Not a bad collection of literature and some good examples of literary criticism and essay work. The only complaint I have is from a student point of view. There are several bolded vocabulary words that do not exist within the glossary. It would be helpful if vocabulary was listed at the end of each chapter and if the glossary was more comprehensive.

Sometimes I struggle with classics. This was one of those times. I can appreciate the plot and I think that Hawthorne has created some very good (and complex) characters, but I just got tied up in the period narration. This may be one that I need to reread in the future, but for now it was just kind of an okay read for me. Not bad, just not something I got super psyched up about.

Another classic under my belt thanks to British Lit class. Good representation of the period; not particularly dense. An okay read for something from 700 years ago...

3.5 stars. This was a good book with a smooth read and believable characters. It wasn't my usual genre, but I did enjoy it. It kept my interest well and had a few decent surprises along the way.

For full review: My Sister's Lies on EPJ

There are very rare instances where I enjoy reading plays. In fact, I can only think of two that I did: Othello and Arcadia. Otherwise, I much prefer to see them performed.

In the case of The Crucible, I would have gone for a 1-star rating if not for the historical content. The script felt terribly disjointed and I was honestly just irritated and the levels of gross stupidity and ignorance in the characters. Though I recognize that these events stem from reality, I have a hard time tolerating the ridiculousness of what occurred.

4.5 stars. I am really enjoying these cute little Oz reads. I'm wishing I would have known about them when I was younger. I think they would have been a fantastic set of reads for me in elementary school. Good books for a whimsical read, but would also be good pair reads with younger children or solo reads for newish readers (probably around grade 2 and up).

Well...this was a bit disappointing to be honest. It turns out that this is the extremely rare case where I enjoy the movie more than the book it was based on. It's also a rare case where I really don't care to continue the series.

There is a good magical component and some very good imagination in the tales, but I had a hard time connecting. The chapters act as short stories rather than a continuing tale. There isn't a lot of transition for a cohesive story and everything instead felt very disjointed. Perhaps the worst thing was that I really did not like Mary Poppins herself. She is nothing like her movie counterpart, but instead is mostly grumpy, short with the children, and quite standoffish. Had she been more like the Disney version, I likely would have enjoyed the book more. It wasn't an awful book, but I'm just let down by my overall experience with it.

This is very much a character driven novel that acts as the ultimate cozy read. There are great character descriptions and development through the wide-sweeping timeline of the plot. It is sweet, cute, and full of emotional moments of various kinds. It is a very long classic, but still endearing and begs to have it's time taken.

Personal reading note:
I feel absolutely horrible for Laurie throughout the entirety of the novel and may have actually liked him more than any of the four March sisters. And when it comes to the sisters, Amy was my least favorite by far. I found her pretentious, snobby, and just a whiny simpleton. She drove me nuts a good majority of the time. It had to be said.