VIKINGAFURSTINNAN by CHATARINA INGELMAN-SUNDBERG (2001)

Title: Vikingafurstinnan: en historisk roman om Ingegerd - vikingatidens mäktigaste kvinna  (alt. Mäktig Mans Kvinna)

Author: Chatarina Ingelman-Sandberg

Pages: 376

Published: 2018 (alt. 2001)

Publisher: Månpocket
Language: Swedish

In all honesty, I was disappointed. I found this book in the Science-Fiction bookshop in Old Town in Stockholm, Sweden and I was really in the mood for a Viking story. Having read and loved Johanne Hildebrandt's books Sigrid, and Estrid, I thought I was in for a similar experience when picking up Vikingafurstinnan. But instead of flying through the book, I had to push myself to finish it.

This book had such potential. It introduced the relationship between the Vikings and Russia and Prussia. It highlighted the change in religion that the Vikings went through. There was an impossible love story and an arranged marriage, but no spice! Nothing of this hooked on and provided an exciting story. I was solely disappointed but somehow finished the book nevertheless.

Having been told that I'd purchased this book my Grandma bought the Ingelman-Sundberg's other three Viking based novels and she seemed relatively pleased when I asked her about them. I wonder if I will make the effort of reading them in the hope that they will be much better or if I will find myself leaving them on the shelf.

It is a shame when a book has this effec

t on me because I really did have high hopes and I kept reading in the hopes that it would pick up but the book did not lead up to any big excitement. Three quarters through an event worth mentioning took place and this was perhaps the only interesting part. The main character, Ingegerd, having existed in real life was clearly an interesting historical figure but she rubbed me up the wrong way and unfortunately the book didn't agree with me.

Plot Summary:

There are worrying times in the Nordics, and the Viking bride Ingegerd and Olav the Holy are going to marry. But Ingegerd father, Olof Skötkung, opposes the wedding - Ingegerd is forced to travel to Rus to marry Jaroslav the Wise, an older man she has never met before. The nobles threaten with insurgency and Norway with war. Ingegerd finds herself in the middle of the eye of the storm.
My Rating:

3/10

I really did push myself through this book unfortunately. 
Other Books by Chatarina Ingelman-Sandberg:

Kaffe med Rån (Pensionärsligan #1) - [The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules (League of Pensioners #1)]

Låna är Silver, Råna är Guld (Pensionärsligan #2) - [The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again (League of Pensioners #2)]

Rån och Inga Visor (Pensionärsligan #3) - [The Little Old Lady Behaving Badly (League of Pensioners #3)]

Tantlexikon [The Old Lady's Dictionary]

Krutgummor på Krigstiden (Mormödrar för Fred)

Brännmärkt [Branded]

Förföljd [Stalked]

Befriad [Freed]

Vikingablot [Viking Blot]

Vikingasilver [Viking Silver]

Vikingaguld [Viking Gold]

Boken om Vikingarna [The Book About the Vikings]

Forntida Kvinnor - Jägare, Vikingahustru, Furstinna [Ancient Women - Hunter, Viking Wife, Countess]

Kampen mot Bränningarna [The Fight Against the Fires]

Tempelbranden (Släkten #3) - [The Temple Fire (The Kindred #3)]

MINA DRÖMMARS STAD by PER ANDERS FOGELSTRÖM (1960)

Title: Mina Drömmars Stad (City of My Dreams)

Author: Per Anders Fogelström

Series: Stadsserien (Stockholm Series)

Pages:  301

Published: 1960

Publisher: Albert Bonniers Bolag
Language: Swedish


I have a friend back in Sweden who picks her books very carefully. Her argument is that if she'd going to spend loads of time, sitting a reading a book, it might as well be good. So she often picks critically acclaimed books, classics or highly recommended books.

Last summer she was reading the Stockholm Series by Per Anders Fogelström. A modern classic from the 60's which follows the generations of a family that lives in Stockholm between the 1860s to the 1960s.

This year I set myself the goal to read one classic per summer and really felt like reading these, so much that I even visited the local library out in the countryside to get hold of a copy so I could read it, even though I'd brought twenty other books with me from England.

This book is heaven. It is a very light read, so it is not a daunting classic. It is not too long either and the chapters vary in length, but are never too long. It is very enjoyable and entertaining, while at the same time being a bit of a history lesson. It's amazing how little I found that I new of my own city and country at the time the book takes place. The book is very relaxed however in how it tells the story. It mentions things that one would regard as quite major incidents in history, simply in the passing. Fogelström does not set out to educate and inform the reader of the time period. But simply to transport them. If they pay enough attention they will notice the details. Things that were trivial at the time are given such attention in the book, even if I as the reader regard it as major. It is a very interesting take read in this sense, seeing as Fogelström published this book a hundred years after the story takes place. Had it been written in the 1860s I would not have been surprised at this writing technique.

It is a very refreshing read from all the fantasy and sci-fi I usually immerse myself. To read something about my own history as well as something that uses, not old, but traditional language is very stimulating. I highly recommend this book. It is a Swedish classic which deserves the attention it is given. It is also translated into English so if you would like to try something new and foreign I highly recommend this book.

Plot Summary:

A summer evening in 1860 a man named Henning walks into the city that he has dreamt of. Times are changing, industries are forming and possibilities are opening up.
The narrative follows a group of working-class people on Södermalm in Stockholm between 1860-1880.

My Rating:

7/10

Other Books in the Series:

Mina Drömmars Stad (Stockholm Series #1) - [City of My Dreams]
Barn av Sin Stad (Stockholm Series #2) - [Children of Their City]
Minns Du Den Stad (Stockholm Series #3) - [Remember the City]
I En Förvandlad Stad (Stockholm Series #4) - [In a City Transformed]
Stad I Världen (Stockholm Series #5) - [City in the World]

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by MARGARET ATWOOD (1985)

Title: The Handmaids Tale

Author: Margaret Atwood

Pages: 311
Published: 1985
Publisher: Anchor Books

I did not read this book in school as I know some people did but I did know of it and I heard even more of it when the TV series came out. Eventually I got it on audible and listened to it. I highly recommend the audiobook. The narrator is so pleasant to listen to and really expresses Offred's feelings well.

When first listening to the book I must admit I was confused. I had not read a synopsis, I had not heard what it was about. I had no idea. The word 'handmaid' I felt implied that it took time in the past and knowing it was a classic it must have taken place in the past, right? This was highly confusing. as I was wrong. The book takes place in the future. In fact, it's a dystopian future, which I did not expect at all. It is in fact a very interesting future Atwood paints for the reader. A future which isn't actually that far fetched. That although it seems absurd it could somehow be possible. And that is scary.

Especially in such a pro-feminist culture as we are currently living in. Where feminism is a movement that takes part of a lot of people's everyday life. It is a constant battle. In The Handmaid's Tale, women are diminished to an unspeakable level. They are not allowed to read, they cannot dress as they wish (in fact they've gone back to dresses), they are locked inside their city and they are only allowed outside the house at certain times. The later especially applies to the Handmaids. It is such a bizarre world, that we would never consider to be possible today. Yet, in Atwood's book it is exactly what has happened. Although the Handmaids have no power, and many have been close to brainwashed they still think for themselves, they still attempt to talk of the 'time before' and a rebellion is coming.

Although this book shows a world where women have been brought down it is such a pro-feminism book. It is incredibly interesting to read about and to speculate over. It provides for seriously interesting conversations and debates.

If you have not read the book I highly recommend it, and even if you don't read it, consider the TV series which is available on Sky. The second season is currently out which is will be fascinating as there is only the one book. However, the book does finish on quite an unfinished note that begs for more, so I'm very intrigued to see what else they've got in their bag as they did develop a lot of the characters from the book that the first person narration didn't allow for.

Favourtite Quote:

“Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”

My Rating:

7/10

Although slow at times it is very thought-provoking.

Plot Summary:

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

Other Books by Margaret Atwood:

The Blind Assassin
Alias Grace
Cat's Eye
The Robber's Bride
The Heart Goes Last
The Penelopiad
The Edible Woman
Hag-Seed
Stone Matress: Nine Tales
Surfacing
Lady Oracle
Moral Disorder and Other Stories
Wilderness Tips
Bluebeard's Egg
Bodily Harm
The Tent
Lie Before Man
Dancing Girls and Other Stories
Negotiating with the Dead
Good Bones
Good Bones and Simple Murders
The Circle Game
The Door
Up in the Tree
I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth
You are Happy
Happy Endings
Morning in the Burned House 
Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth 


and more.

Books with... Great Villains

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1991)

This book features my favourite villain of all time: Captain Jonathan Wolverton Randall. Also known as Black Jack Randall. Randall is the ultimate villain, with a twisted mind, a love for breaking people, a fan of rape, pedophilia, and violation. He is a sadist and a misogynist. What makes it worse is that he bears a striking resemblance to the main character, Clare's, husband. Jonathan Randall is the kind of villain that makes you feel sick and have to close the book for a moment just to allow oneself to swallow what one's just read. All boxes ticked for a great adult villain. If you wish to read my full review of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon you can find it here.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling (1997 - 2007)

He doesn't actually fully make an appearance until book four: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but Voldemort is a constant villain throughout the books. He is a reminder of Harry's dead parents and the terror that took place in the Wizarding World until he disappeared thanks to Harry's survival. He has no mercy what so ever and his obsession with living forever has no boundaries, so that he willingly kills men, women and children of all ages and has such a strong negative influence that people cannot even say his name but refer to him as 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. A timeless villain for all ages. For my full review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone click here.

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth (2017)

Veronica Roth made a step up on her villain from her debut trilogy Divergent. This time it's much worse. Not only is the villain, Ryzek Noavek, the brother of the female lead, Cyra Noavek, but he feels happy to torture her as he sees fit. Not only that but he also exploits her powers to use against her enemies, against her will. He also has no problem with holding Akos Kereseth, the male lead, and his brother Eijeh Kereseth hostages, but worse brainwashes Eijeh to turn him against his own brother. It's twisted. On top of that he also has the annoying habit of cleaning his finger nails with a blade.  A new villain with a twisted mind. A review of this book is coming soon.

OUTLANDER by DIANA GABALDON (1991)

Title: Outlander

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Series: Outlander #1
Pages:850
Published: Jun 1st 1991
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company

Yes, it is a big book. It’s daunting and intimidating. It’s a task to take on and read but it very rewarding. And it’s hardly a slow and boring book. It’s filled with action, history, romance, politics and adventure.

Diana Gabaldon takes her protagonist Claire Randall back in time through a ring of standing stone from 1945 to 1743. With her versatile knowledge of botanical healing and nursing from her time in WWII, Claire manages to survive the Scottish Highlands despite accusations towards her of being an English spy as well as a witch. But in order to escape arrest, rape and assault, Claire is forced to marry and leave her husband Frank alone in the present.

Talk about an original plot. Not only is this book a modern classic, but it deserves it’s own genre. Nothing like this has been seen before. Not in this way. Not too much magic is involved. Only enough to make the story possible. There is just the right amount of politics and history to keep you interested but not too much to make you bored. All characters are necessary for the story and given enough time to truly become memorable.

As much as I’d like to express my love for Claire and Jamie as characters, I do not wish to spoil their story as it is better experience amongst the pages of Outlander. But it is worth mentioning that their relationship is masterfully done with a genuine tinge of human complexity, closer to real life than most books. The development of their relationship and feelings and expressions are very skilfully woven into the story. Their characters are explored and exposed to the reader through the help of each other. However, I shall leave that up to the reader to fall in love with. 

What’s really worth mentioning is characters like Dougal MacKenzie, Murtagh Fraser and Jonathan Randall. Dougal is the character you love one second and hate the next. Two-faced and only interested in his own agenda and the Jacobite’s cause. he is a very interesting and strong character. A scene with Dougal is never disappointing. And his relationship with his brother Colum MacKenzie is so well developed and executed that it can be seen as it’s own story. As for Murtagh I do not think the story would work without him. He is impossible to hate and his presence is so loved. Everyone deserves a Murtagh and I think he is under appreciated. Nonetheless let’s talk about Gabaldon’s villain. Jonathan ‘Black Jack’ Randall is by far the worst villain I have ever encountered. It’s as if though Gabaldon has thought of the worst, most bizarre, absurd, and disgusting things no one in their right mind would do and she makes sure Randall finds a way to do it and go there. If you want to be truly disgusted by a villain and feel physically sick by a personally entering a scene, this is the book for you.

I cannot express my love for this book enough. Not only does it have a wonderful love story, a disgusting villain and takes place in Scotland. It is so well balanced, that I would argue that it'll satisfy every reader somehow. I highly recommend this book and although long and daunting it is a hundred percent worth it. I have met people my age reading it as well as older ladies at the library asking for the next book. 

And even if you find it too long to read and you know you cannot take on a book of this size at the moment I encourage you to watch the STARZ TV Series adaptation of it. It is incredibly accurate and has treated this series with such respect. Each season is the equivalent of a book and even if you may find the first episode slightly slow (as you may find the book) I suggest you keep watching because you’ll find that you can’t peel your eyes of the screen.

I urge you all to become your own outlander and get lost in such a vibrant, historically fascinating, sometimes terrifying yet beautiful world of the past. 

I’ll see you at Craigh na Dun.

Plot Summary:

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon - when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach - and "outlander"- in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord... 1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life... and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a young gallant Scot warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire... and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

My Rating:

10/10

Unlike anything I've read before.

Other Books in Outlander:

Outlander (Outlander #1)

A Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)

Voyager (Outlander #3)

Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)

The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)

An Echo in the Bone (Outlander #7)

Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8)

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Home (Outlander #9)

Virgins (Outlander novella)

The Space Between (Outlander novella)

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows (Outlander novella)

A Trail of Fire (Outlander novella)

Seven Stones to Stand or Fall (Outlander novella)

HOLD BACK THE STARS by KATIE KHAN

Title: Hold Back The Stars
Author: Katie Khan
Pages: 304 (hardcover)
Published: Jan 6th 2017
Publisher: Doubleday


This book was given to be for free as an ebook via NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are honest and my own and I do not intend to offend anyone or claim that my opinions are right. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to the release date.

This book had such an intriguing cover that just shouted Young Adult Contemporary and I got the feeling that the star filled cover may just be pretty. Turns out I was wrong. The cover is very literal. Carys and Max are stuck in space with only 90 minutes left worth of oxygen to live and while they try to save themselves they also express their feelings and the reader finds himself going back in time to Carys and Max's time together on earth.

I didn't finish this book. It took my ages to try to get into it and in the end I managed to get through 40% of the book but had to put it down. I wasn't enjoying it at all and I didn't look forward to sitting down and reading it. I aim to finish all the books I receive from NetGalley but I couldn't make myself do it. I never bonded with the characters and even though it was a very character dependent narrative I didn't feel like they truly blossomed and it truly bothered me.

I didn't really see the point of the narrative. Here are two people stuck in space with 90 minutes to live and they look back at their life together. As tragic as and emotional this sounds I couldn't be less interested. I only felt like I was intruding on their moment together.

Furthermore what truly bothered me was that I couldn't decide on which genre this book belonged to. It felt like it was written young adult/new adult but the characters were in their 20s which confused me. It is clearly set in the future Europe where it has been improved and people live and move to different Voivodes during their lives for different jobs but don't appear to have a say in where they're going. Love is banned until the age of 30 ish when one is meant to consider having children. Seeing as Carys and Max are also in their 20s but out alone in space (Max with very little education in the astronaut field) this gave me a strange feeling that it was a sic-fi book but it was so clearly a love story and it didn't give me the epic sic-fi/fantasy feeling. I was confused and this battle was going on in my head while reading. I felt like it wasn't giving me enough context to the world they were living in and it left me hanging, uneasy.

Despite this there were few odd moments when the narration on the book kept me reading and it had nothing to do with plot and characters but simply impressive authorship and talent. Similar to Kazuo Ishiguro who had me reading 'The Remains of the Day' even though I was uninterested in the plot. Even if I was unimpressed by the characters and the plot I would have liked to see more of this and if Khan had been able to grasp my attention more often I may have given this book another try.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me as I could not immerse with the plot and felt constantly confused. I hope others get a different, more positive reading experience.

Plot Summary:

Carys and Max and ninety minutes of air left.

None of this was supposed to happen.

But perhaps this doesn't have to be the end...

Adrift in space with nothing to hold onto but each other, Carys and Max can't help but look back at the well-ordered world they have left behind - at the rules they couldn't reconcile themselves to, and a life to which they might now never return. For in a world where love is banned, what happens when you find it?

- GoodReads

Favourite Quote:

'First love can break you. But it can also save you'

My Rating:

2/10

This is the first 2 I have ever given a book and it breaks my heart.

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY by KAZUO ISHIGURO (1989)

Title: The Remains of the Day

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Pages: 258

Published: 1989

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Last year I read this as part of my AS exam in English Language and Literature. I have to admit that this is not my favourite novel. But it did have something about it. They way it's written is very capturing and you are forced to continue reading.

The book is based on memories and the majority of the book is about Steven's memories rather than his journey, which I found disturbing at first. I started to wonder when we would get a glimpse of the trip rather than all these snippets of his life. It wasn't until I'd gotten half way through that I realised that the book was simply about his past life and only driven by his journey as the narrator. This was satisfying, although I would've needed to know it before because I felt that I was waiting for something that was never going to happen for quite a while. 

It is not about the story as much as the writing style. Ishiguro writes in a way that makes you connect with the character and you wish to know more merely because of it.

There is a film of the book with Emma Thompson, and Anthony Hopkins with the same name.

Plot summary:

"'After all what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?' In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the English countryside and into his past...A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House, of lost causes and lost love. The Remains of the Day is now available as a Faber Modern Classics edition. "

- Waterstones.com

My Rating:

5/10
Perhaps because I was forced to read it for English.

Other Books by Kazuo Ishiguro:

Never Let Me Go
The Remains of the Day
The Buried Giant
When We Were Orphans
An Artist of the Floating World
The Unconsoled
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall
A Pale View of Hills

THE CONSTANT PRINCESS by PHILIPPA GREGORY (2005)

Title: The Constant PrincessAuthor: Philippa GregorySeries: The Tudor Court Novels, The Plantagenet and the Tudor NovelsPages: 501Published: 2005Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers


This book is about Henry VIII's first wife Katherine of Aragon. I usually saw Katherine of Aragon as the boring older wife who he divorced, because Anne Boleyn came along, and the mother of Mary Tudor (not a big fan of Bloody Mary). This book, however, looked at Katherine of Aragon in a completely different light. She was an ill treated princess for a lot of her teen age years and overlooked by the court.

Katherine of Aragon married Henry VIII's older brother Arthur first, but he died before he could become king. It is said that she married Henry because he insisted and she claimed that her marriage with Arthur was not consummated. That is what history has believed however, Philippa Gregory, as a historian has her own theory; that the marriage was consummated but that Katherine lied in order to marry Henry and become Queen, as she believed she was destined to be.


Kathrine's relationship with Arthur in this book is fictional; it is romantic and sweet and everything you could ever dream of. This novel was not about the old, boring queen that got divorced for a more exciting young queen. This novel is about a young princess from Spain, fighting for her place in court, falling in love, loosing her love and falling in love again. This queen rules and she is loved by her people.

If you have a love for historical fiction I highly recommend this book, or any of Gregory's books. It's based on historical characters and events but mixed with a perfect amount of fiction to spice things up a bit.

Plot Summary:

Katherine of Aragon is betrothed at the age of three to Prince Arthur, son and heir of Henry VII of England. She is raised to be Princess of Wales, and knows it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land.Her faith is tested when her prospective father-in-law greets her arrival with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse. Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur's wife grows ever more bearable. Unexpectedly in this arranged marriage, a tender and passionate love develops.

But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty?

My Rating:

8/10

Favourite Quote:

"This bride would give her a grandson, a Spanish-Tudor king for England, and a son after him, and after him: and so lay down a dynasty of Tudors that would be never-ending." - Margaret Beaufort
This couldn't be further from the truth.

Other Books in the Series:

The Constant Princess
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Boleyn Inheritance
The Other Queen
The Queen's Fool
The Virgin's Lover

These books are technically stand alone books as they have nothing in common except the historic era and the Tudor court. However, if you are unfamiliar with the history behind them you may wish to read them in the order they take place historically to get a greater picture but it is certainly not necessary.

THE GREAT GATSBY by F. SCOTT FITZGERALD (1925)

Title: The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pages:180

Published: Apr 10th 1925

Publisher: Scribner

I saw this book at Waterloo train station with my mum one day in London and she knew exactly which book it was. I had no idea. She new of the new film by Baz Luhrman as well (the book had the film cover) and I urged her on to buy it. Why wouldn't I. She did and I started reading it on the train home. I loved it.

I must admit that I haven't really given classics a chance or much time, but I didn't even know this was a classic. Leonardo diCaprio was on the cover and that was good enough for me. I managed to finish the book before the premier and I went to see it, as expected, with my mum - I cried.

The year after we started studying the book (my copy now has a hundred notes in it in every possible colour), but imagine how much a teacher can influence your opinion of a book. I didn't stop loving the book, but I hated what she had to say about it. I did not agree, and I think I was so negative of everything she had to say because 1) she questioned all my opinions, 2) I loved this book, I read it for pleasure and she made me analyse the minor details that I'm sure F. Scott Fitzgerald didn't bloody care about right then and 3) she was a horrible teacher overall (the only English teacher that I have ever disliked). I hated studying it. It ruined the pleasure of reading the book. A lot of people I know had to study it for their A-levels and hated it. Poor souls.

I'm happy I convinced my mum to buy it that one time at the train station (even though it had the film cover, I usually prefer the original cover), and that I managed to read it before it was too late!! Before my teacher started coming up with ideas and theories I didn't agree with. I'm happy I had enough time to go into WHSmith with my mum that one time sat Waterloo train station. I wonder what I would've thought of the book otherwise.

Plot Summary:

The Great Gatsby follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the midwest and comes to New York in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stock. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin Daisy, and her philandering blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, love and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

Favourite Quote:

He threw all those parties hoping she'd wander in one night...

My Rating:

10/10

My favourite classic of all time.

Don't miss the 2013 film by Baz Luhrmann!!

Other Books by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

The Great Gatsby

Tender is the Night

This Side of Paradise

The Beautiful and Damned

The Short Stories

Babylon Revisited and Other Stories

The Diamond and Big as the Ritz and Other Stories

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Six Other Stories

PERSUASION by JANE AUSTEN (1818)

Title: Persuasion

Author: Jane Austen 

Pages: 249

Published: 1817
Publisher: Penguin Classics

I never read a Jane Austen book until I had to read Persuasion in school for my AS English Language and Literature. My teacher did not quite like it (or so she says) cause she refers to it now as the P - word or the book that must not be named. 

I, however, didn't mind it at all. I like the time period so the context was interesting. My thoughts often went wondering about the first time I read it but I have probably read it four times by now and the more I do the more I like it. Just after Christmas I had no motivation for revision for my PPEs at all, but as one always has to I eventually sat down and found that writing a Persuasion essay wasn't very bad at all. I liked the plot, the characters, the setting and the context. It's not very bad at all.

Captain Wentworth is not Austen's most famous romantic hero (Mr Darcy), but he is probably one of the most vulnerable and emotional ones. 'You pierce my soul'. Could you get anymore hyperbolic?

Plot Summary:

"Her last completed novel, marrying witty social realism to a 'Cinderella' love story, Jane Austen's "Persuasion" is edited with an introduction by Gillian Beer in "Penguin Classics". Anne Elliot, twenty-seven and still single, seems destined for spinsterhood. In her youth, she broke off an engagement to penniless Captain Wentworth at the insistence of her friend Lady Russell, acquiescing to the demands of her class at the expense of her happiness. But when Wentworth returns from the Napoleonic wars rich and famous, Anne finds her affection rekindled - even though Wentworth seems more interested in Anne's friend Louisa Musgrove."

- Waterstones.com

My Rating:

6/10
It is a good classic book and I did enjoy studying it in school but it's a little cheesy and silly at points, possibly for the time it's written.

Other Books by Jane Austen:

Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park