Hosted by Carl, this challenge lasts from September 1 through October 31.
There are several perils to choose from, and I will at least be doing Peril 1.
Here are my 4 books:
1. Lisey’s Story by Stephen King FINISHED
2. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
3. Gossamer by Lois Lowry FINISHED
4. Evenings on a Farm in Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol FINISHED
Alternate/Extra:
Dracula by Bram Stoker (also another peril in and of itself) The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury FINISHED
Since #4 is a short story collection, I will try to keep up with the Sunday short story peril as well.
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler outlines the lives and marriage of Michael and Pauline Anton from World War II to the present day. We see their joys and trials in courtship, marriage, children, and death.
It’s hard to review the book without giving spoilers away, but the book basically follows a difficult marriage. Or was it, really? Was it really much different than most marriages? Aren’t even “good” marriages difficult at times? These are the questions the book raises.
This was a very readable book that I finished in a day, and I would have very much liked to discuss it with a group. I’ve read one other book by Anne Tyler, Saint Maybe (which I also liked), and I’ll be seeking out more.
Welcome to 1morechapter.com. I hope you enjoy this new site–I’m really excited about it. It’s a little scary to be “on my own” like this, but hopefully I’ll get the swing of it soon. I’ll be able to modify and change templates a little easier and will probably change the look of the site with each new season or holiday.
I’m still working out kinks, though, so if you find any, let me know.
You will subjugate the unknown beings on other planets, who may still be living in the primitve condition of freedom, to the benificent yoke of reason. If they fail to understand that we bring them mathematically infallible happiness, it will be our duty to compel them to be happy. But before resorting to arms, we shall try the power of words.
This is a great book! It’s sad this isn’t as well known as 1984 and other dystopian novels. I’m finding it superb. We are discussing it in the Books in Translation Reading Group starting September 1.
Jay Follett, a dutiful husband and father, travels to his parents’ home because his father is dying. On his way back to his wife and children, he is killed in a car accident. The reaction to this tragedy by his family is told with heartbreaking prose. I was especially moved by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of his son, Rufus. This novel was largely autobiographical for Agee as his father died in a car accident when he was six years old. Sadly, Agee himself died of a heart attack at the age of 45, leaving behind young children of his own.
This novel profoundly touched me as my own father died of heart complications at the age of 44. The death of someone so young affects a family very deeply for many years. It is a tragedy I hope few people have to experience.
I have at least 222 AR points this year–ha! I’m probably one of the few who like Accelerated Reader. My older son is going to public school for the first time and will have an official reading class. I thought it would be fun to see which books that I’ve read this year are on the AR list at my son’s school. The first number is the reading level and the second number is the number of points received if the student passes the test. I’m a little surprised The Handmaid’s Tale is on the list. That seems above high school in maturity level. Here is the breakdown:
I was also interested in which titles had the most points and the highest reading level. Here they are, but keep in mind there are many more titles available. These are the ones just at my son’s school.
These are the titles that are 11th grade reading level and above:
Anna Karenina Tolstoy, Leo 11.0 73.0
Arrowsmith Lewis, Sinclair 11.0 37.0
Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 11.0 41.0
Grapes of Wrath, The Steinbeck, John 11.0 41.0
House of the Seven Gables (Unabridged), The Hawthorne, Nathaniel 11.0 22.0
Jude the Obscure Hardy, Thomas 11.0 34.0
Last of the Mohicans, The Cooper, James Fenimore 11.0 29.0
Lord Jim Conrad, Joseph 11.0 26.0
Main Street Lewis, Sinclair 11.0 37.0
Native Son Wright, Richard 11.0 36.0
Pride and Prejudice Austen, Jane 11.0 27.0
Purloined Letter, The Poe, Edgar Allan 11.0 2.0
Tender Is the Night Fitzgerald, F. Scott 11.0 25.0
Tess of the D’Urbervilles Hardy, Thomas 11.0 29.0
Turn of the Screw, The James, Henry 11.0 6.0
Vanity Fair Thackeray, William M. 11.0 69.0
Brave New World Huxley, Aldous 11.1 18.0
Twenty Years at Hull-House Addams, Jane 11.1 22.0
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the… Sobel, Dava 11.3 9.0
Fall of the House of Usher, The Poe, Edgar Allen 11.4 2.0
Of Human Bondage Maugham, Somerset 11.4 56.0
Profiles in Courage Kennedy, John F. 11.4 13.0
Temple of My Familiar, The Walker, Alice 11.4 36.0
War and Peace Tolstoy, Leo 11.5 130.0
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Franklin, Benjamin 11.8 15.0
American Tragedy, An Dreiser, Theodore 12.0 79.0
Death of a Salesman Miller, Arthur 12.0 5.0
Mansfield Park Austen, Jane 12.0 35.0
Moby Dick Melville, Herman 12.0 46.0
Persuasion Austen, Jane 12.0 19.0
Return of the Native, The Hardy, Thomas 12.0 25.0
Scarlet Letter, The Hawthorne, Nathaniel 12.0 18.0
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation Ellis, Joseph J. 12.8 22.0
Don Quixote Cervantes/Smollett 13.2 91.0
These are the titles that have 50 points or more:
Exodus Uris, Leon 10.2 50.0
Of Human Bondage Maugham, Somerset 11.4 56.0
Roots Haley, Alex 9.3 57.0
Debt of Honor Clancy, Tom 7.2 57.0
Pickwick Papers Dickens, Charles 8.9 61.0
Andersonville Kantor, MacKinlay 7.8 62.0
David Copperfield Dickens, Charles 9.8 65.0
Way We Live Now, The Trollope, Anthony 8.9 67.0
Bleak House Dickens, Charles 8.8 67.0
Gone with the Wind Mitchell, Margaret 6.2 69.0
Vanity Fair Thackeray, William M. 11.0 69.0
Winds of War, The Wouk, Herman 8.4 72.0
702 EN Anna Karenina Tolstoy, Leo 11.0 73.0
Executive Orders Clancy, Tom 7.2 77.0
American Tragedy, An Dreiser, Theodore 12.0 79.0
Don Quixote Cervantes/Smollett 13.2 91.0
War and Remembrance Wouk, Herman 8.8 95.0
Les Miserables (Unabridged) Hugo, Victor 9.8 105.0
War and Peace Tolstoy, Leo 11.5 130.0
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler outlines the lives and marriage of Michael and Pauline Anton from World War II to the present day. We see their joys and trials in courtship, marriage, children, and death.
I have at least 222 AR points this year–ha! I’m probably one of the few who like Accelerated Reader. My older son is going to public school for the first time and will have an official reading class. I thought it would be fun to see which books that I’ve read this year are on the AR list at my son’s school. The first number is the reading level and the second number is the number of points received if the student passes the test. I’m a little surprised The Handmaid’s Tale is on the list. That seems above high school in maturity level. Here is the breakdown:
