So Big | 
pickSelina Peake DeJong is such a singularly wonderful character. While the book is named after her son, Dirk 'So Big' DeJong, this is her story, beautifully told. She is a remarkable woman who longs for a life of beauty and adventure, yet finds herself a truck farmer's wife in Illinois. Instead of fading into the monotony of her world, she chooses to bring her ethos and spirit to everyday life and hopes for a remarkable future for her son. Cont'd
"You'd be surprised, Jan, to know of all the things you're going to hear of some day that you've never heard of before."
I absolutely love Selina Peake DeJong. What a wonderful character. Thank you for this #AuldLangSpine recommendation @Sapphire - it's a gem! @monalyisha
@Sapphire What a wonderful list for #AuldLangSpine ❤️❤️❤️ It's got me very excited to kick off my 2024 reading!
I've read, and loved, a couple of them. I've now placed lots of library holds, I love the variety of genres and the mix of classics with newer titles. I think the two pictured are my currently most anticipated, but I'm truly excited about them all!
Thank you @monalyisha for another great match!
Very much loving this one!
Oh, Cyd! What a lovely and generous #fallingforfallswap package you sent me. For your first big swap, you really came out swinging and I just love everything! Can't wait to indulge in everything (going to read these books in the best smelling apartment). And tell your son thumbs up on the candy 👍. Thank you so very much! You really made my day.
@CBee @Avanders #fffs
"The bedroom was cruelly cold. As she threw the bed clothes heroically aside Selina decided that it took an appalling amount of courage-- this life that Simeon Peake had called a great adventure."
pickI LOVED THIS. The language was charmingly of its time, but also unbelievably modern-feeling. Selina Peake is a great character, and her story conveys so much about vocation, identity, beauty, and the meaning of life. And I loved the Midwest setting. I‘m finally reading Ferber after learning that she has roots in the same area of Wisconsin where I grew up. Not sure how I wasn‘t more aware of her back then, but I look forward to making up for that.
pickWow, what a wonderful, unexpected surprise—I love this book. The daughter of a gambler, Selina Peake is forced to make her way in the world after her father‘s death. She becomes a school teacher in a Dutch farming community on the outskirts of Chicago. She marries, has a child, husband dies, & she has to find a way to survive. Selina Peake DeJong is a fantastic character & this is a fabulous story of turn-of-the-century Chicago I highly recommend.
I‘m really enjoying this book and the descriptions of Chicago. The emergence of the Loop and the North Shore from the perspective of a family of farmers is really fascinating. Obviously, it‘s all much more complicated than that but this book is proving to be an absolutely delightful & surprising discovery. So glad I picked it up.
“In the midst then, of this fiery furnace of femininity Dirk walked unscorched.”
“About mistakes it‘s funny. You got to make your own; and not only that, if you try to keep people from making theirs they get mad.”
Everyone‘s asleep so I‘m enjoying an early, quiet morning of reading as snow blankets the city and it is wonderful.❄️☃️❄️
I know I‘m posting a lot of quotes but I love the writing and the descriptions are just fantastic.
Love this description of the prairie around Chicago. Certainly doesn‘t look like that today. Corn and soybeans, sure. Cabbages? Not so much.
Yeah, it‘s cold and gray outside but let‘s be honest, that‘s really just another great reason to stay inside reading.
So, that‘s what I‘m going to do. This book won the Pulitzer in 1925 and is a story about turn-of-the-century Chicago. That‘s a fascinating period of time and I‘m looking forward to what should be an interesting read.
pickI found a copy of so big at a used book store in Calgary. It won the Pulitzer? Well deserved. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this book or Edna Ferber before.
