Brooklyn and Year Down Yonder

I remember you LOVING the Peck books. I felt "bad" giving them only 3 stars. They just didn't do anything for me. They were great reads, I laughed out loud a few times, but I wouldn't say "You have to read these" to just anyone asking for a good book to read. Maybe I should have judged them higher, but they just weren't on my favs list.

As for a Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I have to ask YOU why you didn't like it before I defend myself. I LOVED that book. I guess it really made me think a lot more about the early 1900's in America, an era I haven't read much about and so it was intriguing to me. I fell in love with Francie and her family. I thought it was a very insightful and personal book.

I guess you could say I judge books according to the emotions and feelings they invoke inside of me. The Peck books were great stories, but no feelings. Brooklyn got much more personal for me. The key from Brooklyn I got was this quote, "Suffering is good . . . it makes a person rich in character," and I think that's what the book did for me. Through Francie's struggles I think may own character was strengthened. Character traits such as not judging those with less, working hard despite my own circumstances to reach my own potential, family unity & love, value of an education (another of my favorite sections of the book pp. 203-204); these are the qualities that sunk into my heart as I read. I will say that the analogy of the tree was a little far-fetched, but I love the title anyway. I took it more metaphorically of Francie being the tree, weak in her surroundings but made strong as she grew.

Is that a good enough explanation for you? :-)

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So, I still need to watch Hamlet, I still need to write my own essay on the play as well.
What was the next book we decided to read? Isn't it different than our sidebar list? Let me know what you're reading.

JULIA