Category: England

The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde


2012 Book 26:The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde (2/12/2012)

Reason for Reading: 12 in 12 Fforde February

My Review: 5/5 stars
SpecOps officer Thursday Next is swept away into a dangerous mystery when Jane Eyre is kidnapped. She has to literally jump into the story in order to rescue Miss Eyre. This book has hilarious British humor and word play. Its alternative universe setting is creative and fun. And I love books with so many references to literature. This book is awesome, and I can’t wait to start the second in the series. I hear they only get better.

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgeson Burnett


2012 Book 23: The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgeson Burnett (2/5/2012)

Reason for reading: Working on reading some of the classics that I should have read when I was a child but never got to (despite my parent’s encouragement).

My Review: 4/5 stars
10-year-old Mary was being raised as an emotionally neglected, but very spoiled, brat in colonial India when she is suddenly orphaned by a cholera epidemic. She is sent to the house of a rich uncle in England, where she is ignored. Despite these tragic events, Mary somehow manages to make friends, and discover the magic of nature, for the first time in her life. This was an adorable book, though greatly contrasted from A Little Princess, in which the main character was sweet and lovable all the way through. I hadn’t thought I’d seen the movie when I read this book, but clearly I have since I knew the story too well. I will have to re-watch the movie now.