Book Bite: "Great Expectations"

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

- Great Expectations (1860) by Charles Dickens

Happy birthday, Charles Dickens!

English novelist Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in what is now Portsmouth, England.

Facts about Dickens...

• He was one of eight children in a family that struggled with financial issues, and his father eventually ended up in debtor's prison. 
• By the time Dickens was a teenager he was already working in the law courts as a freelance reporter and stenographer. 
• At the age of 20 he worked as a news reporter and then began submitting sketches to various publications; this work was later published as Sketches by Boz. 
• Dickens was also quite popular in the United States and went on a lecture tour in 1842.  
• He had ten children with his wife Catherine (he separated from his wife in 1858).
• His public readings of his novels were very popular.
• Dickens died of a stroke on June 9, 1870.
• Thinking about visiting London? Visit the Charles Dickens Museum!

Books by Dickens:

• Nicholas Nickleby
• The Old Curiosity Shop
• Oliver Twist
• A Christmas Carol
• David Copperfield
• Bleak House
• Little Dorrit
• A Tale of Two Cities
• Great Expectations

One of my favorite books, and one that I continue to go back to re-read, is Great Expectations. I love Dickens' manner of telling a story and how he writes his characters. Have you read anything by Charles Dickens? What do you think of his writing?

Happy birthday, C.S. Lewis and Louisa May Alcott

The author of the popular Chronicles of Narnia series, C.S. Lewis, was born November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was born November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Celebrate these authors' birthdays by checking out a book (or a movie based on a book) written by them!

C.S. Lewis

Chronicles of Narnia series
#1 The Magician's Nephew
#2 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
#3 The Horse and His Boy
#4 Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
#5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
#6 The Silver Chair
#7 The Last Battle

We own various editions and formats and many are located under JUV FICTION LEWIS or PB CLASSIC LEWIS. All 7 books included in The Chronicles of Narnia (PB CLASSIC LEWIS).To find any of the books or movies do a keyword search for "chronicles of narnia."

The latest Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is out in theaters December 10.

Louisa May Alcott

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving
JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

The movie An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, based on the short story

Little Women (1868-1869)
FICTION ALCOTT // JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

Little Women film adaptations : 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn; 1949 version starring June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Janet Leigh; and the 1994 version starring Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Christian Bale, and Kirsten Dunst.

more books about the March family:
Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys (1871)
JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

Jo's Boys (1886)
FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

To find more writings, just do an author search for "Louisa May Alcott" in the catalog.