"To Kill a Mocking Bird"

by Harper Lee, AF, 1960, 323p, rating=5
Read: August 2012
Source: library

"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice—but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.
One of the best-loved classics of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has earned many dis-tinctions since its original publication in 1960. It has won the Pulitzer Prize, been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie. It was also named the best novel of the twentieth century by librarians across the country (Library Journal). HarperCollins is proud to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the book's publication with this special hardcover edition. (Goodreads)

This is the best classics book I've read so far (though I've only read a few).  It truly lives up to all the hype.  So if you haven't read it yet, treat yourself to a wonderful reading experience and be sure to get your hands on this gem!

This story provided an awakening to some people's impudent thinking.  That in mind, I demanded and cried for simple human decency and glad that this book delivered. 

Incredible cast of characters, thought provoking, and illustrated a nostalgia for nobility.  Definitely my kind of book!  I'm one happy reader.  :D


Qualifies for this challenge

The Classics Club: Introductions

(Join HERE)

•Your online name: Jinky

•Your blog name: Jinky is Reading

•How many books you hope to read for the club: 50

•When you joined: 3/21/12

•Describe your literary background: Yikes, does classics in movies count?  No?  That's partly why I joined! :)

•Why you joined The Classics Club and/OR one interesting fact about you: I want to make sure to include culture in my readings!  ..One interesting fact about me: My dad said I was named after Jerry Lewis's daughter-in-law.  His son, Gary married a Filipina name Jinky and my dad liked the name so there. :)

•The favorite book you’ve read so far for the club (if you’ve begun your list.) Or, the one you’re most intrigued to read: Yikes, I've only read two:  Breakfast at Tiffany's and To Kill A Mockingbird.  Definitely like the latter much better (review still to come)! 

•Link ONE POST from your blog that you believe speaks to who you are: Wow, that's a hard one.  There's a piece of me in every post.  Off the top of my head I'd go with my review of a book that I hold dear to my heart, Standing for Something.  But just in case you want to learn more about me you may check out my review of Ilustrado or the meme, Know Me Better.

•Answer the one question you wish everybody would answer who enters this thread.  Hmm, my question, "Do you have a specific plan on how you will accomplish this challenge?":  Not exactly.  I figure 10 books a year ..one book a month with a couple of months off.   But looks like I'm way behind schedule so I'm looking forward to your answers and get some tips.  *wink-wink*

Brief Reviews: Kill Me If You Can; The Graduate; Breakfast at Tiffny's

Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson and Marshall Karp, AF, 2011, Playaway digital audio, 8hrs, rating=3.5
Source: library

I was ready to drop this because it was getting to be a heavy Rated R to my reading ears (incest, violence) but dang it the plot hooked me!  I wanted to see what happens to Matthew after he found a bag of diamonds at Grand Central.  Wow, the twists was awesome!!  I just could have done without the incest part (not too crazy about the violence either but I can't say the title didn't warn me) so I would recommend this to adults only.  In general, the romance was alright but it was the BIG twist that delighted me.

The Graduate by Terry Johnson, AF, 2011, Playaway digital audio, Based on the novel by Charles Webb and screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, 2hrs, rating=3
Source: library

Because this was a radio play, there was the dramatic sound effects and several actors so it was very entertaining.  Kathleen Turner was perfect as Mrs. Robinson.  She was hilarious!  But because I pictured Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, I had a harder time connecting to the actor Matthew Rhys in this play.  Don't get me wrong, his voice acting was great and fitting.  Anyway, this was a fun find.  Bummer, my library doesn't have the book this was based on so I can compare.  Oh, I haven't seen the movie!  I've seen clips here and there but not in whole.  Remember, I've been living under a rock! ;)

The Breakfast Club by Truman Capote, AF, 1958, 85p, rating=3
Source: library, ISBN#0-451-16651-5
Cover: not the same image as book I read from; couldn't find it on the Web

Ugh, I've been sitting on this review for weeks!  I can't seem to put to words my disappointment so I'll just go with that, I was disappointed.  I was expecting a light, cute, and sophisticated story (had image of Audrey Hepburn's depiction of Holly Golightly) and frankly it was not.  I can understand the literary fascination to this book.  You can pick it apart and find interesting things but it may have been too dark or scandalous for my liking.  Therefore, this might be one of those times that I might like the film version better than the book (based on the image, I actually haven't seen the movie!  Haha, I might not like the movie either?).

Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly (source)

Qualifies for this challenge

The Classics Club

Now this is a challenge that spoke to me!  I have found myself caught up in the contemporary books of our day and I want to be sure that I don't forget to envelope a full range of culture that classic literature stimulates.  So thank you Jillian @A Room of One's Own for setting this up.

Okay, now how does this work?  Well, basically each participant is asked to make a list of 50, 100, or 200+ (or anything in between) classic books that you want to read within 5 years (set a specific goal) and start reading!  Of course track your progress through your blog (review books if you so desire) and you're welcome to link up your list at Jillian's blog and/or join The Classics Club in Goodreads that Jillian has set up.  Your reward is the experience of the project but Jillian welcomed each member to think of a personal prize for accomplishing your goal.  Overall, the idea is to have a network to encourage each other and in general inspire people to make classics an integral part of our lives.  Sounds awesome to me so I'm in!

My time line is 3/21/12 - 3/21/17. I'll be tracking my progress on my The Classics Club page.    Oh, and the prize I will give myself at the end of this journey is the absolute joy and thrill of having had my horizon immensely broaden!!

Goodness, I didn't know where to start so I enlisted help from friends for suggestions.  The following is the result.  Thanks everyone!!

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. A Farewell to arms by Ernest Hemingway
3. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
4. All Quite on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
5. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
6. Around the World in 80 days by Jules Verne
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
8. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
9. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
11. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
12. Candide by Voltaire
13. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
14. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
15. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
16. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
17. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
19. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
20. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
21. Inferno by Dante Alighieri
22. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
23. Lend Me Your Ears by Shakespeare
24. Les Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
25. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
26. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
27. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
28. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
29. Middlemarch by George Eliot
30. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
31. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
32. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
33. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
34. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
35. One Hundred and One by Rabindranath Tagore
36. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
37. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
38. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
39. The Professor by Charlotte Bronte
40. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
41. Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima
42. The Secret Garden by Frances H. Burnett
43. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
44. Tess of the D'Uurbevilles by Tomas Hardy
45. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
46. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
47. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
48. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
49. The Woman in White by Wilke Collins
50. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I like the flexibility of this challenge.  This list is not set in stone.  I can make changes as I see fit.  :)