Mique Reads

 This year I completed SIX categories (Tier ONE) for Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2020. I have earned ONE ENTRY. I always try to go for all 12, but I still haven't succeeded in that. I'm ok with that, though. I'm dealing with a lot, and I just really enjoy the process, and being a part of the challenge. Here are the categories I have completed: 20th Century Classic:  Under the Sea Wind by Rachel Carson Classic by a Woman Author:  The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson Classic with a Place in the Title:  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith Classic with Nature in the Title:  The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson Genre Classic:  Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Classic Adaptation:  Pied Piper by Nevil Shute My contact information is mique3483 [at] gmail [dot] com

Format: Ebook Category: Classic with nature in the title Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2020 ( Karen's Books and Chocolate ) To look into such a pool is to behold a dark forest, it’s foliage like the leaves of palm trees, the heavy stalks of the kelps also curiously like the trunks of palms.  This 3rd installment in Carson's "sea trilogy"  covers three types of shores: rocky, sand, and coral. These are all covered on the Atlantic Coastline. While this book is lyrical like her others, I found that it was a little too detailed at times, and read more like a textbook than the other two books. Overall, I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous books in the trilogy, but I think it's still worth reading. 

Format: Ebook Category: Classic Adaptation (Film-1942/1990) Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2020 ( Karen's Books and Chocolate ) You can call a sunset by a filthy name, but you do not spoil its beauty, monsieur.      This book will give you be faith in humanity. A 70 year old Brit, named Howard, is enjoying a fishing trip in France. This is during WWII, before France is occupied. He makes friends with a family there, and the parents ask him to take their two children back to safety in England, because they are needed in Geneva. Howard agrees, but on the way, France becomes invaded by nazis, and he has to be clever to smuggle the children out. Along the way, he picks up many more children, and his path becomes more difficult. I won't spoil what else happens, but this book will give you faith in humanity. I haven't seen the movies, but there was an adaptation in 1942 and another in 1990. I'm interested in watching them, though, as I adored this little book with gre

Format: ebook Category: Genre Classic (Horror) Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2020 ( Karen's Books and Chocolate ) Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.      So I've just been so overwhelmed and ill, so my lastest reviews just aren't going to be as set as detailed. I never got around to reading Frankenstein before now, despite it's popularity, and boy was I wowed! I'm just even more blown away when I think about the fact that it was written by a pregnant runaway teenager. It's really so different from the popular depictions of Frankenstein, and it has really deep themes. This is now one of my favorites, and I know I'll read it again. 

Format: Ebook Category: Classic with a Place in the Title- Back to the Classics 2020 ( Books and Chocolate )  "Who wants to die? Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It's growing out of sour earth. And it's strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong."      There is a lot of hype surrounding this book, and I just don't get it. I mean, I get why this has a place as a classic, being as it is a slice of historical realism. It is semi-autobiographical, about an impoverished Irish-German family living in Brooklyn during the early 1900s. I just couldn't get into it. The pace was too slow. It was like it was in real time. There were several pages dedicated to shopping at candy stores, butchers, etc. Every mundane detail about purchasing a pickle was laid out. My eyes started glazing over. There are also a lot of things that just don't m

Format: ebook Categories: Classic by a Woman Author--Back to the Classics 2020 ( Books and Chocolate )  Three Books by the Same Author (#2)-#mmdchallenge 2020 ( Modern Mrs. Darcy )  "There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and respond to the mysterious forces that create the tide."  In this 2nd book of her "sea trilogy", Carson, with her lyrical prose, reveals the power, beauty, and complexity of the ocean and it's history. She does get a bit too technical at times. I started skimming at the parts where she droned on about pressure per cubic foot, etc. But really most of the book is very accessible to the the average reader, and even though it contains some outdated/inaccurate information, this book is still worth reading. Carson has an amazing ability to see the big ecological picture, how everything connects in the ocean, and how dependent we are on it. I particularly enjoyed the ch

Format: ebook Categories: 20th Century Classic- Back to the Classics 2020 ( Books and Chocolate ) Three Books by the Same Author (#1) - #mmdchallenge 2020 ( Modern Mrs. Darcy ) "Yet so quietly did he approach that the sound of his wings, if sound there were, was lost in the whisper song of the water turning over the shells on the wet sand."       Wow! Reading this was like watching Planet Earth, Blue Planet, or pretty much anything narrated by David Attenborough. Carson has a way with words. That's for sure. I appreciate her lyrical style. This book covers the Atlantic Coast of North America, mainly by following the lives of a sanderling, a mackerel, and an eel. I admit that as much as I love animals and the ocean, I thought I was going to be bored during the mackerel section. I was so wrong. It turned out to be one of my favorite sections of the book! This is a book I know I'm going to re-visit

I will again be participating in the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge hosted by   Karen @Books and Chocolate . My tentative choice for each category is listed in Red. Note: I always try to go for all twelve categories, but I've never succeeded. I'm OK with that, though. I just really love participating. In 2019 I completed Tier 1: Six Categories. We'll see how it goes this year. THE CATEGORIES:  1. 19th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot 2. 20th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1900 and 1970. All books in this category must have been published at least 50 years ago. The only exceptions are books that were published posthumously but were written at least 50 years ago. The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson 3. Classic by a Woman Author. The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson 4. Classic in Translation. Any classic originally written in a novel other