Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for Reading Western Europe] 

Okay, so I know I said no more challenges, but this isn't an actual challenge really. It's more of a personal goal and growth challenge. The Reading Resolutions Challenge is hosted by Jenny Loves to Read. I was going to wait to post this until it was closer to new years, but since I have finished signing up for challenges now seems like a good time. I am a new blogger, English Major's Junk Food has only been around for three months, but I have been a reader for a long time and every year I say I'm going to do certain things and stuff (friends, school, life) gets in the way. Hopefully publishing it for all of you to read will help keep me on track.

In the short amount of time that I've been blogging I have really seen a change in how I read. I read a lot more for one thing, mostly because I feel like I have a reason to read. I want to thank everyone who has helped me learn the ropes and get involved in the community. It's been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the upcoming year!

My first resolution is to keep reading often and posting often. I have started a few blogs in the past and usually they only last a week or two and I quit. I don't want that to happen to this blog because I am loving it.

My second resolution is to get out of my historical fiction and classics box even more. I posted about the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and mentioned that I want to read different kinds of historical fiction that I haven't read before. I would like to do that in general all year. I'm okay with staying inside my preferred genres but I really want to try some new things out. Specifically I would like to try out some more YA novels. There are some great ones out there but I never really pay attention to them.

My third resolution is to post more about the children's books I've been reading. On average I read about four-five children's books per week. I probably won't post about the meh ones, but ones that I really do not like or do like will be spotlighted on this blog.

My final reading resolution is not exactly a reading resolution, but we'll go with it. I want to start keeping a journal again. I used to be an avid journal writer but when I came to college I quit. I'd like to keep a journal to write about what I am reading and my life in a way that I really can't on my blog.

Finally, here are a list of all the challenges I am signed up for:
Shelf Discovery hosted by Booking Mama.
Reading Western Europe hosted by Samantha's Reading Challenge.
18th and 19th Century Women Writers hosted by Becky's Book Reviews.
All About the Brontes Challenge hosted by Laura's Reviews.
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Royal Reviews.
First in a Series Challenge hosted by Royal Reviews.
Second in a Series Challenge hosted by Royal Reviews.

EDIT
I couldn't resist this one: You've Got Mail Challenge.

I just signed up for two great book challenges for next year. The first is Becky's Book Reviews 18th and 19th Century Women Writers Reading Challenge. It is a pretty light challenge, only two books required over the course of the year, and since it's my favorite genre I have a feeling that I will completely obliterate that in a month. I'm just excited to find a reading challenge that fits with what I like already, even though it's really not challenging. I'm challenging myself to read two authors I have not heard of before, so hopefully that will shake things up.

The second challenge I signed up for is also for all of 2010. It is called Reading Western Europe which is another one of my interests. It's a heftier challenge, twelve books over the course of the year. You are required to read one book that is set in each of the twelve countries listed on the site. Some of them are easy, like Ireland, England, and France, while others are more challenging, like Monaco. Luckily there is a cheat sheet on the sign up page to give you ideas.

Both of these are great and creative challenges that I'm very excited for!

Anna O'Shea's life is falling apart. Her husband has just left her most likely due to her multiple miscarriages. Her job as a lawyer is taxing and unsatisfying. And after a trip to Ireland she finds out that her brother Patrick was in a horrible car accident and might not live. To top it all off, her nephew is in jail and it's up to her to go get him out. This is the beginning of Jacqueline Sheehan's Now and Then. After Anna rescues her nephew, Joseph, from jail they both go to her house and fall asleep. Since they are each thinking about going to the hospital to visit Patrick the next day their sleep is a little messed up, and Anna finds Joseph searching through her suitcase.

In a magical moment Joseph and Anna pass through the ocean and in to another world: 1844 Ireland. Unfortunately they are separated, or not so unfortunately for Joseph. Joseph quickly falls in love and becomes a famous wrestler, while Anna can barely walk and is desperate to find her nephew. In the end they are both torn between their desire to stay in the past and return to the present.

This book started out a little slow for me, but once Joseph's story turned into a love story it picked up a little more. The first half of the book was a lot of description about how weird it felt to be in another time period. I felt like this could have been cut down a little as some things were repeated frequently, sometimes within a couple pages of each other. This made me feel like Sheehan didn't trust her reader, which in turn made me less apt to trust her. On the other end of the spectrum, by the end of the book I felt like Sheehan had woven a wonderful puzzle and all the ends were tied together which was really important for this book. It was obvious Sheehan had done some research on 19th century Ireland, I just wish it would have been more apparent at the beginning of the novel.

I also felt like this book was struggling over what kind of book it wanted to be. Joseph is a sixteen-year-old American teenager, so obviously he cusses, but I felt like the somewhat frequent pottymouthing and slang was too stark against Sheehan's mystical voice. I don't have a problem with language, it just felt out of place. At the same time, Joseph's character made the book for me. He was a total outcast and really messed up in modern America, but he finds that in Ireland he is actually cool and really talented. I could related to Joseph because of this and I would always get excited when the chapters about him came up.

This novel earned a C.

This novel counts for the Reading Western Europe Challenge and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog. This book was provided to me by a publicist.