<p>Buena- Destiny of a Republic was very interesting.</p>
<p>Looking back at our history, August and February seem to be our months for bigger reading projects—the former because it’s the dog days of summer and the latter because the holidays are behind us and the kids are away at school. (Last February, we read the behemoth 11/22/63.)</p>
<p>So maybe we could do the non-fiction/fiction pairing for February. In the meantime, let’s do Cloud Atlas for October. December is still a wild card. As always, I list our previous reads at the end of discussion, for newcomers who might be looking for a good book or who are just wondering what we’ve tackled so far. Here it is:</p>
<p>2009:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/722812-cc-june-summer-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/722812-cc-june-summer-book-club-selection.html</a> (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/756770-sarah-s-key-august-cc-summer-book-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/756770-sarah-s-key-august-cc-summer-book-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/775489-american-wife-october-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/775489-american-wife-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/802971-thirteenth-tale-december-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/802971-thirteenth-tale-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2010:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/839908-help-february-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/839908-help-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/874004-shadow-wind-april-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/874004-shadow-wind-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/921062-elegance-hedgehog-june-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/921062-elegance-hedgehog-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/950434-let-great-world-spin-august-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/950434-let-great-world-spin-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/983235-cutting-stone-october-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/983235-cutting-stone-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1017662-moonstone-december-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1017662-moonstone-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2011:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1051496-major-pettigrew-s-last-stand-february-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1051496-major-pettigrew-s-last-stand-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1088114-water-elephants-april-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1088114-water-elephants-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1128229-hotel-corner-bitter-sweet-june-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1128229-hotel-corner-bitter-sweet-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1164259-secret-garden-forgotten-garden-august-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1164259-secret-garden-forgotten-garden-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1196045-state-wonder-october-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1196045-state-wonder-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1227061-before-i-go-sleep-december-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1227061-before-i-go-sleep-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2012:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1258379-11-22-63-february-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1258379-11-22-63-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1289690-bridge-san-luis-rey-april-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1289690-bridge-san-luis-rey-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1324495-cat-s-table-june-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1324495-cat-s-table-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1354603-wide-sargasso-sea-jane-eyre-august-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1354603-wide-sargasso-sea-jane-eyre-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>^ You can’t say we don’t have eclectic tastes!</p>
<p>Back from another week of college tours! Enjoying all the commentary, although it will take a few days to catch up. Will be in for Cloud Atlas for October :).</p>
<p>I am hoping they reduce the Kindle price for Cloud Atlas before Oct. It is higher than the paperback right now so I refuse to purchase. I’ll try the library.</p>
<p>Cloud Atlas sounds great!
And I so enjoyed Wolf Hall-would love to read Bringing up the Bodies-although Wolf Hall introduces the characters so might be a great book club selection some time paired with a good non-fiction book of the time period.
I got so much out of The Six Wives of King Henry VII by Ann Weir-it is probably too huge to read in tandem with another book though!</p>
<p>Hi again–I am back from vacation–wish I could fast forward the next few weeks as the kids gear up for school (and I become a first-time empty nester)! Yipes…where did the time go???</p>
<p>Looking forward to reading the JE/WSS posts and planning to join along for CA in October!</p>
<p>^ Hi psychmom, I hope you had a good time!</p>
<p>I’ll start a new thread for Cloud Atlas, but everyone should feel free to continue posting here about Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, if desired. It ain’t over 'til it’s over. :)</p>
<p>just a general remark–I thought the timing of these books during the Olympics really brought forward the idea of “nationalism.”</p>
<p>^The 2012 summer Olympics brought to mind the colonialism of the British Empire, too. </p>
<p>Our last reading selection, “The Cat’s Table,” had characters who had grown up in colonial Sri Lanka and felt a bit lost when they moved to England.</p>
<p>In “Wide Sargasso Sea,” Antoinette/Bertha was utterly lost once she had crossed the Pond.</p>
<p>The recent Olympic opening ceremony spawned an internet meme of a sour-looking Queen Elizabeth with the caption, “Look at all these countries I used to own.”</p>
<p>[The</a> Queen’s Old Real Estate | Hankering for History](<a href=“http://hankeringforhistory.com/2012/08/06/the-queens-old-real-estate/]The”>http://hankeringforhistory.com/2012/08/06/the-queens-old-real-estate/)</p>
<p>The opening ceremony featured Kenneth Branaugh reciting lines of Shakespeare that were supposed to suggest the wonders of the British Isles but were actually lines from “The Tempest” that refer to the attributes of a colonized territory!</p>
<p>“The sun never sets on the British Empire.”</p>
<p>:) 
:)</p>
<p>At the other end of the spectrum from the 50 Shades-like remake of Jane Eyre, I found this while hunting for a baby present: a Jane Eyre board book!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.gibbs-smith.com/client/client_pages/babylit.cfm[/url]”>http://www.gibbs-smith.com/client/client_pages/babylit.cfm</a></p>
<p>It’s a counting book–Pride & Prejudice, Alice in Wonderland, and Romeo & Juliet also available. The Pride & Prejudice also comes in an enhanced ebook version for iPad–help Lizzie choose a dress for the ball!</p>
<p>“a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature”</p>
<p>LOL, Buenavista! From the Amazon “Look inside” feature for the Jane Eyre Babylit book:</p>
<p>“It’s always dangerous to keep a candle lit at night.”</p>
<p>^^^ Really cute Jane Eyre counting book. Add Dracula and A Christmas Carol to the ones buenavista listed. I’ll probably ending up buying them: I collect children’s books.</p>
<p>I’m still playing around with Jane Eyre. I haven’t watched any movies but do have the latest Jane Eyre and a WSS. I read Jane by April Linden: contemporary Jane works as nanny for a rock star. It focuses on the adult Jane with hints of an unhappy childhood: favored older sister and troubled older brother rather than cousins in Jane’s life. Rivers St. John (not a typo ;)) plans to go to impoverished Haiti. Anyway, I enjoyed it. I finished Part I of The Flight of Gemma Hardy last night: Gemma now heads off to work as a nanny. I’ve seen more good reviews overall for TFoGH but so far like Jane better. In my decidedly humble opinion, TFoGH tries too hard and misses … something … at least, so far. Maybe I’ll feel differently by the end.</p>
<p>I recently reread “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier, which has been compared to “Jane Eyre.”</p>
<p>It’s still entertaining, even when you know what’s coming. The female protagonist is much too meek, though. And this time around, I noticed a little writing quirk that irritated me.</p>
<p>Let us know how you like the rest of Gemma Hardy, Ignatius.</p>
<p>^ I’ve read Rebecca a couple of times and always want to grab young Mrs. de Winter by the shoulders and give her a good shake. I’ll take our strong-willed Jane any day. By the way, Rebecca is another book where we never learn the name of the first person protagonist.</p>
<p>I love the children’s classics, buenavista! I wonder what toddler spin they put on the ending of Romeo and Juliet?</p>
<p>^^^ From the Amazon “Look inside” feature of Romeo and Juliet </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^ Well, I guess that’s better than “O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.”</p>
<p>“help Lizzie choose a dress for the ball” hahahahaha :)</p>
<p>At least the content is not the horrific fairy tale stuff we talked about before!</p>
<p>(BTW, I took a peek at “Cloud Atlas.” Looks over my head.)</p>
<p>^ Don’t worry, psychmom. We’ll all get through Cloud Atlas together–and if it gets really difficult, we can always take a break and help Lizzie choose a dress for the ball. :)</p>
<p>What was it about Cloud Atlas that looked daunting, Psychmom? The various sections of the book are written in different styles. The very first section might be slightly off-putting to some people, but it isn’t very long.</p>
<p>The cover of my edition has a quote from People magazine to the effect that the book is “wildly entertaining…both action-packed and thrillingly ruminative.”</p>
<p>Probably once you get into the book a ways, you will heartily agree.</p>