We just had a great night discussing The Snow Child at Emily's house tonight. We had plenty of yummy treats and good conversation.
Rachel and I are doing a switcheroo for March book club, so here are the options... First of all, the last Wednesday of the month falls during Spring Break, and I don't know if we'll get many to attend. Instead, I'd like to have it onWed., Mar. 20th, giving us 3 weeks to finish the book.
Book options... Tonight at book club, I mentioned reading Alias Grace, choice #2, but thought there might be some who would be scared off by the story of a "celebrated murderess" in the 19th century. So, for those of you weak at heart (you know who you are), may I suggest this delightful novel, The Princess Academy.
Choice #1
Book Description
Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have
quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests
have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's
time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of
the village. The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every
teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.
Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.
Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.
I read this book this month and really loved it. It is, obviously juvenile fiction, so be prepared to have the urge to pull your kids in and read it to them too!
Choice #2 Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace
This book was given to me years ago, and I've finally gotten around to reading it. I've been completely sucked in by the language, and poetry woven throughout the novel. I am also intrigued by the real events which compelled the author to write this story.
Book Description
In Alias Grace, bestselling author Margaret Atwood has written her
most captivating, disturbing, and ultimately satisfying work since The
Handmaid's Tale. She takes us back in time and into the life of one of the
most enigmatic and notorious women of the nineteenth century.
Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders.
Dr. Simon Jordan, an up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness, is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories? Is Grace a female fiend? A bloodthirsty femme fatale? Or is she the victim of circumstances?
Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders.
Dr. Simon Jordan, an up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness, is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories? Is Grace a female fiend? A bloodthirsty femme fatale? Or is she the victim of circumstances?
