Welcome to Litsy!

I've done less reading than I might have this week as I've been doing this jigsaw, titled "The Secret Garden". Although it wasn't intentional, I've coincidentally been reading stories with a nature setting, so there's been a synergy between my reading and puzzling.
The animals were fairly easy to get done as the pieces were quite distinctive, but those little leaves and the twigs were slow going! ??????‍⬛???️??

The Secret Garden is about a sickly Indian girl named Mary following her experience with moving in with her uncle. Her parents, and servants died of a disease called cholera making her an orphan which is what caused Mary to move. Arriving at the manor Mary would play outside in the garden in her free time. Which was rumored to have a secret garden that her uncle locked away since his wife died in the garden. Mary of course was a curious child;

An interesting IG post about Frances Hodgson Burnett , a favorite childhood author & an author featured in @TheBookHippie ‘s #ChildrensClassicRead2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAL61wsopkI/?igsh=MTFodXh2Mm02czNhdQ==

https://bookhippie.com/index.php/2024/10/01/childrens-classic-read-2025/

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a book about a young sickly girl named Mary, Lennox. Her father was an officer for the English government in India along with her mother who was a party goer which both shared neglect for their child Mary. Unfortunately a deadly sickness named cholera killed her parents and a few servants which caused her to move away. She stayed for a while with an English minister and his five kids.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
This quote captures the essence of perspective and the idea that beauty can be found everywhere if we are open to it, inspiring a sense of wonder and appreciation for the world around us.

The transformation of the garden mirrored my thoughts on personal growth; nurturing relationships and environments can lead to healing and happiness.

This classic story follows Mary Lennox, a lonely girl who discovers a neglected garden and, through her nurturing, transforms both the garden and herself. The themes of healing, friendship, and the power of nature are beautifully explored in this enchanting tale. The lush descriptions and character development create a vivid world that encourages readers to appreciate the beauty and restorative power of nature.

Love it!

“Khu vườn bí mật” của nữ tác giả Victoria Frances Hodgson Burnett là tác phẩm văn học thiếu nhi kinh điển được trẻ em yêu thích trên toàn thế giới. Cuốn sách không chỉ là hành trình tìm sự sống và niềm vui trong khu vườn, mà còn là hành trình khám phá và chữa lành tâm hồn của cô bé Mary, mang đến cho người đọc những bài học sâu sắc về tình bạn, gia đình và sự kỳ diệu của thiên nhiên.
Review chi tiết:
https://dimibook.com/review-khu-vuon-bi-mat/

I got this copy of The Secret Garden from my parents when I was 5. 💙
#aboutabook #giftedtoyou

#CoverLove #LightBlue

Did you know there are free audiobooks on Spotify? I only recently learned this. You are only limited to 15 hours a month though. I just finished listening to this and it was very sweet. I needed that dose of sweet. It was not what I expected at all, but I did really enjoy it. It also had a cast for the reading which added to its charm. This author also wrote A Little Princess, which was a favorite movie of mine. (The Shirley Temple version.)

This book is an ode to love, friendship and the unsurpassed beauty found in nature that fills every one of us with hope. It is inspiring, tender and guarantees the reader is going to relive the magic when you delve into the pages of this tale and find it as enchantingly satisfying as you expected.....
Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6499505479

#StorySettings #Garden
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

We're doing the Night Market at the Toledo Botanical Gardens tonight, so I'm taking the opportunity to run around and take fun product photos. 🥰

#Studio42Books

It had been several years since my last reread of this one, and this spring it just felt right to pick it up. There is SO much to love about this delightful book, and I loved revisiting it. I will say that at one point it feels like Burnett kind of gets a little weird about “the Magic“ but overall this is still a heart book.

Pictured with some of the flats of annuals I purchased today... getting ready to get my own garden going!!!

Loved the interactive elements in this edition.

#Secret(s) 🤫🤐 #SpringSkies 🌸🌼🌺🌻🌨️☀️

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

#secret #springskies @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Look at this cool version of The Secret Garden that I got from ThriftBooks!! I have also always wanted to read this adventure series of wild cats so I got the first 3 of those also.

#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

🌷 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgsen Burnett

I love the garden in this book, and the talk of bloom and growth and renewal. ❤️

#SundayFunday Hope you all have a wonderful day, and Happy Easter if you celebrate! Remember to tag me in your posts!

#litsolace mood board #naturalitsy

I‘ve read a lot of classics but to answer this question, I‘m sharing the tagged book that I read in 2023. This book was published in 1911 but the version of it that I read is from Audible. I enjoyed it.

#SundayFunday

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (published in 1885–1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).
#TheSecretGarden #FrancesHodgsonBurnett #WomensHistoryMonth #book #books #booknerd #Classics #Fiction #Childrens #YoungAdult #HistoricalFiction #MiddleGrade #Fantasy #Audiobook 🖤🖤

I ❤️ my grandfather‘s family farm. They moved to a smaller 🏡 after my great aunt Jenny died in ‘88. It was a very free range childhood & the garden was like the 1 in the tagged 📖 but with 🦚 & a pet 🦘 called 🧚. My fav smells were the mint growing around a🚰 in the garden, the 🍊 in the orchard & the smell of Aunty Jenny‘s sister, great Aunty Marjory‘s fruit toast & 🧈 when my Nan would take me to visit her. She also had a camomile lawn!

I liked the message of this book: the power of your thoughts. That's not a new thing, but it's also something that I always love to read about. I also loved gardening they did and talking about flowers etc.

It's clear that this is an old story and some phrases wouldn't be acceptable nowadays.

Both Mary & Colin had amazing character arc, I loved how different the were at the end of the book compared to characters at the beginning.

A colourful book display! I had fun browsing the different titles 📚

“One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts—just mere thoughts—are as powerful as electric batteries—as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live.”

This was my only read for November, but I still think it would have won. It‘s such a beautiful story and has the power to remind me of what it felt like to be a kid. I adore the characters, especially Dicken. Would love a story about the trio all grown up.
#12Booksof2023

#12Booksof2023 ⭐️ Favorite Audiobooks ⭐️

When my littlest was young I read her an abridged version of this book. But this was the first time I have read the full text. It‘s such a beautiful book and one can tell the author was as avid gardener herself.

This little fellow was in our garden this morning feasting on figs in the fig tree.

To start reading tomorrow

A proper nostalgic reread of one of my childhood favourites for #castthedie #promptmaze

I didn‘t remember the fact that the dialogue in ‘Yorkshire‘ is absolutely hilarious 🙈 also loved reading about the moors especially now I live on the edge of them (although Lancashire not Yorkshire! 🌹)

#wintergames #snowangels

There is so much going on in this delightful Victorian children‘s novel! Class distinctions, hybridity, gender distinctions…but I have always found it a lovely little story about the power of friendship and positive thinking. Mary‘s parents die of cholera in India. She is sent back to England to live with an uncle she‘s never met. A garden that has been locked-up for 10 years is waiting to work its magic on the manor‘s inhabitants.

I enjoyed rereading this with the #NaturaLitsy group.
#BookSpinBingo #NaturaLitsy #RushAThon
@TheAromaofBooks @AllDebooks @Andrew65 @DieAReader

This was one of the few books that was read aloud to me after I was old enough to read myself, and while this isn‘t the only time I‘ve reread it, reading and discussing it with #Naturalitsy really clarified how my impressions of it have changed over time. It‘s also one of the only books I have my original childhood copy of, so this read was a wonderfully nostalgic experience. @AllDebooks

Cassandra‘s least favorite thing is when I try to sneak tea AND a physical book into her morning petting time. There is just no way for me to be paying enough attention to her! #catsoflitsy

#Naturalitsy

Our last week in The Secret Garden 💚

When I was little, I really loved the 1993 film so I was excited to read this one. It is the story of young spoiled Mary who did not grow up with love. When taken in by her uncle, she learns how to take care of herself and to think about others while discovering a secret garden. I really enjoyed how Mary and the others grew as the story progressed. It is not my favorite classic but I can see why people love it. 3.5 ⭐️

#Naturalitsy

December #buddyread discussion thread

🌿 Spring has sprung and the source of crying is discovered.
🌿 How did you find these changes in Mary?
🌿 Still enjoying the story and Mary's continuing development?

All welcome to join in. Please let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the taglist.

#Naturalitsy

A little help translating Yorkshire dialect for thi 🤪😅

#Naturalitsy #buddyread

Reading this, I did wonder how you are coping with the Yorkshire dialect. I'm a Yorkshire lass born and bred, so I find it oddly comforting, even though no-one I know talks like this.

Thoughts? On the secret garden? On Dickon? On Mary's emerging engagement with her surroundings and people?

All welcome. Please let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the taglist.

So lovely. It was such a pleasure to revisit this childhood favorite. #NaturaLitsy

#Naturalitsy November #buddyread

Week 2 - reading schedule. A discussion thread will be posted on Saturday. All welcome to join us.
Please let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the taglist.

#Naturalitsy November #Buddyread

Discussion thread - Chapters 1 - 6

Well, I must say rereading this childhood favourite as an adult and parent is a very different experience.

🌷 Are you revisiting the book?
🌷 What are your thoughts on reading as an adult?
🌷 What did you make of Mary?
🌷 Did you struggle with the colonialist attitudes?

All welcome to join in with us. Please let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the taglist.