Teaser Tuesday 146: Anna Karenina

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!


It seems somewhat appropriate that I should still be reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy as Banned Books Week gets under way. I have finished part three and am now well into part four—just past the halfway mark. So far I like it, though it is taking me longer than I'd like. This book has been banned or challenged in some countries (including the US), some of the reasons for which include: its discussion of communism, adultery, questions of religion, and treatment of/prejudice against minorities.

"She knew that this was what was going to happen; at the same time it was so horrible that she could not even imagine to herself how it would end. And she wept without restraint, like a child that has been punished.

The sound of the footman’s steps forced her to recover herself; hiding her face she pretended to be writing.

(pg 351; Part three, chapter XVI)

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A magnificent drama of vengeance, infidelity, and retribution, Anna Karenina portrays the moving story of people whose emotions conflict with the dominant social mores of their time. Sensual, rebellious Anna falls deeply and passionately in love with the handsome Count Vronsky. When she refuses to conduct the discreet affair that her cold, ambitious husband (and Russian high society) would condone, she is doomed. Set against the tragic love of Anna and Vronsky, the plight of the melancholy nobleman Konstantine Levin unfolds. In doubt about the meaning of life, haunted by thoughts of suicide, Levin's struggles echo Tolstoy's own spiritual crisis. But Anna's inner turmoil mirrors the own emotional imprisonment and mental disintegration of a woman who dares to transgress the strictures of a patriarchal world. In Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy brought to perfection the novel of social realism and created a masterpiece that bared the Russian soul.



Last week's Anna Karenina teaser

Teaser Tuesday 145: Anna Karenina

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!


I started Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy over the weekend, which is the chosen September book for two different groups I am in at GoodReads.com. I finished part one and have started part two. So far I am liking it, and hope it does not take much longer than a week to finish.

There is a new movie version out starring Keira Knightly and Jude Law, but while it has already been released in the UK, it does not hit "select" US theaters until November 16. This passage is from quite early on in the novel.

"You’re hateful to me—repugnant!" she cried out, getting more and more excited. "Your tears are just—water! You never loved me; you have no heart, no honor! To me you are loathsome, hateful, and a stranger—yes, a complete stranger!" She pronounced the word stranger, which horrified herself, with anguish and hatred.
(pg 14)

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A magnificent drama of vengeance, infidelity, and retribution, Anna Karenina portrays the moving story of people whose emotions conflict with the dominant social mores of their time. Sensual, rebellious Anna falls deeply and passionately in love with the handsome Count Vronsky. When she refuses to conduct the discreet affair that her cold, ambitious husband (and Russian high society) would condone, she is doomed. Set against the tragic love of Anna and Vronsky, the plight of the melancholy nobleman Konstantine Levin unfolds. In doubt about the meaning of life, haunted by thoughts of suicide, Levin's struggles echo Tolstoy's own spiritual crisis. But Anna's inner turmoil mirrors the own emotional imprisonment and mental disintegration of a woman who dares to transgress the strictures of a patriarchal world. In Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy brought to perfection the novel of social realism and created a masterpiece that bared the Russian soul.

Thursday Thirteen 265: Recently Read

Read over the last few months — as always, click on any cover to find out more about the book.
















BOOK NOTES

* The Casual Vacancy is the latest release from J.K. Rowling, her first adult novel. Pretty good book, but I think people who go into it with an open mind and no expectations are more likely to enjoy it. This book is contemporary fiction and deals in gritty reality, not the fantastical realm of her Harry Potter novels.

* The Haunting of Hill House, Anna Karenina and Little Women were all group reads, and each was featured in a Teaser Tuesday post, which I have linked to here. Of the three, I most enjoyed Anna Karenina, even though it is close to 1000 pages and took a while to get through. It truly is a good book and I'm glad I took the time to read it.

* The Amanda Stevens series was a gift received from a friend and I absolutely loved these. I am looking forward to three more books in the series next year!

* Ellery Adams was the September featured author for the Cozy Mystery group. These were books three and one of two different series, both of which I like.

* Home For a Spell by Madelyn Alt is book seven in another favorite series, her "Bewitching" paranormal mystery series.

* Phyllis A. Whitney was the October featured author for the Cozy Mystery group. An older mystery, but pretty good.


Books read so far this year: 92

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Thursday Thirteen 270: A Year in Books

I am a bibliophage, a life-time reader who never seems to have enough books or shelves. I believe one can never read too much or have too many books. When not actually reading I can often be found on the boards at GoodReads talking about books, and have joined their year-long reading challenge the last few years. I also tend to read across several different genres, and have found that by doing so I never (or very rarely) become bored or burned out on reading. Here's a look at how 2012 shaped up.


1. Number of Books read: I had a goal of 100; I read 106. Books ranged in length from 55-page novellas to the 976 page Anna Karenina. Total number of pages read was 30,868.

2. Genres read: Classics, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Literary Fiction — many in the romance, mystery and YA genres also contained paranormal elements.

3. Number of Different Authors: About 60 (some books were multi-author anthologies)

4. New-to-me authors: I read 21 new-to-me authors in 2012 — Ellery Adams * Toni Anderson * Patricia Briggs * Anne Brontë * Michael Connelly * Jamie Ford * Kaui Hart Hemmings * Tami Hoag * Sue Ann Jaffarian * Linda O. Johnston * Julie Kenner * Aldo Leopold * Ridley Pearson * Nancy Pickard * Rick Riordan * Wendy Roberts * Nichole Robertson * Leo Tolstoy * Meredith Webber * H.G. Wells * Phyllis A. Whitney

5. Authors I read more than once: Ellery Adams * Louisa May Alcott * Madelyn Alt * Patricia Briggs * Kate Collins * EJ Copperman * Casey Daniels * Lori Foster * Jeaniene Frost * Tami Hoag * Lisa Kleypas * Johanna Lindsey * Elizabeth Lowell * Julie Miller * Ridley Pearson * Nancy Pickard * Rick Riordan * Wendy Roberts * Jill Shalvis * Amanda Stevens * Vicki Lewis Thompson * Heather Webber

6. Authors I plan to read again: As I already have books in Mount TBR by most of the authors read in 2012, I think it would be easier to say which author/s I am least likely to read again (at least in 2013). That would most likely be Lorna Barrett, Shirley Jackson, Dorothy L Sayers and HG Wells.

7. Best overall read of the year: This may shock some people but…Two of the books I enjoyed most were A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë.

8. Best overall romance I read this year: Holly Lane by Toni Blake.

9. Best overall mystery: Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag — this was my introduction Hoag, who I will definitely be reading again this year

10. Most imaginative world: Rick Riordan’s modern day Mount Olympus, Ridley Pearson’s Disney After Dark series, JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth.

11. Weirdest read: The Time Machine by HG Wells.

12. I am tired of: I don’t think there are any subjects I am tired of. There was one author I determined NOT to read again—not because she isn’t a good writer, but because she has a habit of seizing on a motif in her books, and then beating it to death. Which made the books I read by her less enjoyable.

13. Reading goal for 2013: Once again I have joined the GoodReads Reading challenge with a goal of 100 books. Within that are mini-goals, such as reading at least 10 classics and catching up on some of the favorite authors/series in Mount TBR.


What about you? What was your year in books like? What was your favorite book read?

P.S. For a complete list of books read, check out the 2012 Books Page. You'll find links there for every book/author read, should you be interested in picking some up for yourself. Happy reading!

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Thursday Thirteen 261: Banned Books

Here in the U.S. we are celebrating the 30th annual Banned Books Week. It's difficult to believe that in this day and age and with the first amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press that any book would be challenged or outright banned, but it happens all too frequently. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982—326 in 2011 alone. Below are thirteen banned/challenged books on my own shelves, and some of the reasons they were challenged.


1. ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy — Promotes communism, irreligious, adultery, prejudice against minorities.

2. THE HOBBIT by JRR Tolkien — Occult/Satanism, irreligious (which is ironic, considering Tolkien considered this and the LOTR novels to have religious themes), promotes smoking

3. 1984 by George Orwell — Pro-communism, anti-family, explicit sexual matter, irreligious

4. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee (10th most challenged book in 2011) — Offensive language, racism, unsuited to age

5. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST by Ken Kesey — Offensive language, sexual content, violence, glorifies crime

6. WOMEN IN LOVE by DH Lawrence — Explicit sexual content 

7. FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury — Irreligious, violence, offensive language

8. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut — Offensive language, violence, ethnic slurs, explicit sexual content

9. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck — Offensive language, violence, explicit sexual content 

10. HARRY POTTER series by JK Rowling — Occult/Satanism, violence, anti-family (which I don't get, seeing as the Weasleys are one of my favorite literary families), religious viewpoint

11. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain — Offensive language, racism

12. THE HUNGER GAMES series by Suzanne Collins (third most challenged in 2011) — Occult/Satanic, anti-ethnic, anti-family, violence, insensitivity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

13. TWILIGHT series by Stephenie Meyer — Occult/Satanic, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group


What banned books are on your shelves?

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