Reading to Know

Beyond Opinion :: Reading to Know 2012 Bookclub

2012-01-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

Sky chose Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend which is edited by Ravi Zacharias for our January book club read. I'm blaming her for the read and thanking her at the same time. To be perfectly honest, this book was a lot to take. It's meaty in a most fabulous way. It's scary looking too, and that's unfortunate because it is an incredibly worthwhile read. Still, it is difficult. (I am seriously intimidated by it, truth be told!)

To continue on in the vein of complete honesty, neither Sky nor I were able to finish the book. It's just plain difficult to muddle through. (She got much further than I did. My C.S. Lewis class got in the way of my ability to read as much as I'd like of this book or my Montgomery choices this month! I'm telling myself not to feel guilty but to just keep doing as much as I can. That said, both Sky and I have every intention of finishing Beyond Opinion over the course of the next few weeks (hopefully.)

If you either started reading or (gloriously!) finished reading the book, please write up your post sharing your thoughts and link your post in the comment section. If you do not have a blog but want to comment on the read, we welcome you to do so! Join in and share your thoughts below!

This post will remain up as-is, so you can feel free to link your thoughts up in the comment section at any time.

Sky kindly wrote up some thoughts to share of the book but then we both read my friend Tim's post about this book over on his site, Diary of an Autodidact and we agreed to just point you off in his direction.

Tim makes the statement early on in his review that, "We as a culture have forgotten how to think." Reading his complete thoughts encouraged me to keep pressing on through this book and wrestle with the hard thoughts and arguments which are presented within the pages of Beyond Opinion. We have forgotten how to think and we don't like being forced to do it.

Let me rephrase that.

I have forgotten how to think and I don't like being forced to do it.

But if I do not exercise my brain and wrestle with these very issues then my faith will be weakened and watered down. And what, then, will I be passing down to my children?

I'm going to finish this book and I not only invite you to do so, but I encourage you to do so. For your own good. Even if it is hard.

Again, check out Tim's post HERE. Link and/or share your thoughts below in the comment section and we'll get this conversation started!

LMM Giveaway #4

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

The winners of the following contests, as selected by Random.org, are as follows:

Tales of Avonlea DVD - Shonya (Who will no longer be a verybadperson.)
Pat of Silver Bush - #1 Annette

Congrats, ladies!

Now, on to the last Montgomery-related giveaway for this particular Reading Challenge . . .

Here's another set I picked up this past year . . .

The Story Girl and its sequel, The Golden Road.

These books are Don't Miss titles, especially if you are a fan of the Road to Avonlea television series. If you've watched the series on tv then you might run across a familiar episode or two in the reading.

Would you like me to ship these books your direction? Simply leave a comment below. (If you are participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and have written up a post linking back and telling me so, please feel free to leave a second comment for a second entry.) This contest will be open to U.S. and Canadian residents and it will be open through Monday, January 30th. (This contest will only run the weekend so that I can wrap it up, along with the LMM Reading Challenge, on the 31st. We're in the home stretch now!)

I hope you have (participated in) and enjoyed this Reading Challenge! I hope that if you haven't had a chance to read Montgomery, you'll give her a chance. Perhaps this contest will provide you with that opportunity. Happy Reading!

Funny Frank, by Dick King-Smith :: Read Aloud Thursday

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

Time for another Read Aloud Thursday hosted by Amy at Hope is in the Word.

(To link up to Read Aloud Thursdays, click over to Hope is in the Word.)

We're on a roll with Dick King-Smith but I'm kind of ready to get off this little kick. As I mentioned when I talked about The Water Horse - (click to review, then find the book and read it) - King-Smith is sort of a hit-or-miss author for us. Funny Frank was another miss. At least for me.

The gist of Funny Frank is this: Frank is a chicken who wants to be a duck. He keeps wandering into the pond even though his feathers aren't water proof and he lacks the necessary webbed feet. He isn't designed to be a duck, but he wants to be one. His mother is ashamed of him and wants nothing to do with him. Thankfully for Frank, his human friends understand his wish to swim and make him a "swimming suit" and create some rather fantastic webbed feet to allow him to live his dream and be with the ducks.

Frank is happy enough until he grows up and realizes that there are nice aspects to being a chicken. One can scratch in the dirt and run in the meadow, among other things. In order to coax Frank back into chickenhood, his human friends bring him a female chicken whom he falls head over heels in love with and they presumably live happily ever after - as chickens, of course.

On its face, I suppose Funny Frank could be just that - funny. But my modern mind links this story to various political and social situations and I simply found it difficult to be amused. Frank earned the title of "Funny" not because he was funny in a "ha ha" sort of way but in a "you're an odd duck" (literally) sort of way. Peculiar is the word that is used. This story caused me to finally get around to looking up a little bit of information on King-Smith to see if perhaps there was an agenda behind this tale. In short, I believe the answer is no. (You can correct me in the comment section if you believe otherwise. I'd be curious to hear from someone else who has read this story.)

I had no idea that King-Smith wrote over a hundred stories, the first being published in 1978. (He only died this past January, 2011.) Funny Frank was published in 2001 and so I'm suspicious as to what King-Smith was trying to communicate, ultimate, with this particular story. A few websites referenced it as being a sort of retelling of The Ugly Duckling and I can certainly see that. I'm just not sure what else I'm supposed to see - if anything. I certainly am not a fan of reading books to my five year old with political/social arguments attached and because I feel like King-Smith was arguing a point it just didn't sit well with me. (I'm purposefully being rather discrete with this post, but I suspect the regular readership around these parts will catch on to the issue I'd be concerned with by reading the above paragraph describing the storyline.)

These were the things I didn't care for in the book:

1. Feeling like the author was arguing that we should be who we feel we are but not who we were created to be;

2. The relationship between Frank and his mother. At the beginning of the story she is trying to figure out why he is spending so much time with the ducks instead of the chickens. He responds that the ducks are much more clever and implies that she is a "stupid chick" who doesn't know what she's talking about. He shows little respect for his mother and scorns her. She is portrayed as an airhead who doesn't have a clue about life in general and is extremely judgmental towards Frank's swimming suit; and

3. The romantic relationship introduced at the end of the story involving Frank and the hen who is brought to the farm to 'lure Frank back to the fold.' The way that Frank and the hen relate to each other is perfectly juvenile and I couldn't even bring myself to read this conversation out loud to Bookworm1:

"Hello, handsome," said the pullet. "Where have you been all my life?"

Inside a wet suit, thought Frank. "I think we've met before," he gulped.

"We certainly have not," replied the speckled pullet. "The only guy I've met since I arrived last evening was a weird-looking wally dressed up as a duck. As different from you as could be, lover boy."

I made them speak much more plainly when I brought them to life out loud.

It is with some relief that I can say that Bookworm1 didn't seem to care much about this story. It was a fast read and there are pictures on every page so we moved through it very quickly. I don't think he caught on to any of the underlying messages which may and/or may not exist (on purpose) here. I shelved the love-talk and we completed the story and moved right on to another book. There are serious doubts in my head that Bookworm1 will even remember this story and I have to say I won't be keeping it around to refresh his memory or introduce this particular story to any of my other kids. We'll just say goodbye to Funny Frank and move on.

Obviously this is not one I recommend. That said, have I mentioned The Water Horse? If you write over one hundred books, I suppose you're allowed a gem or two! :)

The Golden Road, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through another Lucy Maud Montgomery book this year. As I mentioned the other day, I started taking a C.S. Lewis class which has stolen away my reading time. (Not that I have huge objections because it's an amazing opportunity. I'm simply finding myself out of time to read hardly anything else! I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet all of my Montgomery goals this month but I did want to strive to finish The Golden Road while I still had The Story Girl (linked to my review) fresh on my mind. Oh, but I am so glad that I took the time to travel back to Avonlea and visit with the King cousins!

The Golden Road was first published in 1913, and is sandwiched between the publishing of Chronicles of Avonlea (1912) and Anne of the Island (1915). This is the first book she composed as a married woman.

I think one of the most interesting things to note in this book is the relationship between The Story Girl and her father, who returns to collect her from her King relations, thus breaking up the happy band of cousins. Maud, it is said, put quite a bit of herself into the character of The Story Girl. Maud's own father left her in the care of her grandparents as she was growing up, traveled west and eventually remarried. Maud never got along with her stepmother and greatly longed for a loving relationship with her father. It's interesting then to note that she allowed The Story Girl the privilege of a relationship with a father who loved her dearly but was not "tied" to any other relationship, excepting that of parent and child.

This particular story, although the sequel to The Story Girl, does not feature Sara Stanely as exclusively as in the first book. Instead, Montgomery focuses more on the King cousins as a collection of young children roaming about Prince Edward Island. I thought she was much more descriptive about the Island itself and I wonder if this is in part due to the fact that she had married and moved away from it. The story very much reads as one who has loved the Island and had to say good-bye to it. In fact, all of the cousins have to say goodbye to one another at the end of the story and it is absolutely heartbreaking. (I confess! I cried! I positively HATE good-byes myself and generally refuse to make them! I'm more of a "see ya later!" sort of gal.)

In some ways this book is bittersweet because Montgomery very clearly is drawing the cousins' time together to a close. She hints at what each of their individual futures tell (which I'm certain was helpful in creating the Road to Avonlea television series!) but there are no absolutes to rest in. Still, there are things to love and laugh about when reading along.

I believe I got the most chuckles out of the children setting out to make new year's resolutions. Given the time of the year that I'm reading this story again, I found it particularly amusing.

"I can't think of any resolutions I want to make," said Felicity, who was perfectly satisfied with herself.
"I could suggest a few to you," said Dan sarcastically.
(Chapter 4, New Year's Resolutions)

~~~~~~

"I shall try to be cheerful and smiling all the time," wrote Cecily.
"You are, anyway," said Sara Ray loyally.
"I don't believe we ought to be cheerful all the time," said the Story Girl. "The Bible says we ought to weep with those who weep."
"But maybe it means that we're to weep cheerfully," suggested Cecily.
"Sorter as if you were thinking, 'I'm very sorry for you but I'm mighty glad I'm in in the scrape too," said Dan."
(Chapter 4, New Year's Resolutions)

Montgomery's books make me happy. Every year I say that I should read them all throughout the year and not just in January. Perhaps that ought to be the way because I simply delight in relaxing back with funny, peculiar friends and just being.

"And so that beautiful day went away from us, slipping through our fingers as we tried to hold it. It hooded itself in shadows and fared forth on the road that is lighted by the white stars of evening. It had been a gift of Paradise. Its hours had all been fair and beloved. From dawn flush to fall of night there had been naught to mar it. It took with it its smiles and laughter. But it left the boon of memory." (Chapter 26, Uncle Blair Comes Home)

Indeed, her books leave me with pleasant memories and so I'm not going to say goodbye to these friends. I'm only saying "see ya later!"

New Blog :: Living Like a Narnian

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001-08:00

Because I needed another blog, right?

Check out Living Like a Narnian!

Surprised? Confused? Hopefully this little Q&A will help to sort things out a bit:

Q: Did you really need another blog?

A: Depends on who you ask and how you look at things. I wanted something that wasn't confined to any particular topics (i.e., books.) Although Living Like a Narnian does involve books, it's not in the way you might think. Living Like a Narnia will be more inclusive as to various aspects of my personal life.

Q: Are you still keeping Reading to Know?

A: You bet! Absolutely!

Q: Will you be posting as much at Living Like a Narnian as you do at Reading to Know?

A: No, not likely. I still have time constraints. I imagine I'll post there around twice a week on average.

Q: Why did you decide to do this?

A: Sometimes I've been annoyed by the constraints placed on me by the title alone of Reading to Know. Sure, I could make this corner of the blog universe more all-inclusive when it comes to sharing life but I don't think it is the appropriate spot. As I describe over at Living Like a Narnian, Reading to Know traps me in one moment of time. On the other site I can expand on my thoughts and life applications.

I want to be quick to point out that just like Reading to Know, Living Like a Narnian is something of a personal diary. Never thought my "diary" would be so public but....there 'tis.

Bloggy friend Annette - (who I'm certain would be a real life friend if she lived closer!) - was talking about some of her ideas in an e-mail which got me to thinking about starting another blog. Her conversation caused some thoughts to gel in my mind. SO if you get annoyed by the fact that I'm writing in two places, well, just blame Annette.

(Psst! You can find her on her newly unveiled site: This Simple Home.)

So that is that. Check out Living Like a Narnian if you like, or don't. Life will proceed around these parts as normal.

What's On My Nightstand - January

2012-01-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't participated in this meme for awhile. Well, a few months anyway. At the tail end of 2011 I was trying to wrap up my reading lists for the year. But now we're in a fresh new year and I'm back with the Nightstand posts (which are still my favorite meme hosted by 5 Minutes for Books!)

So what is on my Nightstand this coming month?

1. I'm going to (re-)read Little House in the Big Woods as part of Barbara H's LIW Reading Challenge which she is hosting during the month of February. (Click on the link to find out more about that!)

2. Of course, I'm going to read Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters, by Jennifer Wilson as part of the Reading to Know 2012 Online Bookclub. (Feel free to hop in any month you like!)

3. I'm going to re-read The Mysterious Benedict Society with my in-town bookclub. (Because it's my month to pick. Heh heh.)

*insert cheesy grin*

4. I finished reading through the Book of Genesis (Bible) this month and so next month I plan on re-reading it again and diving into Gleanings in Genesis, by A. W. Pink.

5. Lastly, I'm taking a C.S. Lewis class at our local University this term which has been extremely ~~mentally exhausting~~ interesting. It's also rather demanding on my reading time at the present. I was caught a little off-guard as to the timing of this class and my ability to attend at all came together last minute. As a result, An Experiment in Criticism has been left half-read (but I think I will be able to understand more of it after this class.) By the time this posts, I'll have just finished reading The Abolition of Man. Next in line is The Problem of Pain.

It's a little C.S. Lewis heavy around here at the moment but that's ok. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. (ha!) It does stretch me, however. I don't find Lewis' non-fiction very easy to get through. I'm glad for the class because I'm able to grasp hold of a bit more than I know I would have were I all on my own.

All of the above is more or less what's on my nightstand for the coming month. I have a few other odds and ends to throw into the mix, as always, but these are the staples for the month and the books I simply MUST get through.

Onward and upward! What do you have planned to read in the next month? Looking forward to checking out everyone else's Nightstand posts, per usual.

Animotion Books

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have to say that these books arrived on our doorstep just in time. We had gone out of town last weekend and came home to a frightening medical emergency involving Bookworm1. Daddy was hightailing it to the doctor with the oldest while I stayed home with the youngest, unpacking suitcases and opening the mail. I was delighted to open up a package and discover these books which I promptly sat down and looked through with Bookworms 2 and 3.

If you are unfamiliar with Animotion books then you are in for a delightful treat. These aren't your run of the mill picture books. On each page, there is an animation (or animotion) which brings the picture to life. Tilt the book ever-so-slightly up and down or side to side while reading and bunnies truly do hop and chicks hatch out of their eggs. Hop, Pop, and Play is one of Accord Publishing's mini animotion books. Their mini books are about 6 1/2" x 6 1/2", which makes them easy for little hands to hold on to.

Hop, Pop, and Play is a Spring-ish title displaying lots of animals playing outdoors in a fresh, green world. Each page has but one simple sentence on it so they are most suitable for your beginning readers (or those who are familiarizing themselves with the concept of books.) We read, "Piglets play in the mud." On the opposing page we see a piglet shaking itself in a mud puddle. Ducklings splash and lambs jump. These are fun books to look at.

On the Go is another book in their mini animotion series which, as you've likely deduced, focuses on transportation. In this particular book we witness submarines diving in the water, snowboarders "whoosh" down the hill and race cars speeding around a track. This one held great appeal to Bookworm2 (age 2 3/4) although due to the fact that there is only one sentence per page, he didn't exhibit as much interest in sitting and reading it so much as much looking at the pictures move.

When Bookworm1 (age 5) arrived home from the doctor, he glanced through the book but beyond browsing the books once, they didn't hold that much appeal. These books are not earmarked for a particular age group and I don't necessarily think that they should be. After all, even I'm curious to look at the pictures and see how they move! That said, I do think that they are a great deal more appropriately suited for ages 12 months to 2 years. They would hold the most value to the youngest readers among us, I think.

These books were a wonderful distraction to us in our Moment of Need and they've been carted around the house for the past week with the younger two spending the most time looking at the pictures.

Thanks, Accord Publishing, for sending these our way for us to check out!

LMM Giveaway #3

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Over the course of the last year I managed to pick up the first book in a two book series: Pat of Silver Bush. (Mistress Pat being the sequel.)

It's been a long time since I've read these particular titles! Just looking at this book and holding it in my hands makes me want to drop everything and read it right now! I guess I can just hope it makes you want to do the same and perhaps meet a character of Montgomery's that you've not yet met before.

Would you care to win this title? Simply leave a comment below. (If you are participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and have written up a post linking back saying so, please feel free to leave a second comment for a second entry.) This contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents and will be open through Thursday, January 26th.

Just doin' my part to spread the Montgomery love around a little! Happy Reading!

******

The winners of last week's contest are as follows:

#6 - Queen of Carrots
#12 - Mary Bailey

I've contacted both of the winners and will get their books to them shortly!

Let the Hurricane Roar, by Rose Wilder Lane

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

I first read Let the Hurricane Roar, by Rose Wilder Lane, when I was fourteen-ish. (Somewhere around there.) For me, at that time, this book could be called a romance. Marked for ages 10 and up, the back of the book describes it as follows:

"Newlyweds Molly and David are only sixteen and eighteen years old when they head west to the unclaimed land there. But they work hard, and at first their new life is full of promise: the wheat is high, their dugout is warm and cozy, and a new baby is born to share their happiness. Then disaster strikes, and David must go east for the winter to find work. Molly is left alone with the baby - with nothing but her own courage to face the harsh prairie winter."

When I read it as a teen I was thinking how romantic it was to set of west with the love of your life at sixteen years old. My thirty three year old self picked it back off the shelf shortly after the holidays to give it a re-read. At a mere 118 pages, this is a quick read and I pleasantly filled up one of the children's nap times reading it. It is a pleasant read, but this time I looked upon it a bit differently.

For starters, Let the Hurricane Roar is way more than a romance. How many middle aged couples do you know that would strike out into unknown territory, face and fight illness, debt, the addition of children to their family and still declare they love each other and are going to keep sticking things out? All this while being cold and facing hunger, knowing that if they did not continue to work from dawn to dusk they would not be able to survive. How many middle aged couples in this century, with electricity and countless "modern conveniences" would declare that so long as they have each other, they can face anything? Even potential (or an actual) death? I suggest that our modern day society not only has no idea what hard work really is, but tend to choose the "opt out" button whenever they think that something might have the potential of causing them great pain or anguish. (I'm speaking generally, obviously, but generally speaking we're seeing a rise in the divorce rate that is sad to behold.)

Marriage is hard work. It isn't easy and it isn't always fun. You must learn to put Self to death and think about another person and your combined goals and dreams. (Let's be honest - putting Self to death can be perfect agony at times.) Add children to the mix and your life is totally not your own (and you wonder why you ever thought it was to begin with!) When life pushes in, it's hard to learn how to push back - together. It can be learned. It must be learned. But it is a hard lesson to learn, at that.

Now, I'm not one to read romances as a general rule because I don't find them to be truthful. I typically try to discourage people - especially unmarried teen girls/women - from reading romances because they simply are not accurate in the way that they portray the marriage relationship. (Frequently they don't even portray the marriage relationship which is about half of the problem. Such books take you through the most romantic phase of a relationship and stop before things start to become work.)

I rather like Let the Hurricane Roar though because the book begins with the marriage and allows you to get to know the couple. If I were to hand over a book about a fictional relationship to my daughter when she became a teen, this would probably be the book. Molly and David's relationship is not necessarily realistic to the modern audience - (only because you do not seen many people working to exhibit the traits that Molly and David exhibited these days) - but it is ideal (and, quite frankly, it is attainable.) This story presents a relationship that gives one something to aspire to. A woman deciding that she is going to be a help-meet to her husband, no matter the personal cost, is something to admire and learn from. In this book Molly is called upon to sacrifice a great deal: family, security, and possible food and shelter. She sacrifices these things for the sake and privilege of being David's help-meet. She is fearful and afraid at times but she acts out of love and respect in a very Biblical way which I can truly appreciate.

David is supposed to be the head of his family, caring and providing for Molly and their young son. He is to love her and listen to her. He does both, in a very realistic way, I think. He faces great challenges and discouragement. When he first marries her, he is full of optimism as they head west. Then real life smacks him in the face and the full weight of his new responsibilities come crashing down on his head and he struggles with this in the book. Again, I think this is very realistic.

Rose Wilder Lane creates a female that females can identify with. Molly wants to be strong, but she knows she must put aside her fears and support her husband no matter what her emotions may be telling her to do. David wants to provide for and love Molly but it turns out to involve a lot more hard work than he was originally expecting. They both start out young and optimistic when reality crashes in on them. But Molly and David survive. Which again gives us, as the readers, something to be encouraged by and aspire to.

All of the above is almost ironic considering the fact that Lane's marriage did not survive the challenges which life threw at it. I'm not aware of all of the particular details of why her marriage failed to survive, but you can get an idea of why on the Wikipedia page about Rose Wilder Lane. I half wonder at how she could write Let the Hurricane Roar at all but then I think of Montgomery's writings which are filled with happiness and light despite the fact that Montgomery was personally depressed. These female authors were able to write truth even though they did not personally experience it as applied to their own life situations.

Marriage is not easy (and this book testifies to the fact) but it is a very blessed state (which, again, this book clearly states.) If the modern day audience could even begin to grasp the idea that hard work is good and profitable then we might start seeing a decline in the divorce rate, which would be a praiseworthy thing to take note of indeed! One book I'd hand over not just for entertainment purposes but to show the modern reader how marriage can be done is Let the Hurricane Roar. I highly recommend it. In my opinion, the story is a valuable one and a most worthy read.

****

Non-fiction marriage books I heartily recommend reading (and in the following order):

What Did You Expect?, by Paul David Tripp (Linked to my review.)
Reforming Marriage, by Doug Wilson
This Momentary Marriage, by John Piper (Also linked to my review.)

Russian Winter, by Daphne Kalotay

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

I mentioned previously I had two friends at church who are avid readers like myself. You've met Heather, now meet Joy. Joy snatched Russian Winter: A Novel off my bookshelf and I asked her if she'd be willing to share her thoughts on it. Here is what she had to say:

******

Russian Winter is Daphne Kalotay’s debut novel and in some aspects this is apparent in her writing. The story centers around three people but four characters: Nina Revskaya, a retired Bolshoi Ballet star living in Boston; Drew Brooks, an associate at the auction house Nine has placed her extensive jewelry collection into the care of; Grigori Solodin, a university professor whose work specializes in the poetry of Nina’s late husband; and the young Nina, a gifted ballet dancer in Communist Russia. The tie that brings all four of these characters together is the magnificent jewelry collection of the older Nina that she has decided to auction off to benefit the Boston Ballet Foundation. At the very beginning of the book this quote appears, “Her husband had archaic ideas about jewels; a man bought them for his wife in acknowledgment of things he could not gracefully utter.” In such a way, several of the pieces featured in the auction are linked to the story of Nina’s life, with one set in particular taking center stage: an amber bracelet and earrings each with a unique inclusion (a small object, usually an insect, embedded in the amber). The parts of the book detailing the methods used to date and appraise the jewelry are interesting but occasionally tedious. Line drawings might have helped clarify the more technical aspects of description.

One tell of this author’s newness to the genre is her efforts for sophistication by frequently holding back details in the story. She uses this mechanism so often and at times delays the revelation so long that the reader feels like the author is holding out against them rather than giving the reader clues to help them put together the puzzle. A minor example would be on page 18 with a paragraph that opens with the sentence, “Grigori Solodin saw the announcement on the third day of the new semester.” The reader’s interest is piqued, but it is not until two pages later that their curiosity is satisfied as to what the announcement is! The biggest mystery of the book surrounds an amber pendant in the possession of Grigori, who thinks that the necklace might be a match to Nina’s amber set. The reader is kept in suspense as to what this large amber drop contains for the majority of the book so that when the secret is finally revealed it is almost anticlimactic.

At the beginning of the story each person is introduced as broken and dealing with a significant loss, Nina lost in her memories and regrets, Brook recovering from a severed engagement and Grigori mourning the death of his beloved wife. As these three characters interact, deeper layers of connection are shown to already exist between them. This is where another significant mystery enfolds. The reader is stymied with all the hints and questions that arise from the narrative. How are Grigori and Nina really connected? Does his pendant actually match her amber set and how did the pieces come to be separated? Who does Brook remind Nina so strongly of?

The story of young Nina, as she discovers the world of ballet and rises through the ranks until she is the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, is a fascinating look at Communist Russia, especially the world of the artist in that regulated time and place. The author is not so detailed with the phraseology of the ballet that the reader loses interest but instead gives a beautiful picture of glittering performances while also showing the drab realities of life behind the glamour. Before reading this book, I enjoyed the occasional ballet but I have now been inspired to more purposefully explore and learn about this beautiful art form.

For such an avid lover of mysteries as I am, I anticipated liking this book much more than I actually did. Some of the author’s literary devices seemed to hinder the story so that I occasionally had to force myself to keep reading until the flow was regained. For instance she seemed to touch on the each character two or three times within each chapter, which made their stories seem stilted. There are also few parts that stretch the reader’s imagination a bit and a few passionate scenes that are a little detailed for my taste. And if the ending seems to come upon the one rather abruptly, at least the author managed to clear up most of her hinted at mysteries by the last page. Leaving aside my difficulties with the author’s style, for an interesting look at the worlds of ballet, Stalinist Russia, and the history of jewelry, this book should be a pleasant read for any patient reader.

*****

After reading Sarah @ Library Hospital's review of this book, I was intrigued, but not convinced. Hearing Joy's take on it, I can't honestly say that this is one I'm going to spend time reading. (Although admittedly parts of it still sound intriguing.)

Thanks to Harper Perennial for shooting a copy this direction. All opinions expressed above are my own. And Joy's.

The Magical World of Fairies

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

I have no objections to fairies and enjoy thinking that might exist in some happy garden playground somewhere. They add amusement and delight to fairy tales and it's fun to imagine what such creatures would do if they existed and how they might act in particular situations. (Plus, they are just so delicately pretty!) Lucy Maud Montgomery certainly delighted in the concept of them as talk of them are scattered throughout her work. When I saw that Peter Pauper Press had a new fairy paper doll set out, well, you know I had to have a look!

The The Magical World of Fairies is a paper doll fold-out play set complete with fairies, fairy clothes and woodland scenes to put them into. It includes 11 punch-out fairy dolls and 25 outfits that someone had a lot of fun creating for them. (I'm particularly fond of the fairy strawberry dress although I don't suppose it would suit me very well, personally, in real life.)

This play set would have you dream of fairies. The paper dolls are contained in one very sturdy book which introduces you to the dolls inside with the following paragraph:

"Have you ever wished you could fly through a forest, frolic through a flower garden, or skip from lily pad to lily pad on a moonlit lake? Now you can!"

Don't make fun of me. I like it! :) Makes me wish I were four or five and could play with them myself without my sanity being called into question.

“One can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once.” Anne of Avonlea

I'm afraid I might half dive back into little girlhood when my own little girl is old enough to take me with her on her imaginative journeys. I like to think that I'll make the time for that. I hope I will. For now, I will lay this paper dolls aside for her to enjoy. For I also like to believe that she, and any other little girl, would enjoy playing in fairyland some afternoon. When she does, her fairies can play with the deer and geese and garden gnomes also included in this book. (Every fairy should have a friend garden gnome, don'tcha think?)

“Because when you're imagining, you might as well imagine something worthwhile." Anne of Green Gables

These are definitely quality paper dolls that should hold up to little hands quite well. They are printed on heavy cardstock and can all be stored inside this nice hardbound book case which includes a large attached envelope to keep your fairies and their fairyland safe when not in play.

Love this set by Peter Pauper Press and love them for sending it to me to check out! Thanks!

“Fairyland is the loveliest word because it means everything the human heart desires.” ― L.M. Montgomery, The Selected Journals, Vol. 3: 1921-1929

LMM Giveaway - BONUS (because it's a holiday and all)

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

So, I walked into my local Goodwill and there, staring at me from the shelf right by the front door, was Tales from Avonlea - Beginnings. And I thought to myself, "WHO GOT RID OF THIS?!?!?!?!" And then I thought to myself, "I'm CERTAIN I can find someone who will LOVE it!!"

Now the only question is - is that person YOU!?

If you haven't yet been introduced to the wonderful world of Avonlea through Sullivan Entertainment's Road to Avonlea series then you, well, really should watch it. Find it at your library, buy the set (they are rather hefty in price but worth every penny, in my opinion!) or do SOMEthing. This is just an awesome, fun series and I highly recommend it. (Highly, highly, highly.)

This particular set that I found at Goodwill is a "collection" set, of sorts. It has only eight episodes (from Seasons 1 and 2) but these are some of my favorites. I hope they'll be yours also.

It has:

The Journey Begins
Proof of the Pudding (HAHAHAAHA! Oh my.)
The Quarantine At Alexander Abraham's (I snicker just typing the title, it's that great.)
The Materializing of Duncan
The Witch of Avonlea
Nothing Endures But Change
How Kissing Was Discovered (Helllloo, Felicity & Gus!)
Aunt Hetty's Ordeal

Just enter. I can't think of why you'd be terribly disappointed by this. (And what a great, cheap way to familiarize yourself with this series if you haven't already done so youverybadperson, you!!)

This contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through Sunday, January 22nd. (And yes, if you are participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and have written up a post linking back and saying so, then you may happily leave a second comment for a second entry.) Please also leave a valid e-mail address along with your comment so that I can contact you, should your name be selected as the winner.

Happy Watching! :D

:D :D :D

LMM Giveaway #2 (x2!)

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

I have a "bad habit" of purchasing any LMM title I see that is not part of the Anne series anywhere, anytime I see it. One of the first shelves I check at our local used bookstore is the shelf for Montgomery. Every time I go in, I hunt them down. Given that they are so hard to come by (or so I've found) I snatch them up -- FOR YOU!

Over the course of the past year I found two copies of each of the above titles. When I pulled out my Montgomery giveaway stack for this Reading Challenge, I discovered the sets (even though I had purchased the titles individually and separately.)

TWO of you now have a chance to win a set of these books: Chronicles of Avonlea and Further Chronicles of Avonlea. (One set matches itself and the other doesn't. The first name I draw as winner will receive the matched set. The second person I draw will have to enjoy the books without matching covers!)

To win? Simply leave a comment below. (If you are participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and have written up a post and linked back saying so, feel free to leave a second comment for a second entry!) This contest is open to U.S. & Canadian residents and will be open through Thursday, January 19th.

Enjoy! And Happy Reading!

The Water Horse, by Dick King-Smith

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Time for another Read Aloud Thursday hosted by Amy at Hope is in the Word.

Last week we talked about Babe: The Gallant Pig (linked to my review.) After we finished that story, it was somewhat of a challenge to convince Bookworm1 to take up another chapter book. Nevertheless, I laid a stack of possibilities in front of him to choose from and he decided to go with The Water Horse, also by Dick King-Smith. The idea of a sea dragon was compelling enough to get him back into a chapter book story and boy did we both enjoy his pick!

If A Mouse Called Wolf was a hit, The Water Horse was even more so! It has everything that we could possibly want right now: an often hungry and usually funny boy about Bookworm1's age, a mysterious sea dragon that the family treats as a pet. The sea dragon also did us the favor of eating other sea life which we could then read and talk about!

In case you are unfamiliar with the premise of the story, it is this (stolen shameless from Amazon):

Set in the 1930s, this story tells of a young Scottish girl, Kirstie, and her brother, Angus, who find a mysterious egg capsule washed up on shore after a storm and take it home. To their delight, this "mermaid's purse" hatches into a lovable sea monster they call Crusoe. It keeps growing and growing, until finally it is too big to live anywhere but in nearby Loch.

If you've happened to seen the movie of the same title, I am happy to tell you that the book and the movie have almost nothing in common with one another. Jonathan and I saw the movie and although we thought it was creative and good, it pales in comparison to the book. The book creates a picture of a strong family unit who discover a great secret and decided to keep and care for it together. It is a matter of pride and honor that they are the ones to care for this water creature and there is a lot of teamwork involved in doing so. King-Smith did a marvelous job creating characters that come alive for you as you read. Bookworm1 laughed outloud at several points in the story and was riveted to the book the entire time I was reading it. He loved it so much, actually, that we consumed the book in two days flat! (In my mind, that's the mark of a good story! He didn't want to walk away from it and neither did I! We were completely captivated and couldn't wait to find out what happened.)

I feel like I can do nothing but gush about this book. Basic points:

1. It's not like the movie. It's much, much better!
2. It's funny.
3. It ties in a bit of history, as the first sighting of the Loch Ness monster occurred in the summer of 1933, which is about the time the characters in this story took Crusoe to the larger loch.

The book leaves you wondering about the real life mystery of the Loch Ness Monster, of course. After reading the book we hopped over to the computer and looked at pictures of the Loch Ness Monster and talked about the possibilities of its existence.

In short, The Water Horse is a wonderful reading experience - especially for young boys. It's short (larger print, 118 pages, pictures scattered throughout) and engaging and we highly recommend it!

Go Read It! Go Read It! Go Read It! (That sort of thing.)

*****
Additional note: The Water Horse was so awesome that the moment we closed the book, Bookworm1 asked me for another chapter book to read. Again I spread out a selection of books to choose from and again he went for another King-Smith. He selected Mr. Ape which we read the first chapter off before tossing it to the side. In this particular story, Mr. Ape is a man who likes to be alone. He didn't mind it at all when his wife told him she didn't like him and left him. Mr. Ape rather gloried in the fact that he was unliked and unloved. The characters in the book were not very, um, kind, shall we say? I didn't care for the family dynamics at all. The character of Mr. Ape was rather obnoxious and unthinking and we we opted not to read that title and will not be revisiting it. I think that King-Smith is a hit-or-miss for us. That said, I couldn't be more delighted with The Water Horse (and A Mouse Called Wolf.)

The Essential Guide to Healing, by Bill Johnson & Randy Clark

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

A few of you (who know me personally and well) will be very surprised to see this title here. (Then again, think about how hard it would be for me to actually resist this and it might make more sense.)

The Essential Guide to Healing was on a list of books available for review and, well, as you can see, I couldn't resist. I'm quite uncertain as to whether I made a good choice or a bad one.

I should probably start by saying that I've had some "run-ins" with Bill Johnson and his Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry and Healing (based in Redding, CA.) The church we were formerly a part of started exploring what Bethel had to offer, and a few friends attended their school. I've browsed the school's website, I've read books recommended, and I've watched videos/listened to "sermons" and am generally familiar with their mission.

Because of my personal connections in this area, I want to make especially sure to express my thoughts carefully so that I'm not misunderstood. At the same time, I do have very strong opinions about Bill Johnson and his ministry. That is? I hardly agree with a lick of it. I think it is dangerous enough that I'm not opposed to saying so (out loud.)

Before going too much further, here are three things about me to keep in mind as you read the rest of this review.

#1 - Although, like Bill Johnson, I'm not a cessationist, I don't make that issue into more than it needs to be. I believe that God can and does still work miracles and healings when and where He pleases and for His glory. I don't believe our theology should limit what God can and wants to do. (e.g., "No, God. You're done with your miracles. No more wonder-working for you!") I believe I should be very grateful to the Lord when we see true miracles occur, and give glory to the One to whom it's due. (After all, that's the point!) And when the miracle that we're wishing and praying for doesn't happen? I believe we should say with all of our hearts, "Thank you, Lord, for remaining faithful and working even through this situation. Teach my heart to trust and believe in You, regardless of what I may see and think in this [emotional] moment. May You receive the glory in all of this."

#2 - I believe that when God decides He wants to heal someone miraculously of a disease or sickness, it has relatively little-to-nothing to do with me and my longings for something "good" to happen. I fully confess that God's idea of good doesn't always look good to me. That doesn't mean it isn't good. It just means that He is omniscient and I am not. He is God. I am not. I don't know what He's doing. I don't have to know. I'm not designed to know. I am only told to trust and obey and to walk in faith, believing that He is God. I am told that He works all things together for my good and for His glory. That working may produce pain sometimes on my part, but that doesn't mean that it's not for my ultimate good. (2 Samuel 22:31 and Job 13:15(a) for starters.)

#3 - I do believe in the sovereignty of God. I believe that He made the light and He made the darkness and therefore I need not fear either, but trust in Him. I believe that He knows how many hairs are on my head, and how many days I have here on this earth. (Job 14:5) He knows what trials I will face before I do, and, yes, He allows them to happen. (See entire Book of Job.) I believe that He is good in what He allows. (Again, I didn't say I had to like it. But it's comforting to know that He knew and He knows and He will not leave me or forsake me when I walk through any fiery trial.) He is all-seeing, all-knowing and wiser than myself. He does not make mistakes. He knew me before the beginning of time and He has a plan for my life. All of these knowns help me to sleep well at night. There is nothing I need fear if I trust these things. (2 Corinthians 4:7-12, 1 Peter 4:12-19.)

Knowing what I believe, and knowing about Bill Johnson's ministry, I expected to disagree with this book. I still picked it up, because I've only ever heard him speak; I haven't read anything he has written, and was interested to see how he expressed himself. I started the book at 9 p.m. one evening and couldn't put it down. But that's not because I liked it - I most emphatically did not. But, this is my payback for reading books I don't agree with late at night - I can't go to sleep for thinking about them! (I like to think of it this way: good theology = a good night's sleep; bad theology = not so much!)

This book is co-written by Bill Johnson and Randy Clark. They begin the book by providing an introduction, if you will, as to how they came to believe in a ministry of healing. They each have their own personal life story that caused them to come to a place in their spiritual walk where they believe that miracles not only can be expected, but should be expected. Frequently. All it takes is a walk with the Holy Spirit, which is hard to describe exactly, but they explain through many anecdotes of healings.

". . . [W]hen our experience does not match what the Bible promises, the lack is not on God's side of the equation. Our awareness of lack is usually what He uses to summon us into a deeper experience with Him. From that deeper experience true power flows." (Chapter 2, Bill's Journey, page 39)

They state that if you dive deep into a relationship with the Holy Spirit, you will learn to know what God wants in various situations and, in fact, you will be a vessel of His power in bringing it to pass. And what does God want? Well, Johnson and Clark believe that God wants to heal the sick, raise the dead, mend wounds (seen and unseen) and remove evil spirits from lives. This all sounds attractive, no? The problem is that they do not acknowledge the Book of Job, Paul's thorn in the flesh and any other number of trials and tragedies that were faced by God's people in the Bible. (Again, see 1 Peter 4:12-19.) They do not acknowledge that God may intend for unpleasant things to happen to His people. The idea that God would set a challenge (health, financial, spiritual, emotional, etc.) in front of a person to refine them as pure gold, to purify their hearts, to make them more like Him, is ignored. Instead, Johnson and Clark believe that God only wants "good things" (i.e., health, peace, etc.) for His own.

Johnson explains his theology of health and wealth (sorry, I can't call it anything but) by explaining this of his church in Redding:

"Because we have developed a reputation in the area of miracles, people fly into Redding weekly, hoping that God will touch them. Sometimes several hundred visit Bethel, all with great needs. I am happy to report that many leave well and whole. But many others leaves in the same condition in which they came. I refuse to blame God for this, as though He has a purpose in their disease." (Chapter 2, Bill's Journey, page 50)

I do not know, ultimately, how Johnson would define the sovereignty of God. All he says is this:

" . . . I have learned that the sovereignty of God gets blamed for the end of many great things." (Chapter 2, Bill's Journey, page 43)

One of the greatest disservices that you can do for another Christian in the midst of a personal trial is to tell them that God made a mistake, has no purpose in their pain, or that anything bad that happens is a result of the devil being out to get them. I wholeheartedly shun these remarks. (And I feel like I can do so freely and openly, as we had such statements made to us numerous times upon the death of various family members, several of which happened within a very short period of time.) The idea that God was NOT in my pain was loathsome to me. I fume at the remark that God surely didn't mean for certain things to happen.

If I am not being held in the palm of God's hand, then I have reason to fear everything. (Isaiah 49:15-16) I should never get out of bed in the morning; something bad might happen. Never should we drive in separate cars to any event; one of us might die on the way - alone. I should never take a financial risk. I should never enter into any relationship of any sort because it could be sabotaged by the devil.

Everything in life is messy. Everything. Therefore, everything could be approached with great fear. But God did not call us to live in fear. He called us to live powerfully, without fear and with a sound mind (i.e., a mind that thinks, is discerning and calls out untruths.) (See 2 Timothy 1:7)

One of the things I greatly dislike about Bill Johnson and his ministry is the over-use of words like, "honor" and "love" and "respect". The word "honor" does sound good, doesn't it? It's awfully hard to argue against. The problem is when the honor of people trumps the honor of God, and suddenly honor is simply reduced to blind conflict-avoidance. 2 Tim. 4:2 instructs us to, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." Recognizing that God's truth should be applied in all seasons, we should not hesitate to ask hard questions and challenge our fellow believers from scripture. When we instead choose simply to pray until a miracle happens, people do die from cancer - unprepared, because they were waiting for healing. Relationships crumble - by surprise, because they expected the Holy Spirit to keep everyone feeling good until the problems disappeared. Applying Johnson's teaching results in Christians who, rather than being open, honest and humble enough to receive the instructive Word of God, become greedy for perceived goodness and fixate on it, avoiding having to confront sins and shortcomings in their lives.

I take issue with Johnson's theology because it tends to make people think that if someone is suffering a long-term illness, it's because there is a defect somewhere in a connection to the Holy Spirit. But, as Christians, we should all know that the Holy Spirit doesn't exist to give us warm fuzzies and King Midas' Touch; it was sent to remind us of God's Word, proclaiming the gospel to us and through us. An effective, spirit-filled life is not one that's free of pain and suffering – in fact, scripture tells us to expect quite the opposite.

Making the book even more difficult to struggle through is that its arguments are not well-presented. (Colloquial phrases like "none too good" were interjected about, making me wonder if the authors might have found a more spirit-filled editor!) Then there were paragraphs like this, which were not clarified or explained, leaving the reader scratching their head and wondering exactly what is being communicated:

"As I already mentioned, the one thing that had become the anchor of my walk with the Lord was that I was a worshiper. My dad had taught us on worship many years earlier, and I remember bowing my head to pray after he taught us the ministry of the inner court verses the outer court. I prayed, "God, I give You the rest of my life to teach me how to minister to You." (Chapter 2, Bill's Journey, page 40)

I'm left with questions. What is the ministry of the inner court verses the outer court? How do you minister to God? Does He need us to minister to Him? How? Why?

The book has many anecdotes like these, and I suspect that a reader who is completely unfamiliar with the authors and their ministry would be somewhat baffled trying to figure out what exactly is being said. The authors frequently invoke phrases that sound nice on the surface, but are too ambiguous to really mean anything concrete.

Finally, I believe that building your faith around the presence of frequent miracles promotes disappointment (when relationships and bodies aren't healed) and depression (when people do die of various illness and accidents) and general discouragement. People are whipped up into a fine-feathered frenzy when going out to do miraculous things, but I've seen far too many examples of peoples' faith crushed when things don't turn out like they wanted. If they would only believe that God is the sovereign ruler over ALL and does all things well, they might find themselves contented and comforted with the peace which passes all understanding.

The truest miracle is that of salvation by grace and through faith alone. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. This is truly a miracle we cannot fathom. And if we believe that simple and yet complex truth then our sins will be washed away, and when we do eventually die, we will be able to stand before the Lord of Heaven and Earth and be received unto Him -- for His glory. The path to Him is not easy, and He never said it would be. He said it would be hard and frustrating and that we would hurt. He said that we can not expect to live a greater life than Jesus. (Matthew 10:21-25) Jesus hurt. He wept. He felt and endured great pain, and therefore it should come as no great surprise when we do also.

Can we pray for healing? Absolutely, yes! Jesus invites us to pray and goes so far as to teach us how to do so. (See Matthew 6:5-15 for starters.) But let it be His determination whether or not it's in our best interest to receive healing or whether our hearts need some discipleship through pain.

"But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." - C.S. Lewis

"We all know people who have been made much meaner and more irritable and more intolerable to live with by suffering: it is not right to say that all suffering perfects. It only perfects one type of person ...... the one who accepts the call of God in Christ Jesus." - Oswald Chambers

I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me." ― C.S. Lewis

We need to remember that God's answer is not always, "Yes!" to our requests. Sometimes it's "wait." Sometimes it's "no." Trust in the One who made everything that You see. Believe that He is good. Believe that He has made a promise to you, as a faithful believer, to work all things together for your good. Be grateful for all the gifts You receive from the giver of all good things and rest in peace knowing that He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it.

So fear not. He is the Lord - not our faulty selves! His grace is sufficient for all things and His power is made perfect in weakness. Praise be to His name.

I received this book from Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. All opinions expressed above are entirely my own. I suspect you know this but...there 'tis!

Two Hours of Reading Time A Day

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

When I was writing up my end of the year post, I mentioned that I had roughly two hours of reading time a day and a couple of you asked some questions about that which I thought I would take the time to answer in a separate post.

Q1: I have a practical question about your blogging practices, which you don't have to answer: does the 2 hours a day include your blogging time? If not, how much time (and more importantly, when?) do you blog? To write a thoughtful review takes me quite a while!

A1: Yes. It does. So if I spend about an hour writing up a post then I only have one hour left to read. Because of that I really try to only sit down and write up my thoughts on books when I'm in the mood to do so. If I'm not in the mood I end up clicking around on Facebook or checking my Google Reader about a thousand times hoping someone else said something interesting.

Just like the person who asked this question, a thoughtful blog post on any given book takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to think through and type up. I can type fast but the thoughts need to be ready to flow or else I feel like I'm sitting down next to the computer to waste time.

My two hours of available time typically takes place between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. (During that time I really don't like visitors at the house and I dislike talking on the phone. I particularly do not like talking on the phone. When the kids are down for their quiet/nap times I like to be able to focus on reading and writing and that's the only time of day I have for either! I guard it rather ferociously as a result. I used to feel guilty about this. I don't anymore.

Q2: Does your blogging time include reading others' blogs?

A2: It's not supposed to, no. (But sometimes it does when I'm feeling lazy and distracted.) I try to read other people's blogs in the morning when I'm eating breakfast. Jonathan is the Morning Hero around here. I'm a slow starter and I'm also, by nature, a rather quiet, introverted person. Three kids making noise for several hours every day holds me to certain limits. Before Jonathan goes to work, he feeds the kids breakfast while I eat mine and that's the time I usually scroll through my Google reader and play catch up. I also save my reading of other blogs until the evening after the kids go to bed.

Bekahcubed wrote a post once about valuing time and cleaning out her Google Reader. She wasn't trying to be mean or suggest bloggy rudeness. But she did prompt me to start thinking about setting my priorities. While I think it would be fun to read a great many more blogs than I do, I also know the following about myself and my time:

a.) Time is limited and my reading/blog habits need to be contained and manageable.
b.) I either personally know (in "real life") people who blog and/or I've gotten to know a few of you really well and I like tracking with your lives.
c.) I also like leaving comments as I follow along with people's lives and thoughts. (We all like comments, right? So I try to follow the "do unto others" bloggy rule and leave comments consistently.)

What this results in is my following (closely) about a dozen-ish blogs. I cleaned up my Reader a bit and got it down to a manageable amount so that I'm never TOO far behind in my blog reading and I'm also able to glean valuable information to think on from the blogs I do read.

I have a "real life" friend who models a great deal of self-discipline for me when it comes to observing a personal time of refreshment/devotion and also makes sure that she is spending time where it really matters - with her kids and family, building a home. She'll be quick to tell you that she's still working on balance and using her time appropriately -- as we all are, I'm quite certain. She has been a great source of encouragement to me to find balance in what I want to do and ought to do and love to do.

Honestly, I never thought I'd be a person who liked structure and consistency but now that I have three little ones I see a great deal of beauty in structure and stability! (Are you chuckling at me? I'm snickering at myself!) Times and seasons in life change and I imagine I won't always have the same morning routine. I also know that there are periods in life (such as the period after Bookworm3 was born) where I won't have those valuable 2 hours available to me each afternoon. For now, this sort of schedule seems to work for me, for us, and for our family. It gives me time to do "my thing" (while still being in the home, which I am very grateful for!) and also forces me to be disciplined with "my" time so that I am not neglecting the family. It allows my kids to have some quiet time themselves in the afternoon to sleep, read and play. (I think that's very important also.) And it keeps the house stable. It really works for us!

Now, I know I have the two hours for now. The question is - do I use it well and will I keep using it well? This is the constant battle.

The Story Girl, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Re-reading The Story Girl for myself makes my own point about it being important for myself to re-read classic and well-loved books. Actually, it makes C.S. Lewis' point (which is now my adopted belief):

It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones. ~ C. S. Lewis

I thought I would read The Story Girl because it had been years since I had done so. It has been. But I apparently read this one during the 2009 L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge. It hasn't been quite as long as I thought since I read it, but I'd already forgotten quite a bit! On the one hand it kinda bothers me that my memory is so poor. On the other hand, I was able to enjoy the story all over again!

As I mentioned back in 2009, The Story Girl is listed as being Montgomery's personal favorite of her books. As I also pointed out, she made the statement that this particular book was her favorite in 1917, which was early on in her career, relatively speaking. I don't know that it can be authoritatively stated that The Story Girl is Montgomery's all-time favorite of all of her works, but the fact that she said it even once makes it worth at least one read during your LMM reading lifetime, in my humble estimation.

The most interesting things to note about it, I think, are as follows:

* Montgomery began writing The Story Girl in 1909 but interrupted the writing to revise Una of the Garden (which was renamed Kilmeny of the Orchard.) She completed writing The Story Girl in 1910 and it was published in 1911. This was all during her quiet and long engagement to Ewan Macdonald.
* Montgomery said that The Story Girl was her favorite and it is assumed that this is because she put a lot of herself into the character of Sara Stanley who, like her creator, was not all together attractive but captivated people with her ability to tell a wonderful story.
* The book is narrated by a male character, one of the boy King cousins, by the name of Beverly.

(Personally, I'm glad that she gave the boy narrator the name of Beverly as that caused him not to be specifically referred to throughout most of the book. It would have been difficult for me to remember that Beverly was a boy if his name were tossed into the story as frequently as the other children.)

In my copy of the book an Afterward is provided by noted Montgomery scholars, Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterson. They have this to say about the narrator being a boy:

"Bev King, the male narrator, comes into the Island world from far away. Unlike most of the men who knew and loved L.M. Montgomery, this boy admires and approves of Sara Stanley's ambition. A woman in Montgomery's place, time, and class had to face the fact that a male voice would carry greater conviction about Sara Stanley's "nameless charm and allurement." Professionally, too, Montgomery may have been reaching out to a readership among boys, stretching beyond the female audience already established by the two Anne books." (Afterward, Rubio and Waterson)

Those are some of the interesting academics, if you will, behind this book. The reason I love it (and other of Montgomery's writings) is not for the academics though. It's for the beauty which she describes so very well and the way that she encourages her readers to imagine along with her as she tells her tales.

For example:

In this book the King cousins spend a great deal of time in the family orchard. The orchard was planted and grown up over time by their grandfather, Abraham King.

"It was a vision to develop slowly into fulfillment. Grandfather King was in no hurry. He did not set his whole orchard out at once, for he wished to grow with his life and history, and be bound up with all of the good and joy that should come to his household." (Chapter 2, Queen of Hearts, page 17)

When Abraham King married, he brought his bride Elizabeth back to his home and land, and together they planted the first tree in what was to become the King Family orchard. For each child that they had, they planted another tree.

"Every family festival was commemorated in like fashion, and every beloved visitor who spend a night under their roof was expected to plant a tree in the orchard. So it came to pass that every tree in it was a fair green monument to some love or delight of the vanished years." (Chapter 2, Queen of Hearts, page 18)

I just love the idea of commemorating events, special guests and happy times by adding something to one's home or land. I marked this passage of the book and have been thinking about how we could reasonably add a visual reminder of joy to our household when we have special guests over. (But then how do you rank who is most special? Back then it was probably rare to have guests come and stay with you and these days it's more the norm. I was thinking that if we had one particular set of friends over to our house all at once to celebrate something special, we could end up with fifty new trees in our yard overnight. And soon we would have no water in our well for taking care of said trees! Perhaps I need to come up with another idea. I'm still thinking on it!)

On another note, I also particularly like this truth which is spoken by the character of Sara Stanley:

"I am not a bit vain," said the Story Girl, with entire truthfulness. "It is not vanity to know your own good points." (Chapter 10, A Daughter of Eve, page 84)

People in today's society seem to have a hard time being truthful about their strengths and weaknesses as a general rule. I would even narrow the statement down to say that people in the Body of Christ have a hard time being honest about their strengths and weaknesses. We all want to be seen as competent but we cannot be competent in all areas. While I may be able to do one thing very well, there are other areas where I have almost no skill at all! (Take for example blogging. I can blog and communicate with written words. I cannot sew and I should never try to serve anyone, anywhere at anytime, by saying that I can sew. I do myself a disservice insisting that I can. I cannot.) That's a "light and fluffy" example to express a deeper truth. There are things I know I can do very well and there are things I know I do very poorly. While I'm not excused from doing Hard Things, I can make honest assessments about my abilities, strengths and weaknesses so that I can humbly learn. I thought The Story Girl's statement was an excellent example of truth.

Lastly, there is just this beautiful paragraph that made me want to sit in a window seat and stare off into a forest for a good, long while:

"There is such a place as fairyland - but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way. One bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut behind them and the age of gold is over. Henceforth they must dwell in the common light of the common day. Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland." (Chapter 16, The Ghostly Bell, pages 129-130)

Montgomery reminds me that beautiful things still exist. She slows me down from the break-neck pace of life and tells me stories that remind me that childhood magic is dancing all around me, if I'll only slow down and notice. She fills me with passion to defend and protect childhood for my own kids. Reading her books makes me realize how important it is to preserve imagination -- so that we can always find our way back to fairyland where good and evil war against each other and truth always wins. I love Montgomery for this. And so I read on - for my own sake as well as that of my children.

Kitten's Winter

2012-01-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note about this new release in the Kitten series by Eugenie Fenandes:

Kitten's Winter is here! And it's cute!

We had read Kitten's Autumn when it came out and so when I was asked if I'd like to take a peek at Kitten's Winter, of course, I said yes. I included this read with our Christmas/winter books towards the tail end of December and we've read it several times over since then.

As I explained when talking about Kitten's Autumn, Fernandes illustrates her books with a "multimedia collage" so the pictures are quite unique and interesting to look at. Sometimes you know you are looking at clay figures and sometimes a paper cut-out. Her work gives the pictures a 3-D feel in a very artful way, if I do say so myself.

The "story" in the book is told in rhyme and each page features Kitten who sometimes has to be looked for very carefully as he is hiding somewhere in the scene. Very, very cute and we highly recommend it for a fun winter picture book read!

Thanks, Kids Can Press, for shooting a copy of this title my way!

LMM Giveaway #1

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

Let's start at the very beginning.
A very good place to start!

Anne, being my favorite Montgomery character, is the very beginning. ;)

Last year during this challenge I read through the entire Anne series again. Each year I host this I run into someone somewhere who has yet to read Anne and every year I resolve to fix this for at least one person.

So!

I picked up an extra copy of Anne of Green Gables - the first book in the Anne series - to give away to one of you.

To win? Simply leave a comment below. (If you are participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and have written up and linked to the post telling me so, please feel free to leave an extra comment.) This contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents and will be open through Thursday, January 12th.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER (as selected by Random.org) IS #6 - Karen K. Congrats!

Pass the word and spread the Anne love. ;)

Happy Reading!

Babe: The Gallant Pig, by Dick King-Smith

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Time for another Read Aloud Thursday hosted by Amy at Hope is in the Word.

It's been a little while since we've been able to participate, but we're back! We read Babe: The Gallant Pig back in November, actually. We were reading it so that Bookworm1 (age 5) would be able to watch the movie with his Nana when we went down to visit her in Texas. (That was the big treat for finishing this particular chapter book: getting to watch the movie with Nana! Hurray!)

This is the second book we've read by King-Smith (the first being A Mouse Named Wolf.) I thought A Mouse Called Wolf was particularly child friendly, being an easy read-aloud for my then four year old. Babe was more of a reading challenge for us. I would say that is due in part to the vocabulary words in the book. As I read aloud I had to re-word sentences in my head so that Bookworm1 would be able to read the story. Some of the difficulty lay in the terms King-Smith used to tell his story.

Some examples include words like: vicar, pence, Land Rover, ewe, worrying (as opposed to "attacking"), and trials.

These words were either unfamiliar to us or not frequently used so I would sometimes switch them out for other words (e.g., "truck" instead of "Land Rover") and sometimes I would explain the meaning.

This book is about Babe the pig who discovers himself to be quite good at sheep herding. Adopted by the farm's collie, he learns to herd the sheep in a kind and polite manner as opposed to the traditional way that dogs have of barking directions at the sheep. The sheep respond well to Babe's polite manner and follow his directions quite well, to the point where the Farmer Hogget takes note of Babe's easy way with the sheep. Farmer Hogget decides to enter Babe into a sheep herding competition! So happy are the sheep to have someone speaking to them politely, they will do anything for the pig and so, as you might guess, Babe wins the contest and presumably goes on to live a long and happy life on the farm.

I would say that Babe is a very visual book in that the reader has to be ready to work their imagination to see the story play out. Because of the subject matter of the book, you have to be able to visualize the farmer calling out herding directions to Babe and the dog. You have to visualize the sheep's response to being herded about. This was very confusing, initially, to Bookworm1.

Bookworm1: Mommy, WHY are they hurting the sheep?!
Mommy: Oh. No. Not hurting. HERDING.

I then gathered up some items to visually demonstrate to him what herding looked like.

This book may have been a stretch for us, but it worked out alright in the end. I might suggest waiting to read this one with a six year old but if you are willing to do a little explaining, I think it works.

Given King-Smith's fascination with animals, Bookworm1 happily proceeded on with a different of his titles, which we'll share about very soon!

Turn Right at Machu Picchu, by Mark Adams

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Do you all remember Heather? She's the other gal from my church who reads and is practically my TWIN (except she isn't) when it comes to the way we think, read and don't camp outdoors. (I bet she doesn't like slugs. I haven't asked her but I just bet she doesn't!) At any rate, I had a review copy of Turn Right at Machu Picchu sitting on my desk that she expressed an interest in reading it. So, I handed it over and figured I'd wait to read it and see if she liked it and she did! Below are Heather's thoughts on said book.

******

I’ve been on an adventure book kick recently. I haven’t really done much soul searching to find out why this is, but my guess is that it’s something I tend to be a little schizophrenic about. On the one hand I hold the type of people who go backpacking in the wilderness for a month in great awe and there is even a little piece of me that wishes to be the woman who would do it. On the other hand there is the real me who hates being dirty, is terrified of insects and heights and being cold, and has never taken the miracle of indoor plumbing for granted. I’m left to satisfy my inner adventurer by vicarious reading. I’ve been frantically checking out books about far off places and long road trips and hikes across America. So Mark Adams’s Turn Right at Machu Pichu fitted in quite nicely with my recent craze.

Mark Adams is pursuing an interest in Hiram Bingham, Yale professor who allegedly discovered Machu Pichu in 1911 and may be the inspiration for the adventurer Indiana Jones. Adams, like me oddly enough, is someone who read and wrote about adventures all the time. Adams, unlike me, got paid to do this. He wrote for magazines like Outside and The National Geographic, and had been itching for an adventure of his own. So, when the 100th anniversary of Bingham’s discovery drew near and when Adams is alerted to the existence of a map that may prove Bingham’s claim to discovery to be false, he decides to hire a guide and follow the same route Bingham took in 1911.

Mark Adams’s guide happens to be John Leivers, an Australian in his late 50s introduced to the reader early on as: “Extremely fit; dressed as if ready to clamber up the Matterhorn though it was a cloudless, seventy degree day; and about as unattached as a man could be in the twenty-first century. He had no wife, no children, no permanent mailing address, just a cell phone and a Gmail account.”[1] The interaction of this colorful character and the author who admits, “The last time I’d slept in a tent was in 1978, when my father brought an imitation teepee home from Sears and set it up in our backyard,”[2] would make for a great read by itself. Both of these men come from such disparate backgrounds and even the differences between American English and Australian English is hard for them to overcome, but they do overcome it. And it is just funny. I found myself laughing out loud a lot.

The obvious reason to read this book, however, is if you find travel to exotic locations at all interesting. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t. Whether you would actually do such a thing doesn’t really matter. The idea at least holds an appeal. Mark Adams’s career as a writer for adventure magazines makes him the perfect person to write this story. His writing is particularly descriptive and drove me onto Google a couple of times hoping to get a taste of the experience. The interactions with the local people were very entertaining. The best story was of Adams’s interaction with two children who didn’t know where New York was, didn’t know where America was, but were curious if it was true that Michael Jackson had died. I can’t do justice to how funny that particular anecdote was, so I guess you’ll just have to read it yourself.

Something else I appreciate about the book is how Adams weaves the story of Hiram Bingham’s adventure with his own and even goes further back in time and mixes in some of Peru’s fascinating history. This was particularly helpful to me as I had only heard the name of Hiram Bingham and could probably not place him in his historical context. It would be a stretch to say I even knew he had anything to do with Machu Pichu. Also, I had no idea how interesting Peruvian history was! I plan on doing a little reading up on it now.

For more conservative readers, some of John Leivers’s language is pretty earthy, and naturally if you are going for this long of a hike there will be some talk of bodily functions. I found myself quite pleasantly surprised at how circumspect Mark Adams was. I know I shouldn’t be because this is a non-fiction book so how gross can one get, right? Well, I won’t get on a rant about “books these days,” but sometimes they do, and this one didn’t. Also, the last bit of the book dwells quite a bit on Incan theology….philosophy?...religion? Apparently right now Peru is a Catholic country officially. However, sacrifices are still made to the mountains and a sort of syncretism has cropped up between Peru’s Catholicism and the ancient Incan religion. And naturally, I disagreed with this syncretism, but the book isn’t being proscriptive here, just descriptive.

Anyway, I’m glad I read it, and found Mark Adams’s writing to be humorous and informative. I plan on exploring some more of his works along with some books on Peruvian history. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

[1] Adams, Mark Turn Right at Machu Pichu (New York: Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc, 2011) pg. 1

[2] Ibid. 2

*******

Now I simply have to read this book instead of just "have" to. What about you?

Thanks, Heather, for sharing your thoughts on it!

Thanks to Penguin Group for sending a copy of this book my/our way!

Reading to Know Bookclub :: January 2012

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

Yup! You got it! It's time to get this show on the road as well. (The 2012 Reading to Know Online Bookclub will run simultaneously with other challenges, such as the Lucy Maud Montgomery Challenge which got underway yesterday.)

This month, for our bookclub, we're reading Beyond Opinion, by Ravi Zacharias.

Sky will be leading the discussion for this book, as it is her pick. Here's a quick blurb from her on this particular read:

*****

I chose Beyond Opinion, by Ravi Zacharias because I've been meaning to read it and I know that once I start, it will require dog-earing, highlighting and underlining. I will be going back over passages and re-reading many paragraphs and being held accountable by the book club, which will help me persevere!

Zacharias didn't actually write the whole book; the chapters are by different people. I flipped to the back of the book and read "About the Contributors" to help me understand each person better as I read.

I have read several RZ books. Jesus Among Other Gods is my favorite so far.

I am eager to get started and will be posting on a regular basis on my book blog: Peace, Love and Books.

An excerpt from RZ:

"My prayer is that you will be blessed and equipped as you study these pages. This may not be a "read-through" book that can be absorbed in a single sitting. But I suggest to you that is is a "must-read" book for our times."

Welcome New Year! Let's read!

*****

You have until Friday, January 27th to read this book. At that time I will post the concluding post for the month of January. On the 27th you will be invited to link up your post/share your thoughts on this title. I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say about this one at the end of the month!

Just a reminder, feel free to pick and choose which months you would like to participate with this bookclub. You are not obligated to read along with the group every single month. Not every title will appeal to every person all year long. Just do the best you can and read as many as you like. We look forward to discussing each individual monthly title with you on the last Friday of every month. Hope you'll "play along" with us every now and again through 2012!

February's title: Running Away to Home, by Jennifer Wilson

Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge :: Personal Goals

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

So what are my own personal goals this coming month, when it comes to participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge? Well, I hope to re-read the following:

I also intend to enjoy as many episodes of The Road to Avonlea series as I can possibly get through this month.

I'm not sure how far I'll get on the television series, but I feel fairly confident I can make it through the books. I'm so looking forward to this journey back to Avonlea!

(I may or may not be just a tad giddy!)

I hope you find a special and fun way to participate in this challenge this month. Let the fun begin!

Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge :: 2012

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's time! It's time!

Oh, I love this particular reading challenge (being that Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of my top favorite authors.) I love to get lost somewhere (anywhere) on Prince Edward Island with Montgomery's characters. I also particularly enjoy doing this every January because it sort of eases me into the new reading year. The holidays are still wearing off (and, at times, that can prove more exhausting than others!) and Montgomery's works really do not require a lot of attention or added stress. They are perfect lazy reads for cold but cozy winter days. Ironic, given that Montgomery herself hated winter and always entered into a funk/depression when winter rolled around. Perhaps she wrote herself out of winter? She entered into her fantasy worlds so that she could personally escape her own cold and in so doing, gave us a chance to warm up our imaginations as well.

So what is the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge? How long does it last? What's the goal? What is required of you?

As I mentioned, we're all winding down from the holidays so I think it rather important to keep this challenge rather simple.

How do you participate? By reading as many Lucy Maud Montgomery books as you like during the month of January. You can read one book or her entire collection of stories (should you be feeling so very ambitious!) Read at your own pace and your own interest. You may also wish to watch a Montgomery-related movie. (The first two Anne movies count, the second two DO NOT. The Road to Avonlea series absolutely counts!)

Perhaps you are familiar with Montgomery and want to visit with some old friends of yours. Perhaps you have yet to complete one of her series (like, oh, say, ANNE?!) and would like an opportunity or an excuse to get some books read! I merely provide the challenge. You set your own reading priorities.

Due to the fact that Montgomery's writings take us back in time to days when people used to sit out on their front porch and collect news and information from passers-by, I really like it when people write up their own post sharing what their reading goals for the month are and why their goals are set just so. Then I also like it when people visit around and see what others are saying and sharing about Montgomery.

Please consider writing up a post saying that you are participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Challenge and then come and link your post back up to THIS post in the comment section. Then, on January 31st I will post a concluding post for the challenge and will invite you to link up all of your Montgomery-related posts at that time so that others can read them.

Here is code you can use to link back to this original post via the button graphic you see at the top of this page:

<a href="http://www.readingtoknow.com/2012/01/lucy-maud-montgomery-reading-challenge.html"><img alt="L. M. Montgomery Reading Challenge" src="http://www.bluecastlephoto.com/misc/lmm-challenge.gif" border="0" /></a>

Note: Throughout the month I will host various Montgomery-related giveaways. If you are participating in the challenge (and have written up a blog post with a link back to this initial Challenge post) then you will receive two entries per contest. Just an added perk of officially joining in!

So! Go forth! Read Montgomery! We'll meet back here on January 31st and compare notes.

Enjoy!

(P.S. If you have any specific questions related to this challenge, please leave them in the comment section and I will answer immediately.)

Lit!: Why You Should Read It (Or, Ramblings of a Reading Mother)

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is a combination post. In it I'll be reflecting back on my 2011 reading year and thinking/planning for where it is that I want to go with books in 2012. A great deal of my thoughts, however, are being shaped by the book Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books, by Tony Reinke (which I discussed, in brief, here.)

Over the course of the past two years, in particular, I've really wanted to make a difference in the way I read books. I think this partially has to do with the fact that I'm now the mother of three small children and therefore my reading time is harder to come by and therefore way more valuable to me. (This truth hit home at the end of this year when I glanced back at my books read in 2011 vs. 2010. In 2010 I read 147 books. This year? 86! I'm ok with any number over 40. Less than that and I think I'd be greatly perturbed.)

For starters though, Reinke divides books into two categories:

1. The Bible; and
2. All other books.

He makes his case for why the Bible should be the Most Important Book in your life and the most frequently read. Being a Christian, I agree with all of his points. As a reader, I would have to honestly say that I fail in this area. I don't make the Bible my top priority. I make other books my priority. As a Christian, this should not be so. But it is so. If, as a Christian, I want to read wisely and well then I need to put "all other books" to the side first thing, and start making the Word of God my top priority.

"If we neglect Scripture in order to read only other books, we not only cut ourselves from the divine umbilical cord that feeds our souls, we also cut ourselves from the truth that makes it possible for us to benefit from the truth, goodness, and beauty in the books that we read." (Chapter 7, Read With Resolve, page 94)

Even as I start to make a 2012 reading plan, I am tempted to say, "Well, I'll start reading the Bible in February once things kick off with the bookclub or the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge or this or that." But the "this or that" will not only take over January but it will take over the rest of the year as well, sooo...to start things off correctly, I'm going to start at the beginning. That is? I'm going to go back to Genesis and read it through however many times I can alongside this book (which I had been wanting forever and finally purchased a copy of):

Gleanings In Genesis, by A.W. Pink

I don't want to box myself in with this book, placing a time limit on it. Rather, I just want to read, glean and understand as much as I can. It may take me two months or three or six. I have no idea. A priority needs to be set though and so I'm going to start here - and now.

"Reading can be ultimately a means to eternally benefit our soul. And this benefit does not hinge upon how smart we are, upon how many books we read each year, or upon how much information we retain. We tap into the eternal value of literature when we read in the presence of God, unveiled to the glory of our Savior." (Chapter 2, Wide-Eyed into the Son, page 37)

Another thing that I've been thinking a lot about for the past few years (but haven't delved as deeply into as I would like) is the power and beauty of stories, "Christian" or no. Every year I host the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge for a variety of reasons:

1. I just love them.
2. I think there is great value in reading them.
3. I think that there is great value in reading them over and over and over again.

Every year the following questions pop up from various people and sources:

1. Why is the Chronicles of Narnia series considered "good" by Christians and yet the Harry Potter series is considered "bad"?
2. What is considered a good use of magic in books and what is considered a bad use?
3. Why do Christians place themselves in reading boxes wherein they can only read the Bible, Elsie Dinsmore and on a wild and wicked day, the Chronicles of Narnia? (Ok, I made that a bit more dramatic but it's not actually that far off base in some quarters!)

The short (and not fully developed) answers to those questions are, for me, as follows:

1. I haven't read Harry Potter yet and so I can't compare.
2. I know that there IS a good use of magic and a bad use in books but I haven't thought out the distinguishing factors for myself just yet.
3. I don't have the foggiest.

I would like to read the Harry Potter series this year and think through some of these questions in a great deal more detail.

"Developing a biblical worldview is labor-intensive, but the result is a discerning mind that is essential if we will benefit from books. If we fail here, we will be flooded with worldviews of other authors and be quickly overwhelmed, confused, and frustrated. On the other hand, firm biblical convictions will make it possible for us to benefit from a broad array of literature by Christians and non-Christians alike." (Chapter 4, Reading from Across the Canyon, page 53)

*****

"God is behind all truth, even the truth that is expressed in non-Christian literature. Truth cannot be fabricated, writes [John] Calvin:

All truth is from God; and consequently, if wicked men have said anything that is true and just, we ought not to reject it; for it has come from God. Besides, all things are of God; and, therefore, why should it not be lawful to dedicate to His glory everything that can properly be employed for such a purpose." (Chapter 5, The Giver's Voice, page 67)

Another problem I face, personally speaking, is spending too much time on the computer. Now, how to solve this one? Janet has discussed the dangers of technology more over at Across the Page and she makes particular arguments about spending time on Facebook which I rather sympathize with. Reading Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books really drove some of the arguments that Janet has been making home to me. I haven't read many books on technology and its effects (sorry, I just can't seem to make myself) but the arguments that Reinke makes in his book about images vs. words and quick bits of information vs. careful, thoughtful sifting of words and information really had an impact on me. I've already significantly decreased my Facebook time. (I think Facebook is a mildly useful tool for keeping in touch with people, but it's heavily overrated. Since most of us are on it "because everyone else is" it might benefit us as a whole if we all agreed to get off!) I don't have the time and space to spell out Reinke's arguments here but I do think that flashing imagines and "soundbites" of information into any variety of people's lives has done me a great disservice when it comes to reading and enjoying books. At the tail end of the 2011 reading year, I was really fighting with myself to sit still and read for a solid hour. (I have roughly 2 hours of reading time available to me a day. But using even one hour was a challenge due to time spent on the computer.) I don't just want to improve that in 2012, I need to.

"But the tension is not simply between the value of words and the value of images. Both language and visual images are valuable. The concern is whether Christians (like us) will be patient enough to find meaning embedded in words, or if we will grow content with the superficial pleasures offered to us in the rapidly shifting images in our culture." (Chapter 3, Reading is Believing, page 43)

*****

"In a world so easily satisfied with images, it's too easy to waste our lives watching mindless television and squandering our free time away with entertainment. We have a higher calling. God has called us to live our lives by faith and not by sight - and this can mean nothing less than committing our lives to the pursuit of language, revelation and books." (Chapter 3, Reading is Believing, page 50)

What this means for Reading to Know, I can't really say just yet. Currently I can keep up a 5-a-week posting "schedule." I can still foresee the ability to do just that because I type faster than I hand write. Some people keep a hand written journal of the books they read. I type mine up and it is, as you read it here, at Reading to Know. Therefore I don't really see my blogger habits changing all that much. I do not post on weekends (and still won't) in part because it helps me to pace myself. The only way I can see my blogging habits changing is if I notice that I'm speed reading just for the sake of posting. So far that hasn't truly been the case but I know when it's happening and so if you start noticing a gap in my posting schedule, you'll just know that I'm forcing myself to read for benefit and not just because I've told myself that I must post something five days a week! (Not that I believe anyone is living with the expectation that they will hear from me five days a week. But people who maintain their own blogs will know exactly what I'm talking about.)

Lastly, a few practical things:

1. I think I'm going to follow this tip as I approach and begin to read any book:

"So how far into a book should a reader go before quitting? This is where the one hundred-pages-minus-your-age rule comes in handy. This rule states that readers should start with one hundred pages and subtract their age. If you are twenty years old, you should give a book eighty pages before quitting. If you're fifty years old, give it fifty pages. The more years, the more reading experience, the less time you need before you can close and shelve a book. And it means that, when you are one hundred, you are free to judge a book by its cover." (Chapter 8, How to Read a Book, page 115)

2. I want to spend time with longer works, with more depth to them. More classics, if you will. I know it will be a challenge for me. I like being able to complete reading challenges for myself and longer books take quite a bit more effort. But I do think it will be worth it.

"When we set out to read important books, we can expect opposition from our hearts. Reading is a discipline, and all disciplines require self-discipline, and self-discipline is the one thing our sinful flesh will resist." (Chapter 9, Literature is Life, page 131)

So, I guess it's safe to say that I am hoping to focus on the area of self-discipline in the area of reading: taking time for good books, reading to figure out my own worldview a little bit better and to make Bible reading my top priority.

In the meantime, I'm (still) grateful to Crossway Books for shooting a copy of Lit! my way as it has had a wee bit of influence in how I intend to read books in the future. This particular title goes on the shelf for a re-read. I rather expect it could stand to be re-read on a yearly basis, to make certain I'm keeping on track in the priorities department!