Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lory_enterenchanted's reviews
556 reviews
Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery, Benjamin Lefebvre
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
3.0
An interesting read to follow up Montgomery’s biography, The Gift of Wings. The later Anne books were not my favorites as a child, I preferred the ones before her marriage. But I was intrigued by this as a contemporary account of the Great War in Canada, and it did provide a unique view there.
Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by Mary Henley Rubio
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
4.0
Though the book could have used a bit more attention in the editing department (there were some repetitive passages, some unnecessary detail, and some garbled sentences, at least in the e-book version) it kept me glued to the pages. Rubio does too much biographical speculating for my taste -- I hate it when biographers keep saying people "must have" felt or thought something! -- but there is a compelling story to be told through the actual facts, as well as the intriguing, frustrating holes in those facts.
LMM's story is an utter tragedy in the end, and yet out of this sad, lost life we have a legacy of books that still have the power to uplift and comfort so many. One of those literary riddles that has no answer.
LMM's story is an utter tragedy in the end, and yet out of this sad, lost life we have a legacy of books that still have the power to uplift and comfort so many. One of those literary riddles that has no answer.
The First Violin by Jessie Fothergill
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
I got about halfway through this. I was interested in the musical setting but there was not enough of that and too much of the main characters' silly psychological games. The heroine was impossibly beautiful and talented, but with the emotional intelligence of a shrimp.
Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery
3.0
A girl falls in love with a house. Will the boy-man who adores her be able to win her away from Silver Bush? We'll find out in the next book, I expect.
Otherwise, this was super cozy reading, like a warm hug of a book. Dark, difficult things happen, but Pat has Silver Bush to comfort her, as well as the indefatigable Judy - who seems much more of a caregiver to her than her own parents, though she loves them.
A bit too cozy were some of the names - including a friend named Jingle, a sister named Cuddles, and a dog named Snicklefritz was over the top, in my opinion. But as always in Montgomery, there are wonderful descriptions of the PEI landscape encompassing stories of the kind of close-knit but not always harmonious community that seems all too distant nowadays.
As for comparing Pat to other heroines, her one ambition is to care for her favorite places and people, her only talent is to love ... and as that is her choice and her passion, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, surely we could use more of that kind of passion in the world.
Otherwise, this was super cozy reading, like a warm hug of a book. Dark, difficult things happen, but Pat has Silver Bush to comfort her, as well as the indefatigable Judy - who seems much more of a caregiver to her than her own parents, though she loves them.
A bit too cozy were some of the names - including a friend named Jingle, a sister named Cuddles, and a dog named Snicklefritz was over the top, in my opinion. But as always in Montgomery, there are wonderful descriptions of the PEI landscape encompassing stories of the kind of close-knit but not always harmonious community that seems all too distant nowadays.
As for comparing Pat to other heroines, her one ambition is to care for her favorite places and people, her only talent is to love ... and as that is her choice and her passion, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, surely we could use more of that kind of passion in the world.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
emotional
reflective
tense
3.5
I decided it was a good time to reread Jane Austen, in conjunction with the 2025 celebrations of 250 years since her birth.
I'm going through my hardcover illustrated editions, some of which I have never properly read. Sense and Sensibility is a Heritage Press edition with lovely typography and strange, blocky illustrations by Helen Sewell. Though not pretty, I find them quite appropriate to this book, which is full of unpleasant characters and painful situations. It's basically protracted agony for Elinor throughout, from two fronts: dealing with her sister's emotional self-indulgence in her affair with Willoughby, while concealing her own pain at being unable to marry her true love, Edward. To add another twist to the screw, Elinor is taunted by Edward's heartless fiancée, Lucy.
After her jilting and a psychologically induced illness, Marianne learns a lesson about selfishness, and everything sorts itself appropriately, if a bit suddenly, in the end. It is altogether a book about being selfish (Marianne and Willoughby) and selfless (Elinor and Edward). The latter is rewarded, but so is the former (in the person of Lucy and Robert). Selflessness in fact has to be its own reward, the sense that one has done the right thing. Selfishness will win the day on a material level, something we can see happening everywhere at the moment.
I find it most interesting to see how Austen works out such a moral situation through characters representing the kind of people she would have known herself, their inner nature revealed through outer actions and conversations of the most banal kind. I think it's her genius to point toward that moral-spiritual aspect of ordinary life, bringing down what was once the stuff of gods and heroes into the context of her middle-class genteel world.
Something about this book does not allow me to enjoy it as much as some others, though. I don't truly warm to the characters that are supposed to be sympathetic, and there is no relief from the tension and sadness, other than laughing at the unpleasant characters is about the only way. It's a book that takes a dim view of most of human nature, with just a few points of light.
I'm going through my hardcover illustrated editions, some of which I have never properly read. Sense and Sensibility is a Heritage Press edition with lovely typography and strange, blocky illustrations by Helen Sewell. Though not pretty, I find them quite appropriate to this book, which is full of unpleasant characters and painful situations. It's basically protracted agony for Elinor throughout, from two fronts: dealing with her sister's emotional self-indulgence in her affair with Willoughby, while concealing her own pain at being unable to marry her true love, Edward. To add another twist to the screw, Elinor is taunted by Edward's heartless fiancée, Lucy.
After her jilting and a psychologically induced illness, Marianne learns a lesson about selfishness, and everything sorts itself appropriately, if a bit suddenly, in the end. It is altogether a book about being selfish (Marianne and Willoughby) and selfless (Elinor and Edward). The latter is rewarded, but so is the former (in the person of Lucy and Robert). Selflessness in fact has to be its own reward, the sense that one has done the right thing. Selfishness will win the day on a material level, something we can see happening everywhere at the moment.
I find it most interesting to see how Austen works out such a moral situation through characters representing the kind of people she would have known herself, their inner nature revealed through outer actions and conversations of the most banal kind. I think it's her genius to point toward that moral-spiritual aspect of ordinary life, bringing down what was once the stuff of gods and heroes into the context of her middle-class genteel world.
Something about this book does not allow me to enjoy it as much as some others, though. I don't truly warm to the characters that are supposed to be sympathetic, and there is no relief from the tension and sadness, other than laughing at the unpleasant characters is about the only way. It's a book that takes a dim view of most of human nature, with just a few points of light.
Dangereusement douce by Antoine Laurain
mysterious
reflective
3.0
I enjoyed the little stories (amazingly accomplished coming from a character who's supposed to be a photographer, not a writer), but if they were supposed to have some deeper meaning in connection with the frame story, I did not get it. I think that relationship could have been stronger and led more clearly to the final reveal.
Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was by Angélica Gorodischer
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
4.0
Dreamy, fable-like stories set in an "empire that never was" yet manage to make wry commentary on humans as they always have been and always will be.
Their Finest by Lissa Evans
emotional
funny
informative
sad
tense
4.0
Since I saw the movie first, I can’t help seeing those actors as the characters…
Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives by Alice Loxton
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
I saw rave reviews of this but it was written in a cutesy manner that would have made me want to throw up when I was 18. Plus, in the early chapters at least, too much speculation. “Bede must have done and thought this and that” — no he mustn’t.
A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones
adventurous
funny
tense
3.0
Like all time travel paradox stories, A Tale of Time City does not bear thinking about too hard. But like all DWJ books, it’s a wild imaginative ride with some thought-provoking ideas, humor, excitement, and a clear moral compass that is not preachy.
I think Ursula Le Guin dies well to point this out in her introduction: that DWJ's books are characterized by “intelligent truthfulness“ and “moral honesty”. That may not sound glamorous, but for a fantasy writer, they are very important qualities to have. They mean that when a writer starts putting inner realities into images, showing us the endless realm of possibilities at work in our creative spirit, we are in safe hands. We won’t be deceived or misled, but shown truth in the way humans absorb it best: in stories, in pictures that move and transform.
The story here is about a girl who has been ripped out of ordinary life, as many children were during the evacuation of London in WWII; but she is then further disoriented by being kidnapped by a boy about her age and taken to Time City, a futuristic place outside of time altogether. It's all because a proud, immature person wants to save his world, which is on the edge of destruction. Instead of asking for help, he takes impulsive actions based on partial or misunderstood information ... something that happens all too often in our own everyday world.
Here, though, that dilemma is given a fictional setting that allows for Jones's imagination to really fly. Since Time City is outside of time, she gets to create a future history for our earth and all kinds of inventions. Some of the inventions are fun and wish-fulfilling (exemplified by the infamous Butter-Pie, but also including a belt with a button to press for low-gravity function, helpful android servants, and time-travel portals) while others are darker and more disturbing -- such as when the child protagonists visit an era in history known as the "Mind Wars". There are scenes that would have given me nightmares as a child if I'd really given myself a chance to think about them.
But these dangers are not dwelt on, as the pace of the story hurtles quite rapidly and there are lots of distractions, from bickering between the children to a ZZZ tutor, ??? Jones mixes science fiction and fantasy tropes with abandon, We get a glimpse of the legendary and ceremonial side of Time City.
That lively mix seems to be what keeps the girl, Vivian, from being overly despondent at her situation. She gets caught up herself in the quest to save Time City, which increasingly becomes incompatible with her original longing to simply return home, and the mistakes pile up into a royal tangle. Many elements come together in a great crisis, to be rearranged or re-sorted and settle into a new reality. That's a common pattern in DWJ's books, and yet it seldom seems repetitive or tiresome. It's always a fresh instance of the true potential of "comedy" - a story that brings us through chaos and back into wholeness.
What is the moral obligation of living outside history, with a greater awareness than its inhabitants possess? Is it possible to help and not merely to meddle or exploit? That is the intriguing question the book raises, but I find it isn't given time or space to be worked in a really satisfying way. Much of the story involves touring Time City or racing around through history, not to mention eating butter-pies.
I think Ursula Le Guin dies well to point this out in her introduction: that DWJ's books are characterized by “intelligent truthfulness“ and “moral honesty”. That may not sound glamorous, but for a fantasy writer, they are very important qualities to have. They mean that when a writer starts putting inner realities into images, showing us the endless realm of possibilities at work in our creative spirit, we are in safe hands. We won’t be deceived or misled, but shown truth in the way humans absorb it best: in stories, in pictures that move and transform.
The story here is about a girl who has been ripped out of ordinary life, as many children were during the evacuation of London in WWII; but she is then further disoriented by being kidnapped by a boy about her age and taken to Time City, a futuristic place outside of time altogether. It's all because a proud, immature person wants to save his world, which is on the edge of destruction. Instead of asking for help, he takes impulsive actions based on partial or misunderstood information ... something that happens all too often in our own everyday world.
Here, though, that dilemma is given a fictional setting that allows for Jones's imagination to really fly. Since Time City is outside of time, she gets to create a future history for our earth and all kinds of inventions. Some of the inventions are fun and wish-fulfilling (exemplified by the infamous Butter-Pie, but also including a belt with a button to press for low-gravity function, helpful android servants, and time-travel portals) while others are darker and more disturbing -- such as when the child protagonists visit an era in history known as the "Mind Wars". There are scenes that would have given me nightmares as a child if I'd really given myself a chance to think about them.
But these dangers are not dwelt on, as the pace of the story hurtles quite rapidly and there are lots of distractions, from bickering between the children to a ZZZ tutor, ??? Jones mixes science fiction and fantasy tropes with abandon, We get a glimpse of the legendary and ceremonial side of Time City.
That lively mix seems to be what keeps the girl, Vivian, from being overly despondent at her situation. She gets caught up herself in the quest to save Time City, which increasingly becomes incompatible with her original longing to simply return home, and the mistakes pile up into a royal tangle. Many elements come together in a great crisis, to be rearranged or re-sorted and settle into a new reality. That's a common pattern in DWJ's books, and yet it seldom seems repetitive or tiresome. It's always a fresh instance of the true potential of "comedy" - a story that brings us through chaos and back into wholeness.
What is the moral obligation of living outside history, with a greater awareness than its inhabitants possess? Is it possible to help and not merely to meddle or exploit? That is the intriguing question the book raises, but I find it isn't given time or space to be worked in a really satisfying way. Much of the story involves touring Time City or racing around through history, not to mention eating butter-pies.