It’s been a while since I last posted a review. The reason for that would be simple… I haven’t been reading any novels.

Tsk tsk, I know.

I like to think of myself as a blogger without obligation, meaning that I don’t have to make excuses for my lack of posts, but… I do have a good one.

I recently started a new job, and it’s one that I’m very excited about. It brings me back into the field of teaching (I am a teacher), but I get to work from home (love it!). Part of the new job is getting acquainted with the curriculum for the courses I’ll be working with, and that’s what I’ve been doing — learning the high school English Language Arts and Social Studies (History) curriculum. Which means I’m reading a lot of textbooks, short stories, poetry, novels and plays. The majority of which I’m enjoying quite a bit — and making me realize the real pity that I didn’t appreciate them well enough when I read them for the first time myself in high school.

So while it may seem like I haven’t been reading, I actually have. I just haven’t been blogging. I may be MIA for a while longer (after all, the new school year is starting up here right away), but I will be back to the reading and reviewing shortly (with reviews of Old Friends and New Fancies and Astrid & Veronika).

Just in time to set it all aside again for NaNoWriMo 2007 ;)  Ack!

For all those lovers of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Jane Dawkins has written an excellent continuation of the story in the epistolary form. Comprised of a series of letters Elizabeth writes to her sister, Jane, the reader gains some insight into what life as the new mistress of Pemberley must be like for newlywed Elizabeth Darcy.

Elizabeth tells Jane of her integration into the society of Derbyshire, addressing such things as how she is received by those who think Mr Darcy married beneath him, and the new responsibilities of running the massive household and its numerous servants. (more…)

I would not have read this book if I didn’t need to for my new job. It’s not the sort of book I’d pick up to read — a story about a young man and his friends, and the exploits of their last year in high school before they will enlist and join in the effort that was WWII. The cover is also outdated, and didn’t really draw me in. If I had seen this in a book store, I wouldn’t have given it much more than a glance.

So knowing that I would not have read this book otherwise makes the enjoyment I had for reading it that much better. It is the kind of story that I, as a reader and writer, like very much: full of symbolism and parallel meanings woven together so that you must think it through to get to the bottom of the morals and author’s intent. The sort of novel that could be read easily enough from start to finish and come away from having enjoyed a good story, but also complex enough for one to discover much more if you are willing to think it through. (more…)