March Reading List

1. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Mystery, Gothic, Romance)
Wow! This book blew me away. I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of Daphne du Maurier before, especially since I'm a Hitchcock fan. She wrote "The Birds" which terrified me when I was young but thought it very brilliantly written and then directed. Rebecca was a book that made me sad, and you know how much I love happy endings. Nevertheless, this book was so beautifully written that I couldn't put it down. I'm of course planning to watch Hitchcock's adaptation of this book, especially after learning that Laurence Olivier plays the wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter. The main character of the story is Max's first wife, who is dead. However, she is present in all things, at home, in the gardens, at sea. While abroad, Max meets and falls in love with a young girl, a lady's companion. He proposes marriage, and after a few months abroad on their honeymoon, they return to his magnificent, almost like a fairy tale mansion, Manderley. There, this young woman, the second wife whose first name we never learn, tries in vain to learn the ways of the house. The house keeper, madly devoted to the first Mrs. de Winter, terrorizes the young wife and almost manages to drive her insane. If you thought "The Birds" were terrifying, the housekeeper in this book manages to scare the audience even more. Du Maurier is truly a master in suspense fiction. The story has several twists and turns, and the tension never leaves the reader till the end. And the end brought tears to my eyes. There are beautiful one liners, as well as great descriptions of gardens and surroundings that bring the story closer to the reader. If you haven't read this one yet, go ahead and expect a beautifully written story. The description of the house in itself is a work of art. Scary, sad, but beautiful.

2. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (Historical Fiction, Romance)
After reading Rebecca, I needed something sweet and happy, and this one was just that. I really liked Susanna Kearsley's love for life and a desire to understand people and the connection between ourselves and our ancestors. The story takes place in a small village in Scotland making a connection between two time periods, that of 1708 - during the Jacobite uprising, and that of today. Carrie McClelland, an author writing a story about the French raised King James (the Pretender) is traveling from France and stopping to Scotland for more research. She is inexplicably drawn to Slain Castle, and resolves to rent a cottage nearby to work on her novel. Events happen that draw the reader into the past and present. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the Scottish coast, the strong female characters of both periods, as well as the handsome men that manage to steal their hearts. I also liked the history behind the story. I hadn't read a lot about the Scottish help in the Jacobite Uprising to place King James in the British throne. This was a good introduction. The plots from both time periods are delightful with enough mystery to keep you wanting to read. If you are feeling for something light, entertaining, and sweet romance this is it. Be prepared to be drawn into it. I personally wasn't able to put the book down till I finished it.

3. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Fiction)
I was pleasantly surprised by the this book. I read it as a competition to Jefferson, plus Gillian wanted to discuss it with me. I really like the idea of pictures being used as a continuation of the story not just a portrayal of them. However what caught me off guard was the story itself. I love old film history and the magic of the black and white movies. To learn something new about the icons of early film maker, especially about the father of Sci-Fi movies -George Melies- was wonderful. Jefferson, of course, loved the idea of the mechanical figures and the fact that they existed even today. Now, he wants to make one himself. The power of books is magical.

4. The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (Fiction, Short Stories)
This was a collection of short stories that won a Pulitzer Prize for its elegance and depth of human wisdom. The author is an Indian by heritage but born in England and educated in America. As such, her stories dealt with Indian individuals trying to keep their traditions in a new country, while dealing with what life throws at them. I enjoyed her prose, her understanding of human relationships, and her ability to portray life's lessons in small and unobserved daily events. Although the stories deal with Indian life style and their attempts to adjust to a new country and traditions, the principles accurately shared were universal.

5. The Children's Book by A.S.Byatt (Historical Fiction)
I absolutely loved "Possession" by the same author, so when I saw this one I was excited to read it. Sadly to say, I was disappointed. Let me explain. This author is a genius of prose and poetry writing. In addition to writing beautiful stories and creative poetry, in this new novel she added to her amazing skills fairy tale writing and meticulous historical details. The Children's Book doesn't have a particular plot. It is a historical portrayal of the England during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Within 600 pages of this book, you read in accurate detail about all of the political, cultural and social events happening in England and around the world, following their effect on two fictitious families, the Wellwood and the Fludd. There are numberless characters and events that it is hard to follow them as well as try to connect. Furthermore, the whole book is written in a dark undertone and very depressing, so much so that when WWI comes around you see it as a relief of their struggles. It might sound like Dickens, but this novel was way more darker and had less plot than his novels. All in all, it was a great saga chronicling the Edward and Victorian period, but very dark for me. I kept reading with the hope that I would finally see some redeeming qualities in the human existence but I never did, and as such it was very disappointing.

6. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) by Rick Riordan (Young Adult)
Since Jefferson was ahead of me in the Percy Jackson series, I had to buckle up and read them. The second installment of the series was as fun as the first. The readers were introduced to Kronos and his story, to cyclops, to the Golden Fleece, Hercules, the goddess Artemis and her brother Apollo, the sirens, and many more. And in between all of the stories, the young readers are taught the value of friendship, the idea of hubris, loyalty, kindness, and integrity. A fun book for all readers.