Middlemarch: Humility is beautiful

Humility seems to be out of fashion these days. People have a tendency to want attention, and preferably fame, regardless of what they have to do to get it. So it was with pleasure that I encountered beautifully understated qualities of humility and simple goodness in a 19th century novel, Middlemarch, by George Eliot. If … Continue reading Middlemarch: Humility is beautiful →

Review of Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson

When I was in elementary school in Denver, Colorado, there was a book high on the top shelf of the school library that kept catching my eye. The book's title was my name. How intriguing! I saw it year after year, but I couldn't reach it, and anyway it looked too thick and grown-up to … Continue reading Review of Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson →

Valentine’s Day Review of Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day—in a literary way—than to read an excellent romance? (Well, chocolate might go head-to-head with a romance novel. But it is February and, as usual, the momentum from holiday chocolate intake has resulted in somewhat of a chocolate addiction, so I’m doing a cleanse. Guess I should have waited … Continue reading Valentine’s Day Review of Cotillion by Georgette Heyer →

Review of Louisa May Alcott’s A Long Fatal Love Chase

Lately I’ve been reading parts of Louisa May Alcott’s journals and poems and, especially in her younger years, she writes with sweetness and light. After all that I’ve read of hers, I am still astounded at her talent for words and her inviting tone. Yet here is another one of her “blood and thunder tales”, … Continue reading Review of Louisa May Alcott’s A Long Fatal Love Chase →