The International Mothers Day falls on the 12th May of this year and I hope you all have got your gifts all packed for your mothers. And if you are a mother yourself, I hope you have a special day for yourself.
Badass Mothers from the books
While we are on the topic, I am gonna use this chance to talk about my favorite mothers in the literary world that I totally love.
Marmee is an epitome of strong women in not just literary world. She raised her four daughters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy under the terrible circumstances of the Civil war that called their father away and drained them financially.
But she never lost her patience and smile even she reprimanded her girls, who turned out to be well read and ambitious making Marmee a great feminist ahead of her times.
Mrs Bennett, Pride and Prejudice
I know Mrs Bennett was not exactly a role model to mothers, but she always had her heart set out for the best of her daughters which was in her eyes – getting married to wealthy men.
She had less or no support from her husband in this area, and despite him, she did achieve what she set out for. I guess that makes her a badass mother. Don’t you agree?
Marilla Cuthbert of Anne of Green Gables
As quite opposite to Marmee, Marilla was not pleasant and she seldom smiled. She didn’t even let Anne call her ‘Aunt Marilla’. But that definitely doesn’t undermine her strength and love for her ward. She was a feminist and practical woman who comes to love the orphan in her own way.
Ma from Room
Despite being imprisoned in a small room for years, Emma did all she could to keep her son Jack, who has never been outside the four walls in his life, spirited and full of positivism.
She does not only teach him to read and write but keeps him engaged creatively and even gets him do yoga. That alone makes her a badass mother.
Cersei Lannister of A Song of Ice and Fire series
I am currently binging on the Game of Thrones and I would never be able to sleep if I don’t add Cersei to the list of badass women. I initially wanted to add Catelyn Stark. But now that I have watched the third season, I know Cersei will be the better choice.
She has her flaws about her being power hungry, cunning, ruthless and such. But one thing that comes so strong is her love towards her children. Her motto was ‘don’t mess with my cubs’, right from the beginning even when they were not appreciative enough.
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Let us chat
Did I miss your favorite mothers in the list? Tell me who is your favorite mother in the fiction world. What are your plans for the Mother’s day? Let us talk.
If it were up to us, the bookworms, every book would have a great plot and well written. But sadly that is not the case! And we come across some not so great books often and a few even test our sanity.
Earlier, we came up with some books with ridiculous titles and insane book covers that made us wonder if the authors were being satirical. It has been a while since we had a laugh around here, so I am sharing the next edition of book covers that made me question my sanity.
Let us be honest. Not all books are equal nor do they all make us weep or laugh with them. They all tell us a story but yet not all of them become our favorites. Have you given a thought about what are the things that make us like a book?
I found this #7ThingsILikeInABook tag on the bookstagram and I thought I will give it a try in here. So let us do this and try to name seven things I like in a book.
7) Unexpected plot twists
I mean do I even talk about this? Give me a strong plot with enough twists that would keep me hooked for hours together. Sadly for me I can usually I smell the twists from miles away and it is becoming more and more difficult to be surprised.
If you know any books with unexpected twists, let me know in the comments section.
6) Witty banter and some humor
I am a snarky person myself and while I love that lengthy philosophical monologue, I can’t get enough of books that make me laugh out loudly. And some humorous banter among the character makes it all the more realistic and appealing right?
Anyone else like badass heroines? I recently read Truth or beard by Penny Reid and I realized what I have been missing for a while now. Maybe I don’t want women who renounce men or maybe I do. Maybe I want the clinically insane or I would read about the ones that cure them.
Whatever they are just make your woman interesting, strong (in their own way) and more importantly witty and sassy.
Don’t you love it when these friends not only play a formidable sidekick but also put in some sense to the leads?
3) Multiple time lines
I guess I love my books complicated. I get all perked the minute I realize that there are various timelines in a book. A multigenerational family saga or a murder mystery, either way having more than a timeline to follow makes it merrier for me.
So go ahead, confuse me all you can with multiple time lines and point of views!
2) Unreliable narrators
I know I have talked about this so many times now, but I love unreliable narrators. I mean who wouldn’t like the risk of trusting the narrator too much, only to find out they have been misled all along? Okay, just me!
1) Flawed characters
Nobody is perfect and I would not want my fictitious characters to be too perfect, will I? I love the flawed and morally grey ones more so than anyone sane should.
Show me characters that suffer making their choices, that are devil’s advocates or maybe the ones that will do anything to save their asses off and I will be hooked to your book till the end.
Go on, tell me the things that make you not put the book down at all. Or yet better, consider yourself tagged and you want to give this tag a try and link it back to this post. Let us talk.
Not too long ago, I shared about my love for unreliable narrators in fiction and I even came out with a list. But recently I had a discussion about these narrators and I realized some of my friends had pretty serious opinions about them as well. And not everyone loves them. Shocking!!
It was for me, at least. I mean what is there to not like in them, right? RIGHT?
Credit: Tenor
Well, my so called friends (am seriously reconsidering my allies here!) gave me bunch of reasons to support, which I begrudgingly have to accept, that the unreliable narrators might not be for everyone.
But I am sure there is at least one kind of unreliable narrator that each of us like. They are not all the same!!!
Types of unreliable narrators
Yes today I am gonna talk about the kinds of unreliable narrators that we usually find in fictional world and why they are so important in their books. Ready for the ride?
Unreliable narrators that are naïve
Okay not totally naïve but they can’t help it. For some reason they are not fully aware of what is happening to/around them, maybe by their own doing or not.
For example, Jack from the Room was inside the shed for years before he was broken out and seeing the world with the innocence of a young boy is definitely not reliable.
Unreliable narrators whose perception is misleading
There are many characters that fall into this category in the recent times. Christopher Boone from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, for instance, cannot be taken at his face value, as he on the Asperger’s / Autistic spectrum and his understanding of things is quite literal and lacks depth.
Patrick Peoples from The Silver Linings Playbook and Charlie from the Perks of being a wallpaper have repressed memories, while Rachel from the girl on the train has been under the influence of alcohol almost the entire time of the story.
And these books largely depend on these narrators and otherwise would have been another run of the mill novel.
Omitting to state the facts is also kinda lying, of course. But Eva does that so well in We need to talk about Kevin. The whole books is written in the form of letters to her estranged husband and she talks about everything but why Kevin did what he did (mass shooting at his school) and if she did enough to prevent that from happening.
I recently read the Woman in the Window for my book club and found that Dr Anna Fox holds back a lot from others and the reader as well. Well, on a happier note that backfires right at her and that plays so well into holding the suspense to the story.
Unreliable narrators that outright lie and manipulate
These are my favorite kind of unreliable narrators!
Man, they toy with us and mislead us perfectly into their trap without breaking a sweat. Take Patrick from American Psycho, he is suave, well read and smart and he commits gruesome murders with a finesse (or not!). His unreliability is the only thing that left us questioning the reality at the end.
Credit: Giphy
I love Gone Girl and I adore Gillian Flynn‘s writing and her unreliable characters (yes there are many). Nick and Amy seem sincere and innocent until we start unraveling their traps and deceit. I mean talk about the plot twists these unreliable narrators provide.
Final words
Yes, they misrepresent facts, break our trusts and some time lie to our faces even. But so what?
Credit: Giphy
I mean what narrator is truly objective and trustworthy! They all talk about the things they believe are true. So what if these narrators add a bit of bias, color the truth or even hold stuff back from the reader? They are as amazing as their lying conniving selves they can be, to me!
Welcome to the second week on Netherlands’ edition of the Flyaway Friday! Are you ready to fly off to the Land of Tulips? We even gave you a travel guide to Netherland last week. Do not forget to check it out!
Books That Will Take You To Netherlands
You do know how we travel to a country without passport nor the hassle of the crowd, via the cheapest mode of travel – books. So this week let me talk about books that are set in Netherlands. Let us get on with it, shall we?
The story is told in the first person by Griet, who is hired as a maid by the master painter Vermeer’s family in Delft. She joins the chaotic family with too many children, an oblivious wife and a husband who doesn’t care about the finance of the family. Griet has fend off the advances of a rich patron, an infatuated young man and fight off the dream of being a wife of the painter.
What can you expect:
This fictionalized account of the story behind the famous painting also acts as a great social commentary!
Set in the Seventeenth Century, eighteen year old Nella arrives in Amsterdam as the wife of Johannes Brandt, who is kind but distant to her and leaves her at the mercy of her sharp tongued sister. Johannes gifts a miniature sized replica of their household and it falls upon Nella to furnish her gift with the help of a miniaturist, whose creations mirrors its real life counterparts. How does this change their lives once and for all?
What can you expect:
A suspense filled story of love and obsession that you can’t put down till the end.
Two brothers and their wives meet in a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam. Behind their apparent polite small talks, they need to discuss matters of grave importance. Their sons have committed something terrible and illegal and they have to decide how it is to be handled. By the time their dinner comes to an end, their trivial facade is broken. Where does all these leave the ‘happy families’ and ‘blood is thicker than water’?
What can you expect:
A mind blowing thriller that spans over a dinner which talks about politics, mental health and other uncomfortable dinner table conversations.
A single mother, a middle aged couple and 50 something male all heading to Amsterdam for the weekend are united by their misery regarding a close family member. They arrive at the city hoping for a change in their lives and does the city offer them a recourse?
What can you expect:
This slow character oriented fiction explores the complexities of love and relationship.
This classic book captures the poignant story of a young girl from the German occupied Amsterdam. She captures the happenings during the war, especially to the Jews in the form of diary entries between 1942-44 while hiding from the Germans in an attic.
What can you expect:
Despite the hard times set in the book, it is surprisingly full of life and spirit making it a must read!
Jean-Baptiste Clamence, a successful Parisian barrister, has come to recognize the deep-seated hypocrisy of his existence. His epigrammatic and, above all, discomforting monologue gradually saps, then undermines, the reader’s own complacency. (From Goodreads)
That is all for now, folks. I will meet you all soon with a guest blogger next week on the Netherlands edition of the Flyaway Friday. Also if you have any question for our Dutch blogger about Netherlands or their culture, do drop them in the comments.
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Let us chat
Have you read any of these books? Do you know any other book set in Netherlands that is not listed here? What are the stereotypes and facts that you have read about the country that you have heard of? Let us talk.
