It’s another hot, sit-on-the-dock, read, swim, and eat-watermelon day, and there is both good news and bad news to report.
The bad news is that my ARC of Laurel Snyder’s PENNY DREADFUL got dripped on a little and is the tiniest bit soggy.
The good news is that I finished reading, and…wait…that’s bad news, too. Because I’m going to miss this book a lot. It’s one of those stories that feels like cold lemonade in summer or steaming hot chocolate in winter — timeless and comfortable and homey. It’s about a rich girl from the city, Penelope, who turns into a not-so-rich girl in the country, Penny. Where Penelope lived in a mansion and had a tutor, Penny lives in an old country house. She has awesome, eclectic neighbors (Oh, how I wish I could have had zany, messy Luella as a friend!), inner resources, and Adventures with a capital A.
This book felt familiar to me when I was reading, and it took me a while to figure out why. When I was a kid, I loved Pippi Longstocking. I wanted to BE Pippi Longstocking. I wanted a monkey and a tree to hang from upside down and braids that stuck out like that. It was a book that I read over and over and wished that I could live inside. PENNY DREADFUL has that same feel to it — that sense of setting off on a wonderful adventure with true friends who might be just a little dangerous and are all the more fun for it. It was a perfect dock-swimming-summer-day book. Sorry about the soggy pages, Laurel, but it was too hard to put down.
Other dock reading happening at the Messner house this week:
Son (14) – THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin
Daughter (8) OUT OF MY MIND by Sharon Draper
Husband (who probably would not want his age mentioned) WEATHER ON THE AIR: A HISTORY OF BROADCAST METEOROLOGY by Robert Henson
Up next for me: THE STRANGE CASE OF THE ORIGAMI YODA by Tom Angleberger
What are you reading this week?