I can never resist a book about Reading, so when I saw The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons, From Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder, I immediately added it to my Christmas wish list, and Ryan obligingly got it for me. :)
Anyone with fond memories of the heroines that shaped their childhood (or adulthood) reading will adore this book. Each chapter focuses on a different Heroine and what exemplary trait they teach us about.
Heroines discussed:
-Lizzy Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
-Janie Crawford in Their Eyes Were Watching God
-Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables
-Celie in The Color Purple
-Francie Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
-Claudine in Colette’s Claudine Novels
-Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind
-Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird
-Laura Ingalls in The Long Winter
-Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre
-Jo March in Little Women
-Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden
The end of each chapter also recommends other “literary sisters” for each heroine, to help you discover other books with excellent Heroines that you may not have discovered yet. Reading this book made me want to re-read or read every single one of the books featured. The Heroine’s Bookshelf is a fun, nostalgic, and quick read, and I highly recommend it.
My favorite literary Heroines growing up were: Betsy Ray, Alice McKinley, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anastasia Krupnik, Anne Shirley, and Ramona Quimby. Since then (as an adult), I’ve added: Elizabeth Bennett, Francie Nolan, Jane Eyre, Thursday Next, Jo March, Anne Elliot, Hermoine Granger, Meg Murry, and Auntie Mame.
Who are your favorite Heroines from literature?
This book is somewhere at the top of my wishlist, it sounds so good :)
I loved, loved, loved this book! It reaffirmed why I love to read and made me want to revisit all my old favorites.
Two special heroines of mine were Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Harriet the Spy. *Especially* Harriet!