I read Little Women for Roof Beam Reader’s Classics Book A Month club. Adam has posted some great discussion questions, which I’ll respond to in this (rather long-winded) review. If you haven’t read Little Women, this review has spoilers in it. Lots of them. I must have read a seriously abridged version as a child;…
I’m hoping 2017 will be the year I immerse myself in this blog and see where it can go. I’ve been puttering along for a little while now, keeping it up but taking the time for other (needed) things. In 2017 I want to return to some of the blogging activities I love, plus expand…
Last fall the Classics Club started up a Women’s Classics Event that will run through 2016. I’ve read a lot of the classics since I started blogging, and I’ve discovered some wonderful authors. But I never feel I read enough classics by women, so I’m excited about this event. This year I’m easing up on…
It was really interesting to read The House of Mirth so soon after The Portrait of a Lady. A number of readers said they preferred The House of Mirth, and I agree. The House of Mirth, written in 1905, is Edith Wharton’s fourth novel but first critically acclaimed work (she would later win a Pulitzer…
Last November, the Classics Club posted a survey with 50 questions. I didn’t want to post 50 questions all at once, so I thought I might take them ten at a time. I’ve been slacking on the classics lately but meaning to dive back in. 1) Share a link to your club list: https://thebookstop.wordpress.com/2015-reading-challenges/ 2) When…
It’s always hard to review a classic, and especially a Thomas Hardy novel, since he’s one of my favorites. First, some background: It was published in 1874, Hardy’s fourth novel and first literary success. It presents many of the themes of quiet, rural life that Hardy is well-known for. The title comes from a poem…
I picked up East of Eden as part of a Read-Along hosted by The Estella Society. It was also on my Classics Club list, and my reading this year has been pretty light on classics. I’ve read two other books by Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. From those two books I…
The Good Earth was written by Pearl S. Buck in 1931. It received the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. It tells the story of Wang Lung, a poor farmer in a small Chinese village in the early 1900s. He marries a slave woman in the wealthy House of…
Congratulations to the winners of last week’s Literary Giveaway and thanks to those who entered! Amy of The House of the Seven Tails wins Skippy Dies Lucia (con tilde) wins One Last Thing Before I Go Also, the Classics Club Spin picked #20 — which means I’ll be reading The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric…
Better late than never! I decided at the last minute to sign up for the Classics Club Spin #5. I already have too much on my reading list but I always want to push myself to read more classics. What’s the Spin? I choose 20 classics from my Classics Club Challenge list, in any order,…
This is the first of four posts in which I wrap up 2013 and look to 2014. See below for a list of 2014 reading challenges you can sign up for. In 2013, I participated in four challenges. Here’s how I did: Roof Beam Reader’s TBR Pile Challenge: completed! I had to make a…
I read Slaughterhouse Five last year and loved it. I think Vonnegut’s a genius, and I was super excited about this one. But somehow it never came together for me. Although I feel like I missed a lot, which I’m going to blame squarely on myself rather than the author. I would love to study…
The Book Stop 