A Book a Week

Finished February 8, 2022 I am reading this book with my British Literature students. I considered whether to include it in my project to finish a book a week. In the end, I decided to because 1) the reason I'm reading the book does not detract from the fact that I read the book, and 2) I will be reading all kinds of books during this year-long challenge: books of the Bible, childhood books I haven't read in decades, audiobooks, manuscripts, etc. and I don't want to get legalistic about what should be a joy. I used to love the story of Romeo and Juliet better than the play. But I think that's because I had difficulty with the language. When I got more familiar with the language, I began to appreciate not just the magnificent story, but the way it was written.  Shakespeare experienced young love. No one could understand it as well as he without having experienced it. That delightful aching ("Parting is such sweet sorry/The minutes are filled with years"), the d...

  Finished February 4, 2022 Not all the books I finish are going to be memorable, delightful, life-changing treasures. I see that now. I don't remember buying the Kindle version of this book, but there it was on my Kindle, and I like a good political thriller, so I read it in two sittings. After recently reading weightier material from authors including John Galsworthy, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Wilke Collins, this seemed a fun romp.   The protagonist seemed to be Jack Rudley, a journalist who, after years in the trenches, begins to work for a newsmagazine on political features. However, the main character of the book is First Lady Carolyn Lane, wife of President Warner Lane, a sympathetic character at the beginning of the story who becomes more corrupt as he moves higher up in politics. These characters bear a remarkable similarity to the Clintons. Warner Madison Lane (Bill Clinton's middle name is Jefferson) is a charming, likable, feel-your-pain campaigner who feels ...

Date finished: February 2 I have no book cover for this one because I read the unpublished manuscript, given to me by a student of mine, a 10th grader in my British Literature class. The author told me he had written it "a year ago," which would have made him 15 at the time he penned it. He does not intend to publish it, because it features characters from a popular trademarked video game, and he believes the story would fall apart if he changed it substantially from the game. But he also told me he wrote it for himself, and doesn't intend to seek publishing anyway. The manuscript came in four parts and I read it in about 2 hours. On balance, it was what I would expect from an adventure tale based on a video game. But I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at the brisk pacing, balance between action sequences and character-building, use of back-story, and twists within a story arc. You really learn about someone when you read something he or she has written. I very much e...