I always get The Secret Garden and A Little Princess mixed up.  Probably because they both start have something to do with India and because they were written by the same person.  I had only seen the movies until I read my awesome threads version of The Secret Garden.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The imagery was fantastic.  I want to live in a 100 room house that backs up to an English moor.  I took a wrong turn somewhere in life I guess.  The story is full of imagery - mostly garden imagery.  But there is also a cute little story to go along with it.  I will say, look up an example of a Yorkshire accent and it will make reading this book much easier.  

This was a great, quick read - perfect for a snowy day.  

I’m not a horse person.  What I mean by that is that I’m scared of horses - for the most part.  I grew up with sheep, had cows behind our house, went to plenty of rodeos, 4H shows, and farms - but I think I’ve only ridden a horse once.  It’s not that I don’t like them, they’re just so big!  Anywho, I’m glad I read Black Beauty because it really does enlighten you about horses.  Granted, this is in the late 1800s, but I’m sure most of it still applies.  This was a very enjoyable story, and it was quite a quick read.  Plus notice how awesome the cover is.  Thanks to my mommy I have this version.

There are few things in this book that aren’t magical.  In fact, pretty much all of it is.  If you’ve seen Disney’s animated Peter Pan, much of it is the same.  If you’ve seen Hook or the live action Peter Pan - put them all together and you’ve pretty much got it.  One thing that I believe isn’t in any of the movies is the meeting between Peter Pan and Wendy’s mother.  I liked that in the book, there’s pretty much no denying the Peter Pan and Neverland are real.  In the movies, there’s always a bit of a feeling that nobody believes the kids.  Also in the book, Wendy’s parents adopt all the lost boys and they all grow up, leaving only Peter Pan behind.  

I love everything about this book that’s in all the movies.  There wasn’t much new there.  There was a more serious, slightly heartbreaking element to Peter Pan that was only in the book.  You get that a bit in the movie Hook, but not as much.

In a nutshell, you’ll never regret taking a week or so to read this one.  It’s well written and purely magical.  Everybody should know the story of Peter Pan.

I’ll go ahead and say it - if you don’t enjoy Harry Potter, there’s something wrong with your imagination.  I am an admitted Harry Potter super fan.  I love the books and I am one who LOVES the movies.  Some would beg to differ.  I think those people are crazy.  I couldn’t be happier with the way the movies turned out.  They didn’t lighten or sugar coat what is written as a fairly dark story and the production value is top notch.  Not to mention every great British actor has a part in at least one of the films.  I am of the opinion that the Harry Potter movies are some of the best, if not THE best film adaptations of books ever.

I was SO excited to read this book.  Cary Grant is one of my favorite people of all time.  I’ve watched my copy of “The Philadelphia Story” so many times that it’s about to wear out.  I hadn’t read other Cary Grant biographies, mostly because with someone who lived their lives so privately, I don’t want to just read conjecture.  I came across Jennifer Grant for the first time during my years of watching every episode of Beverly Hils 90210.  She had a bit part over a few episodes and I ended up looking her up on IMDb.  I was SHOCKED to find that she was Cary Grant’s only child.  Whoa!  

Cary Grant had Jennifer when he was in his 60s.  He quit acting just before she was born.  What I thought was fascinating about this book is that she knows Cary Grant, her father - not Cary Grant, the Hollywood actor.  In Cary Grant fashion, he never really talked about life before Jennifer or even before hollywood.  So what you discover by reading this book is what it was like to know post hollywood Cary Grant.  I won’t spoil any of the fun anecdotes that make up this book, but know that you’re in for a treat.  Cary Grant saved every piece of his days with his daughter - photos, notes, letters, and even tape recordings of conversations they had together.  Jennifer Grant has a vault of memories of her father and she did a wonderful job of sharing some of the best in this book.

First, I will admit first that I bought this book soley on the awesomeness of the cover.  I figured that it being a classic made it worth the purchase.  Second, you’ll notice how long it’s been since my last book.  That’s how long it took me to finish this damn book.  I can’t necessarily blame the book.  Sometimes when you get interrupted by too many things, you lose steam.  And if the book is more of a leisurely read which requires concentration and appreciation for the language, it becomes very hard to keep going.  I reached a point in this book just over halfway through where it just became a matter of finishing the damn thing and moving on.

That said, if you have the time, it really is a well written story.  There are three parts, all somewhat related but switching between the lives of two characters in a turn of the century French world.  I loved the imagery.  As a Francophile, I love to hear about little French towns or the chaos of Paris, especially when it’s old timey.  Proust does a great job of painting a vivid portrait of the world in which the main characters live.  

Swann’s Way is the first in a series of three books called “In Search of Lost Time.”  Can’t say I’m gung-ho to start the next two, but I wouldn’t totally rule it out.  Swann’s Way is definitely a slow burn, but you can certainly appreciate the care with which it was written and the world that Proust created.