Week 43: One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

This is an interesting novel that is like nothing I have read before. The book is written as a journal about a historical event that never took place.  However, it gives you a better understanding of what the Native American tribes went through in the late 1800's and just how poorly they were treated. The story holds nothing back and the reader is given gruesome images.  The author was not afraid of going into grim details, yet this novel would not be nearly as good if he did not.  Fergus excelled at creating a novel that has so much depth and is splendidly written. It is so detailed and the characters are wonderfully diverse. Then main character is well written and the trials she goes through are amazing! I think everyone should read this book, if only to better understand these horrible events in American history. It is a beautiful story!

Week 42: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

My goal is to read all of Austen's novels. This is one of my favorite books, because I feel that I connect with the main character so well. She is serious and quiet which I usually am. The book is slow occasionally and sometimes hard to read, but I like it all the same. It is a good book that is about a honest character. However, the main character does nothing to help the plot and just watches as things around her happen. She rarely ever shows any energy to prevent events and in that way she is annoying. Yet, I still like this book a lot and will probably read it many more times!

Week 41: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I don't like the character of Marianne in Sense and Sensibility, she is selfish and overly dramatic. She has no control of her feelings and wants none until the end. She is silly and young, with little respect for others. The only reason I can continue rereading this book is because of Elinor. She is a splendid character, who is both selfless and wise. She cares deeply for others and tries to be as courteous as possible. I suppose I have always admired Elinor's judgement and her common sense. There are few characters in this book that were meant to be liked and I like only a few.

This is not one of my favorite books, but it is one of Austen's so maybe it will grow on me in a few years!

Week 40: The Midwife's Revolt by Jodi Daynard

I was surprised how this book turned out. I thought that this book would have more to do with the work of a midwife, but it really had little to do with it. Instead it is about women trying to survive during the Revolutionary War. I enjoyed reading from a women's perspective of all the trials that occurred and the effects the war had on common people. Though not a true story the author did seem to make many of the events as historically accurate as possible. This book was entertaining and enjoyable.

Week 39: The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

This book is wonderfully full of adventure and thrills.  The book is not like any of the Jurassic Park movies, but I think I like it better that way anyways.  The book reminded me more of a book that Jules Verne would have wrote and than one written by Doyle.  Yet it was a change to the Sherlock Holmes books, which I still haven't quite finished. 

Doyle gives the reader a tale full of fun characters. The main character is rather dull in comparison with his companions, but is sensible all the same. I am surprised this book is not more commonly known.  It is a fun little adventure novel.

Week 38: Emma by Jane Austen

Jane Austen happens to be my favorite author and I have read all of her books multiple times.  Yet I still find them entertaining and diverting each time I read them.  Emma is not one of my favorites of hers, but I do enjoy the book as a whole.  The story is a book that girls can still learn from, even in this day and age! Emma is a character that is constantly learning and making mistakes. The other characters in this book you also learn to love or hate, depending on who they are!  Many of them have such quirky traits that they keep the reader entertained throughout the novel.  I think that is what makes Austen's books great.  Her characters all have such different traits that when thrown together are bound to cause a commotion.  I realize that not everyone likes Jane Austen, but it is a fantastic book that has earned its place with the other great classics.

Week 37: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

I love reading different books by the same author! Jules Verne was definitely a man of the world.  In both books I have read of his this year, his knowledge of world geography was astonishing!  In this book Fogg travels through California and I was able to understand the exact locations he went by. To a common reader today we could simply turn to a map or look it up on our phone, yet he was able to explain the places over 100 years ago!  This is amazing to me and shows just how much study he put into the books he wrote.

Around the World in 80 Days has always been a book I was interested in yet when I picked it up on a cruise 10 years ago it didn't hold my attention. I decided to try it again, because I thought that I should attempt to read it again!  This time I finished it and enjoyed it! It has a fun little plot, and Jules Vernes takes the reader all around the world with this adventurous book!