I'm treating this eight-part series as one entry, because once you start, you won't want to quit. Dive in to the story of Anne ("with an E") Shirley, a unique, spirited, orphan who finds herself mistakenly taken to Green Gables Farm to live with Matthew and Morilla, instead of the boy they thought they were getting. The rest is an engaging transport to long-ago Prince Edward Island, complete with its sometimes fusty social mores and tragic realities of life and loss. Through it all, Anne is our hero and keeps us laughing. A wonderful departure. Do it for yourself.

So, step one: read Grimm's Fairy Tales. Turns out I wasn't familiar enough with them for this book to matter to me. As a result, I found it a bit dry and didn't really care what was happening. Perhaps you'd have revelations cascading down upon you of why this or that story came to be, but I was just reading as fast as I could to get through it. Meh.

I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that right out of the gate, this story starts with an attack. The woman in question is rendered stunned, and her little family is paralyzed as to how to help her. The protagonist here is her son, Joe, aged 13. You might think that a book that teaches us much we need to know about tribal rights, law, misuse of authority, and continued atrocities to Native Peoples would be tedious. Not so, in this case. That is the genius of Louise Erdrich. I had never encountered her before, but this book won't be the last of hers that I read. Joe is such a rich character that you feel you are walking around in his skin as the tale unfolds. He and his band of buddies navigate the fickle bridge between childhood and adult "freedom" vacillating between hormonal rebellion and a pining for the security of apron strings. The premise of this novel is somber and terrifying, yet real life goes on and it's not always weighty. While Joe and friends try to close in on the perpetrator of his mom's attack, we're treated to side-trips which make you gasp, laugh, and ponder. I found this book to be a combination of the light mysticism of Brian Doyle, the tomfoolery of The Sandlot, and Stephen King's ability to climb inside a child's head and heart, while giving us a lesson that's hard to hear and important to know.

More of Mark's forward-thinking observances of the human condition, racism, stereotypes, and the like. Not easy reading, but he was certainly ahead of his time.

Here's another dinger in the James Herriot series that will steal your heart.

Steinbeck's first published novel tells the story of the pirate, Henry Morgan. Interesting, part fact, part fiction--it's captivating in places and drags in others. But hey, it's Steinbeck. Worthwhile.

Despite its reputation, this book is about so much more than, you know, that. It covers class, loyalty, love, sadness, but does so wordily. If you like to settle in and ponder deeply (no pun intended), this could be the book for you.

A thoroughbred thriller to keep you reading!

Harriet's radical expose of slavery, greed and dignity under fire resonated then, and still does. If you haven't read it, you should. Imagine yourself living in the freaking 1800s and reading this. Or more horrifyingly, living in the freaking 1800s as a slave. If it doesn't cut you to the heart, we have a problem.

Oh my goodness. If you haven't read this series, you just must. They are feel-good, chuckle-mustering, universally appealing stories about a world in which none of us (or few, anyway) have lived, but love imagining. These stories about James, Siegfried, and Tristan, country vets all, are as good as a cup of hot cider. Taking place in the 1930s in Yorkshire, the times are lush yet charged with things to come. 1000 hos.

Although I love Chaim's work, this one fell flat for me. Go with The Chosen or My Name is Asher Lev instead.

Nancy tells a moving story about two disparate yet entwined families with simplicity and deftness. A worthwhile read.