I am taking this challenge three days at a time. My last post was for days 1-3, today will be days 4-6, of Sandman Jazz’s 30-Day Book Challenge.

Day 4:  Book you remember from childhood: There are so many! But in the interest of not repeating myself later, I loved Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess, and also The Secret Garden. Both were later made into movies which brought them to people’s attention again. 

Day 5: Favorite classic novel:  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – I read this book the first time as an adult, after seeing PBS’s showing of the first series made from the novel. I loved it so much I proceeded to read all of Jane Austen’s novels. A few years ago, Pride and Prejudice enjoyed a revival, which many people were very receptive to after seeing PBS’s showing of the 2nd P&P series as well as the movie starring Keira Knightley (very popular, although I didn’t like it very much – too much of the original dialogue was changed for no good reason).  I have read P&P at least 3 times and will probably read it again. (On Day 16 I will probably repeat this.)

Day 6: Book that broke your heart:  Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. In the genre of narrative non-fiction, Boo tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century’s great, unequal cities. This is a riveting account based on three years of uncompromising reporting by the author’s own experience in a Mumbai slum and the people she met and grew to care very much about – and so did I, as the reader!