Tag Archives: book review

books, random thoughts

Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold, by Margaret Atwood

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hag seed
Image of the book cover found on Google.

I must admit, when I caught sight of this book on the shelf at the library, I snagged it without even reading the cover, simply because I knew I had read Margaret Atwood before and loved it. So I began Hag-Seed without really knowing what I was getting into.

The book is a part of Hogarth Shakespeare, a project I actually hadn’t heard of before. It aims to see Shakespeare’s works retold by acclaimed modern novelists. The Tempest is the story being retold here, and to be honest, it’s a play I’m not familiar with, but Atwood summarizes it at the end of the book.

The premise of Hag-Seed is that a washed-up play director with a reputation for pushing boundaries gets screwed out of his job by a colleague. He has an epic meltdown, sets his sights on revenge, and then moves to a new town to start over, teaching literacy through theatre (read: Shakespeare) at a local prison. He takes Shakespeare’s plays, and adapts them for his rag-tag group of convicts, letting them take some artistic license, of course. Together they do costumes, set design, and even film the production at the end of the class to be viewed by the other inmates. Of course, the play being done when we are a part of the story is The Tempest. The director is definitely a little bit bonkers, obsessed with his former life and bringing his eccentricities with him to his new one, but it makes for an interesting read to see how everything comes together at the end.

I wouldn’t call it an easy beach read, but I would definitely say it’s worth a try! The beginning dragged a little for me, so don’t put it down when you realize the story doesn’t truly start till a few chapters in. Find it at your local library, and give Hogarth Shakespeare a try! I’d like to find another book from the project, and give it a try, too.

books, faith, women

Wild and Free – Book Review

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I don’t know if you like reading Christian books. Depending on what they are, I don’t always like them. A lot of times, they seem a little “self-help” for my taste. Or other times, they’re too deep and require a little more brain power and concentration than I usually have these days. Reading is strictly for pleasure and sanity around here, and I have been unable to read for longer than five or ten minutes at a time for what feels like years (and might actually be). Therefore, I need a book that will hold my interest, but let me stay with it even though I go days without reading, then come back to it much later.

I first heard about Wild and Free because a writer I follow on Instagram had been an early reader for the authors, Hayley Morgan and Jess Connolly. She raved about it before it even became available for purchase, and so naturally, I preordered it.

It’s been an incredible journey to follow these women’s stories about their own lives, and being set free from expectations, duties, and “Christian lifestyles” and learning to live as wildly and freely as Eve – just as God created us to do.

books

Loving Frank – A Book Review

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I finally finished Loving Frank by Nancy Horan – so excited! It definitely moved a bit slowly in the middle (well, maybe I just didn’t have time to devour it as quickly) but the end was a giant, quick surprise.

A little recap on the book: Mamah Borthwick (wife, mother, and early feminist) writes first person about her love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright, at the height of his architecture career. Both are married when the affair begins, and we follow them (and their families) through years (and countries) of loving each other during scandal and respite.

Just to prove that I read this book in print, and not on my Kindle!
Just to prove that I read this book in print, and not on my Kindle!

I loved the way Horan took Mamah’s feelings, described them well, justified them a little with the “free love” writings of Ellen Key, and brought her full-circle into a more realistic and whole view of the man she still loved. I was actually surprised to do some Googling, and see how close to actual history Horan stayed when writing about the affair, Wright’s travels and work, and even Mamah’s relationship with Ellen Key. She must’ve done extensive research and followed it with careful planning to construct such a well-written love story and true-to-life account of the facts.

Like I said, the middle was a bit slow, possibly just because that was a less exciting time in the main characters’ lives, or perhaps because I didn’t know Ellen Key or her writings in advance, but I truly loved the book as a whole, and would definitely recommend it!

Now I’m into Yes Please by Amy Poehler, to satisfy the “memoir” category on my reading challenge. I’ve read Tina Fey’s Bossypants and loved it, so I was nervous for Amy to keep me as interested… and she did it! So I’ll let ya know how that one is when I finish it!

books

Book Review: Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

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It is a great love of mine to find time to read for pleasure. So often, I’m reading blogs and essays on parenting and potty training and toddler tantrums and the like that I am ecstatic to lay in the bed, if only for five minutes before I fall asleep with the Kindle in my hand, and read something delicious, for my own pleasure. Hubby and I sometimes slip into phases where we watch TV instead of read, but I love the times that reading takes the place of a TV binge.

Recently, I read a post from my friend Ginna (her blog is here!) about a book she was reading. Okay, confession: it was not recent. It was over the summer. Details, right? I’m a procrastinator. Anyway, I just finished the book she had recommended, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple.

bernadette

The title character, Bernadette, is a seemingly washed-up but brilliant architect, loved by her quirky daughter and Microsoft-guru husband, revered by architecture nerds all around, and hated by her fellow private school mothers who think she is a social disaster. We read the saga from the daughter Bee’s point of view, and follow the mother-daughter relationship closely. As you may assume from the title, Bernadette disappears, and we go literally to the ends of the earth (Antarctica) trying to find her. The twist at the end is a total kicker, solidifying our warm feelings toward the family of three that we had at the beginning of the book.

It’s written very interestingly (I thought at first oddly, haha), including emails and notes to and from different characters, mixed in with Bee’s narrative. The reason for it is cleared up at the end, with the twist, so hold out through the odd writing… you will be rewarded!

Has anyone else read the book? What did you think? Have you read anything interesting recently that I should read? I’m always looking for suggestions!