The Diary of Anne Frank

I just finished Anne's diary today. Of course, I know how it all ends for this poor girl, but I knew that from the beginning. I've always wanted to read the whole diary but it was never assigned in school, and I never had enough gumption on my own the actually read it all. It was very prolific and prodigious, to think that a girl so young would have such keen insight and attention to the most minute detail. I learned a lot from her, not the least of which is how to be a good diarist. True, there were some disturbing parts to her character, like her ambivalance and professed antipathy towards her mother. I hope my children never feel that way about me, was all I could think as I read through the more disturbing passages. All through the diary, you get the distinct feeling that Anne never loses hope, never really dispairs, always has a sense of optimism. She muses about how she's going to be when she's eighty years old, and we know as we're reading that she dies before she's sixteen. She wanted to become a journalist and wanted to write things that will last after she dies. Imagine that. Her wish definitely came true!

Persuasion
The first book that I've finished is Persuasion by Jane Austen. I originally wanted to read it when it was mentioned in a movie I watched recently "The Lake House". It sounded kind of interesting and it's been years since I've read any Jane Austen. Actually, next to Pride and Prejudice, I think it may only be the second Austen novel I've ever fully read. It took me a little while to get into it, the pacing of novels written 200 years ago is just not the same. Once I got all of the characters figured out, it flowed nicely and I really enjoyed it. It had the typical happy ending that all of her novels have, and all the ends were tied up neatly. The main character's family is so easy to dislike, they're petty selfish snobs who only care about one's class and title. Austen was obviously making a comment on the silliness of such people, as she protrays them so negatively. A good solid read. A-

Hello everyone. I know you're out there and you're just dying to know what I've been reading. It's a burning question in your mind. Admit it. Come on. Really. But seriously, if you care, this blog is going to be about what book I'm reading now, and what I think about it. It will change about as fast as I read, which sometimes is very fast and sometimes, I'm afraid, isn't very fast at all. But hey, I'm a busy mother of three. I read a lot of different things. Fiction. Non fiction. Fantasy. Sci Fi. Literary stuff. Bios. History. Weird things. Cook books. Books about child rearing. You never know what you'll find in my blog, so hang in there and comment if you want to. That is, if you care. I should finish my first book tonight. I'll bet you can't wait. What could it be? :-)