Tags

, , , , , ,

Illness, homeschooling, and other hobbies caused me to take an unintentional break from my blog. My book club still met during the past four months to discuss the books we each read for this year’s Read Your Bookshelf Challenge. (If you do not know what I’m talking about, head over to Chantel’s blog to read about it or watch her video.) My friends and I like to use the prompts as suggestions for books to read. However, no one in my book club has to follow the prompts. Some of my friends are really busy, so they just show up and talk about the books they read lately. For this year, I did not make anyone choose a side and stick to it. This way, we have two prompts to choose from each month.

For myself, I chose to read a book for each side. I do not know if this speaks to my tendency to overachieve on goals, or if I did not want the burden of choosing a side and sticking to it every month. I read enough book each month, I do not usually struggle to read books for both prompts. For January, we had to choose a book with a cat or dog on the cover.

For a book with a cat on the cover, I chose The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse. This second book in the Jeeves series follows Bertie Wooster as he gets in and out of trouble with his pals. Usually, the Jeeves the butler helps Bertie get out of his predicaments. The first book, My Man Jeeves, does not exclusively follow Jeeves and Wooster. This second book does not have the other main characters from the first book. I much prefer Jeeves and his master Wooster.

I enjoyed Wodehouse’s humor. A cat (or rather, several cats) played a role in getting Bertie out of an awkward situation. Overall, I gave the book 4/5 stars as I felt the middle slowed down a bit. I intend on continuing the series eventually. I have a few other series I started and want to finishe

For a dog on the cover, I read Sister to the Wolf by Maxine Trottier (we counted any canine as a dog). Goodreads sums up this book like this: “Quebec, 1703. In this rough town, Indian slaves are routinely mistreated. As Cecile Chesne watches the branding iron burn into young Lesharo’s flesh, she knows she must act. Defying convention, the headstrong girl buys the slave’s freedom and treats him as an equal. Lesharo is Pawnee — the People of the Wolf. Sworn to protect Cecile, he accompanies her and her father, a coureur de bois, as they leave Quebec for a perilous journey to the new fort at Detroit. Fort society, however, makes Cecile and Lesharo miserable. Torn between two worlds, they can only be free in the wild. But freedom will not come easily. One terrible night, Cecile is forced to make a dreadful choice?”

I ended up giving this book 3/5 stars. I did not enjoy it as much as I expected. I think this book was written for a younger audience. I did learn a little about Detroit in the early 1700s, but I did not like the writing very much.

Other books people in my book club read for these prompts indculeded:

  • Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
  • Roverandom by Tolkien
  • Throw Wide the Door by Emilie Loring
  • The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager (not recommended)

I will try to get the posts for February, March, and April out soon. My goal is to get them written before my book club meeting in May.