Time to announce the March Reading Buddies book! It was neck and neck for a while there, but A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith won out in the end.
Here’s what Goodreads has to say about our March pick:
“The beloved American classic about a young girl’s coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness — in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.”
I know I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as a kid, but I hardly remember it and am looking forward to revisiting it! I hope some of you will be able to join me.
Just a reminder: February’s book is The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. I just picked up my copy and am looking forward to digging in!
Finally, the poll for April is up in the sidebar. The options are (links go to Goodreads): Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and The Real Life of Sebastian Knight by Vladimir Nabokov. Please vote for your preference!
I’m glad that “A tree grows in Brooklyn” has finally been chosen! The book has been on my shelves for a long time. I just got my copy of the Razor’s Edge and will probably begin reading it this week.
I re-read this a few years ago, and at first I had a bit of a panic because the prose wasn’t as I’d thought it would be, and I started to worry that it might be one of those “shouldn’t re-read” books for me, but that took a turn as I read along and I ended up finding other things to love about it that I’m positive that I missed when I was reading (and re-reading) it as a girl. But I still loved the bits about Francie and the library and her fire-escape every bit as much as I did when I was a girl: that didn’t change a bit, except maybe loving it even more.
Oh, I loved this book, but it was so sad! T recently thought about posting my review of it, but felt that my reactions, written so soon after I had finished the book were too dark. A long time has past since I have read the book, and now I just sort of feel a warmness and a depth of feeling about it. It’s a great choice, and I do so hope that you enjoy it!
Oh, some goodies on here! I might try to join in on the Maugham, as well, since I’ve only read Of Human Bondage, but loved it. 🙂
I would love to join in on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – I somehow never read it as a child but picked it up recently at a thrift store.