Modern Saints: Their Lives and Faces

by Ann Ball. This collection of short biographies of many different saints is very interesting to read. Even though they are short biographies, they are packed with information about the saints. The book is also illustrated with photos of each of the saints, except in a few cases where no photograph exists.

My family's pastor read some of the stories from it at a Confirmation retreat, and I found the stories he read interesting. Since the library had the book, I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is definitely one which I would recommend.

Lay Siege to Heaven

by Louis de Wohl. This is a very good biographical novel about Saint Catherine of Siena. Even though it's a long book, I got through it pretty quickly. It's a book that I would want to read again and one that I would definitely recommend to others. The author is very good at writing dialogue, which makes it even more interesting in my opinion.

Jo's Boys

by Louisa May Alcott. The final book in the Little Women series, readers will learn about what happens to each of the "little men" as they grow up. They will also enjoy reading about Jo's last scrape in chapter 3. A good book, which I would recommend but the end is kind of sad because you know that it's really the end.

Little Men

by Louisa May Alcott. The sequel to Little Women, this book is set at Plumfield (Aunt Josephine March's old home) and is about boys who go to the school which Jo and her husband started there. While I would say that Little Women is decidedly a girls' book (though boys might enjoy bits of it), Little Men would probably be enjoyed by boys and girls alike.

The Lilies of the Field

by William E. Barrett. I read this book for school, and enjoyed reading it. Although it isn't a book that I would read over and over again, there are amusing parts in it and it was a good book.

Homer Smith, an ex-GI is on his way to "see the West", and stops to help some nuns build a fence. When they ask him to build a chapel, he, and everyone in the the town are sure he won't do it. However, thanks to the faith of Mother Maria (and partly the people from town, Homer gets the chapel built for "Lilies of the Field".

An Old-Fashioned Girl

by Louisa May Alcott. I read this book once before and got absolutely nothing out of reading it. However, this time I really enjoyed reading and definitely got more out of it than before.

When Polly Milton, a poor country girl, goes to visit Fanny Shaw and her family in the city, she learns how wonderful being poor really is. Although she occasionally wishes that she could dress up and be fashionable like Fanny, she keeps her simple, attractive, old-fashioned ways.

The Vision Books

These are WONDERFUL books about the saints, written by various Catholic authors. I have read lots of them and have thoroughly enjoyed each one. They are available from Ignatius Press. From Saint Therese's Little Way, to Saint Edmund Campion's adventures in Protestant England, these are all enjoyable books. My favorites are probably Joan of Arc, by Louis de Wohl, Saint John Bosco, by Catherine Beebe. However, all of them are excellent and would make very good read-alouds.

The House of the Seven Gables

by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a good book. Briefly, it is about Hepzibah Pyncheon, Clifford Pyncheon, Phoebe Pyncheon, and Judge Pyncheon. Hepzibah Pyncheon is a sour, grouchy old lady until young relative (Phoebe) comes and brightens up the lives of Hepzibah and Clifford. Clifford had spent many years in prison, on the charge of murdering his uncle, Jaffrey Pyncheon. Clifford is rather like his sister until Phoebe comes to stay with them for a while. Judge Pyncheon is Hepzibah and Clifford’s cousin and while some of his offers to help them seem kindly, he is really harsh and unjust and definitely deserved his fate at the end of the story.

Sorry that I haven't posted anything for awhile, but my family and I are busy.

The Lord of the Rings

by J. R. R. Tolkien. This is actually a trilogy, and while some might call a it a fairy tale, it is very different from fairy tales such as Snow White, Goldilocks, and Rapunzel.

The Fellowship of the Ring : In the first book, two hobbits, Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee set out, per Gandalf's request, to destroy the ring made many, many years before by Sauron. They are joined by two other hobbits, and five other companions, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir, making nine members of the fellowship.

The Two Towers : The first half of the second book focuses on the adventures of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf. The second half focuses on Frodo and Sam, who, having been seperated from the rest of the party, continue on their way to Mount Doom, with the assistance of Gollum.

The Return of the King : The conclusion, I will leave for you to find out for yourselves. However, you can comment and ask me to write a little something if you would like.   

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

by Elizabeth George Speare.  I read this book once before for the Literary Club which my sister and I were  a part of.  I recently read it again, and thoroughly enjoyed it as before.  Kit Tyler, looking at the shores of New England where she is going to live with her mother's sister and her family, realizes that her life will be very different from the life she enjoyed with her grandfather in the Caribbean.  This book is a good book which I would recommend for Grade 5 and up.  In reading or listening to it, one learns a lot about life in New England in the 1600's.   

The Hidden Treasure of Glaston

by Eleanore M. Jewett.  As one can see on the side-bar of my blog, this is one of my favorite books.  Set in twelth century Glaston, England this story is about young Hugh, whose father bring him to Glastonbury Abbey and leaves him in the care of the monks there.  Hugh, along with his friend, Dickon find themselves caught in a mystery of the Holy Grail (the chalice that Our Lord used at the Last Supper).  An old, supposedly mad hermit, the exciting setting, and the details of life in a twelth century monastery all add to the enjoyment of this book.

Miss Rumphius

by Barbara Cooney is a picture book about a lady who, when she was a little girl was told by her grandfather that someday she would make the world more beautiful. She didn't know what this was until, one day (unintentionally,) she discovered how.