Happy Friday, guys! Let’s get the weekend started with some good ol’ book reviews in fifteen words or fewer.
1. Meet Kirsten: An American Girl (American Girls: Kirsten #1) by Janet Beeler Shaw
Great look at the immigrant experience for kids. Probably teared up at this one.
2. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Made me want to visit Paris and reread As You Like It. Dee’s my favorite.
3. American Pastoral by Philip Roth
I liked the initial concept, but didn’t hold together for me character-wise.
4. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Delightful magical revision of English/French history. I loved the footnotes.
5. The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
As a child concerned about clothes, a king walking naked down the street was puzzling.
Just One Day – don’t know that one. Couldn’t finish American Pastoral. (I should have known better, I’m not a fan of Philip Roth. I generally find his writing a tad puerile and misogynistic.) When I was a child and read The Emperor’s New Clothes (which I have always really liked for some reason), I wondered why people were telling him right off that he was naked.
I always enjoy your Friday Fifteen!
*weren’t* telling him.
I always teared up at Kirsten’s story, too. I should really go back and read those books again, and potentially check out the newer girls, as well.