A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / B- Reviews / Book Reviews / C+ Reviews / DNF Reviews / Reading Listsaudiobook / children's book / classic / historical romance / Reading lists2 Comments
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, narrated by Rosamund Pike I listened to this audiobook a long while ago so I’ve probably forgotten some things. A lot of you already know this, but Sense and Sensibility tells the story of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two teenaged sisters who navigate romantic ... more >
C- Reviews / D Reviewsanimals / bigotry / children / children's book / classic / Edwardian-era / England / gardening / India / racism / secret26 Comments
Dear Readers, As a child, I loved Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. It’s considered a classic novel and is the story of children beginning to blossom as they bring a locked, abandoned garden to life. I was introduced to Burnett via a serialized reading of Little Lord Fauntleroy that ... more >
B+ Reviews / Book Reviewsclassic / cornwall / Smugglers / strong heroine12 Comments
Before I started Jamaica Inn, I had only read one book by Daphne Du Maurier – Rebecca. But I did have an acquaintance with this story. I grew up in the golden heyday of television miniseries. Though the breadth and quality of television offerings available to us these days is ... more >
B Reviews Category / B- Reviews / Book Reviews / C+ Reviews / DNF Reviewsaudiobook / classic / Contemporary / Erotic-Romance / historical romance / New Adult / Reading lists10 Comments
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, performed by Rosamund Pike I’ve begun to make better use of my Audible membership, and my current listen is the Pride and Prejudice audiobook performed by actress Rosamund Pike. Pike’s performance is delightful and especially wonderful when it comes to the novel’s omniscient narrator. ... more >
B+ Reviews / Book Reviews19th century / classic / English Literature15 Comments
Dear Reader: Thomas Hardy and I have a fraught relationship (not that he’s aware of it, having been dead for the past 89 years). Once upon a time I read Jude the Obscure, and I did not like it. It was boring and depressing , a particularly noxious combination. Then ... more >
Letters of Opinioncanon / classic / genre critique / History / re-reading / Romance40 Comments
This past weekend I was involved in a great email discussion about the question of whether Romance fiction faced a unique challenge that other types of fiction, including other genres don’t. Namely, does Romance reflect contemporary issues and culture in a way that makes it easy to identify the genre’s most ... more >