"On Living Stone" by Heather Kaufman

Another breathtakingly good book from Heather Kaufman!  Are we surprised?  We are not.  Are we happy?  Ecstatically so!

On Living Stone tells the story of Salome, mother of Jesus's disciples James and John.  Like the first two books in this series, Up from Dust and Before the King, this book focuses on a real woman who appears in the Biblical record, but imagines what her life could have been like.

Salome's mother died when she was young.  Her father was a skilled stone mason, but grief drove him to become an alcoholic for a time, though an accident brought him to his senses.  Through all of that, he was a kind and loving father, however.  Salome's mother's best friend tried to help guide the preteen girl toward becoming an upright woman, but Salome's own grief often made her desperate to get away from everyone and be alone in nature with only her beloved dog as a companion.  She resents her mother's best friend at times, and struggles to find her own friends and a sense of belonging in her world.

Eventually, Salome has to grow up, whether she wants to or not.  Like the rest of us.  She marries Zebedee, a strong and gentle fisherman she has known all her life, and they have two sons, James and John.  Salome struggles with motherhood at times, especially while enduring what we would not call post-partum depression, but she is overall a fiercely loving protector for her sons.  When her sons begin to follow a new rabbi named Jesus, she has many reservations, but eventually comes to believe that Jesus is who he says he is: the Messiah.  

Like all the best Biblical fiction, On Living Stone doesn't seek to try to replace the Bible in readers' minds, but rather shows us the world in which the Biblical accounts take place so we can better understand the people, places, customs, and lifestyles in the Bible.  Heather Kaufman masterfully opens that world to readers while always pointing them to the Bible as the ultimate authority on everything to do with God and his saving grace.

(From my Instagram)

Particularly Good Bits:

We follow a rabbi whose steps extend beyond the grave (p. 10).

He wrapped long arms around me until I was completely surrounded by his sturdy embrace.  He was the steady beat of a drum, a warm cloak on a dark night, a spoken word of comfort into a lonely heart (p. 64).

"God alone knows the future.  He only asks that we walk uprightly in the present day" (p. 83).

"Salome, I may not understand what you're going through, but I don't have to understand in order to love you" (p. 121).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for some scenes of non-gory violence, discussion of depression, and gentle mentions of a husband and wife anticipating or enjoying the marital bed.  No smut; no cussing.

"Demystifying the Proverbs 31 Woman" by Elizabeth Ahlman

I had been taught, while growing up, that Proverbs 31 was a description of all the things a godly woman could do with God's help.  The ways God would empower her to care for her family and help others.  A sort of companion to "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13), but specifically for women.

So, I thought of this chapter as an encouraging one.  Who wouldn't want to be encouraged to take care of their families and household, and be praised as being "worth far more than rubies" and so on?

Then, one day, my mother-in-law heard me mention I had friends who sold Thirty-One bags and totes, and asked why the company was called that, so I said, "Oh, you know, the Proverbs 31 woman -- it's named after her."  And she sort of gasped and said, "Why would they name themselves after that chapter?  You don't actually enjoy that chapter, do you?"  I was like, "Um, yes, why not?"  And she was all, "Oh, it's so terrible because no woman can ever live up to that ideal."

And I realized that there are women out there who see it as a chapter full of Law -- all about what they *have* to do -- and not in the light of the Gospel, as in, not about how God can do *for them.*  And that made me sad.  And curious.  A few months later, Demystifying the Proverbs 31 Woman crossed my path, and I bought a copy because I thought, maybe I have it backward.  Maybe it's a hard and terrible chapter.

If you also have felt like that chapter is condemning you for not living up to an ideal, then you should read this book.  Because it will free you from that fear.

In this book, Elizabeth Ahlman first walks through the Proverb and shows how Proverbs 31:10-31 are an acrostic poem in the original Hebrew.  She shows how the whole chapter connects to the first few chapters of Proverbs -- the first few chapters admonish a young man to avoid Dame Folly and seek out Lady Wisdom, and this one chapter again focuses on how to value a wise and godly woman, and how the language echoes the earlier chapters.  This is not a portrait of a single human woman, but of Lady Wisdom, the personification of godly wisdom.  

Then Ahlman shows how this portrait of a godly woman connects to a specific woman in the Bible: Ruth.  She goes on to show how the verses are a portrait of the Church when it is acting according to God's will, of all Christians when they carry out their God-given vocations, and how they can also be a portrait of Jesus caring for his Church -- since he is Wisdom Incarnate.

As Ahlman puts it, "[t]he three ways of understanding this passage -- as a portrait of Lady Wisdom/Christ as Wisdom Incarnate, as a portrait of the Holy Church, and as a portrait of who we are in Christ -- all ultimately show us Jesus" (p. 158).

That sounds confusing, I expect, because I'm condensing down into a couple sentences what she spends a whole book explaining.  I think you should just read it for yourself, because then you will understand.

I was especially impressed by how many sources Ahlman drew on.  She wasn't just coming up with these ideas and insights on her own, but building upon theological writings from many, many others writing down through the ages.  

I came away with a great appreciation for how complex Hebrew poetry can be, how connected different parts of the Bible truly are, and how loving and uplifting this chapter is.  I underlined and scribbled in the margins all over the book, and I can't possibly share all my favorite parts here, but I'll share the bits I found the coolest, anyway.

Particularly Good Bits:

It can be tempting to look at this poem and see riches, wealth, and hardworking determination that we cannot possibly hope to match but must strive to match nonetheless.  However, when we consider all that the woman is and does is in the context of God's grace and mercy, her life becomes less example to be copied and more reminder of who we are (p. 55-56).

To have the "fear of the Lord" is to work vigorously in one's vocation with the strength endowed by Yahweh as He works through you.  It is to reach out a hand to the needy, "look well to the ways" of your household, proclaim Yahweh's mercy, impart His wisdom to others, and prosper (ultimately in the sense of salvation and eternal life with Yahweh (p. 81-82).

Throughout those [first] nine chapters [of Proverbs], Lady Wisdom is portrayed first as a young marriageable maiden and then as one who is preparing her household in order to be married.  In 31:10-31, the woman completes the portrait of Lady Wisdom, depicting her now at home with those who love her and who have sought her and been sought by her.  As a completion of that building portrait, she shows herself to be, in fact, Lady Wisdom (p. 159).

As a portrait of Jesus as Wisdom Incarnate, the Proverbs 31:10-31 woman offers us comfort, joy, and a reason to sing.  Gone are the temptations to find a five-step program to being just like the Proverbs 31 woman.  Gone are the thoughts of whether or not we are "good enough" or living up to who we should be as women of God.  Gone, even, are the thoughts that the passage from Proverbs 31:10-31is uniquely a women's text.  Rather than see in her a list of activities to live up to, or an example of how diligent and perfect and busy we should be, we see that this is our Savior diligently busy, active, and perfect for us (p. 160).

We need not view the actions and dispositions of the woman who fears Yahweh in Proverbs and the man who fears Yahweh in Psalm 112 as impossible tasks or qualities to live up to, but rather as pictures of who we are already in Jesus by virtue of our Baptism and the working of the Holy Spirit in us (p. 163).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG.  There's a little talk of preparing the marriage bed and keeping it holy and special, but nothing explicitly about sexual activity.

"A Heart Adrift" by Laura Frantz

I wouldn't exactly say that A Heart Adrift by Laura Frantz is a retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen.  But I wouldn't exactly say it's NOT one, either.  Both are second-chance romances involving a capable but rarely understood woman of good family and a sea captain who might make decisions a little too hastily sometimes.  The main characters in both have a best friend who is widowed and runs a business and knows all the local news.  There's only one vain and self-centered sister here, as opposed to two in Persuasion.  And the main character's dad is actually a good and wise father in this.  But there certainly are a lot of similarities.

And, since Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen novel, I didn't mind that at all!

A Heart Adrift begins in 1755, during what we now call the French and Indian War.  Esmée Shaw spends her days running the chocolaterie her mother founded in York, Virginia, decades earlier.  Her father runs the coffee shop next door.  Both are closer to the waterfront than some snooty genteel folk deem proper, while others are perfectly happy to run the risk of rubbing elbows with seafarers in their quest for famous Shaw chocolates.  

This book made me crave chocolate a lot.  Be warned.

Esmée's sister Eliza is married to a wealthy and influential man with a title and a fine estate and a fancy house in Williamsburg.  She's not pleased at all that her sister is unmarried and runs a shop.  So common!  So quaint!  So much work!  Also, Eliza is pregnant with her first child and convinced that this solidifies her place at the center of the entire world.

Ten years earlier, Esmée turned down a proposal from the man she loved, Captain Henri Lennox.  She still loves him.  He still loves her.  But, at the time, she was absolutely certain that she could never be happy if married to a sea captain who had to leave her all the time.  You see, her father was an admiral and was rarely home when she was growing up, and she saw how hard that was on her mom, and so on.  

Anyway, there's a war on, with the French trying to take over the British colonies in North America, and the Governor of the Virginia Colony wants Captain Lennox to become a privateer and take the fight to the high seas and stop the French from landing so many troops and generally scuttle the French plans.  All Henri Lennox wants to do is build a lighthouse and marry Esmée and be a lighthousekeeper.  But duty calls, etc.

Everything works out very nicely in the end for the main characters, despite the best efforts of the French navy, random scurrilous rogues, a smallpox epidemic, and even (sometimes) Eliza.  

I really loved that this book was set in Williamsburg and York (now Yorktown) because I spend a LOT of time in Colonial Williamsburg, so the characters could be like "I was walking down Duke of Gloucester Street and passed the Raleigh Tavern," and I would be like, "YES!  I have been there!  I know what that looks like!  I know what a spring morning and a fall afternoon and a winter evening feel like there!"

The characters were really well-drawn, and the historical details were almost uniformly delightful.  (Except the use of the term "bluestocking" as slang for "women who think too much," which I don't think was common until about 30 years later.  But that is my only real quibble!!!!!!!)  The love story was paced just perfectly -- we did NOT have to wait nearly 400 pages to get misunderstandings sorted out and come to our senses and so on!  I was a big fan of that.

I am not sure I have ever read adult historical fiction that took place during the French and Indian War before, and that was an absolute treat.  I will definitely be reading more of Laura Frantz's books.

Particularly Good Bits:

The only certainty about life was its uncertainty.  Only God stayed steadfast.  Only the Almighty could walk her through life's many changes.  And when she felt overwhelmed, like now, she simply had to look back to see how faithful God had been, did she not?  The heartaches and closed doors of the past had made the present more beloved (p. 250).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG.  No cussing, no smut, but a little on-page violence and threat of assault against a woman.  Some lightly described kissing, too.

"Winter Fire: Christmas with G. K. Chesterton" by Ryan Whitaker Smith

What an intriguing concept for a devotion book!

Ryan Whitaker Smith chose thirty passages from G. K. Chesterton's writings that deal with Christmas, then paired them with Scripture verses and wrote a daily devotion around each pairing.  I had a great time reading one each morning in December, and then I spent the next week or so reading through the poems, essays, and a couple of short stories by Chesterton that fill out the second half of the book.  

And there are even some fun traditional British Christmas recipes!  They're things that got mentioned elsewhere in the book, and I just might have to try my hand at a couple of them.  And the book ends with explanations of some fun old-fashioned games to play with friends and family.  

All in all, this book is a little treasure trove, and I'm glad I have added it to my library :-)

Particularly Good Bits:

Our natural disposition is rarely the personification of cheerfulness. On this point it is crucial to remember that habits only become habits through repetition. The more we practice joy, the more effortlessly it will come to us. The more we revel, the more we will become revelers. The more we embody cheerfulness, the more naturally we will be of good cheer. Thank God that Christmas descends so inconsiderately upon us, giving a "last push" to those "afraid to be festive" -- for often we are numbered among them (p. 68).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  G.  Nothing here you couldn't read aloud as a family.

"Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I'd never read anything by Dietrich Bonhoeffer before this.  Oh, quotations here and there, sure.  Books and articles about him, sure.  But never one of his full writings.  I came away very impressed.  I want to read more of his stuff.

The Introduction explained that Bonhoeffer wrote Life Together while living in a secret, illegal seminary to teach young German pastors in Nazi Germany.  He and the other teachers and about twenty-five seminary students all lived and worked together, and I'm sure his experiences there are what prompted him to write about how Christians should and shouldn't behave in daily life, both in Christian communities and in the world in general.

He focuses on the importance of being part of a community, on what a Christian's daily life can and will look like both when living with others and also when living alone, on different kinds of earthly ministries, and on the importance of confession and Holy Communion for believers.  I found the last two sections to be the most interesting and enlightening.  

The section on Ministry was divided up into small, useful segments of ways that we can serve God and our fellow human beings in our daily life through things like the Ministry of Holding One's Tongue, the Ministry of Meekness, the Ministry of Listening, and several others.  This was good, practical, uplifting advice to anyone and everyone, and I will be rereading that section in the future, I am sure.

Bonhoeffer didn't pull any punches when talking about how important it is to truly repent of our sins and turn away from them, and how comforting it is to confess them to a fellow Christian such as a pastor and receive comforting reassurance that God forgives those sins for the sake of Jesus's suffering and death on the cross.  We often reply on privately confessing our specific sins to God and publicly only confessing in a general way, during a worship service -- and those are important!  But some sins can weigh so heavily on a Christian that we feel maybe we can't be forgiven for them, which can lead to despair and be very destructive of souls and hearts and minds, and that is where private confession can provide amazing comfort and relief.  I've known that, in a vague way, for most of my life, but Bonhoeffer really explained it in such clear and relatable ways that it became much more real to me, somehow.

I think the one, single part of this book that was the most immediately helpful for me was this:

It is one of the particular difficulties of meditation that our thoughts are likely to wander and go their own way, toward other persons or to some events in our life.  Much as this may distress and shame us again and again, we must not lose heart and become anxious, or even conclude that meditation is really not something for us.  When this happens it is often a help not to snatch back our thoughts convulsively, but quite calmly to incorporate into our prayer the people and the events to which our thoughts keep straying and thus in all patience return to the starting point of the meditation (p. 85).

I often have this problem when I am reading the Bible and praying, and I love that extremely practical and solid advice.

This is a really short book, but so meaty and wise!

Particularly Good Bits:

The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer (p. 19).

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world.  He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream.  God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth (p. 27).

In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life.  Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things...We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good.  Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious.  We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts (p. 29).

Human love is directed to the other person for his own sake; spiritual love loves him for Christ's sake (p. 34).

The Old Testament day begins at evening and ends with the going down of the sun.  It is the time of expectation.  The day of the New Testament church begins with the break of day and ends with the dawning light of the next morning.  It is the time of fulfillment, the resurrection of the Lord.  At night, Christ was born, a light in darkness; noonday turned to night when Christ suffered and died on the Cross.  But in the dawn of Easter morning Christ rose in victory from the grave (p. 40).

Here we learn, first, what prayer means.  It means praying according to the Word of God, on the basis of promises.  Christian prayer takes its stand on the solid ground of the revealed Word and has nothing to do with vague, self-seeking vagaries (p. 47).

Why do Christians sing when they are together?  The reason is, quite simply, because in singing together it is possible for them to speak and pray the same Word at the same time; in other words, because here they can unite in the Word.  All devotion, all attention should be concentrated upon the Word in the hymn (p. 59).

"Seek God, not happiness" -- this is the fundamental rule of all meditation.  If you seek God alone, you will gain happiness: that is its [meditation's] promise (p. 84).

Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words (p. 91).

We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.  God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions.  We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps -- reading the Bible.  When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised athwart our path to show us that, not our way, but God's way must be done (p. 99).

Sin demands to have a man by himself.  It withdraws him from the community.  The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation.  Sin wants to remain unknown.  It shuns the light.  In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person (p. 112).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  This is good and godly stuff, though younger people may not understand it thoroughly.  I didn't understand all of it myself on just one reading.

This is my 44th book read and reviewed for my 4th Classics Club list.  Only six to go to finish this list!

"Before the King" by Heather Kaufman

Like in Heather Kaufman's previous book, Up from Dust, the main character of Before the King is a woman from the New Testament.  Joanna is only mentioned a couple of times in the Bible, so we don't know very much about her.  We know she was one of the women who discovered that Jesus's tomb was empty on the first Easter Sunday (Luke 24:10).  We know she was wealthy and helping to support Jesus's ministry, and that she was married to Chuza, "the manager of Herod's household" (Luke 8:3).  That's about it.

From those clues, Kaufman has built a fictional heroine of uncommon beauty and deep faith.  In this book, Joanna grows up the daughter of a prominent Sadducee, moving in important Judean circles.  She has a sister who suffers from seizures, and tragedy strikes them both more than once.  Eventually, Joanna enters into a marriage of convenience with Chuza, a proselyte (non-Jewish believer in the coming Messiah) who has a high position in King Herod's government.  

When Joanna meets Jesus of Nazareth, her life is transformed inside and out.  Repeatedly, she goes to listen to this new Rabbi, supporting His ministry with her own money and growing to believe He is the promised Savior.  Because her husband is an important part of Herod's government, we get to see some of the events of Holy Week up close, both before Christ's crucifixion and after His resurrection.  Which made this the perfect book to read around Easter!

Kaufman's writing continues to delight me.  Her characters are nuanced, complex, and believable.  Her meticulous research makes the place and time she writes about come to life in the most engrossing way!

Although I didn't love this book quite as much as Up from Dust, it's still going to end up one of my top new reads for the year, I'm sure.  And the only reason I didn't love it quite as much is that I didn't feel as much of a personal connection with Joanna as a did with Martha -- I promise that is a personal thing, not a reflection on this amazing book.

Particularly Good Bits:

I am an ordinary woman whom God chose to put in extraordinary places.  Any strength to be found in my story is His alone (p. 9).

"Remember this, Joanna.  What people think changes all the time.  What is true never changes" (p. 56).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-16 for tasteful discussions of a woman desiring her husband.  Chuza proposes a celibate marriage to Joanna; she accepts, but later grows to love him and desires a consummated marriage.  Mentions of longing and desire are all tasteful, all within the context of a marriage, but may make younger readers confused or uncomfortable.

"Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow" by Jamie Erickson

I read this book in little snacks and nibbles over the past month or so.  I liked it a lot, and am adopting a few ideas from it into my own home life and hospitality outlook.  

Every now and then, I read or flip through a book about hygge and discover I'm already filled with an innate desire for a hygge home.  But I still often find a new idea or way to finetune the cozy comfort of my house.  This book had more such new insights than most because it showcased how creating a comfortable home environment that fosters belonging is a way to share God's love with others, and I appreciated that new angle.

There were a few places I disagreed with Erickson's theology, but I expected there to be, and they weren't enough to detract from this book's usefulness.

Particularly Good Bits:

Reshaping an atmosphere can never permanently reshape a heart.  But it can help, especially when paired with the hope of Jesus (p. 17).

Hospitality, thriving relationships, well-being, a welcoming atmosphere, comfort, contentment, and rest--these are the markers of hygge.  But they're also qualities seen in the first Garden home and exhibited by Jesus (p. 17).

Dinner time has been a conduit for sharing celebrations, service, and sorrow.  None of the meals started as interventions or "sharing circles."  They were just meals.  But intentional hospitality around the table provided the pause necessary to allow others to share in ways they otherwise wouldn't have (p. 35).

Hyggelig hospitality doesn't preclude tidying up or putting your best foot forward.  It just means you don't have to feel the need to sterilize your life and wipe out every evidence of brokenness from your home.  It means you don't have to secret your real self and your real messes away.  It encourages you to share your whole self so your guests feel comfortable enough to do the same (p. 49).

We no longer begrudge the monotony of a routine life because hygge compels us to find the extra of each ordinary moment (p. 79).

...knowing and caring are two different things.  You can know about a lot of issues, but you cannot care about them all equally.  No one's shoulders are wide enough for that.  If you do attempt to carry it all, you'll end up physically, emotionally, and financially unable to carry any of it (p. 101).

For those who are in Christ, well-being will be fully restored.  Until that time, may you and I follow His example by caring for ourselves, not selfishly or indulgently, but in a way that enables us to care for others (p. 103).

Hygge is comfort in moderation.  It is a rational voice that declares, "If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but still have the same amount of snow" (p. 132).

Through our Western eyes, we're quick to call the dirt of this life filthy or ruin, forgetting that it was by dirt that the Master Potter made us in the Garden all those years ago.  It is by dirt and snow that life continues to renew and grow.  In praying that God takes away the struggles of this world -- the dirt and snow--we're also unwittingly disregarding the comfort that lies on the other side of every discomfort we face (p. 133).

Hygge favors the ordinary and familiar.  It is unpretentious and imperfect and encourages satisfaction in everydayness (p. 154).

We are rest-avoidant because, at some point, some well-meaning someone had us all believing that the central aim of our lives is to be useful to God, but it's not.  We're meant to glorify God.  That's our purpose.  The end (p. 176).

Every time we invite others into our house, we have an opportunity to make them feel right at home.  We help heal those whose home lives are anything but homey and make room for those who don't know where they belong (p. 197).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Totally appropriate for all ages.

"The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare

I know I read this at least once as a teen.  I remembered basically none of it.  In fact, I actually misremembered things about it -- I thought it took place during the boyhood of King David, but that's completely wrong.  It takes place during the life of Jesus Christ!  I was way off.

I did remember it being really good, and that memory was totally accurate, though.  Whew.

Daniel is an angry young Jewish man whose parents were killed by Roman soldiers when he was a boy.  Now he's part of a renegade band of rebels who ostensibly fight the Romans, but mostly just steal stuff.  He befriends a nice brother and sister from a good family, and through them, he encounters Jesus more than once, and also gets a real job, is able to start caring for his younger sister, and gradually realizes that armed rebellion against the Roman Empire is not going to fix his problems.

I almost feel like this is Ben-Hur for teens, because it has a lot of the same themes of letting go of anger and hatred, learning to forgive, and finding peace in the midst of trouble. 

Particularly Good Bits:

"Can't you see, Daniel, it is hate that is the enemy?  Not men.  Hate does not die with killing.  It only springs up a hundredfold.  The only thing stronger than hate is love" (p. 224).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for violence, including descriptions of crucifixion.

This was my 36th book read for my fourth Classics Club list.

"The Lilies of the Field" by William E. Barrett

I loved this book even more the second time through.  Its simplicity, straightforwardness, and gentleness impressed me so much the first time I read it, and now I've added "feels like an old friend" to that list of reasons I love it.  I hugged this book more than once while reading it.

This is an uplifting and hope-filled story of how kindness can dismantle boundaries.  Black handyman Homer Smith does a day's work for a group of German refugee nuns in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, insists there's no way he will build a chapel for them, and then their faith and humility and ready friendship touches his heart, so he builds their chapel for them.  That's the whole story right there -- like I said, very simple.  And yet, so complex.  

I had my 6th through 12th grade literature class at our homeschool co-op read this, and we had a wonderful discussion of how the characters both reflected and refuted stereotypes of the 1960s, when the book was written and set.

Particularly Good Bits:

Their smiles made him welcome and Homer felt immediately at ease with them.  They did not have any color line; he was just people to them (p. 15).

He had a prayer in his own heart when he accepted food.  Nobody took food for granted when he was a child.  It wasn't always easy to get and a person learned to be thankful when it was there (p. 37).

He looked at them and his heart lifted.  These were people who needed something that he had to give (p. 60).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  It's a lovely, clean, uplifting book.

My Book "Jane Eyre: A Christian Reader's Guide" Releases Today!

My nonfiction audiobook has released today!  I'm so excited to finally get to share this project with the world.

Jane Eyre: A Christian Reader's Guide helps readers explore and understand Charlotte Bronte's classic novel.  In it, I provide a breakdown and analysis of each chapter, discussion prompts, and historical notes on the book and its author. This audiobook will be a great resource for teaching literature or your own personal study.  It would be particularly helpful for homeschoolers and literature classes, and works for book clubs, too.  It works equally well whether you're hoping to understand this classic better yourself or looking for something to help you teach it to others.

You can buy my book from Amazon Audible here, from Barnes and Noble Audiobooks here, or straight from publisher One Audiobooks here.  You can also find it on Goodreads.

My audiobook is part of a new series of literature guides that One Audiobooks is producing.  Their aim is to help modern readers understand and appreciate classic books from a Christian perspective.  Mine is the first guide for a more adult book, and probably works better for teens and adults, but the others would be great for all ages.

Currently, these guides are only available as audiobooks, but there is a possibility that the publisher might release them as ebooks as well.  If that interests you, please let the publisher know!

"The Mistletoe Countess" by Pepper Basham

Do you ever thoroughly enjoy a book, except for one small aspect of it?  Or, do you ever want to recommend a book to lots and lots of people, but feel like you have to attach a caveat to that recommendation?

This is that kind of book, for me.

I loved the characters.  I mean, full-on loved them.  And you know that usually means I will love a book.  My goodness, Gracelynn was infectiously loveable -- never quite so abounding in endless optimism as to be a "manic pixie dream girl," and never quite so flawed that I lost patience with her.  She was simply a very believable eighteen-year-old woman of 1913, with lots of energy and enthusiasm and imagination.  In fact, she reminded me of a more-outgoing version of Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey, as I suspect she is meant to.

And then there's Frederick, Grace's new husband.  Mysterious.  Handsome.  Reticent.  Hesitant.  Hopeful.  Despairing.  Jaded.  Yearning.  In other words, just the sort of fictional hero I tend to fall for.  Add in that he was very kind and helpful, and also very respectful of his new wife, and yet never too-good-to-be-true.

And I loved the romance.  Grace and Frederick enter into an arranged marriage of convenience, under very inauspicious circumstances -- a marriage that Grace instigates, by the way.  I usually don't like the whole marriage-of-convenience trope, as it almost always feels forced and contrived.  It made sense here.  As did the fact that it was an arranged marriage (of sorts).  But the best part was Basham's treatment of marital intimacy.  She portrayed it perfectly -- as a joyful joining of two people's hearts, minds, and bodies.  

We are not subjected to bedroom scenes, but we fully appreciate that both wife and husband enjoy each other thoroughly, and that their intimate moments serve to enhance their appreciation of each other in other aspects of their lives as well.  This is not portrayed in a smutty or titillating way at all -- I never once felt like I should skim ahead or skip whole paragraphs (or pages).  And that is absolutely phenomenal.  I have never, ever read a book that treated marital intimacy in such a wholesome, healthy, practical, and uplifting way.  So commendable.

The mystery was interesting, the side characters were all well-rounded, and the setting was great.  Most of the historical details were just right.  (I was really annoyed at the very end, though, when Grace and Frederick gave someone a copy of Ulysses by James Joyce -- this book takes place in 1913, and Ulysses was not published until 1921.  A twelve-second internet search turns up that info, and both author and editor[s] should absolutely have caught that.  Badly done.)

However.

The writing just occasionally... hitched.  There were word choices scattered randomly about that made no sense, or that alllllllmost made sense.  Like saying someone should use a spyglass to look at a clue -- clearly, they mean magnifying glass. 'Spyglass' is not simply a synonym for 'magnifying glass,' folks.  It's a small, hand-held, collapsible telescope.  Think pirates, not Sherlock Holmes.  The other glitches were similar -- as if someone wanted to make the writing more interesting and tried substituting "unusual" words for the correct words, only those unusual words didn't actually fit.  

I am just going to have to say that the storytelling and characterization and plotting and dialog are all excellent here, but this book needed a better editor.  If glitchy word choices don't bug you (and they probably really don't bug like 90% of readers!), then you might very well love this book with no reservations!

Particularly Good Bits:

Romance and marriage proved such daunting prospects in reality, but hidden within the pages of her beloved books, their appeal sparkled with magic and mystery (p. 10).

A deep surge of protection rose within him.  He hadn't been able to shield his own innocent heart, but he could attempt to protect hers (p. 96).

The world took on a ruddy glow through her eyes, and his life of loneliness came alive with colors and beauty and hope (p. 101).

"Grandfather would say, 'Kindness is your most valiant weapon.  People may fight against many things, but against kindness, they fall unprepared'" (p. 103).

Was marriage truly supposed to be this delightful?  Clandestine kisses in the study?  Stormy nights of passion?  Enchanting discussions about anything from fiction to architecture?  She hadn't read a single book that painted a picture of marriage remotely close to this (p. 286).

"You are soul mates by choice and will.  How closely you wrap your souls around one another is of your own choosing" (p. 194).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16.  Like I said, the love portrayed here never felt titillating or dirty, but I still would not let a young teen read this.  There is quite a bit of on-page kissing and such.  Their minds don't need to stray these directions just yet.  There is no bad language, but there is some violence and several scenes of characters in peril, even deadly danger.  

"Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship" by Colin Duriez

Although it took me several months to finish reading this book, that is not because it was boring.  Rather, other books kept shoving their way in front of it.  Library books coming due, ARCs needing to be read before release day, and so on.  Now that my kids are done with school, I have had a lot more time for reading, and I finally finished this!

Duriez begins the book with biographical accounts of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis from childhood until they met.  He then shows how their personalities, tastes, interests, and ideas blended into friendship.  He spends time discussing the other Inklings too, and how their collective group friendship was important to both Tolkien and Lewis.  Their writing, their faith, and their careers all get explored here, sometimes in depth.  If you are a fan of either author, or you like learning about authors in general, you would probably get a lot out of this book.  I know I did!

Particularly Good Bits:

From his wide experience of reading [Lewis] instinctively rejected a distinction between highbrow and lowbrow literature, serious and popular, and even between so-called good and bad books.  A far more important distinction for him was that between good and bad readers.  Literature, he increasingly felt, exists for the enjoyment of readers, and books therefore should be judged by the kind of reading that they evoke (p. 67-68).

At the core of the friendship of Tolkien and Lewis was their shared antipathy to the modern world.  They were not opposed to dentists, buses, draft beer, and other features of the twentieth century, but what they viewed as the underlying mentality of modernism.  They were not against science or scientists, but the cult of science, found in modernism, and its tendency to monopolize knowledge, denying alternative approaches to knowledge through the arts, religion, and ordinary human wisdom (p. 107).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some non-explicit allusions to possible sexual relationships between some adults and discussion of the trauma of wartime for soldiers.

This is my 29th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.

"Hummingbird" by Natalie Lloyd

Natalie Lloyd's books continue to enchant and delight me.  And make me cry.  This one definitely made me cry multiple times toward the end -- but not over sad things!  Like with most books (and movies), what made me cry was some really, really good stuff happening against the odds that it wouldn't.

Like, not to spoil the ending or anything, but man, it is GOOD.  

Olive has "brittle bone disease," or osteogenesis imperfecta.  Because she's had so many broken bones all through her childhood, she's always been homeschooled.  And she doesn't mind being homeschooled, but she would really like to try public school, just to know what it's like.  So, she convinces her parents to let her try it.  And she struggles to fit in.  And she makes friends.  And she pursues her dream of being an actress by trying out for the school play.  And there's heartache and happiness and joy and fear and wonder.  And magic.  

Also, this is the first Natalie Lloyd book I've read that involves going to church.  Olive and her family attend what basically sounds like a non-denominational church, and Olive talks openly about praying, believing in God, and so on.  But, yes, there's also magic in the form of a magical hummingbird that grants wishes.  You just kind of have to read it to get it.  The only thing I didn't approve of was that Olive's church has a woman pastor, which I believe is unscriptural, but that is not enough to make me stop from recommending this book.

Oh, and Natalie Lloyd herself has osteogenesis imperfecta, which gives this book another layer of poignancy.

Particularly Good Bits:

All in all, it seemed like an ordinary day.  But it wasn't.  Beginnings are sneaky like this (p. 2).

Banjo music sounds like sunshine on a string.  Like a bumblebee square dance (p. 9).

"You're not a miracle because you have brittle bones or because you use a wheelchair or walker.  You're not a miracle if you don't.  You're a miracle because you exist.  Everybody is" (p. 24).

Mama and Jupiter have always told me that one person's talent does not take away from your talent (p. 244).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  No cussing or violence.

This is my 26th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.

"Imagination Redeemed" by Gene Edward Veith Jr. and Matthew P. Ristuccia

Wow.  SO many nuggets of wisdom in this book.  

The subtitle is "Glorifying God with a Neglected Part of Your Mind," and that pretty succinctly explains what this book is about.  Veith and Ristuccia point out that Christians are often told not to use their imaginations.  The imagination is often reviled as being untrustworthy, frivolous, unnecessary, or even an instrument of Satan.  But, God gave every person an imagination, just like He gave them reason and taste buds and an appreciation for music or flowers or other beautiful things.  That's the starting point for this book: imagination is a gift and can be used for good or evil, like everything else.

Each chapter is broken into three parts.  First, Veith (a professor of literature) discusses good and wholesome uses for the imagination, as well as how to deal with temptations to misuse it.  Second, Ristuccia (a pastor) delves into one of the amazing visions in the Biblical book Ezekial and unpacks the ways that God spoke to Ezekial and the ancient Israelites (and us) through visions that appeal to the imagination instead of to reason and intellect alone.  Third, they include a short colloquy based on the rest of the chapter.

I have always cherished my imagination and sought to use it to God's glory, so this book mostly confirmed things I have thought or felt or believed, but it explains them so much better than I ever could.  If you've ever been told to stop being imaginative, or been told that reading (or writing) fiction is a lesser use of time than nonfiction, or been told that imagining things is actually wrong, you might find this book comforting and revelatory.

Particularly Good Bits:

But just because the imagination can be the source of idolatry and other sins is no reason to ignore it.  That the imagination can be used for evil means that Christians dare not ignore it.  We must discipline, disciple, and sanctify our imaginations.  We are to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5), and that must include the thoughts we imagine (p. 16).

But the imagination is a gift of God, and it finds its fullest expression in God.  His imagination led to his creation.  His imagination was manifested in his image, in us human beings and supremely in Christ.  And God reveals himself and restores his image in us through Christ by means of his Word.  That Word addresses our understand, our will, and our imagination.  When we attend closely to the words of the Bible and imagine what they are saying in a fuller way, we become more intimately and personally involved in Scripture, and the Word of God has a greater impact on us (p. 41).

A Christian imagination comes from internalizing Christian truth, not just from knowing a set of doctrines abstractly.  They have to penetrate deeply into the heart and become part of one's identity.  The way that happens, again, is through the imagination (p. 111).

Remember that a worldview is something that we see with, a model by which we "view" the "world."  So someone with a Christian worldview is able to look at all the world and everything in the world -- including the constructions of non-Christian worldviews -- in the light of Christian truth (p. 116).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16 for including some discussions of bad ways the imagination can be used, such as to indulge in sexual fantasies.  Those are only mentioned very matter-of-factly, not delved into in a salacious way, but this is still not something I would recommend to kids or young teens.  It would be great for the upper high school grades, though, and I intend to have my own high school-age son read it.

This is my 21st book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.

"A Very Bookish Easter" by Kelsey Bryant, Abigayle Claire, Sarah Holman, and Kate Willis

It's another Very Bookish Holiday collection!  This springtime anthology was a fast, fun read, and I'm happy to add it to our shelves.

Like the previous books in this series, the four novellas here each revolve around a classic book or story, and retell it a little bit too.

"The Prayer Garden" by Kelsey Bryant revolves around The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  In it, a young woman with uncertain ideas about God and Christianity moves into her grandmother's old house to take care of it now that her grandma is in a care facility.  She discovers a hidden "prayer garden" in the woods behind the house, and the combination of her grandma's gentle witnessing and the help of a godly young gardener soften her heart for the seeds of faith to grow.

"Lilies and Thorns" by Abigayle Claire involves Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.  The manager of a grocery store's floral department falls for the owner of the town's independent florist shop.  Rivalry and resentment take a back seat as they get to know each other and help one another out of a few unpleasant situations.

"An Easter Canticle" by Sarah Holman is inspired by A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  A successful businessman gives up his whole business and seeks calm and clarity in a gardening job at a retreat center after a decision nearly costs two innocents their lives.  Healing and forgiveness can be his only after he confronts his past and contemplates his future.

"Addie's Mountain" by Kate Willis is informed by Heidi by Johanna Spyri.  Two sisters, one with chronic health problems, move to their grandfather's remote farm.  They make new friends, learn new skills, and bring new joy to their grandfather's life.

I really liked that both "An Easter Canticle" and "Addie's Mountain" dealt with chronic illnesses and disabilities.  We need more stories that reflect the painful realities so many people live in.  "Lilies and Thorns" dealt a bit with shyness and anxiety, and "The Prayer Garden" included the difficulties of watching a loved one struggle with dementia.  While none of the stories felt heavy or discouraging, they also didn't try to offer platitudes or easy fixes for these troubles.  Instead, they accepted that life on this earth involves trouble and pain, but that those don't need to define us.

One caveat: some of these stories contain decision-based theology that is unbiblical, from a Confessional Lutheran standpoint.  Read with discernment.

Particularly Good Bits:

Losing your memories seemed like losing pieces of the life you worked so hard to live.  Few things could be so tragic (p. 63, "The Prayer Garden").

"The best books help us process our past, inform our present, and help shape our future.  The Bible often is the best at that.  Yet, there is no denying that God often uses the stories of others to help us too" (p. 254, "An Easter Canticle").

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G -- clean and uplifting.

This is my 15th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.

The Bookworm Tag

Samantha at Bookshire did this tag recently, and she invited anyone who wanted to do it to consider themselves tagged, so I am!

The (very simple) Rules:

-answer the questions 

-make up new ones 

-tag people

Samantha's Questions and My Answers:

1. Hardback or paperback? 

I tend to prefer paperbacks.  They're cheaper, they take up less space on my shelves, and I can pack more of them when I go on trips.

2. Did you have a favorite comic book or graphic novel as a kid, and if so, what was it? 

As a kid, I loved this fairly odd comic book:

I got it for free from the grocery store, and I read it over and over and over and over.  And, it made me a Spider-man fan!  

3. What is your favorite devotional or inspirational book, and why? 

I really liked Pew Sisters by Katie Schuermann.  It was relatable, made for great discussions at our women's Bible study, and helped me realize that many of the things I struggle with are fairly common and not unique to me.  

4. Would you rather have to read only one book for the rest of your life, or never get to reread a book? 

I hate this question.  It has no good answer.  I love to reread books, but rereading just one book forever also doesn't sound like a great time.  

5. Least favorite literary villain? 

Like, the one I despise the most?  Um.  Hmm.  I don't know.  I dislike most villains, as that's sort of their job, so it's hard to pick just one I dislike the most.  Hmm.  Well, I really hate Cain in The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, so let's just go with him, huh?

6. What is your favorite romance trope? 

I love friends-to-lovers.  Give me people who like each other as people, and then start to develop deeper feelings for each other, and I am going to be a happy little reader.

But I also love a lot of books where it's more annoyed-with-each-other-to-lovers, which can be very fun too.

7. If you could spend a day with your favorite author, what would you do with them? 

Okay, so, my favorite author is Raymond Chandler, and he was a crabby alcoholic.  Whereas I don't enjoy alcohol much, and I'm not generally a crabby person.  So I would probably spend the day just quietly letting him get on with his drinking and writing.  

Unless it could be a day he was spending on the set of either The Blue Dahlia (1946) or And Now Tomorrow (1944), which he wrote the screenplays for, in which case, I would spend the day quietly stalking Alan Ladd everywhere he went in the least-creepy way I could possibly manage.  I'm not sure if Chandler ever visited either of those sets, but if he did, that's what I would pick.  Which sounds like it's less about loving Chandler and more about loving Alan Ladd, but oh well.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have their favorite author write screenplays for their second-favorite actor, but I am, so there we are.

8. What is the longest book you've ever read, and did you like it? 

That would be The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, and I liked it so much, I have read it nine times.

(From my Instagram account)

9. Do you have a favorite poet, and if so, who is it? When did you learn about them? 

I do!  I love Kenneth Koch because so much of his poetry makes me laugh.  I first learned about him in a lit class during my freshman year of college, and I've been a fan ever since.  I also really love his books on how to teach kids to write poetry, such as Wishes, Lies, and Dreams.

10. Have you ever cried over a fictional death scene, and if so, which one(s)?

SPOILER ALERTS!!!!  I cry over Boromir's death every time I read The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.  And also over Matthew Cuthbert's death in Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.  On a whole, though, I am way more likely to cry over something going unexpectedly, gloriously right in a book than I am over a character death.

END of SPOILER ALERT

Okay!  Those were lots of fun :-)  Time to tag people!  I hereby tag:

Bookshire

Classical Carousel

Classics Considered

Cimharas

Holds Upon Happiness

More 2 Discover

The Once Lost Wanderer

The Rustic Reading Gal

With Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon

And here are my questions for you:

1.  If you had to go into the witness protection program, and they gave you the option of moving inside a book, where would you like to go?

2.  Have you ever claimed to have read a book you actually hadn't read?

3.  What author have you read the most books by?

4.  Do you ever buy fun bookish merch like mugs, shirts, artwork, etc?

5.  Do you usually read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?

6.  Are you a mood reader, or do you plan out your reads?

7.  If you could meet the author of your favorite book and ask them one question, what would you ask them?

8.  Have you ever tried a new food or drink because you read about it in a book or story?

9.  Have you ever named a pet after a book character?

10.  What book are you reading right now?

Play if you want to!