What I Read: Winter

In case you couldn’t tell by the title of this post, I have been backstalking Jenn over at hellorigby! in a major way. I love her style, the way she writes like a real human being, and obviously her adorable Shiba! Another thing that the literature nerd in me loves are her “What I Read” posts. I’m always so fascinated by others’ book choices, and I like the idea of having a record of all the books that I’ve read (another reason why I’m loving Goodreads right now).

Since I still don’t read nearly as much as I would like to, I’ve decided to break my reading up into seasons instead of months.

What I Read: Winter 2015

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (★★★☆☆)
Overall, I liked this book. I can always appreciate a book that takes me back to a particular place in time, but it just wasn’t the best fit for me. You can also read my full review for book club.

 

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (★★★★☆)
I liked this book club pick much better than the first. I really enjoyed that the story was told from Watson’s perspective, and I think it set up the relationship between Dr. Watson and Sherlock well for the remaining stories, which I definitely plan to check out soon! Check out my full review for even more thoughts.

 

Longbourn by Jo Baker (★★★★☆)
If you read all of my Jane Austen-related feels, you know that I’ve been on a Pride and Prejudice kick as of late. I haven’t gone back and actually read the book itself yet (that will probably happen in the near future), but I have read a lot of books related to my favorite book, and this was by far the best! Longbourn details the lives of the servants in Elizabeth Bennet’s life, and it was a fascinating read. The writing is reminiscent of the time period without being overdone, and I would highly recommend this book!

 

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (★★★☆☆)
Yet another Pride and Prejudice-related novel that I read this season, James’s book is a sequel of sorts. It had a bit less Elizabeth than I was hoping for and got too lost in the legal proceedings of the period at points, but it certainly contains enough drama for any Austen lover, and it’s worth a read if you love her characters and want a peek into their futures.

 

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll (★☆☆☆☆)
I have to admit that I’m a bit embarrassed to add this book to the list; it’s a bit Pride and Prejudice meets Fifty Shades of Grey in that it’s basically really smutty fanfiction. I recently read that the author has never even read Austen’s novel, which makes perfect sense. I’m not going to say it wasn’t fun to see what Darcy and Elizabeth would be like as newlyweds, but someone should confiscate this woman’s thesaurus because her attempts at emulating an 18th century style of writing was fairly horrendous.

 

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
This one’s a book club pick, and you’ll have to stay tuned next Wednesday for my Book Club Classics link up to read what I thought about it! (You can read the full review here.)

 

Now that I am a card-carrying member of the Cincinnati Public Library, I expect to read many more books than I have been. I can check out ebooks and download them directly to my Kindle, making my voracious appetite for reading more affordable and causing my bus rides to fly by in the afternoons. Perhaps I’ll even be able to read as many books in a season as Jenn read in the short month of February!

What was your favorite book this winter?

P.S. I did a little rundown of the books I read in the spring, too.