Louisa May Alcott: Little Women

One Word Summary: girl power?
Summary: The story of happy family.
More Words: I felt guilty shirking my duties to read this book! I liked it very much- despite the nauseating sentimentality and the nonstop moralizing. There is so much good in this novel. I'm torn between a desire to take notes and a desire to take umbrage. Did Ms. Allcott intend to write a manual on how to be feminine? Well, as they say, the wicked take the truth to be hard. I appreciated the tongue in cheek humour. Allcotts little quips and zingers added so much voice and personality to the narrative. And now that I've read Little Women, I'm almost reconciled to Prof. Bhaer. Almost.

Quote:
I'd have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled with books, and I'd write from a magic inkstand

Jo got little comfort from them; so she went up to her refuge in the garret, and confided her troubles to the rats.

Action List:

1. Read Pilgrims Progress
2. Write a thank you letter to Noko for giving me a copy of Pilgrims Progress
3. Apologize to Noko for never reading Pilgrims Progress and for losing the copy she gave me
4. Re-watch the 1994 film version of Little Women, with Christian Bale
5. Write to PattiCake about how much I like Little Women
6. Apologize for doubting her literary tastes
7. Remember to tell her how much I enjoyed Meet The Robinsons by M. L'Engle

Penguin Classics

Jaclyn Dolamore: Magic Under Glass

One Word Summary: Automaton
Summary: A fairy prince in trapped in a machine. Nimira, a foreign dancing girl must free him and help restore peace between the human and fairy kingdoms. Can she do it? Or will she settle for a handsome magician instead?
My Opinion: I wanted so much more from this story. Who doesn't like the idea of a princess rescuing the prince? For the book to be truly great it needs more attention to detail, more character development, better plotting, and a little je ne sais quoi. I still don't get the title, and what's with the wife in the attic? (Sorry about the spoiler.)

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley: Leap of Faith

One Word Summary: at the principle's office
Summary: Nobody listens to Abby. So she takes things into her own hands, and sends Brett McAvery to the ER. Zero tolerance lands her in Catholic School where she learns to make herself heard and takes a leap of faith.
More Words: This was an okay story. Abby is a smart girl. She's incurably honest. She asks lots of questions. They're same questions most people ask who want to understand about God. For the most part she comes up with good answers. At least I like the answers because I am a believer and I'm too lazy to cast around for some doubts. Maybe an athiest would riducule this book, and an agnostic wouldn't care, however it might be helpful to a few. I'm glad KBB wrote this story.

Questions:
Truly? Are all unhappy families unhappy in their own way?
Should I include my Scripture reading in the reading journal?

Action List:
Read Tolstoy
Finish Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Dial Books, 2007

Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner

One Word Summary: For you a thousand times over
More Words: I finally screwed up my courage to read beyond that winter day in 1975. I wept with Amir. I also couldn't help but laugh mirthlessly through the horror.
Quote:
But this was no Hindi movie. (p109)
there are bad people in this world, and sometimes bad people stay bad. (p319)
Had I actually gone to sleep after I had given Sohrab the news he feared most? (p351)

Question:
Is it better for people to take their own beatings, or to accept an intercessory?
Does Amir feel empathy for Hassan? Or is he wrapped up in his own self flagellation?
Why doesn't Hassan pelt Amir with pomegranates, ever?
What is Amir's real crime?

Riverhead Books 2003

Lauren Kate: Fallen

One Word Summary: Mixed Messages
More Words: Because I haven't read anything in two weeks, my children have gotten used to me as the activities director on this boat. Consequently, I had a difficult time concentrating while reading Fallen. The idea is good. I'll probably read the next books out of curiosity. The setting, a moldering refurbished antebellum military academy, is full of possibility (if you can believe it). The writing is fine. At worst the plot is flimsy, and the characters don't always stay in character.
Plot Summary: Luce is at a new school, reform school. She's off her meds, anti-psychotic drugs. She's keeping her secrets, a suspicious fire that killed her pseudo-boyfriend. She's just trying to fit in, among delinquent misfits. And there are two boys. One is too good to be true, and the other she can't help stalking. Could this be star-crossed love?

To Read Later:
Paradise Lost, by John Milton
On the Puppet Theatre, by Heinrich Von Kleist

Action List:
Watch the movie
Read the Sequel

Delacourt Press 2009

Maryrose Wood: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, The Mysterious Howling

One Word Summary: Agatha Swanburne once said...
Summary: Miss Lumley is a governess to three children who have been raised by wolves. Can she help them? Can she learn to dance? Can she thwart Lord Fredrick's diabolical plan?
More Words: I haven't actually finished yet. There are some other novels I'd rather look at just now. What I did read was cute and made me chuckle softly. Maybe later with my daughter, if we ever get through Wind and the Willows.

Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins) 2010

Helen Stringer: Spellbinder

One Word Summary: I see dead people
Summary: Belladonna has problems. Her parents are dead, she has no friends, and she's a freak. But that's nothing. The real issue is that the ghosts, which she can see, have disappeared. Belladonna needs all the help she can get to find the Spellbinder and save the world.
More Words: A fun ghost story to read in lieu of television. The ghost world reminded me of Libba Bray's other dimension in A Great and Terrible Beauty or the afterlife in What Dreams May Come, except way less frightening and much less sensual. I couldn't disassociate the villain from Meet the Robinson's (with a Pancho/Igor sidekick) from the Alchemist. Also I found the extremely obtuse adults (think A series of Unfortunate Events) unlikely and cliche. But Belladonna is a great character, a perfect fit for the plot. I enjoyed her evolving relationship with Steve and Elsie.

Feiwel And Friends (Macmillan) 2009