So many talks about so many books I know! This is exciting!

I remember one scene in Eight Cousins where Uncle Alec (that's his name, right?) turned down an outfit Rose's female relations wanted her to try, which included all the latest fashions of high heels, tight skirts, and a whalebone corset. I also remember him freaking out about her getting her ears pierced (granted, this was probably a little more shocking back then then it would be now). So yeah..I think you can dress up in the latest styles, and still have a mind of your own

Oh goodness, how I agree!!!! That was the most annoying thing in Eight Cousins; made me detest Uncle Alec. He was so dumb!!!!!
But Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, and Old Fashioned Girl are sweet books. I usually get mad at them while reading, but you know, that's okay.

Oops, sorry, Waggawagga. I'm sure it's equally my fault for being lazy and not typing out the other two initials.

*is pleased to see Jane of Lantern Hill getting love* I rather like how capable Jane becomes and the joy she exudes at doing things herself: cooking, cleaning, gardening... I dunno. It's always fun to read something where chores somehow become romantic.

I find it annoying that Lousia May Alcott seems to condemn dressing prettily and even having fun seemingly, even if that fun is perfectly innocent. I don't know if I'm misjudging Alcott in saying this - its been awhile since I read the book

It's been awhile since I've read the book as well, but I recall Alcott complaining/preaching against not so much dressing prettily as dressing in a manner inappropriate to your age, which is certainly still an issue today -- probably more-so than when the book was written, or at least it seems so when I look back at the fashions then.

Oh, and I keep forgetting; I've finally read something by Gaskell!! I read Cranford the other day. Completely took me by surprise. How can they make a movie/tv show/mini-series off a book that has NO plot?! I'm afraid that annoyed me. But it was sweet.

ps. From your sig and avatar would I be right if I said that you were a big North & South fan, Elanor I love the BBC version too and I love your sig and avatar

My favorite movie in the entire world. I love it.

How can they make a movie/tv show/mini-series off a book that has NO plot?!

That was probably why they combined three of Mrs. Gaskell's works for both Cranford and Return to Cranford. It makes sense, I think. (For the first Cranford, they combined Cranford, My Lady Ludlow, and Dr. Harrison's Confessions, and for the second they took more of Cranford, and The Moorland Cottage, and another short Cranford story that was on its own, if my recollection serves me correctly. Or perhaps you knew that already.

Fanny, I was reading Little Women the other day and was wondering who Meg reminded me of, now I've figured who!

Awww! I am honoured.

I love, love, love North and South!!!!!!!!!! It's an awesome book Wives and Daughters is good too although I don't like it as much as N&S. I think Elizabeth Gaskell has an ability more than any other victorian writer (including Dickens and Austen) to make the reader "suffer" with the book characters. The suffering in some of her books is so intense. I just read for the first time "Sylvia's Lovers" the other day - a really wonderful book but not for the faint hearted. Actually, I haven't finished it yet as I promised my sister that I would let her finish it before I did (it's her book). It's set during the Napoleonic Wars and is a really well worth it read (at least as far as I've read the book it is )

Hear, hear! I shall have to check out Sylvia's Lovers, especially because a) It's written by Mrs. Gaskell, and b) I'm rather fond of the Napoleonic Wars, and of that era.

About Alcott's condemnation of fashions of the time, I think a lot of it was related to how unhealthy they were--all the corsets, wearing too many skirts and things like that. It could be seen as a warning against doing unwise things in the name of fashion, which is a message that is always in style.
That said, I do find Montgomery to be less preachy than Alcott. There was a quote somewhere from her lamenting the fact that stories always had to have a moral.
There is also the consideration that in Alcott's time, large age gaps in marriage were not uncommon at all.

On another note, almost all of the used books I ordered have arrived! The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian, The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain, The Iron Ring, The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha, The Beggar Queen, and Every Living Thing. I'm still waiting for The Lord God Made them All, though that should be here in a day or two. Yay!

Alcott's preachiness had a lot to do with the time period and the audience the books were aimed at. This was at a time in which books for young girls were expected to teach morals and how to behave in a "proper" manner. And if you think she's bad, try reading an Elsie Dinsmore book.

Books I've Read Lately:

The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan:
Enjoyable sequel. Still not as good as the Percy Jackson books, mainly because the narrators don't have that snarky vibe that Percy had. Sadie comes close in some places, which is why she's my favorite of the two. Still, it's a pretty cool twist on the mythology. I'm wondering if there's any chance there'll be a crossover between the Greeks and the Egyptians in the last book of the trilogy.

Sisters Red by someone I've forgotten the name of:
Attempt at retelling Red Riding Hood in a modern era with werewolves. It succeeds in some places, but the basic absurdity of the premise (sisters hunting werewolves in public in long red riding hoods armed only with knives and hatchets) made it difficult for me to take seriously. Especially when one of the characters nixes the idea of using guns by saying they won't do enough damage. Because throwing knives totally do more damage than a gun.

Living Hell by Catherine Jinks:
Short story even shorter, mysterious radiation makes a generation ship come to life and start killing the inhabitants. The other books I've read by this author were much better. This just felt like an unfinished novella with a particularly unsatisfactory anticlimactic ending.

Unwind by Neil Shusterman:
Set in the not-so-distant future. In the future US, kids can't be harmed (abortion or otherwise) from birth until the age of 13. After that, the parents can retroactively abort them by having them unwound, a process in which pretty much every useful scrap of tissue in the body is harvested for placement in other people. So a bit like Never Let Me Go without the downer ending. That's not to say it isn't one of the single most depressing YA books I've read in awhile. It's still pretty good though, just not a happy book.

My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick:
Creepiest vampire novel I've read in a long while. Very atmospheric story set in the wilds of 16th century Europe. Definitely recommended. And did I mention it was creepy?

Extras by Scott Westerfield
Uglies was meant to be a trilogy, but apparently people nagged Westerfield for a sequel so much that he gave in. I liked it, but not as much as I liked the previous books in the series. It has a different protagonist from the previous books and truthfully she grates on the nerves a bit. Still, it's another fun romp through a pretty cool future Earth society and set several years after the previous books so you get to see what happened to the world after it was freed from Prettytime.

Still rereading The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian, and The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain. My favorite of the short stories is probably 'The Truthful Harp', though I also like the story of Dyrnwyn, even though it's creepy.

And as for Alcott's preachiness in places, I don't really mind it. As long as something is preaching a message I agree with, and if I like the rest of the story, I generally don't mind.

And if you think she's bad, try reading an Elsie Dinsmore book.

ooooh yes. I've christened her "Elsie Dismal"..always crying, repenting, practicly acting in love with her father, then marrying her father's friend who is like so much older then her. Creeeepy.

I love Lloyd Alexander books! My favorites are the Prydian books, but I also really liked the Westmark books, and The Rope Trick.

I adore Sisters Red! And I didn't find it too unbelieveable for a fantasy novel that takes place in our time I enjoyed the "girl power! woot woot"-ness of it very much, and I thought the romance was realistic and sweet. Apparently the author is coming out with another book this August called Sweetly based on Hansel and Gretel. I can't wait for it!

And if you think she's bad, try reading an Elsie Dinsmore book.

ooooh yes. I've christened her "Elsie Dismal"..always crying, repenting, practicly acting in love with her father, then marrying her father's friend who is like so much older then her. Creeeepy.

I actually liked Elsie Dinsmore. I think it's a very cute story for younger children (particularly the earlier books). It can be a bit cheesy in the eyes of an older reader, but I think that's more because it wasn't really geared for them; just as a 20 year old might think Sesame Street is silly to watch as well.

Elsie is not "in love" with her father. She has a very intense desire to please him, because she feels unloved and wants her father to love her, as any young child would do. Especially since she has grown up in a house full of relatives that despise her.

And as for the man she marries, that sort of age difference is not uncommon in marriages during that time period. It's no different than in PotC, when Norrington fell in love with Elizabeth Swann once she was older. It's in many other stories as well, and was perfectly acceptable during that time.

~Riella

Sorry, have to jump on the Elsie bandwagon, if only slightly. I read them as a kid and I liked them, up until about book 14 or so; they got sadly redundant after that. (Yes, I HAVE read all 25+ Elsie books!). I suppose I could see how someone a little more cynical than I was interpreting the books as really dumb and creepy, but despite the "preachiness", I thought there was a lot of good to be gleaned out of those books, and it wasn't a half-bad story. I've certainly read far worse books with far less Godly influence and morals.

I'm not sure how many people are familiar with these, but a few years ago Mission City Press undertook the task of taking the Elsie and Mildred (a companion series focusing on Elsie's cousin) books and re-working them for a modern audience. They didn't modernize the books, but rather update the writing style and remove some of the more politically incorrect aspects of it (the portrayal and speech of the slaves, for instance).

Anyway, at first I scoffed at the idea of the Elise books "redone", but then I actually sat down and read them, and was very impressed. The original story and values are still there, but it's been so nicely redone as to make it more accessible. And for some situations, like the infamous "can't read a newspaper on Sunday" ordeal, they helped explain it in a way that didn't diminish the story but offered some counsel in that while Elsie's personal convictions were commendable, she did suffer from a lack of Godly advice and counseling.

Anyway, didn't mean to ramble. But I encourage anyone who is interested in the Elsie books to pick up the reworked versions, which can be found under the "A Life of Faith" tagline.

My sister NarnianCricket has read all 25 original Elsie books as well. (Sorry, I'm proud she stuck with it.) Sister Lizzle and I read the first few and while they weren't awful we stopped reading - I got up to Elsie at Nantucket.

To an extent Elsie is really a very good example. But we would work ourselves into a regular fury together discussing Mr. Dinsmore's eccentric rules and strict oversight of every facet of Elsie's life. To tell the truth we never could stand that Mr. Travilla dies and Mr. Dinsmore lives to a more than ripe old age.

Earlier this month I read Entwined by Heather Dixon. While I haven't time to make an extensive review right now, I would like to recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Jessica Day George's Princess of the Midnight Ball.

Yes, indeed, Eowyn of LW, I'm looking forward to the reading I have! Because you've read Uncle Tom's Cabin, I wanted to ask--is there anything objectionably graphic or uncomforting? (I don't mind violence very much, but I do mind cursing and objectionable content.)

I kind of agree with y'all on Alcott's condemnding of fancy clothes... but only kind of agree. I know she definitely spoke against inappropriate fashions, but otherwise, I believe there are a few characters who wear nice/fancy clothes.

I have found her to be just a tad preachy and it would be nicer if her theology was correct. But otherwise, I enjoy her books. I can't choose from Little Women and her other books, so from all the other books my favourite is perhaps An Old Fashioned Girl or Under the Lilacs. The latter, I found, very pleasant and pretty.

Mel, what is Jane of Lantern Hill about?

Hehe, Fanny!

--
At the church library, I managed to get three Patricia St. John books. She's one of the Christian fiction writers who I can actually enjoy, because the Christian messages are conveyed nicely in most of the books of hers I've read, regardless of if I liked the plot or not. The books I got were The Tangledwood's Secret and two others which I can't remember. Something about a garden, I think.

That's it! Oh, and started A Tale of Two Cities today. Didn't get much further than the first four page though, because I grabbed something else to read. :"}

I'm not sure how many people are familiar with these, but a few years ago Mission City Press undertook the task of taking the Elsie and Mildred (a companion series focusing on Elsie's cousin) books and re-working them for a modern audience. They didn't modernize the books, but rather update the writing style and remove some of the more politically incorrect aspects of it (the portrayal and speech of the slaves, for instance). Anyway, at first I scoffed at the idea of the Elise books "redone", but then I actually sat down and read them, and was very impressed.

Those are actually the versions I've read. I've never read any of the original books. And the Millie series, which I read first, will always be a symbol of my childhood, since my friends and I got into that series together when we were young.

Is there an "original" series for Millie too, or is it just Elsie and her daughter and granddaughter?

~Riella

I actually really dislike Patricia St. John...I was read all her books as a kid but for some reason never really gelled with them. I remember not liking how obvious the religious stuff was, I think I thought they were trying to convert people with them. And I also remember thinking the covers on the books were particularly horrifying, I think they were plain white with photographs that looked rather 80's?
Now, I can't quite remember but the same author might have written a book about animals...a boy and his dog, he loses his dog...if that is the same author, then I did like that book, but I never liked any of the ones with white covers. (what a horrible child I was )

Yes, indeed, Eowyn of LW, I'm looking forward to the reading I have! Because you've read Uncle Tom's Cabin, I wanted to ask--is there anything objectionably graphic or uncomforting? (I don't mind violence very much, but I do mind cursing and objectionable content.)

No, there is absolutley nothing objectional in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Due to the subject matter (slavery in America) and the fact the Stowe is condemning human slavery there are a number of scenes that are quite brutal. However, there is no graphic violence that I remember (I haven't read the book for a few years). I gave it to my younger sister when she was about 12 or so and she really liked it. And no there is no swearing that I remember exept perhaps a very odd "d**n" or "hell." Hope this helps you!!!

Elanor, glad you like the BBC N&S!!!!!!!!!! I love it so much too!!!! I really recommend the book to you. The first one of Elizabeth Gaskell that I read was Cranford also and I didn't like it at all but her other books are sensational!!!!