Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte

When I went to the bookstore to purchase Jane Eyre, the bookseller asked if I’d read it before and when I said “no” he said “I don’t blame you”. Okaaayyyy…Also, I’m not into romance novels at all, so the only thing that made me think this book would be tolerable is that it is described as a “gothic romance”. Gothic—now we’re talking.

The book drew me in from the get go—mostly because Jane reminded me of myself; but I’ve heard others say that the beginning is slow. The first 40 pages are basically the same plot as the first 40 pages of Harry Potter, so I don’t know how you can complain too much.

My biggest gripe when reading Jane Eyre is that I don’t speak French. The young girl that Jane teaches is a native French speaker and there are entire paragraphs that are completely French. There were bits and pieces that I could puzzle though, but mostly I just didn’t understand those paragraphs. I don’t think I lost too much meaning.

As it turned out, I really enjoyed this book. It is by far my favorite 19th century romance to date. It was definitely a romance, but it wasn’t so sappy as to make you sick. Every time it got too Disney princess on me, almost immediately something Edward Scissor-hands would happen. If Tim Burton ever gets a hankering to do a romance, this is the one he should pick up.

If this book were a movie, I’d rate it: PG-13 for a little gore.
Overall Grade: B
Would I recommend this book to my friends? Yes

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams

My husband and I read this book together aloud. I don’t have a lot to say about this one as I thought it was “good” but nothing exceptional. It was like those movies you see that last a little too long and have a few funny lines, but you don’t really want to see them again. I am surprised that this is on the Big Read list.

Having said that, it is obvious that I missed something—otherwise this would not be ranked so high on the top 100 list. I’m just not sure what that something is that I missed. I like sci-fi, but I don’t love it, so this may have served as an impediment to my enjoyment. I’m not sure. If anyone has an explanation as to what it is that I failed to “get” in this book, please explain.

If this book were a movie, I’d rate it: PG
Overall Grade: C-
Would I recommend this book to my friends? Maybe—after I ran out of other books to recommend.

His Dark Materials By: Philip Pullman

I was mildly apprehensive going into this series as I knew that it was controversial among some Christians. In my opinion--if the author’s aim was to offend, he totally failed. One of the characters did proclaim Christianity to be a mistake, but aside from a small section where this particular character tells her own story of abandoning religion, the series leaves little by which to be offended (unless, of course, you go looking for it).

The first two books are absolutely riveting. They are full of creativity and action. The characters and settings are developed to a perfect level. They are easy to read and hard to put down.

The third book was the most difficult to finish. This is mostly due to one particular character’s story, which is just plain dull and proved to be a regular stopping point whenever her chapter came up in the rotation. If you’ve read the books, I’m sure there’s no doubt about who I am speaking.

Having said that, the end of the third book was inspiring and heart wrenching, and as I tried to read it aloud to my husband, I was unable to read as I was crying so hard.

Are there holes in the story line? Yes. Are there inconsistencies? Yes. As I always say: come on people—it's fiction!

Ultimately, the moral of the story was to be good, kind people and to build the kingdom of heaven (in whatever way you define heaven).

I think the series is a great read for adults and teenagers. It was easy, but didn’t feel too shallow to be a good solid adult read. If one of my own children (under maybe 14) was reading the series, I’d want to make sure that they a) had a good understanding of what fiction is and b) some people don’t believe in God and some people do and everyone is free to follow their own heart.

If this book were a movie, I’d rate it: PG-13 for some violence and mature themes
Overall Grade: A-
Would I recommend this book to my friends? Absolutely