Currently Reading - Week 7

Hello, darlings. Welcome back to another week of reading for me. This has been a rough week; however, I have been trying to maintain somewhat of a reading schedule. Still pushing through Hidden Figures that I mentioned last week, I decided to add in a few things this week. Let's see how this has worked out.

This year, I have decided to participate in the 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge. In 2015, I completed and loved the challenge; however, last year I fell off the wagon a little bit and never finished. This year there are 40 regular prompts and 12 advanced prompts. For the last few weeks of December, I spent a lot of time on a spreadsheet compiling ideas and purchasing books to fill out this list to ensure success. Moving into the new year, I decided to change the format of my reviews from monthly to weekly as well as the content included. I want to really improve my reviews and there structure throughout. With that, I will not be able to hold back as much information as usual; therefore, I want to warn you that after the overview section (it will be marked) you may encounter spoilers.

Completed Books:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Classic, Fiction, Short Story, Fantasy

PSRC - A book that takes place over a character's lifespan

Rating - 3/5

Overview - This book takes place over the lifespan of Benjamin Button, born to his mother and father Mr. and Mrs. Button. Having decided to have a hospital birth, unlike many of their time, Mr. Button was shocked by the reactions of everyone regarding the birth of his first son. Finally, being able to see his son, he understood why. Benjamin was born looking as if he was seventy years old. As time passes and his age declines in years, he lives his life in a rather strange manner: in reverse.

Plot - The whole premise and plot of this short story are satirical and comical. From the beginning I found the pace to be quick and engaging. The setting itself is very sparse. Fitzgerald maintained a very character driven story. The lack of setting didn't bother me very much. I found the theory in itself to be very intriguing to me. It brought up several points such as how we treat others based on age, the lack of acceptance for things outside of the norm, and just stereotypical age profiling.

Characters - The main focus was on Benjamin; however, his father, wife, and son also play major focus points as well. I found the other characters to be less than sympathetic, often times rude. The character development is what you would expect in reviewing a lifespan in reverse.

Conclusion - I had been wanting to pick this up for some time and I am glad that I finally did. Like I mentioned above, I found the overall story and writing to be comical. Under the layers of comedy is where I found myself really reflecting on society as a whole and how we view aging. The way that age is related to knowledge, character and even wisdom is very prevalent in this story just as it is in the world today. I didn't really have any expectation going in, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. Short stories aren't usually satisfying for me; however, this wasn't written in a rushed or haphazard way. It was well constructed and balanced. I will be looking into watching the movie soon, I think it would be something I really enjoyed.

Currently Reading:

Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert
Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir, Travel
PSRC - A book about food
Rating -

Overview - After finding herself sobbing on the floor wondering how she got to this point, Liz decided that it was time to call out to God, whoever he or she may be. Hearing his answer, she took it one step at a time to really figure out what she wanted from her future. In her thirties, married for many years, she decides that her marriage isn't working for her, kids isn't what she wants, and the terrible depression she is feeling isn't going away. Liz decides to end her marriage and begin a soul-searching journey over the period of a year while traveling to three different places in search of three very different things. As her journey begins, she has to learn to let go or the past will keep threatening to bring her pack into the pits of depression and loneliness that she was feeling before.

What are some of your suggestions for maximizing reading times and reading multiple things at once?