some great literature!

I'm reading a book. Don't you EVER interrupt me---or ELSE! (Think violent, gruesome and nasty death, accomplished without my eyes leaving the page)


Then, I'd like to review some books I've recently read. Particularly, Alice Adams, Seventeen, and The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington, as well as Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Tarkington was a G.A.W. (Great American Writer) but sadly has been all but forgotten these post-modern times due to the occasional word in his books considered racist by the hyper-sensitive, self-proclaimed politically correct "censors" of our age. Mr. Tarkington had a style of his own, and incorporated many interestin' little-used words for the vocabulary sharks (I just coined this descriptive word!) like myself.






Alice Adams featured the saga of a manipulative, conniving and selfish 1920's era girl of plebeian position who strives to be accepted by the patrician upper-class families in a midwest town. Her attempts to do this are at times sad, at times funny, and you get a sense of her maturing throughout the book. The rest of the Adams family are all different, with different faults which lead to the demise of the family fortune. Alice eventually entangles Arthur Russel into thinking she is different than she actually is, however after his disillusionment  at the end of the book, he shuns her, and she has to move on. NOTE: this is NOT a romance, and I did a bad job reviewing it. See this for a too-wordy but more descriptive synopsis.The end of this book was sad, yet beautiful. Four stars.


The Magnificent Ambersons was a slightly dramatic epic which to quote an reviewer on Amazon.com was "an Horatio Alger story backwards." It tells of the demise of the awesomely rich Amberson family as the world changes around them.  Basically, it is about "being things" as opposed to "doing things". I won't attempt a synopsis, but let you read it for yourselves. The beginning chapters are slow, and overall it is a sad book, but very interesting historically.


Seventeen is a hilarious story. It is about...young love, which is very funny to me, despite my being a youth myself, rather than a wizened geriatric. 


And guess what??? All of the above books are FREE on Kindle or the Kindle app. 
  <---- Perhaps uncalled-for smiley face, again to appease the populace, and to make me appear extra enthusiastic.   Whee.


Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery


                     ........Nice cover!


EONM contained Montgomery's usual failings: over flowery descriptions (which seems to be a failing especially of female authors, but Lucy Maud takes the cake for them. Some are quite beautiful.), unrealistic characters, "kindred spirits", fairies (and I don't mean Artemis Fowl fairies. Pu-leez!!!) and similar plot lines. But I liked Emily better than Anne (in some ways) because she was less Pollyanna-ishly happy, and Emily's aunt was MEAN to her, as was her teacher and some others. Emily seems to be sort of psychic too, but this was minimum. The plot was similar to Anne, but with much darker themes, and a neat mystery thing going on. Oh, and Emily can bake a cake. She's less dreamy than Anne, and must have been party-autobiographical for L.M. Montgomery who wanted to be a writer as did Emily. 
Three point five stars.


Somewhat randomly, I would like to mention briefly that I want this shirt. 


..Farewell, readers. And as this is Sunday, don't forget to spend time reading the greatest book, and indeed the only one we need for life, the Bible. 






 A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~Chinese Proverb


There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read.  ~G.K. Chesterton


Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.  ~ Attributed to Groucho Marx