Joyfully Retired

This has certainly been a good year for Louisa May Alcott. So many readers are re-discovering her works. Certainly the debut novel, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees, helped me rekindle my love for Ms. Alcott’s work. I’ve noticed it’s doing the same for others. Even the Oprah Magazine reviewed it and posted discussion questions online. (Way to go Kelly McNees!!)

Our All Things Alcott Challenge has gained new participants over the past few months. Welcome to all the new participants from myself and all the other Alcott readers.

One particular participant has become so enthused she has started a blog devoted to the author. Susan Bailey has created Louisa May Alcott is My Passion. She just started it in August and already has nearly twenty posts. This is going to be a good resource for Alcott lovers.

Another participant, Beth Nolan Connors has been writing “a booklet for children doing biographies on the Alcotts and it is now published and being sold at the Orchard House Museum: The Alcotts of Concord: A Biography for Young Readers.”

What has everyone been reading?

• The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen was enjoyed by Sallie, Susan, Nancy and Melissa. I just started reading it.
• Little Women was read by Laurel.
• Little Men was read by Laurel.
• The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott was read by Beth, Susan,  and Laurel
• Louisa May Alcott by Madeline Stern was read by Mari
• May Alcott: A Memoir by Caroline Ticknor was read by Susan.
• Behind the Mask and A Long Fatal Love Chase were read by Whitney. She said, “I’ve been reading some of Louisa May Alcott’s racier works. I had no idea she had written thrillers until now.”
• Lori and I read Eight Cousins.
• I read Rose In Bloom and An Old Fashioned Girl

What are people doing?

• Beth “attended (and actually helped plan) the summer conversational series and educators’ workshop this summer at Orchard House (Concord home of the Alcotts). It was wonderful!! So many incredible speakers with so much knowledge.”
• Mari “had tea at the Pickwick Society Tea room in Frankfort, Illinois. All the rooms and many menu items are named after Little Women characters. Great fun!”
• Mari also watched The Inheritance, starring Meridith Baxter, on DVD.
• Nancy visited “Fruitland Museum at Harvard (the town, not the college), Massachusetts. This is the house that the Alcott family occupied during Bronson Alcott’s weird experiment with communal living.”
• I watched Little Men on DVD.

Isn’t it great that so many people are having such a good time centered around Louisa May Alcott? A little less than four months remain in this challenge so there is still time to grab a favorite Alcott book or try a new one. Or perhaps you’d like to read a biography or watch a DVD. Those lucky enough to be in New England could pay a visit to Orchard House or the Fruitland Museum.

To join the challenge go here: All Things Alcott Challenge.

*I apologize in advance if I have missed one of your books, dvds or events. Please leave your information in the comments section and I will update this post.