Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

Worth the Read: No

*

I do not consider myself a Jane Austen purist. I'm far from it, actually. I thought it very clever of Ms. James to add an apology to Ms. Austen, saying that she in no way, shape or form meant to offend fans of Pride and Prejudice. With that said, however, I was disappointed in the portrayal of Ms. Austen's characters in this novel.

     Lydia is her usual self, Mary and Catherine are absent from the book and Jane and Lizzy are not at all the Jane and Lizzy readers have loved. On top of that, Mr. Darcy seems uncharacteristically compassionate and Bingley, the man I'd originally fallen in love with, seemed very dimwitted. Georgiana was much more of a flirt, although we didn't get to know her super well in Pride and Prejudice, so, Ms. James took full creative liberty with her.

     As for the plot, I found it rather boring. I feel that mysteries need to be compelling to the point of always making readers wonder what will happen next, but during this book, I found myself thinking, "When will this end?!" The passages in this book

     You have to give credit to PD James for being in her 90's and still writing. That is the impressive thing about this book. With that said, for a contemporary mystery novel, this book was  very padded with words, had boring characters and I didn't find it to be worth the read.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

As part of my blog, I am going to do book reviews on Mondays. I haven't been feeling well today, so, I pulled a review I wrote a long time ago for a different blog that never got published. I hope you enjoy it. In the future, I plan on changing the style of them and making the reviews longer, but, for tonight, this will have to do.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Worth The Read: Yes

****

Jeannette Walls gives readers a very compelling memoir of growing up with an alcoholic father. Her quick-paced, to the point writing style makes this book a quick read and an "unputdownable."

     She provides readers with an account of what it is like to be always on-the-go with an alcoholic father. It starts off when Walls is three and her family does the "skiddadle" - leaving town in the middle of the night. Her family does this often, moving from place to place, before settling down in Welch. Walls and her siblings quickly hate it and cannot wait until they are able to leave.

     Her father is a constant gambler and drinker while her mother refuses to do work, claiming that everyone is alright. The kids not only don't always have enough money for food, they often don't have money for electricity or running water or any of the other common luxuries that most of us are given.

     I cringed at the starvation that these kids endured, cried when the children are pleading for the drinking to stop, and stood back in awe of the brilliance of Walls and her siblings. I fell in love with this book until I stood back and remembered that it is a true story, and that left utterly heartbroken.

     Overall, I was very impressed with this read.