Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley My rating: 2 of 5 stars This biography was suggested by my thesis supervisor as background information for my thesis topic. I had started reading it the previous summer, but had to stop due to time constraints and because the hardcover edition available from my local library was a bit too cumbersome. I ended up buying a paperback edition while visiting Bath, England in March. It was a stop and go sort of journey with this book and I am on the fence about my opinion of it. I’m completely torn and wondering how much detail and example of my split opinion I…
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A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections
A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections by J.E. Austen Leigh My rating: 3 of 5 stars Technically it wasn’t really part of my research, since it is now agreed that this is a very whitewashed, highly edited version of Jane Austen’s life, but it is nonetheless very interesting to read how the biographies and the creation of a very distinct image of Jane all began relatively shortly after her death. I appreciated Caroline Austen and Anna Austen Lefroy’s recollection of their aunt Jane; however short they were. At the risk of sounding slightly sexist, I have to caution readers when perusing the sections of this memoir that…
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The Art of War
The Art of War: Sun Zi’s Military Methods by Sun Tzu My rating: 3 of 5 stars I keep hearing this text casually mentioned here and there, so I was curious and requested it from my local library. It took about 4 months to become available. I was so busy with all my other readings that I totally forgot I had it. I ended up being that person to keep the book past due, because renewing it wasn’t available. In the end, I had to come to the conclusion, that anything related to philosophy isn’t my thing. I ended up having a bad case of anxiety. I should have known…
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The Life of Jane Austen
The Life of Jane Austen by John Halperin My rating: 3 of 5 stars Originally, I had rated this biography four stars, but after a few day’s consideration I have decided to change it to three stars. As part of my research in preparation for my graduate thesis, I am reading a handful of texts with increased scrutiny. I found the biography, generally speaking, very informative. The author explains in his introduction that he decided against footnotes in order to provide the reader with a more continuous reading experience, since footnotes have the tendency to distract and break up the flow of the text. The chapter notes at the end…
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Drunk Mom
Drunk Mom by Jowita Bydlowska My rating: 2 of 5 stars Had to read this for my last grad course. Apparently my prof is friends with the author. I think that makes it a conflict of interests to “teach” it in this course. Almost 3 months ago I finished reading this book, since then we had countless discussions on it in my course and I even did a presentation on one of the chapters, which received positive feedback. Yet, I am still torn about this book. On the one had, I am impressed and in awe of the author’s courage to share this dark time in her life with the…
