More December Reads: #56-58

Christmas Break is a success when one is reading, and that has been my main goal this week!

#56:  The Christmas Box Collection by Richard Paul Evans

I meant to read this before Christmas...just glad I pulled it off my bookshelf.  These three inter-connected stories essentially tell the story of  David and Mary Parkin over a span of several decades years and in several flashbacks and their impact on others.

I recommend reading all three, as I did, as one read.  Waiting until an author completes a series has its advantages!

As a  Christian, concerns consumed me that Evans did not proclaim Christianity more vehemently, as he had the narrator seem to question God at times.  For this reason, I really appreciated the character Mary...the mother...wonder if that name were chosen deliberately?...for she bears much, looses much, then is eternally rewarded with much.

I also so appreciated the stand David took for Laurence as he fought the Goliaths of his time.  Yes, another intesesting connection.

If you are an Evans fan, then please read this collection!

#57 The Awakening by Kate Chopin

A read often assigned in our AP Lang class, this one I had been meaning to read for some time.  Hum, how do I say this?  Well...I was glad when I finally finished all 117 pages of the novella. 

I do not like the main character Edna.  Maybe I am not supposed to?

I suppose I began reading the novel with some presuppositions, thinking that this would be a read about women's rights, about a woman learning who she truly is and overcoming all odds...which Edna does to some degree.

For this read, I would have to agree with peer teacher Amanda when she states she just does not care for American writers.  I just did not care for this novel.  That was hard for me to admit/type!

#58 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Interesting.  I agreed to read this novel with a lit circle group in one of my English 11 classes back in October.  Needless to say, I did not meet that reading deadline!  Did meet the deadline, though, for this to be a part of Dana Huffs Books I Wish I Had Read in High School but Didn't Reading Challenge.

First, let me say everyone needs to read this book because of all the allusions made to this novel.  Definitely a classic.  Jules Verne is definitely the father of science fiction!

Reading the introduction helped me immensely when Bruce Coville grants permission for some readers to skim/scan the lists and lists and lists of the many underwater species that Verne includes (although these lists certainly add validity to the novel!).

The novel relates the 20,000 league journey of several men in an underwater vessel, one unlike anyone has ever encountered.  The professor, narrator of this adventure, brings to life Captian Nemo (might keep in mind that Nemo means nobody), Harpooner Ned, and his personal servant Conseil.

While I could have forgone the many lists, I actually did learn much about life underwater and the geography of the journey.  I just thinking...if I were teaching this novel, my students and I would create a Google Map of the journey.  That would be cool!

Yes, I definitely recommend this novel...just be prepared to journey 20,000 leagues!