Book Review: Cranford (by Elizabeth Gaskell)

Reading Cranford is like stepping into a different world—an old-fashioned world of bonnets and candles, of tea-trays and sedan chairs. It’s a world where ladies spread newspapers over their new rugs to keep them from fading, and try to whiten their old lace by soaking it in milk. But for all that, the town of Cranford isn’t so different from the real world; there are always faults to overcome and offenses to forgive.

The book Cranford, by the way, is not to be mistaken for the TV series of the same name, which took inspiration from the book certainly, but combined it (to good effect) with a plot from one of Gaskell’s other short novels and additional inspiration from her book My Lady Ludlow.

Cranford is a fairly short book, along the length of Northanger Abbey or The Scarlet Pimpernel. It’s not a thrilling story—in fact, it has very little plot—and isn’t likely to interest children; I think it would be interesting to readers 15+, more or less.

As usual, you can skip straight to the bottom for a brief conclusion and link to an ebook version, or read on through for full details!

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June 29, 2021 0

Book Review: Persuasion (by Jane Austen)

The dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth is ready to marry the first girl who comes after him—or so he says, with two mental reservations. First: she can’t be Anne Elliot. Second: she has do well in a comparison with Anne Elliot… because even though Anne Elliot broke her engagement with him eight years ago just because he wasn’t rich enough, she’s still his standard of perfection.

Persuasion is not a long book—it’s comparable to The Railway Children and Alice in Wonderland. I recommend it for ages 15+.

If you just need a quick recap skip straight to the end; or read on through for the details!

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May 14, 2021 0

Book Review: Emma (by Jane Austen)

If you’ve ever thought about adding matchmaking to your list of hobbies, read Emma first in order to be forewarned about the potential side effects—making a hilarious fool of yourself takes first place in the list.

Emma is a little longer than Pride and Prejudice—to compare it to some other authors, in the same ballpark with Little Women or Hard Times.

Some things about Emma would certainly be a little over the head of an ordinary 12 year old, but I think most girls that age would still enjoy it. 15+ is a safer general estimate though. And of course, it’s much more of a girl book than a boy book.

Jump to the end if you like for a few concluding remarks; or go straight through for a load of detail!

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May 7, 2021 0

Book Review: Bleak House (by Charles Dickens)

One of Dickens’ most complicated stories with a village full of interrelated characters, Bleak House takes as its theme a long mismanaged suit in the English courts of chancery, weaving that suit around each of its protagonists in far-reaching coils.

Bleak House is a long book, there’s no denying. I think it’s a little shorter than The Count of Monte Cristo, but longer than Little Dorrit, and probably longer than War and Peace.

The plot and character relationships are incredibly complex and intertwined. Besides, its length requires a good attention span—though the plot is interesting enough to keep you going. I suppose a dedicated young teenager could get through it, but 17+ is the age I recommend it for.

Jump to the bottom for a brief conclusion—or just read straight on for a more in-depth evaluation of Bleak House.

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April 30, 2021 0

Book Review: Mansfield Park (by Jane Austen)

A story of a shy, quiet heroine, Mansfield Park is a calm book full of patient endurance contrasted with shortsighted selfishness.

By my estimate, the book is around the length of Hard Times, longer than say Stepping Heavenward, and a little shorter than Little Women. It ranks with Jane Austen’s longer works.

Mansfield Park has a plot line that relies on some pretty complicated relationships. The story is not told in an inappropriate way, but the implications of the foreshadowing would be likely to go over a younger reader’s head; besides, the book has virtually no exciting scenes. I doubt a reader younger than 15+ would enjoy it.

Find my brief recap at the bottom, or read straight through for a deeper look at the book!

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April 23, 2021 0

Book Review: Whose Body? (by Dorothy Sayers)

In a twist on the ordinary murder mystery, not only do we not know who done it, we also don’t know who they’ve done it to. Whose is the body that mysteriously appears, overnight, in Mr. Thipps’ bathtub? It certainly isn’t the body of Ruben Levy… but then where is Ruben Levy?

Whose Body? is a medium length book, longer I think than most of the Sherlock Holmes novels, around the length of The Secret Adversary by Christie.

Detective stories are in my opinion usually better for teenagers than younger children, and the villain in Whose Body? is grotesquely cold blooded—besides, naked bodies are being thrown around in the course of the mystery, and in short, I wouldn’t go lower than 15+.

At the bottom are a few concluding sentences if that’s all you need, but for complete spoilers and details, read straight on!

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April 16, 2021 0

Book Review: Stepping Heavenward (by Elizabeth Prentiss)

If you’re looking for a work of fiction that will encourage and challenge you in your Christian life, Elizabeth Prentiss has written just the book for you. Stepping Heavenward is a quiet read, a thought-provoking story of an ordinary life.

Stepping Heavenward is not a long book; it’s somewhere near the length of Northanger Abbey or Anne of Green Gables. It’s decidedly a girls’ book, although a boy who enjoys literature might like it. Since it is very introspective, it’s not likely very young readers will find it interesting. I would recommend it for 12+.

As usual, my brief conclusion is at the bottom along with a link to the ebook version; for full details, read straight on through!

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April 1, 2021 0

Book Review: Our Mutual Friend (by Charles Dickens)

Mysterious disappearances, heaps of dust, a spoiled girl, dinners in high society—all this meets in Dickens’ novel Our Mutual Friend. With Dickens’ most lovable heroine, this is a book it’d be hard not to enjoy.

Our Mutual Friend is not as long as Dickens’ longest books, but I guess it’s about the length of David Copperfield. It’s like three times as long as something along the lines of Anne of Green Gables or Ivanhoe. Probably a little more than twice as long as Pride and Prejudice.

Dickens tends to make use of a wide vocabulary and complex sentence structures in his writing style, so it would be hard for a child to understand much. This particular book has one violent character, but in general is not as dark as some of Dickens’ stories. I give it a 15+ age range.

As always, you can skip straight to the bottom for a brief recap and a link to the ebook, or read through for all the details!

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March 19, 2021 0

Book Review: The Story of the Treasure Seekers and sequels (by E. Nesbit)

Have you ever wondered how much crazy trouble six unsupervised children could get into? There seems to be no end to the scrapes the six Bastable children can get into!

There are three books in this series, The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, and New Treasure Seekers. Each book is about the length of Tom Sawyer or Anne of Green Gables—the last book is probably a little shorter than the other two.

The books are fairly easy to read and occasional hard words are usually explained within the text. Any child who can read would probably enjoy the books, but a little bit of maturity is called for in order to recognize the do-not-try-this-at-home incidents. In general though, the age range is about 7+.

Skip straight to my brief conclusion about the series at the bottom, or read straight on through for all the details!

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March 11, 2021 0

Book Review: Three Men in a Boat (by Jerome K. Jerome)

There was a time when writing books about your travels was quite the thing to do—and although many of that kind of book are rather dull unless you’re particularly interested either in the person travelling or the place they traveled to (sometimes they’re dull even if you’re interested), Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome is packed so jam-full of humor, it’s a pleasure to read!

Three Men in a Boat is by my guess about as long as Northhanger Abbey or The Coral Island. Not long, but not short.

Readers 15+ will probably find the book interesting. Since it’s a travel book, not a story, it may not hold the attention of a younger audience—and some of the humor might go over their heads, too.

If you’d like my brief conclusion on this book, along with a link to the ebook, jump to the bottom. For the details, read straight on through!

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February 18, 2021 1