Classics Series Book Review: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is widely known as a classic love story. However, if you read it as a love story, you’ll be sorely disappointed. It’s more a story of vengeance and love lost. The characters, including the ever important Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff are written to extremes. Their intense emotions finally lead to death and destruction.

Content & Message

This book is written as an embedded narrative, or a story within a story. It begins with a man, Lockwood, who is renting the house at Thrushcross Grange from Heathcliff who owns it and the house of Wuthering Heights. The housekeeper of Thrushcross, Nelly Dean, tells Lockwood the story of Heathcliff and Catherine after Lockwood has an encounter with Catherine’s ghost at Wuthering Heights. 

“And that minx, Catherine Linton, or Earnshaw, or however she was called - she must have been a changeling - wicked little soul! She told me she had been walking the earth these twenty years: a punishment for her mortal transgressions, I’ve no doubt!” - Lockwood, Wuthering Heights

As Nelly delves into the story, we learn that Heathcliff and Catherine were brought up together at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff, having been brought in as an orphan by Catherine’s father, was treated horribly by Catherine’s older brother, Hindley Earnshaw. This is when Heathcliff’s deep resentment begins to grow. 

Catherine, though treated much better than Heathcliff, is a bit unhinged. She has dramatic fits when she doesn’t get her way, and has almost as bad, if not worse, manners than Heathcliff. They cling to each other throughout the story. Unfortunately for Heathcliff, he’s not “suitable” for her, having not been from an established family. Catherine marries someone else, Edgar Linton, even though she really loves Heathcliff.  

From here, Heathcliff only becomes more obsessed with revenge. Not only does he want vengeance against Hindley, but also Edgar for marrying the love of his life. He uses the children of each of them, and his own child, to exact revenge. Heathcliff becomes a horrific terror in this story. He ropes in innocent people, not caring about the trauma he is inflicting, so he can have his way. 

“Mr. Heathcliff dislikes me; and is a most diabolical man, delighting to wrong and ruin those he hates, if they give him the slightest opportunity.”

- Edgar Linton, Wuthering Heights

Edgar Linton does a great job encapsulating exactly what Heathcliff is: a diabolical man. There seems to be no redeeming qualities in Heathcliff. Every time he has a chance to make a better choice, he chooses to be cruel, vindictive, and abusive.

Biggest Takeaway

Heathcliff shows us the extreme of what can happen when someone is treated cruelly for their whole life.  It also shows us how, when someone is exposed to such treachery and neglect/abuse, they are often more easily manipulated. 

We see this most in Catherine’s daughter Cathy. Heathcliff manipulates her into marrying his own son, Linton, so he gets all of Edgar's property and wealth. The same manipulation Heathcliff uses on Cathy, including physical abuse, is also used on Linton.

Heathcliff shows us how far someone will go for the person they love, and how far someone will go to harm their enemies. He dug up Catherine’s grave because he was driven mad with grief and longing to be with her. And then he ruined the lives of those he hated because he had nothing else to live for. 

“Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”

- Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights

Overall Impressions

Emily Bronte does a great job at making the reader hate the main characters. Honestly, everyone in the story is cruel and dysfunctional in some way. The only characters I had any sympathy for were the children, Cathy, Linton, and Hareton, but even they manage to make me dislike them many times. 

I did feel sorry about Heathcliff’s upbringing, but who he ultimately became kind of destroyed that like he did everyone’s lives in the book. There was no reason for him to go all out, hell-bent on destroying lives, even of his enemy’s children. They were innocents and had nothing to do with the choices of their parents. 

As a love story, I was not impressed with how things played out. The “romance” between Catherine and Heathcliff was more of an unhealthy obsession. This is not a book I want to read again, and I’m not totally happy about the hours I spent on reading it the first time. 

If you are someone who likes to read into a book and analyze the deeper meaning, or the “classical” bit, then this is probably an okay read. Otherwise, it’s just frustrating and sad. 

Why Writers Need this Book

As a writer, it’s always interesting to read books that are considered “classics.” To discover what makes them so popular and what the author did right. Utilizing the book in that way, then maybe it’s worth reading for us writers.

I won’t say that writer’s need this book, because I myself didn’t enjoy it; however, there is something to be said about how extremely dislikable everyone is. There aren’t many writers who can make readers hate almost every character in the intense way Bronte does, so for that I have to give it props. 

You can get the book here. (Or here or here). Better yet, check your local library!

My challenge to you is to read the book and think about Heathcliff’s motivations.

Have you read the book? What did you think? What was your favorite part? I’d love to hear about your experiences! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.

Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great reading & writing. 

Book Review: You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero (2017)

NOTE: This blog contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

When you read You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero, you discover what’s been holding you back from making the money of your dreams, and how to achieve financial success. It shows you how to reset your mind and puts you in a good space to start making more money now. Sincero’s voice is delightful and instructive, and the book comes complete with chapter exercises, to help you figure out your own path to success. If you’re ready to start living the life you want, and making the money you dream of, this is a must read!

Content & Message

The premise of the book is that we need to change the way we think about money in order to start making money. A big component of creating a new money mindset is changing our inner monologue and the way we talk about money. 

We can easily swap negative phrases, like “Money is the root of all problems” or “Money doesn’t grow on trees” and replace them with more positive phrases, like “Money is great because it pays my bills!” or “Money is all around me.” 

This may seem like a hard sell on its own - after all, money doesn’t grow on trees, right? While that part is true, a positive money mindset and adding new language surrounding money can do a heck of a lot for attracting money into our lives. We need to believe these things that we’re saying for them to work. 

As Sincero says, it may seem weird or awkward to us at first, but when we keep repeating these affirmations, eventually it will be second nature and money will become more present in our lives.

 Worrying is praying for stuff you don’t want”(126). 

By focusing our thoughts on what we want instead of worrying about what we don’t, we can change how we view the world and opportunities will open up for us. 

Sincero also points out that it isn't enough to just say positive money mantras or affirmations, but we also need to think about them, and take actions to bring more money into our lives. One action we can do easily that Sincero offers as an exercise is place money around living space. Seeing money around us every day reminds us that it’s accessible and surrounds us, even when we can’t see the tangible proof.

In each chapter of the book, Sincero includes a success story of someone who has utilized the exercises she talks about in the chapter. The regular everyday people in the stories have succeeded in bringing money into their lives, which shows us that we, too, can be like Sincero and draw in an abundance of money - if we have the right mindset.

As hard as it is, we do have to remember to be patient, and while we can feel free to ask or attract for whatever our hearts desire, it may not come in the way we expect. We must be open to possibilities and change. Sincero discusses the fear of change and taking big risks that are bound to make us uncomfortable. 

It’s these risks that get us the biggest results, though, and we can rest assured that Sincero has been around the block more than once. It’s not her first rodeo, and we learn about the risks she took to get where she’s at today. Getting out of our comfort zone is the only way to live a better life, like the one of our dreams.

 We’ve been raised to believe that you have to work hard to make money...but the real secret is you have to take huge, uncomfy risks (9).

If you read this book, follow through with the exercises, and continue to keep up with them, money should, theoretically, begin to flow into your life. While it’s tempting to choose one or two new habits, try them out for a while, and give up when we see no results, the key to success is to create a habit. 

The key to money mindset and financial abundance - according to Sincero - is to utilize all the new habits. Each one is important to finding success. 

You can get rich too. You are mighty and magnificent beyond measure, grasshopper. You are meant to follow your desires. You are meant to blossom into the fullest expression of your unique and fantabulous badassery. You are meant to be rich (267).

Biggest Takeaway

Change starts within ourselves. If we aren’t willing to step out of our comfort zone, put in the work, and believe it’s possible, we won’t be able to change our lives and start making more money. 

Change your mind, change your life (208). 

There are many great exercises and ideas to help us with changing our old, money blocking mindset. For instance, listing your negative thoughts about money, figuring out where they came from, and rewriting new truths. 

If you really focus on doing the work and making the effort to change your mindset, this book will change your life.

Overall Impressions

This is an awesome book, not just because it teaches us a new way to think about money, but also because it changes the way we think. We can apply these lessons about money to all the areas of our lives. In fact, this isn’t her first book about mindset! Check out this review of Sincero’s first book You are a Badass (2013) to read more about her work (and get another major confidence boost). 

The book is set up logically, with the text of the chapter explaining the money making tactic followed by a success story and a set of exercises to complete. I love it! Taking in the information this way, I could immediately apply the ideas I just learned and put them to use. If it was just a text or just a workbook, it would be easy to let the reading fall forgotten into the shadows.

Why Writers Need this Book

Instills Confidence & Capability.

Jen Sincero is a writer and talks about how she was able to make money freelancing. Now she’s a multimillionaire who’s world renown for her coaching and writing. It goes to show that we all start somewhere - even the wealthiest and most famous among us! It also applies directly to us writers who haven’t yet hit the big time, which makes it feel less overwhelming to apply in our own lives. 

After all, if she can do it, so can we, right? 

In resetting our thoughts about money, we can also work on resetting our thoughts about our writing. Confidence can flow freely through our lives just as easily as money. 

Manifests Abundance.

Sincero discusses Universal Intelligence (also known as God and other life forces around us - whatever belief system you live by) and how we can shape our own realities. We can continually put into the universe - through thoughts, words, and actions - what we desire most. If we believe it and work hard for it, it will eventually become our reality. 

For example, as writers we can say “I am going to sell (#) books this week.” We write it down, repeat it in our mind, truly believe we can do it, put in the work to market our book, and it will come to fruition. The key is that we can’t just sit around waiting for things to happen, we need to make moves to help the universe bring about what we want.

Next Steps

There are a few steps to take next: 

1. Get the book here. (Or here). Better yet, check your local library.

2. Read the book & do the exercises

3. Start utilizing your new money mindset.
   

My challenge to you is to read this book and commit to trying a new money mindset.

Have you read this book? Did you complete the exercises? Which proved most useful to you? I’d love to hear about your experiences! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.

Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great reading & writing.

Classics Series Book Review: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

NOTE: This blog contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Trigger warning: sexual assault

Overview 

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is a classic in American literature and when you read it, it’s not hard to figure out why. The tale of Celie, who’s married off to an older man at a very young age in the deep South, and her sister Nettie who goes off to be a missionary in Africa is at once heart wrenching and eye-opening. It’s a true tale of survival and making the best of hardship. It’s also about love, not just between partners and sisters, but love for yourself and how hard that can be.  

Content & Message

Written entirely in the epistolary style - writing in the form of letters - Celie initially writes to God. Her faith is unwavering despite being 14 years old and having been raped by the town doctor and gotten pregnant. By the time she’s 20, she’s had two babies, but she’s not allowed to keep them. 

She’s married at 20 to a man, Mr. _____, who takes months to decide if he wants her because “She ain’t fresh,” “She spoiled. Twice,” and “She ugly” (7-8). The immediate reaction is one of incredible want to free her of the situation she’s in that really doesn’t have an escape. At least not for many years. 

In the end, Celie is happy. I won’t spoil it, but the book ends in a way that feels good for Celie

Meanwhile, her younger sister, Nettie, leaves for a mission trip in Africa with a couple named Samuel & Corrine. The letters are now for Nettie. The couple takes care of her, and she writes to Celie often - except Mr. _____ hides the letters and makes Celie believe Nettie has abandoned her, or worse, died. It isn’t until famous musician Shug Avery comes to town - and falls in love with Celie - that they learn of Mr. _____’s treachery. 

Celie finds years of letters from her sister, and it’s at this point that she decides she’s going to leave to be with Shug. She finally has an escape, and the love she’s always longed for. With Shug, and their life together in Shug’s big house, Celie can finally think about herself and learn to love herself. Shug even helps Celie begin a small sewing business - pants for women. Celie writes letters to God and Nettie. 

In the end, Celie is happy. I won’t spoil it, but the book ends in a way that feels good for Celie: “I don’t think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this is the youngest us ever felt” (288). 

Biggest Takeaway

The most powerful thing about this book is Celie’s story of her experience as a young black woman in the South. It’s not set in the present-day, as there are clear mentions about segregation throughout, but hearing about all the terrible things that happened in her life, in her words, makes the book tremendously moving. 

Not only does Celie grapple with her own trauma, but she also has to navigate life experiences and her faith. Walker is a masterful storyteller, and this book tells an important story not just about one woman, but about how being African American, and a woman on top of that, was - and still remains - a complicated business far too often. 

Overall Impressions

I love The Color Purple. I’ve read it at least 3-4 times, and while I won’t say it’s an easy read (because it’s not) I keep going back to it over and over again because Walker so fully captures the voices and experiences of Celie & Nettie. 

From the first page, the reader begins to feel the scope of Celie’s tragedies in her own voice. I love epistolary novels and this remains one of the best examples I can think of to represent how powerful first person voice can be in a novel. 

This book is a hard read, but a necessary one.

The topics and ideas are also important, even if they’re hard to read about. The book isn’t hard in the sense of academic language or long sentences (like many other classic books), but hard in the mental & emotional sense. It’s hard to read about these experiences knowing that real people lived like this - and not just one person, either. For the same reasons it’s hard to read, it’s a book that must be read. 

For many of us in the modern day world, this book is a reminder that reality isn’t the same for everyone, and despite the many ways we’ve moved forward, not that many years ago public places were still segregated & Jim Crow laws were very much a part of everyday life. Not that many years ago it was still legal to discriminate against people based on race and gender. 

This book is a hard read, but a necessary one. It’s beautifully written, and I think you’ll find that when you pick it up, you’ll keep turning page after page because you just have to know: what’s going to happen next? And how in the world can this woman survive, let alone have a happy ending?

Why Writers Need this Book

If you’re a writer, you need to read this book not just because of the way the book handles heavy themes and ideas with grace & clarity, but also because the language is incredible. You’ll be transported into Celie’s world, and that’s the ultimate goal of a book, but especially an epistolary style book. 

The letters aren’t written in “proper English” as we usually think but in Celie’s voice as she would speak to you in a normal conversation - up to and including very direct language about bodies and love and faith. 

Next Steps

There are a few steps to take next: 

1. Get the book here. (Or here or here). Better yet, check your local library! Easy peasy.

2. Read the book & take it in. 

My challenge to you is to read the book and think about the voices being represented.

Have you read the book? What did you think? What was your favorite part? I’d love to hear about your experiences! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.

Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great reading & writing. 

Book Review: The Poison Factory - Operation Kamera by Lucy Kirk (2020)

Overview

Lucy Kirk and her book The Poison Factory are a prime example of the magic that can happen when we write what we know. After spending more than three decades working in the CIA, Kirk knows the ins and outs. Her focuses during her time at the CIA were the USSR and post-Soviet Russia - topics she addresses in The Poison Factory (TPF). 

Her main character in TPF, Decktora Raines, is a woman on leave from the CIA, also having worked with a focus on Russia. Knowing Kirk’s history, we feel confident knowing her depiction of this character and the CIA will be accurate and informational. All that’s left for us to worry about is - what’s going to happen next?

Content & Message

We are brought into the story with an introduction to Decktora Raines as she lounges on her couch on a summer day. Her life partner, Alex, also a member of the CIA, has been missing for a year, and she has been helpless in the attempts to locate him and his missing colleagues. This is not Raines’ main mission, though. As it turns out, a former Russian defector she helped transfer to London reaches out to her when he believes his life is in danger. Cue our introductions to the other main characters. 

We meet Sergei Dumanovskiy, the Russian defector who contacts Raines, and Detective Chief Inspector Cransford Garvin, who is brought it by the murder of another Russian defector. Soon after, we meet Senior British Intelligence officer Jason Drake, who connects the dots between the murder and the Russian affilation. 

While in London,  people connected to Raines are murdered, and she begins to wonder if she’s in over her head. Thankfully, she has a whole host of people standing behind her from the CIA, but that doesn’t stop the doubts and fears that settle in:

“‘I wish there were no connection to me’...’Wish again, my friend. There are no ruby slippers in this game, as you well know.’” (181).

As any good story has, there are fearsome villains.  The villains of this story are introduced early on, and so it isn’t so much a matter of who-dun-it, but will they catch the bad guys? Ivanchukov and Olga are originally from Russia, and they have a score to settle with the Russian defectors who once worked for a company in Russia. Olga is a puppet being controlled by the master, Ivanchukov. She commits the murders that take place while Raines is in London, using a claw and poison to ensure her victim’s deaths. 

What I love about any story is a villain with a good backstory. I’m sure many of us would agree: the backstory is what makes the villain and determines whether they are truly evil, or simply misunderstood. In this case, the villains are evil, with a sprinkle of misunderstood. The backstories for Olga and Ivanchukov encourage empathy for them and how they wound up in their current situation, but it doesn’t justify their actions.
The interesting thing is how Kirk is able to write this story while also staying in line with the processes of the CIA. Though the character Raines is on leave, she still must follow all of the CIA protocol when it comes to her visit to London to check in with Dumanovskiy. Kirk has a great way of explaining the protocols and processes without the book feeling like she’s teaching rather than telling a story. I never felt bogged down by the details.

Biggest Takeaway

The biggest takeaway from this story would have to be that sometimes it’s hard to make all the right decisions. Especially when you are limited by your job, and/or the people around you. Decktora Raines stood by her firm belief that Segei Dumanovskiy deserved safety after everything he’d been through, and she did everything in her power to ensure that he remained unharmed. 

Unfortunately, there were other casualties along the way, but it’s important to remember not to blame yourself for the actions of others. It was Olga who murdered the people in London, but Raines and Dumanovskiy still felt the burden of blame:

“...now we both felt guilty, and there was no bandage that would instantly take away the pain for either of us.” (235).

Overall Impressions

I was drawn to this book by the CIA aspect. I am a big fan of Criminal Minds, so I was intrigued to read a crime novel. Though it is not exactly a crime novel, it does have a similar structure and feel. It’s actually classified as a mystery and suspense thriller. 

In the first few pages, the book sucks you in with a mysterious package, a murder, and a host of dynamic characters. It was a quick read and kept you wanting to read and learn more.

Why Writers Need this Book

Whether it’s your favorite genre or not, this book is a great example for writers to show how to effectively use what you know to enhance a story. As writers, when we know what we’re talking about- and really know, not just a quick listicle you read on the internet - it makes the writing process smoother for the writer & reader.

If you’re writing a novel about the CIA, for example, it’s important that you know a lot about the topic and everything surrounding it, or else you may convey incorrect depictions. In fantasy this isn’t much of a concern, but with realistic fiction such as The Poison Factory, accuracy is a must.

Next Steps

There are a few steps to take next: 

1. Get the book here. (Or here or here). Better yet, check your local library! Easy peasy.

2. Read the book & take it in. 

3. Start utilizing what you already know in your writing! Think of some ideas or topics that you have either researched, or experienced that you could use to enhance your own writing.  

My challenge to you is to pinpoint the areas Lucy Kirk most effectively utilized her prior knowledge to better the story as you read.

Have you read the book? What did you think? What was your favorite part? I’d love to hear about your experiences! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.

Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great reading & writing.