February 2025 Book Reports

Gilgamesh retold by Stephen Mitchell - I picked this book off my shelf for a reading challenge of my local homeschool friends for "a ballad or epic poem". The introduction of this book gives some good background information on the epic of Gilgamesh, but it often treats Biblical stories as if they were mythical or legendary rather than true, just like Gilgamesh. The version is a retelling, but it sounds like it flows better than a more literal translation. Interestingly, Mitchell doesn't read any of the original language of Gilgamesh and has instead relied on a wide variety of translations. I suppose that means this isn't the edition you want if you are looking for a more academic version, but his extensive notes (more than 80 pages) probably provide more information that most readers care about. (I didn't read them myself.) I ended up with this edition because it's the one that came available on PaperBackSwap, and it was quite enjoyable. There are some versions of Gilgamesh appropriate for children; this is not one of them. We don't even assign Gilgamesh to high schoolers, but I suppose I would allow a mature teen to read this retelling if he or she was particularly interested. (PaperBackSwap.com copy)

The Art of Dying Well by St. Robert Bellarmine - This was a pre-read for a four-year series of religion readings Kansas Dad is compiling. Hopefully we'll include it in future Mater Amabilis high school religion plans. It's a brief book exploring how we should live so that we are prepared to die well, prepared to be closer to our Lord. (free online)

Dune Boy by Edwin Way Teale - I read this back in 2010. It's a delightful book, but it's currently showing as $50 at a number of online bookstores; don't pay that! This is Teale's wonderful memoir of his youth, mainly focused on the time he spent working, dreaming, and learning on his grandparents' farm near the sand dunes in Indiana. It's nature study, natural history, memoir, writing treatise, and American history. I read it aloud to the kids over the past few years. (Finding time to read all together is much harder when they start taking classes at college and participating in so many sports and activities.) (received from a member of PaperBackSwap.com)

Women of the Catholic Imagination edited by Haley Stewart - I received this as a gift for Christmas. This book includes essays about twelve different authors who were either Catholic or wrote in the Catholic tradition, all from the past two hundred years. I was unfamiliar with three of them entirely and learned a great deal about the lives and writings of the them and the others. Of course, the major problem with a book like this is that is expands your to-read list exponentially, but at least you know the books you are adding are worth your time. As a side note, this Word on Fire edition is beautiful. It's well-made and a joy to read. There's an art to printing a good book; Word on Fire is always a quality publisher. (gifted copy)

Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather - Our reading Bingo included a white elephant category. We each recommended a book which was put on a randomized wheel online. Then we each spun to get our white elephant read. (I put The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery on the list.) My selection was Shadows on the Rock, which was perfect because I'm slowly reading my way through all of Cather's novels. In this one, we trace the life of one girl of Quebec in 1697 as she grows from a girl into a woman. It's beautifully written, though it does have the flaws you would expect of a novel of early America in respect to the Native Americans. There were also a few times when I thought to myself, "I would never send my daughter on an overnight river trip with a grown man." But those are flaws partly imposed by our modern eyes rather than inherent in the novel. I did not like it as well as Death Comes for the Archbishop, but still lovely. I really like the Vintage Classics editions of Cather's novels. (purchased used)

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff - Multiple people in different parts of my life happened to recommend this book around the same time. Looking for something lovely and short, I bought the audiobook. First, I was surprised to find it a series of actual letters (and not a work of fiction), and epistolary books are always questionable to me. Though her letters to a London bookseller begin as relatively benign requests for worthy books, Helene's vibrant personality soon breaks through to become friends with the employees. She shares in their joys and sorrows. It's sweet, but like life, it doesn't always have neat and tidy endings. People come and go, and sometimes you never learn how they ended up. Parts were funny, much was uplifting. I'm not sorry I listened to it, but I don't know that I'd overwhelmingly recommend it. (Audible copy)

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

August and September 2024 Book Reports

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - I had read this book before, perhaps during my high school or college years, but I wanted to read it again before First Daughter did. It is one of the novels scheduled for English in Level 6 Year 2 (twelfth grade). It was at least as depressing as I remembered, but I found myself appreciating how it highlighted the malaise and aimlessness of the wealthy 1920s crowd. I think many of the same symptoms are still thriving in American society. I'm glad we have it scheduled. First Daughter thought all the characters are terrible, as she should. (purchased copy)

On Writing Well by William Zinsser - This is another book from the English course for the Mater Amabilis curriculum, though it's from Level 6 Year 1 (eleventh grade) and I finished it after First Daughter. I love how we have writing books scheduled for Level 6. They are good companions to the more basic writing guides we use in Level 5. (The Level 6 Year 2 book is The Office of Assertion. Zinsser's book is full of good advice the student can incorporate immediately into narrations and the longer essays assigned in the course. (PaperBackSwap.com)

The River and the Source by Margaret A. Ogola - I have seen this book recommended so many times over the years as a free geography read for Africa. For many years, it was out of print in the United States. Unlike many books available for geography, it was written by a Kenyan woman (not an American or Britain who lived in Kenya, or even a Kenyan who moved to the US or Great Britain). The author drew on stories told by her mother and grandmother about her great-grandmother. The book follows generations of the family through colonization and modernization. It's an excellent choice for a high school geography student, though given the time periods covered, a parent may want to pre-read. There are definitely some difficult topics. I was surprised at how small the printed pages are inside the book compared to the size of the book itself. I think the margins on all four sides are at least 2"! (purchased copy)

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

A Memoir of Place and People: The Hearthstone of My Heart

The Hearthstone of My Heart

by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

Elizabeth Borton de Trevino is such a delight. This book is like sitting down to tea with her and listening as she shares memories of her family and her incredible life. Her thoughts on the deepest aspects of what it is to be human rise up naturally from her stories.

Borton de Trevino is the author of children's books like Nacar: The White Deer and I, Juan de Pareja. She actually wrote many books, but most of them are now sadly out of print. 

In this book, she commented on children's literature in a way that reminded me of Charlotte Mason's ideals. 

Shouldn't the imagination of what could be a beautiful world, be kept, in their stories, in their entertainment? If not, how will they envision it? Man has always dreamed of improvements before he was able to effect them. (p. 195)

A little later, she writes:

I do feel, strongly, that some of the special gifts of childhood must somehow be preserved, and chief among those is the vaulting imagination, and the child's capacity for love and empathy. (p. 195) 

This author led a remarkable life, interviewing and befriending (or befriended by) many of the greatest artists and musicians of her life in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Mexico. She writes often with generosity and warmth of her relationships with them.

Her Epilogue provides a good reflection on the book as a whole.

I think, as I look back over what I have told in this volume, that the important thing I want to emphasize is that there is still much goodness, generosity, and kindness  all around us, that friendship is still the greatest treasure God has offered us for the taking, during our lives, and that, as they say in Spanish, "Amor con amor se paga." Love is repaid by love. (p. 223) 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I also recommend My Heart Lies South. 

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

Preparing for College Writing: The Office of Assertion

The Office of Assertion: The Art of Rhetoric for the Academic Essay

by Scott F. Crider

This book is recommended in our Mater Amabilis high school English course (Level 6 Year 2, twelfth grade). First Son's English courses were a combination of the new plans and the old beta plans, so I spent a lot of time debating his options for senior year. I didn't want him to miss all of the great books and resources, but because he was going to take a college writing course, he didn't have time for everything that was left.

I decided to take a chance on this book and scheduled it for First Son. I really don't know how much it helped him; he's a fine writer, though a bit too succinct for my own taste. I think it's an excellent book, though, and I'm already looking forward to First Daughter reading it in a few years.

There book consists of six chapters, an example student essay, and a couple of other helpful appendices. The Mater Amabilis lesson plans cover it in nine assignments (once a week). I assigned it to First Son in the first term, along with some Shakespeare and novels I wanted him to read. (I gave him a semester's credit of English for this book and the plays and novels, then a year's credit for the college writing course he took in the spring.) The example student essay is about Telemachus and the Odyssey, which Mater Amabilis students will especially appreciate if they read it in Level 5.

Dr. Crider covers everything about crafting an essay - forming an argument, organizing the essay's structure, stylistic choices, revising, and critiquing. Most of these topics should be somewhat familiar to a Level 6 student (eleventh or twelfth grade), but The Office of Assertion pulls it all together clearly and succinctly. He includes examples throughout from masterpieces of rhetoric like the Declaration of Independence and Samuel Johnson's "Preface to Shakespeare."

All liberal arts, in both the sciences and the humanities, are animated by the fundamental human desire to know, the fulfillment of which is a good, even if it provides no economic or political benefit whatsoever. An education for economic productivity and political utility alone is an education for slaves, but an education for finding, collecting, and communicating reality is an education for free people, people free to know what is so. (pp. 122-123, emphasis of the author)

This book is an excellent part of our high school plans. It fits well in the senior year, when students are likely more proactive in improving their writing and when it will remain fresh in their minds as they begin college coursework.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. I purchased my copy new from Amazon.