The Madwoman Upstairs: A Novel | 
This is been on my TBR pile for awhile, I didn‘t even realize how perfect it was until I really looked at it. Bring on more Brontë!
so-soThis is between a pick and so-so. Other than the Jane Eyre films, I‘m ignorant about the Brönte sisters and their work.
This started strong but I got lost in the Brönte minutiae in the middle of the book.
The MC‘s view of the College‘s Book of Disciplinary Procedures.
The MC, Sam—an American—has just the right amount of snark. ❤️ So far it‘s fallen on deaf ears at her new home: Oxford.
#20in4
pick⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
I'm a big Brontë fan (Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are two of my all time favorites) and I was so curious about this book.. I liked it, but I didn't love it!
"..I wanted to be lost somewhere, and a book seemed like a good place."
I've been running around all day and now it's all done.. I've just come home from the Covid booster shot, so now I can relax&rest!
I got some hot tea (not in the picture, but on my nightstand), a book and my new favourite blanket 💚 that's my new kind of party!!
The night I arrived at Oxford, I learned that my dorm room was built in 1631and had originally been used to quarantine victims of the plague. #firstlinefridays
I've been on an everything Jane Eyre kick lately. Can't wait to see how this one ends!
so-soI have got to stop being a sucker for covers 😆 This story had so much potential and it just didn't follow through on any front. With the madwoman in the title, I was disappointed that she didn't carry over from the focus on the Bronte novels to the focus on the Bronte heiress. Especially with the foreshadowing of her father fulfilling a separate Bronte history. I feel burned by the lack of connectivity in this book. So much wasted potential!
⭐⭐⭐
#bookhaul #librarystack #locallibrary
Spending much of the morning exploring the library‘s stacks, drinking coffee in the library‘s cafe, & reading. We are having sewer work done on our street so cannot use the water today. Perfect place to hide out until we go to lunch. #thinkpositivebepositive
pickI loved this slightly crazy fictionalized story featuring the works of the Bronte family. And now, of course, I need to read the ones I haven‘t read yet. Thank you, used book store! These are my summer goals.
My dog is guarding my book for me! My friends gave me this to read and it‘s perfect so far - a young woman starting her studies at Oxford and waiting to find out what she has inherited as she is the only descendant of the Brontes.
so-soThe last living Brontë descendant goes to Oxford and searches for her inheritance from her late father in this novel filled with echoes of the Brontës‘ books. This had a ton of promise but will probably only work for avid fans of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2021/02/review-madwoman-upstairs-by-catherine.h...
It's arrived!!! 🥳🎉🥳
Thanks again Kristen @BookNAround for these gifts!!! 💕💕💕 coming home to see the package has made my day 🤩 I really needed something 'good' this week..
@samanthagutt I sent out the #eastcoastreaders book yester should get there by Thursday
I‘ve had this one for ages and thought I should get to it. (This is the problem with any basement tidying/reorganizing. I find things that have fallen off my radar and find I must add hem back into my read imminently pile no matter what my actual plan for the month is.)
Just got this one today! Excited 😁
@Lovesbooks87
#eastcoastreaders #eastcoastbookclub @aroc @samanthagutt @whatsthEStorey
pickI had so many laugh out loud moments while reading this. Thanks for sharing it @aroc #eastcoastbookclub. @EH2018 I will probably wait and mail it until next week when hopefully the holiday rush is over! 🤞🏻
#bookspinbingo
1. Cocoa, or kahlua and cream are some
2. Not often but sometimes nature sounds
3. The Madwoman Upstairs
@NataliePatalie
@Fantasy_bookworm #supersunday
I can't wait to hear what you all think of this one. 🤔
#EastCoastBookClub #ECBC
@Lovesbooks87 @whatsthEStorey @EH2018 @samanthagutt
September‘s list is a mix of BOTM club books, library books, and audio books I have to finish. Hoping to make at least 2 bingos this month!! #bookspinbingo #bookspin #doublebookspin
Haven‘t finished, but enjoying this read so far! I love the spunky main character and dialogue. And it speaks to my English lit major soul. #beachread
I love her audacity!
Fingers crossed that the MC keeps the right level of mouthiness. I love a smart mouth but some authors push it too far.
so-soI read this to continue my wanderings with the Brontës. It was good, not great. The writing felt a bit amateurish and it was almost too self-aware/meta on the subject of critical reading and authorial intent. The handful of unreliable characters seemed to exist in a vacuum, which was convenient for propelling the story, but left the whole thing a bit flat. In all, the tone was a bit too cynical for my taste ?
so-soI love a good literary mystery, and I had high expectations for this novel about a Brontë descendant‘s quest to find the inheritance her father has left her at Oxford. Unfortunately, it didn‘t quite live up to its billing for me. I found the protagonist to be annoyingly immature, and the writing was stilted at times. The premise was fun, though, and YMMV.
“an imagination left alone in the dark can be a terrible thing.” Samantha Whipple
I‘m eating up this novel!! What fun. Thank you, Ms. Lowell.
Spotted this in the discount book store yesterday - I think I like the hardback cover more - this feels much fluffier and more romancy than mystery with gothic throw backs!
pickAt first, I thought the metaphors, similes, and hyperboles were out of control. When the narrator‘s father is angry with her use of these techniques and she often refers to herself as a horrible writer, I understood. Lingering question: everything at Oxford was carefully orchestrated for the narrator; I wondered if her father hand-selected her professor to provide a Brontëan romance. Had her father met her professor and arranged the relationship?
This may look like a chick lit .. but don't ever judge a book by its cover. It's a smart contemporary mystery perfect for Brontë fans. Actually, you'll love it if you enjoy English literature or books in general.. which you should if you like to read at all! 🤣😋
Today's audiowalk capped off the highest mileage I have ever clocked in a single month. The support of all you awesome Littens made it much easier to get up and moving on days I wanted to sink into the couch. I am pumped for a great February chasing my resolutions. 💕💕💕
#audiowalk
#800in2018
#overdrive
pickThis book has been in my TBR since it came out, and thanks to my last litsy book exchange I received a copy and *finally* got around to it!
I loved all of the Jane Eyre and Bronte talk, but (guilty pleasure alert!) also enjoyed the romance parts of it. It was like a Hallmark movie went to college😜 overall, an entertaining binge read!
@EmilyChristine #summersolsticeexchange
so-soThis book didn‘t live up to its promise. It‘s a story about ?? that involves the Bronte family, its estate, and literary theory. But it‘s also a scavenger hunt, a romance and a campus novel. It just doesn‘t in the end have its own reason for being and fails to accomplish any of the forms very well. Still the author has talent. Hoping her next novel will be better focused, but probably won‘t read it.
pickI found this book so charming. It is a great spin on Jane Eyre. I loved the main characters.
