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A collaborative effort from Free Jinger members to review and recap books, movies and tv shows.

Entries in this blog

Flowers in the Attic: Table of Contents

Here is the Table of Contents for Flowers in the Attic. New recaps will be linked as they are hastily written.  Part One Prologue and Good-Bye-Daddy. The Road to Riches The Grandmother's House The Attic The Wrath of God Momma's Story Minutes Like Hours To Make a Garden Grow To Make a Garden Grow (Part II) Holidays Holidays (Part Two) The Christmas Party Christopher's Exploration and Its Repercussions The Long Winter, and Spring, and Summer   Part Two
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

0

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Mr Willy Wonka's Factory The old people are old. They are not only chronologically old, but they are physically old and described in great detail how very old they are. They are so old they are willing to stay in bed for years, all day, every day. They are so old they are sharing a bed with people who at one time were acquaintances. Grandpa George and Grandpa Joe only know each other because their children married. Mr and Mrs Bucket (who have no first names) must not have sibling
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

24

Flowers in the Attic: Prologue & "Good-bye, Daddy"

I thought I might attempt a reread of the "classic" coming of age/incestfest novel "Flowers in the Attic." Those of us of a certain age remember reading these in secret, learning about horror and sex and rich people's games. I, however, did not read it in secret. Rather my mom checked it out of the library for me. I'm not sure why, or what about it appealed to her or if the librarian suggested it. But somehow I ended up reading this one and a number of other VC Andrews books.  For those of
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

24

Flowers in the Attic: "At Last, Momma" (Part II)

Guess who's back? Back again.  Momma's back.  Tell your friends.  Oh, wait, Chris and Cathy don't have friends, because their selfish, terrible, inconsiderate mother (who is out-of-this world beautiful & wonderful and smells great and wears flimy negligee while interacting with her children) locked them in a room in Foxworth Hall.  In case you were interested, Corrine is wearing a "beautiful lightweight suit, with soft gray fur at the cuffs and around the neck of the
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

20

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Chapter 10

Chapter 10  It is now winter in unnamed city of indeterminate size, in the year of "industrial revolution/Victorian era. Or maybe later. Who knows. It's winter. It's snowing, and the Bucket family + Mrs Bucket's parents are cold, hungry, and still very poor. Soon after the candy bars ran out, Mr Bucket lost his job at the toothpaste factory. So the three meals of cabbage soup a day are halved. Mr Bucket goes out to try and earn money by shoveling, but it doesn't feed the family. Charlie beg
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

15

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Chapter 1

I was "inspired" to reread the children's classic "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" today, when @HerNameIsBuffy voiced a thought I've had many times about Grandpa Joe. I posted the photo of the cover I am most familiar with, which is the 1970's cover. Apparently I too was poor as a child and read mostly used, hand-me-down books. Fine with me! Less wasted paper in the world, I suppose.  Chapter 1: Here Comes Charlie  We are immediately introduced to our main characters by having drawi
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

14

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Chapter 3

This chapter is awkward.  Chapter 3: Mr. Wonka and the Indian Prince  Grandpa Joe tells Charlie the story of "Prince Pondicherry," who had asked Mr. Willy Wonka to "come all the way out to India and build him a colossal palace entirely of chocolate." Those Indians, amirite? Always with their weird names and schemes to do impractical things. /s Mr. Wonka, of course, builds the chocolate palace and tells Prince Pondicherry (Which is a cute name but also strikes me as somewhat i
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

11

Flowers in the Attic: "Holidays" Part 2

Holidays: Part 2 (Page 176)  I forgot to mention a very crucial plot point yesterday. Cathy asks for bananas and Mother refuses because her father doesn't care for them. Yup. Was there no editor at whatever publishing firm took on this mess?  It is now Christmas Eve and the children have been "living" at Foxworth Hall for 5 months. They still have not seen the entire house. To be fair, I'm certain that the staff hasn't seen the entire house, either. They are still saying grace before e
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

11

Super sad face

Sorry, there is a problem There was an error joining the chat room. Please try again or contact us. Error code: 5H269/A I know D is on it.  But still, sad face.
MarblesMom

MarblesMom

10

Little House in the Big Woods: Little House in the Big Woods

Little House in the Big Woods This chapter starts off with "Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs." 1959 was VERY different! In this chapter, we are introduced to the little girl, named Laura. She is just described as "little." She's got a Ma and Pa, and two sisters. Mary is older and Carrie is younger. I apologize for my lack of LHOTP knowledge, I never read all of them, and I watched a bit of the show. I d
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

10

Flowers in the Attic: "A Taste of Heaven" (Part 2)

Oh boy, here we go again. To distract myself from the rage inducing political nonsense that is going on (We have SERIOUS issues in the US, and it's not just guns and the economy and Trump, it's a serious undercurrent of anti-intellectual propaganda and ridiculousness) I have decided, once again, to reduce my blood pressure by laughing at the absurdity of a novel about incest. Fun fact: My local newspaper won't let me use the word "incest" in the comment section, which is really fun when trying t
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

10

Flowers in the Attic: "Minutes Like Hours"

Minutes Like Hours: Page 112 of 411 (Kindle Version)  Jesus. I'm on page 112. I now understand why Fred Clark's Left Behind Fridays have been going on for years.  Just like this book.  We get a paragraph of melodramatic teenage thoughts that lead me to believe that I could have been a much better writer had I not ever read such pondering about time.  Then we get a paragraph of "what Chris thinks" about the same thing she was just thinking about.  Momma comes to see the
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

10

Game of Thrones Reread: Tyrion II

Chapter 13: Tyrion Tyrion travels north and talks with Jon Snow.   Location: The Kingsroad, north of Winterfell, south of The Wall.   Characters Present: Tyrion Lannister: A dwarf, two different colored eyes. Benjen Stark: Eddard Stark’s brother serves in the Night’s Watch.  Not a fan of Lannisters. Jon Snow: Eddard Stark’s “bastard.” Traveling to “Take the Black” aka, pledge to protect the realm.  14. Yoren: Stooped and sinister. Has
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

10

Flowers in the Attic: "To Make a Garden Grow" Part 2

To Make a Garden Grow: Chapter 8, Part 2 I'm back.  It's been two months in the attic. It's almost been two months since I last posted on this blog. This was not intentional.  Cathy waxes non poetically about love, truth, and faith. Her grandfather is still alive. They watch the summer turn into fall from their window seats in the mansion's attic. Christopher is unreasonably positive while she shares her pessimistic and self-involved thoughts with us. We are treated to a discussio
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

9

Flowers in the Attic: "Growing Up, Growing Wiser"

PART TWO.  Apparently, I don't have enough to do at work, so I'm back. Or I just really like the external validation I get from the compliments of my snarky recaps of a book that was written around the time that Brett Kavanaugh was sexually assaulting teenage girls. BTW, I really do enjoy compliments on my typo-riddled column, or articles, or whatever you think these should be classified as.  Part Two starts off with a quote from The Song of Solomon, verse two, chapter 17. For those of
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

9

Flowers in the Attic: "The Wrath of God"

Chapter 5: The Wrath of God Momma's back! I know it's been, like, an entire week or two since the last chapter.  So I forgive everyone for forgetting that's been an ENTIRE DAY of not seeing their primary caregiver. If you, like me, had forgotten how long it had been, VC Andrews reminds you in the first sentence. "Momma came into our room this first night..."  "Momma" is tight-limbed and stiff-jointed. She's 33, so she's actually younger than me. I do not have 4 children locked in my hy
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

9

Flowers in the Attic: "The Grandmother's House"

Chapter 3: The Grandmother's House My dad's funeral is tomorrow. I've got my own VC Andrews world going on, with lots of family secrets coming out. No one has been locked into an attic and poisoned with arsenic donuts though. And, instead of a 200 year old house with a name, I'm in the armpit of the midwest in a 100 year old farm house that may or may not burn down at any moment due to bad wiring and 50 years of DIY "upgrades." Think antique tractors in the yard, chickens, several barns ful
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

9

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Chapters 7, 8, and 9

Chapter 7: Charlie's Birthday Charlie's present is a bar of "Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight" and I am not going to lie, it sounds delicious, and my opinion is based only on the name, because it is not described at all.  Charlie's entire family gathers to watch him unwrap this candy bar. They remind him that it's still a candy bar, that it has the same chance as any other candy bar. Finally they tell him to hurry up and get on with it before he's late for school. Charlie ope
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

9

Flowers in the Attic: "Our Mother's Surprise" (Part 2)

I have gained weight and my underwire is poking into my boobs. It's very uncomfortable, and yet, I'm ever so grateful that I have a bra at all, unlike Cathy.  Cathy is waxing poetic about love, as many people have done throughout history. It's raining. The twins are watching TV. Chris and Cathy are laying on the old mattress in the attic, reading a book that their mother brought up from the downstairs library. They argue over each other's reading style.  The book they are reading is li
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

9

Flowers in the Attic: "My Stepfather" (Part 1)

My Stepfather This chapter starts with "That spring, Chris got sick."  I am going to just retcon that the timeline is a bit wonky because it's being written in past tense, as Cathy tells this story to a ghost writer. How long did they hang out in the attic knowing they could sneak out at any time? I can't imagine not going anywhere for years. That makes me feel uncomfortable and claustrophobic.  Chris is sick and being a giant baby. He yells at Cathy, and tells her to be independant, n
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

9

Flowers in the Attic: Momma's Story

Chapter 6: Momma's Story  The Grandmother (yes, Cathy refers to her captor as "the grandmother" which is somewhat awkward, but I suppose it makes sense.) has left the room. Momma is still half naked and Cathy's "heart fluttered madly" as she watched her mother button up her blouse. Momma, unsurprisingly, downplays the abuse. Momma says that she should have warned the children that the grandparents are fanatically religious.  "Momma" then details her upbringing. It's all very boilerplat
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

7

Flowers in the Attic: "The Long Winter, and Spring, and Summer"

The Long Winter, and Spring, and Summer. Pages 215-230 (Kindle).  If I make it through these 15 pages, we will be done with Part 1 of this book!  Recap: Cathy and her siblings are trapped in an attic. I believe they are literally locked it, but they are also emotionally trapped. Their mother is a piece of gold-digging trash, and their grandmother would punish the Maxwells for having too much fun. On Christmas, the downstairs people had a party while the children upstairs skulked around
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

7

Flowers in the Attic: "Growing Up, Growing Wiser" (Part 2)

I quit yesterday with one page left in this chapter. I had no idea. I would have finished had I known. No matter. We'll finish it now. To recap yesterday's work:  The impossibly blonde and beautiful blue-eyed bimbo Cathy and her hunk of burning love brother Christopher (hereby known as Chris, to avoid mix-ups with his father, also called Christopher.) play monopoly after being starved in an attic for several weeks while baby-sitting their younger siblings. Who are also very blonde and attra
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

7

Flowers in the Attic: "A Taste of Heaven" (Part 1)

This chapter is called "A Taste of Heaven." And that's all I have to say about that. Make your own jokes about heaven.  Cathy & Chris climb down the rope ladder. It's night, the moon is out. It takes less than ten minutes for her to climb down. She gets down and he hugs her close. Boundaries, Chris.  All the rooms of Foxworth Hall are dark, but the "servant's quarters" are bright yellow. I have written several snarky paragraphs about this but they might be taken wrong. Regardless,
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

7

Flowers in the Attic: "Our Mother's Surprise" (Part 4)

Part Four: Our Mother's Surprise.  I will finish this chapter today. Even if I have to take a nap at work to do so. Sort of kidding but also not. I recently interviewed for a new lateral position at a sister type organization. I didn't get it. I don't even know if I wanted it. But I still feel the sting of rejection, despite the weirdness of the "culture fit" interview. I actually don't know if they ever intended to treat me like a normal candidate. Or maybe they did? I don't know. I do kno
Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae

7


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