"Their Eyes Were Watching God" from Kelli

General Impressions:

This book is, first and foremost, beautifully written. I think I had a greater appreciation of the book and dialect after living in the South for two years - the realism of the dialect was spot on. The other thing that surprised me was that Janie and Tea Cake could've been living in Memphis, TN in 2012 - the phrasing and pronunciation of words is still very much the same even almost 100 years later.

Plot/themes: The book follows the story of Janie's life (told through three important romantic relationships as she tells them to her "bosom friend" Pheoby. Janie's first two relationships do not satisfy her soul or appreciate her for who she is. When Janie meets Tea Cake after her second husband's death, he is 12 years her junior and it causes a scandal across the town when they run off together to be married. Although their relationship is short lived, it provides Janie with a sense of freedom and satisfaction that she did not have before. The thing I loved most about this book was Janie's resilience and strength of character. This must have been a very progressive book in the 1930s and even today shows the strength of Black women in a way very few books do.

Readability: A

Pacing: A

Satisfying ending: B

Overall Rating: B+

"The World According to Garp" according to Kelli

I literally just finished this 20 minutes ago and am still processing how I feel about it. From others descriptions of "Oh, I loved that book!", I was expecting something more uplifting. Instead what I found was a profound work about fear.

I think the best way to describe it is that the book was very filling, and finishing it has left me feeling a little empty, with a strange sense of mortality. I think it was a fitting novel to read at this particular moment in life.

It might be the best book I've read in the challenge thus far.

"Babbit" -Caitlin's View

So I got this book on Kindle for free and finished LOTR unexpectedly early during my Bahamian cruise and Kelli said it was enjoyable and pretty fast so I thought I'd give it a go!

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS: Kelli pretty much got the plot line covered. Babbit is just an average suburban-dwelling upper middle class Joe who can't escape his average suburban-dwelling upper middle class existence. As has often been the case during this challenge, I felt soooo frustrated by the main character's refusal to do anything about his own dissatisfaction. However, I felt much worse for Babbit than any other heroes because it seemed more like Babbit didn't even know how to escape even if he could. The book does an exceptional job of mocking the American Dream but like many anti-establishment novels, doesn't suggest a solution. Also, if Sinclair Lewis' satirical goal was critiquing obscenely repetitive, plot-less novels, he succeeded with flying stars.

SPOILER ALERT: There IS actually a happy ending. Sort of.

MUSINGS: Do authors intentionally make "adult life" exactly like high school or is it really like that?

GRADE SHEET:

Narrator's Likeability: A

Readability: B

Pace: A

Satisfying Ending: B (good but pretty rushed)

Ear for Language: A (props for giving white middle class follower-types their own dialect)

Timelessness: A-

Plot Structure: D

"Lord of the Rings" -Caitlin's Thoughts

So I read The Hobbit (just like every other nerdy 12 year old with no friends did) during a few lunch periods in middle school. I found that it dragged but was an interesting story so I thought I'd check out some more Tolkien. When I picked up The Fellowship of the Ring ten years ago, I put it down almost immediately; needless to say, I was nervous for this 1200+ page portion of the challenge.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS: Jackpot. As a twelve year old, I hadn't developed my skill for skimming or seen the LOTR movies so I could not appreciate these books. As I have since discovered the glory of skipping all things in italics (for example, anything latin in my law books) and become a huge fan of the movies (especially the director's cut of The Two Towers), these books went a lot faster on attempt #2. The books do drag but if you skip all of the boring parts (poems, songs, and histories of made up places), the story is pretty exciting and insanely clever. I do think I enjoy the movies more than the books (WHICH IS SHOCKING AND UNHEARD OF AND A LITTLE SHAMEFUL, I KNOW!) because the movies take all of the exciting parts and lengthen them and cut out all of the boring parts. However, the Frodo/Sam parts are much less obnoxious in the books and you even like Frodo a little in them. As a whole, these books are great if you love fantasy worlds, elves, heroism, self-sacrifice, and bro-love. If you are looking for feminism, realism, or challenges to the social order, these are not the books for you.

SPOILER ALERT: The good guys win.

MUSINGS: Tolkien loved the gays. Maybe he didn't realize it but the number of male-male vaguely homosexual pairings in this book was higher than expected.

GRADE SHEET:

Narrator's Likeability: Somewhat condescending (like sorry I haven't read Bilbo's History of Middle Earth) but fine.

Readability: A
Pace: B+ if you skim, C- if you don't

Satisfying Ending: A+

Battle Scenes: C+ (the movies were way better)

Creativity: A+

A Question to My Peeps

Caitlin; Kelli -

What do you recommend I read next?  I am leaning toward The Maltese Falcon, but I don't want to end up with only long/boring/reprehensible (aka On the Road) books at the end of the journey.  Do you have any recommendations for the book I should read next?

"Babbitt" from Kelli

Mane, bruh. February has dragged my book reading rate wayyyyyyyyyy down. It's taken me a month to finish "Babbitt" by Sinclair Lewis. Partially because of school and starting a new part-time job, but also due in part to the lack of a swift plot-line in Babbitt.

Here's the general flow of the book:

• Man is mediocre and conformist
• Man is middle aged and discontent
• Man flirts with becoming outspoken and independent
• Man is beaten down by The Man
• Man returns to being mediocre and conformist

Enjoyable, but nothing extraordinary. Which is probably why it's #93 on the list.

Onward and upward. I hear "The World According to Garp" is sensational.

A Room with a View - Lynn's Take

There are many good literary reasons to like this book.  It's well written, it contains cutting social commentary, it references previous works of art and culture.  And I appreciate all that. Really, I do.  But here's why I like A Room with a View: It's a damned good love story.  A likable protagonist, An endearing love interest, a distasteful suiter, and a gaggle of interfering friends and neighbors... If it weren't so well written, it could be a Harlequin!