January 2023 Book Bracket

In a moment of extreme "believe it or not", I actually did "read" some books this month, even with preparing a wedding, getting married, and starting life together with my husband happening.

Matilda, by Roald Dahl**

An extraordinarily smart girl raised by neglectful parents finds herself making friends with students and her teacher at a boarding school and enemies with the evil headmistress.

Why I picked it up: I needed a book to listen to and saw a trailer for a movie based on the musical based on this book.

My impressions: This wasn't really my type of book. I remember starting to read this one as a kid and then Mom and Dad must have read the back or something because I remember them saying something about how they didn't like that respect wasn't shown to the parents. I put the book down then, but figured, hey, I'm an adult now, I think I'll give it a try. Well, Mom and Dad weren't wrong. I didn't love the attitude the author took towards a majority of the adults in Matilda's life, or the implicit suggestion that, when you don't have power, pranks are the way to get back at those who wrong you. It was an interesting story, certainly - I wondered how everything was going to end - and it surprised me at a few points. The best part of this audiobook (through the public library system) was Kate Winslet's narration. However, this isn't a book that I would recommend to others. The author is a well-known children's author, but I didn't like this work.

Hans Brinker; or, the Silver Skates, by Mary Mapes Dodge**

In Holland, virtuous teen Hans works hard to support his family, win a race, and maybe cure his addled father.

Why I picked it up: I needed a book to listen to and this one was available in the public domain.

My impressions: This book was a mix of interesting and not-so-interesting. There was a trip taken by a group of school boys in the middle of the book that, as far as I could tell, didn't need to happen. That stood out to me. However, the book was also very enjoyable. The author spent a lot of time talking about how things are in Holland and even made a few comments about how different things are there compared to where her supposed audience of readers resides, but there was also some good setting-building taking place through that. It was a sweet story and I enjoyed some of the connections made by the end of the story, but it wasn't my favorite or the best-written story out there. I think some people might enjoy reading this book, and others wouldn't...it just depends.

Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan**

Children help the adults smuggle gold out of the country when Nazi Germany occupies Norway.

Why I picked it up: I needed another audiobook; this one had made it onto my "to read" list, and it became available through the public library system.

My impressions: This is a sort of spy adventure that I wish I had loved, but only ended up being somewhat entertained by. It had all the right ingredients for this sort of story - secrecy, an uncle who's a spy, clever deceits and a portrayal of a strong community - but I found myself being distracted from the story while I worked on other things. I think this would be a good story for its intended audience, but at least for where I am in life right now, it didn't do so much for me.

Bracket Play

The bracket was straightforward this month. "Matilda" lost to "Hans Brinker", but "Snow Treasure" won this month; it didn't have the extraneous content that bogged down the middle of Hans Brinker.

My hope is that I'll be more intentional about what I read in the next months.