Wonderful thoughts and quotes! We named our baby boy Ælfred after reading Ballad of the White Horse and that quote you listed is one of my favorite lines. (Our priest is cooler than our state government, so he was baptized Ælfred but his birth certificate has a plain A in Alfred).
I love the Madeline L'Engle quote on art. I fully agree, with her and with your note. I might have to read Walking on Water at some point. I love her work. My mother-in-law wrote to her once and got a response letter; she has it framed in her house.
Laurus shall be added to my To Read list! I just finished Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, so I was taking an emotional break by reading Jeeves and Wooster stories by P.G. Wodehouse and The Montessori Toddler, before my next big read.
Yes! Such a great one. And that's wild the government wouldn't let you spell it that way-glad the baptism certificate could reflect the proper spelling. And glad it's not just me. It's very worth it, and it was fun to go back and reread her fiction after reading Walking on Water. And that's lovely. I finished it a few days ago and can't recommend it enough. Definitely bookend it with lighter fare though. And PG Wodehouse has been hovering in the background for me for a while-any recs on where to start?
I found a Jeeves and Wooster collection (including My Man Jeeves; Right Ho, Jeeves; and The Inimitable Jeeves). They're pretty much all the same plot and yet all individually funny with different details and fun turns of phrase. Besides Jeeves, I'm re-reading Brideshead Revisited and savoring every phrase.
Laurus is on my TBR (has been for some time). Since you say one ought to wait 'til after childbirth to read it, I'm relieved that - at 52- that ship has likely sailed for me. Now I'm really intrigued to read it...
About that pre-Tolkien reading list, the Astrid Lindgren title - Mio, My Son - is amazing. I read it aloud to my 2 youngest daughters this past summer. It's beautiful. I see it as a story that reinforces the love that God the Father has for us. Blessings to you and yours!
I'm so glad I finally took the plunge, despite the heartbreaking moments/tough childbirth scene. And the Close Reads Podcast read it not that long ago so it's been nice to have an additional layer of analysis of it, because it is unlike any book I've ever read. And glad to have other testimonials to it-can't wait to try it out. Blessings to you too!
Laurus!! I read this with my husband around the time we got pregnant with our third, and that childbirth scene stuck with me. (But then.... I listened through Kristen Lavransdatter during my third trimester and boy did that also have an intense childbirth scene!)
It must be so interesting to listen to as an audiobook. And I haven't read Kristen yet but I know that day is approaching sooner rather than later-good to know going into it that it also has an intense birth scene. Maybe reading the intense scenes puts the (God willing) less intense reality in perspective haha
Ooh! I hadn't thought about the connection between Jane Eyre and the fey-folk. That's fascinating! My life has been so topsy-turvy the past couple months that I haven't been able to fit in another bookclub on top of the two I'm already in, but one of these days I'm going to join in with the Reading Revisited ladies.
Also, Laurus! So good! It really does bring the spirit of the medieval world alive. But also, I haven't been able to get that harrowing birth scene out of my mind since I first read it 😬
And 'cosmos out of chaos' is such rich food for thought!
I'm team pencils forever 😂 but literary dinner guests is nigh impossible to vote for haha
Thanks for sharing my post and thank you as always for your wonderful thoughts!
It's so interesting to consider, especially as someone who grew up mostly reading fantasy/loving that genre intensely. And haha I'm at my limit with two and dipping in and out of Close Reads-so I get that. But you should join when you can-it has been so lovely. And yes-it does world building so well, which again brought to mind much of the fantasy works I loved as a teen. And yeah-something I might just skim next go around. Glad you found the L'engle quote fruitful! I've gone back and forth on which dinner I'd attend; I think it would depend on what kind of day I'd just had. And very welcome-thank you for your writing!
I'm so excited, and my next post is going to be based on a Jane Eyre quote. And I have soooo many. I feel like I'm still recovering from it. It was my first Vodolazkin, but I also have A History of the Island on my shelf and will absolutely be getting more of his work. Every time I find a modern author I like I feel like I need to go on a buying binge because I have so many misses with modern fiction
I heard amazing things from the Close Reads people about A History of the Island. I would really love to chat about The Aviator so if you get to that, let me know!
And yes! I agree about modern authors...I just discovered Elizabeth Taylor (not quite as modern) and I want to buy all of her books in cute copies. I just got a gift card to my local bookstore and I am definitely going to stock up on a few modern authors I love!
Wonderful thoughts and quotes! We named our baby boy Ælfred after reading Ballad of the White Horse and that quote you listed is one of my favorite lines. (Our priest is cooler than our state government, so he was baptized Ælfred but his birth certificate has a plain A in Alfred).
I love the Madeline L'Engle quote on art. I fully agree, with her and with your note. I might have to read Walking on Water at some point. I love her work. My mother-in-law wrote to her once and got a response letter; she has it framed in her house.
Laurus shall be added to my To Read list! I just finished Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, so I was taking an emotional break by reading Jeeves and Wooster stories by P.G. Wodehouse and The Montessori Toddler, before my next big read.
Yes! Such a great one. And that's wild the government wouldn't let you spell it that way-glad the baptism certificate could reflect the proper spelling. And glad it's not just me. It's very worth it, and it was fun to go back and reread her fiction after reading Walking on Water. And that's lovely. I finished it a few days ago and can't recommend it enough. Definitely bookend it with lighter fare though. And PG Wodehouse has been hovering in the background for me for a while-any recs on where to start?
I found a Jeeves and Wooster collection (including My Man Jeeves; Right Ho, Jeeves; and The Inimitable Jeeves). They're pretty much all the same plot and yet all individually funny with different details and fun turns of phrase. Besides Jeeves, I'm re-reading Brideshead Revisited and savoring every phrase.
Laurus is on my TBR (has been for some time). Since you say one ought to wait 'til after childbirth to read it, I'm relieved that - at 52- that ship has likely sailed for me. Now I'm really intrigued to read it...
About that pre-Tolkien reading list, the Astrid Lindgren title - Mio, My Son - is amazing. I read it aloud to my 2 youngest daughters this past summer. It's beautiful. I see it as a story that reinforces the love that God the Father has for us. Blessings to you and yours!
I'm so glad I finally took the plunge, despite the heartbreaking moments/tough childbirth scene. And the Close Reads Podcast read it not that long ago so it's been nice to have an additional layer of analysis of it, because it is unlike any book I've ever read. And glad to have other testimonials to it-can't wait to try it out. Blessings to you too!
Laurus!! I read this with my husband around the time we got pregnant with our third, and that childbirth scene stuck with me. (But then.... I listened through Kristen Lavransdatter during my third trimester and boy did that also have an intense childbirth scene!)
It must be so interesting to listen to as an audiobook. And I haven't read Kristen yet but I know that day is approaching sooner rather than later-good to know going into it that it also has an intense birth scene. Maybe reading the intense scenes puts the (God willing) less intense reality in perspective haha
thank you so much for the shoutout!! I'm honored to have my post in such good company here!
So welcome! I really enjoyed the read and was glad to share!
Ooh! I hadn't thought about the connection between Jane Eyre and the fey-folk. That's fascinating! My life has been so topsy-turvy the past couple months that I haven't been able to fit in another bookclub on top of the two I'm already in, but one of these days I'm going to join in with the Reading Revisited ladies.
Also, Laurus! So good! It really does bring the spirit of the medieval world alive. But also, I haven't been able to get that harrowing birth scene out of my mind since I first read it 😬
And 'cosmos out of chaos' is such rich food for thought!
I'm team pencils forever 😂 but literary dinner guests is nigh impossible to vote for haha
Thanks for sharing my post and thank you as always for your wonderful thoughts!
It's so interesting to consider, especially as someone who grew up mostly reading fantasy/loving that genre intensely. And haha I'm at my limit with two and dipping in and out of Close Reads-so I get that. But you should join when you can-it has been so lovely. And yes-it does world building so well, which again brought to mind much of the fantasy works I loved as a teen. And yeah-something I might just skim next go around. Glad you found the L'engle quote fruitful! I've gone back and forth on which dinner I'd attend; I think it would depend on what kind of day I'd just had. And very welcome-thank you for your writing!
Ah I cannot wait to chat about Jane Eyre!
And I want to hear all your thoughts about Laurus! Have you read The Aviator by him?
I'm so excited, and my next post is going to be based on a Jane Eyre quote. And I have soooo many. I feel like I'm still recovering from it. It was my first Vodolazkin, but I also have A History of the Island on my shelf and will absolutely be getting more of his work. Every time I find a modern author I like I feel like I need to go on a buying binge because I have so many misses with modern fiction
I heard amazing things from the Close Reads people about A History of the Island. I would really love to chat about The Aviator so if you get to that, let me know!
And yes! I agree about modern authors...I just discovered Elizabeth Taylor (not quite as modern) and I want to buy all of her books in cute copies. I just got a gift card to my local bookstore and I am definitely going to stock up on a few modern authors I love!
Dinner with the ladies please; ooh la la.
Of course