Book Review: Little Dorrit (by Charles Dickens)

Born and raised in a debtor’s prison, with a broken father, a haughty sister, and a thoughtless brother, Amy Dorrit’s patient, gentle character is still able to find happiness in serving others. But when her father inherits a vast estate and is suddenly freed, her old life is relentlessly swept away—the old friendships and simple pleasures as well as the old hardships and trials. How will Amy cope with the wealth that instantly spoils the rest of her family?

Little Dorrit is no afternoon read—it’s long, rivalling Bleak House, War and Peace, or The Count of Monte Cristo.

Given its length and Dickens’ literary writing style, Little Dorrit would be hard for younger readers to wade through, but readers 15+ would likely enjoy the book. Readers is a key word though—if you don’t like reading much, Little Dorrit is not the book for you!

Jump straight to the bottom to avoid spoilers and catch my brief conclusion along with a link to the ebook, or read on through for the details!

Continue reading →

February 3, 2022 0

Book Review: Sense and Sensibility (by Jane Austen)

Two sisters, but with two very different practical approaches to life, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood react to their trials and disappointments in characteristically different ways—Elinor, sensible and steady, is calm, reasonable, and self-controlled; Marianne, sensitive and impulsive, would despise herself if she could be calm or self-controlled in the face of her own joys or sorrows. How will she learn her mistake—and will learning it change her or crush her?

Sense and Sensibility is a moderately long book; it’s not impossible to read it in a day, but you probably won’t get a whole lot else done. It’s about the same length as Pride and Prejudice, probably a little shorter than Little Women.

It hasn’t got a very exciting plot in any adventurous way and I can’t imagine a very young reader would be able to understand it too well. I rank it at 15+.

Jump to the end for a short concluding analysis, or read straight on through for more detail!

Continue reading →

October 13, 2021 0

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!

Continue reading →

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!

Continue reading →

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!

Continue reading →

May 7, 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!

Continue reading →

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!

Continue reading →

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!

Continue reading →

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!

Continue reading →

March 19, 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!

Continue reading →

February 18, 2021 1