When writing the page Books I've Read, I realized a pattern in my favorite stories. Many of them feature female protagonists who defy the social norms of their time. Many are about people who love English or hope to become authors. However, all of them seem to recognize the wonder of everyday life, displaying this through the characters or the writing style.
Many of the books on my list showcase this through the chosen subject matter and how it's presented. In Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, The Penderwicks, Daddy-Long-Legs, and Betsy-Tacy, nothing especially extraordinary happens. There are no fantastical situations or magic-wielding characters. All of them simply follow the stories of ordinary women's lives. However, the way in which the authors present these stories shows that everyday life is not so mundane. Told through the viewpoint of imaginative, creative characters, the authors show that there is beauty to be found everywhere, even in washing dishes, if we have the eyes to see it. By telling these stories, the authors are saying, "Look! There's something important going on here!" They show that the lives of ordinary people are not unimportant. They show that we all have a capacity to experience beauty and benefit the world we live in, even if by a smile, because the ordinary things do matter when done by one who posseses a heart full of love. A quote to this effect says, "Everything that is done out of Love acquires greatness and beauty." Telling these stories matters because they demonstrate how the lives of ordinary people, which are full of joys and tears caused by daily experience, can be transformed when one has the eyes to see the wonder in them.