#23 "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters and #21 "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

2:40pm: Leaving work. Thinking how I'm looking forward to spring. I really need to blog after kids are asleep tonight. I have five books finished that need to be blogged and I am so looking forward to the other books on my queue. Baby Blues ah parenting...
3:00pm: Walk in through the front door of my house to the screeching sounds of delight from my daughter Layla as she waves her arms while in her high chair as my wife had just finished feeding her. Maggie excitedly runs to me and gives me a hug and kiss. Amy frazzled. We hug each other, more like locking our bodies together knowing when we release our grasp we will be sucked into the void of parenthood.
3:10 pm-8:45pm: I wanted to just let the kids watch TV while I laid on the couch for the next few
hours. A couple more episodes of Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse won't cause them to have ADHD will it....? The fear of them suffering with learning difficulties wins out. So, got on the floor and played with the girls. Reading, puzzles, become a human jungle gym, diaper changes, baths, dinner, dishes, medicines for Layla, take dog out to go potty, massage Layla until both of us are exhausted and put her to bed.

8:46pm: What I wanted to do was drink a big glass of wine and start working on my next blog and then cuddle on the couch with my wife while we catch up on our DVRed shows. What I did was drink a little over a serving size glass of wine (to make the bottle last longer) and watched our shows while cuddling on the couch with my wife until I am about to pass out.
10:00 pm. Passed out in bed. Attempted to read but managed to stare at the same page and read the same few paragraphs over and over again. Maybe I'll get up at 5am and work on my blog for an hour before work.
5:45am. Damn got fifteen minutes to get ready for work. Maybe I'll work on my blog after the kids go to bed tonight.

I will be brief with these next two books and chances are I will do this in the future too.
"Never Let Me Go" , children raised in a boarding school type environment unaware initially they are clones who are being raised to eventually have their organs "donated" to "real" people. Sounds gruesome. It was. Hoping for a happy ending, for instance, a few escape from their fate after being pursued by these organ thieves to live normal human lives like the rest of us working 40+ hours a week at a life draining job.
Well, I was naïve. I was really rooting for the three main characters, two girls and a boy. Even though I expected a depressing end the author writes an intriguing story with a little mystery, love, likeable characters that kept me glued in up until the literal gut wrenching end. The novel definitely elicited a strong emotion from me. Sadness, despair and I guess that's the tell of a good author. Not a story for the casual reader looking for entertainment, but if you want to cry or have knots in your stomach by all means check it out.

Next. "Fingersmith", a story from the point of view of two orphaned girls, one, Susan Smith, raised by a family of pickpockets and thieves, the other, Maud Lilly, raised by her well-to-do pervert of an uncle in a house of privilege trained to read and copy his collection of lewd books. A scheme was devised by a Mr. Rivers to steal an inherited wealth due to Maud Lilly once she marries. He hopes that by getting Susan hired as Maud's personal maid they could work to trick Maud into falling in love and marrying Mr. Rivers. Once married he would place Maud into an insane asylum and both schemers will walk away with a large portion of the inheritance. With so many twist and turns I wasn't sure how this story was going to end.

Don't forget as I have mentioned earlier this is a novel told from two perspectives. Describing the same events from two sides is definitely unique but it came across to me long and monotonous. It's like reading the Gospels back to back to back. Even the most avid biblical scholar will get bored with the same story even if there are a few different details. Fortunately the monotony only lasted about halfway though the book.

I liked it overall. The finish was a surprise, the lifestyles of the characters were interesting, and the story told in a unique way would be the reason for it to be on "The List". I'd like to add that my hours of watching "Downton Abbey" did come in handy with the high society English life. The character Susan was a maid who I just couldn't help but picture as Daisy in the Downstairs of Downton with her wise-assed remarks.