOUR dates. After four dates, she'll leave him again in peace. The Penderwick sisters come up with a Save-Daddy plan: a plan that sets him up with four horrible women so that their dad can get the dating over and done with. What the Penderwick sisters don't count on is the next door neighbor. She's a widow with a young son--a baby named Ben. She's a professor too.

Speaking of next door neighbors....can Rosalind and the boy next door be falling in love?

What will be the consequences when Jane and Skye do each other's homework assignments?

Will Hound make a new friend?

My thoughts: I enjoyed the first book in the series. But I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this second book. I love that Mr. Penderwick starts dating Marianne Dashwood. I love spending time with all four sisters. I don't know that I have a favorite. Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty. They are just WONDERFUL girls to spend time with. 

One of my favorite scenes is when Batty stows away on her father's "date" with Marianne.

"Daddy, it's me!"
"What a lovely surprise," he said, not at all angry, or much surprised, either.
"Hound is here, too, on the floor." She threw aside his blanket, too.
"Of course he is, for whither you go, there he usually is, too. Let's go get some pizza."
...
"How did you know I was in your car?"
"There was no other logical reason for a large mound of blankets to appear in the backseat."
Batty was disappointed. Her hiding skills were not as great as she'd hoped. (197)

© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Queen of Scots

Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart. John Guy. 2004. 608 pages. [Source: Library]

From the prologue: Around eight o'clock in the morning on Wednesday, February 8, 1587, when it was light enough to see without candles, Sir Thomas Andrews, sheriff of the county of Northamptonshire, knocked on a door.

From chapter one: Mary Stuart was born in the coldest of winters.

Premise/plot: Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart is a biography. Given that Mary, Queen of Scots' motto was 'In my end is my beginning,' it is fitting that it opens (and closes) with her last day. Chances are readers will come to the book with some idea about Mary's guilt or innocence; come with some idea about what kind of person Mary was. Will Guy's biography change your mind? Perhaps.

Was Mary guilty? Yes. Definitely. Guilty of marrying foolishly, recklessly. Guilty of making more than a few stupid decisions that would cost her her life. It is easy to look back on her life and pinpoint exactly where Mary made mistakes, ultimately fatal mistakes. It is easy to shout at Mary, DON'T DO IT. STOP. YOU'RE RUINING YOUR LIFE. THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY. But that's because we're far removed from the situation. We know the consequences. We can't walk in her shoes. We can't know what it was like to carry that weight, that burden, that responsibility.

But was Mary guilty of scheming and plotting her husband's death? That is much less certain. In fact, Guy spends more than a few chapters showing how all the so-called evidence against her was fabricated. The "casket letters" were manufactured "evidence" assembled by her enemies, assembled by men who were likely guilty themselves. At best, Guy shows that Mary was innocent of the worst charges against her: that she was in on the plot to kill her husband Darnley and that she was in on the plot to be abducted by Bothwell. At worst, Guy shows that there was no hard evidence, no real evidence, no persuasive evidence that PROVED beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was guilty.

For the record, you probably shouldn't marry someone who likely killed your husband and who definitely kidnapped you and raped you. It's likely that the marriage won't be a happy one. And it might even cost you your life.

Again, it is easy to judge Mary's decisions from afar. Her life is often seen in extremes. She's either an innocent pawn who was essentially powerless--in the hands of the power players around her either in France, Scotland, and England. OR she's seen as a guilty power-hungry whore who wanted--lusted--for more, more, more. Insert evil laugh here. She was always scheming and conniving and using her sexuality to make men do what she wanted. Guy's Mary is neither extreme. She's human.

My thoughts: I picked up Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart because I was watching Reign. (I don't recommend it overall.) One thing I knew for sure: the show was getting everything wrong. Not just a little wrong, not just a few liberties here and there, but every little thing and every big thing. It wasn't just the details they were getting wrong, but, I feared the personalities were wrong, wrong, super-wrong as well. (They were.)

I read reviews of several biographies. Many reviewers would point out the biases of the biographer. This person loves Mary and thinks she can do no wrong. This person hates Mary and thinks she can do no right. In all the descriptions of Mary none of them felt authentically human.

In his opinion, Mary's nemesis, her rival was NOT Queen Elizabeth, not directly. Instead her biggest enemy was William Cecil. (Cecil didn't even make it into the show Reign.)

I appreciate the work that went into this biography. He gives readers primary source material letting Mary speak in her own words. Letting those around Mary speak in their own words as well. He gives readers the ability to make their own minds up, to judge for themselves. And there are some areas of her life where we just don't know what she did or didn't know, or what she did or didn't feel. He doesn't force things into a neat and tidy little narrative.

The last chapter of the book is the epilogue where he talks about what happened after her death. He argues that even though Mary lost her life, she "won" the war in the end. It is HER son who ruled England. It is through Mary that all the monarchs have descended.

© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Penderwicks

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. Jeanne Birdsall. 2005. Random House. 262 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: For a long time after that summer, the four Penderwick sisters still talked of Arundel. Fate drove us there, Jane would say. No, it was the greedy landlord who sold our vacation house on Cape Cod, someone else would say, probably Skye. Who knew which was right?

Premise/plot: Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty are the four Penderwick sisters. They along with their widower father have come to stay in a small cottage for the summer. The cottage is part of a larger estate--Arundel. They become friends with the gardener, the two pet rabbits, the housekeeper, and perhaps most importantly with Jeffrey, the SON. But with Mrs. Tifton they cannot--will not--make friends. Or rather, she despises them.

Jeffrey becomes part of their family even if they don't become a part of his. They have marvelous adventures and misadventures together during their summer vacation. But. Of course it is a vacation. And it's just a matter of time for all of them. Jeffrey doesn't want the end to come any more than they do. Even more so really since he might have to go to military school.

This novel celebrates being yourself and finding people who like you for being you. It also celebrates the ups and downs of FAMILY.

My thoughts: I liked this one very much when I first read it. But upon second reading, I think I really love it. It has an old-fashioned, feel-good quality about it.


© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Exo

Exo. Fonda Lee. 2017. Scholastic. 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: The boy was watching them. Donovan had seen him before: number 53 by his jersey, ginger-haired, stocky.

Premise/plot: Love science fiction? Looking to start a new series? Exo is a futuristic science fiction novel for young adults. It's set on Earth a hundred years after a successful alien invasion. There are a few stubborn humans still fighting for independence and freedom; humans who want their planet back. But Donovan, our hero, isn't one of them. He's an exocel; he's been hardened--quite literally--by alien technology, by Zhree technology. He can armor up and down in a second. His enemies claim the exos are not human at all, and that they are traitors. Soon after the novel opens, Donovan finds himself in trouble. He's been kidnapped by the enemy, by a terrorist group Sapience. He's not killed perhaps because of whose son he is. (His father is Prime Liason between the humans and the aliens. His mother, well, I'll leave that for readers to discover.) What will Donovan learn in his captivity? Will his allegiance be swayed?

My thoughts: I found this a quick read. I do enjoy science fiction. I'm not sure alien invasion is my absolute favorite and best sub-genre of science fiction. But I enjoyed this one. I did. I definitely liked Donovan. Science fiction can sometimes be action-driven or premise-driven. Science fiction can sometimes be so science-fiction-y that characterization just doesn't matter all that much. I would not say that is the case with Exo. Yes, there is plenty of action. But Donovan and his parents are definitely fleshed out well.

This is the first book. I would love to learn more about the aliens who have taken over Earth. Are they as benevolent and good as Donovan thinks? Are they keeping secrets from the humans? Is life truly better after the invasion? Do they truly know what is best for us?



© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews