Mique Reads

This year I was intending on reading 12 categories for the Back to the Classics 2019 Reading Challenge, hosted by Karen at  Books and Chocolate , but I ended up doing 6 instead because, well, life with chronic illness happens, and I need to be flexible. I've earned ONE ENTRY. Here are the links to my reviews for each category. Classic by a Woman Author- The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter #1) by Sigrid Undset Classic in Translation- The Wife (Kristin Lavransdatter #2) by Sigrid Undset Classic Tragic Novel- The Cross (Kristin Lavransdatter #3) by Sigrid Undset 19th Century Classic- The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald Classic from the Americas- My Ántonia by Willa Cather Classic from Africa, Asia, or Oceania- The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell My contact info is mique3483 [at] gmail [dot] com

https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2018/12/back-to-classics-2019_9.html?m=1

Format: Paperback Categories: Classic from Africa, Asia, or Oceania (includes Australia)- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Chocolate) A book about a topic that fascinates you- #mmdchallenge 2019 (Modern Mrs. Darcy) "But it was from that day on that a legend began to grow up about the cream brumby, cunning as a fox. Stockmen talked of him round their summer campfires, or sung songs about him as they rode around a restless mob of cattle at night, and the cattle told the brumbies, so that they too knew, all over the mountains, the tales of the wild cream brumby." Most books that I've come across about Australia are set in the Outback, but The Silver Brumby is set in the snowy mountains of southern Australia. When I was a teenager, The Silver Brumby was one of my favorite movies. I watched it over and over again. I had never read the book, but I was happy to discover that it was first published in 1958, so I could read it for this catego...

Format: eBook Categories: Classic from the Americas (includes the Caribbean)- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Choclate) A book published before you were born- #mmdchallenge 2019 ( Modern Mrs Darcy) "As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of winestains, or of certain seaweeds when they are first washed up. And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running." This book is about the pioneer experience in Nebraska, particularly that of Eastern European immigrants, and is also the coming of age story of Jim Burden (narrator), and Ántonia. While the book is told from Jim's point of view, I felt more connected to Ántonia. Jim and Ántonia are friends from the moment they meet, and as the seasons and the landscape of Nebraska prairie change, so do Jim and Ántonia. They eventually take very different paths, b...

Format: eBook Category: 19th Century Classic- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Chocolate) "It was foolish indeed—thus to run farther and farther from all who could help her, as if she had been seeking a fit spot for the goblin creature to eat her in his leisure; but that is the way fear serves us: it always sides with the thing we are afraid of." The Princess and the Goblin is a classic children's fairy-tale. Princess Irene makes friends with a Miner boy named Curdie, when he protects her and her nurse from being attacked by goblins. Curdie discovers the Goblin's plot to kidnap Princess Irene and force her to marry the Goblin Prince. Soon afterwards, he is in need of rescuing, and he and Irene's friendship is put to the test. I could have done without the narrator's interruptions, and the poetry sections were sub-par, especially when we are to believe that poetry is a weapon against the Goblins. Other than that, I think it...

Format: Audiobook Categories: Classic Tragic Novel- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Chocolate) Three books by the same author- #mmdchallenge ( Modern Mrs Darcy) Contains Spoilers "It seemed to her a mystery that she could not comprehend, but she was certain that God had held her firmly in a pact which had been made for her, without her knowing it, from a love that had been poured over her — and in spite of her willfulness, in spite of her melancholy, earthbound heart, some of that love had stayed inside her, had worked on her like sun on the earth, had driven forth a crop that neither the fiercest fire of passion nor its stormiest anger could completely destroy." There is plenty of tragedy in this final book of the trilogy. Kristin loses several family members to death, even before the black plague comes to Norway. She and Erland still have a tumultuous relationship. He continues to be lackadaisical about protecting his sons' inheri...

Format: Audiobook Categories: Classic in Translation- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Chocolate) Three books by the same author- #mmdchallenge ( Modern Mrs Darcy) Contains Spoilers "Are you so arrogant that you think yourself capable of sinning so badly that God’s mercy is not great enough?"      Book 2 deals with Kristin's marriage, and as I suspected, there is trouble in paradise. Kristin is haunted by her sins, and this guilt consumes her. Even when the priests, including her brother-in-law, Gunnulf, advise her not to focus on her sins so much, but to live her life doing good. Still, Kristin struggles with trusting in God's mercy. It's heartbreaking because I'd like to see her experience the peace that the Catholic Church is offering her, but she just can't get over her guilt. She makes a pilgrimage and gives her bridal wreath as penance, and after this she is able to move on for a time. She and ...

Format: Audiobook Categories: Classic by a Woman Author- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019  ( Books and Chocolate) Three books by the same author- #mmdchallenge 2019 ( Modern Mrs Darcy) Contains Spoilers "I've done many things that I thought I would never dare to do because they were sins. But I didn't realize then that the consequence of sin is that you have to trample on other people ." On the surface this story can seem a bit melodramatic, but it's really a very deep book. It's beautifully written, but it's heartbreaking as well. The descriptions are on point. It follows Kristin from a child to her wedding to Erland. I love the Catholicism of it. This culture of Medieval Norway is very Catholic, but still steeped in paganism. They praise God, yet utter curses. Pray to the Saints, but believe in Fae. They believe in trusting God's will for them, but they are also superstitious. Many priests are good, but Undset do...

I've decided to participate in the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge this year. Here is a tentative list of the books I plan to read for each category THE CATEGORIES: 1. 19th Century Classic- The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald 2. 20th Century Classic - Roverandom by J. R. R. Tolkein (published posthumously 1998) 3. Classic by a Woman Author- The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter #1) by Sigrid Undset 4. Classic in Translation. The Wife (Kristin Lavransdatter #2) by Sigrid Undset 5. Classic Comic Novel- The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery 6. Classic Tragic Novel- The Cross (Kristin Lavransdatter #3) by Sigrid Undset 7. Very Long Classic- Middlemarch by George Eliot (Approx. 890 pages) 8. Classic Novella- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Original 1818 Edition- Approx. 150 pages) 9. Classic From the Americas- My Ántonia by Willa Cather (Setting: Nebraska, USA) 10. Classic From Africa, Asia, or Oceania (includes Australia)- The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitch...