The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

by Washington Irving
4 Stars
Children's Classic
Historical Fiction
Setting: Sleepy Hollow, NY
112 pages
Published 1819

Ellie's Review
To bring out the Halloween spirit (or spirits?), I read this classic American tale for the first time even though I've heard the retelling countless times and ways.  This short story was a quick and entertaining read and something people should read at least once in their lives.  I had never really known the truth about what happened between the Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane.  (But does anyone really know?)

Book Summary
Since this story's first appearance in 1819, generations of readers, young and old, have thrilled to the Headless Horseman galloping through the haunted woods of Sleepy Hollow.

Note on Editions
While many editions of this classic tale are available, I recommend finding an illustrated copy to make reading it that much more fun!  I enjoyed the illustrations of Arthur Rackham who focused on the haunting spirits that the inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow saw in everything.

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee
4 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: Alabama
323 pages
Published 1960

Ellie's Review
To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book about prejudice that was artfully written from the viewpoint of a child who knows no prejudice and learns the social customs and hatred our world has. I enjoyed it in high school and enjoyed it again as an adult who has experienced more. I hope to have the strength of the character Atticus in raising my children.

Book Summary
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

East of Eden

by John Steinbeck
3 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: USA
601 pages
Published 1952

Ellie's Review
I almost gave East of Eden 4 stars. I did enjoy this book and the lessons of good and evil within us. Some of the descriptions were fabulous (Liza is "as humorless as a chicken"). However, I think Steinbeck added in things he could have cut out to make the book shorter. I was a bit confused as to why he had someone narrate it first-person in just a handful of sections; I kept waiting for that person's story to be told more.

Book Summary
The masterpiece of one of the greatest American writers of all time. East of Eden is an epic tale of good vs. evil with many biblical references and parallels. The story is ultimately that of good's triumph over evil and the human will's ability to make that happen.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

by Thomas Hardy
4 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: UK
592 pages
Published 1884

Ellie's Review
While I really enjoyed Jane Austen's books where the girl always ends up happily ever after with her love, Hardy's view of what girls go through was fascinating. Sometimes life sucks. I contemplated giving this book five stars, but I was a bit disappointed in the ending. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and was sad that it ended.  This gave me a lot to think about.

Book Summary
Thomas Hardy's penetrating look at the sexual hypocrisy of Victorian society attracted strong barbs (and numerous readers) when first published. Today it is revered for its subtle character portraits and resonant symbolism.

The original title was Tess of the D'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

by Betty Smith
3 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
493 pages
Published 1943

Ellie's Review
I learned a lot about the early 1900s in Brooklyn and what struggles families encountered, so I'm really glad I read this book. However, I felt that while the subplots painted a fuller picture of the time, they were too numerous and meandering.

Book Summary
The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.

The 101 Dalmatians

by Dodie Smith
4 Stars
Children's, Classic
Setting: England
184 pages
Published 1956

Ellie's Review
The 101 Dalmatians is a splendid story from dogs' perspective.  Even though I pretty much have the Disney movie memorized, this plot had enough differences to keep my attention. It's very witty and enjoyable especially if you fancy dogs.

Book Summary
Pongo and Perdita have a litter of 15 dalmatian puppies. Cruella De Vil takes a fancy to the puppies and tries to buy them from their human owners, Roger and Anita. Cruella wants to get ahold of those puppies, as well as more puppies, to make herself a lovely dalmatian skin coat. Cruella hires some thugs to kidnap the puppies and hold them at an abandoned mansion. Now Pongo and Perdita must use an animal communication system to help find all the puppies.

See Ellie's review of I Capture the Castle, also by Dodie Smith.

Washington Square

by Henry James
4 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: New York
240 pages
Published 1880

Ellie's Review
I really liked this book and look forward to reading other Henry James works (this was my first read). He's a male Jane Austen.

Book Summary
The shy and sweet daughter of a well-to-do physician, Catherine Sloper seems destined for lifelong spinsterhood until the sudden appearance of a dashing suitor who proposes marriage. Her adored father suspects the would-be fiance of fortune-hunting and threatens her with disinheritance, forcing Catherine to choose between lover and father.

Emma

by Jane Austen
4 stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: England
474 pages
Published 1815

Ellie's Review
Emma is a great read, but I think Pride and Prejudice is still my favorite Austen. This did have wonderful character development.

Book Summary
Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.

Sense and Sensibility

by Jane Austen
3 stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: England
409 pages
Published 1811

Ellie's Review
I enjoyed this book, but it's not my favorite Jane Austen. Since I wasn't a big fan of one of the male characters, I wasn't too excited about a female character falling in love with him. Other than that, the contrast between the two sisters was really interesting. This made for a good book club discussion.

Book SummaryMarianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens
4 stars
Children's, Classic, Fantasy
Setting: England
86 pages
Published 1843

Ellie's Review
I have seen the play many times but enjoyed the book even more! If you can find an illustrated copy, read that version. This was a help to get me into the Christmas Spirit.

Book Summary
A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.

The Good Earth (House of Earth #1)

by Pearl S. Buck
4 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: China
385 pages
Published 1931

Ellie's Review
After the initial 100 pages, I was hooked on this book and really enjoyed it. I'm glad I read this as it's a classic, but I'm sad I wasn't able to attend my book club's discussion as this has a lot to talk about. I haven't read the other books in the series.

Book Summary
Wang Lung, rising from humble Chinese farmer to wealthy landowner, gloried in the soil he worked. He held it above his family, even above his gods. But soon, between Wang Lung and the kindly soil that sustained him, came flood and drought, pestilence and revolution....
Through this one Chinese peasant and his children, Nobel Prize-winner Pearl S. Buck traces the whole cycle of life, its terrors, its passion, its persistent ambitions and its rewards. Her brilliant novel, beloved by millions of readers throughout the world, is a universal tale of the destiny of men.

Pulitzer Prize for Novel 1932

Rebecca

by Daphne du Maurier
5 Stars
Classic
Setting: England
441 pages
Published 1938

Ellie's Review
I absolutely love this book! It reminded me of Jane Eyre since it's a romantic suspense novel set in the past.

Book Summary
Working as a lady's companion, the heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life begins to look very bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. She accepts, but whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding Mrs Danvers.

Wuthering Heights

by Emily Bronte
4 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: England
464 pages
Published 1847

Ellie's Review
This is a great classic to read as you'll then be in on inside jokes the pop up all over regarding the characters of this book. It's an interesting read but does not give you the "warm, fuzzy feeling" afterward though. You won't relate very much to any of the characters, hopefully (since they aren't very likeable).

Book Summary
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte's only novel, is one of the pinnacles of 19th-century English literature. It's the story of Heathcliff, an orphan who falls in love with a girl above his class, loses her, and devotes the rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family.