The Awakening by Kate ChopinMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read this one because I really should have read it ages ago. I understand why it's significant, and I enjoyed reading it--but it definitely went much slower than I'm used to, despite being very short. I kind of wanted it to either be much shorter (like Chopin's Story of an Hour, which plays with similar ideas but in the space of a page or two) or longer and therefore more detailed and engaging (like Edith Wharton at her best.)
Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret PowellMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I mentioned this one in my last post; I really enjoyed it and I think it's convinced me to read some more non-fiction this summer. This was a very quick read.
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Also, I've started my summer reading club with the students from my old school who read Great Expectations with me last summer. This summer, we're tackling a more popular read: Little Women. It's definitely one I've come back to over and over, and one I hope everyone will read at some point. If you want to read along, I've created another blog: Little Women Readalong. Check it out--we just started today with Chapters 1-2. New posts will go up every weekday in July, and at 20-25 pages per post, that will get us through the whole book!
I think it's awesome you're introducing kids to this classic. LITTLE WOMEN has been one of my favourite books since my mom read it to me when I was six. Have fun with this summer's book club!
ReplyDeleteAww! I definitely resisted when my mom first handed me Little Women, but I think I was about ten when I actually got through it and fell in love. I used to re-read it every summer at girl scout camp...my poor old paperback took a lot of abuse!
DeleteI agree with Erin, it's fantastic that you're reading LITTLE WOMEN with your kids this summer. Erin and I both have fond memories of our mom reading this book to us. I've also read it a time or two as an adult. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure, but I would guess Little Women is the book I've re-read the most often. As an adult, I've come to love Meg a WHOLE lot more than I did as a kid. That chapter where she tries to make jelly and it won't jell and she loses it a little? Pretty much how it went down when I tried to make a birthday cake/dinner for my husband and his parents last summer, right after we moved here. It was bad. We wound up taking them out to dinner instead!
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