#OpenBook Book Lovers' Linkup!
If there's one thing I love, it's talking about books. Most of my friends can't get me to shut up about literature, and I'm notorious for having many, many "all-time favorite authors". Happiness and joy, Catholic novelist Carolyn Astfalk is starting a new linkup for those who share my addiction!
Freckles is the story of a plucky orphan who faces many conflicts in the Limberlost, and finds maturity and love. Honestly, I'd be perfectly satisfied if I could just find my own Freckles...why does he have to be fictional?
Girl of the Limberlost is loosely connected by locations and characters to Freckles, but follows a new story line. Interestingly, Elnora Comstock (the central character) is just about upstaged by her mother, whose compelling transition from bitterness to love has to make her one of the most intriguing supporting characters of fiction.
Check out my fellow bloggers' recent reads over at Carolyn's linkup! What have you been reading lately?
This Lent, I made the decision to give up my tablet as a penance. It was so delightfully easy to check out new fiction reads from the library, or download old classics from Project Gutenberg! For the next few weeks, though, instead of being constantly entertained by the internet, games, and ebooks, I'm satiating my need for a good story by working through a giant stack of real, live, paper books.
This week, I went on a Gene Stratton-Porter binge. A late 19th/early 20th century Hoosier author, her books are beautifully gentle and romantic in many senses of the word. Set sometimes in the context of the botanical paradise of the Limberlost Swamp, and sometimes in Indiana farmlands, her prose is crafted to express both the beauty of nature and the value of a good life. Love appears always with sacrifice as an essential aspect; and endings are most thoroughly and satisfactorily happy.
Girl of the Limberlost is loosely connected by locations and characters to Freckles, but follows a new story line. Interestingly, Elnora Comstock (the central character) is just about upstaged by her mother, whose compelling transition from bitterness to love has to make her one of the most intriguing supporting characters of fiction.
Laddie, A True Blue Story is told from the perspective of a young man's little sister, the youngest of twelve children. Little Sister's perspective, and her own spunk, weave a beautiful story of family life, faith, and romance.
Check out my fellow bloggers' recent reads over at Carolyn's linkup! What have you been reading lately?
Ooh, I've been wanting to read this author's work, but I needed someone to tell me which one to start with. :) I have Girl of the Limberlost on my shelf--is it standalone enough that I can read it first?
ReplyDeleteNice to meet another obsessive book lover through the link-up! :)
You won't regret picking her up! Yes, Girl of the Limberlost can be read on its own. There are enough tantalizing references to Freckles that you'll want to go read the first book when you're done, but not so many that you won't be able to thoroughly appreciate Girl of the Limberlost in its own right.
DeleteGreetings, fellow book-lover! And may I note that you have a lovely blog?
Thanks for linking up! I'm intrigued by Girl of the Limberlost, too. The cover looks so familiar to me somehow. I love finding a "lost" treasure in an old book!
ReplyDeleteI love "Girl of the Limberlost"! And "Laddie"! Such good books!
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