Feb 3

The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll

Holy crap! You guys have to read The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll! I’m not even kidding. It is incredibly short, technically counts as a classic, and will absolutely make your day.

The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll
The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll

The Hunting of the Snark is nothing but a nonsense poem. Or, as the subtitle claims: “An Agony in Eight Fits.” I had a lot of fun in the small amount of time it took to read. The poem chronicles a strange group that sets sail for the purpose of snark hunting.

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Jul 17

Review: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I’m not sure why I waited so long to read A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, but I’m kicking myself! Sara Crewe is up there with the most enchanting characters ever created. She reminded me so much of Anne Shirley, who has always been a favorite of mine. They were both orphans and both used their imaginations to help them get through difficult situations. They were also both old souls, and this aspect of Sara’s personality is actually pointed out on the first page of the book:

She sat with her feet tucked under her, and leaned against her father, who held her in his arm, as she stared out of the window at the passing people with a queer old-fashioned thoughtfulness in her big eyes. She was such a little girl that one did not expect to see such a look on her small face. It would have been an old look for a child of twelve, and Sara Crewe was only seven. The fact was, however, that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time.

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Jul 11

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the original publication of To Kill a Mockingbird! I thought I would post a review of it since it is one of my all-time favorites.

Summary of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee:

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

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Jun 18

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Summary of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen:

A wonderfully entertaining coming-of-age story, Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen’s Gothic parody. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist. The story’s unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage.

While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henrys mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art. Executed with high-spirited gusto, Northanger Abbey is the most lighthearted of Jane Austens novels, yet at its core this delightful novel is a serious, unsentimental commentary on love and marriage (Source:Goodreads).

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Jun 12

North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell

One of my favorite classics of all time is North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I have also read her Wives & Daughters, but I didn’t like it nearly as much. They were both made into wonderful BBC mini-series as well, so if you don’t read the books I at least recommend watching them!

Summary of North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell:

North and South is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in book form in 1855 originally appeared as a twenty-two-part weekly serial from September 1854 through January 1855 in the magazine Household Words, edited by Charles Dickens. The title indicates a major theme of the book: the contrast between the way of life in the industrial north of England and the wealthier south, although it was only under pressure from her publishers that Gaskell changed the title from its original, Margaret Hale. The book is a social novel that tries to show the industrial North and its conflicts in the mid-19th century as seen by an outsider, a socially sensitive lady from the South. The heroine of the story, Margaret Hale, is the daughter of a Nonconformist minister who moves to the fictional industrial town of Milton after leaving the Church of England. The town is modeled after Manchester, where Gaskell lived as the wife of a Unitarian minister. Gaskell herself worked among the poor and knew at first hand the misery of the industrial areas (Source:Goodreads).

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