Welcome to the Twitterature link-up! For the lowdown, head over here, or try this Cliff Notes version: this is the place to share short, casual reviews of what you’ve been reading.
Here’s what I’ve been reading lately:
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Jane Austen is so darn witty. You’ll want to BE Elinor, hug Marianne, & smack Willoughby upside the head. Then you’ll want to see the movie.
The End of Men by Hanna Rosin
It’s not what you’re expecting: Rosin dissects hook-up culture, see-saw marriages, pharm girls, & the growing education gap. #fascinating #scary
How to Look Expensive by Andrea Pomerantz Lustig
A beauty editor’s guide to getting gorgeous for less. Many tips are old @InStyleMagazine fare, but I bet you’ll glean some fabulous new ideas.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
This new book is wrapped around an old one: Madeline L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time. Just read it. You won’t be sorry. #SoVeryGood
When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams
Premise: What do you do when your mom dies & leaves you her journals? And then find her journals are blank? #truestory #poignant #writestuff
Son by Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry, are you kidding me? This is your follow-up to the excellent Giver? #unbelievable #disappointed
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40 comments
I seem to remember I enjoyed Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. I read it when it was published in 2000. It is also a companion to The Giver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gathering_Blue
Adriana, I’ve consistently heard good things about Gathering Blue. I’m hopeful…
Anne,
Son will make more sense when you’ve read Gathering Blue and Messenger. Though Gathering Blue isn’t directly related to the Giver, when you read Messenger it connects Blue and Giver, and then when you read Son it ties them all together. Son is inteaded to be the conclusion to the quartet, not just to the Giver. Maybe this is why you were disappointed?
I got so many good ideas from this link up last month & can’t wait to add to my growing to read list again this month!
Yay! Hope you find some good ones!
Love the graphic you made with the book covers.
Yes, after finishing Sense & Sensibility (and especially after discussing it at book club) I *really* want to see the movie. That almost never happens!
Aw, thanks!
I’ve seen Sense and Sensibility before, but it’s been ages. Like, a decade or more. I think it’s definitely time for a re-watch. I’m also eager to see the 2008 version by Andrew Davies (who did the 1995 P&P) for the first time.
Watched the movie *again* last night. Wonderful book. Beautiful movie. It might be my favorite book to movie adaptation ever
I have both on request from the library!
Would like to hear more about why you didn’t enjoy SON.. I didn’t find it quite as compelling as The Giver, but I wouldn’t say I was disappointed.
Carrie, I haven’t read any of the other books in The Giver quartet–maybe my expectations would have been different if I had? But I felt like the plot came out of left field. The Giver was futuristic and dystopian; Son felt like it came from centuries past and I was very surprised by the magical element. Claire’s story was consistent through the two books, but in other key ways they just didn’t fit. In my opinion, of course!
Oh now it makes sense! Yes you MUST read Gathering Blue and the Messenger, SON ties them all together… 🙂
Son ties them ALL together? I’m intrigued…
Agreed. Son is a really excellent story…IF you read Gathering Blue and Messenger first! There are entire family plotlines in Son that probably make zero sense without reading the other two, now that I think about it.
Actually I would recommend the BBC version of “S&S” more highly than the “Emma Thompson” version. The BBC version has more age-appropriate actresses in the main roles; Hattie Morahan who plays Elinor is especially excellent. And Edward Ferrars is played by Dan Stephens (Downton Abbey’s Matthew) — which can only be a good thing. Really: watch the other one if you must 🙂 but don’t miss this one!
http://www.amazon.com/Sense-Sensibility-Miss-Austen-Regrets/dp/B0012OVCE6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Matthew Crawley is Edward Farrars?? That sounds perfect to me. I hope to see this version very soon!
Awwa… that’s sad that the Lois Lowry book is disappointing! I loved The Giver. I want to check out When You Reach Me.
I love S&S, of course. Can’t remember how many times I’ve read it. Elinor is awesome and Marianne is maddening and Willoughby needs a good horse-whipping. I’d hang out with Sir John Middleton any day, and would love to have Colonel Brandon as a friend.
For movie adaptations, I go with the Emma Thompson version as my favorite. Sure they are all too old for the parts, but they all nail them anyway. Besides, it has ALAN RICKMAN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! (Not that I have an opinion on the subject or anything.)
Tim
Fine, then. “Elinor agreed with it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.” Just kidding, Tim — you seem a decent fellow….. 😉
“a decent fellow”
Well, I’d willingly be Brandon’s second at his morning appointment with Willoughby on the fields of Delaford.
Bwahaha!
Oh I loved When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead! Funny, I read “Liar & Spy” by her last month and it’s included in my Twitterature round up for this month! 🙂
Well, I requested First Light from the library about 5 seconds after finishing When You Reach Me. I’ll add Liar & Spy to my list 🙂
That’s sad about Son 🙁
I’ve read all the other books in the Giver series and loved them all, as well as Lowry’s other books like the Anastasia series and the Willoughbys. I have heard similar things about it, though.
I loved When You Reach me too! I read it with my book club last year and we had a blast doing it, especially just after reading A Wrinkle in Time.
Oh, that would be so fun to do those two books back-to-back in book club! I read When You Reach Me shortly after finishing Listening for Madeleine, which was also great timing–especially because Rebecca Stead was one of the subjects interviewed for the compilation.
When You Reach Me sounds so interesting. I’m not much for kid lit but I might have to give it a shot.
Leigh, you’ve got to read it! This is not a spoiler: One of the big clues in the book is “Tesser well.” Of course that made me think of you and your own copy of A Wrinkle in Time! Read it 🙂 And then tell me what you think!
It’s been a long time since I read The Giver, but your conversation about the quartet of books (I didn’t even know it was part of a series!) has me intrigued. I’m also really curious about When Women Were Birds. I’m just imagining the disappointment!
This is where I sheepishly admit I’ve seen Sense & Sensibility at least 40 times. Definitely have the whole film memorized. (It’s mostly my mom’s fault. Long story).
The soundtrack is great too though – I’ve been listening to it on repeat while writing reviews lately!
Hahaha! I’m guessing it’s 1995 with Emma Thompson that you’ve seen so much?
Yup. Here’s the brief version: my family was moving from AZ to TX. My dad had to move a month ahead of the rest of us. My parents had never been separated more than 2 nights. My mom was sad. I was 14, so she made me stay up every night with her and watch that movie while we packed. It was “replacement Dad” for more than a month. 🙂
Wow. WHAT a story!
You are inspiring me to read more! Keep it up!