How did this book influence your choice of other books you read or want to read?

[Teri]

After finishing Little Women the book I started reading next was The Pilgrim's Progress due to all the references to it within Alcott's novel. An Alcott biography or Little Men will likely follow. What about you?

[Annemarie]

I think this book made me want to read more books about sisterhood, so I leapt immediately to Pride and Prejudice. But oddly, this book came up again in my life (I read it over the summer for fun) and it made me want to look at other nice young girls facing adversity and enjoying living in a female-centric environment. So I picked up some Nancy Drew... I know! I love this book, and the film version with Kate Hepburn might be my favourite translation.

[Martha]

I agree, Teri, I have The Pilgrim's Progress on my list to read & I bumped into Little Men @ a used book store and bought it. I think I listed to read everything that was referenced in Little Women. Love this book!

[Lesley]

I don't remember being influenced to read other things - I do remember being influenced to start writing my own stories!

[Beth]

This was my absolute favorite book as a girl. I read it many times. The character Jo really resonated with me. The book encouraged me to write myself, though I have yet to write that "from -the heart" book wrote about her sister Beth.

[Deborah]

After reading 'Little Women', I read everything I could get my hands on by Alcott. surprisingly, not all her books are like 'Little Women'. She has quite a breath of works. I would encourage you to read some of her other works as well.

[Beth]

I read them all, except for The Portable Louisa May Alcott, which I picked up in a NY used bookstore last year and haven't had time to get to yet... Little Women is still my favorite.

[Caroline]

I did go on to read Good Wives but not any of the others

[Mochaspresso]

I read Little Women as a child. The Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House..." books influenced me to read "Little Women" because they were both displayed near each other on the shelf in the school library. I remember reading just about everything on that "Just For Girls" shelf. (This was a very long time ago, so we don't necessarily have to get into how sexist a "Just For Girls" or a "Just For Boys" shelf possibly is.) After "Little Women", I read "Anne of Green Gables".

[Roberta]

It did not really inspire me to read other books, but created a very strong benchmark.The atmosphere it creates and the feelings of closeness to the characters are not easy to recreate for any other book.

[Elesa]

I watched the movie then I read the book. Afterwards I became very interested in any story (fiction or non-fiction) about the Civil War period.

[[deleted user]]

It made me never want to read another classic ever again. This was the first really classic book I ever picked up and I absolutely loathed it. It was nothing more than four girls going through the oh-so-dramatic events of the teenage life. I really have no idea how it got famous.

[Stevie]

It's been so long ago I don't remember ... I was about 12 when someone gave me the abridged copy. When I learned what the word abridged meant I was mad and made myself read the whole thing with an “I’ll show you” attitude… (as if I couldn't handle an entire book?)
but, I think it made me not be afraid of classics and "real" literature - people ("experts")seem to consider it to be "real literature"
(I resumed my fear of classics in about my 3rd yr of college)

[Alexandra]

I immediately went on to "Good Wives", "Little Men" & "Jo's Boys" - but I also read "The Pilgrim's Progress" and then the other books that Jo is mentioned as reading.

I often seem to do this - get inspiration for my next read from what the characters in the previous book were reading! Fanny in Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" got me into reading Gothic novels...

[Lesley]

Yes, it was four girls going through events of teenage life - and such a realistic portrayal of family life had rarely been tried before when it was written. What keeps it famous even now are the well-drawn characters. Like many eleven year olds, I wanted to be like Jo March, and it was reading about Jo March that made me realise that real people - people like me - can write books!

[Kristie]

Nicole di Angelo wrote: "It made me never want to read another classic ever again. This was the first really classic book I ever picked up and I absolutely loathed it. It was nothing more than four girls going through the ..."

@Nicole, though Little Women may be considered a classic, it's definitely "popular" literature (of its period), and set the standard for the kinds of young adult literature people still read today. But it would be too bad if this book made you miss out on "heavier" classics, like Austen, Dickens, et al. Definitely not the same!

[Pamela]

I read this book when I was eleven and was engulfed in its humanity. I then read Good Wives, and stayed absorbed with Louisa M Alcott's writing. I believe the impact of her writing has stayed with me all these years, I am now 69, and always will. I have just had my first novel printed and would be honoured to think that Little Women gave me a desire to write. Little Women

[Jodie]

This book, along with a couple others, including Trixie Belden as a young girl really helped me to identify with strong, smart independent females as role models. I have continued to seek out the same type of character as Jo as some of my favourite reads into adulthood

[Angela]

Loved Little Women. It was so true for that time, and the characters, apparently, were based on Louisa May Alcott herself and her family. From there I read the rest in the series, and then Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series. (I still have them all). I don't know if it influenced me any way. I didn't need influencing even then back as a kid to buy books! All my pocket money was spent on comics and books LOL.

[Nila]

I must have been 11 or 12 when I read this, and my tastes were pretty well-defined at that time. I didn't care for this book at all. I wanted happy endings for all, and the romantic choices seemed pretty dismal to me. ... Now I've changed somewhat, but for pleasure I still want a happy ending and a love that is based on more than appreciation of character and intellect.

[Angela]

Good grief! My apologies if anyone has been trying to contact me. My old laptop chucked a tantrum and is doing weird things, won't let me onto Goodreads and some other places, keeps babbling this stuff at me that's apparently cuasing it. I've been wringing my hands and...yes....well...okay, swearing, just a little. Okay, a lot. Anyway, thank goodness for old backup laptops! Dragged this one out of the cupboard and it lets me on here just fine. Sheesh. Looks like back to the repairman for my other old laptop, or maybe I need a new one, seeing as the other is about 6 years old and it's been to the repairman several times already...ouch $$$

[Angela]

Hi Nila

You could see the frustration for Jo,as she was an intellect, and even Amy to a certain extent. It did show how far women still had to go, but it was a sign of the times. I read recently somewhere that the bok is based on the author's life and sisters.

I have the old book originally from my Mum, large hardcover with big colourplates. Beautiful.

[Martha]

This is a little off the subject, but after reading Little Women & Tolstoy & Dickens, I picked up Jane Austin's Emma the other day, and I am not liking her writing style. It is not smooth and flowing like I am used to. This is my first Jane Austin novel. I see 5 Stars all around for this book. Am I missing something?

[Nila]

Angela wrote: "Hi Nila

You could see the frustration for Jo,as she was an intellect, and even Amy to a certain extent. It did show how far women still had to go, but it was a sign of the times. I read recently..."

Angela wrote: "Hi Nila

You could see the frustration for Jo,as she was an intellect, and even Amy to a certain extent. It did show how far women still had to go, but it was a sign of the times. I read recently..."

Hi Angela - I hadn't thought about Little Women in years, so I was surprised that I retained such a strong sense of the book and my disappointment. It was a book I had high hopes for as a young reader. Maybe I'd been exposed to lots of high-minded books as a preacher's kid, and I knew I was getting a big dose of "good for me" opinions? Jo wasn't someone I wanted to be at the time, and that's likely because there were too many influences in my life pushing me into a life of the mind and spirit and away from emotion and passion.

[Lesley]

Martha - I'm not a great Jane Austen fan, either. I think it might be an acquired taste.

[Catherine]

I went on to read all of her YA novels. I fell in love with the Little Women characters. Every year the movie would be on and my sisters, my Mom and I would watch it. The character, Jo, inspired me to try my hand at writing which I have over the years. I still love this book and maybe I will read it one more time.

[Martha]

Lesley wrote: "Martha - I'm not a great Jane Austen fan, either. I think it might be an acquired taste."

I think you are right. I'll just get through it and see how it goes.

[Lily]

I read this book as a child and it left a mark on me at that time and was my favourite book as I was growing up. I re-read the book a countless times and it still holds a place in my heart, probably attributed to my childhood attachment to it more than anything. I don't think though that it influenced my reading choices at any point...

[Adrian]

Little Women was my introduction to American Classics. I did not/do not enjoy Classic Brit Lit, but at the time (middle school), the only things I knew about Classic Ami Lit were Frost poems and Hawthorne short stories.

After this book, I went on to Ingalls Wilder, Montgomery, Hemingway, Walker, Morrison, etc.

On a related note, I did not enjoy the Little Women sequels. They were nowhere near the standard set by the first book.

[Alexandra]

Martha wrote: "This is a little off the subject, but after reading Little Women & Tolstoy & Dickens, I picked up Jane Austin's Emma the other day, and I am not liking her writing style. It is not smooth and flow..."

I really LOVE Jane Austen's writing, with just a couple of exceptions... and "Emma" is one of them! I have just never been able to finish it.

Please, please try something else by her before you decide that you "don't like Jane Austen". "
Pride and Prejudice" is generally considered to be her masterpiece, but "Persuasion" is my personal favourite.

[Martha]

Yes, I agree, I just picked up the wrong book to start. I promise I won't give up on Jane Austin. Thank you.

[Patricia]

Little Women in the spanish version I read when I was 8 years old opened the door to lit.and reading has been my best loved hobby ever.

[Patricia]

Then I read every Louisa May Alcott I could lay my hands on.Glory to Editorial Peuser and Editorial Robin Hood who provided these books in Buenos Aires and are long dead gone with the Peronista wind that blew the intellectual Argentina away.

[Patricia]

Then I read:in chronological order:Emilio Salagari,Mark Twain,Dickens,Manuel Mujica Lainez,(lots of best sellers),Bram Stoker,the Myth of Cluth...Edgar Alan Poe, the marxist psycologists and sociologista,Thomas Hardy Herman Hesse,Thomas Mann,Borges, Cortazar...and so on and so forth....now with the goodread group Proust.

[Patricia]

Goodness Gracious forgot the two Brontës! My all time favourite to this day EMILY!

[Patricia]

the best film version of Little Women:the one with susan Sarandon.I think she is great.

[Peggie]

I loved Little Women and also read Good Wives but that was about it. Little Women is a very special novel, I think, because of the portrait of a close family. The characters are very human with all their little faults and shortcomings and I think that is why I liked it so much.

[Somdutta]

This book was my introduction into classics that is to say to an unabdriged version. Earlier in school I had read an abridged version of Nicholas Nickleby.I went to read a lot of Dickens and Jane Austen later in life. However, Little Women did not influence my choice of the before mentioned authors. The beautiful homely life of the March household and strong bond between sisters, is something that I admire about Little Women. After having read Little Women, I did add a few other books like Little Men and An Old Fashioned Girl written by Loiuse May Alcott to my to-read list.

[Janet]

Read "Little Women" as a pre-adolescent and loved it. It was actually my Mother who gave me her hard cover copy and suggested i read it. I've reread it several times over the years. For me it was a comforting novel of love and family and sacrifice. I still have the pale green hard cover copy in my library. Couldn't however get my own daughter to give it a go. Times have changed.

[Patricia]

When I was eight years old and read L W during a convalescent period I discovered the joy of Reading and never stopped.

[Regil]

My "Little Women" book has pictures on it. I just read it last week.

[Catherine]

When I was a young girl Little Women was on TV every year and my Mother, sisters and I would always watch it. Later I received a copy of the book and fell in love with it. I read it to my daughter she when she was young girl. I believe we read several of Alcott's books. I have collected most of the movies and I find them comforting to watch. It was the book, however that I found as the real favorite. I find few authors that are so honest and pure. Little Women got me interested in the history, manners and literature of the time period. I have gathered old magazines and read some of her's and others serial works.