Classics

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

2010, Books in Bed, Classics, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Meme, Women /

Oh boy, does she. Seriously. I’ve wanted to read Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day for ages and just never got around to it. Thanks to the 1930’s mini challenge I moved it to the top of my TBR list and read it almost straight through. I love Miss Pettigrew. It’s a shame Watson didn’t write a whole series of Miss Pettigrew novels.

The 1930’s were so awesome. That spot between what was proper and what was fun. Wild, glamorous women (and men) and the prim and proper Mrs whatshername that Miss Pettigrew mimicked so well. The best sort of Cinderella story, that’s what this was.

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The Serial Garden

1 Comment / 2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, short stories /

I’ve read a couple of Joan Aiken’s stories before and I’ve always been interested in reading more, thank goodness for The Serial Garden – a compilation of Aiken stories. Nice. Loads of fun. Except for The Serial Garden where I gasped at the ending (TW didn’t find this nearly as troubling as I did) or The Goblin Music where I couldn’t believe the goblin child … well I won’t spoil it for you.

Another great Cybil Middle Grade Fantasy/Science Fiction selection. I have no idea how a winner can be picked from this group. They’re just too bloody good.

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The Message in the Hollow Oak

2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Fiction, Nancy Drew Challenge /

Funny. Liz saw me reading The Message in the Hollow Oak and said, Hey! That was a good one! And, I didn’t remember it. She’s read very few Nancy Drews and I’ve read them all, most of them multiple times. This one – she liked. This one – I found boring. I’m pretty sure I found it boring as a kid, too, since I don’t even remember reading it.

Ho Hum.

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The Password to Larkspur Lane

1 Comment / 2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Nancy Drew Challenge /

Look, more evidence that I did snack while reading Nancy Drew (my mother seems to believe that I did not – err she would be wrong, lol.)  Some sort of foodie goo with fuzzy pink hair attached. My bedroom was pink and green (because my grandmother swore that pink and green went together and I believed every word she ever said, which is another story.) I vaguely recall some fuzzy pink pillow was on my bed and I’m pretty sure this pink fuzz is pillow related.

Anyway – The Password to Larkspur Lane – finished it, laughed when Bess said “I don’t want to meet any kidnappers” and George said “Don’t be such a snob!” Umm so you’re a snob if you don’t want to meet kidnappers? Hah. Who knew? Call me a snob because kidnappers are not high on my list of people to mee either.

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Nancy’s Mysterious Letter

2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Nancy Drew Challenge /

Some observations from Nancy’s Mysterious Letter:

-In my experience, growing up in the 60s and 70s, there were very few dilapidated bridges. (No mom, the Grace bridge wasn’t dilapidated.) So how come there are so many in Nancy’s world?

-People say the world is smaller now, because of the internets. Those folks didn’t read Nancy Drew books in the 60s, did they?

-Mail delivery seems to have gotten significantly slower. A letter from London was stolen. A replacement letter showed up less two days later. Regular mail, not Fedex or even UPS. How is that possible? I can’t get mail delivered from across town that quickly.

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The Clue in the Diary

2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Dewey's Readathon, Favorites, Nancy Drew Challenge /

The last book I finished for the Dewey Readathon was The Clue in the Diary. The most interesting thing(s) about this one were related to Ned. He was “introduced” in this book. He and Nancy met when Foxy Felix’s house blew up and from that moment on Ned became a wee bit stalkerish – he just kept turning up. Someone should have warned her about that boy, no matter how cute or smart he might be. An oddity though is that in a book I read, earlier in the series, Helen teased Nancy about Ned… (maybe in the Mystery at Lilac Inn?), but how would that be possible if Nancy hadn’t met him yet? Oops.

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The Secret of Shadow Ranch

2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Nancy Drew Challenge, Young Adult /

Finally! George and Bess make their appearance. Ned is in “Europe” and we hear a good bit about him, off and on — also found a mistake. At the beginning of the book, Nancy tells George that she’s knitting a sweater for her dad. But at the end, she’s knitting a sweater for Ned. Also… no boating mishaps. Being in the dessert helps – though of course there was that river flood issue but Nancy was on a horse, not in a boat. Here’s my copy:

 

 

The Secret of Shadow Ranch

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The Mystery at Lilac Inn

2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Nancy Drew Challenge, Young Adult /

Nancy Drew should stay out of boats. The first four books have had boat accidents – and no, not all of them have been boat accidents with Helen. It’s Nancy – she’s bad luck in boats. This is my copy. The binding isn’t happy. Sniff. How much does it cost to have the binding repaired on a Nancy Drew book? #4 Nancy Drew

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