About a month ago, a few friends decided that we should start a book club – I immediately agreed of course, I L-O-V-E to read. I think I like to read so much because when I was a kid I got “grounded” a lot and there wasn’t much else you could do besides read. Parents – ground your kids, it promotes reading, LOL. We weren’t sure exactly how many people would join the book club or how it would work so we decided that to get started, we should choose who would host the first meeting at their house and then that person would select the book. At each meeting we’d decide on the next host and book and a tentative date. For the first meeting, Kayla agreed to be the host and she selected a book titled “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield.
As usual, I procrastinated all the way until about a week before our meeting when I finally got the book from our local library and read it over the weekend. Side Note: I can’t believe I hadn’t gotten a library card yet when I live less than a mile away from a library. Support your local library; it’s a wonderful resource for people who can’t afford to buy new books all the time! Anyways, back to the story…I read the book over the weekend and found it to be rather enjoyable for the most part but I still haven’t made up my mind whether I’m satisfied with the ending. There were a few things that the author kept hinting at that even at the end of the book I just don’t quite see where she was going with it or how it tied in.
The book is not very old but it is written in similar fashion to some of the old English classics by Emily Bronte, etc. As usual, it was a little slow to start off but was very engaging through most of the book. The author did a good job of weaving lots of characters together and keeping you interested in them without overwhelming the reader with too many storylines to keep track of. The book starts off with a famous book author who has been very secretive about her past – always telling fables when reporters try to interview her about her past. But she finally decides to contact a biographer to tell her true story and her past. The storyteller/author begins her narration around the time of her grandparents and slowly works her way through important family/area occurrences up to the time of her life.
I guess the only thing that’s still bothering me is that the author kept referencing the book Jane Eyre which is almost entirely about the governess/nanny at the household and her relationship with the master. There is a governess/nanny in this book but she doesn’t end up playing a large enough part in the book to be what they meant. There are a few other aspects of Jane Eyre the author could be referring to but to mention it numerous times, I expected a major tie in between characters or events. If you enjoy fiction and English classics then I would definitely recommend checking it out for yourself.
For next month, we are going to meet at Shelley’s house sometime mid to late July and we are going to read Inferno by Dan Brown. I think it’s too new to be found at the libraries but hopefully it won’t be too expensive to pick up at the store. If anyone in our area wants to join in our book club just let me know!
