Little Women-Fiction, Classic

How can one describe Little Women?  It is a rich, timeless story, but it is the characters that truly draw me.  This was the first book I learnt to cry over, that sent chills up and down my spine, and that I can escape to at any time.

The story centres on four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, and their neighbour, young Theodore Lawrence, or "Laurie".  It begins during the American Civil War, and continues for more than ten years after, chronicling the lives of these five characters.  I have no favourite; they all lend something to the fabric of this book, be it Meg, so good, sweet, and feminine; Jo, whose hard edges soften as the story continues; Beth, the perfect character who isn't dull or preachy; Amy, first annoying and laughable, who grows into a perfect lady; or Laurie, the "little boy" who grows and in the process learns that there are many kinds of love.

This book is still a treasure nearly one hundred-fifty years after it was first written.  Status: Highly, highly recommended!

The Singing-Fiction

The Singing is the fourth and final installment in the Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon.

Maerad and Cadvan come from the north.  Saliman and Hem come from the south.  Somehow, soon, they must find each other.  Maerad's power is beginning to overwhelm her.  Her Elemental powers, coupled with her Bard powers, are powerful, but she seems sick to her friends, who worry about her.  Hem will need to use his full healing powers to heal his dearest friend.  And yet, through all the odds, they must find each other so that the Song can be sung, and Sharma, the Nameless One, destroyed.

Status: Highly Recommended!

Other books in the Pellinor Series: The Naming, The Riddle, and The Crow

The Crow-Fiction

The Crow is the third book in the Books of Pellinor series by Allison Croggon.

Leaving Maerad in the North, The Crow follows Hem and Saliman.  Turbansk is under attack by the Black Army of the Nameless One, or as he is known in the south, Sharma.  Bored by his lessons, Hem discovers his place in the healing houses tending injured civilians and soldiers.  But where will he go when Turbansk falls?

Status: Highly Recommended!

Other books in the Pellinor series: The Naming, The Riddle, and The Singing

The Riddle-Fiction

The Riddle is the second book in the Books of Pellinor series by Allison Croggon.

Maerad and Cadven have gone north to escape from Norloch, while Saliman and Hem (Cai) have gone south to Saliman's home.  Together, Maerad and Cadvan travel to Busk, an island where one of the most unique Schools exists.  When they are forced to flee from there, due to an order by Enkir, First Bard of Norloch that they are to be arrested, they travel further north, searching for the meaning of the ruins on Maerad's lyre.  What Maerad will discover will cause her to question the Elementals, the Light...and herself.

Status: Highly Recommended!

Other books in the series: The Naming, The Crow, and The Singing

The Naming-Fiction

The Naming by Alison Croggon: coming soon!

Selkie Girl-Fiction

 Selkie Girl by Laurie Brooks is a moderately good book.  It has a love story, and a conflict independent of the romance, but it is a bit slow.

Elin Jean is a sixteen-year-old girl living on an island whose location is never really stated.  Every year, there is a "culling" of the seal pups by the islanders, something she despises.  She's different in another way, too:  between her fingers, translucent webs grow.  Her father is a hard man who tries to cut these webs off time and again.  Her mother has grown old and frail.  The villagers shun her.  Then one day, the seals whisper to her about a pelt in her house that she must give to her mother...

The status of this book is: Recommended.

Brightly Woven-Fiction

 
The very first book in review here is Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken.  This book is written as teen fiction, but it is the kind of book one can describe as "rich".

When sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabil is playing hide-and-seek with her friend, Henry, and his brothers, a mysterious wizard, Wayland North, appears.  He whisks her off on a journey to save her land from war--for the late king was poisoned, and only North knows how.  Along the way, she discovers that she is special in more than one way.  What she chooses to do with her knowledge is truly unique.

The author created a wonderful main character, and a complex, layered supporting character.  This book is a wonderful read.  Status: Highly Recommended!