Beth's Book of the Week
I love reading. I read more than three hours a day. I hope to encourage someone to read the books I discuss. My favorite genres are classics, plays, children's books, and short stories.
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Waiting for Godot
This is famous for being a play about nothing. It kind of reminds of "My dinner with Andre" where nothing much happens, just a lot of talking, but you feel that something important has happened. Two characters wait for a figure called Godot. As the play goes on, you realize that Godot is flawed and not a saint, maybe not worth the wait. Messenger boys come which give the characters the sense that Godot will arrive. The reason why I read it is because the actors behind "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are doing a revival. I keep seeing ads on Facebook for it. I don't have the money to fly out to New York but that would be fun to watch. Reading it I guess is the second best thing.
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Brazilian Mythology
I don't know why Brazilian mythology is not better known. There is some pretty interesting folklore here. I read more about botos. They are weredolphins (aka encantados). (I wrote a story about them once.) There's also a bit about their boogeymen. I also want to read Monteiro Lobato's Saci even though I heard that there's much to be desired with the English translation. If you want to delve into the mythology of a culture that is not really talked about here is the way to go.
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Nine Inches
I read Election in high school and liked it so I thought I would revisit Tom Perrotta. This is a book of short stories about a bunch of Suburban losers. The two stories I liked the most concerned the mother chaperoning a graduation party and getting along with a cop who had recently pulled her over. My favorite would probably be the teacher who confronts the kid who gave her a negative review on a rateyourteacher website. The ending was funny. Half the stories concerned high school. There were mixed feelings on others like the pediatrician. I liked his love for music but I couldn't look pass his infidelity. I gave this a 3/5 on goodreads. The crudity was really why but that's typical of adult books published nowadays. It's why I stick to children's books and classics.
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Up a road slowly
I liked this girl's coming of age story. One person on goodreads said the characters were stereotypical. But I think the characters in the book represent people you can meet in real life like the spinster aunt and the drunken uncle who dreams of being a writer. The boyfriend jock who takes advantage of her academically yeah there are jerks like that in real life too. There was a coziness to the book. I think this was even better than Across Five Aprils. Irene Hunt was a talented children's writer. The only bad thing about the book is the cover. My sister asked me if I was reading a romance.
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Iphigenie
This was a play written by Jean Racine who was heavily influenced by Euripides. This is a play about a father sacrificing his daughter. Even her fiance falls for someone else. All is looking doomed for Iphigenie but there is a twist at the end. I thought it was all right. It was different than my usual reading. I needed a break from all of the children's literature I've been reading lately. 3/5
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Across Five Aprils
I read this when I was a kid and decide to read it again for curiosity's sake. It was all right. It's a coming of age story set during the Civil War. The Creightons have their fair share of enemies even though they are good people. I'm mixed about the parts of the book where they tell about history and then jump back into the story. It's probably good for children but I wanted to get back to the plot. The most inspirational thing about this book to me is that the author was 57 when it got published. As an inspiring writer, this made me happy. It's never too late to be discovered. She would go on to write other successful books too.
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Black Hearts in Battersea
This was a sequel to The Wolves of Willoughby Chase but you don't have to necessarily have to read that book to follow. It follows the character Simon as he tries to become an artist and make it on his own as an adult. Only he doesn't know what's become of his friend Dr.Field. Sophie from the first book shows up as well. Soon he finds the people he lives with the Twites, who have been dishonest about Dr. Field, want to get rid of the Duke of Battersea. Soon Simon finds himself involved in a kidnapping and other complications happen. It was cute. I also liked the character Dido.
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