Bookshelf Project, Week Three
Aiken-Alcott
Books read: 4 It was a bit of a banner week this week. A combination of Metro delays and short books.
Title: A Cluster of Separate Sparks
Author: Joan Aiken
Status: When I am asked to provide a list of my favorite books of all time, this is invariably part of the list. Something about the Grecian setting (though I have never had any particular desire to visit Greece) and the heroine (Georgia Marsh is a very human main character). I get pulled in from the first sentence, every time.
This particular book also has the distinction of being the very first book I bought from Amazon….back when Amazon only sold books.
Result: It’s one of my favorite books, and a piece of internet history…of course I’m keeping it.
Title: An Old Fashioned Girl
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Status: I didn’t realize I owned so much Alcott until I started this project. Maybe it’s a holdover from growing up in Massachusetts (near where Bronson Alcott started his transcendental community, in fact), but there is something very endearing about Alcott’s novels.
An Old Fashioned Girl is a faintly moralizing tale of a poor girl who is richer (in spirit) than her wealthy friends and how she shows them the value of hard work and love over money and fashion. It’s a sweet story, and relatively self-aware.
Result: Although it is a Dell-Yearling Edition (probably purchased at a book fair sometime in the 80s), there’s nothing particularly keepable about this book. On to a new happy home with you!
Title: Eight Cousins
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Status: I wish I could remember where I acquired this book. A library book sale? A used bookstore? The copyright date is 1917, making it the 3rd oldest book in my collection (based on edition, not original printing date, obviously).
Another tale of goodness in the face of temptation, and children learning from their elders and those less well off than them.
Result: Eight Cousins is probably my favorite Alcott book. Coupled with the age of my print copy, this is one worth hanging on to.
Title: Rose in Bloom
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Status: This is the sequel to Eight Cousins, purchased on a visit to Louisa May Alcott’s house in 2002, or thereabouts.
We get to see all our friends from the previous book all grown up. There’s a bit of melodrama and everyone who needs pairing off gets paired off. Not as thoroughly enjoyable as Eight Cousins, but it does feature a woman going off to earn her own living and an interracial marriage, which is pretty cool.
Result: If I’m hanging on to Eight Cousins, I’d better keep hold of this one too.
Additional Ephemera: Comments are now enabled! Also, I’ve added a new rule to the project. If I own multiple copies of a story, I only have to read one of them. (This will become important later)