Books Read in 2013

(updated June 2014)

Links are to reviews (only a few) or Amazon.

January
Christmas with Anne by L. M. Montgomery, edited by Rea Wilmshurst
Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter
The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery



February
Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Michael Perry
The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristen Kimball

March
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Bogwoppit by Ursula Moray Williams - one of my favorite books from childhood!
Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
The Golden Road by L. M. Montgomery
Little Britches by Ralph Moody

April
No Name by Wilkie Collins
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken - a bit too idealistic for pragmatic ideas of romance, but it made for really good book club discussion.

May
Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley - fairy tales for vacation reading! I really liked this one, but the next one was only so-so.
The Curse of the Thirteenth Fey: the True Tale of Sleeping Beauty by Jane Yolen


June
Unnatual Death by Dorothy Sayers
The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters
Anna Karenina [Books 1-2] by Leo Tolstoy

July
Anna Karenina [Books 3-5] by Leo Tolstoy
Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth

August
Anna Karenina [Books 6-8] by Leo Tolstoy

September
Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World by N. D. Wilson - Not everyone will like N. D. Wilson's style, but I love it - this was an amazing book to remind me of the sovereign character of God. I used to have deep thoughts like this, and it was refreshing to follow his stream of consciousness reflecting upon the greatness of our God!
Heidi by Johanna Spryi

October
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird - true confession: I didn't finish it. It was for our book club, and I got about halfway through before we met and just wasn't interested enough to finish it.

November
The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge - Goudge writes such quiet, beautiful tales with excellent character development.

December
Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge - As much as I love Goudge's adult novels, her children's books just aren't quite the same. There's something a little sinister about the magic in them. They aren't just fanciful, fantastic tales such as E. Nesbit writes. Maybe the magic is too realistic, too close to actually being voodoo or witchcraft, but at any rate they always leave me a bit unsettled about whether I like it or not, and reserved about recommending them.

Chapter books read-aloud to kids:
Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Susan Creek by Douglas Wilson
The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay - We didn't like this one much at all, or we're just too far removed from turn-of-the-20th-century Australian humor and vocabulary to really get it. Oh, well.
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
The House of Arden by E. Nesbit - Wonderful, wonderful book! One of our favorite authors, and one of her best books - a wonderful adventure with magic, time travel, and treasure!
The Return of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks
Abel's Island by William Steig - We found this a bit tedious.
Two Williams by Douglas Wilson
Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome - the second of the Swallows and Amazons series (we listened to an audio version of the first one. My whole family loves their adventures, and it makes me wish childhood could be like this again with a good balance of responsibility, freedom, and adventure.
Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

No Name by Wilkie Collins

Carrie hosts the Reading to Know Book Club each month, and there is a great line-up of children's and adult classics this year! Since I've read and enjoyed both The Woman in White (linked to my review) and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, when No Name was chosen for the April selection, I decided to join the fun. I did actually finish it at least a week before the end of April, but I'm late, as usual, to the party when it comes to writing my summary post. Such is life.

No Name is quite different from the other two Collins titles that I have read. Where the other novels were full of plot twists and surprises, this novel seemed overly predictable to me, at least in the overarching plot. But in spite of the fact that it wasn't too difficult to guess the characters' purposes or designs, it was very interesting to see the details of the story unfold. I still think that Collins is a masterful storyteller, and I would choose him over Dickens any day!

This story begins as a seemingly benign tale of domestic life, focusing on the Vanstone family: a benevolent and cheerful father, a weak (sickly) but loving mother, a reserved and proper older daughter Norah, and a frivolous, carefree younger daughter Magdalen. When the fortunes of the family suddenly change and leave the two daughters penniless orphans, it is not difficult to predict how the two young women will react to their reduced circumstances. Norah accepts her lot with quiet dignity and strives to make the best use of the opportunities at hand, while Magdalen starts plotting revenge on the estranged relative who took advantage of the letter of the law for his own gain.

In her quest for revenge and vindication, Magdalen unflinchingly weaves a complex web of deception, though she is always just one small circumstance away from detection. She obtains the ends she desires, but at great cost to her principles and character.* As one would expect, she does not find happiness or satisfaction. Eventually, all her tangled web unravels, leaving her in even more dire straits than before: friendless, poor, and ill. At this point, Collins reintroduces a minor character, who, predictably arrives at the opportune moment to save Magdalen from the poorhouse and from herself.

Yes, the details all fall into place a little too perfectly in both her demise and her restoration, but in spite of the predictability and idealism of a happy ending, I was struck by an overwhelming picture of grace as it drew to a close. This novel is a prime example of the point made in my previous post regarding how the wretchedness of sin is sometimes necessary for the brilliance of grace to shine forth. I don't know if this was what Collins intended, but I can't help but think that it would have been obvious to his readers in the more culturally Christian mindset of the Victorian era. Even more pointedly, I realized in retrospect, that all that predictability really served to reveal my own propensity to sin. If I could so easily predict Magdalen's thirst for revenge and the downward path she would so doggedly pursue, it clearly shows that I could be capable of the same thing. There, but for the grace of God, go I.

So, while I enjoyed Collins' well-crafted story and unique characters, this novel proved to be more than just an entertaining period piece. Once again, classic literature reveals a depth and wisdom that is rooted in a Christian worldview (whether that was Collins' personal faith or simply a product of a largely Christian culture, I don't know), that is so often lacking in more modern novels. So if you're looking for an intriguing novel, I would recommend No Name - it's easy enough for summer (or anytime) reading, but will give you plenty to ponder if you choose! (It's even available free for Kindle, which is the format in which I read it.)

*Note: This is not a typical "fallen woman" story in the sense that Magdalen loses her purity, but she certainly compromises her moral character with the lies she must propagate to work her revenge. 

Lit! A Christian Book Worth Reading!

When it comes to Christian books, I usually prefer titles that are 100+ years old to something published recently, but after Carrie highly recommended Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books, not once, but twice (click the links to read her reviews), I thought it might be worth looking into. Add to that a book club discussion about how to choose, read, discuss, and interpret books for ourselves and with our children, and it seemed like the opportune time to give this subject some further thought.

Tony Reinke devotes roughly the first half of the book to establishing a theological basis for reading, which I appreciated both for its succinctness and accuracy. His review of the main tenets of our Christian faith, though brief, reminded me of why I chose to study theology - it's just amazing to contemplate God and His work in mankind and the world! The fact that God chose to reveal Himself in the written Word not only establishes the preeminence of Scripture in the Christian's life, but also suggests the importance of words and books on a more general sphere. They are a powerful means of communicating truth (or error), and Reinke deftly answers most objections and excuses that Christians might make about reading (not that I have that problem), making a strong case for the reading of Scripture, first and foremost, but also a wide variety of other books that can contribute to our spiritual growth and enjoyment.

Reinke's chapters are well-organized, often providing several points at the outset upon which he elaborates throughout the chapter. One example of this is his chapter on "Reading with Resolve" in which he identifies and explains six priorities by which he determines what to read. I appreciated that he included fiction under the heading of "Reading to Kindle Spiritual Reflection," recognizing that great literature, including many classics (such as Dostoyevsky and the Chronicles of Narnia) and poetry (such as John Donne or Chaucer), can illustrate the biblical truths of sin, grace, and redemption and truly contribute to our Christian understanding and spiritual growth (98-99).

For a decade or more while I pursued higher education, I read non-fiction almost exclusively, specifically works by dead theologians, for whom I have the utmost affection and respect. But upon finishing my studies and succumbing to the ready excuse of Mommy-brain, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, and my reading has for several years consisted mainly of fiction, tending towards the classics, but including some good fantasy, mysteries, historical fiction, and an occasional biography, too. At times, I've felt that this was rather a guilty pleasure, even if I was reading "good" books (mostly - there have been a few duds, but I won't dwell on those). Reinke's exposition of theology and priorities in reading, however, helped me to see how much my theological studies have informed my reading of fiction. Though I can get caught up in a good story, at times, I realized that I am almost always looking for and evaluating stories in terms of creation, fall (sin), redemption, and restoration. I guess that education wasn't for nothing! Though I still think I should return to the dead theologians more frequently, it was also encouraging to realize that I have been reading and evaluating my fictional choices through a biblical framework. Praise God for His mercies!

I also found Reinke's discussion of sin in literature to be particularly insightful, as our book club had recently discussed why we would reject a modern thriller full of vice and deception but might find value in Anna Karenina. Reinke was able to explain what I had failed to articulate clearly:

"[T]he appearance of sin in a book does not mean the author is approving of sin. . . God's 'amazing grace' is especially displayed when it 'saves a wretch.' To some degree, the author must paint a picture of the wretchedness of sin in order for grace to emerge in its brilliance. Thus, grace-filled literature is often not 'clean' literature. . .On the one side of the road, we cannot merely shut our eyes to depictions of sin and evil in literature. We find depictions of evil in the Bible. On the other side of the road, we cannot affirm fiction that glorifies sin or applauds unbelief." (124) 

Exactly! This is one reason that I am happy to be reading the classics at this point in my life when I missed many of them in high school. I really don't think I would have had the maturity, life experience, or spiritual discernment to appreciate them at a younger age, which gives me pause as I consider how we will incorporate some of these classics in my children's education as they get older. It is my hope that my children would enjoy reading great books enough to revisit them at various stages of life, but I will need to be especially careful to present them with enthusiasm and make sure they are more than just an academic exercise.

I also really enjoyed the multitude of rich quotations from other authors. It is apparent that Reinke has himself read widely and well and thoroughly researched his subject matter. Here are a few of my favorite quotations.

Cornelius Plantinga on Calvin's use of non-Christian literature (from Engaging God's World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living):

Calvin understood that God created human beings to hunt and gather truth, and that, as a matter of fact, the capacity for doing so amounts to one feature of the image of God in them (Col. 3:10). So Calvin fed on knowledge as gladly as a deer on sweet corn. He absorbed not only the teaching of Scripture and of its great interpreters, such as St. Augustine, but also whatever knowledge he could gather from such famous pagans as the Roman philosopher Seneca. And why not? The Holy Spirit authors all truth, as Calvin wrote, and we should therefore embrace it no matter where it shows up. But we will need solid instruction in Scripture and Christian wisdom in order to recognize truth and in order to disentangle it from error and fraud. Well-instructed Christians try not to offend the Holy Spirit by scorning truth in non-Christian authors over whom the Spirit has been brooding, but this does not mean that Christians can afford to read these authors uncritically. After all, a person's faith, even in idols, shapes most of what a person thinks and writes, and the Christian faith is in competition with other faiths for human hearts and minds. (77)

 C. S. Lewis on the imagination as

a God-given ability to receive truth and meaning. . ."For me reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning." Using fantasy in literature does not make a story fictitious; it's often a more forceful way to communicate truth. (87)

Harold Bloom on why people read classic literature (from How to Read and Why):

We read deeply for varied reasons, most of them familiar: that we cannot know enough people profoundly enough, that we need to know ourselves better; that we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are. Yet the strongest, most authentic motive for deep reading. . .is the search for a difficult pleasure. (104)

I could continue to illustrate the insights and practical wisdom of Lit!, but I think I should simply encourage you to buy this book and read it for yourself. Yes, you will want to buy it. I borrowed it from the library, but quickly found myself frustrated that I could not mark significant passages. Not to worry, though - I already plan to reread it (perhaps yearly or biannually), and by that time I hope to have my own copy to highlight as I would like!

Yikes! It's Almost Spring!

Well, so much for my good intentions of keeping up with blogging this year. It's almost March now mid-March, and I haven't posted about my other January reading yet, not to mention February. Oh, dear!

I already mentioned my L. M. Montgomery reading, so I won't reiterate that. My other personal reading in January consisted of rereading Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton-Porter. I first read this book in 2010, and you can read my original thoughts and some really good quotations here. It was well worth rereading, and I'm so glad a friend picked it for our book club selection. We were amazed by the work ethic and self-sufficiency of this 19th century farm family - how many chickens would they have had to have to put on a spread like that every Sunday and for special occasions like a wedding? We were also saddened by the many changes that came to the real-life Stratton family soon after happy ending for the Stanton family of the book. As I mentioned in my earlier review, Laddie is the most autobiographical novel of Gene Stratton-Porter's, and it really is a true blue story when you understand it in the context of her and her family's life. I'm really looking forward to reading this one aloud to my kids and rereading it again myself in years to come - it's that good!

As for reading aloud to the kids, we were off to a good start this year. We finished two books in January: Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John and The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. Both were received with great enthusiasm! Treasures of the Snow engendered some thought-provoking, faith-building questions from my 5-year-old, and I could see my 8-year-old's mental wheels turning, too. While we enjoy a wide variety of books, I don't mind reading something overtly Christian and morally didactic every so often, because such stories can give my children concrete examples of our faith that is, more often than not, communicated abstractly, in spite of our best efforts to help them understand their sinfulness and need of Savior. I would highly recommend this one for your family read-alouds, too!

The whole family, including Daddy, enjoyed the imaginative fantasy of The Indian in the Cupboard. We discussed what we would like to make real if we had a magic cupboard. My daughter and I thought a Victorian family that could live in a dollhouse would be fun. My son has a plastic Indian, so he wanted one just like the book. And my husband tried to think of something more lucrative, such as a goose that would lay golden eggs, even if the eggs were only the size of a pinhead! My kids are looking forward to reading other books in this series, but I learned from the Chester Cricket books, and we will be spreading them out over a good long time, not reading them all at once.

L. M. Mongomery Challenge Completed!

This year, I actually read what I had planned, finishing both Christmas with Anne and The Story Girl in the month of January, and, wonder of wonders, I'm posting it before the end of February!

Christmas with Anne is a delightful collection of short stories which mostly focus on the Christmas season (obviously) though there are three New Year's stories at the end to round out the holiday spirit. I justified reading this in January because we didn't put up any Christmas decorations until a few days before Christmas, and they were still up into the first week of January. So at least it still looked like Christmas at my house when I started reading this!

In typical Mongomery fashion, every story has a heartwarming message, ranging from discovering happiness in giving to others, forgiveness of long-estranged family members (often through humorous mishaps), or just good, old-fashioned family values and traditions. This is one I wouldn't mind re-reading every few years, and I'm sure my daughter will enjoy it soon, too, as she loves stories about "real" people! For additional thoughts, including the interesting account of how the editor, Rea Wilmshurst, happened upon these and many other short stories of Montgomery's, see Carrie's posts on this title here and here.

I must confess that The Story Girl was a bit of a disappointment, but I suppose my expectations were pretty high. For some reason, it just didn't quite have the charm or appeal of the Anne or Emily books, I still have a long way to go before I've read all of Montgomery's novels, but I was struck at first by the fact that the narrator is a boy, simply because I hadn't encountered that in her writing before (aside from a few short stories). Granted, he's simply relating the adventures of eight children during one summer and fall, so there's really nothing gender specific about it. But while Mongomery's picturesque descriptions and quaint turns of phrase seem natural coming from Anne or Emily, it struck me a little odd that even a 19th or early 20th century teenage boy, or even a man retrospectively describing the best summer of his childhood, would describe the change of seasons in such terms as "though summer was not yet gone, her face was turned westering. The asters lettered her retreating footsteps in a purple script, and over the hills and valleys hung a faint blue smoke, as if Nature were worshipping at her woodland altar."

I also found this narrative a bit disjointed, as if it were more a collection of short stories involving the same characters without some overarching plot. Perhaps that is what Montgomery intended - just snippets of life on a Prince Edward Island farm from the perspective of young cousins and friends. Of course, by the end, I had developed a certain affection for those characters, and I do plan to read the sequel, The Golden Road, soon. I also enjoyed the fact that I was able to recall a few scenes the Road to Avonlea series that I watched a few years ago, which reminds me that I need to check that out from the library again!

Now, I must also share that I am very excited about next year's challenge due to some propitious finds through PaperBackSwap and our library's book sale (yes, we really love our library and make very good use of it!). Although many L. M. Montgomery books are free for the Kindle, and I do enjoy the portability and ease of marking favorite passages which my Kindle affords, there's still something so satisfying about opening a book, of remembering where a certain passage lies on the page, of flipping back and forth to clarify details, etc. So I'm thrilled to have found these books, and I have a feeling you'll be seeing at least a few of them on my line-up for next year.

L. M. Mongomery Reading Challenge 2013

Every year, I have good intentions of participating in Carrie's L. M. Mongomery Reading Challenge, but my haphazard approach to blogging doesn't lend itself well to starting and finishing a monthly project such as that.

Well, this year, although I'm still late to the party, at least I didn't fail to show up at all! In fact, I've already completed Christmas with Anne, a collection of Montgomery's short stories, and intend to start The Story Girl today or tomorrow. Who knows, I may even write a wrap-up post before February!

Thank you, Carrie, for hosting this challenge every year. Returning to Anne or finding a new character to love is always like sinking into a pile of down comforters with a sigh - immensely warm, satisfying, and comforting - and just perfect for this time of year!

Fall Reading - the catch-up edition

With the start of home schooling (K & 3rd grade) and various weekly church activities, I haven't had much time for reading these past few months. Additionally, I fell into a serious reading funk, which I think was due more to the mode (Kindle) than the material, although at least one title was funk-inducing in and of itself (more on that later). So, briefly (I hope), here is what has been read during the fall months (September - November).

(If you're visiting from a Read-Aloud-Thursday link, the read-alouds are at the bottom.)

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
This was an enjoyable classic, and I'm glad I gave Gaskell another chance after reading Cranford a few years ago. I wouldn't say she's one of my favorite British authors, but it was a well-paced, period piece in which the characters brought the distinctions of industrialized England into sharp focus. Aside from a few melodramatic scenes, which seemed out of place for the very reserved characters, it had none of the silly pettiness of Cranford.

The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne
Did you know A. A. Milne wrote more than Winnie-the-Pooh? Murder mysteries, to be exact? Well, this was a fun diversion, if not a very complex plot, and I'd recommend it.

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
(Who names their child Jerome Jerome?) This is described as a comic travelogue, but for some reason I just wasn't in the mood for such humor. I think (I hope) it was intended as a parody on idle young gentleman who think too highly of themselves, but I had my fill of that with Brideshead Revisited. Now Three Men in a Boat was not so disheartening as Brideshead, but for some reason it put me in a real reading funk, perhaps because I didn't have a real grasp for it's size on the Kindle and it seemed rather interminable. I found it soooo tedious, yet I kept reading thinking it would surely get better. There were, in fact, a few interesting historical divergences in a vast sea of stream of consciousness rabbit trails, but it still took me more than a month - a month! - for me to read this relatively short book. I persevered, mostly because I thought it would be helpful to have the background before reading To Say Nothing of the Dog. This more recent time-travel story sounds fascinating, but the original was so disappointing that I'm almost afraid to start it.

The Hobbit (or There and Back Again) by J. R. R. Tolkien
If I had nothing better to do, I'd spend a year or so reading Tolkien's entire corpus. I find that his idea of "true myth" gives me much to ponder, though it's all too easy to get caught up in the adventure and miss the broader truths. I appreciated the read-along posts on Redeemed Reader this November, particularly this one which explores his true myth concept in more detail.

Yes, we've seen the movie. I loved parts of it and was really irritated by other parts. That almost always happens with books adapted to screen, especially when I've just read the book before seeing the movie. With more distance I might be able to appreciate the movie for its own merits, but not this time.

Harry Cat's Pet Puppy
Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride
Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse
Chester Cricket's New Home
by George Selden
Yes, we've read them all, and if there are more I don't want to know! While it was a pleasant journey, the sequels aren't as good as the original Cricket in Times Square. I think E. B. White knew what he was doing when he brought Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan to a satisfying close and didn't try to capitalize on whatever success they gained. If your children are voracious readers, I'm sure they would enjoy these continuing tales of unlikely animal friends. However, I'm a little sorry that we spent so much time on these read-alouds when there are so many other wonderful children's classics to read.

Such as Homer Price and Centerburg Tales by Robert McCloskey!
These books are just downright fun bits of Americana. Since I grew up in a small Ohio town not far from Robert McCloskey's own hometown, these stories just ring true to me. I'm afraid I might even pick up the dialect a little too well! My kids love them, too! They are funny enough to appeal to kids, but there's some subtle humor for the grown-ups, too.

Our home school co-op of 6 families read Homer Price for a book club week, and each family acted out one chapter, which was loads of fun! While the older kids did some art and map projects, the younger children then did activities related to Make Way for Ducklings - another favorite of mine!

The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

Well, if it took us more than two months to finish The Railway Children, which was time well-spent, we breezed through The Reluctant Dragon in a matter of days. My kids were engaged enough in the story to comment on how it differed from the old Disney animated version, to study the pencil-sketch illustrations intently, and to request it every night until we were through. Actually, I think my children will sit and listen to just about anything - at least they've never asked to quit reading a book and move on to another one, so that's probably no indication of a book's quality.

This is a short little book without chapters, but a little too long to finish in one sitting. I had to find some logical breaks to keep bedtime at a reasonable hour, much to the dismay of my daughter who asked, "Do we have to end with 'Goodnight' again?" There is a simple cast of characters: the dragon, an unnamed Boy, and St. George take center-stage, with a sheperd and his wife (the Boy's parents) in supporting roles and a host of villagers as extras. The sonnet-spouting dragon is clearly no threat to society, but the villagers have convinced themselves that he is a terrible menace and scourge upon their fair land. Meanwhile, the boy has befriended the dragon and feels that he must intervene when Saint George appears to fight the deadly beast. After explaining the dragon's true retiring nature and the exaggerations of the villagers, the boy introduces the knight to the dragon and helps them arrange things in an altogether satisfactory manner.

There's some subtle humor in this tale, as it obviously plays upon the classic formula of knights conquering dragons and rescuing fair maidens. A Princess is sadly missing, however, since the Boy couldn't arrange everything as the dragon and Saint George expected him to, especially when his mother was waiting up for him. It's all right as dragon stories go, though not nearly so adventurous as My Father's Dragon, nor so witty and charming as Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows (linked to my reviews).

Amy and her girls read The Reluctant Dragon earlier this year, and you can check out her Read Aloud Thursday review here. I'd like to see the illustrations in the volume that they read, and maybe we'll check it out again when we study Medieval history next year.