ARC: Hemingway In Love: his own story ~ A.E. Hotchner

IT IS FINALLY OUT IN STORES!!!!

Ernest Hemingway always held a few of his best stories back; kept them off the page as writer's insurance against a dry-up of ideas. But after surviving two back-to-back plane crashes, he resolved to share his most meaningful tale with his best friend, A.E. Hotchner. Over the course of almost a decade, Hemingway narrated the full story of his formative years, but the details were sensitive, apt to hurt the feelings of Ernest's wide, Mary, and arouse controversy among the involved parties who were still alive at the time. For half a century, Hotchner was obliged to keep these conversations to himself. Now, he tells the story as Hemingway told it to him. Hemingway in Love is the poignant and frank account of a legend living with his mistakes. It takes you from the Key West to the bohemian world of 1920s Paris, and from Cold War Cuba to bullfights in Spain. It places you across the table from Hemingway himself as he recalls days spent drinking with Fitzgerald and sparring with Gertrude Stein; as he reflects on the affair that destroyed his first marriage. This is the story of how Hemingway lost his great love, and the life he pursued after - one of sweeping adventure and quiet regret. 

Book Discussion: Spoilers

I posted my review on this a few weeks ago but not that the book is in stores I thought that it would be a good time for me to post a discussion. 

A.E. Hotchner was best friends with the late literary legend known as Ernest Hemingway. He previously wrote Papa Hemingway, which I have not read (do not yell at me)! In this story though he tells us things that he could not tells us in his previous memoir on Hemingway. 

He wanted to keep certain things out of the public eye while Hemingway's 3rd wife Mary was still alive and while other parties involved were still alive. This is because the story is about Hemingway's first love and first wife, Hadley, and how he always regretted having the affair that ended their marriage. Many intimate details were revealed on his marriage with Hadley and how he felt about her. The arguments and ultimate demise of his relationship with his second wife Pauline is revealed, as well as how it affected his relationship with his 2nd and 3rd sons. We also see snippets of his relationship with his last wife, the one that was with him until the end, Mary. 

Many details were revealed about Hemingway's depression and paranoia which eventually led to his tragic suicide. We also learn about his institutionalization as well. 

Go Set A Watchman ~ Harper Lee

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch - "Scout" - returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past - a journey that can only be guided by one's own conscience.

Book Review:

I read Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, last year, during my Junior Year of High School. Now normally, this would have been read during middle school, but we never got around to it. Thankfully, reading it in Junior Year, at 16 years old, makes the experience so much better, I think. I was able to really understand the age of society that she was living in, the issues that arose, and so on. After finishing To Kill a Mockingbird I read an article in my local newspaper (because those still exist) that told me about Harper Lee's soon to be novel Go Set a Watchman. I was so excited for it and it did not disappoint.

I do understand why many were upset about parts of the novel. It does bring a completely new personality to the beloved character Atticus Finch, Scout's dad. But in all fairness, Scout, our narrator, is twenty years older than she was in the original novel, she notices and understands so much more than she would have originally. 

As in the first novel, racial conflict is a huge issue. To Kill a Mockingbird, was set in the 1930s, making this novel set in the 1950s. That was a huge time period of racism, the midst of the Civil Rights movement, the KKK, the NAACP, and the list goes on. The novel also does an amazing job at portraying the family dynamics of a southern, tight-knit, Christian family at the time. 

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

There was one thing that really hit me, that really upset me; Jem's death. I loved he and Scout's relationship during the first novel and couldn't wait to see how it developed into their adulthood. So learning that he died at a young age, of the same issue that their mom died of, made me really upset. 

I loved how Scout's personality was practically the same as the first novel. And that she still idolized her father, even though that was kind of the downfall for part of the book. Her father's thoughts on the African Americans really was a shock to me. From the first novel, it's not what I would have expected, and I understand why the realization upset Scout the way it did. 

Another thing that really angered me was about the ending. In the book, Scout goes to see Calpurnia once, and she is rude and nasty to Scout. I loved that Cal was always there for Scout and the fact that this issue wasn't resolved in the end irritated me. 

Favorite Quote: 

"Remember this also: it’s always easy to look back and see what we were, yesterday, ten years ago. It is hard to see what we are. If you can master that trick, you’ll get along." 

The Longest Ride ~ Nicholas Sparks

Ira Levinson is in trouble. Ninety-one years old and stranded and injured after a car crash, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes beside him: his beloved wife, Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by reminiscing about their lifetime together. Ira knows that Ruth can't possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories. 

A few miles away, at a local bull-riding event, university senior Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes are high: Reward and ruin - and even life and death - loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans - if the secret Luke's keeping doesn't destroy it first.

Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys. 

Book Review:

Every time that I have read a book by Nicholas Sparks, I have cried. I reread A Walk to Remember often and every time I ball like a little baby. I've done the same with The Lucky One, Dear John, The Last Song, etc. He has been one of my favorite  authors for years and I have loved every book of his that I have read and this one was no exception. 

I wasn't as big of a fan of Ira's chapters as I was Sophia's and Luke's but I believe that that may be because I was scared of reading the moment that we discover if he lives or dies in the car. Also, because Sophia reminds me a lot of myself (even though I have grown up in a remote area I feel that I would be better off in a city) I really loved her relationship with Luke, whose character is exactly the type of person I am interested in.

I loved that for the majority of the novel there really isn't any conflict between the couples. Ira and Ruth argue a bit about the past, but other than that they are just happy to be together again. Sophia and Luke don't really have any problems but the one that comes up later in the book and is resolved a couple of chapters later. I like when novels are like that because it doesn't cause me to scream and yell at my book from all of the frustration that these fictional worlds inflict upon me.

Overall, I really loved the romance (that wasn't sappy at all) and how the main characters kind of discover bits of themselves through their relationships together, I also am really freaking happy with the ending.

Pages: 398                                                                                           Rate: 5/5

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

Brian, Sophia's ex, makes me really uncomfortable. I mean, I think that that was the point, but he just makes me want to curl up in a ball. He is so demanding and controlling and violent just from the few scenes that he is in. His entire character and that relationship was really unsettling to me.

I loved how Luke and Sophia were flirting from the moment he saved her from Brian and how they were both realizing that what they were saying and doing was something that they would never normally do. I feel that that is what a relationship is actually supposed to do to you, if you are with the right person anyway. You are supposed to feel and do things completely out of the ordinary for you but that somehow make you feel like whatever you're doing is perfectly right.

Ira and Ruth, they are the couple that I have always loved hearing stories about. The couple who knew from the second that they saw each other that they'd be together forever, even with the ups and downs. The couple who married young just because they were so in love and knew that no one else would ever compare. I wish that Ira and Ruth were able to have children because they would have been amazing parents. But the story that they were able to create out of their childless lives was amazing. The artwork and the people they affected left an impact on the future. Certainly on Luke and Sophia.

When Luke bought that painting in the end I was so excited. Even if him acquiring the whole estate didn't happen, I would have loved it because of what the story meant. But the actual ending made my day. I truly loved how it changed everything for Luke, Sophia, and Luke's mom. They were able to save the ranch and figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. I wish that there was a sequel to this book, which I don't say about many of Spark's books (because normally I'm super content with the endings), just so we could know what happens to Luke and Sophia after they fix up the ranch and get married.

Do they have kids? Where do they move? What does Luke end up doing now that he isn't bull-riding? How is Luke's mom?

Favorite Quote:

"I understand Ira."

Percy Jackson and The Last Olympian ~ Rick Riordan

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds are against them. Kronos is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, his power only grows.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the prophecy surrounding Percy's sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.

Book Review:

Riordan draws you in from the very first page with action. This book doesn't have one slow paced moment, not even for a split moment. It had me on the edge of my seat through the entire thing. There was one moment in the book that I have been waiting for throughout the entire series that I was anticipating from the beginning which drew me in even closer (talk about in discussion).

This was such a good read that when it ended I was so upset. I really do want to know more and will definitely be continuing with this world by reading The Heroes of Olympus series, Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. 

Pages: 432                                                                                                Rate: 5/5 

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

What!! What just happened!?! Annabeth, Percy, and Grover once again saved the world with the help of some other campers like Clarisse, Chriss, Chiron, and more. Percy had some really fucking cute moments with his dad and Tyson, who both contributed to saving the god damned world. Luke died by mentally defeating Kronos and killing himself because apparently part of the prophecy was about him but no one knew that.  Oh, and Annabeth and Percy are finally Percabeth!!! 

Favorite Quote:

"The wold was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive."