January 13, 2012

The Princess

I've heard a lot about D. H. Lawrence and his books Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover from my friends. Spying The Princess on a book shelf I decided to give it a try. I think, having read a few of the unfinished short stories, that Lawrence is the type of author that takes a lot of getting used to. His ideas were of course modern in his time, but even now it takes some effort to fall in with his unique writing style. I'm struggling to get through the book and all the unfinished endings don't help. I'm tempted to leave it and try another book.

The Hobbit


My first book of 2012! I've finally read The Hobbit, and it was a good read - it had a similar writing style to The Lord of the Rings. I really enjoyed getting back into the Middle-earth world again, although I have to say I missed the elves and the men.

The ring isn't the central interest of the story - that lies with the dragon Smaug - and yet it plays a crucial role. Bilbo Baggins discovers the ring early on in his quest with the dwarves, and all his future adventures are tied to it. It helps him escape the goblins, because of it he manages to save his friends from the spiders, from the elves, and from the dragon.  The hobbit seems to have a lot of luck, which is why Gandalf had such implicit faith in him as a companion for the dwarves.

As for the "central interest", I didn't find it too interesting. That's because, although the dragon (and the gold) was the destination, it wasn't the high point of the adventure. When the dwarves and the hobbit finally reach the dragon, the novel isn't as intense as I expected. All the adventure had been played out before hand with the band's confrontation with other enemies. The novel lacked the depth that Tolkien was to give the more popular sequel. The history of the characters wasn't given in such detail and over all the novel was more light-hearted - the doom of middle-earth wasn't in everyone's mind. But all in all, it is a good prequel to The Lord of the Rings.

January 1, 2012

Hello 2012

Starting a New Year is so much fun. So many days in which to read books! And the resolutions to make: How many books will I read in 2012? How many challenges will I take part in? or, What are my blogging plans for the upcoming year? Well, this is that post....


So, my resolutions for 2012. Here it goes:

1. Prepare back-up posts: Since I've given my exams I've been much more free and have been working regularly on my blog; but what I have realized is that some days I just can't post - sometimes I don't read anything for a week and prepare no posts. For this reason it is better to prepare posts when I am free as a back-up for later days.

2. Read whenever I can: Since starting this new job I haven't been able to manage my time so efficiently yet. I come home tired and decide not to read and instead watch TV! This has to stop!

3. Make a list of books to read: Let me start now!
  • Middlemarch
  • Anna Karenina
  • War and Peace
  • Rhett Butler's People
  • The East of Eden
  • Divergent
  • The Outlander series
  • The Sword of Truth series
  • The Secret Circle series
  • The Count of Monte Cristo.......
OK, so the list is too long. Moving on;

4. Join more than two challenges: I've already joined four! :D

5. Push myself out of my comfort zone: For this I did No. 4 and started my own My Blind Date with a Book feature.

Hmmm.......what will be my first read of 2012? With the movie on The Hobbit coming out, I think I'll read the book first.