Zoladdiction 2023 - Master Post

We are here at last. Zoladdiction.BEGINS.today! while we are celebrating the birthday of our beloved genius author: Émile Zola. Bon anniversaire, Monsieur Zola!

Grab your book, read, enjoy, and share!

The linky has appeared below this post, where you can add your reviews or any Zola posts, either published on blog or social media. Do not forget to use hashtag #Zoladdiction2023 if you post on Twitter so I can retweet them.

To spice things up, this year we will also have...

THE ÉMILE ZOLA TAG

• You can post your answers in your blog, or on the comment box below, or on Twitter. Don't forget to submit your posts on the linky.
• Answer any time during Zoladdiction 2023 (1-30 April).

The questions:

• How was your first introduction to Émile Zola? We'd love to hear your stories!
  
  
• Do you read Zola's randomly, or do you follow a certain, or even your own, order?
  
  
• What do you like and/or dislike from Zola? It can be his works, views, or personality. Or if you've just found Zola: What makes you decided to read Zola?
  
  
• If you must spend a day with one character from Zola's books, who would you rather be with? And what both of you would do? (This is hard, I know! Zola didn't create many loveable characters 🤭)
  
  
• Name one of Zola's books you would recommend others to read! Or if you haven't read him, which book would you like to start with?
  
  
• You were invited in one of Zola's soirees (Zola's famous literary dinners of Naturalism writers) at Médan tonight. You may listen to all the conversation/discussion, but you're only allowed to suggest one topic - what would that be?
  
  
• What is your least favorite book from Zola?
  
  
• Have you read any book/work by other authors about Zola? Biography, companion book, essay, historical fiction, etc. Share them, please! (It may inspire others). If you haven't, would you like to?
  
  
• Of the Rougons, the Macquarts, and the Mourets, which family do you like best? Why? (wrong-answers are acceptable 😜)
  
  
• Your favourite Zola's quote(s) ?

Have fun!!


NOTE:
- Apparently the linky doesn't accept "French accent marks", it will not appear if there's one in the text. 
- Please contact me if you have trouble in submitting.

 

Six Degrees of Separation, from Born to Run to The Phantom of the Opera

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme, now hosted by Kate @ books are my favorite and best. On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

This month we start from another non-fiction:

0. Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (An Autobiography)

Summary:

Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll.

Another book I haven't actually read. My strategy is very similar to the previous Six Degre, which is quoting from the starting book's Goodreads summary: "He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician." The words in bold and blue will be the key to my next chain:

1. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

This book is a bildungsroman, telling the making of an artist from zero: Thea Kronborg. She's a talented, hard-working, and ambitious girl with unleashed desire to be great. Came from humble town, she worked relentlessly to reach her dream of becoming, first a musician which she thought was her talent, but later on, an opera singer, after a teacher found her real talent. But Thea is also a selfish girl. She chose an important performance rather than to be with her dying mother. Thea reminds me a lot of another egotistic heroine in this second chain:

2. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton

Undine Spragg is a selfish spoilt girl from middle class background, but with an upper class taste. Her sole desire is always having the "best" in life. And to achieve that, she sacrifices lives of several people. Undine is a heroine we love to hate. Years ago I've read a book (which I didn't like) with a heroine with similar character:

3. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

How could I forget the reading experience of this book? While the story itself could be wonderful (to me), my dislike of Scarlett O'Hara marred my reading experience. However, this book possesses an unforgettable aspect that makes it memorable - one of the most legendary couples in literature: Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler! Especially if you're fan of vintage movies; Clark Gable and Vivienne Leigh are quite a charming couple in the 1939 adaptation! However, Scarlett and Rhett aren't the only legendary couple in literature. Way back in 19th century, we also have:

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte

Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester! Mr. Rochester is probably one of the most swoon-worthy male characters in literature - do you agree? Personally I don't.. and it's all due to the lunatic wife of his, whom he hid on the attic! Now, hiding a lunatic spouse in the attic, to me, only means that someone wants to cover a present marriage to be able to marry another. The most appropriate place for lunatics is surely on an asylum, am I right? Just like in this book on my next chain:

5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

The story is about an asylum or psychiatric hospital ward, ruled by a dictatorial Head Nurse. What struck me most of this book, is the fact that most of the patients are as normal as we are. Some were committed, but some came there voluntarily. Voluntarily! They were rejected by the society because they were out of its standard, and therefore must be thrown out of its presence. And when there's injustice like this, there's likely to be... a revenge! My last chain's theme is about probably the grandest revenge of ONE rejected person, to the world:

6. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Here I quoted from my review:

"The opera ghost was indeed a real person called Erik. He was born deformed with corpse-like appearance and—as Christine Daaé put it—smelled like death. It saddened me to read how his mother rejected him because of that. I could not imagine growing up deprived of love. Add to it degradation and humility Erik must have experienced from his youth; and in the place of a supposedly loving and genius man, stands a really hideous monster. So, whose fault is it, if many years later what that man thinks is only revenge? It is inevitable."

And with that reflection, the chain is closed. This has been another satisfying chain in the making.

Have you read those books? If you do #sixdegree, how it worked out for you this time?

 

March Wrap Up, and Welcoming the Enchanting April!

Couch on the Porch, Cos Cob, Frederick Childe Hassam, 1914

📚 Books Read in March

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper (started in January)
A surprisingly comforting journal!
Read from: e-book

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (unreviewed yet)
One of those non-fiction-reads-as-fiction books.
Read from: e-book

Jack-a-Boy by Willa Cather (short story)
A heartwarming story of a sweet boy.
Read from: e-book


📚 Started but unfinished yet

* The Ladies' Paradise by Émile Zola (audiobook) - a re-read, preparing for Zoladdiction 2023 in April

* The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp (e-book) - preparing for the 1940 Club week.


📚 2023 Statistics

📊 Total books read so far: 8
📊 Total short stories read so far: 3
📊 Challenge progress:
* 2023 TBR Pile Challenge: 4
* 2023 Victorian Reading Challenge: 2
* 2023 Audiobook Challenge: 3


📚 What's happening in April

🔸️Zoladdiction 2023 (hosted by me) - sign up & info

Books to read & review:
- The Ladies' Paradise (reread)
- Doctor Pascal


🔸️The 1940 Club (hosted by Stuck in a Book & Kaggy's Bookish Ramblings) - announcement

Books to read & review:
- The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
- Pigeon Pie by Nancy Mitford


🔸️ Will be re-reading N or M? by Agatha Christie - listening from audiobook

🔸️ Will start Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, right after N or M? - also from audiobook.


How was your March readings? And what awaits you in April?

 

1st Impression on The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp

This would be my first book from Furrowed Middlebrow, the imprint of Dean Street Press; one of many more to come! The book I picked is...

The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp

Summary:

Entertainingly ridiculous story of an English village turned upside down when a visiting Professor who studies folklore discovers the legend of the Stone of Chastity - a stepping stone in the local stream reputed, according to legend, to trip up impure women.

My first impression:

It's indeed ridiculous! But more of a witty-sarcastic one. No doubt, it would be a criticism against  puritanical society.


About the author, Margery Sharp, who had a pretty name: Clara Margery Melita Sharp, was an English writer, born in 1925. From several books I've found of hers, I noticed that her titles are always intriguing. Like this one: The Stone of Chastity. Or the next book I'm going to read, maybe later this year, The Foolish Gentlewoman. They instantly attract your attention, don't they? There's something charming about them (the titles) that makes you instinctively want to read them.

Well, I am now 60-ish pages through, but, unfortunately, I don't feel absorbed into the book, like I usually do when reading a good book. I haven't met a pleasant character to like yet. Perhaps the Professor is the most interesting one so far, yet I don't really like him. Maybe it's still too early to tell, and I truly hope the story will improve from here.

I decided to keep on reading, because I'm curious of what might happen next. Right now the Professor is distributing surveys about stone of chastity: what do you know about it, where it was located, etc. And I'm curious how this little village Gillenham people will think and react about it. Hilarious things are prone to take place!

The Classics Club 10 Years Celebration Questionnaire (Late Post)

The Classics Club 10 year celebration was actually last year, but somehow I've missed this questionnaire posted on their website. It's only when I saw Brona's post (also late poster 🤭) that I realized its existence. Better late than never is our motto, so.. here it is..

When did you join the Classics Club?
March 8th, 2012. I know the exact date because I put it in my first CC list. I was one of the early-joiners.

What is the best classic book you’ve read for the club so far? Why?
Definitely Germinal by Émile Zola. It is, by far, my all-time favorite novel. And I doubt I would change my mind, though one never knows, as I realize that my reading taste keep changing with age. Why, you ask? Because Germinal is just a perfect book. From every aspect.

What is the first classic you ever read?
I don’t really remember. I read a lot since I was a kid, and can’t remember what I read in what age. I remember reading the illustrated version of Mahabharata (an ancient Indian epic) with my father. It was in Indonesian translation with great illustrations. That’s perhaps my first classic. But first classic I read as an adult was perhaps either To Kill a Mockingbird or Anne of Green Gables.

Which classic book inspired you the most?
Maybe Mahabharata. I read that with my father. And I remember he explained much about honor, loyalty, and friendship.

What is the most challenging one you’ve ever read, or tried to read?
Proust’s Swann’s Way. I didn’t understand what it’s about from the beginning, so I DNFed it after perhaps 50-ish pages.

Favourite movie adaptation of a classic? Least favorite?
I didn’t watch much movie adaptation of classics – they are usually disappointing – so I can’t think of a favorite, but my least favorite is the modern adaptation of The Three Musketeers, but can’t remember the exact year. I quite liked the adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask, though, starring Leonardo di Caprio.

Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
Anne Eliot from Persuasion and Isabel Archer from The Portrait of a Lady.

Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? Respecting? Appreciating?
Jane Austen's Persuasion. My first Austen was Sense and Sensibility, and it didn't like it. So, it is with trepidation when I started Persuasion. It turned out well, fortunately, I loved the story and the heroine!

Classic/s you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens. It’s the last Dickens’ novel I’ve not read. Have planned to read it this year, but I'm still not in the mood for it. Next year it will be. Promise!

Favorite memory with a classic and/or your favourite memory with The Classics Club?
My sweetest memory with The Classics Club is when I was made its first Classics Clubber of the month, on August 2012. I've never felt that honoured in my life before. Thank you again, The Classics Club, for letting me become a part of you, belong to your community. And though seven months late, I wish you the best for ten more years to come!
 

Blogger-Inspired Wishlist Ep. 4

Blogger-Inspired Wishlist is a feature where I post recent additions to my wish list, which had been inspired by reviews from my fellow bloggers. It includes some synopsis, as well as some excerpts of the review which have intrigued me, complete with a link to the blogger's original post.

Blogger-Inspired Wishlist has been into 4th episode. I've started it only to keep record of books that are interested me, as well as the sources (reviews of other bloggers). However, I began to see that others have also benefited from my posts; finding random books which they haven't heard before but interested them. I'm so glad that this blog-feature also serves you, readers, as much as it does me! It encouraged me to keep doing it.

At first I planned to do it once a month, but lately you all have reviewed many good books that I have to post the 4th eps. on the same month with the 3rd one. Here they are:

Five more books are added for the fourth episode:

Murder Before Evensong by The Reverend Richard Coles

Inspired by: Cath @ Read-warbler 

Synopsis:
Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the Rectory alongside his widowed mother - opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey - and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village. And then Anthony Bowness - cousin to Bernard de Floures, patron of Champton - is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs. As the police moves in and the bodies start piling up, Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his fractured community together... and catch a killer.

From Cath's review:
"If you like old fashioned 'English villagey' type crime stories then this might be up your street. I found it well written, rich in background detail, and fun to read: I didn't guess the culprit."

🔹️ A reverend turns sleuth - might this be as good as Father Brown's? We'll see! 😉

Castle Shade by Laurie R. King

Inspired by Gypsi Reads

Synopsis:
A queen, a castle, a dark and ageless threat--all await Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes in this chilling new adventure. When Queen Marie calls, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are as dubious as they are reluctant. But a young girl is involved, and a beautiful queen. Surely it won't take long to shine light on this unlikely case of what would seem to be strigoi? Or, as they are known in the West...vampires.

From Gypsi's review:
"Russell is genuinely likable, Holmes garners respect and admiration, and their relationship is as believable as possible, given the circumstances, and immensely entertaining. Actual facts are woven in with the fiction nearly seamlessly, with the personalities of the historical figures being convincing, and the supporting cast, as it were, seeming lively and realistic. Castle Shade is closer to 4.5 stars technically speaking, but it's worth the higher rating for the pure pleasure and satisfaction it gives."

🔹️ I haven't followed this series for quite a long time, I think catching up with the latest of the series would be a good idea - don't you think?

Still Life by Sarah Winman

Inspired by: Mallika @ LiteraryPotpourri 

Synopsis:
Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a richly drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

From Malika's review:
"Still Life is a heart-warming novel about art, Italy, and really, about life and its many colours. What stands out ultimately is how important love and support are in life—not romantic love but love of friends, those whom one can bond with, those that stand by you unconditionally, unquestioningly, those who have always got your back.

From a not so great start (though even that made sense later), this turned out to be a lovely, warm, read, full of hope, and about all that is good about human beings."

🔹️ Sounds like a warm, soothed, and affectionate book!

The Patience of a Saint by G.B. Stern

Inspired by Simon @ Stuck in a Book 

As I could not found any summary from Google, I had to rely on Simon’s review:

"This is exactly the sort of novel I love and hunt out. St Cedric was martyred a thousand years earlier, and there is a legend that he will return on that anniversary – firmly believed by Lady Eileen Francis, who patiently waits at the ruins of Abbey where St Cedric once served. Seeing an opportunity for money (which, for slightly complicated reasons, he needs for a friend – I suppose to make him more sympathetic to the reader), Ceddie Conway decides to impersonate him. Stern has created a lovable character in both Cedric and Ceddie, and this slim book plays out the conceit just long enough to keep it entertaining and tense."

🔹️ Sounds a hilarious book, does it not? It’s a pity I couldn’t find a copy yet. The book seems to be missing from surfaces.

Until We All Share Joy by Heather Wood

Inspired by Hamlette @ The Edge of the Precipice 

Synopsis:
This warm, standalone Christmas novella highlights a lesser-known member of the beloved Dinsmore family in the Finding Home series. With all the charm of a Victorian Christmas and yet the realistic challenges of navigating difficult relationships in a Christlike manner, this book is one to be savored throughout the holiday season and beyond.

From Hamlette's review:
"This book is not so much a romance as a coming-of-age story for Titan as he matures into manhood after feeling he's never taken seriously by his family since he is the youngest.  Taking on responsibility and stepping out into a life of his own helps him to grow and change, and I liked getting to watch that happen."

🔹️ A Christian fiction, Victorian Christmas novella; how can I resist?...


Have you read any of these books? Or do you find any new interest?
 

The In and Out Book Tag

Young Woman Reading a Book, Aleksandr Deineka, 1934

I first saw this bookish tag at @Brona's Book (This Reading Life) some time ago, and thought it fun to do. So, here it is..

Reading the Last Page First: OUT

Though I sometimes browsed Wikipedia to know how a story or a character would end, I never read the last page before getting at the end.

Enemies to Lovers: IN

It's a cliche, I know, but I still love it!😁

Dream Sequences: OUT

It often confuses me whether a scene is really happening or just in a dream.

Love Triangles: IN

It adds the complication, isn't it?

Cracked Spines: OUT

It would be hard to hold the book conveniently.

Back to My Small Town: IN

I have no complaint as long as it's necessary for the story.

No Paragraph Breaks: OUT!

A big no-no.

Multi-generational Sagas: IN

My favorite is Steinbeck's East of Eden.

Monsters Are Regular People: OUT

I'm no fan of fantasy.

Re-Reading: IN

I love re-visiting old favorites!

Artificial Intelligence: OUT

Nothing artificial, please! 

Drop Caps: IN

It looks beautiful, so why not?

Happy Endings: IN

If not real happiness, at least a hopeful one!

Plot Points That Only Converge at the End: IN

Isn't that the point of a novel?

Detailed Magic Systems: OUT

Again, no big fans of fantasy

Classic Fantasy Races: OUT

For same reason as above.

Unreliable Narrators: IN

We have a chance to figure the story out ourselves, or perhaps when the writer wants to emphasize a point.

Evil Protagonists: OUT

I would hate the story as well.

The Chosen One: IN

I love Harry Potter, at least 😉

When the Protagonist Dies: OUT

I love happy ending!

Really Long Chapters: IN

The sentences are more crucial.

French Flaps: IN

They are often charming, and I just need to put it down while reading.

Deckled Edges: IN

They look vintage.

Signed Copies by the Author: IN

Though reading mostly classics make it impossible...

Dog-Earing Pages: IN

I do it all the time!

Chapter Titles Instead of Numbers: IN

I rarely read them anyway 😋

That's it. If you wish to do it too, consider yourself tagged!