Categories: Books
Overdue Books Update
Since Mama Squirrel was able to be so humble as to admit her floundering with this challenge, I feel that I, too, must 'fess up.
I can say that I joyously finished Northanger Abbey after dragging it out for over a month. Heavens! I was thoroughly glad to be done with this book. I love Jane Austen, but this book has to be her one awful book. I felt like I was at our local shopping mall frustrated from making any progress by a walking wall of young teenage girls ahead of me. Yes, a walking wall. You know what I am talking about. When the group ahead of you or, even worse, coming towards you all walk side-by-side causing you to either stroll slowly behind them or play chicken to see who will move out of the way first when headed toward you. Did I ever tell you how much I hate shopping malls? Anyway, back to our story.
The entire first half of Northanger Abbey is precisely like walking behind a gaggle of young teenage girls who appear to be of very little brain and have very little supervision. They spend their time talking about clothes, boys, silly books and more boys. They are parading around the mall, er, dancing hall giggling to themselves and continually passing by the young man working at the sporting goods store while pretending not to notice him.
Catherine, the "heroine" of this book, while being quite naive is a good sort of girl. She never seems to develop into anything more than that, though. The character that caught my interest was that of John Thorpe. If I could have reached through the pages and turned him into a possum, I would have. He would then have been just as vile a creature, but of no consequence to Catherine or me, for that matter. I am not sure if he upset me more or if Catherine's naivete around him annoyed me more. Needless to say, I don't particularly like to spend half a book being increasingly annoyed by a character.
The second half of the book was spent at Northanger Abbey. There we find Catherine in a chapter of one of her own Gothic novels. I thought maybe things would get interesting there at the Abbey, but the only thing that got interesting was Catherine's wild imagination. It was so obvious that her imaginings had no basis in reality that it was as if the novel had been padded with fluff that further impeded me from finishing it.
When the book finally came to its tidy ending, all I can say is that I was much relieved. And, after having been to Bath and Northanger Abbey for much of the novel, Catherine's home was a much more cozy place to be. I could actually feel the warmth of the home with very little in the way of description of it. I'm glad it ended there. I felt entirely exhausted from the trip.
The second book I read was Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard. This was a quick read and I was glad for it after trudging through my first book. The book's premise is that the bathing suit industry has led us all into a state of comfort with being nearly naked in public. As someone who strives to dress modestly, I have to say that I could not really argue with anything that was stated in this book. I do wish that it had been fleshed out a bit more. (Pun only partially not intended.) Having said that, though, I do believe the author accomplished what he set out to do. It is a scripturally sound book that examines the bathing suit industry's impact on our culture and seeks to examine what Christian modesty truly is while realizing that it does go beyond mere apparel. I will be reading The Beauty of Modesty: Cultivating Virtue in the Face of a Vulgar Culture by David J. Vaughan soon and hope that it will give me a little more to satisfy my appetite for this subject matter.
So, I have two books down and have started on my third, My Antonia by Willa Cather. So far, it has caught my interest. Let's hope it continues to do so. I believe I have until the end of the month to finish two and a half more books. I will do my best.
Birthday Presents
My birthday was last week and I just thought I would share what my sweet girls gave me.
Overdue Books
If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over. So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.The bonus would be that we would finally get to some of those titles (you know you picked them for a reason!) and we wouldn't be spending any extra money over the holidays.
I just read about this over at Bona Vita Rusticanda Est this weekend. Tim's Mom, in turn, had read about it over at Krakovianki. Thus I have decided to post about the From The Stacks Winter Reading Challenge myself. Here are the books I have chosen:
1. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
2. My Antonia by Willa Cather
3. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
4. The Beauty of Modesty: Cultivating Virtue in the Face of a Vulgar Culture by David J. Vaughan
5. Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard
If anyone else decides to join in the fun, let me know. I'd love to see what others are reading!
Book Meme
Imagine that a local philanthropist is hosting an event for local high school students and has asked you to pick out five to ten books to hand out as door prizes. At least one book should be funny and at least one book should provide some history of Western Civilization and at least one book should have some regional connection. The philanthropist doesn't like foul language (but will allow some four-letter words in context, such as expressed during battle by soldiers). Otherwise things are pretty wide open. What do you pick?
Well, I fear that I was not able to keep my list to the "five to ten" asked for above. I suppose I would have to donate some of them on my own.
1. Pride and Prejudice
(I took this book with me on a family camping trip in New Hampshire. Needless to say, I had my flashlight on well into the night in our little tent. My husband was patient, but really didn't understand what all the giggling was about.)
Since I grew up in New England, these two books would have to be my regional picks:
2. Walden
4. Young Folk's Story of the World by Lou V. Chapin
(This is a huge tome and is long out of print, but it has a special place in my heart. It was written in 1896 and includes beautiful pen drawings. The book has sections covering Egypt, Ethiopia, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Persia, Asia Minor and Neighboring Kingdoms, India, China and Japan, Carthage, Greece, Rome, France, England, Germany, Scotland and Ireland, Scandinavia, Russia, Spain, Modern European Kingdoms, Netherlands, Austria, Turkey, Italy, America, British America, and Spanish America. The introduction to this book, written by the author, is a prize in itself. From the introduction:
"Fact and truth, in a historical sense, are of course nearly related, but the seed of the highest truth may lie in a legend or tradition created by the poet or a story-teller, while the most undeniable fact may have in it no spiritual truth, no impulse to quicken the mind, enlighten the soul and make men truly wise.
There are millions of facts that have no real bearing upon historical truth in the story of a nation. They are trivial, even though considered so important by the old historians that all who came after them religiously copied them in writing history.
To be sure these records of fact should be kept as works of reference, and they will always be so preserved, but the age of twenty-volume histories has gone by, and the historian of to-day who would reach the public, and especially that portion of the public that is to become the nation-builders---the youth---must tell his story in a few words, and must have some rational excuse for telling it at all.
That "the noblest study of mankind is man" is not empty vaporing of a poet. The individuals compose the nations, and the biography of individuals is the history of the world. Their great deeds raised nations to power, their mistakes wrecked empires, and from them all we may draw lessons of incalculable value.
No man can be accounted truly educated who has not a general knowledge of the world's history. No man can be truly enlightened who is not able to trace the development of his kind from a lower to a higher plane, and above all, no man can have that deeply reverent attitude toward the God who created our earth and all of its creatures, which is the natural relation of a soul towards its Maker, unless he is able to see in his own existence the outworking of the immutable laws that since the beginning of time have ruled the universe.
Through all the ages one increasing purpose runs like a thread of flame, lighting up dark and bloody pages in the world's story, showing to all men, God in the humblest and highest places, manifesting Himself as unchanging, teaching men over and over the folly of trying to disarrange the rules of cause and effect, and endeavoring to stem with the puny strength of mortal hands and wills the resistless current of the Divine.")
5. The Bible
6. The Complete Works of Josephus
7. Eusebius, The Church History
8. Plutarch's Lives Vols. 1
9. Mere Christianity
10. The Kingdom of God Is Within You
11. Collected Shorter Fiction Vols. 1
12. The Complete Works of Shakespeare
13. The Oxford Book of American Verse
14. The Oxford Book of English Verse
15. The Yearling
16. The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
17. How Green Was My Valley
18. To Kill A Mockingbird
19. Fahrenheit 451
Those are just off the top of my head. I know I could keep adding more, but I will spare those poor high school students. Anyway, I am now tagging Amanda at Wittingshire, Kristen at Walking Circumspectly, Javamom at Take Time To Smell The Coffee, Anne at PalmTree Pundit, Amy at Amy's Humble Musings and anyone else who wants to join in.
Books that Sit and Books that Prick
One of the reasons I am bringing this up is because I have just updated my "literature" links. There are a couple of other books that I've been reading that may interest some of you.
I have been reading Home-Making and it has really been both pleasurable and painful at the same time. I suppose one might call it convicting. I find that the author is telling me exactly what I know to be true about creating a home and, although I have longed for this affirmation of what I believe to be true, it stings a little to see in print many of the ways in which I have fallen short. I don't say this to discourage you from reading this book, though. It was written by a nineteenth century man by the name of J.R. Miller whose eloquence and obvious love takes most of the sting from what he has to say. But not all. And that is as it should be. This book would be worth very little if it just affirmed what we already knew to be true without pricking our hearts into further action. This book is also not just meant for wives and mothers. It is meant to be read by the entire family. Miller is very careful to let the burdens of keeping a Christian home fall where they should. He has words for both husband and wife as well as for the children. We plan on reading this book as a family as soon as I am done with it. I think it will be a very humbling experience for me, but a necessary one.
Raising Maidens of Virtue has been a good read so far. I am pre-reading it before I read it with my girls. I bought it to read with them since they have been coming to me with concerns about modesty, male friendships and what it really means to be a Christian young woman. My girls are still young, but not too young to be talking about such things. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I have found it to be rather good at covering all of the areas that I feel my girls are desiring instruction in. We are one of only a few homeschooling families in our congregation and we were the first ones to start homeschooling. Thus, my oldest is the oldest homeschooled child in our congregation. We are having to make decisions on an almost daily basis that both put our faith to the test and set precedent for those who follow in our footsteps. I find it comforting that my daughters are coming to me with concerns that most girls wouldn't even think twice about in our culture. Part of me, though, was concerned that the answers that they were craving wouldn't fall easily from my lips to their ears. I think that this book will be of great service to us in this area.
Which leads me to a whole series of thoughts that I want to share, but they must wait until some other time. I have a dress that must be ironed before tomorrow morning and it is getting late in the day.
Books
My girls love to read and our house is so full of books that it has become more of a library than a home. The girls beg me for more books and devour everything I hand them. Lily just read Huckleberry Finn and is now reading The Swiss Family Robinson. Clara is reading The Wind in the Willows. They were so excited at Christmas because they got so many books. Will and I really love that about them. It makes us feel good to know our girls enjoy reading as much as we do.
I think I have given up on my college dream of writing some great novel. I don't even write poetry that much anymore. Who knows, though, I still have an idea that I turn around every now and then. I could see myself writing something in my old age. If, by then, I don't end up needing more naps than I presently do. Maybe I should get busy now. But first I have some books to read.
Send This To Ten Friends Or A Curse May Be Involved
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
According to the Logopolis post, "Because the preceding exercise is a meme, you must perpetuate it on your own blog. If you don't have a blog, you must start one in order to propagate the meme." This makes it sound as if I am complying with some sort of warped chain letter. I am not sure I am comfortable with this, but, as was also stated in that particular post, "Resistance is futile". I can only be thankful that I already have a blog in place. After spending the time I have on it, I would hate to have to start from scratch for this:
"When I looked up through the web of trees, the night fell over me, and for a moment I lost my boundaries, feeling like the sky was my own skin and the moon was my heart beating up there in the dark."
This is from The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. It was my attempt at reading something mindless, but enjoyable this past winter. I felt a strong need for such reading material during those endless gray days. I ended up absolutely loving the book, though, and was crushed when I finished it in two days. It is about the summer a girl named Lily turns fourteen on her father's peach farm in South Carolina during 1964. It does not involve elves, dead sailors or Auschwitz. Lily does accidentally kill her mother when she is four, but there is no curse involved.
The Friday Five #3
If you...
1. ...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
I could see myself owning a restaurant that sold just coffee and dessert. I would serve all types of coffee and the best desserts on the planet. As far as I am concerned, dessert is the one, truly necessary, food group. And, of course, I would serve lots and lots of flan. Maybe I could call the place Just Desserts.
2. ...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
I would sell old books. I would love to have an antiquarian book store. It might go well with my coffee and dessert shop.
3. ...wrote a book, what genre would it be?
Definitely, any book that I initially write will be autobiographical fiction. That's where all of my writing eventually leads me.
4. ...ran a school, what would you teach?
I would love to be around small children, but I would never propose to teach them anything in the traditional, academic sense of the word. I would read lots of good books to them and let them have lots of time to play. We wouldn't have a lot of toys, but we would have an amazing amount of hardwood blocks, dress-up clothes, art supplies and small, felt dolls. We would go for nature walks, listen and dance to all kinds of music and I would show them how to do different handicrafts. I would insist that the parents play a strong role in the program similar to a co-op program. In the end, though, I would prefer that the mothers stay home with their children and do all these things with them. That's why I homeschool.
5. ...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
With the right musicians, I would record an album of instrumental bluegrass hymns or maybe some instrumental Quaker hymns.
The Friday 5
What was...
1. ...your first grade teacher's name?
Mrs. Desrosiers. I was so shy in her class that I would refuse to come up to the table at the front of the room with my reading group to practice reading. I really loved Mrs. Desrosiers, but I will never forget the day that she literally pulled me out of my desk and dragged me to the front of the classroom so that I would finally learn to read. Once I was up there and my dignity returned, I realized that reading was not only easy, but also great fun! I remember that we used the 1962 version of the Dick and Jane first grade reader, Fun With Our Friends, and I remember seeing the word "said" a lot. Looking back on this, I have to say I love Mrs. Desrosiers even more today. She wasn't young when I was in first grade, but I would like to find someone in her family to thank.
2. ...your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
(Okay, so it wasn't exactly a cartoon, but it was my favorite Saturday morning fare.)
3. ...the name of your very first best friend?
Elizabeth, my sister. When I was in first grade, though, I considered a girl named Tracy my best friend. She used to meet me at my house and we would walk to school together. My mother told me later that she was from a poor family. I do remember my mother often taking the time to brush Tracy's hair and put it up in bows, but I never remember thinking she was poor or neglected. I just remember her being my best friend.
4. ...your favorite breakfast cereal?
(In case you're interested, the Snorkeldorf character was my favorite.)
5. ...your favorite thing to do after school?
When not watching Batman re-runs, I spent a lot of my time lying around in the grass on warm, sunny days reading books, daydreaming and occasionally weaving mats out of iris leaves. I also loved to ride my bike and try to find interesting places to go to. During the colder months, I spent time outside sledding and ice skating until the sun went down and then I would lie around the house reading, daydreaming and writing stories.
I have a picture of my first grade teacher and my friend, Tracy, taken when my mother came to visit one day at school. I will upload them tomorrow, if I can find them.
Me (with Mrs. Desrosiers)
Tracy (wearing glasses)
