Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

Rose Campbell comes to the Aunt-hill tired and sick. Her guardian, uncle Alec, decides to make her a healthy young woman. Except his idea of a fashionable lady is rather different than most peoples.

Okay. It wasn't as good as Little Woman. It didn't have enough of a story.

Going to Missouri!

a very cool word

I was looking for a synonym of 'ring' in the thesaurus, and I found the neatest word I've heard in a long time:
TINTINNBULATE!
v. to ring or sound a bell.
From Latin, tintinnabulum, 'small bell'. (How we got to ring the bell out of simply 'bell', I don't know)
You can look it up.

Luther the Reformer: the story of the man and his career by James M. Kittleson

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483. His birth was so unknown that later he and some of his friends debated the date. He began school intending to be a lawyer, but after a few years vowed to become a monk. He was not a very happy monk, feeling weighed down by his sin. The Catholic procedures didn't seem to help. So he began to think, and slowly he thought of revolutinary ideas that led to the posting of The 95 Theses. Soon the whole Roman Empire had heard of him, and he was summoned to various councils, diets, and meetings. He wrote books on the demonic qualities of the pope and the Roman Church, the sins of indulgences and confessionals, and the need for a new church. He firmly stood by his beliefs to his death in1547. He was born an unknown pauper and died well-off and was mourned all across the Empire.

Good. It was easy to read, but also gave a pretty thorough background of his beliefs. It probably wouldn't be enough information for die-hard Lutherans, but it was good enough for me. I now know a lot more than I did, which was the point.

Apparently Happy needs to be potty-trained again. Yuk.

Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip

Rois Melior has always wandered freely through the wood by her house. One day she meets Corbet Lynn. Soon rumors begin to fly about him. His father murdered his grandfather, and his grandfather's last words were supposedly a curse. Rois is curious, and begins looking for clues. She findes herself caught in a whirlwind of curses, the past, and the cruel winter.

Good. It's scary in a nice, shivery way. It's a little confusing because there's a lot of stuff going on, but you'll figure it out.