Tuesday Teasers

"We pursued separate aims which brought us near to one another, but we remained strangers. She told me later that she had made a kind of note of me in her mind, as, scanning the shelf for a particular book, one will sometimes have one's attention caught by another, take it down, glance at the title page and, saying 'I must read that, too, when I've the time,' replace it, and continue the search."

~ Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, Book II, Chapter II, page 162

The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The more books I read the more I am amazed at how many wonderful books still exist that I have not read. The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett is one such book.

I first learned of The Shuttle from my friend Alison. She was, you may recall, also the one who told me about The Making of a Marchioness (click on the link for my review) and about Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (click on the link for my review), books that were published many years ago and were nearly forgotten before they were rescued and reprinted by Persephone Books in the UK and later by other publishers.

Most people are familiar with Burnett because of her children's stories like The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and The Little Princess. But in addition to these classics Burnett also wrote several novels for adults. The Shuttle is her longest at 508 pages, but it is, in my current opinion, her best.

Set at the end of the 19th century, The Shuttle is a story of drama and romance. The story centers around two sisters, Rosalie and Bettina Vanderpoel, who are the only children of an American multi-millionaire. As The Shuttle opens Bettina (or "Betty" as she is known by her friends and family) is but a child who can do nothing but stand by and watch as her beautiful and sweet older sister is wooed and won by a formal and somewhat unfriendly Englishman, Sir Nigel Anstruthers. To everyone else Sir Nigel appears a worthy match for the millionaire's eldest daughter, but Betty sees something more, something sinister. And it becomes quickly evident to the Reader that she is on the right track. Before the end of the fourth chapter the Reader sees Rosalie settled in her new home at Stornham Court in England, it is obvious that Sir Nigel is a very wicked man.

But as I mentioned, The Shuttle is also a romance. By the fifth chapter twelve years have passed since Rosalie's marriage and the Vanderpoels have heard little to nothing from her. Now a grown woman, Betty believes something bad has happened to her sister and so sets off to England to find her and, if at all possible, save her. It is during the time that Betty is working to save Rosalie that she stumbles upon true love and thus unfolds the romance of the novel, which has an intensity on par with novels like Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion.

In my opinion The Shuttle is a masterpiece. It is a story of drama, love, suspense, and comedy that makes for a definite page turner. Burnett's writing is easy to read, the dialogue witty, the scenes lively, and the descriptions of both people and places are beautiful and illustrative. Even the characters are lovable (or in the case of Sir Nigel lovable to despise). Betty is the perfect heroine, she is beautiful, rich, clever, loving, and generous. Under some circumstances this type of character might be irritating, but Betty is not. She is the type of woman everyone around her (including the Reader) can not help but admire and love.

Overall (if you haven't already guessed) I loved this book. It now now rates as one of my all-time favorite books alongside others like Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Wives and Daughters, etc. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible and 5 being excellent, I would rate The Shuttle a 5. If you have not read it it, you must!

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Note: Although copies are somewhat scarce, I was able to find an inexpensive copy printed in 1907 through a used book seller, so other readers might be as lucky if they check. Also it is available online in paperback for $14-19 plus shipping, depending on the seller.

Betsy-Tacy and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace

Betsy, Tacy and Tib are now eight-years old as we join them in the second children's novel titled appropriately, Betsy-Tacy and Tib. The three girls have become fast and loyal friends who are rarely seen apart. When they aren't found at school together or playing over at each other's home, then they are sure to be found playing make-believe or sitting on their favorite bench on the Bill Hill.

In this story the girls have their own share of adventures. A few include when they go begging for food at a neighbors on the Bill Hill... only to be discovered by Betsy's and Tacy's older sisters, Julie and Katie. Then there's the time they discover that Julie and Katie have a secret club, Betsy, Tacy and Tib form their own called The Christian Kindness Club (TCKC) which is based on the idea of being good all the time and when one is bad having to put stones in a bag around their necks... Of course this only leads the girls to want to be naughty so they can add stones to their bags, which leads to some interesting and funny moments. Then there is the time they finally get to meet Tib's beautiful Aunt Dolly who looks like she stepped right out of a fashion magazine... And of course there is the time they realize how much they mean to each other when Tacy becomes very ill with diphtheria and they cut each other's hair as remembrances with disastrous results.

All in all, this story is full of the day to day adventures that any young girl might meet with her friends in the late 1890s. It's not by any means an exciting read, but it is a fun one that can be enjoyed by young readers as a read-aloud or older ones as read- alone, or even by adults. This is my second (or maybe my third) reading and I still love this book (this series) as much as ever.

If you haven't considered adding this series to your TBR list you're missing out. And the good news is the earliest works in the series are still in print, though usually only available online. Stay tuned as I'll be reading and reviewing the next in the series in the next few weeks.

On a scale of one to five, one being horrible and five being excellent I would rate Betsy-Tacy and Tib a five. I really love this book.

What's On My Nightstand: March

My nightstand hasn't had much action in the last month. As I mentioned in my review of Reading Lolita in Tehran it took me several weeks to read, so many of my February Nightstand reads are still sitting waiting to be picked up and read. I've also added onto my list with a few new items.

Currently I am reading:

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett









Waiting on my nightstand:

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale














Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography











Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Montgomery












As I've mentioned, this month has been very busy between work, my daughter being sick, and other engagements and that has meant I've had very little time for reading. Yet, when all is said and done and March is over I shall still be pleased that I finished two of the books on my February nightstand and a couple others that weren't. Look for reviews of the above books in the next week or possibly early April.

Curious to know what is on other blogger's nightstands? Head on over to 5 Minutes For Books.

Tuesday Teasers

"Yes, it was England -- England. It was the England of Constable and Morland, of Miss Mitford and Miss Austen, the Brontes and George Eliot. The land which softly rolled and clothed itself in the rich verdure of many trees, sometimes in lovely clusters, sometimes in covering copse, was Constable's; the ripe young woman with the fat-legged children and the farmyard beasts about her, as she fed the hens from the wooden piggin under arm, was Morland's own. The village street might be Miss Mitford's, the well-to-do house Jane Austen's own fancy, in its warm brick and comfortable decorum. She laughed a little as she thought it.

'That is American,' she said, 'the habit of comparing every stick and stone and breathing thing to some literary parallel. We almost invariably say that things remind us of pictures or books -- most usually books. It seems a little crude, but perhaps it means that we are an intensely literary and artistic people.' "

The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Chapter 10, page 101

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

I must admit that before last month's book club meeting I'd never heard of Reading Lolita in Tehran, even though it has remained on the New York Times bestseller list since it was first published in 2003. At the last book club meeting the group decided to pick three books to read before our next meeting (in April). Although widely different in their subject matter all three of the books involve the Middle East or Islamic and Muslim cultures. It was decided that members of the book club could read all three books, any two of the books, or even just one depending on their tastes and how many time allowed. The three books chosen were: Now They Call Me Infidel, Three Cups of Tea, and Reading Lolita in Tehran. I selected Reading Lolita in Tehran for two reasons, first because it was easily accessible at my local library and second, because the idea of women in another culture studying Western literature and discussing it in a classroom or book club setting sounded interesting. And it was...

From the Publisher:
We all have dreams—things we fantasize about doing and generally never get around to. This is the story of Azar Nafisi’s dream and of the nightmare that made it come true.

For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature. They were all former students whom she had taught at university. Some came from conservative and religious families, others were progressive and secular; several had spent time in jail. They were shy and uncomfortable at first, unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon they began to open up and to speak more freely, not only about the novels they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams and disappointments. Their stories intertwined with those they were reading—Pride and Prejudice, Washington Square, Daisy Miller and Lolita—their Lolita, as they imagined her in Tehran.

Nafisi’s account flashes back to the early days of the revolution, when she first started teaching at the University of Tehran amid the swirl of protests and demonstrations. In those frenetic days, the students took control of the university, expelled faculty members and purged the curriculum. When a radical Islamist in Nafisi’s class questioned her decision to teach The Great Gatsby, which he saw as an immoral work that preached falsehoods of “the Great Satan,” she decided to let him put Gatsby on trial and stood as the sole witness for the defense.

Azar Nafisi’s luminous tale offers a fascinating portrait of the Iran-Iraq war viewed from Tehran and gives us a rare glimpse, from the inside, of women’s lives in revolutionary Iran. It is a work of great passion and poetic beauty, written with a startlingly original voice.

My thoughts
For the most part I enjoyed Reading Lolita in Tehran, but it was a difficult book to read. Even though it was only 347 pages it took me over two weeks to finish it.

When I began Reading Lolita in Tehran I expected a book that would teach me more about 19th and 20th century classics as seen through the eyes of women from another culture, but I was in for a surprise. Yes, I did learn more about the classics discussed (incidentally all of which, with the one exclusion of Pride and Prejudice, I've never read). Through her memoir Nafisi and her students do a great job of dissecting the novels and getting inside the characters and authors minds, not that I always agreed with them, but what I didn't expect was to come away knowing so much more about Iran as a country and the Islamic culture during the late 1970s through the mid 1990s.

But as I mentioned the book was a difficult read. For starters, this is no fictional work. It is a memoir and reads like a memoir. At times I found myself bored, but I pushed on and was rewarded as the boring parts are limited. The Islamic culture itself was difficult to read about because it is a depressing world where morals are upside down, where women are suppressed and punished for being women, and where citizens are forbidden their God-given unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Last, and because I knew nothing about so many of the books discussed, the information contained in Reading Lolita in Tehran was a lot to take in. I think it might have been easier had I read the works before reading a memoir where the works are discussed in such detail and in contrast to a culture that is so different from my own.

That said, Reading Lolita in Tehran remains an interesting book and I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad I'm done reading it. I am looking forward to discussing it with the other women in my book club. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible and 5 being excellent I would rate it a 3. It was ok, but not one I plan to re-read or purchase for my library. I'd advise interested readers to borrow a copy from their local library.

Happy 1st Day of Spring

"Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. " ~ Kenneth Graham, The Wind in the Willows

Friday Finds...

Years ago for Christmas I was given a Read 'n Grow Bible and to this day I can remember as a child sitting on my dad's lap in the easy chair while he read to me from my Bible.

All these years later I was wishing such a book still existed. I'd check the bookstores, but all the children's Bibles are either lots of text with few pictures or lots of pictures with few text or just rhyming text or quotes. The Read 'n Grow Bible had full stories broken out into small areas of text under each picture, the pictures were laid out like a comic strip, perfect for young children.

On a recent visit back to my hometown I asked my parents about the book and my mom dug it out, they still use is when teaching a Sunday School class at their church, so I knew if I wanted one for my daughter I'd need to locate a used copy online. I did a quick search when I got home and was delighted to find the Bible had been reprinted and was still available for a very reasonable price.

It arrived earlier this week and I've already started using it as part of story-time with my daughter. I am very happy with this find.

Wordless Wednesday

I haven't gotten much reading in this week, and here's why. My little girl has been sick.

Winter Book Swap Results

I realized this morning that I never posted about the books I received through the Winter Books Swap Carrie at Reading to Know hosted in February as part of our quarterly Book Swap schedule.

I was matched with Crystal from Alberta, Canada. I sent Crystal a copy of my favorite childhood book, Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business by Esphyr Slobodkina.

In exchange Crystal was so kind as to send me two books for my 20 month-old daughter.

The first is ABC of Canada by Kim Bellefontaine with beautiful illustrations by Per-Henrik Gurth and is ideal for the toddler age and already we're enjoying it together.









The second is Stellaluna by Janell Cannon and is a Reading Rainbow Feature and Review Book as well as an award winner and bestseller from several other groups and publishers. Stellaluna is a little longer than most books toddlers will sit for, so I'm looking forward to sharing this with my daughter in another few months or a year.

Both books are beautiful and will be treasured by our family. Thank you Crystal!

As a side note, I've had a lot of fun with the book swaps and look forward to the Spring Book Swap which will occur in May, so check back for more news about that in a few months.

The Life and Death of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

The first Shakespeare play I read was Romeo and Juliet with my older sister when I was 14. This sparked my interest and for the next several years I read a few more plays and watched many a Kenneth Branagh adaptation. When my sister graduated from high school I continued to read Shakespeare's plays after convincing my younger brother to read with me. Julius Caesar was one of the plays he and I read together. To this day on every March 15 my brother calls me up and greets me with "Beware the ides of March..." said in an eerie tone. And so, in honor of today being March 15 and in memory of all the fun we had reading together, I give you:
The Life and Death of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

Act 1, Scene 2. A public place.

Flourish. Enter CAESAR; ANTONY, for the course; CALPURNIA, PORTIA, DECIUS BRUTUS, CICERO, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, and CASCA; a great crowd following, among them a Soothsayer

CAESAR: Calpurnia!
CASCA: Peace, ho! Caesar speaks.
CAESAR: Calpurnia!
CALPURNIA: Here, my lord.
CAESAR: Stand you directly in Antonius' way,When he doth run his course. Antonius!
ANTONY: Caesar, my lord?
CAESAR: Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say, The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake off their sterile curse.
ANTONY: I shall remember: When Caesar says 'do this,' it is perform'd.
CAESAR: Set on; and leave no ceremony out.
Flourish
SOOTHSAYER: Caesar!
CAESAR: Ha! who calls?
CASCA: Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!
CAESAR: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
SOOTHSAYER: Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: What man is that?
BRUTUS: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: Set him before me; let me see his face.
CASSIUS: Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
CAESAR: What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.
SOOTHSAYER: Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.

Sennet. Exeunt all except BRUTUS and CASSIUS

Friday Finds... sort of...

I don't have any "new" finds this week, but I did get my hands on a book I've been curious about for some time: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

With the Emma Thompson adaptation recently released to DVD I've determined it's time for me to read this book. I have enjoyed so many of the films Thompson has starred in and been involved in making that I am very curious about Brideshead Revisited, but I think I need to read the novel first. So here we go... stay tuned!

On a side note, talking about Brideshead Revisited reminds me of another book, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. That book has also been on my TBR list for a very long time... If only I had someone to read it with, I might be a little more motivated to pick it up. I wonder what my chances are of getting my book club to read it?

Booking Through Thursday: Movie Potential

The question of the week at Booking Through Thursday is: What book do you think should be made into a movie? And do you have any suggestions for the producers? Or, What book do you think should NEVER be made into a movie?

Immediately I can think of two books that would make great movies if handled properly by screen writers, producers, and directors:

1. The Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace (Ok, so more than one book... but if a Kevin Sullivan type producer were to turn the series into a mini-series like Sullivan did with the first two movies based on the Anne of Green Gables series, it could be great!)

2. The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne (I recently saw Confessions of a Shopaholic and I think this book could make for a great chic-film/romantic-comedy like CoaS did.)

And in saying this I realize that there's not likely to be a Betsy-Tacy movie, but I still think there's a chance for The Little Lady Agency. We'll see.

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

Finally! After the last couple of mediocre works by Dame Agatha Christie I came upon the little known, but captivating read Peril At End House.

Set approximately a year after Poirot solved The Mystery of the Blue Train this novel opens as Hercule Poirot and the ever-faithful Hastings are vacationing at the Majestic Hotel in the resort town of St. Loo in the south of England. The Majectic sits just down the coastline from a mysterious and imposing old estate known as End House. "Though the house is intriguing, its reckless young mistress, Nick Buckly, is even more so. She has narrowly escaped a recent series of life-threatening accidents, and something tells the Belgian sleuth that these so-called accidents are more than just coincidences or a spate of bad luck. Someone is trying to do away with poor Nick. But who? And what is the motive? In his quest for answers, Poirot must delve into the dark history of End House. The deeper he gets into his investigation, the more certain he is that the killer will soon strike again. And this time Nick may not escape with her life." (Courtesy of inside book flap.)

From the start Peril at End House is a fast paced mystery filled with twists and turns that keep the reader turning page after page until the hour is late and the reader tired, but amazed that Christie has managed to pull another one over them. Although I caught on to several clues and solved a few of the mysteries within the mystery I admit I was taken completely by surprise when I reached the end. Even so, I really enjoyed Peril at End House and wonder that it is not more widely known amongst Christie fans.

Peril was first published in the United States in 1932 before being released in the UK. It is the 12th mystery/crime novel by Dame Agatha Christie and the seventh featuring Hercule Poirot. Although as always it is Poirot who solves the crime he is adided in this mystery by his long-time friend Arthur Hastings and also by Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Japp. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible and 5 being excellent I would rate Peril at End House a 4. I really enjoyed this book and list it amongst my current favorites by the Queen of Crime.

As a side note, after finishing the book I discovered that in 1990 BBC adapted Peril at End House for Television starting David Suchet and unlike some of the most recent adaptations, this one is reported to be quite faithful to the book. I've yet to see the film, but have added it to my library video list.

Peril At End House completes my required reading for March, but if I have time I may attempt to read the next, Lord Edgware Dies, before the month is out. Stay tuned.

Awards

Over the last few months A Library is a hospital for the mind has received a few blogger awards and I am ashamed to say I didn't take the time to post the awards. I want to thank each blogger who awarded this blog, I wish I had taken the time to mention it then, because now I can't remember what the various awards said. Nevertheless, I am honored... even if I didn't say it at the time. THANK YOU!

Today I received the Premio Dardos Award from Alyce at At Home With Books. This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

In turn I would like to pass this award on to the following blogs:

Calon Lon at Dwell in Possibility

Noel at Never Jam Today

Carrie at Reading to Know

Homespun Light 

Should Be Reading

Tuesday Teasers

"Parbleu," said Poirot. "At this moment I am feeling that I am considerably further back. I seem to progress en reculant."

"That's bad. But I don't really believe it, M. Poirot. I've been hearing all about you and what a wonderful chap you are. Never had a failure, they say."

"That is not true," said Poirot. "I had a bad failure in Belgium in 1893. You recollect, Hastings? I recounted it to you. The affair of the box of chocolates."

"I remember," I said. And I smiled, for at the time that Poirot told me that tale, he had instructed me to say "chocolate box" to him if ever I should fancy he was growing conceited! He was then bitterly offended when I used the magical words only a minute and a quarter later.

(Peril At End House by Agatha Christie, Chapter 15)

The evolution of a reader's taste

I've loved reading for a very long time. The first book I remember having read to me is Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slodbodkina. I loved that story so much I could "read" it aloud before I could even read.

I don't remember much of the books I read from when I truly began to read until I was 12 to 13 years old, but I am able to remember a lot of the books, if not all, that I read during my early teens until the present and that is because I kept lists.

Reviewing these lists I have noticed a few books are absent (i.e. War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and Frankenstein). I'm guessing I either forgot to write them down when I read them, or I read them before I began keeping lists.

For those curious you can see my reading lists from 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 by clicking on the hyperlinked year. As is evident by the titles and authors listed my earliest recorded years were dominated by Christian chic-lit. However, close observers will notice the occasional classic on each list. For example: I read a fare amount of Shakespeare during high school, though not all of it was required reading.

While posting these lists I read through the titles and quickly became aware of a few facts. First, and most obvious, my reading tastes have definitely evolved -- matured from what they were as a teenager. Second, during my college years and post college I read very little. I was really burned out on reading. Third and last, the biggest turning point in my reading came when I joined a book club. The ladies in that club have pushed me to read books I wouldn't have considered and that in turn has exercised my reading muscles and expanded my tastes. I still occasionally read chic-lit, but because of the book club I've learned to enjoy and desire more meatier works.

I think it will be interesting in another ten years to look back at the lists of books I've read and see how my tastes have changed once more.

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

One of my all-time favorite series of books is the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. Written during the 1940s and 50s the series consists of ten books that follow Betsy (Elizabeth) Ray and her friend Tacy (Anastasia) Kelly as they grow up in southern Minnesota during the turn of the century (1898-1917).

The first book in the series, Betsy-Tacy, begins just before Betsy's fifth birthday when she meets and becomes friends with a new neighbor girl, Tacy. Throughout the book the two girls share many adventures, both real and make-believe, and support each other in moments of trouble (i.e. the first day of school, a death and a birth in the family).

Betsy-Tacy is a wonderful book that is simple in its telling yet rich food a young reader's imagination. There are two things I love about Betsy-Tacy as a book. First, I love how readers can relate to Betsy and Tacy in spite of the fact the book was written nearly 60 years ago about people living over a 100 years ago. Second, I love that while reading Betsy-Tacy young readers can learn about American history and what life was like for their great-grandparents (or great-great grandparents) all because Mrs. Lovelace was able to capture the daily routine of life during the 1890s and present it in an exciting and entertaining story. Betsy-Tacy is a classic that should be on every little girl's bookshelf.

I first became aware of the Besty-Tacy series as a child when my mother (who read them as a child) bought me a copy of Betsy-Tacy. I became reacquainted with the books during a visit to the city library when I was 12. I loved the books so much I wrote to the publisher of Betsy-Tacy and begged them to re-print the entire series. A couple years later they did, but unfortunately the series has since gone back to being out of print. I checked online and readers can still find some of the books (in paperback) for affordable prices at websites such as Amazon and EBay, but finding original publications in hardback proves to be a little harder and are often more expensive.

At 113 pages Betsy-Tacy is a quick read for advanced readers and although it was originally intended for young readers (ages 7-10), it works well as a read aloud for children ages 4-6. Although cover illustrations differ, the internal illustrations in all books were done by award winning artist Lois Lenski and add to the enjoyability of the book.

On a scale of 1-5, one being horrible and five being excellent, I would rate Betsy-Tacy a five. I love this book. If you love the Little House on the Prairie series and the Anne of Green Gables series, you'll love this series too.

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Note: Over the years the Betsy-Tacy series has accumulated quite a following. Two examples are The Maud Hard Lovelace Book Award, which was created in 1980 for authors of children's books, and The Betsy-Tacy Society which was founded in 1990.

Note 2: Already read the series? Were you aware that Mrs. Lovelace wrote three additional books set in Deep Valley? Look for Carney's House Party, Emily of Deep Valley, and Winona's Pony Cart.

Free Books: Give or Receive

At the last book club meeting I learned about a new source for free books. It's called Paperback Swap and is a free service that permits members to clear out books from their shelf that they no longer want in exchange for their choice of a new book.

Books can be paperback or hardback and the only cost is the shipping to send your book out. The more books you give away the more books you can get.

It may not be the best service for people not willing to part with any of their books, but I thought it was great since I do occasionally find myself with a book I no longer want. Before finding Paperback Swap I would donate the book to my local library, now I can give them away to other readers in exchange for books I want to read and own. To open an account you must post 10 books you wish to give-away, this was difficult as I only had 9 books to post, but I figure I can always pick up an inexpensive paperback at a library sale in the next week and launch myself into free-book status.

At any rate, I thought this was such a great concept I wanted to pass the link to my readers.

Friday Finds...

This week's Friday Finds are actually not new. I took a trip back to my hometown earlier this week and while there I went hunting in the attic for a box of books from my childhood. I was ecstatic to find the box and in it not only the books I remembered owning (the Betsy series by Maud Hart Lovelace), but several other books I'd long since forgotten (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm).

For fun, I've decided to start re-reading the Betsy series, so stay tuned for reviews as I work my way through the series.

Also while digging through boxes I discovered my reading lists from 1994-1996. There were books on that list that I don't even remember reading! Books like Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott and Pollyana by Eleanor Porter.

Although I haven't had any time to read for over a week and my trip wasn't a relaxing vacation by any sense of the word, I did enjoy the break from reading and now I'm ready to dive back in and start posting my thoughts. Watch for reviews starting early next week.

Booking Through Thursday: Best Book You've Never Read

The question of the day at Booking Through Thursday is: "What is the best book you haven't read."

Like many of the bloggers who posted at BTT I can't list just one book and this list isn't exclusive, but it is a list of ten books other people have raved about, but I have yet to read.

1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

2. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

4. John Adams by David McCullough

5. Paradise Lost by John Milton

6. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

7. Emma by Jane Austen

8. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

9. The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde

10. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams