Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation by Madeleine L’Engle My rating: 4 of 5 stars “Oh, that Madeleine.” As a master storyteller herself, L’Engle helps the reader to view the gospels through a different lens – true story. How do we read stories that are common to us? L’Engle helps us turn the gemstone…
Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym My rating: 3 of 5 stars I read this on Kindle. I enjoy Barbara Pym and I enjoyed this book … but even less than the usual for Pym happens in it. In many ways, the characters learn to be content with their lot, which is a great lesson in…
Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mary Stewart’s Gothic mysteries are always a treat. They’re literate – she throws in allusions with abandon – and eventually fast paced. I say eventually, because they build steam as she goes, often beginning somewhat slowly and not immediately “hooking” the reader…
A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle, Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Sarah Arthur My rating: 3 of 5 stars Library. I really wanted to love this book. I’m a big fan of Madeleine L’Engle’s for … well, since I became a reader, so nearly 40 years. I love her…
How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs My rating: 5 of 5 stars Kindle read. Alan Jacobs is one of my favorite internet people – his various blogs and mini blogs and the sole reason I used to go to twitter have long provided interesting ideas, visuals, and…
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis My rating: 5 of 5 stars I listened to this and for a long time I wondered why. Then, today, I listened to the last two chapters of Part One and all of Part Two because I had to know. Oh, before today, there were thoughts and ideas…
I like my cover better than the one GoodReads assigned Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot My rating: 5 of 5 stars Own. I’ve never read any Eliot before and reading this does not dissuade me from reading more. I loved this. I didn’t get most or all of it, I’m sure, but the…
Jacob’s Room is Full of Books: A Year of Reading by Susan Hill My rating: 4 of 5 stars Own. I’ve enjoyed Hill’s memoirs, although my favorite is, I think, The Magic Apple Tree. These bookish ones are both very readable and she mixes in so many ideas from the world at large. This one,…
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill My rating: 3 of 5 stars Own. I’m going to actually give it 3.5 because the first half of the book was so good. I started this on the beach and read for about 4 hours straight (ish) what with watching kids and people and dogs thrown…
Beowulf by Unknown My rating: 5 of 5 stars A friend of mine loaned me her copy of Burton Raffel’s translation of Beowulf. I’d been listening to Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf with my kids and was surprised by the Christian themes I heard. My friend thought the introductory essay in this edition was worth reading and…