The Reading Book Post, July 27th

Hello, everyone! The end of July is approaching and I can't believe we've already passed the middle of summer. I have to admit that this week I was the most distracted, a sign that perhaps I need some days off. At least, I hope that I'll get something close to vacations when my boyfriend visits at the end of the week. But, as every Monday, let's see what happened in the literary world the previous week.

• The Not the Booker Prize longlist has just been announced. The list contains 70 titles in total and you can vote the two novels of your choice all the following week. From these 70 novels, only six will reach the shortlist. So, if you're interested follow the link in order to vote. 

• So, the European Quidditch Championship (EQC) 2015 has been completed with France being the champion. In the final, which took place in Sarteano, Italy, France beat England with the score 90-50. 

• The second issue of Archie's re-imagining is coming on August 19. The classic comic series was relaunched by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples. Take a look at a couple of pages from the new issue.

• Sad news for the literary world this week. Author E.L. Doctorow passed away at the age of 84. Some of his most popular and celebrated works are Ragtime, Billy Bathgate and The March. 

• Have you read the Craft Sequence series? I haven't, but when I watched this fan-made book trailer of the second book of the series Two Serpents Rise I was really interested in doing so.

• What do teachers what the children to read? The National Association for the Teaching of English and the Times Educational Supplement made a list which answers this question, based in the choices of 500 teachers. The list, for the most part, includes classic books and I'm glad that there are some of my own childhood's books there. Which were the books of your childhood?

• Which YA novel would you be in? Take the quiz to find out! I got Looking for Alaska by John Green. What did you get?

Confession Saturday: Dear Gabriel Oak

Hello, everyone! Confession Saturday is a new weekly feature, in which we will have the chance to express our feelings towards certain characters. This time of the week we will choose one character and write to him/her about all the things we would like to say. We can explain why we like or dislike each character, which of his/her actions we don't understand and generally whatever comes to mind. 

New: I've just added a Linky Tool to Confession Saturday, be sure to leave your links there! You can submit your links throughout the whole week.

So, last week I went to the cinema and watched Far From the Madding Crowd the adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel. I had read it a couple of years ago and I had some pretty strong feelings about the protagonists. I could easily write a letter to Bathsheba Everdene, but it would be really unpleasant. She is the most irritating character I've come across in a novel. So, I'm writing a letter to Gabriel Oak instead.

Dear Gabriel Oak,

you are truly a rare man. I cannot help but admire your good qualities. You are hard-working, patient and loyal. But, you were unlucky to lose everything and also to fall in love with Bathsheba Everdene. 

I seriously don't know why you put up with her. I understand that after she rejected you, you gave up, but fate played an ugly game against you. Not only you find yourself as her employee but you were there to witness her flirt and fall in love with other men. And to make things worse she was asking your opinion as well. Of course, when she didn't like what she heard she drove you away. But still, you helped her, you saved her farm numerous times and tolerated everything without a single word of complaint. 

Although I'm seriously irritated with Bathsheba, I have to admit that you were the only one that truly suited her. Because you didn't want to have her as a possession and wanted to let her remain independent. 

You are an admirable man, a rough diamond to be precise.

Yours,

Aeriko

  

Thursday Quotables: The Diary of a Provincial Lady

Hello, everyone! Welcome to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. Every week we highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.

This week I chose a passage from a book that I'm reading for the funny books themed read. The novel is The Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930) and it's exactly that, the diary of a lady who lives in the country.

December 10 -- Robert, this morning, complains of insufficient breakfast. Cannot feel that porridge, scrambled eggs, toast, marmalade, scones, brown bread, and coffee give adequate grounds for this, but I admit that porridge is slightly burnt. How impossible ever to encounter burnt porridge without recollections of Jane Eyre at Lowood School, say I parenthetically! This literary allusion not a success. Robert suggests ringing for Cook, and have greatest difficulty in persuading him that this course utterly disastrous.

The whole novel is filled with scenes like the above.


Have you read The Diary of a Provincial Lady? What do you think of this passage?

The Book Fangirling Blog Award and Liebster Award #2

Thank you so much, Carrie @ The Book Goddess for nominating me for The Book Fangirling Blog Award. It's much appreciated.

So, the rules for this award are:

• Create a post to accept your award.
• Add the blog award button into your post and put it on the side of your blog as a widget.
• Answer the questions I have above.
• Nominate between 5-10 book bloggers who you think also deserve this award.
• Come up with your own 5 questions for your nominees.
• Link to me your post so I can see your answers.

Carrie's Questions

1. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I wanted to challenge myself with themed reads and I thought that it would be fun to share those reads with the world.

2.What is your favourite book so far of 2015 and why?

It's The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. At first, it left me numb but as the months go by I find myself thinking about it and it grew in me.

3. Have you ever done anything embarrassing while fangirling?

Not really. I'm generally a very reserved person. I might have giggled or laughed  when I was supposed not to, especially while working.

4. What was the book that got you into reading?

This is an easy question! The Lord of the Rings trilogy really got me into reading. I was reading books earlier than that, but at that point (I was around 10) I begun reading like crazy!

5. Who is/are your book boyfriend(s)?

This is a tough question because I can't put the whole list in a single post! You could say anyone of the Jane Austen gentlemen (except for Edmund Bertram), George Emerson from A Room With A View and there are of course my manga boyfriends, Tsuruga Ren from Skip Beat, Kei Takishima from Special A and Kou Tanaka from Ao Haru Ride.

My Questions

1. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
2. Do you really like a book that everybody else hates?
3. For which author you're a complete fangirl?
4. Which book you can't wait to be published?
5. Which book would you reread any time?

My nominees

• Julia @ For The Love of Books
• Lisa @ Lisa Loves Literature
• Raashi @ Be the Change That You Wish to See in the World
• YA Princess @ My Little Corner for Books
• Nerdgirl @ The Nerdgirl Review

Liebster Award

Thank you so much, Hp20508 @ LiveLove&Explore for nominating for the Liebster Award! I already have made a similar post in the past, but I will answer your questions here :)

1. Favourite Book Author?

You can all guess my answer at this point. David Mitchell.

2. How do you overcome writer's block when it hits?

I continue to write. Even if I'm not satisfied with what I'm writing I try to go on and then edit it later.

3. What book inspired you the most?

I have read many books that got me thinking, but Women in Love is the one that I felt that influenced me the most.

4. What makes you smile?

An unexpected kindness or warm remark.

5. If you were on a desert island, what 3 items would you want with you?

My kindle, my music player and something to charge the previous two!

6. What is your biggest fear?

Probably death.

7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I can't really tell. I hope with a steady job and my own apartment.

8. What is your life goal?

To live a happy and full life.

9. What do you value most in life?

Love, for my family, friends and boyfriend.

10. What would you do today if you knew you could not fail?

Write a novel. It would actually be great if I finished one.

11. What's your favourite season of the year and why?

It's spring because I find the weather then the most pleasant. 

Review: Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Title: Go Set A Watchman

Author: Harper Lee

Publisher: Harper Collins

Date of Publication: July 14, 2015

Number of Pages: 278

Summary

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch - 'Scout' - returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman and a world in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past - a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience.

Review

Should I even try to explain to you how hyped I was for this novel? Ever since I've heard that it would be published I couldn't really wait to get it on my hands and read it. Although I dreaded the possibility of being disappointed. But the urge to find out what happened to all those beloved characters was so strong and so I've finally got a copy and read it. And I wasn't disappointed, despite my high expectations!

Jean Louise returns to Maycomb, only to find it different from before. The faces of the people are the same, but she observes different attitudes. Even the town itself is changing, with new buildings. Go away the old buildings said. There is no place for you here. You are not wanted. We have secrets. Now this is a feeling a little familiar to me and everyone who happens to live away from their hometown. When you return you always observe the differences and you get lost in nostalgia and childhood memories.

But Go Set A Watchman isn't only about Scout's nostalgia. It's her journey towards the discovery of her own mind, her own conscience. And this is the reason why eventually I didn't mind the portrayal of Atticus in this novel. Yes, he is definitely racist, but he still believes that everybody should be treated by the law the same way, These views are the ones that passed down to Jean Louise and these views are what Jean Louise's generation will establish in the south at some point. I won't lie that he was the Atticus that I'd love to see, but he was definitely the Atticus the novel needed.

Another interesting character in Go Set A Watchman is Dr. Jack Finch, the younger brother of Atticus. He is the one that tries to make Scout understand what is going on, but his way of explaining helps her come to her own conclusions. His part in the story is crucial. One thing that I didn't like about this novel is the small part in the story of characters like Jem, Calpurnia, and Dill. I'd like to see more of them and find out what happened to them all those years.

It would be unfair to compare Go Set A Watchman with To Kill A Mockingbird. Keep in mind that the first one is a manuscript, not a fully edited novel like the latter. But I found it more mature, maybe because we witnessed the story through the eyes of an adult protagonist and not a child. I like to think of both of those books as a part of a single work, which in fact, were created as one.

Well, all in all, while reading this novel I had some pretty intense feelings. I was even crying in the end. The last three chapters are really powerful. I highly recommend Go Set A Watchman to all those who loved To Kill A Mockingbird. You will discover other sides of these beloved characters.

So, my advice is...

I need a watchman to lead me around and declare what he seeth every hour on the hour.