February 2017 Reading Round-Up
Posted 1st March 2017
Category: Round-Ups Genres: N/A
3 Comments
In terms of time, February has been better. I struggled at one point with blogging and reading but all considered I managed to get a fair number of books read. As much as it’s been raining recently, there was one day when I sat outside in a t-shirt. Our overall good weather and lesser colder temperatures are still here.
All books are works of fiction.
The Books
Caroline Lea: When The Sky Fell Apart – A group of residents live through the Nazi occupation of Jersey. A great, if harrowing, book.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland – A trio of exploring gentlemen discover a land of women and decide to journey there to see how primeval it must be. A very good commentary of early 1900s society.
Ricarda Huch: The Last Summer – Lyu decides to aid the plotters and assassinate the governor who has closed the university. Great early 1900s novella.
Tom Connolly: Men Like Air – Three British and one American man in New York, living their lives, getting the flu, ending strange relationships, and working in art galleries. Difficult to summarise, I’ve opted to show the comedy element; this is a fab book.
I really appreciated Herland. I think ‘love’ is a strong word because there are some problems with it – in a modern context at least it can be a bit uncomfortable but I found it to be well structured and created, the use of extremes in the trio of male visitors and the relative balancing Perkins Gilman aimed for in making the more moderate character her narrator, a good set of things. Due in part to the sudden ending (one of those ‘where is the next page?’ situations) I moved straight on to the sequel, With Her In Ourland which can be found at Feedbooks. This sequel seems to be less read and studied but with good reason, I believe: as much as you might want to complete the story, it’s more a set of thoughts than a novel. I very much enjoyed the Huch and the Connolly, too. The Huch was a nice quick read that boosted my feeling of accomplishment as well as added to my goal of reading older books. The Connolly was rather clever and contained so much. The Lea was fantastic, too, just a few steps behind the Connelly for me.
Quotation Report
None this time.
Spring is certainly on its way.
What book did you most enjoy in February?
March 1, 2017, 8:09 pm
I will definitely have to check out With Her In Ourland. (I am assuming it’s about when they come back to ‘civilization?’) For its time and having been written by a woman, I found Herland intriguing!
March 7, 2017, 6:48 pm
I have also been enjoying the lighter, brighter days in February…in between the rain lol! My favourite read from the month was the classic A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Happy reading in March :-)
3 Comments
Comments closed
March 1, 2017, 2:51 am
Happy March!