Books I Have Forgotten

Each month I want to revisit some of my past reviews. One of the reasons I started this book blog was to remember what books I have read. My memory isn't the greatest anymore and I would read a book and then not remember if I liked it or what it was even about.

Maybe one of these will prompt you to seek out an older, but amazing book. Or, if you've read one of these and your review was different, please share!

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Austenland by Shannon Hale
4/5 Stars
11/2007

I loved it! Absolutely a delightful, easy read. I needed something light, because the last three books I read were on the heavy side! So, I read this book in an evening. 

It's a cute idea. The author doesn't make any attempt to write like Jane Austen. Neither does she make pretenses for this being a sequel. I have yet to find any attempted Pride and Prejudice sequel that is worth my time.


Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding
2/2008
1/5 Stars

I hated it. I think I'm just too old and too happily married to enjoy a whiny, albeit somewhat funny, vulgar, lonely heroine. If she can even be called that. Given the film's R-rating, I shouldn't have been surprised by the book's foul language and sexual exploits. But, I was. I found nothing to relate to, which is something that I have learned that I need, in order to enjoy most books. I couldn't even enjoy it as simple, light-hearted chick-lit. Don't bother.

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien
3/5 Stars
1/2008

I was only familiar with Harriet Beecher Stowe as being the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. I had no idea of her history or her family's legacy. This book is a fictionalized account of an historical incident involving the Beecher family: an adultery trial involving their brother, a preacher. It was a fascinating book from the family point-of-view, with issues of loyalty, trust, betrayal and forgiveness. While the premise is Henry Beecher's trial, the narration is told from the viewpoints of Harriet and her sister Isabella, and the consequences of their actions as one defends their brother and the other accuses.

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What about you? What are some of the books you've read in previous years?

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