Book Blogger Hop: Characters with Character

It's been quite a while since I participated in a blog hop, but I really like the prompt for this hop. It is:

Pick a character from the book you are reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her.

This is an easy choice for me. I am currently reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and am continually impressed by Mr. Rochester. I have read the book twice before, once in high school and once in my freshman year of college, but I feel like I am much better able to appreciate the characters this time around. I also think I have more perspective on his character since reading Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, a prequel to Jane Eyre describing Mr. Rochester's courtship and early marriage to Bertha Antoinette Mason.

One thing I have noticed this time around is Mr. Rochester's quirky personality and way of speaking. His mannerisms and quirks ooze around his words, giving me a strong sense of his presence. He speaks in an elaborate, energetic, and lordly way. Two of my favorite excerpts, one kind of self-serving and arrogant, the other romantic and penetrating:

"Justly thought; rightly said, Miss Eyre; and at this moment,k I am paving hell with energy. [...] I am laying down good intentions, which I believe durable as flint."

"Because," he said, "I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you - especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel, and two hundred miles or so of land came broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly."

He is passionate in his love for Jane, yet calculating in his means of attaining it, by *SPOILER* dressing up as a fortune teller and demanding the presence of all the women in the house to ascertain Jane's affection and Miss Ingram's mercenary character. *END SPOILER* He indulges in convoluted moral contemplations and then almost commits bigamy. He is complicated; dark and tempestuous, yet loving and tender. I appreciate him for not being the Prince Charming of so many different books, for having a dark past but the capability to enjoy a better future. I love that I can find new things every time I read this book.

Have you read about any interesting characters lately?

Book Blogger Hop: Money to spend

This week's Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Crazy-for-Books, asks the question,

If I gave you $80 and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?

Well, I actually have over $80 in gift cards right now. However, I tend to be really conscientious with my book buying. I don't like to rush out and spend it all at once - I like to stretch it out over a few months. I'm also paranoid about buying books that I don't know much about because I don't like books with graphic sex or a lot of profanity and don't want to own those books. With that said, if I was just going to haphazardly buy a bunch of books with $80, here's what I would come up with:

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Undiscovered Country by Lin Enger
Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda by Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and various others
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough (not out yet, boo)

That leaves me 3.14 left... which would probably have to cover tax. Now I'm tempted to go out and really use my gift certificate. Must... restrain... self!

What would you buy if you could go on a wild and crazy book buying spree?

Book Blogger Hop: What Have You Posted This Week?

The Book Blogger Hop is an opportunity to get to know other bloggers. It is hosted by Crazy-For-Books. This week's question is:

Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!

Ok, so not really a question. Normally I probably would skip this question - if you want to read a link, just read my blog! However, I do have a challenge with prizes that started this week, and I would love for more people to participate. So please click on over to the Redwall Nostalgia Challenge in honor of Brian Jacques, who passed away unexpectedly on February 5. His books were favorites when I was younger, and I'm excited to see how I react to them now that I am an adult. There is a prize associated with this challenge - whoever reads the most books will receive a paperback Brian Jacques novel of their choice from The Book Depository. We'd love to have you. Thanks for hopping by!

Blog hop: Why I love what I do

Oh man. What a week it has been. I'm not sure how it got to be Friday, but here we are. I have already broken my reading resolution to post two reviews per week (although I am posting a review tomorrow, I promise!) Sorry about all the meme-ishness lately. I don't like when book blogs are almost all memes instead of reviews, and I know I have been guilty of that this week. However, I have two books finished and waiting to be reviewed and another almost done, so hopefully next week I will get a bit more caught up and do better.

I would have just posted my review today, but I glanced at the Crazy-for-Books blog hop question and I just couldn't resist. This is a topic I have been thinking of lately and I'm glad I have a chance to share my thoughts.

The question comes from Barb at Sugarbeat's Books:

Why do you read the genre that you do? What draws you to it?

As any of you who read my blog on a regular basis surely know, I read a lot of different genres, and I read them all for different reasons. I'm going to list them in order of favorite-ness and explain why.

Classics: Classics are definitely my first love (although I have been neglecting them lately). I love reading novels that speak to human nature, and I love reading books that so many other people have read - it makes me feel like I am connected to many people. And really, I think that is part of what culture is - being connected through common ties. One of my favorites: The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.

Literary Fiction: I love reading new fiction as well. I think mainly I like this genre because I like a good story, especially one that I can connect to. A good one I have read recently: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen.

Nonfiction: I think I enjoy nonfiction more than most people do. Ever since I was in elementary school, I remember "library day" each week and requiring myself to make at least one of my three library books nonfiction so I could be learning something. I love acquiring knowledge, and I am interested in almost everything (hence the six major changes I have undergone and the reason I am in my 5th year of my undergrad). I love the chance nonfiction gives to learn something new. One that I haven't read, but am excited to read (my husband has been reading me excerpts all week): Cheating Death by Sanjay Gupta, M.D. I should also mention I am planning on holding a nonfiction challenge this summer/fall. More details later!

Fantasy/Sci-fi: I have always loved fairy tales, castles, knights and princesses. Although I am less into this genre than I was in middle school and high school, I like to have a little bit of magic in my life from time to time. Currently rereading: The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

YA: Well, I was still a teenager not so long ago. I still can't believe I am married and close to graduating from college. I love reading about innocent first love. Also, many of the other genres I love are represented in this genre as well. I don't really care if the book was written for adults, young adults, or kids, as long as it's good. YA book that I'm really excited to read: Delirium by Lauren Oliver. It's lurking on my Kindle, but I have to read a couple of other things first. Can't wait!

What do you love to read, and why? I'm excited to hear from other people, especially about genres that I don't usually enjoy. I'm always open to new ideas of what to read. Happy hopping.

Hoppy Halloween (and Hoppy Friday!)

This weeks question is...

"What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost?"

Oh please, do not get me started.So, this has been planned since I was 15 or 16. Someday when I have all the money in the world, I will have a wonderful library. It will have vaulted ceilings and floor to ceiling bookshelves. In one corner of the room, I will have a raised platform for my lovely cherry wood baby grand piano (this is also hypothetical...). That corner of the room will have a huge bookcase of piano music (hey, my piano books already represent 1/4 of the books in my apartment!)
There will be a large, mahogany roll-top desk with a secret drawer for all my journals. There will be brown leather armchairs and loveseats. There will be no TV. The room will connect to the rest of my house with French doors that lock. The room will also have one wall with floor to ceiling rectangular windows and long curtains. I will have impressionist art on the walls, and my husbands paintings from Verona.
Thanks for indulging my little materialistic spree. Please comment with your answers!

Blog Hop Friday

"Where is your favorite place to read? Curled up on the sofa, in bed, in the garden?"

I would say my favorite place to read is definitely curled up on the couch. I don't love reading in bed because I can never get myself propped up quite right with the pillows, and when I am in bed my husband usually wants me to turn off the light so he can go to sleep. Because I am usually stealing moments to read, I often end up reading at the kitchen table when I am eating alone or studying, or walking to and from classes, inadvertently bumping into people.

Please leave a comment with your answer/blog!

Blog Hop

This week's question is:

"When you read a book that you just can't get into, do you stick it out and keep reading or move to your next title?"

I almost always finish the books I read. I may take a break from them if I'm not very interested and read something that grabs my attention for a while before returning to the less interesting book. The main thing that will keep me from finishing a book is if it is full of sex scenes or foul language. I like to feel uplifted by what I read, not guilty!

Feel free to comment with your own thoughts or post a link to your book blog!