numerable lists of the hundred best books, and I feel that I may say that they are as useless as a worn-out blotter, for they only express the opinion of one person. So I will not tell my girls what books they ought to read, but I will tell them of the books I love, and which I hope they will learn to love.
WHAT TO READ
Even if one could live the time allotted to the good man it would be impossible to read everything. The girl who is reading for a special purpose is, I may mention, not the girl to whom I am talking. My girl is the one who, busy either in the home or outside of it, is able to devote only a certain time to reading, and wants to get pleasure and benefit from books.
The girl who is able to speak French and German, and to read both easily, very contemptuously says, "Never read a translation." Now she is wrong. To-day there are extremely good translations of foreign authors in the market, and it would be very unwise to lose the reading of a good book because you have to take it in English rather than in its native tongue. Read books that are adapted to your moods; take a merry book when you are sad, but make it one of those merry books in which the wit does not sting and hurt
