Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed listening to this. The reader was very good. The text was enthusiastic and interesting. The production was generally well done (but occasionally annoying – music from nowhere and a reminder that this was…
World War One: A Short History by Norman Stone My rating: 3 of 5 stars I finished this as part of my Schole Sisters 5×5 challenge topic of World War I. There are absolutely flashes of brilliance in this book, including the entire final chapter “Aftermath.” I think part of my problem with this book…
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is one that will stay with me. It defies the descriptors – beautiful, yes, but spare; evocative, yes, but universal; finely wrought, yes, but poured out in one extended cry for justice. Paton weaves together parallel lives; an odyssey or…
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver I finished this today. I understand that these are Oliver’s personal selections for anthology from a lifetime of writing poetry. Presented in reverse chronological order (newer poems first), I definitely preferred the newer, beginning poems to the older ones at the end. In fact, my…
Sex and the City of God: A Memoir of Love and Longing by Carolyn Weber My rating: 5 of 5 stars “The course of true love never did run smooth.” Nothing I can articulate about this book is as witty or well considered as Weber’s own words. Her ability to look at life and –…
I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel My rating: 4 of 5 stars Truly this is a 3.5-3.75 star. I did enjoy this read. I laughed often, I felt a kinship often. Anne talks of the idea of the reader and how the reader lives her life;…
When in Rome by Ngaio Marsh My rating: 3 of 5 stars Two years and six days later, after at least 2 restarts, I’ve finished. It isn’t that I didn’t want to read it, or that I wasn’t enjoying it, rather it wasn’t a priority and I wasn’t entirely engaged. It would fall down below…
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle My rating: 5 of 5 stars Twenty years ago when I first read this book, I loved it. Admittedly I loved the feel, the atmosphere of it, but struggled more with the ideas and ideals. I didn’t have the relational background for many of…
I don’t really like “outside.” Oh, I know I’m supposed to and do feel a twinge of guilt about it, but I don’t like dirt or bugs or wide variances in temperature. I’m not, however, philosophically opposed to “outside” … actually, I’m rather philosophically a fan of outside – especially for my kids. And I…