‘The Door In the Floor’ Movie Review (Based on John Irving’s ‘A Widow for One Year’)

Poster image via Amazon

I’m making more of an effort to see the movies based on the books I read soon after I finish them. I’d say this one was a pretty solid success as I finished the book less than a month ago and it took a while to find time with how busy I’ve been! It took me a bit to realize the movie had a different title from the book. I gathered from reading the plot description that the movie only covered the first half of the book which surprised me a bit. I was pleasantly surprised by what resulted.

Things I Thought Were Awesome

The dialogue. It was so true to the book that it was almost comical at times. I wasn’t expecting so many lines directly from the book to make their way out of the actor’s mouths but it was really great how true to the book they were able to keep.

Seeing Ted in action. It was a bit hard to understand how Ted could be so attractive to so many women, but seeing him played out made it a bit easier to understand. He was charming and Jeff Bridges did a great job of bringing him to life and making him believable.

Changes That Didn’t Really Bother Me

Focusing on only the first third of the novel. I thought this would bother me a lot, but it didn’t. The movie set up the relationships between the characters that carried them on their ways through the last half of the book. Marion, Ruth, Ted, and Eddie are the backbone of the book and it was great to see them established so strongly.

Cover image via Goodreads

The time period. The summer in question in the book was in the early 1950s. The movie moved it to the release date, 2005. It seemed a bit incongruous when Ted was typing away at a typewriter and we’re supposed to believe it’s 2005. I’m not sure why they’d change it because the story is universal and except when it was said what year it was and when Timmy’s show was an Air Jordan instead of a high-top, I never would have questioned it.

Things That Were Taken Out and I’m Still Wondering Why

The picture Marion left for Eddie. That made an impact on me in the book. She leaves the picture of Tommy and Timmy at Exeter and says it’s for Eddie but Ted takes it from him. She left it for Eddie because it was after looking at it that they were together for the first time. It had nothing to do with her sons, it was about their relationship.

Honestly, I can’t think of anything else. The movie kept really close to the book! Well, if you’re only considering the first third that is.

Things That Changed Too Much

The ending. I’m not talking about the last 2/3 of the book missing, I’m talking about how it was wrapped up. It’s stated in the film, and implied in the reading, that a door in the floor represents death. With Ted crawling into the door at the end, it’s implied that he’s committed suicide. I hated this. There’s no way Ted (book or movie) would abandon Ruth by leaving her. Ruth is the one thing he stays focused on and is devoted to. I was really mad at the end when I saw that, it’s not like him.

Marion’s plan. In the book, she planned it perfectly. Ted got back too late to see her again before she drove away. It bothered me that Ted got to see her and knew she was leaving in the movie. Him acting like he didn’t know she was leaving confused me when he talked to Eddie. He’d seen her driving away!

I loved it right up until the end and then I got mad. At least there were extras with an Irving interview that cheered me right up. Reader, have you seen The Door in the Floor movie? What did you think?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

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WWW Wednesday, 14-March-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: Still moving forward with Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling. If I keep at it, I could finish next week, but I’m not going to hold my breath. My class has picked up and isn’t leaving a lot of time for reading. I’m hoping to watch both of the movies soon after I finish it.
I feel like I’m making great progress on The Circle by Dave Eggers but it’s such a long book that I’m really inching along. I have the hold for another few weeks and I hope that I can keep it going with another check-out.
I feel like I’m making progress on Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire though it’s a bit slower than I’d like. I still don’t see where this book is going. The arc seems to be weak so I’m wondering if I haven’t gotten to the true arc yet and I’m still wandering through the exposition. If so, it’s too long.
I’m halfway through Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. Her writing is amazing and I’m glad I’m getting to experience this one in audio. It’s almost better that way! Hearing her turns of phrase out loud is great and I can’t wait to see where this one ends up.
Still holding on The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. If I lose The Circle hold again, I’ll try to go back to it.

Recently finished: Nothing again! It will likely come as an avalanche of books finished and reviews to write again. I can’s say I particularly look forward to that but it is what it is.

I posted two reviews so at least I’m finally catching up there. I posted about John Irving’s A Widow for One Year on Thursday. I gave the book 4 out of 5 Stars. I watched the movie over the weekend and I’ll be posting about that tomorrow.
I also reviewed X by Ilyasah Shabazz and posted that yesterday. I’ll have two book club discussions and hopefully an author presentation to share for that one! I gave it 4 out of 5 Stars as well.

Reading Next: I found out I can’t get an audio copy of History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. Drats! I’ll try to finish Potter soon and pick it up then. If not, I’ll start it when I go to my next book club meeting and the issue is forced a bit more. Either way, I’ll get this one next!

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Book Review: A Widow for One Year by John Irving (4/5)

I love John Irving. It’s twisted in a way that makes him fun to read and even after reading so many of his books, he can still surprise me. I meant to read this book three years ago with my work book club but I transferred to a new building and it never happened. This book has been looming over my head ever since so I’m glad to finally have finished it.

A Widow for One Year by John Irving

Other books by Irving reviewed on this blog:

In One Person (and Book Club Reflection)
A Son of the Circus

Summary from Goodreads:

In A Widow for One Year, we follow Ruth Cole through three of the most pivotal times in her life: from her girlhood on Long Island (in the summer of 1958) through the fall of 1990 (when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career), and at last in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother (and she’s about to fall in love for the first time).

I wasn’t surprised to see a lot of Irving’s staples in this book. The main character was a writer, it took place in New England, sports were a major part of one or more character’s lives, their intimate relations were a bit screwy, and there was at least one tragic death. I liked Ruth’s character and, unlike many Irving inventions, I actually found her a bit relatable. She made some decisions I never would have made, but she was a genuinely good person in the end and I liked her. The plot wasn’t so unbelievable that it felt like fiction. This book felt like it could really happen.

Ruth wasn’t the only character who seemed real to life. Allan was very realistic and seemed like the kind of man Ruth would have been very happy with. Heck, he seems like the kind of man many women could be happy with. Eddie wasn’t too far from believable. He seemed both shy and forward, which was a bit hard to understand, but he was a good guy, someone I could be friends with. Ted was a little unbelievable to me, but there’s always someone in a John Irving novel whose life and choices are a bit unbelievable and around who the story takes on a fantastical element.

Ruth was my favorite character and having her as the protagonist was a joy. She was strong but loving and she was very sure of herself. I’d love to read some of her novels in full and see what makes her one of the most influential writers of her time. I’d guess it’s similar to what makes Irving so influential today.

Unfortunately, it’s Eddie’s self-doubt and bumbling personality that I related to most. I always feel like I’m making my way through life like a blind spelunker. Things seem to appear out of nowhere no matter how much I plan and there are always rocks to trip on. I liked Eddie a lot because he loved with his whole heart and he was always searching for something. He wanted a perfect ending to his life that he knew he’d have to search for over many years.

John Irving
Image via the author’s website

I enjoyed the part of the book set in Amsterdam. It was a bit of a deviation from what Irving normally writes and I enjoyed exploring another country and another culture from the norm of his books. Rooie was a fun character and I liked learning more about her and what drove her to be a prostitute and how she tried to help younger girls. I thought it was very appropriate that Ruth should go back there and I liked how Harry figured out who she was.

I don’t particularly like books about writers. Hearing about a book the writer wrote but not being able to read that book is frustrating for a bibliophile like me. I also don’t like hearing the premise and being told it was a best-seller or classic. I want to hear the popular opinion, not the author’s idea of popular opinion. Honestly, Eddie and Ruth’s books didn’t sound like they would be best sellers to me and that rubbed me the wrong way while I was trying to enjoy this book.

My edition of the audiobook was narrated by George Guidall. I thought he did a fair job bringing the story to life. I’m always put off by a book about a female protagonist that’s narrated by a man and that’s what seemed off to me about this one. Granted, the book was written by a man and a lot of the dialogue seemed a bit masculine to me. There’s nothing wrong with who Guidell did the narration, just that I would have preferred a female narrator for this story.

There was a major loss in Ted and Marion’s lives that, without being in the book, shaped the whole story. Ruth would not have been born, Eddie would not have fallen in love with Marion, and the characters we met would never have come together. That loss set this whole story into motion. You never know if there’s something positive that can come from loss. Many, like Marion, are too focused on what’s gone that they can’t see what’s coming next. It’s hard to look past grief but when Marion finally did, she met her grandson; a person who wouldn’t exist if her boys had lived.

Writer’s Takeaway: The raw sexuality of some of Irving’s scenes are off-putting to me. He doesn’t use euphemisms and things are always described in what could only be the most gritty details Irving could imagine. I wish he’d tone it down a bit. I wish some of these scenes didn’t make me uncomfortable listening in my car, wondering if my car is soundproof or if the guy in the turn around next to me can hear what’s being said. I think the stories would be the same and the endings would be as enjoyable. Sometimes, I’m a bit nervous to say Irving is one of my favorite writers because I don’t want people to assume I enjoy the gritty scenes he writes. They make me rather uncomfortable.

This is one of my favorite Irving books and by far one of the best I’ve read in a few years. Four out of Five Stars.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Related Post:
Book Review: A Widow for One Year by John Irving | My Seryniti

Challenge Update, February 2018

I went through a long draught in February. For a long time, I wasn’t finishing anything and just starting more and more books! It wasn’t until the end of the month when things finally started coming together. You can look at my progress at any time on my challenge page.

Books finished in February:

A Widow for One Year // John Irving (4/5)
My Brilliant Friend // Elena Ferrante (4/5)
X // Ilyasah Shabazz (4/5)

Yes, I know I owe you reviews for all of them. I’ll be working on it this weekend, I promise!

When Are You Reading? Challenge

5/12
Not too much more this month, but I was able to add one more. X by Ilyasah Shabazz took place in the 1930s and 1940s but a large chunk of it was set in the 1940s so I’m going to count it for that time period.

Goodreads Challenge

8/55
Well, I’m on track, but barely. I’m a bit nervous about keeping up with this when I think about how much school and travel is going to eat into my reading time in the coming months. I’ll have to pick some shorter books so I can stay on top of this!

Book of the Month

I’ll have to pick A Widow for One Year by John Irving for this month. I’ve given all my reads 4 out of 5 Stars but this would be my favorite if I had to pick. I adore Irving and I liked that no one died at the end! Is that a spoiler? Sorry if it is!

Added to my TBR

For the second month in a row, I’ve added nothing! This is absolutely crazy. What’s even crazier is that my TBR is down to 98 books. I’m under 100! I can’t remember the last time my list was that low. I’m feeling great about this.

Personal Challenge

I used these monthly posts to keep myself accountable to my personal goals for 2017 and I’m excited to do that again this year. You all were so supportive before.

• Graduate and keep my 4.0- I haven’t gotten any grades back in my class yet so this is still TBD. I think I’m doing alright but I’ll know more next month.
• Travel to Europe with my husband- It’s all booked! We’re going in July and will be gone for two and a half weeks. I’m so excited. Amsterdam, Belfast, Barcelona, Brussels, and Reykjavik.
• Complete a race per month- I had my first swim meet in ten years in February. I’m really enjoying Masters Swimming and I think I’ll keep it up for a long time. It’s not hard on my knees or back, either! I swam three events and placed first in two and second in one. While that might seem good, there was only me in one event where I got first, two of us in another, and there were three people in the one where I placed second. So I did have to beat some people, but not many!
• Complete a 2018 Weather Blanket- I finished January’s rows, but I’ve put it aside to work on a few baby blankets which have proved quite frustrating. I’ll see when I get back to it but I’m not worried yet.

How are your challenges going so far? I hope you’re off to a good start If you love historical fiction, give some thought to my challenge for 2018, it’s fun!

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 21-February-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: Unfortunately, I’ve had to put Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling on hold for a short while for a book club selection. I’m hoping I fly through it and can get back to this soon!
I have the saddest news. I lost the hold on The Circle by Dave Eggers! I went to read it at lunch yesterday and it had returned and when I went to check it out again, I couldn’t! I’m so sad that I’ll have to wait to get back to this story.
FINALLY! I’ve just started Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire this week! It’s great to get on to a new audiobook. I’m still getting into it so not much to report here. Trying to remember the first book is taking a lot of my concentration now, haha.
I also started Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. I remember Taylor and Turtle better than I thought I would. It’s  the side characters I don’t remember well but I’m sure I’ll pick it up quickly.
I started a book club selection as well, X by Ilyasah Shabazz. This is a fictionalized account of the story of Malcolm X as written by his third daughter. Shabazz will be speaking in my area later this year (or maybe early next year) so look for quite a few more posts about this book going forward!
Because I lost the hold on The Circle, I started another ebook. This time I picked The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. Yes, I realize that means I have six books going right now! This is a lot for me and I’m feeling more than a bit overwhelmed but I will press on!

Recently finished: I finished a book! I’m so excited to be able to say that after a long time of nothing making its way to this list. I wrapped up A Widow for One Year by John Irving. I adore Irving and this book was ‘classic Irving’ and it was great to read something of his. The last Irving book I read was very different from his normal style and topics so it feels like returning to an old friend.
I wrapped up My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante yesterday during my run. Woo! It ended a bit abruptly and I’m unsure if I want to keep reading the series and find out more about what happens to these characters. Let’s call it TBD at the moment.

No reviews this week! I’ll have ones for Irving and Ferrante soon.

Reading Next: I’m going to say I have no plans. I really hope to finish some of my six going on right now before I start worrying about what comes next. I think I have too much on my plate already, haha.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 14-February-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: You’ll notice a pattern in this post. It’s exactly the same as last week. Yep. I’m really close to finishing A Widow for One Year by John Irving and I’m banking on finishing it by next week. I feel like there’s a lot of action still to go, but the disk count shows that I’m close to the end so we’ll see how Irving wraps this one up.
I’m almost halfway through Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling which I see as a big accomplishment. I did a lot of reading on a snowy day that kept me indoors all day and got through about 50 pages in one day! And I didn’t have to take a nap afterward!
I’m almost halfway through My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. The weather has made it hard to get out for my long runs which is where I make great progress on this one. Maybe the book fairies will give us a break in the weather so I can listen more? Or maybe we’ll get another 11 inches, who knows?
I’m barely making progress in The Circle by Dave Eggers. It’s going to be a long haul on this one. That’s nothing against Eggers or his book, just the nature of my ebook reading that keeps it slow and plodding. This will slowly make its way to the top of this paragraph as it sits on my ‘Currently Reading’ shelf for ages.

Recently finished: Sadly, nothing again. I don’t even have any reviews to report on. It’s just been that kind of week.

Reading Next: I’ll be getting Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire from the library this week so I can start it right away. I hope I remember enough from the first book to dive into this one without too many problems!
I also plan on starting Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver when I finish Ferrante’s book. I read the first book in this duology a few years back but I remember it pretty well. I adored that the small girl was named Turtle! I’m excited to hear more about her.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 7-February-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I feel like I can say I made good progress with A Widow for One Year by John Irving. I didn’t drive as much this week as I did the week before but I had one or two longer trips where I got through a disk. I hope to finish this up in the next two weeks, I’ve really liked it!
Progress has slowed a bit on Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling. School is starting up and that’s meaning a lot of nights where I’m too tired to read before bed! It’s a sad situation for me, but a reality some times. I’ll keep pressing forward as I always want to finish one book in Spanish each year and I’m committed now that I’m over 200 pages in.
I’ve gotten through about a third of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. It’s slow-moving but it has a lot to say about human nature that I’m enjoying. The characters are so realistic that I can almost re-name them to be friends from my childhood!
I haven’t made much headway in The Circle by Dave Eggers. Lunch at work has been cut short a lot so I’ve only gotten through a few pages each day. I think I’m (embarrassingly) still on chapter 1!

Recently finished: No surprise that I didn’t finish anything this week. I’m not sure I’ll have anything here next week either. I did manage to write a review of The Color Purple that went up on Monday so please check that out! I’ll be posting my book-to-film review tomorrow so get ready for that!

Reading Next: My plan is still to read Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire after I finish Irving. I’ll need a refresher on what happened in Wicked before I do. I remember the book and the musical being very different, but not much more than that.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 31-January-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I was able to make some good progress on A Widow for One Year by John Irving. I had a lot of meetings to drive to last week so I got through three disks! I’m still just over halfway through this book but I’m feeling good about finishing it before the library makes me bring it in to prove I didn’t lose it.
I made steady progress in Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling. I’ve been training hard and some nights I go to bed without reading so I know I could have read more, but I’m still happy with what I’ve gotten through.
Sad news that the audiobook I have access to for The Poe Shadow was abridged! I decided to pass it up in favor of the full novel sometime in the future. Instead, I started listening to My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. A very good friend of mine said a literature professor she had during her MFA said this was her favorite novel of all time and I’ve had it on my shelf for years. I’m glad I’m finally getting to it.
I needed a new ebook and the next on my list is one I’m very excited about: The Circle by Dave Eggers! I really wanted to read this one a while ago and never got around to it. I’ve just started but I’m very excited.

Recently finished: No surprise that I finished The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. It was a quick audiobook though I wish I’d had a different narrator for my experience. I posted my review yesterday if you want to read all my thoughts. I gave it 4 out of 5 Stars.
I also finished The Color Purple by Alice Walker which was a pleasant surprise. I was also glad to have a happy(er) ending. I should have my review of that up tomorrow and a movie review up next week. I love when there’s a movie!

I posted my review on How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie on Monday if you want to check that one out. I gave it 3 out of 5 Stars.

Reading Next: I’ll be out-of-town for my next book club meeting so I don’t have any pressure there to put aside Harry for another book. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ll need a CD Audiobook next and I’ll turn to Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire. I read Wicked when I was in high school and I’ll have to find a refresher on what happened so I can continue with the next book in the series!

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 24-January-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: Still making steady progress with The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Things have finally started to turn around for Celie and I can see a possible happy ending for her! I hope it lasts.
I have a few drives this week that will give me some time to enjoy. A Widow for One Year by John Irving. I made some decent progress this week but nothing to be too proud of. I hope to keep pecking away at this one for a while. Maybe the news will be less depressing when I finish and I can go back to that while I drive.
I slowed down a bit with Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling this week because I’ve been so tired! I’m training hard now for my first swim meet in ten years and I’m not getting as much sleep as I’d like. It’s what I get for deciding to swim again.
I started  The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White and I’ll probably finish it really soon. It’s only a 90-minute audiobook! The narrator is really terrible and I have to concentrate a lot as he reads out the sentences and words to hear where the commas fall. This one might have been easier to read.

Recently finished: I got through How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie like I suspected. There was so solid advice in here and I hope I can retain some of it. I’m trying it out on a co-worker of mine that I find frustrating to deal with. We’ll see if I get anywhere!

I posted my review of Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin on Monday. Please check it out! My book club meets next week to discuss it.

Reading Next: It’s hard to guess. The next book I’ll finish will be The Elements of Style so I’ll need an audiobook for my phone. Next up will probably be The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl. I’ve wanted to read this since I found out about it after enjoying Pearl’s other book, The Dante Club. I’ll see if this one stands up to his first.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 17-January-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I’m still moving forward slowly with The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I think I can finish this in the next month but that’s going to depend on having no lunch meetings for a while. We’ll see if that ends up happening!
I realized I’m going to have to renew A Widow for One Year by John Irving a couple of times! I’ve already renewed it once and I’m only on the fourth disk! This is a long one and I don’t drive a lot so I plan to be listening to it for a while.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie on audio will be the next book I finish. I’m making decent progress on it and I got about an hour in with it at the gym yesterday. Winning!
I know Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling is going to be a slow go. I made it about five chapters in reading during my vacation and it felt like a big dent but nothing’s that great when a book is 638 pages! I’m about 1/10 done.

Recently finished: Nothing! I hope to have at least one here next week. My review of The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides went up on Monday so please check that out.

Reading Next: I’ll need a new phone audiobook next and the next on the list is the short wonder of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. I’ve never read this one and there’s a quick audiobook available of it so I’ll give that a listen and hopefully absorb something useful.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!