Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties by Paul Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s really hard to evaluate current history well. This history started off strong. I loved how Johnson was able to synthesize science, literature, economics, and more and cast…
Take It to Heart: Ten Ways of Looking at Charlotte Mason by Anne E. White My rating: 5 of 5 stars I never really quite know what to say about Anne White’s books besides that fact that I find them absolutely brilliant. This book, Take It to Heart, is a series of interlocking, almost stream-of-conscience…
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope My rating: 4 of 5 stars I doubt I’ve marked most spoilers. Proceed at your own risk. This wasn’t my favorite Trollope, but even a “not favorite” is better than no Trollope. I’m not quite sure how to explain. There was some William Makepeace Thackeray – one character compared…
Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope My rating: 4 of 5 stars Beware: Spoilers are hidden on GoodReads, but not here. Phineas Finn is one of those people for whom the toast always lands jelly-side up. He’s a sweet guy – kind and a little go-with-the-flow. He isn’t ingratiating, but somehow – almost accidentally – makes…
Peloponnesian War by Kenneth W. Harl My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am reading The Landmark Thucydides and coordinating a reading through that for Scholé Sistership. Ancients was never my favorite period of history to study and so I’ve never read Thucydides (or Herodotus). I wanted some help to give me some context and…
B. J. Harrison Reads The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux My rating: 4 of 5 stars Really fun. Reading this on the heels of The Scarlet Pimpernel was interesting. Both had almost mythical, magical events that were generally explained by natural explanations. I was thinking about this especially with a Phantom’s name being…
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope My rating: 5 of 5 stars I could not stop listening. I just love Trollope and his paternal amusement and gentleness toward his characters (view spoiler)[(the ones who he can, but he can’t really even make bad things happen to his villains) (hide spoiler)] Alice, Glencora, and Mrs….
My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell My rating: 3 of 5 stars I would really prefer to give this 3.5 stars because I really did enjoy it. It’s just … not other Gaskell books. Margaret Dawson is impoverished when her father, a pastor with 9 children, passes away. A wealthy, widowed Countess relation offers to…
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’m struggling with where to begin. A few years ago I began to read (ahem listen to) George Eliot’s work. I’ve now listened to Silas Marner, Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss, Adam Bede, and . I’ve never looked ahead to see what the…
This was my first Ishiguro and won’t be my last. It was selected as a book club read for our new book club. My husband and daughter listened to it last year, he recommended Ishiguro, and it was selected to read for March. The writing is atmospheric. From the beginning, the reader is slowly acclimated…