Sunday, March 22, 2009

Total Reading Time

54 Hrs

Little Women/ A Passion Most Pure/ A Passion Redeemed

-This past week i have been on vacation and so i haven't had access to a computer. I ended up finishing Little Women and started a new Series called the Daughters of Boston Series by Julie Lessmen. I'll just give you a small overview of both books so i don't have to explain 800 pages of two books.
-A Passion Most Pure
As World War I rages across the Atlantic in 1916, a smaller war is brewing in Boston. Faith O’Connor finds herself drawn to an Irish rogue who is anything but right for her. Collin McGuire is brash, cocky, and from the wrong side of the tracks, not to mention forbidden by her father. And then there’s the small matter that he is secretly courting her younger sister. But when Collin’s affections suddenly shift her way, it threatens to tear Faith's proper Boston family apart.

-A Passion Redeemed
Book 2 is Charity's story, a woman who puts her faith in her beauty rather than in God. It is a story of redemption and faith rising from the ashes of temptation, desire and shame. Depth of beauty … shallow of heart, Charity O’Connor is a woman who gets what she wants. She sets her sights on a man who wants nothing to do with her. Although the sparks are there, he refuses to fan the coals of a potential relationship with a woman who ruined his life. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants—one way or another.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Total Reading Time:

38 hours

Little Women

Chapter 31-29:
Amy leaves for Europe and sends several letters, detailing her romps through England, France, Germany, and Switzerland. She says that she is trying to absorb every beautiful attraction. Along the way, she runs into Fred and Frank Vaughn, Laurie's English friends. She and Florence, Aunt Carrol's daughter, spend a lot of time with them, and it becomes clear that Fred is interested in courting Amy. She decides that she will accept him if he proposes. She is not madly in love with him, but she likes him and thinks that his fortune will help the whole family. But Fred finds out that Frank is very ill, and must leave abruptly. Fred asks Amy to remember him, and tells her meaningfully that he will return to her soon. Meanwhlie things are sticky on the home front.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Little Women

Chapter 29: Meg learns to tend house and be a good wife. She and Mr. Brooke must be careful with money because they are poor. One day, Meg tries to make jelly, which turns out to be a miserable failure. That night, John brings home unexpected company. Meg gets angry at his insensitivity, even though she has told him that he can bring home guests anytime he wants. They have their first fight, but soon make up. The next trial comes when Meg is frivolous and spends too much money shopping with Sallie Gardiner. She buys expensive fabric, which prohibits John from getting a new coat. Meg asks Sallie to buy the fabric from her, which Sallie does, and Meg purchases a coat for John. Soon Meg becomes pregnant and gives birth to twins, John Laurence and Margaret, who are called Demi and Daisy for short.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Little Women

chapters 24-28 :Jo continues to write. Then, one night, she goes to a lecture on pyramids. While she is waiting for the lecture to begin, a boy shows her a newspaper. It has a sensationalist story that Jo finds silly. She sees that the newspaper is offering a one hundred dollar prize for the best sensationalist story. Excited, Jo writes a story, submits it, and wins. With the money, she sends Marmee and Beth to the seashore for several weeks to improve Beth's health. Jo keeps writing. She makes more money, providing for herself and the family. Finally, she decides to finish her novel, which is a romance. The publisher tells her to cut it down, and, after long consideration, she does. When the novel is published, it earns her $300, as well as mixed reviews from critics.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Little Women

Chapter 21: Jo has trouble keeping secret the potential courtship between Meg and Mr. Brooke. Laurie tries to get the secret out of Jo and grows annoyed when he cannot. In the meantime, Meg receives a letter allegedly from Mr. Brooke declaring his love. She answers it before Jo gets a chance to tell her that Laurie probably wrote it. The reply from Mr. Brooke says that he has never written a love letter. Jo says that she thinks Laurie wrote this letter and the earlier one with the glove. Sure enough, Laurie comes over, confesses, and apologizes. Meg and Jo tell him never to reveal the story to anyone. Laurie leaves, and Jo decides to let him know that she is not angry with him. She goes over to the Laurence house, where Laurie is in a terrible mood. His grandfather has demanded to know what is bothering Laurie; Laurie has refused to tell him, and they have a huge fight. Upset, Laurie tells Jo he wants to run away. In order to help, Jo explains Laurie's actions to his grandfather, who writes a note of apology.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Little Women

Chapters 16-20: Beth becomes much more seriously ill than anyone supposed. After a while, the family decides that Marmee must be sent for, just in case something dreadful happens. Jo breaks down in front of Laurie, saying that she does not want Beth to die. Laurie admits that he telegraphed for Marmee the day before and that she will be arriving that night. Around two in the morning, Jo and Meg notice a change in Beth: the fever and pained look are gone. Jo whispers goodbye to her sister. Hannah, however, announces that the fever has broken. Beth is not dying but rather recovering. The doctor confirms the good news, and Marmee arrives.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Little Women 11-15

Chapters 11-15: November arrives, and everyone is glum. Marmee receives a telegram saying that Mr. March is ill and that she must go to Washington, D.C. to be with him. Marmee sends Laurie to ask Aunt March for money and sends Beth to ask Mr. Laurence for wine. In the spirit of the moment, Jo runs out to find a way to contribute. Later, Mr. Laurence offers Mr. Brooke as a travel companion for Marmee, and she gratefully accepts Mr. Brooke's company. Jo returns home, having earned twenty-five dollars by selling her hair. Pretty Amy is horrified that Jo has lost her “one beauty.” Jo, however, is not sad until late at night, when she cries a little for her lost hair.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Little Women

So i know i didn't really give an overview of the first part of the book last time so here is that summary and the part that i read for today. Chapter 1-5:On Christmas morning, the girls wake to find books under their pillows. Jo and Meg go downstairs to find Marmee, but the family servant, Hannah, tells her that Marmee has gone to aid poor neighbors. When Marmee returns, she asks her daughters to give their delicious Christmas breakfast to the starving Hummel family. The girls agree to do so and end up enjoying the good work they have done. That evening, they perform their play, in which Jo gets to play male roles. After the performance, the girls come downstairs to find a feast laid out on the table with fresh flowers and ice cream. Mr. Laurence, their neighbor, had heard of the family's charitable morning and sent the feast to reward their generosity. Jo wants to meet Mr. Laurence's grandson. Chapters 6-10: The March girls start spending time at the Laurences' house. Meg loves to walk in the greenhouse there, and Amy loves to look at the artwork. Beth loves Mr. Laurence's piano, but she is still afraid of him; she will not venture far inside the house. Mr. Laurence learns of Beth's fears and comes over to the Marches' house one night, talking about how no one plays the piano and how no one is around the house during the day. With that assurance, Beth decides to venture into the house during the day and play the piano. Unbeknownst to her, Mr. Laurence sometimes leaves his door open to hear her play. Beth reminds him of his beloved granddaughter who passed away. After a while, Beth makes Mr. Laurence a pair of slippers to show her gratitude. In return, he sends her the little piano that his granddaughter owned, which thrills Beth. Jo tells Beth that she should go thank him, thinking that her shy sister would never be so bold. To everyone's surprise, Beth marches over to Mr. Laurence's house and kisses his cheek. The two have solidified a friendship.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Little Women

I had a hard time picking a book, but i thought you can't go wrong with a classic so i have started to read Little Women. So far it is a really good book. I read the first couple of chapters this weekend. But i still have a long ways to go.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

On a Highland Shore

So I finished the rest of the book this weekend. It actually turned out to be really quite interesting. After they had returned to the village, Margret, who had been betrothed to and Earl's son, Lachen Ross, was doing everything she could to get out of it because it turned out that he had been cheating on her. This became an even bigger problem when she met Gannon MacGangus, and Irish warrior who came to their rescue and drove out the Norsemen who attacked them. The Norsemen attacked again killing almost everyone. Margret became one of the captives on the ships. So Gannon rounded up all of Scotland and Ireland to raid the Norsemen camps and win back Magret and end the war once and for all. Which is exactly what he did and in the end Margret married him and they lived happily ever after. This was just an over veiw there were a lot of small details that made the story so much better than what this describes. If I explained them all you might as well just read the book.

Friday, January 30, 2009

On a Hightland Shore

I started reading On a Highland Shore by Kathleen Givens. So far it's a story about a young girl named Margret whose world is turned upside down when a group of Norse raiders ransack and burn her home town in Scotland. Everyone in the town was killed except for her, her sister, Nell; and her brother, Ringor.

Reading time- 2.5 hours

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Breaking Dawn Parts 2&3

I ended up having a lot of free time this week so I decided why not read some more of my book. It ended up that I really didn't have a choice in the matter because once I started reading part two of the book I couldn't put it down. Each chapter brought on a new question to be answered and by the end of the book even you knew you were going to get some crazy answers it still surprised me. In this week alone I probably read about 2 hrs a night, but that still wasn't enough for me. I'm almost sad that I finished the book so quickly but Stephinie Meyer's style of writing made it quite easy to read. Altogether, I would rate this first book as an A.



Total reading: 12 hrs

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Breaking Dawn Ch. 6-12

Tonight I read the last of part 1 of Breaking Dawn. It ended with a abrupt conclusion that leaves the reader wanting more. The next part leaves the reader seeing through the eyes of a different character which adds an interesting twist. Reading time-1 hr.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Breaking Dawn

This weekend I read the first five chapters of Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyer. There are three parts to this book and part I gives the background of the story and introduces you to each individual character. It took only about an hour and a half to read. Overall its a really easy read and has an interesting plot.