Welcome to Friday Reads. Each Friday, I’ll review any books I’ve completed that week, as well as share what I’m reading right now.

And by “Each Friday,” I mean “some Fridays.”

Here’s a quick update for this past week. There won’t be an update next week, and my March Wrap-Up will be late as well due to upcoming travel.

Finished reading:

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle – 3* (Mar 22)

My review of this book probably isn’t going to be popular, but here goes! (Warning: I’ve included some small, not very specific spoilers. At this point, spoiling this book seems like spoiling the end of Titanic or The Sixth Sense.)

Most people I know talk about this book with such adoration, basking in the nostalgia of their first time reading it decades ago. I’ve experienced this with books as well – Anne of Green Gables, the Little House books… Some of them hold up to re-reads better than others, but there’s always a comforting, happy feeling associated with those books we adored as kids.

But I didn’t read this book as a child. Somehow, despite my early love for reading, I missed it. Reading it for the first time as an adult, I didn’t experience the awe that so many seem to feel for it.

I’m not a big fan of fantasy/sci-fi, so I was semi-doomed from the start. Still, I liked the idea of the three Mrs characters, and I was intrigued by the premise of IT.

I found some of the characters very expendable. The twins? I don’t understand their purpose other than to show that some of her family was normal/accepted while Meg and her youngest brother, Charles, were different. Calvin, the neighbor, seemed to serve a purpose, and yet his presence was never explained satisfactorily to me. Also, he was given a backstory but nothing came of it except to show he wasn’t perfect.

The two big climax moments fell flat to me. We knew Meg’s dad would be saved – but the actual scene in which it happened was so anticlimactic I had to read it twice to realize it was over. Saving Charles Wallace from IT was somewhat more dramatic but it still felt ho-hum to me.

I was surprised at what I perceived as a Christian-leaning philosophy. After I finished reading, I conducted some quick research – seems some thought it was too Christian, others feel it’s anti-Christian. There wasn’t much of it, but that it was in a sci-fi/fantasy book at all caught me off-guard.

It only took about two hours to read so I’m glad I filled in this gap in what many consider “must-read” childhood books. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it. I doubt I’ll re-read it or bother with the rest of the quintet. I had read it in anticipation of the movie, and now I’m not sure I’m super-excited about seeing that either, except I’d still like to support the women who put it together.

Next up: (This is largely decided by the library – I’ve waitlisted a bunch of books so as they come available, I have to read them before they expire.)

I’m going back to Kindle books for awhile since we’ll be traveling.

   

Moxie – Jennifer Mathiew

Several friends have read this lately and it was available to download immediately from the library so it seemed like a good choice.

What are you reading? Do you have thoughts on A Wrinkle in Time?

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