A Classic Book Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Spoilers Included in Review*

Charlotte Bronte, the author of Jane Eyre, led a very sad life. I read her biography. The first part of Jane Eyre is based on Bronte's own experiences in a boarding school, where her two older sisters died. The story starts out with orphaned Jane Eyre living with her aunt and cousins, who mistreat her. Later she is sent away to Lowood, a boarding school for girls. Jane stays there eight years, six as a student and two as a teacher, and finally leaves to be a governess at Thornfield.

She falls in love with Mr. Rochester, the owner of Thornfield, and later becomes engaged to him. But at the altar she learns that Rochester is already married to a mad woman he keeps locked up on the third floor. Jane refuses to marry him and runs away to a small town.



After a number of years as a teacher of the town's school for girls and living with her cousins Jane finally returns to Thornfield. To her horror, the house is burnt down and deserted. She learns that Rochester's mad wife had escaped from the third story and set the house on fire and went on top of the roof. Rochester went after he, trying to get her down, but she slipped and fell, immediately dying. Rochester himself did not escape without becoming blind and injuring his arm.



After learning Mr. Rochester's new whereabouts, Jane immediately sets out to find him. They have a happy reunion and are married.



I really enjoyed this book and the author got me into it. I gasped with Jane at the sight of Thornfield reduced to ashes, and cheered as she refused to marry St John since he did not love her. Jane Eyre is acknowledged to be a work of genius and I agree.

Chapter37 - pg. 643

'My Master,' he says, 'has forewarned me. Daily He announces more distinctly, "Surely I come quickly!" and hourly I more eager respond, "Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

*Many spoilers will be included in this review. Beware. Read at your own risk.*

My curiosity was too much and I had to pick up a copy of The Hunger Games at the library. The whole idea of being forced to fight to the death is intriguing and a heck of a lot more interesting than a pale, sparkly dude who won't eat ice cream with you.

The beginning was boring. Nothing memorable, nothing too exciting. But when it got to the part where they were drawing names for the Hunger Games, it started to get interesting. It wasn't hard to figure out that they would draw Prim's name. I did like the part when Katniss took her place though.

Let's talk characters real quick. Gale vs Peeta. Who did you like better? I'm with Gale 98%. Peeta was just too...lovestruck? Foxface was definitely one of my favorite female characters. Thresh was also a favorite.

Katniss was an awesome character. She was smart, quick, and strong. Seeing her handle a bow and arrow so well was interesting. I'm used to reading books where the main characters usually use swords when fighting. Instead, I got to see sling shots, spears, and knives.

There is a lot of violence in this book. Twenty-two teens die. I was interested in seeing the movie when it came out until I actually read the book. It's one thing to read about a knife being thrown into someones back, but it is a whole another thing to see it played out on screen. I'm really concerned about how violent the film is going to be. I'm guessing the rating is going to be PG-13.

Peeta and Katniss also do a lot of kissing to make it look like they are in love. Nothing descriptive, you just read stuff like "he pulled me close for a long kiss."

Katniss also stands around naked quite about in this book, like when her prep team is trying to find her something to wear or after the doctors look her over. I kept thinking, Is this really necessary? Just stick some clothes on her already! It added nothing to the story.

All-in-all, it was a good book. Not fabulous, not bad, just good. Most people love this book and I liked it, so if you are looking for a book to read then I recommend it.

What did you think when you read The Hunger Games? Like or dislike? Are the sequels worth reading?

Waterfall Wednesdays- A Read-Along Event

I'm super excited to announce I will joining a read-along of Waterfall by Lisa Bergren, one of my new favorite books! Check out Tina's Book Reviews blog for more information.

Revenge of the Red Knight by Marianne Hering and Paul McCusker

In Peril in the Palace, Beth and Patrick had been transported by the Imagination Station to an unknown time and place. Now, in Revenge of the Red Knight, they must find a thief and get back home. This exciting adventure includes a wounded knight, stolen treasures, and jousting tournaments. Will Beth and Patrick be able to find the thief before Albert is locked up in Lord Darkthorn's tower? And will they ever make it back home to Odyssey?

I loved this fourth book in the Imagination Station series. Beth had a bigger role in this book and has to find Patrick by herself after he was taken away from being accused as a thief. I liked seeing her character grow more in this story. There was also a surprise in the jousting tournament - the red knight is not who you think he is! Also, there is a chance for Beth and Patrick to get home by using Mr. Whittaker's ring, but it's snatched away by the bad guy! Now they must get it back before it's used to cause all kind of trouble in the past.

Bookstore Dilemmas

Question: What bookstore is your favorite to get YA Christian books?

Mine is Books a Million. They actually have a decent YA Christian fiction section, yay!

Lifeway is eh. I never actually see any teens in there looking at books. Maybe because it's right next to Veggie Tales...Plus, they don't have a good selection and they get new books in months after they've already been out. By then I've bought it somewhere else.

Barnes and Noble is the worst. They keep the Christian YA fiction on one shelf at the very bottom of the NON-FICTION YA Christian books bookshelf. This makes no sense whatsoever. I occasionally go through and count how many Christian YA books are in the secular YA section, and my highest count is five so far (Starlighter by Bryan Davis, Roadside Assistance by Amy Clipston, one of the Carter House Girls books by Melody Carlson, The Final Hour by Andrew Klavan, and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis).

I literally gasped out loud when I saw Starlighter in the secular YA section. Not from horror, but from delight! A store employee heard me and asked what I was so excited about. When I told him, he said, "Yeah, you usually don't find those kind of books in this section."

But I think it's progress. Lisa Bergren, author of The Rover of Time Series, said on Facebook,
"Barnes & Noble finally recategorized WATERFALL to teen fantasy and adventure! Huzzah! (It was in Christian nonfiction--bizarre.) So...yay!

Is it just us, or is your local B&N putting Christian fiction books in the non-fiction section also?

My New Favorite: The River of Time Series

I recently got Waterfall, book one in The River of Time series, by Lisa T. Bergren for free on my Kindle. I read it, loved it, went to Barnes & Noble, and bought the sequel, Cascade.

Y'all. If I spend money on a new book - not used - you know I love it. I only buy books from used book stores because I'm a tightwad. Like Fred Mertz. Ok, well, I bought The Reluctant Prophet by Nancy Rue from Lifeway the other day because it was on sale for $8.

It was amazing. They both were. I think I liked Waterfall better, but they were both really, really good.

A movie producer was reading it back in June, so cross your fingers! I would love to see this series make it to the big screen.

Check out the River of Time Series Facebook page!

Win a Copy of Sketchy Behavior at Erynn's Blog

You can win an autographed copy of Sketchy Behavior by Erynn Mangum here!

New Trends on the Horizion

Thank goodness, librarians are predicting that this paranormal romance craze (Twilight, other vampire/dead people books) is going to be overtaken by steampunk and dystopias (Hunger Games, Matched).

And where ever secular YA goes, Christian YA follows. I do remember seeing a couple Christian vampire books come out, but I really don't think they were that popular. I may be wrong though.

I'm going to be totally jazzed if sci-fi becomes really popular. I really have no idea what books go into the steampunk category, but Wikipedia's desription sounds promising.

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually the Victorian era Britain—that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy.

So, what do you think? Excited about these changes that might be coming? Or do you wish another genre would become the next trend?