Review: "Wuthering Heights" Classic a Month #2.2013

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
3 out of 5 stars

This is really more like 2.5 stars, but I gave it an extra half a star because it is a classic. But honestly, I disliked this book, very much. I just...I don't know, I think I read a different book than those who have professed *absolute love* for it. I was expecting this epic romance, especially after Lennie claimed it as her favorite book ever that she had read 23 times. But this is not a story of romance and love. It's a story of revenge and hate. I think if I had gone in knowing this, I would have liked it better. But, as I did not, I felt duped. So, in case you haven't read it and are looking for "true love" and happy, lightheartedness...this ain't it, keep on moving. Romeo & Juliet is more lighthearted than this. ;)


First of all, it's confusing as crap. The beginning of the book is actually the end of the story and the dude talking, Lockwood, is not even part of the story. He just happens along and is interested, so he gets the housekeeper, Nelly, to spill everything she knows. Not that it was hard to do, Nelly is a big old gossip. To make it interesting, let's pretend she's Dorota from Gossip Girl (please no spoilers though, as I am horribly behind lol), but not as willing to be nice and helpful.

Second, everyone has three different names...there are 2 Catherine's, several Linton's & Earnshaw's (first and last name), and I don't know what else. Maybe they only had about 5 choices for names back then, but it was super confusing. And then there's the characters themselves. Aside from Nelly/Dorota, there was maybe one other character that I didn't despise. I can't even say I liked them, I just didn't despise them as much as the rest. I understand that it was Bronte's intent to make truly unlikeable people and let me just say, she succeeded. They were selfish, spoiled, cruel, vindictive...I could go on, but why bother? And that's just the 2 main characters, the love interests, Heathcliff & Catherine. Yikes. 

What about the story, you ask? Well, try to keep up, because I'm going to run thru this fast and furious. Heh. Heathcliff (I'd call him Chuck, but as there is only one Heathcliff, that wouldn't make much sense...but this whole review won't make sense, so I'll go for it), the "hero" of the story, is a little orphan ruffian that Catherine #1's (let's call her Blair just for funsies) father brought home when she was little. There are theories that Chuck is actually Blair's half-brother, which ew. Blair & Chuck grew up together, starting out as brother & sister types, but it grew into an obsessive, consuming type of love. That love was stifled though when Blair started growing up and into her "society" role more while Chuck grew more into a heathen. He did try at one point to be better for her though..."Nelly, make me decent, I'm going to be good." But it was no use, Blair's heart was still with him, but her mind had moved on to bigger and better and she married her neighbor, Edgar Linton. (Nate) 

It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.

Chuck freaks and runs off and then comes back a few years later, wealthy, handsome, and bent on revenge. He wants everyone to suffer like he did or he'll die trying. Over-dramatic much? "Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you--haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!"

Are you totally confused yet? ;) It gets better/worse. Nate has a sister, Isabella, who for some stupid reason, falls in love with Chuck (before finding out his true nature) and marries him. Blair & Nate have a daughter, Catherine #2 or um....Serena? Sure, why not. Then Chuck & Isabella have a son, Dan. (I can't even remember his real name at this point.) Blair dies shortly after childbirth, Isabella runs away from Nate before their son is born and dies when Dan is 10 or so. Oh wait, I forgot about Blair's brother, um, crap I can't remember his name either, let's call him Eric. Eric had a kid somehow too, named Hareton. (actual name...I'm running out of GG names, so let's just stick with that) I'm not really sure when or how Hareton came about, to be honest. Eric is even meaner and more violent than Chuck, if that's possible. 

(awesome comic strip from Hark, A Vagrant...

and be sure to check out the others!)

So, we've got Nate & Serena (which is kind of awkward now that I think about it, but oh well) living at Thrushcross Grange and Chuck, Eric, Hareton, & this old crotchety guy named Joseph, that speaks gibberish half the time (seriously, I skipped over most of his speeches), living at Wuthering Heights. Eric dies at some point and thanks to a serious gambling problem, leaves his entire estate to Chuck. Dan is supposed to move in with Nate & Serena after his mother dies, but after Chuck finds out about him, forces Dan to live with him and his merry men. Dan spends one day with Serena, but it's enough to make the two fall in love. Psshhh...they're like 10 & 12 or something. Dan is a weakling, so he doesn't do well with Chuck. Serena is just as much of a spoiled brat as her mother, gets her way with everything, plus Dorota is getting on in years (like 45), so she can't keep up. Serena runs into Dan again one day a few years later and decides that she loves him (I know they've all been sequestered in the country for years, but falling for the first guy you see? Kind of weird.). She also meets Hareton (who is maybe 5 years older?) and teases him mercilessly about his poor upbringing and inability to read. And she doesn't care that he's technically her cousin. (Important point for later)

So, we've got Dan & Serena in love sort of, Nate trying to keep the two apart but obviously not succeeding, Chuck trying to keep the two together (revenge reasons), and Dorota screwing everything up as much as possible. Nate gets sick and dies, Serena & Dan get married (although Serena has realized what a miserable sap Dan is), forced pretty much by Chuck, they all move into Wuthering Heights, everyone is miserable. There's lots of abuse: physical, emotional, animal. It's awful and makes you miserable too. Maybe that was Bronte's whole point? Dan dies, because he's a weakling, Serena is left all alone with Chuck & Joseph (who is still mumbling) & Hareton, who she starts to see some promise in. Unfortunately, Hareton hates her after all her abuse over the years. Nelly convinces him to give her a chance, the two start to fall for each other (COUSINS! Remember??!), Chuck is super pissed, but can't stop it, so embraces it sort of. Actually, I don't really know what happens, but he kind of goes crazy, literally, towards the end and then he dies. Serena & Hareton are the only ones left (except for old Joseph & Nelly, who I totally think hooked up) so they decide to get married. Seems logical. And that's it. 

xoxo, you know you love me.

And a name glossary, in case you got totally confused :) Plus, an awesome family tree by RachelKiwi that I could have used at the beginning of the book!

Heathcliff--Chuck

Catherine 1 Earnshaw--Blair

Nelly--Dorota

Edgar Linton--Nate

Isabella Linton--same

Hareton Earnshaw--same

Hindley Earnshaw--Eric

Catherine 2 Linton--Serena

Linton Heathcliff--Dan

Joseph--same

Lockwood--same

Review: "California Girls! The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #5"

California Girls! The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #5 by Ann M Martin
3 out of 5 stars

Time for another super far-fetched Super Special! As you can tell from the cover, the girls are going to sunny California. This cover isn't too bad actually. All the girls are represented well, except maybe Mallory. She looks a little too old for me. Although that could have been on purpose. You know how she wants to grow up so fast. Kids these days. Okay, so how are the girls able to go to California? We all know Kristy is mega-bucks rich now, but Mallory's dad was unemployed for a month or so, so we know they don't have extra money for a fancy vacation. Well...are you ready for this?....the girls won the lottery. Yes, really. Claudia liked to play the lottery each week because she was that way. (Her dad bought her tickets.) And when the lotto reached $23million, the rest of the BSC figured "hey, why not?" They pooled their money and got 7 tickets and agreed to split any winnings. If they won the big one, it'd be $3mil each and they "could be women of leisure all [their] lives." Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble Dawn, that's not enough to be leisurely on.

Anyway, they don't win the big lotto but they do get 5 out of the 6 numbers and end up winning $10,000 or $1,428.57 each...which turns out to be enough for them all to go to California and visit Dawn's dad on their 2 week vacation. K, first of all...they are staying with Dawn's dad and he's most likely feeding them all for the 2 weeks. Airplane tickets are what? $300 each? Probably less. Why do they need that much extra money? Mallory's dad just got a new job in the last book, shouldn't she be giving her parents some of that money? And Mary Anne's tight-wad dad isn't making her put most of that in a savings bond or something? Totally unrealistic. And second...the lotto is called the "Jack-o'-Lottery Jackpot". That gives the illusion that this is around Halloween, right? What 2 weeks are they off? Thanksgiving? It's still warm enough in Cali to go swimming and stuff, so I have no idea. Major plot hole there. But, whatev, let's go with it.

So they head to Cali and fun in the sun, but first, we get a truly horrifying What Claudia is Wearing at the last BSC meeting before their trip. ...she was wearing a red shirt with Mexican hats and cactus plants printed on it, and blue-and-white-striped pants held up by polka-dotted suspenders. On her head was what looked like an engineer's cap (it matched her pants), and dangling from her ears were miniature cowboy boots, which she'd made herself.

(links here)

Not a whole lot happens in this special, honestly, so I'm just going to break it down by character and hit the main points.

Let's start with Dawn, since it's her family they're visiting. She's super excited to see her dad & Jeff, but not so much Carol, the girlfriend/foreshadowed-soon-to-be-stepmom. Carol is helping out the first week, driving all the girls around and stuff because Dawn's dad has to work, and it totally makes Dawn mad because Carol is way too old to be acting all friendly with the girls. Carol's age? 32. My age? Take a guess lol. Carol is all laid back and pretty much lets the girls do what they want and that pisses Dawn off for some reason. She finally gets over it after Carol acts like a grown-up with Stacey and tells her dad that it's cool if he wants to marry her. She also calls Cali "home" and talks about how much she misses it.

Kristy and Mary Anne both get baby-sitting jobs while on vacation (it's a requirement that at least one BSCer baby-sit during a Super Special), although Kristy's was dullsville. The BSC met the We<3Kids Club and Kristy was shocked and a little bit scandalized to see how lackadaisical the club was run. They meet "whenever" and take jobs if they want them and they don't have club positions. Kristy, who feels she "had sort of invented baby-sitting clubs," is horrified and agrees to take a job for two little boys who are terrors, thinking she can show them a thing or two about baby-sitting. Well, she doesn't. The boys aren't terrors really, just kind of rambunctious and excited. I mean, Kristy takes them with their group to Universal Studios...what kid wouldn't get over-excited about that? She doesn't really learn anything or have any big adventures.

Mary Anne's job is much more interesting. She baby-sits for Stephie, a little girl around 7-8 years, who lives just with her dad and has asthma. Mary Anne immediately freaks, but the We<3Kids girls tell her it's okay, Stephie knows how to use her "inhalator", and she hardly ever has attacks. Once Mary Anne meets Stephie, she calms down some and really starts to bond with her. Both girls are shy, grew up only with their dads, moms died early, dad treats them way younger. Of course, Stephie ends up having an attack with Mary Anne, but MA takes care of it like a pro. Maybe she should have been a trauma nurse instead of a librarian lol. MA & Stephie decide to be pen pals when MA goes back home.

Moving on, Claudia falls in love...again. Seriously, her parents need to have a talk with her. She meets a guy on the beach, he's super smart and makes her feel inferior, so obviously she pretends to be something she's not. She even goes so far as to borrow a Laura Ashley dress from Dawn, that makes her "look like a 9 year old. Or maybe a grandmother." Lol...Their dates are kind of disasters, Claud finally realizes she should be herself, the guy still likes her, they have better dates, they realize Claudia is only there for 2 weeks so they have to "break up", Claud is devastated. Bah.

Jessi meets up with Derek Masters again, gets a crowd scene bit on his tv show (shouldn't she have to get parent's permission for that?), thinks she wants to be an actor, realizes she still wants to be a dancer (again), and argues with Mallory a lot. Why? Because Mallory decides to do an extreme makeover after getting it in her head that all the beautiful people are blondes with 2 pounds of makeup on. There are some BIG holes in this plot and I shall number them hence:

1. Mallory is 11 years old. Her parents do not allow her to wear makeup. But she figures she's in California, so what they don't know won't hurt. Forget about what she's going to do with all the makeup when she goes home.
2. Mallory gets a makeover at a department store and buys all the products used. When she's done, she has $6.28 left over in her spending money. WHAT???? Do you remember how much money they got in the lotto? $1,400. So she spent at least $500 on makeup??
3. She also wants to dye her hair blonde and uses a wash-out dye. Which turns her dark red hair a "perfect" blonde. No. Did a guy write this? And when she realizes what a huge mistake she made and what big trouble she will be in, she dyes it back red, with no noticeable damage to her hair. Ugh. I totally don't blame Jessi for getting annoyed with her...especially after Mal has to borrow money from her for the rest of the trip.

And finally, we have Stacey, who has the "big moment" on this trip. She falls in LUV with surfing on a trip to the beach and starts hanging out with some older surfers. They're at least 16, because they're driving, but Miss Sophisticated New Yorker obviously fits right in. She pushes it a little with the surfing, but nothing bad happens, except for a little dizziness (another hint for her big diabetes setback, but when??). Then, Stacey and her new friends are in a bad car accident on the freeway, because the driver was speeding and acting like an idiot. Or a 16 year old boy, either way. Everyone is okay, but they have to go to the hospital, Carol and Dawn come rescue her, and Carol insists on telling Dawn's dad. (One of the reasons Dawn starts respecting Carol towards the end.) He lectures her and makes her call her parents. They take it pretty well. I'm surprised her mom didn't fly out to get her or something.

And that's the end of this Super Special. Like I said, kind of dull, but now I get to start working on my next Baby-Sitters Club All Grown Up!! :) And I'm thinking maybe another BSC giveaway? What do y'all think? Also, I want these videos again lol...I used to have a couple. But who's Marci? Why wouldn't they have used Cokie Mason, since she's an established character already?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, I have been incredibly lazy lately with the blogging. I am going to try to get back on track this long weekend. Until then, happy Valentine's Day to all my lovely bookish friends! Share the nerd love with this adorable card by MeowKapowShop. :) (Also, check out the rest of their shop. It's pretty awesome!)

Top Ten Tuesday: My 10 Best Bookish Memories

This was such a fun/inspiring Top Ten Tuesday on The Broke & The Bookish! I read several people's lists before I started mine and so many of them made me tear up! I thought I would have trouble coming up with my own list, but once I started, they just all came out. I could probably list another 20 or so, but these are the big ones for me. And mostly in order.

1. (I asked my mom her favorite memory on FB this morning and this is what she wrote, which I had basically already decided to use, but I like her wording better!)  Wait...this is it...when you were about 5 or so...you really couldn't read yet and you would get your Fisher Price recorder and book /tapes and you would lay on the floor in the living room and pretend you were reading..because you had memorized it...and Ally would scramble down there beside you...and you would pretend you were reading to her... lol... Awwwwww... what a cute memory...you were a little teacher way back then...love you!

2. Playing school with all the neighborhood kids and always being the teacher because I was the oldest girl and I wanted to read to them. Also, knowing even before I started school that I wanted to be a teacher or a librarian when I grew up. (Sadly, I'm not either.)

3. Going to the library and getting as many books as I could carry (no limits back then) and reading them all in the 2 week time-frame. Also, checking out The Hunky Dory Dairy nearly every other visit.

4. Going to B. Dalton's and sitting on the floor picking out a Baby-Sitters Club book and then helping my sister pick out a Berenstain Bear's book. We both still have our full collections of each of these series.

5. Collecting Reader's Digest (magazines? books?). I went thru a big faze of reading them each month in junior high/high school and kept them all. Then a friend of my parents gave me a ton of really old ones and I stored them inside this wood trunk thing that my bookshelf stood on. The trunk thing went up to my waist probably and was about 6 feet long? It was *packed* with Reader's Digest. Completely packed. I finally got rid of them in late high school/early college, not really sure why I felt the need to keep them that long.

6. Getting books from my parents. Reading Mommie Dearest at my mom's request. In junior high maybe? Not sure, but I do remember being horrified by it lol. No more wire hangers!! She also got me hooked on VC Andrews. What was she trying to do to me???!! Discovering the world of Xanth from my dad. And the Myth Adventures series by Robert Lynn Asprin (which I have and think I should reread, because it has been probably 15 years! And OMG, I just realized the series is at least 19 books long!!) Nora Roberts. John Grisham. Julian May. Anne McCaffrey. Linda Howard. I could go on and on.

7. Reading the Today section of the newspaper every day when my dad brought it home. Not just for the funny pages, but Ann Landers & Dear Abby, the horoscopes, everything. And the funnies. :)

8. Harry Potter, of course. I didn't start reading them until maybe the 2nd or 3rd book was out? I know I had the first 3 in paperback, so that was at least 2001 (possibly after the first movie even). But after that, I was hooked. I got the set of 4 in hardbound for Christmas and my dad & I fought to read the newest one first. We started going to the movies opening weekend. My sister didn't even like them at first, not until maybe the 3rd movie? And even though she's never read the books (I plan to change that this summer), she LOVES the movies and the wizarding world. Then we got to see the movies in a pre-show starting with Order of the Phoenix, thanks to my stepmom who works for a movie company. :) That was always exciting. And going to a midnight release for the last book at Borders. We stayed for the party, didn't want to wait til midnight, left, went to Target super-early the next morning and picked it up there lol.

9. Deciding last year to read a classic a month. I feel like it is helping expand my reading in a new direction and I'm getting all culture-fied. ;) Plus, I (re)discovered Steinbeck last summer and found some new favorite books. I'm looking forward to what new/old favorites I'll discover this year.

10.Joining Goodreads and tracking my books in 2008. It opened me up to a new world of online book clubs, new authors, blogs, classics I'd never heard of, everything. Reading is my life, not just my hobby. Goodreads was the catalyst for my blog as well.

She's Crafty...She's Just My Type

Part of my resolutions for this year was to be more crafty and create more things. Well, I always participate in a Secret Snowflake on this website I'm a member of and it has really helped me get my crafty mojo going again. :) This year, my partner wanted something Anne of Green Gables inspired and as you may or may not know, I fell in love with this book (and movie) and was very excited to come up with something. I was pretty happy with what I ended up with, so I decided to share it with you!

I knew I wanted to do some kind of embroidery, so I found these vintage sewing cards on Pinterest and thought the black-haired girl would look like Anne. Then I had to try and draw her. I am not an artist. My drawings (especially people) usually turn out very badly. Like Michael Jackson/Lord Voldemort post nose surgery. Yeah. But, I was very careful and copied her line for line and did a lot of erasing and this is what I came up with.

Pretty decent, right? Once I decided I liked her (and got approval from my sister who is a MUCH better artist), I had to figure out what to put her on. I had a thin canvas tote bag and thought that would be perfect. I decided to add a quote from the book and thought I was going to embroider that too, but realized that would take way too long. So I painted it on using fabric paint and freehanded the quote. I'm not crazy about the painting, I didn't give myself enough time to wash it and start over if needed, but it's okay. Nobody's perfect. :) Then I had to draw Anne again onto a piece of cotton with the washable marker and I got to embroidering. I was very happy with how she turned out, that is some of the neatest stitching I've done in a long time lol. (And it has been a very long time since I've even done any embroidering.) Here she is all done:

And here is the bag with the quote: "It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it?"

What do you think? Did I do Anne-girl justice? :) I hope you've enjoyed this special crafty post. And here's a bonus shot of my Snowflake's gifties all wrapped up. Oh and she loved it btw!!

The Genre Reader's Bill of Rights

I got this in a packet of bookish stuff from my library awhile back and really liked it. I'd never heard of it before, so thought I'd share for the few of you that may not have either. :)

The Genre Reader's Bill of Rights

You have the right never to apologize for your reading tastes.

You have the right to read anything you want.

You have the right to read anywhere you want... in the bathtub, in the car, in the grocery store, under the porch, or while walking the dog.

You have the right to read in bed. Under the covers. With a flashlight.

You have the right to carry books in your baggage at all times.

You have the right to read in exotic settings.

You have the right to move your lips when you read.

You have the right to read the good parts out loud to your nearest and dearest.

You have the right to refuse to read the good parts out loud to your nearest and dearest.

You have the right to read and eat at the same time. (This right, however, does not include the right to use food as a bookmark when you are reading library books. Even if it's the very best potato salad.)

You have the right to read and make love at the same time. (But-- depending on local ordinances and regulations-- you may or may not have the right to ask your librarian for suggested books.)

You have the right to read as many books as you want at the same time.

You have the right to throw any book on the floor and jump up and down on it (provided that you paid for it first).

You have the right to ignore the critics at the New York Review of Books.

More importantly, you have the right to ignore the critics in your immediate family.

You have the right to stop reading a book whenever you decide it's not worth the effort, or that you simply don't like it.

You have the right to refuse to read any book anyone else picks out for you. Even if it's a birthday present. (This is associated with your right to refuse to wear any necktie or perfume you receive as a gift.)

You have the right to skip all the boring parts.

You have the right to read the last chapter first.

You have the right to read the last chapter first and then put the book back on the shelf.

You have the right to refuse to read any book where you don't like the picture of the author.

FINALLY, the Genre Reader's Miranda Right:

If you do not have a genre book of your own, a genre book will be provided for you by your public library.

The Genre Reader's Bill of Rights appeared on a listserv in 1995. It was apparently compiled by several people.

(This awesome map is courtesy of EpicReads)

My Favorite Bits: "Anna & The French Kiss"

So, I purchased Anna & The French Kiss on my Kindle last weekend when it was on super sale for $2.99 and I decided that I needed to reread it. Immediately. It's funny, I read it the first time on my phone with the Overdrive app from my library and then I bought the paperback because I needed it, and now read it the second time on my Kindle. So I haven't actually opened the paperback. But I still maintain that I needed it. :) Annnnyway...I read it this week at work and adored it just as much as the first time. And my favorite part of reading it on my Kindle was getting to highlight all my favorite lines/parts in the book! (I promise this isn't a Kindle advertisement lol) So I decided to share them with you on this lovely Friday. Consider any of these spoilers btw. Also, would it be weird to collect all the different covers of a book? Because I really love this cover too. Also, also, check out this drawing Stephanie posted of Anna, drawn by SiminiBlocker, so cute! (And the one of Cricket Bell! Adore!)

...and no one will invite me to watch the mimes escape from their invisible boxes, or whatever it is people do here in their spare time. pg 9 (on Kindle)

Boys turn girls into such idiots. pg 35 TRUTH!!

"Fo' shiz," he replies in his polite English accent. pg 57

It sucked balls. Dirty balls. Like I-ran-a-mile-in-July-wearing-leather-pants balls. pg 62

"That was pants."..."Pants?" "Rubbish. Crap. Shite." Pants. Oh heavens, that's cute. pg 81 I'm going to start saying "pants" instead of crap. :)

I wish for the thing that is best for me. pg 87 I like that. That is a good wish.

How can one person make me so confused all of the time? pg 180

Holy crap. I just slept with St. Clair. pg 181

It starts drizzling, so we pop into a bookshop across from Notre-Dame. The yellow-and-green sign reads SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY...But it's not like a chain, where everything is neatly organized on shelves and tables and end caps. Here books totter in wobbly stacks, fall from the seats of chairs, and spill from sagging shelves. There are cardboard boxes overflowing with books, and a black cat naps beside a pile on the stairs. But the most astonishing thing is that all of the books are in English. pg 183-184 I NEED to go there!! Like for real.

Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place? pg 250 My all-time favorite quote. Ugh, it kills me.

How could I have ever for a moment believed I wasn't in love with him?...I love Etienne. pg 253 & 259 I'm annoyed I can't figure out how to do the accent mark. :(

"Whyareyougivingawaythecookies?" pg 269 Seriously, never give away Girl Scout cookies.

I wish friends held hands more often, like the children I see on the streets sometimes. I'm not sure why we have to grow up and get embarrassed about it. pg 310 My second favorite quote. :)

I want to breathe him, lick him, eat him, drink him. pg 311

"You said on my birthday that you were afraid of being alone, but I've been here this whole time. This whole time." pg 337

"You love him, and he loves you, and you live in the most romantic city in the world." pg 343

"But you once told me no one chooses their family." pg 350

But he bought me love poetry. pg 355 I love Pablo Neruda. I need to read him soon I think.

"I'm saying I'm in love with you! I've been in love with you this whole bleeding year!" pg 363 Le sigh.

"I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul." pg 363 Stephanie Perkins, you are magical.