Thirty Day Book Challenge #20: Book you’ve read the most number of times

Putting aside My Penguin Osbert, Snow, and Cinderella Penguin, I’ve probably read Pride and Prejudice the highest number of times.

I have never been big on re-reading books, though it has grown on me a bit as I’ve gotten older. There’s something about Jane Austen’s novels that makes them worthy of reading over and over again. There have been times in my life, one of which was very recent, during which every book that I pick up is incapable of catching my interest, but Austen’s books are able to hold my attention during those times.

Whenever I’m sad or feeling down or stressed out, Jane Austen novels are the only books that are guaranteed to hold my attention. It is a bit funny that when I’m not emotionally distressed, Austen novels are sometimes incapable of keeping me interested. I guess they’re a bit like a friend you only go to when you’re upset.* When my dog died last month** I reread Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion because I couldn’t focus on anything else. I’ve had 8 or 9 library books for over a month now. I keep renewing them, thinking I’ll read them.

*I don’t really have any of these friends, but I’ve been that friend before. Makes me feel a little bad for the books, but I think it’s okay because they’re not sentient.

**I can’t believe she’s been gone nearly a month. I really miss my Ellie.

Thirty Day Book Challenge #13: Book whose main character is most like you

Main character that is most like me…

I’ve made it pretty clear that I love Pride and Prejudice throughout this challenge, right? Please don’t hate me for saying that I think Lizzie Bennet and I are a lot a like. I’m not just picking an iconic and wonderful character because I love her or I want to be her. I think it might be more fun to be Jane or another character entirely. This is also not some misguided and weird attempt to find a Mr. Darcy of my own. I don’t need a Mr. Darcy.

Lizzie has quite a character. She is skeptical and sarcastic, caring and loyal. Sometimes her personality traits get her in to trouble – she’s the one the title refers to with “prejudice,” after all. She has a tendency to think she’s right all the time, and even when aware of this it’s hard for her to overcome it. And Elizabeth is definitely passionate, even though she generally has control over her emotions.

When it comes to the whole situation with Wickham, she allows her earlier prejudice against Darcy to blind her to the major flaws in Wickham’s character. I can’t say I’ve been in the exact situation, but I can think of a time or two when my initial dislike of one person blinded me to the flaws of another with whom I became friends primarily because we disliked that first person.*And later I discovered my mistakes only to find that my “friend” was the less admirable of the two.

Elizabeth and I are both very attached to our siblings, though I don’t exactly have a “Lydia” in my life. When not blinded by prejudice, Elizabeth is a relatively good judge of character. She’s intelligent and careful about who she becomes friends with.

I really think Pride and Prejudice is the book whose main character is most like me. Aren’t you glad I just had one straight answer for you this time?

*I hope that made sense.

Thirty Day Book Challenge #7: Book that you can quote/recite

I feel like this is absolutely cliche, but the only chapter book that really, truly fits this description is Pride & Prejudice.

I read Pride & Prejudice for the first time at some point in high school. It was not assigned reading, I just knew I liked books by similar-ish authors. I’ve read it at least three times, and I’ve watched a few different movie/mini-series adaptations. I love this book and there are portions of it that I really can recite, especially if prompted by a short quote.

The only other books I can recite or quote easily are children’s books. Particularly, Mud Puddle and Snow,* both of which I highly recommend.

It’s funny, everything in Snow seems to take place within a day or two, and I never understood that as a child. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized that in a lot of places, snow isn’t something that falls and stays on the ground for months on end, growing in volume as more accumulates over the months. In some many places, snow falls, lasts a day or a week or two, and then it melts which fits a lot better with the story.