These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I read this one for the Little House Readalong and for the Newbery Challenge.

Harper & Row Publishers

In this story, the Ingalls have put the long winter behind them and have adjusted to life on the little town of De Smet. Laura has good and bad teaching experiences and is at first conflicted on her feelings for Almanzo Wilder. She comes to like him as much as she does his horses and there could be wedding bells in the future! Mary continues to enjoy life at college and the younger siblings are growing up quickly. The end of the book is the end of Laura's childhood and has some bittersweet moments.

I love the courtship in this one! Laura and Almanzo date for 3 years, which probably seemed like a lifetime back then. I also enjoyed seeing Laura's teaching moments and how she came to enjoy teaching a bit, not so much to want to keep doing it, but a bit. The scene with her first teaching position and the wife drawing a knife on her husband was frightening, but it shows how life was hard in the West, particularly for the wives. I really like also when Laura tells her parents she can't have the horses without their owner and how that is when they all truly knew she loved Almanzo. I had forgotten how sweet this book is and definitely give it 5 cups of cocoa! I think it is also a charming Newbery and one that really shows life for women on the prairie.

Re-Readathon #4 Wrapup

Writing my wrapup for Bout of Books, I remembered I still needed to do a wrapup for Re-Readathon. I only managed to listen to 9 chapters of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and read 140 pages of These Happy Golden Years. I liked both and really don't have a favorite. This was a super busy time at work. I love the re-readathons, but for me it was just a busy time. I liked it being a bit longer, because I felt like I had more time to get things read. I have since finished These Happy Golden Years and hope to get a review up soon. Thanks to Bex for hosting this!

Bout of Books Wrapup

Well I only managed to read 12 more pages of The Museum of Extraordinary Things, so not a great reading day, but since this week was really busy, I will still take it as a win. I managed to do one mini-challenge, both Twitter chats, finish one book, and read 117 pages, so not too bad. Thanks to the hosts and see you all in January.

Bout of Books Days 3-6 Update

Well I didn't update Days 3-5, because I did not read or socialize those days. Work kept me so busy that I just came home exhausted and slept.

Day 6: I participated in the Twitter chat which was awesome as usual. I also managed to read 72 pages in These Happy Golden Years and finish it! I also read 15 pages in The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

Bout of Books Day 2 Update

Day 2 Update:  I managed to read 70 pages in These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, so not too bad of a reading day!

Bout of Books Day 1 Update and Mini-challenge

Day 1 Update: I managed to make it to the Twitter chat, which was awesome as always! I also did the mini-challenge, which was really fun, and I managed to read 14 pages in The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. Not too bad for a 10 hour work day!

Today's Challenge is hosted by Writing My Own Fairy Tale and is the Book to Movie Adaptation challenge. You pick your most favorite adaptation and your least favorite adaptation.

My least favorite would be Beautiful Creatures.

   

It should have been really good. There were good actors, the story had a nice gothic feel, and the movie was terrible. I can usually watch anything, but I had to make myself get through it. It differed from the story too much and did not have the same charm as the book.

My favorite movie adaptation would be Pride and Prejudice.

 

Really it would be more the mini-series by the BBC, but I did really like the version with Keira Knightly. I think they cut just the right parts and still kept the feel of the book. It does not top the Colin Firth version, but it is still one of my favorite quick watches.

Bout of Books 17 Signup

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

This is my twelfth Bout of Books and will be a stressful week, so I am not sure how active I will be, but I hope to read and socialize a bit. I am going to try really hard to participate in the Twitter chat on Monday, because I love those and should be available at that time. Thanks to Amanda and Kelly for hosting!