January Reading Wrap Up

 

Woohoo! January was a great reading month and I stuck to reading only physical books from my shelves. I read 8 books for a total of 3450 pages not including my in progress sip read. 

1. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome: #1 of the 12 book series. The story brought back memories of my three older sisters and I putting on plays in our carport when we were about the same age as the Walker kids, for our parents and neighbors.  And days spent playing and romping through the neighborhood with all the kids on our block, until dusk and dinner. ****

2. The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin:  I'm not particularly fond of Le Guin's writing, and I don't know what it is about it but it always turns me off.  However, reading one chapter at a time before bed, helped me get through it. All I can say about it is that a perfect society is hard to find. No matter how hard one tries, not everyone will agree.  ***

3.  The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry: #8 in the Cotton Malone series.   Little did I know when started reading the story that we would get a history lesson on the birth of China, what happened to Mao's body, whether oil was biotic or abiotic, and more. It was fascinating, although there were a lot deaths.  ****

4.   The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty:  #2 in the Daevabad trilogy. Politics, racism, oppression, infighting, back stabbing, assassination attempts, and magical entities all make for an riveting and thought provoking tale.  By the end of this book I wasn't too terribly fond of Dara. I wonder if he'll redeem himself in the 3rd and final book. Good riddance to Ghassan. My gosh, he was horrible. ****

5. At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber.  While Driftwood is a charming, magical, little town, set by the ocean, and the place is full of love, and helps draw Ava out of her comfort zone, all the characters go through the wringer, ironing out their issues and relationship, until they find their happily ever after.   ****

6.  Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster: #1 in the Icerigger series. Aliens, ice beasts, pirates, nutty monks. Lots and lots of ice. Always cold. Battles, beasts, crazy sail boats, even a volcano. Our characters are tested against the elements as well as against the pirates, and ice beasts. Fast, fun, furious, ferocious, crazy story.  ****

7:  The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami: My disappointment knows no bounds. Thankfully I can go back and read his other stories which I enjoyed more.  **

8. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros:  #3 in the Empyrean series. Long story short, without giving away any spoilers, the tale is full of battles. The dark wielders Venin, politically, with authority, in attempts to win over other islands leaders to fight with Navarre, as well as her battle to keep hidden Xaden's infection by the venin.   In the process of trying to find Andarna's kin, we learn more about Violet's history with her dad. Plus throw in the life of a cadet as she trains and bonds more with Tairn and Andarna, and her fellow classmates, and it makes for one hell of a story.  *****

My rating system is a mishmash of Goodreads and others.  

5 star - The writing was compelling, the world building was outstanding and the story flowed. Couldn't put it down. Evoked an emotional response and made me feel my feelings. Unique.   As a series opener, would make me want to read the whole series.  As a new to me author, would make me want to read more of their stories. Would reread again in the future. 

4 star - The writing, world building, and characters were excellent. Enjoyed the story. Would read this series or author again. Willing to give it a second read.

3 star - It was good, but...

2 star - I read the whole thing or may have skipped to the end to see what happened. May have had morally grey characters without any redeeming qualities, or something about the story turned me off, or it failed to live up to my expectations.   

1 star - Did not get page 50 or 100 depending on length of the book as it wasn't my cup of tea.  

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

 

“The island had come to seem one of those places seen from the train

 that belong to a life in which we shall never take part.”  

First Line:  "Roger, aged seven, and no longest the youngest of the family, ran in wide zigzags, to and fro, across the steep field that sloped up from the lake, to Holly Howe, the farm where they were staying for part of the summer holidays."

Father's telegram:  "Better Drowned Than Duffers If Not Duffer Wont Drown"

And with that telegram and receiving both their parents permission, the Walker Children - John, Susan, Titty, and Roger set sail for their boating and camping adventures on Wild Cat Island.  The story is one of innocence and imagination and part of the fun is all the adults in the children's lives take part in the children's adventures, supporting their imaginations as they play at being pirates as well as Titty's Robinson Caruso.  Mother helps them prepare, trusting the kids to tell her what they need, although she does provide a few hints, as well as adult assistance in the forms of the local dairy farmer for their daily milk,  

While camping, they discover two sister's Nancy and Peggy Bleckett who had previously claimed the island the summer before.  The kids parlay like real pirates and decide to make a game out of claiming each other's boats which ends up being an all night adventure for the Walkers.  Throw in a curmudgeonly uncle who thinks John vandalized his boat, only to find out he didn't, which results in a hilarious battle when all the children try to claim his houseboat.    Add in a wild storm, and buried treasure and and the resourceful kids enjoy a summer outing, full of innocence and play as well as a lot of work.   

There is quite a bit of detail about sailboats and sailing and nautical language which the author builds beautifully into the story so the reader doesn't realize they've just received a tutorial in how a sailboat works, the care that goes into it, and the mechanics of sailing. 

The story brought back memories of my three older sisters and I putting on plays in our carport when we were about the same age as the Walker kids, for our parents and neighbors.  And days spent playing and romping through the neighborhood with all the kids on our block, until dusk and dinner.  Little did we realize, our mothers were probably keeping an eye out the window to make sure we didn't get into trouble.  And reminds me of a mother's intuition, when mother showed up while Titty was alone on the island and kept her company. 

Swallows and Amazons is the first book in a 12 book series and while I may or may not complete the series at some point, we do have the next book, Swallowdale waiting in the wings. 

16th Edition 2008, first published: 1960
David R. Godine, Publisher
361 Pages
Middle Grade historical fiction classic