I don't have a review for this, but I read it and really liked it. I wanted to put this on here for anyone who might be curious what I rated it. As for now, it stands at a 5 star rating, though I have been known to change my ratings further down the road.
Ever since reading a non-fiction book about the art forger Han Van Meegeren, I´ve been fascinated by Jan Vermeer and his paintings. So it was only a matter of time before I would pick up Girl With a Pearl Earring and I´m glad I did. Overall I enjoyed this novel about the maid Griet, who becomes the muse of Vermeer and inspires him to the well-known painting.
Admittedly, the narration is slow and subdued, the plot isn´t the most intricate one and I can´t say that I particularly liked Griet and all her troubles with the Vermeer family. But then there are the passages about Vermeer and his paintings which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The book is not a perfect novel, but it´s been really nice to revisit Vermeer´s work and my desire to see the actual painting (who is exhibited in Mauritshuis in Den Haag) has been rekindled.
I´ve read this book for the Waterworks square for Booklikes-opoly. Besides Girl With a Pearl Earring there is another famous painting of Vermeer on the cover, View of Delft. And this painting displays a stretch of water.
Page Count: 233 pages
Money earned: $6.00
I've got so much writing to do tonight!! I've got two backlogged reviews from earlier in the month (writing them in the middle of writing this), then I've got this wrap up post and my May reading plans post to write too (and it's already dinner time, so I'm running out of time before I need to get back to finishing Lolita before I return it to the library tomorrow).
I'm pretty happy with this month's reading total and variety. Sure, nearly half the books were romances, but I still managed to tick five more off my 'reread to review' shelf and four from this year's POPSUGAR challenge. I read eleven books this month, you can read my reviews below.
1. Cause of Death (Kay Scarpetta, #7) by Patricia Cornwell, you can read my review here
2. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier, you can read my review here
3. Protecting What's His (Line of Duty, #1) by Tessa Bailey, you can read my review here
4. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, you can read my review here
5. His Risk to Take (Line of Duty, #2) by Tessa Bailey, you can read my review here
6. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, you can read my review here
7. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, you can read my review here
8. Officer Off Limits (Line of Duty, #3) by Tessa Bailey, you can read my review here
9. Fly Away Peter by David Malouf, you can read my review here
10. The Curse of Lord Stanstead (The Order of the M.U.S.E., #1) by Mia Marlowe, you can read my review here
11. The Duchess War (Brothers Sinister, #1) by Courtney Milan, you can read my review here
My Reading Stats for April
At the end of last month I hoped for a higher quantity of reads while keeping the high quality level and I think I achieved that - yes, there were two 2s, but there were also two 5s to balance them out - so I'm happy with my reading for the month. Now let's keep it up for May. Talk to you all later and have a great day.
28/1 - Read it for year 12 English. Probably would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't been forced to read the whole book out loud as a class - some of the scenes were not the kind to be read out loud with idiotic teenage boys jeering at the sex scenes (well, I thought they were sex scenes when I was 17). Despite that horribly embarrassing experience I enjoyed the story and should probably read again now that it's 10 years down the track.
New Review due to Reread
3/4/16 - It's been another four years since I wrote that and I'm finally rereading it. Reading books like this one, with young women in vulnerable working positions because of their lower class status always make me twitchy. I have a high sense of justice and fairness and when there is a situation where someone isn't treated with the fairness that I believe they deserve, in life or fiction, I get kind of ragey. Anyone who disturbs me better watch out for my wrath, because if I can't scream at the characters I'm likely to take my frustration out on you. In this book I get angry with pretty much everyone - Vermeer for just assuming that it's okay for Griet to work for him and not caring how it affects her life within the household, Catharina for taking her fears regarding her own insecurities out on Griet, Tanneke for believing that Griet was purposefully attracting all the attention Vermeer was paying her, Maria Thins for having the power to make things easier for Griet but not bothering to, and Cornelia for being a hateful and jealous little girl (see even children can't escape my anger). To be continued...
4/4 - I think this will have to stay at three and a half stars. It's an interesting story and a creative idea for a backstory to Vermeer's most well-known, and supposedly most impressive, painting, but for me the book was just 'above average' (hence the three stars) in regards to my enjoyment levels. After finishing it last night I spent quite a while on Wikipedia looking at Vermeer's body of work and have come to the conclusion that I'm not that much of a fan. The painting that the book's title takes its name from is the only one I can honestly say I actually like (the colours of the turban are very vibrant and eye-catching), for the rest of the paintings I find the subject matter (mostly domestic life portraits with a couple of religious scenes) dull and not something I would want to have hanging on my wall. I don't think I'll keep this in my library as I'm pretty sure I won't read it again.
2016 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: A Book You Haven't Read Since High School
I wish I could just announce that I wasn't going to be sick for the coming month and have it work out that way, unfortunately I don't seem to have that kind of constitution any more. I have been healthy for three weeks straight and every day that I wake up feeling good and go to bed still feeling the same I am thankful for. I can no longer take good health days for granted because I can't predict when the next sick day will occur.
Before I actually get started on my April books I need to finish the last of my March reads, Cause of Death (which actually fits with this month's theme of books I need to reread to review as I originally read it years ago before I started reviewing, too long ago to write a decent review just from memory), so I likely won't be able to get started on the official books of April till the 2nd of the month. Really, I just hope I can get through all of the books on my list this month as, if I manage it, it'll be the first time for the year that I get through all the books I've had planned for the coming month and that success will make me very happy.
April: My Month of Rereading in Order to Review (any books that don't get finished will spill over into September)
1. A Book you haven't Read Since High School - Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier, 248 pages (read from April 1-3)
2. A Banned Book - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, 216 pages (read from April 3-5)
3. A Book that Takes Place in your Hometown (Melbourne) - Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, 189 pages (read from April 5-6)
4. A Book Set in your Home State (Queensland) - Fly Away, Peter by David Malouf, 142 pages (read from April 6-7)
5. A Book Set in Europe - Bridget Jones' Diary (Bridget Jones' Diary, #1) by Helen Fielding, 310 pages (read from April 7-9)
6. A New York Times Bestseller - Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, 378 pages (read from April 9-13)
7. A Self-Improvement Book - Barefoot Contessa in Paris by Ina Garten, 240 pages (read on April 14)
8. A Book Recommended by a Family Member - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, 336 pages (read from April 14-17)
9. A Book with a Protagonist who has your Occupation (work from home/self-employed/writer) - Matilda by Roald Dahl, 240 pages (read from April 17-18)
10. A Book that's Guaranteed to Bring you Joy - By Love Undone (Bancroft Brothers, #1) by Suzanne Enoch, 376 pages (read from April 18-20)
11. A Book you were Supposed to Read in School but Didn't - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, #2) by Mark Twain, 394 pages (read from April 20-25)
12. A Book from your Childhood - Heidi (Heidi, #1) by Johanna Spyri, 352 pages (read from April 25-29)
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