Sonderbooks Old Favorites

Old Favorites

Old Favorites are reviews of books that I’ve read before and wanted to revisit. Most Old Favorites are especially well-loved books.

October 10, 2026

Old Favorite Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley, read by Bianca Amato, is the author's second wonderful retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," this one featuring roses and with a twist ending.

Happy Reading!

—Sondra Eklund

Nonfiction

The Alpine Path

by L. M. Montgomery

Hearing Heart

by Hannah Hurnard

All Creatures Great and Small

by James Herriot

Raising Demons

by Shirley Jackson

Fiction

The Scarlet Pimpernel

by Baroness Orczy
read by Geoffrey Howard

The Joy Luck Club

by Amy Tan
read by Gwendoline Yeo

Watership Down

by Richard Adams
read by Peter Capaldi

The Sand-Reckoner

by Gillian Bradshaw

Imperial Purple

by Gillian Bradshaw

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte

A Tangled Web

by L. M. Montgomery

Children's Fiction

The Man Who Counted

by Malba Tahan

Ella Enchanted

by Gail Carson Levine
read by Eden Riegel

The Secret of Terror Castle

by Robert Arthur

The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot

by Robert Arthur

The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy

by Robert Arthur

The Mystery of the Green Ghost

by Robert Arthur

The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure

by Robert Arthur

The Secret of Skeleton Island

by Robert Arthur

The Mystery of the Fiery Eye

by Robert Arthur

The Mystery of the Screaming Clock

by Robert Arthur

The Poppy Seed Cakes

by Margery Clark
with illustrations by Maud and Miska Petersham

Over Sea, Under Stone

by Susan Cooper

The Dark Is Rising

by Susan Cooper

Greenwitch

by Susan Cooper

The Grey King

by Susan Cooper
performance by Richard Mitchley

Silver on the Tree

by Susan Cooper
read by Alex Jennings

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain

by Alice Dalgleish
illustrated by Helen Sewell

A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L'Engle
performance by the Author

Sawdust in His Shoes

by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

The Story Girl

by L. M. Montgomery

The Golden Road

by L. M. Montgomery

Magic for Marigold

by L. M. Montgomery

Black and Blue Magic

by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Charlotte's Web

by E. B. White
read by the Author

Teen Fiction

Rose Daughter

by Robin McKinley
read by Bianca Amato

Beauty

by Robin McKinley
read by Charlotte Parry

The Blue Sword

by Robin McKinley
read by Diane Warren

The Hero and the Crown

by Robin McKinley

Spindle's End

by Robin McKinley
read by Justine Eyre

Kilmeny of the Orchard

by L. M. Montgomery

Chronicles of Avonlea

by L. M. Montgomery

Further Chronicles of Avonlea

by L. M. Montgomery

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

by Elizabeth George Speare

Picture Books

The Boy Who Wouldn't Go to Bed

by Helen Cooper

Fox in Socks

by Dr. Seuss

Cars and Trucks and Things That Go

by Richard Scarry