50 books to read before you die discussion

Our group read for November 2016, from open nominations.

I started reading on 10/31. Is that cheating? LOL

No penalty for starting early. In fact it doesn't matter at all when you read the book.

First of all I read this book last month and absolutely loved it, my partner then found this really interesting article about the differences between British and American children’s literature that really got me thinking even more about this book

Harry Potter vs. Huckleberry Finn

Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in England then immigrated to the United States with her family when she was about 16. After reading the article I can really see this mixture of the two different writing styles in this book, you have the magical atmosphere and whimsy of a British author but it never goes off into the realms of fantasy, it’s very much real people in a real world, a beautiful balance of the two.

A children's book written in Victorian British prose (published in 1911, slightly past the Victorian era, actually). It probably today would be classified as YA. I'm not the greatest fan of Victorian prose, but this was actually quite well written. It's fairly short and a bit of a lark. If your daughter is about to enter high school, she'll probably love it.

I just finished The Secret Garden and I loved it. I didn't have trouble with the Victorian prose. I did find the Yorkshire dialect a little distracting, but it did play an important role in the plot. I'm going on to another Frances Hodgson Burnett book, A Little Princess. My library is doing an interstate loan for the Penguin Classics edition that is annotated and includes excerpts from the original 1888 novella Sara Crewe and the stage play that preceded the novel, as well as an early story, "Behind the White Brick." (I copied that last bit from the Goodreads description.) It should be interesting.

Michael wrote: "I just finished The Secret Garden and I loved it. I didn't have trouble with the Victorian prose. I did find the Yorkshire dialect a little distracting, but it did play an important rol..."
I read The Secret Garden earlier in the yer and was so enchanted I bought A Little Princess, I'm hoping to read it before the end of the year.

Wend wrote: "Michael wrote: "I just finished The Secret Garden and I loved it. I didn't have trouble with the Victorian prose. I did find the Yorkshire dialect a little distracting, but it did play ..."
I just got it from the library. As soon as I finish my current read I'm going to start it. Let me know what you think.

Sorry I'm late in commenting. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the story- the description of the garden put such a lovely picture into my mind, and I fell completely in love with the robin!

Suki wrote: "Sorry I'm late in commenting. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the story- the description of the garden put such a lovely picture into my mind, and I fell completely in love with the robin!"
I know right the story is amazing and even I fell in love with the Robin wish he became my friend too

Well I haven't been back in a while and I just realized that I actually read this book around the time the group did. I remember my teacher reading it to us in 4th grade and liking the story. I've seen the movie and I've even given the book as a gift (those nice Barns and Noble collectors editions) and I have been wanting to go back and read it again. I finally did and I didn't find it as entertaining as I remembered it. But I guess having it read to you is different and I also found the Yorkshire accent a bit distracting. But overall I'm glad I went back and read it and I have a nice edition to put on my book shelf.

I read this recently (catching up on group reads) and enjoyed reading it.