Finished for Friday: A Stack of Books

I've been doing a lot of reading on my kindle lately. All this rain makes me want to curl up with a quilt and some tea. There are quilts in progress, but none ready to show this week. Here's what I've been enjoying:

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. This is a young adult book that my children love and insisted I read. It's the first in a trilogy that spins the "real" story behind the story of Alice in Wonderland. This world is darker, more dangerous, and very exciting. The character we know as Alice is really a princess with an imagination that is powerful enough to change reality. She is forced to escape her world and lands in ours, where she meets Charles Dodgson who writes down her story but infuriates her by getting it all wrong. It's a very entertaining read. I can see why my tweens enjoy it.

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is the first of the series by C.S. Forester. We recently watched the "Horatio Hornblower" miniseries with the kids and they loved it (not recommended for very young kids though!). The book covers the beginnings of his adventures on the high seas just prior to the Napoleonic wars. It was a quick, entertaining read and I look forward to picking up the rest of them.

Wanted, A Young Woman to Do Housework: Business Principles Applied to Housework. This was a freebie on the kindle and I loved it. Written in 1917, it's a must for any fan of "Upstairs Downstairs" or tales involving live-in domestic help at the turn of the century. It lays out the case for giving servants time off (shocking!), paying them an extra dime per guest for dinner parties (only fair!) and considering making them work only 8 hours a day (how will it all get done?!?!). It instructs the mistress of the house in how to schedule the help so she will never have to see her children at all. It's so earnest it's unintentionally very very funny. Download it for your kindle or see if your library has a copy. My how times have changed!

This was another good read, and I had to stay up late to finish it and see how it ended. It's the story of a midwife in a remote area of Vermont who performs an emergency Cesarean on a woman who has died during childbirth. The author takes the point of view of the midwife's 14 year old daughter and does so remarkably well. The ensuing accusations and trial will make you think about your own opinion of home birth. Very well written.

Now it's your turn. Please join in with your finished projects for this week. A few guidelines:

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That's all there is to it! If you didn't read all the entries from last week you missed some great projects! I love what people have been contributing. Have a great weekend.