6. A book that is or has been out of print.

So I saw Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and predictably enough I have both Thoughts AND Feelings! But this isn’t a chronological listing of all of my structural complaints about this film adaptation but also every time I cried, this is a list of books to return to if you’re feeling March Family Madness. 

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott: the annotated version edited by John Matteson offers an amazing amount of context and plenty of commentary on the children’s classic’s place in the cultural landscape. 

Jo’s Boys, by Louisa May Alcott: Jo’s first students are coming of age, but they still need Jo and her family to face the big and small troubles of life in 19th century Massachusetts. 

I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith: two sisters face first love, the problem of home economics in a rundown castle, artistic ambitions, and impending adulthood. 

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly: Callie Vee’s oldest brother is going courting, her mother won’t let her cut her hair, and her grandfather has a copy of On the Origin of Species locked up in the library. It’s going to be an eventful year. 

The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall: this story about Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy is by no means a retelling of Little Women, but it certainly has elements of homage. 

Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen: Two very different sisters, a variety of suitable and unsuitable suitors. 

All-of-a-Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor: the adventures of five rambunctious girls in turn-of-the-century New York. 

Miss Buncle’s Book, by D.E. Stevenson: what happens when a novel drawn from life is, well, too close to life? An innocent author unleashes chaos in her English village. 

Not nosy at all! (And I never mind questions!) 

I’ve had a vague idea that I should try James Herriot for a long while now, but he always tends to get pushed down my reading list. I would like to try his books someday, though, because they do sound charming.

I love D.E. Stevenson. Now that I think about it, I don’t know if I’ve ever finished one of her books, but I find her style very fun and readable and relaxing. Unfortunately, I’m also extremely distractible, and when I wander away from one of her books, I tend to let it drop off, because there are meatier books on my TBR that I want to prioritize. (Not that I finish most of those meatier books either, but like I said, distractible!)

I started to read one of Trollope’s Barchester books and liked it well enough, but at the time, I was in a mood where I didn’t have the patience for classics, and wandered away about a third of the way through. Since I’m loving Gaskell right now, I think Trollope would be the perfect author to explore next.