"Winter Holiday" by Arthur Ransome

In my defense, it WAS winter when I started reading this aloud to my kids!  I started it in January, but it's been challenging to fit read-aloud time into the general chaos that has been our lives for the first few months of this year.  In fact, I finished reading it to them in the van on the way home from a road trip to Indiana to view the total solar eclipse this week.  I think the characters in this series would have approved of that.

This is book four in the Swallows and Amazons series, and I think it ties with the first book as my favorite so far.  That's partly because I love snow, and this involves a lot of snow, and partly because it felt kind of new and different because of the setting and the addition of new characters.  To the usual Swallows (John, Susan, Titty, and Roger) and Amazons (Nancy and Peggy) and Captain Flint, we add the Ds (Dick and Dorothea).  The Ds are NOT great at things like sailing and camping and climbing mountains... but they are willing to do their best and try their hardest, and I grew to love them for their gumption.

Because the Swallows and Amazons are both spending their winter school break at the lake where they usually hang out in the summer, they decide to get together an expedition to the North Pole.  They meet Dick and Dorothea after the Ds try signalling with lights to the house at Holly Howe where the Swallows are staying, only they don't know Morse Code, so the Swallows and Amazons promptly teach it to them.  And then let them tag along as they build an igloo of sorts, and make plans and preparations for their polar expedition, and so on.  The Ds enter fully into the very real spirit behind the somewhat imaginary expedition, and end up having a truly thrilling adventure of their own before the end.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for children getting into dangerous situations.  No one is ever permanently or seriously hurt, however.

This has been my 24th book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list, and my 11th for the 2024 Mount TBR Challenge.

The I'll Get Around to It Tag

I found this at The Christian Fiction Girl and thought it looked like good fun, especially as I eye my TBR stacks and shelves, and see how they just keep filling up no matter how assiduously I try to empty them.

The Rules 

• Link back to the original post @ Quote, Unquote. 
• Link back to the person who tagged you. 
• You may use the included graphic anywhere in your post (optional; a black clock with Roman numerals) 
• Answer all seven categories with a book. 
• Tag seven others. (optional)

The Categories

1. A classic book that you have been meaning to read forever but haven’t yet

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.  I even bought myself a really pretty copy a couple years ago, but that still hasn't gotten me to actually read it.  Yet.

2. A book on your shelf that you haven’t read yet 

Um, I have more than 400 books on my shelves that I haven't read yet.  And you want me to pick one?  Well, I shall pick Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, which has been on my TBR shelves longer than two of my kids have been alive...

3. A book that you got recently that you haven’t read 

I just picked up a lovely copy of The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens at a thrift store recently.  Will read it someday.

4. A book that you’ve had forever but haven’t read 

I've had Under the Deodars by Rudyard Kipling on my shelves since before all three of my kids were born.  Still haven't read it.

5. A book a friend recommended that you haven’t read 

People tell me I will love The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery, and I have a copy on my shelves for when I am in the right mood for some Montgomery!

6. A book you’re procrastinating on 

I keep telling myself to read Villette by Charlotte Bronte, but I am a little afraid to try it, to be honest.  I'm afraid I will compare it to Jane Eyre too much, and it can't possibly live up to that.  I know I can choose not to compare them intentionally, but I worry I will do it subconsciously.  One of these days, I'll read it!

7. The next book on your TBR

Break the Beast by Allison Tebo, a fantasy retelling of Beowulf!

Not tagging anyone with this today because I just don't feel like it.  Play if you want to!

The categories again, for your copying ease:

A classic book that you have been meaning to read forever but haven’t yet 

A book on your shelf that you haven’t read yet 

A book that you got recently that you haven’t read 

A book that you’ve had forever but haven’t read 

A book a friend recommended that you haven’t read 

A book you’re procrastinating on 

The next book on your TBR

"The Lonely Men" by Louis L'Amour

Not my favorite Sackett book, I'm afraid.  Even though it stars Tell Sackett, who IS my favorite Sackett!  Mostly, I think I disliked it because it had Laura Sackett for a villain, Orrin's ex-wife, and she is poisonous and spiteful and horrid.  I just wanted to get myself (and Tell) as far away from her as possible.  She's really just in bits here and there, but ugh, I hated having to deal with her whenever she cropped up.

I did love how Tell and three friends risked everything to rescue some children.  I love protective characters, and that is no doubt why I love Tell Sackett.  Also, Dorset was another of L'Amour's wonderful female characters filled with grit and grace.  She was the direct opposite of Laura, which was refreshing.

Particularly Good Bits: 

With none to share our sorrows or regrets, we kept them to ourselves, and our faces were impassive.  Men with no one to share their feelings learn to conceal those feelings.  We often spoke lightly of things which we took very seriously indeed (p. 17).

I figure I was shaped to be a wallflower, but I don't mind.  I sort of like to set back and listen to folks, to drink coffee, and contemplate (p. 20).  (ME TOO, Tell!)

The desert is the enemy of the careless (p. 40).

"It is easy to destroy a book, but an idea once implanted has roots no man can utterly destroy" (p. 94).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16 for a lot of violence, including torture, and kids in peril.  The violence is not gory, but it isn't too glossed-over, either.  There is a smattering of bad language.

This is my 10th book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

"Ruthless" by Candice Pedraza Yamnitz

The novella Ruthless is a prequel to Unbetrothed, which I reviewed here a couple years ago.  It focuses on Cottia, the mother of Unbetrothed's heroine, and her late teen years when she was an assassin.  I kid you not!  She is held in a sort of thrall by an evil man who makes Cottia use her magical talents to kill people on his orders.

Cottia is desperate to leave this lifestyle.  She believes her master when he says that if she can kill a certain person at a big party and use is death to start a war, he will release her from fealty to him.  But Cottia discovers her powers are useless against believers in the Ancient One, this fantasy world's version of God.  Slowly, Cottia begins to believe she may be able to be freed from her master if she puts her trust in the Ancient One.  A handsome and extraordinarily kind prince is instrumental in her coming to believe this, and in helping Cottia break free.  This is kind of a how-they-met story, rather than a love story, which I found a lot of fun.

Like Unbetrothed, Ruthless is set in a fantasy world that has a Latin flavor, not a Germanic or Nordic one.  Although this is a prequel, it stands alone perfectly fine and would be a great introduction to this world for new readers.  I liked the fast pacing of this novella, and how much character development for Cottia it held.  I could have used more development for the prince, but I know Yamnitz is working on a sequel to this, so I expect we will get to know him better in that.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for fantasy violence, assassinations, perilous situations, and deaths.

"Murder at the Serpentine Bridge" by Andrea Penrose

Did I worry that, when the two main characters of the Wrexford and Sloane Historical Mystery series got married, the books might take a, shall we say, salacious turn?  I did.  But, they didn't!  Yes, there are a few on-page kisses, and a brief mention of enjoying the pleasures of the marital bed, but that's it.  Whew.  This series continues to be a delight!  My only sorrow regarding it is that my library doesn't have the next couple of books in the series!  Boo!  But, honestly, I have been considering buying copies of the series for myself.  I know I'm going to want to reread them!  And I don't want to trust the library not to get rid of them when they decide they aren't popular enough to keep on their shelves, as that has happened several times with mystery series I enjoy :-(

In Murder at the Serpentine Bridge, a brilliant inventor is murdered, his body dumped in the river.  He was working on a secret, dangerous project, and his plans for it are nowhere to be found.  The Earl of Wrexford and his wife, Lady Charlotte, become increasingly involved when they take the inventor's orphaned nephew under their care.  Their adopted sons, Hawk and Raven, befriend the lonely boy and nickname him Falcon.

Falcon inherited a title and property from his late father, but is not of age to manage his inheritance, and he has another uncle, his father's brother, who is supposed to be managing his estate.  But that uncle resents Falcon for a variety of reasons, not least because Falcon is a "quadroon," one quarter black and three quarters white.  His inventor uncle was Falcon's mother's brother, half black himself, but highly respected by most in England's scientific circles. 

The inventor's murder is not race-related, but greed-related, as unscrupulous bad guys want to sell off his plans for his dangerous invention to the highest bidder, no matter whether or not the highest bidder is an enemy of England's.  But the varying attitudes of Regency England toward black people do come into play.  As usual, Penrose includes actual historical events in her book, and there is a note at the back explaining which events are real, and which characters are inspired by or based on real people.  Because I love learning about history, I always appreciate that aspect of these books very much.

Particularly Good Bits: 

"None of us can sail a ship alone.  We need friends aboard to help us steady the keel and keep a firm hand on the tiller when the weather turns rough" (p. 173).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for murder, children in grave danger, brief on-page kisses, and the aforementioned sentence in which Lady Charlotte thinks about having enjoyed her bedroom activities with her first husband, but not so much as with her second.  The line is as vague as my description of it.

"The Vanderbeekers Ever After" by Karina Yan Glaser

Well, I can now officially say I wholeheartedly love this entire series.  I'm sad that it has come to an end, but I'm happy it went out on such a beautiful, love-filled note.

This book is more serious than the previous books in the series, though some of them got plenty serious in places.  But this one is heavy in lots of different parts, and the whole story has a more serious flavor.

Not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but treat it like it is if you haven't already heard about what happens in this book.  Laney Vanderbeeker is diagnosed with leukemia early in the book, and the bulk of the story centers on her stays in a children's hospital getting treated for cancer.  As a result, Aunt Penny and Mr. B keep wanting to postpone their Christmas wedding, but Laney holds onto the promise of their wedding as something to look forward to throughout her treatments.  

While there are plenty of fun and cute and even funny moments in the book, Karina Yan Glaser never treats Laney's illness lightly.  She explores how scary a life-threatening illness is not only for the person who has it, but for every family member.  Much kindness and love is shown to Laney, but not every child at the hospital has a family like the Vanderbeekers.  And not every child at the hospital has cancer that has a high survival rate like leukemia.  Glaser never lets the book get too grim, but she keeps it realistic too.  Any reader who has watched a loved one suffer with cancer is going to feel seen here, and find understanding.

The book does end on an upbeat and hopeful note.  But I wouldn't hand this one to kids under 10 who are very sensitive or easily upset.  

Particularly Good Bits:

Laney tucked that memory into her heart, another reminder that the kindness of strangers could brighten any day (p. 60).

Love came in all forms, whether it be from hugs or words or gifts or food (p. 148).

Everyone had their own story filled with joys and hardships -- no one was spared from pain (p. 360).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-10 for some heavy topics and the off-page death of a side character.  Parents should consider whether or not their kids can handle all that before letting them read it.

This has been my 9th book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

"The Annotated Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen (Annotated and Edited by David M. Shapard)

This is the second time I've read The Annotated Sense and Sensibility, which pairs Jane Austen's classic novel with extensive notes and commentaries by David M. Shapard.  I used this edition back in 2021 when I led a read-along here for S&S, and I very much enjoyed learning from it.  So, when I decided to join the #JaneAustenDeepDive2024 reading group on Instagram, I decided I wanted to read all of these annotated editions.  We're taking two months to read each book, and really having a great time discussing things very thoroughly.  

That slower pace is ideal for these annotated editions because they really do take a lot longer to read -- there are thousands of notes in here explaining everything from naming conventions to social niceties to the differences between a carriage and a barouche, to what kinds of food would be common in that era for different classes.  Because history fascinates me, I absolutely loved reading this edition, even for the second time!

However, reading a thoroughly annotated book like this is a very different experience from reading the novel on its own.  I can't fully immerse myself in the story because, every paragraph or two, I have to stop reading the novel to read an explanatory note.  So, because I love history, I found it very enjoyable, but enjoyable in a different way from simply losing myself in the story.

That means that I would not recommend reading this annotated edition if it is your first time reading Sense and Sensibility.  But if you have read it before, and you want to understand the society and world and times that the story takes place in and was written in, then it can be very wonderful.

I know this review is mostly about the annotations, not the story itself.  Briefly, this is the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, whose father dies at the beginning of the book, and they and their mother and younger sister must move away from their home and live in a much smaller and poorer way than they are used to.  Both Elinor and Marianne fall in love, but their different temperaments and personalities, and the very different nature of the men they fall in love with, means that they have very different experiences in love.  The whole book is a meditation on whether or not it's wiser to let your heart by ruled by your head, or let your head be ruled by your heart -- or whether it might be wisest to balance the two.  It's a good book, but not a high favorite of mine.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for the text and PG-13 for the annotations, which talk about subjects such as unwed pregnancy in a much more frank way than the text does.  Nothing salacious, and no bad language, but not necessarily something I would hand to a young teen, either.

This has been my 23rd book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list.