50 in 2016: #19-23
Sep. 8th, 2016 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Title: Under the Tuscan Sun
Author: Frances Mayes
Length: 280 pages
I borrowed this one from my mother. We've both seen the film version, a couple years back. She said she preferred the movie because it had a continuous plot. Me, I prefer the book because the movie was so very, very chick-flick.
Generally, this is well-written and carried me along. The only chapters that really lost me were the tour guide of Cortona, and the reminisces on Southern mysticism.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: The Witch and the Ring
Author: Ruth Chew
Length: 127 pages
Ruth Chew's magic books are one of the pleasures that hold over from my childhood, and it's always a joy to me when I find one that I haven't read before. That said, this one had me raising a Spock-like eyebrow because it had a few elements that seemed creepier to me than most of the others - namely the witch creeping into the children's bedrooms at night trying to find the magic ring while the ring itself held the little girl immobile and invisible, like a night terror. That and the witch preferring to be a cat. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: The Littles and the Great Halloween Scare
Author: John Peterson
Length: 80 pages
Of all the Littles books, this one felt most like an episode of the cartoon. In a good way! Except for (a) Henry doesn't know about the Littles in the books, and (b) four of the characters (five if you count Mus-Mus the white mouse) don't exist in the cartoon. But nonetheless I enjoyed it.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: The Littles Give A Party
Author: John Peterson
Length: 96 pages
In which Granny Little is depressed because of her upcoming 80th birthday, and everyone conspires to throw her a secret 80th birthday party. And between that and getting taken up in Cousin Dinky's plane, she recovers her zest for life. I liked that this one was slightly more emotionally complicated than most of the rest of the books.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: A Little House Sampler
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane, Edited by William Anderson
Length: 243 pages
This is basically a collection of Laura and Rose's other writings that lend shading and depth to the Little House books. I did catch at least one assertation by the editor which I know from other readings to be false - that the Indian in The Long Winter really existed - but otherwise this fits in well as supplemental reading material for a beloved series.
Verdict: If you love the Little House books, this is well worth the read.
Author: Frances Mayes
Length: 280 pages
I borrowed this one from my mother. We've both seen the film version, a couple years back. She said she preferred the movie because it had a continuous plot. Me, I prefer the book because the movie was so very, very chick-flick.
Generally, this is well-written and carried me along. The only chapters that really lost me were the tour guide of Cortona, and the reminisces on Southern mysticism.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: The Witch and the Ring
Author: Ruth Chew
Length: 127 pages
Ruth Chew's magic books are one of the pleasures that hold over from my childhood, and it's always a joy to me when I find one that I haven't read before. That said, this one had me raising a Spock-like eyebrow because it had a few elements that seemed creepier to me than most of the others - namely the witch creeping into the children's bedrooms at night trying to find the magic ring while the ring itself held the little girl immobile and invisible, like a night terror. That and the witch preferring to be a cat. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: The Littles and the Great Halloween Scare
Author: John Peterson
Length: 80 pages
Of all the Littles books, this one felt most like an episode of the cartoon. In a good way! Except for (a) Henry doesn't know about the Littles in the books, and (b) four of the characters (five if you count Mus-Mus the white mouse) don't exist in the cartoon. But nonetheless I enjoyed it.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: The Littles Give A Party
Author: John Peterson
Length: 96 pages
In which Granny Little is depressed because of her upcoming 80th birthday, and everyone conspires to throw her a secret 80th birthday party. And between that and getting taken up in Cousin Dinky's plane, she recovers her zest for life. I liked that this one was slightly more emotionally complicated than most of the rest of the books.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: A Little House Sampler
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane, Edited by William Anderson
Length: 243 pages
This is basically a collection of Laura and Rose's other writings that lend shading and depth to the Little House books. I did catch at least one assertation by the editor which I know from other readings to be false - that the Indian in The Long Winter really existed - but otherwise this fits in well as supplemental reading material for a beloved series.
Verdict: If you love the Little House books, this is well worth the read.
