October 2017 Reading Wrap Up

October is at an end and I only read a small fraction of what I wanted. Unfortunately for my reading life, my work life got in the way. I'm moving most of my selections to November. Hopefully, I will have more luck that month.

I finished a grand total of two novels in October, making this my least productive reading month of the year. Boo. Anyway, here's what I did manage to get done:


1. Dune by Frank Herbert (4/5 stars)

• Classics Club: #47 on my list
• Popsugar Challenge (bonus category): A book that's more than 800 pages

2. Dracula by Bram Stoker (3/5 stars)

• Back to the Classics: A Gothic or Horror Classic
• Classics Club: #60 on my list 
• Popsugar Challenge (bonus category): A book mentioned in another book
• TBR Challenge: previously owned

My current challenge status is:

• Classics Club: 20/100 (on track to end 12/31/21)
• Back to the Classics:  12/12 - Complete
• Popsugar 2017: 40/40 - Complete
• Popsugar 2017 Bonus Categories: 8/12
• TBR 2017: 48/60

I have read 62 books so far in 2017!

The best thing about this month was finishing my Back to the Classics challenge! I'm so happy to have finished for the third year in a row! I definitely want to do it all again next year.

With only two books read, it seems pointless to do a "best and worst of the month" reflection. Besides, neither of the books I read will become special favorites of mine. They are both classic, and I did enjoy them, but they both had boring stretches that caused me to dawdle while reading them. With the month I've been having at work, my brain just wasn't eager to jump into my October picks. I am hoping that I can recharge and do better in November.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

I had to read a Gothic or horror classic this year for my Back to the Classics challenge. I had been meaning to read Dracula for years, so I figured that now was the time to actually do it. The fact that it's Halloween season was an added bonus too - it made the reading extra spooky.

Dracula is narrated through a collection of letters and journal entries written from the perspectives of several different characters. The novel opens with the journal of Jonathan Harker, a young solicitor who is on his way to Transylvania to help a client purchase some real estate in London. This client, Lord Dracula, lives in a ruined castle situated in a gloomy and isolated forest. When he first arrives at the castle, Harker is intrigued by his eccentric and hospitable host. However, his interest soon turns to fear as the days go by and Dracula's true nature and intentions are revealed--he is a vampire that is looking to move to England for a fresh supply of victims. Unwittingly, Harker helps him travel to London. Once Dracula is loose in the city, the real adventure begins.

From this point forward, the story shifts perspectives between several different characters who are all drawn into Dracula's dark path. The cast includes Mina Harker, Jonathan's fiancee,  Lucy Westenra, Mina's dear friend, Arthur Holmwood, Lucy's fiancee, Dr. Seward, the man in charge of a local asylum, and, of course, the vampire expert, Dr. Van Helsing. Their stories begin separately, but are gradually drawn together as they unite to try and put an end to Dracula's reign of terror. Their quest to track him down takes them across Europe and brings them face to face with many unspeakable terrors. Eventually, they arrive back where the story started, Transylvania, for one final battle.

Dracula is one of those larger-than-life characters that every lover of the classics should get to know. He is the source of all the characteristics we have come to expect from a vampire: He must sleep in his native soil, he doesn't have a reflection, he must be invited inside a dwelling before he can enter, he has very pointy incisors, and he fears garlic and crucifixes. He has super-human strength and an aristocratic, intelligent demeanor. He mixes being suave and personable with being animalistic and wild. He is absolutely the best part of the novel, but aside from the beginning section of the story when he imprisons Jonathan in his castle, he doesn't appear in it very much. I found myself wishing for way more of him, and way less of the supporting characters.

The exception to that is the character of Dr. Van Helsing, who has become a classic literary hero in his own right. Van Helsing serves as the source of knowledge about vampires in the novel, and becomes the fearless leader of the group as they work together to find and slay Dracula. His skills, intelligence, and calm, kind demeanor are indispensable to the story and make him stand out from the sea of rather interchangeable, bland supporting characters that surround him. As an additional bit of character-building, his journal entries in the novel contain quite a few comical misspellings and misinterpretations of English words, due to his Dutch heritage. He is one of literature's most famous "tough guys," so I'm glad to have met him.

I wish that I could spend a few more paragraphs talking about how much I loved this novel, but the truth is that aside from liking some of the characters, I found Dracula to be a little bit boring. This is primarily due to its epistolary format. The letters and journals of the characters go into such meticulous detail about their plans that the reading often felt very slow. In particular, their quest to destroy the boxes of Transylvanian dirt that Dracula brought to London with him take up way too many pages. I was expecting that a book focused on finding and killing a powerful vampire would have me on the edge of my seat, but alas, that was not how I felt while reading. Some parts were exciting and interesting. Many parts were not.

However, despite my dissatisfaction with some sections, I am still glad that I read Dracula. It was mostly enjoyable, and getting to know the classic literary characters it contained made it worth the read. I was expecting a little more excitement, but I have to cut the novel some slack--it was one of the first books of its kind, and the modern horror stories that thrill audiences today have grown out of what Dracula established. This was one of the last classic monster novels I hadn't read, so I'm glad to have experienced it.

On a happy side note, this was my very last book for my Back to the Classics Challenge this year! I'll be writing a wrap up post for that soon. I also managed to fit this into my Popsugar bonus challenge-Dracula is mentioned in To Kill a Mockingbird, which I noticed while reading it to my classes this year.


Challenge Tally
Classics Club Challenge (#47 on my list): 20/100
Back to the Classics Challenge (a Gothic or horror classic) 12/12 - Complete!
Popsugar Bonus Challenge (a book mentioned in another book) 8/12
TBR Challenge (previously owned): 48/60

Total Books Read in 2017: 62

Dune by Frank Herbert

Dune is generally considered to be one of science fiction's greatest masterpieces. I had been meaning to read it for a long time, and even put it on my Classics Club list. It's length (883 pages in my version) was what kept me from starting it before now. I have so much that I want to read, I didn't want to spend ages on a single novel. However, when I saw that an online reading group was starting for Dune last summer, I decided that it was time to give it a shot. Despite my best efforts, I ended up falling behind in the scheduled reading. This month, I decided to just bite the bullet and finish reading it on my own.

The plot of Dune is so sweeping and epic that it defies a brief summary, but it is essentially about the rise to power of Paul Atreides, a young duke living on the desert planet of Arrakis in the distant future.When an elaborate political scheme shatters his family and brings an end to his sheltered existence, he sets out on a quest for survival, revenge, and family honor. It is difficult and dangerous to survive in this desert world without the comforts he was born to, but Paul's intense training and education, as well as his mysterious ability to see the future, allow him to become a different kind of leader. Blending themes of religion, politics, science, and warfare, Dune is a complex and thoughtful novel with many parallels to our world today.

What stands out the most in Dune is undoubtedly Frank Herbert's world-building. Everything, from names and speech patterns, to places and cultures feel real and solid. It's easy to get lost in the details and feel like you are on a different planet in a different time. Herbert's vision of the future is an eclectic mix of science, religion, technology, and a return to an old school system of titles and ranks. His universe is so complex, in fact, that the back of my edition contains over 100 pages of supplementary materials, including appendices, a glossary, and maps. Herbert's skill in creating this elaborate world forms a bizarre, intriguing backdrop for his story and lends weight to each scene.

Similar to the setting, the characters of Dune are memorable and nuanced. While not every figure gets their full backstory explained, flashbacks, memories, and dialogue reveal enough to give the reader the sense that each character is a complete person, with individual motives, personalities, and desires. Extensive use of inner monologues allows the reader to dig further into the psyche of some of the more major players in the story. As much of the novel focuses on political intrigue, this is a handy feature. The narration is mostly from Paul's perspective, but it shifts around a fair amount, allowing the reader to see the story from several different points of view. I enjoyed this strategy, because while Paul's perspective was interesting, I really wanted to learn more about some of the women in the story, like his mother Lady Jessica and the Bene Gesserit Gaius Helen Mohaim. While this novel isn't perfect in its treatment of women, there are some very powerful female characters, so I appreciated being able to see the story through their eyes periodically.

While I enjoyed the Dune overall, I did have a few issues during my reading. The spiritual elements of the novel were difficult for me to get into and truly understand. There are a lot of mystical scenes where the characters have visions of the future, and I had trouble understanding exactly what they were experiencing. Similarly, some of the locations and items described were so fantastical that I couldn't clearly imagine how they would function or what they would look like. I'm still not clear on critical plot points like how Spice and the sandworms work and what the Bene Gesserit women truly are. I believe that Dune is one of those novels you have to read more than once in order to fully grasp all of the messages that Herbert was trying to convey, so this first reading was, for me, a bit hazy.

However, despite some confusion on my part, I'm very glad that I explored the world of Dune. This novel is the first in a series, and I could see myself picking up some of the sequels one day. For now, I am content with my journey into one of the most epic and important science fiction novels of our time.


Challenge Tally
Classics Club Challenge (#47 on my list): 19/100
Popsugar Bonus Challenge (a book that's more than 800 pages): 7/12 

Total Books Read in 2017: 61

October 2017 Reading Plan

It's hard to believe that there's only three months left in 2017! I was thinking about the rest of the books I have to read for my reading challenges and starting to worry that I won't make it. I've kept up a good pace this year with my reading, but I have a few monsters books left that I want to get through. In fact, four of the books on my list for this month are longer than usual, meaning that I'm going to have to step up my game if I want to get them all read.

I tried to put some creepier books on the list for this month, since it's the appropriate time of year and all. It should make for a suspenseful month! Here's the plan:

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker

• Classics Club: A Gothic or Horror Classic
• Classics Club: #60 on my list 
• TBR Challenge: previously owned

2. Dune by Frank Herbert (continued from last month)

• Classics Club: #47 on my list
• Popsugar Challenge (bonus category): A book that's more than 800 pages

3. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

• Popsugar Challenge (bonus category): A book from a genre/subgenre that you've never heard of - Mannerpunk
• TBR Challenge: previously owned

4. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

• Popsugar Challenge (bonus category): A book based on mythology
• TBR Challenge: previously owned

5.Pointe by Brandy Colbert

• TBR Challenge: previously owned

  
*Bonus

6. Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

• Doesn't fit a challenge category - just counts towards my overall total 

If I finish Dracula this month, I will have completed my Back to the Classics Challenge for the year! I purposefully saved that one for now. It seemed appropriate for the month of Halloween. I'm excited to finish this challenge for the second year in a row.

Hopefully I'll be able to stick to a good reading schedule and make my way through some of the longer ones on here. Even if I don't, I'll still have fun trying - that is the point after all. Here's to a spooky and productive October!