September 2025 Book Reports

The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud von le Fort - This book of historical fiction imagines the life of Blanche de la Force, who enters a convent full of fear, a fear that is perhaps her very gift to God as the French Revolution's Reign of Terror comes for the convent. It's based on the true stories of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, who sang as they were taken to the guillotine, offering themselves as a sacrifice. (purchased copy)

A Jesuit's Guide to the Stars: Exploring Wonder, Beauty, and Science by Brother Guy Consolmagno - Brother Guy is one of my heroes. I've read many of his books and they all speak eloquently of the wonder of creation, and how science can lead us to a deeper relationship with God. This book is full of gorgeous photographs and a bibliography of more wonderful books. Highly recommended. (received as a gift from my son)

The Rule of St. Benedict - Excerpts of the Rule are included in the second volume of the Mater Amabilis religion readings, but I decided to read the whole thing as it's not very long. This is a foundational text for the Catholic faith. (Kansas Dad's copy, but freely available online)

The Modern Scholar: Tolkien and the West: Recovering the Lost Tradition of Europe by Michael Drout - Professor Drout is an enthusiastic and enjoyable lecturer. I picked this up during a sale after listening to his another lecture series from the Modern Scholar, The Anglo-Saxon World (which is one of the honors texts for Mater Amabilis high school history). I enjoyed learning more about Tolkien, especially since I had recently read his essay on fairy tales. (purchased audiobook)

1066: The Year That Changed Everything by Jennifer Paxton - This is one of the Great Courses available on Audible. I'm sure I picked it up during one of the 2-for-1 sales (love those). This series is only about three hours long, but was fascinating as someone who has studied English history with my kids through many levels. (purchased audiobook)

Ode to Saint Cecilia - a Radio Theatre production from the Augustine Institute. I bought a few of these radio dramas during a sale because I thought the kids might enjoy them. It's well written, well performed, and well produced. Recommended! (purchased audiobook)

Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney - I listened to this as an audiobook based on a recommendation. It's a poem describing the end of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life. To be honest, it's not my favorite book from the Pinkneys, but it might make a good complement to a fuller study of Marting Luther King, Jr. (purchased audiobook)

Othello by William Shakespeare - I do not assign Othello to my high school students, but I have always wanted to read it myself. So I did! You can find lots of excellent information on Shakespeare and Othello online, so I won't try to write anything fancy. Read Shakespeare! The more you read, the better it gets! (purchased copy)

The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton - I've had this book on my shelf for ages after picking it up at a library book sale. I think I was finally inspired to read it by references in the Drout lectures on Tolkien I listened to earlier this month. Chesterton wrote this epic poem as a romance, a story to inspire a love of country and of faith. It's not my favorite epic poem (I suppose that would have to be The Odyssey, though I don't read epic poetry much for fun.), but I'm glad I read it. (purchased used copy, available free online)

Andy Catlett: Early Travels by Wendell Berry - This is a short novel set in Berry's Port William community when Andy Catlett is nine and takes a trip by himself to his grandparent's house. Told from his point of view at the end of his life, it's a book steeped in family and gratitude. I think Berry glosses over many of the difficulties in the small community life he champions, but he writes beautifully and it is still good to be reminded of what we can appreciate and value in times past and in modern times. (Kansas Dad's copy)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links.

August 2025 Book Reports

That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis -  link to my post about the whole trilogy (received as a gift from my brother-in-law)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - A friend and I both read this book in preparation for the Netflix movie. Then she and her husband came and watched with my and Kansas Dad, which was fun. I was surprised to realize I had never read it before. It's a much more philosophical book than I expected, with relatively little "action." There are a lot of important questions raised by the book about moral development, scientific advancements, responsibility, mercy, and forgiveness. I'm glad I read it. (library copy)

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - I picked this up at a library sale years ago. I was thinning our easier chapter books and decided to read it myself. April has to deal with some pretty heavy topics (neglect and a murderer on the lose), which surprised me. Overall, my younger son and I agreed that it was just an ok book, and not worth the shelf space anymore. (purchased copy)

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Deah - This book was recommended by a local bookstore owner for a summer reading challenge. He actually recommended it for my 17 year old daughter, but I ended up reading it instead. I think I would let her read it, if she wanted, but I didn't hand it over to her. The book alternates between Leningrad in 1941 and modern day America. Marina, a Russian immigrant, is suffering from Alzheimer's, and her past and present become more confused in her mind. It's beautifully written, though tragic. (purchased copy)

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan - This is a lovely book tracing the path of a magical harmonica through the hands of three children during the second world war. I listened to the audiobook edition, and the inclusion of musical performances throughout elevate the audiobook; it's one of the few books that are truly better as audiobooks. I was so absorbed in the story that I found myself hiding in my bedroom long after I finished folding clothes to keep listening. Though this book is enjoyable for all ages, it's definitely written at more of a middle grade level. Highly recommended. (purchased audiobook)

Humility Rules by J. Augustine Wetta - link to my post (parish library copy)

Travelers to Unimaginable Lands: Stories of Dementia, the Caregiver, and the Human Brain by Dasha Kiper - This book, written by a therapist for caregivers of loved ones with dementia, explores how the healthy functioning of the human brain in the caregiver can exacerbate friction in the relationship, mainly by preventing the caregiver from reacting "logically" to the actions of their loved one. It's written with great compassion for caregivers and their struggles. (library copy)

Memory is so integrated into every aspect of life--from thinking, to communicating, to forming and sustaining relationships, to creating continuity, meaning, and coherence--that its disappearance is incomprehensible. We simply have no cognitive framework that allows for its absence in others. (p. 19)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. 

May 2023 Book Reports

 

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - My book club selection for the month, a beautifully written novel of a man searching for meaning in his life and failing to understand what is most important. We watched the movie together, which was fun. I highly recommend book club movie nights. (purchased used at a library book sale)

Eldest and Brisinger by Christopher Paolini - the second and third books in the Inheritance series. Fun reads, and fun to discuss with my youngest son. (First Daughter's purchased copies)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon, Bookshop, and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

April 2023 Book Reports

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines - This was one of my book club books, and one of my favorites for the year. It revealed a world I didn't know in a beautiful way. I would like to read more books by the author. (purchased used)

Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome - This is the fourth book in the Swallows and Amazons series and my absolute favorite so far. The children from the first three books are joined by a Dorothea and Dick Callum, who blend right in with the world of adventure and imagination. They spend the whole winter vacation planning a race to the Pole. It's almost ruined by an extended illness, but instead ends with more excitement than anyone expected. I was delighted! (purchased copy)

Persuasion by Jane Austen - It had been years since I last read Persuasion, so I decided to join in when the Close Reads podcast read and discussed it, though of course I was still a few months behind. Anne Elliot is Austen's most mature protagonist, and one of my favorites. Her quiet consideration of others is an inspiration. Frederick Wentworth is a bit of a fool, but he's my favorite love-interest in Austen's books. He admits when he's wrong, and he's willing to do what is right even when it's hard. As a side note, I own and read the Clothbound Classic copy linked. It's gorgeous, but be warned that the design on the covers comes off when the books are handled. When, for example, you are reading them. I don't mind, because it shows they've been read and loved, but I wasn't prepared for it. (received as a gift)

The Doctor's Sweetheart and Other Stories by L.M. Montgomery - This was a continuation of my reading of books off my shelf that I thought would be light and enjoyable. (It was a tough spring.) I hadn't read this since I was very young. It was fun to revisit the stories, most of which I'd forgotten. (received from a member of PaperBackSwap)

What Are Christians For?: Life Together at the End of the World by Jake Meador - link to my post (purchased copy)

The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden - This is another Godden book set in India, concerning a young woman who believes she finds love. It's a book of thwarted love, abandonment, and suffering, though beautifully written. Some older teens might appreciate it. (received from a member of PaperBackSwap)

Eragon by Christopher Paolini - Second Son chose this series for me when I asked him his favorite book. This is the first of four in a series (with a fifth recently added in a later story arc and another book of short stories). Eragon finds a dragon egg and is catapulted into the heart of his world's events. I enjoyed this book, but at one point I thought to myself, "It almost seems like a teenaged boy wrote this." Then I found out, a teenaged boy did write it. He benefited greatly from an editor after his family had first self-published it. (Later books in the series improved.) There are elements of all the great dragon and magical stories - Narnia and Lord of the Rings, for example - but Paolini creates characters that aren't always good, though they want to be, and who are willing to sacrifice their safety and happiness for the good of...Good. Read them all. (First Daughter's purchased copy)

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat - This is a middle grade novel of mystery and adventure. A young girl must shape her own future and decide what she's willing to sacrifice for what she believes is right. Highly recommended. (library copy)

The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar - A new mother descends into post-partum depression and struggles to resurface. This book is disturbing in all the ways it should be and confusing for the reader (as it must be for a new mother in this situation). I'm not sure I enjoyed it exactly, but I think there are benefits to reading books like this, an important reminder to be compassionate and supportive for new families and new parents. Not recommended if you are currently pregnant or nursing a baby. (library copy)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon, Bookshop, and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

January 2023 Book Reports

Somehow I skipped January 2023, so it's coming after February. Oh well.

The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan - link to my post (borrowed copies; link is just for the first three in the series)

Flying Home and Other Stories by Ralph Ellison - I picked this book up thinking I might be able to substitute a few stories from this book for Invisible Man in our high school literature course. I appreciated the stories, but decided against using them in our course. (library copy)

Family Sabbatical by Carol Ryrie Brink - This is the sequel to Family Grandstand. Susan, George, and Dumpling are off to France where their father is on sabbatical. Adventures abound. I'm not sure we enjoyed this one quite as much as the first one, perhaps because of the absence of a certain enormous black dog, but it was a fun family read-aloud. Be prepared - there's one traumatic loss of a toy and the book reveals there is no Santa Claus (if you're the kind of family that does Santa). (purchased copy)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon, Bookshop, and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

February 2023 Book Reports

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh - Based on a recommendation from a good friend, I requested this book from another member at PaperBackSwap.com. I don't read many mysteries, but this was a fun little book to distract me at the end of stressful days of unpacking at a new house. (PaperBackSwap.com)

They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth - This book is one of the many historical fiction reprints from Bethlehem Books. I wanted to love it. I chose it to read because I wanted something relaxing and easy during our move. Sadly, I think it hasn't aged very well. There were far too many remarks about how women shouldn't be too smart or too educated. The delightful heroine was chastised for bothering to learn French, painting, and how to play an instrument. I'm fully in support of learning how to bake bread and cook well, but there's also value in culture. Worst of all, the young men of the Gardner household practically abuse her with practical jokes from the beginning of her time with them, when her parents have only been dead a few weeks. I was a little horrified. There is one delightful chapter on the raising of silkworms, but it is not enough to redeem the book for me. (purchased new)

Judith Lankester by Marjorie Hill Allee - Judith's mom frees the slaves and moves the family to her father's Quaker home. Judith is angry and resentful; she wants to return to her grandmother's house and a life of ease. Instead, she moves in with another Quaker family and begins to learn how to care for herself, a home, and a family. It's a sweet story of growth and virtue. (purchased new)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck - I was excited to see this on the book club list, because it had been on my shelf for many years, but I hadn't yet read it. Now that I have, I can fairly confidently say, I do not like reading books by John Steinbeck. He's brilliant and writes beautifully, but it all seems to have such a sardonic unhappy tone. This book is supposed to be a kind of retelling of the story of Cain and Abel with two sets of brothers in two generations, but the man who is supposedly the best person anyone has ever met is a dreadful father, and I just can't believe a person is truly good who so completely fails at his primary vocation. I spent most of the book angry at him. Everyone should read one or two books by John Steinbeck; he's a master novelist and an influential American literary figure, but I will not be seeking out any more of his books myself. (purchased used)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon, Bookshop, and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

December 2022 Book Reports

The History of Black Catholics in the United States by Cyprian Davis - link to my post (purchased copy)

A Separate Peace by John Knowles - I was reminded of this book when I recently read The Chosen by Chaim Potok, a story of the friendship between two young men during World War II. I read A Separate Peace in high school, but didn't remember it well. The friendship in A Separate Peace is more volatile and uncertain. The book is less satisfying in its conclusion, though perhaps it better exemplifies the feelings of many of the young men who were preparing for war even as they completed their usual high school studies. If you're only going to read one, read The Chosen. (library copy)

The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey - I selected this book from the library because I thought it would be a nice easy read for visiting my parents over the holidays. Not that I generally recommend zombie-esque dystopian books for Christmas reading, but it was the kind of book I thought I could read while kids tumbled and roared around me. The main protagonist is a young girl at a special school, learning about a world she never sees or experiences for herself because much of it has fallen into ruin and (essentially) enemy hands. After her world turns upside down and inside out, she travels with a few companions toward an unknown destiny - for herself and the world. I was so engrossed in the book, I hid in my bedroom to finish it while the rest of the family watched football, long before we left for my parents' house. Not for the faint of heart, but a surprisingly well-written and enjoyable horror tale. (library copy) 

The Ruins of Gorlan: Book One in the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan - I'm going to make a post about the whole series soon. (borrowed from my daughter)

The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales retold be James Bruchac and Joseph Bruchac - link to my post (purchased used)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon, Bookshop, and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

Dreams Deferred: A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

by Lorraine Hansberry

This title of this play comes from the Langston Hughes poem, "Harlem," in which he asks

What happens to a dream deferred / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?

Three generations of the Younger family live in a cramped apartment full of faded furniture. An anticipated insurance payout check might change all their lives forever. 

Though first performed in 1959, the themes of justice, hopefulness, and the grinding weariness of inescapable poverty remain relevant.

I am considering using this book in our senior spring as a substitute for Invisible Man, which I pre-read earlier in the school year and decided not to assign to First Son. The play is obviously much shorter, so I would also find some additional resources. I still have a few years before my second child will be a senior.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I received the book as a gift. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links. 

Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature

Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature
by Professor Arnold Weinstein (The Great Courses)

In this course, Professor Weinstein discusses some of the most challenging books of world literature in order to illuminate for listeners some of the themes within each one. His goal, I believe, is to encourage people to read these books, even if they are sometimes difficult, because they have something important to offer people as we think about how we live and our relationships with others. He also points out how they are part of the development of literature, as later authors write novels that play on the same themes or offer alternative viewpoints.

I love the Great Courses on Audible and listen to a wide range of topics. One of the aspects I appreciate about the ones focused on literature is that they help me to better appreciate books, even if I don't enjoy the books themselves. Wuthering Heights, for example, is a book I've read and listened to as an audiobook. I don't care for it much, but listening to Professor Weinstein's lectures on it, I could see how it accomplished something innovative.

The books covered by the course are:

• Moll Flanders by Defoe (1 lecture)
• Tristam Shandy by Sterne (1 lecture)
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Laclos (2 lectures)
• Père Goriot by Balzac (2 lectures)
• Wuthering Heights by Bronte (2 lectures)
• Moby Dick by Melville (2 lectures)
• Bleak House by Dickens (2 lectures)
• Madame Bovary by Flaubert (2 lectures)
• War and Peace by Tolstoy (2 lectures)
• The Brothers Karamazov (2 lectures)
• Heart of Darkness by Conrad (1 lecture)
• Death in Venice by Mann (1 lecture)
• "The Metamorphosis" by Kafka (1 lecture)
• The Trial by Kafka (1 lecture)
• Remembrance of Things Past by Proust (3 lectures)
• Ulysses by Joyce (3 lectures)
• To the Lighthouse by Wolfe (2 lectures)
• As I Lay Dying by Faulkner (2 lectures)
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by García Márquez (2 lectures)

I'm also always asking myself, "Is this something I would share with my high school students?" In this case, most of the novels covered would be tremendous challenges for a high school student. In addition, some of the themes addressed may be more explicit than you may want to include in your high school English class. I don't intend to assign any of them to my own students, but I would not be opposed to one of my children wanting to listen to this audiobook in senior year.

In the last lecture, Professor Weinstein mentioned Kierkagaard who, in the second chapter of Fear and Trembling, said:

An old proverb fetched from the outward aspect of the visible world says: “Only the man that works gets the bread.” Strangely enough this proverb does not aptly apply in that world to which it expressly belongs. For the outward world is subjected to the law of imperfection, and again and again the experience is repeated that he too who does not work gets the bread, and that he who sleeps gets it more abundantly than the man who works.

But in the world of literature, Professor Weinstein noted that we do have to work for our bread. We can read a book and get nothing out of it, but when we work, we reap the benefits. An apt reminder for Charlotte Mason's ideas of narration.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. I purchased this audiobook.

All the Best Lines: Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

with The English Faust Book

Edited and with an Introduction and Notes by David Wootton

One of the other moderators in the Mater Amabilis™ group recommended Doctor Faustus to me when I was looking for additional reading for First Daughter before her eighth grade year. I had never read it, but knew Kansas Dad had scheduled it for one of his fall classes so I thought they'd have fun discussing it together.

I found this copy at PaperBackSwap.com and it turned out to be an excellent one (better than the one Kansas Dad used in his class). The Introduction is thorough, though not one I intend to assign to First Daughter. In it, David Wootton famously quips it's "a drama in which orthodox Christian teaching triumphed, but in which Faustus has all the best lines." (right there on p. xxiv)

I struggled a little with understanding how Faustus could see and interact with Mephistopheles yet disbelieve in God or a heavenly eternal life. Late in the play, however, when he is grappling with eternal damnation and wavering between a hope in salvation and despair, struck me as a powerful reminder of the human tendency to consider ourselves beyond salvation because of our sins rather than depending on the mercy of God.

I received nothing in exchange for this post. I requested our copy of this book from another member at PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). Links to Amazon or Bookshop are affiliate links.

Alone in a Crowd: One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

translated by Gregory Rabassa

This is one of the books listed as a possible supplemental reading book for Mater Amabilis™ Level 6 Year 1 Geography on the Americas. For some reason, I thought this would be a good choice to pre-read while sheltering at home during a pandemic.

You can find far better essays and explanations of the book elsewhere. It's lyrical but startling, touching but shocking. There's a great sadness and perplexity throughout, as if no one understands anything and is struggling toward a goal they can't see. The magical elements would jar my complacency as I read, which was difficult for me but rewarding.

I am ambivalent about scheduling this for my eleventh grader next year. I can see how reading it would give him a glimpse into the struggles and culture of Colombia, but I also wonder if it might be too confusing for him. He might dismiss it and never read it again, and that would be a great loss. I definitely think some maturity makes the novel richer. I also think it's the kind of novel that benefits from multiple reads.

Another aspect that concerns me is the wide variety of rather strange and often illicit behavior of the characters in intimate situations. I would not say the actions and events of the novel endorse such behavior, but it would probably be a good idea to mention these things and discuss them with a high schooler reading the book.

I do not think I'm going to assign it, but I think I might leave it on the eleventh grade list as an optional read, knowing I'd want to share a few comments about the behavior of the characters before it's read. In all honesty, I know that means my son will not read it. My second child is a much more voracious and adventurous reader; she may want to read it.

I have received nothing for this post. I requested the book from PaperBackSwap.com. Links to Amazon and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

A Man of Conscience: A Man for All Seasons

A Man for All Seasons

by Robert Bolt

This is one of the suggested free reading books for literature in Mater Amabilis™ high school beta plans. It also follows closely after the chapter in A History of the English-Speaking Peoples that touches on St. Thomas More, though for us it will be divided by a summer.

Bolt portrays the events leading to the eventual execution of St. Thomas More, a man who meticulously avoids breaking the law of his country and his king but cannot agree acquiesce to the king's demands against his conscience.

Well...finally...it isn't a matter of reason; finally it's a matter of love.

There are plenty of places to learn more about the play and its literary value. I'm happy to include it with our reading for tenth grade. If I can find a copy of it, we'll also be reading William Roper's biography of St. Thomas More.

I received nothing for this post; the opinions are my own. I received a copy of this book through PaperBackSwap.com (affiliate link). Links above are Amazon affiliate links.

Marriage, Work, and Worth: Middlemarch

Middlemarch

by George Eliot

This is a long book encompassing the lives of a nineteenth century English manor, village, and country-side, so it is full of lots of different stories, if not a lot of actual "action." Though all inter-twined, the stories themselves cover a variety of circumstances from romances and surprising heirs to disreputable pasts and tenuous futures. The whole is far more than I could write about in my little blog post.

One of the themes explored in the novel is that of making a good marriage. Two marriages in the novel are apparent failures though for different reasons: Dorothea finds herself in a marriage to a man who refuses to fully accept her as a wife.

He distrusted her affection, and what loneliness is more lonely than distrust?

When Dorothea married Mr. Casaubon, it was tacitly understood that he was the more educated and intelligent and that she would assist him. Before long she realizes his life's work is essentially meaningless. Her strength of character and innate goodness, her intelligence and continued devotion to him, repel him. He maintains a barrier between them and jealously attempts to control her life after his death.

Dr. Lydgate and Rosamond marry not after discerning they can be helpmates to one another, but because Lydgate finds her beautiful and Rosamond believes his high connections will raise her social status. Instead, he incurs great debt while continually failing to please her and her selfishness prevents her from understanding or adjusting to his life.

The strongest example is that of Mary Garth and Fred Vincy. Fred is a lackadaisical young man who lives in anticipation of an inheritance. His first and only love, Mary, refuses to marry him unless he makes something of himself in honest work.

"As if it were any pleasure to me to think ill of you," said Mary in a mournful tone. "As if it were not very painful to me to see you an idle, frivolous creature. How can you bear to be so contemptible when others are working and striving and there are so many things to be done--how can you bear to be fit for nothing in the world that is useful? And with so much good in your disposition, Fred, you might be worth a good deal."

Their relationship is assisted by the reverend Mr. Farebrother, who obtains Mary's promise to wait for Fred at Fred's request despite his own love for her. He later gently but firmly assists Fred in avoiding temptation and the loss of Mary.

"To think of the part one little woman can play in the life of a man, so that to renounce her may be a very good imitation of heroism, and to win her may be a discipline!"

Another example of a strong marriage is actually that of the Bulstrodes. As a young man, Mr. Bulstrode deceives his first wife into believing her daughter has died so he can inherit her fortune, a fortune built of ill-gotten gains in pawnshops.

There may be coarse hypocrites, who consciously affect beliefs and emotions for the sake of gulling the world, but Bulstrode was not one of them. He was simply a man whose desires had been stronger than his theoretic beliefs and who had gradually explained the gratification of his desires into satisfactory agreement with those beliefs. 

Throughout his life, Mr. Bulstrode sought wealth and power in order to serve God, but he did so in a pompous and arrogant way and callously threw aside the rights of others he deemed unworthy.

The service he could do to the cause of religion had been through life the ground he alleged to himself for his choice of action: it had been the motive which he had poured out in his prayers. Who would use money and position better than he meant to use them? Who could surpass him in self-abhorrence and exaltation of God's cause?...[snip]...There is no general doctrine which is not capable of eating out our morality if unchecked by the deep-seated habit of direct fellow-feeling with individual fellow-men. 

When his deception is revealed, destroying his carefully created pious persona, his wife sets aside her fancy gowns but does not desert him, humbly enduring his misery as she had enjoyed his wealth.

As Mary encourages Fred to undertake meaningful work, the idea of a legacy is interpreted through the thrwarted desires of Dr. Lydgate, who must give up his research to accommodate his wife and their life together and Caleb Garth, Mary's father, who steadfastly and skillfully manages estates around Middlemarch, repairing and building structures, shaping and improving the land.

The last paragraph of the novel speaks of Dorothea, who forgoes her desires to build something grand to improve life for great numbers of people when she marries for love and retires to a modest life.

Her finely touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive, for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on un-historic acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.

Given its length and slow quiet pace, I was surprised how much I enjoyed reading this novel. It was a lovely way to spend my time.

Some notes on the edition: I read this Penguin Drop Caps edition checked out from our library. Despite its length, the book did not feel heavy in my hands. The pages are soft on the hands and gentle on the eyes without over-glaring white. The text is a nice size, too. However, there are quotes before most of the chapters. When these were originally in Latin or French, there is no translation provided by an editor. Also, I found the cover color glaringly yellow-orange.

Communism in the Barn: Animal Farm

Animal Farm
by George Orwell

This book has been on my shelf for years but I had never read it so I picked it for our book club in May.

In the book, animals on a farm rise up against their human owner and start a cooperative, closely mirroring events as they transpired in the October 1917 revolution in Russia. (My plans for this unit are posted in the Mater Amabilis™ facebook group.) I'm going to add it to our Level 4 schedule for my future students because it so well parallels what they read in the Rise and Fall of Communism term. To be honest, without the Level 4 reading I did this year, much of the book would have been meaningless to me!

I read this particular edition: the Everyman's Library one with an introduction by Julian Symons. After reading the book itself, I read the appendices and the introduction, all of which deepened my understanding of the author, the book, and what the author intended.

Highly recommended.

I received nothing to write this post; all opinions are my own. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I think my mom gave me this book.

Literary Scaffolding: Heroes and Legends

Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature

Professor Thomas A. Shippey

from The Great Courses

This is a series of 24 lectures, each about thirty minutes, that covers nearly all of Western literature in a quest for heroes that have stood the test of time. Nearly all of the characters were familiar to me already, at least nominally. I think the professor had to reach a little to include a few women as they didn't seem quite as "influential" to me. In later lectures, Professor Shippey described the characters and their stories as part of the basic understanding of our lives. For example, it's almost impossible to write a mystery story without incorporating some aspect of Sherlock Holmes because he has become the quintessential investigator for the modern mind.

The very first lecture is on Frodo Baggins and how a hobbit's type of understated heroism was a direct outcome of Tolkien's experiences in World War I, celebrating a kind of hero who does what is right even when alone or hidden.

I was also particularly interested in the lecture on Winston Smith from 1984 who is a kind of hero-opposite. I have read 1984 a few times, but I'm not sure I ever connected the story to the post-World War II world in which it was written.

Overall, this was a fascinating series of lectures and a convenient way to cover a great swatch of literature history. It brings together characters my children are encountering over the years in their education and prompted me to contemplate connections between them. I didn't agree with all of his conclusions. I heard other ideas on Cressida, for example, in a lecture series on Shakespeare, that I found more persuasive.

Though the lectures are in a series and build on each other a little over the course, it would be possible to listen to just one or more of the lectures. In fact, my husband happened to be preparing for a discussion on Dracula for one of his classes and we listened to that chapter together just for fun even though he hadn't listened to any of the others.

Here's a list of the heroes (with asterisks for those that are appropriate only for mature listeners):

1. Frodo Baggins
2. Odysseus
3. Aeneas
4. Guinevere *
5. The Wife of Bath * (very mature)
6. Cressida *
7. Beowulf
8. Thor
9. Robin Hood
10. Don Quixote
11. Robinson Crusoe
12. Elizabeth Bennet
13. Natty Bumppo and Woodrow Call
14. Uncle Tom
15. Huckleberry Finn
16. Sherlock Holmes
17. Dracula *
18. Mowgli
19. Celie *
20. Winston Smith
21. James Bond
22. Fairy-Tale Heroines
23. Lisbeth Salander *
24. Harry Potter

There's a PDF available to download with the purchase of the audiobook with notes from every chapter.  I've marked above the lectures I remember being particularly suited for mature listeners only, but it would be a good idea to at least preview the notes before listening with teens or younger listeners as many of these stories include themes of sexuality and violence. I don't intend to listen to any of them with my children but I found them interesting for my own education and enjoyment.

Reading 2016 and 2017: Two Years in Review

I never did a post on my 2016 reading, but I did start one and had most of it done, so I decided to just combine it with my 2017 favorite books. Looking over my posts on books for 2017, I see an awful lot of pre-reading I did for First Son before he started Level 4, and a great many of those ended up being books I decided not to assign. So not perhaps the best year of books and therefore a good year to be combined with another.

The book covers below are affiliate links to Amazon. Underneath, I've linked to my book reviews or monthly book report where I mention the book (which also usually has Amazon links). So, you've been warned. However, my selections here are my honest opinions. You can trust me, because I have a blog.

Favorite Books

2017: The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

2016: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 

Best Fiction

2017: The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier


2017: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, because it's wonderful, too, and on my blog I can choose two favorite fiction books

2016: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Best Non-Fiction

2017: Endurance: Shakleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

2016: City of Saints: A Pilgrimage to John Paul II's Krakow by George Weigel

Best New-to-Me-Authors

2017: Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

2016: The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton

Best Classic Books I'd Never Read Before

2017: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2016: Ivanhoe: A Romance by Sir Walter Scott

Best Books I Pre-Read for School

2017: Years of Dust by Albert Marrin

This was a harder category to fill because so many of the pre-reads for Level 4 ended up topping out their respective categories in memoir, humor, non-fiction, etc.

2016: String, Straight-Edge, and Shadow by Julia E. Diggins

Books that Made Me Laugh

2017: My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

2016: Pegeen by Hilda van Stockum

Best Homeschooling or Education Books

Apparently, I didn't read any books I could honestly put in the homeschooling or education category. I guess I know an area I need to address in 2018!

2016: Let's Play Math by Denise Gaskins

Most Challenging

2017: Transforming Your Life Through the Eucharist by John A. Kane

2016: Humility of Heart by F. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo

Best Books I Read Aloud

2017: The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (specifically on Audible)

This is a cheat since we bought the Audible version, but it was the best read aloud we had all year, and it has the bonus of being enjoyable for every member of the family, including Kansas Dad.

2016: The Bat-Poet by Randall Jarrell

Best Memoirs

2017: John Paul II: A Personal Portrait of the Pope and the Man by Ray Flynn

2016: A Traveller in Rome by H. V. Morton

Best Biographies

2017: The Long-Legged House by Wendell Berry

This isn't really a biography, but it does contain some essays that incorporate Berry's personal experiences, so this is where it's going.

2016: Lincoln in His Own Words by Abraham Lincoln, edited by Milton Meltzer

Best Sports-Related Book

I totally invented this category in 2015 to mention a book I really loved. Now I have nothing to say about it.

Most Surprising Book (in a Good Way)

2017: The Shepherd Who Didn't Run by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda

Nothing fit this category in 2016. Apparently, all the books I found surprising were unpleasantly surprising.

Best Books on Faith

2017: Prayer and the Will of God by Dom Hubert van Zeller

2016: The Little Flowers of Saint Francis by Brother Ugolino

My Other Favorite Books
(alphabetical order by title)

Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery - I started to read the Anne novels again in 2017 and am loving them.

Beowulf, in various forms - my post in 2017.

Between the Forest and the Hills by Ann Lawrence - my post in 2017.

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery - my post in 2017.

George Washington, Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen - my post in 2016.

The Good Master by Kate Seredy - my post in 2017.

The Long Road to Gettysburg by Jim Murphy - my post in 2016.

Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels - my post on the second half in 2017.

Simon Brute and the Western Adventure by Elizabeth Bartelme - my post in 2016.

Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie - my post in 2016.

For those interested in even more books lists:
2015 list
2014 list
2013 list