Friday, November 05, 2010

November: Celebrating Alcott and Little Women

November is one of my favorite months. Despite the growing cold and the headlong rush toward winter, there is so much about November I love: All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, the beginning of Advent, and the literary day of days.

If you've been acquainted with my blog for long, you'll know I call November 29th the literary day of days. That's because it's the birthday of Louisa May Alcott, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle, three of the most formative writers of my life. Three of the writers of my heart.

I thought it might be enjoyable to set aside a November to celebrate each of those authors, and this year I thought I'd start with Alcott. Not just because she comes first in the alphabet, first chronologically (born in 1832) and first in my childhood reading...though all of that is true.

I've had Alcott especially on my mind of late, in part because I just finished reading the first book in the Mother-Daughter Book Club series, which is (in large part) a loving tribute to Alcott's literary masterpiece. It's fascinating to me to see that, so many years after its initial publication, Little Women continues to inspire creativity and loyal readership.

I've also recently read Harriet Reisen's biography of Louisa May Alcott, which I highly recommended in this review last May.

And in March, I participated in Fuse #8's Top 100 Children's Novels poll. Not many 19th century novels made the cut, but Little Women came in at #25. It was, in fact, the oldest book to make the list. And I was delighted to see my quote about it posted front and center.

So for 2010, Alcott it is. Given the pace of my life right now, I don't know how much time I'll be able to devote to the celebration, but I do hope to get up some posts, particularly in celebration of Little Women. I've already got a questionnaire out to some friends who expressed interest in talking about the book with me...if you're a Little Women fan and would be interested in responding to the questions too, please let me know in the comments. And please, spread the word to any other Little Women fans you know!

4 comments:

Susan Bailey said...
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Susan Bailey said...

I love Louisa May Alcott too and have a blog I've dedicated to her, discussing works by and about her. It's called Louisa May Alcott is My Passion and you can find it at http://louisamayalcottismypassion.wordpress.com

We have a nice group over there and are discussing Little Women right now along with news, etc. about new books that are coming out right now.

Beth said...

Susan, thank you so much for stopping by. Your site is lovely and I will enjoy bookmarking and visiting it! And I always love joining good book discussion!

Life being very busy for me these days, my posts come slowly, but I do hope to get up a handful during November. I just wrote about my childhood copy of Little Women and what it meant to me...I figured starting there was a good idea. :)

Thanks again for visiting -- I hope you'll come back sometime!

mbpbooks said...

ME! I plan on hosting a community read of OLD-FASHIONED GIRL the first week of December. Won't you join us?