"Strange and Obscure Stories of the Revolutionary War" by Tim Rowland

This book was so much fun!  I absolutely loved Tim Rowland's writing -- he had such a slyly funny writing style, and I laughed aloud multiple times while reading this.  I made my family listen to me reading selections aloud because they tickled me so much.  When I finished reading this, I ordered his similar book about the Civil War because I am sure I will enjoy it too.

Was every one of these Strange and Obscure Stories of the Revolutionary War new to me?  No.  Were they all super strange?  No.  But they were a great way to explore some of the less-touted events and aspects of the American Revolution.  It's kind of hard to explain really -- this isn't exactly revisionist history or trying to ruin your view of the Founding Fathers, but it does point out some foibles here and there.  But not in a mean way.  It's funny and... almost a British humor flavor, if you know what I mean? 

If you like to learn trivial and little-known facts and stories, you would probably dig this book.  I'll share a couple of my favorite passages below so you can get a taste of this book's specific flavor.

Particularly Good Bits:

The idea that Americans might one day make a break for it was as old as America itself, and a veritable cottage industry arose in Britain out of speculating on the American future.  The British were well aware of a couple of points.  One, there were certainly people who sailed overseas for adventure and to seek fortune, but in the main, few people cam e to the New World because they were tickled with the way things were working out for them in the old.  This wasn't shaping up to be a territory that longed for leadership from across the pond.  Two, from the British perspective, the colonies were becoming a collection of every screwball sect and religious mutation on the face of the planet, and good luck governing that (p. 18).

When the British first arrived on the Carolina coastline in the spring of 1776, the patriots were in the process of throwing up a log and sand fort at the entrance to the Charleston harbor.  Washington's man, General Charles Lee, didn't like the looks of the forward position and ordered Colonel Moultrie to abandon the fort and regroup closer to town.  Moultrie thanked the colonial commander for his suggestion, which he summarily ignored.  This caused the predictable cries by lee of insubordination, and the intervention of Rutledge, who sternly told Moultrie he was to obey the commands of General Lee unless he didn't want to (p. 132).

If This was a Movie, I would Rate It: PG-10 for discussions of wartime wounds and violence, and a little bit of rough language.  Kids probably wouldn't get the humor anyway.

This is my fifth book read for my #RevolutionaryWarReads challenge that I set myself as part of my celebration of our country's 250th birthday this year.

"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.

"The Greatest Lawyer That Ever Lived: Patrick Henry at the Bar of History" by George Morrow

This is a slim volume containing two essays about Patrick Henry, both by George Morrow.  In both essays, the author contends that Patrick Henry is essentially a mystery to us today for two reasons.  

First, Patrick Henry wasn't obsessed with writing things down OR with keeping records of his writing and speeches for posterity.  He was very gifted as a defense attorney and as a public orator, but his speeches had a strange ability to make people agree with him at the same time as not be able to remember exactly what he said.  So even the speeches we think we know he made, George Morrow says are probably just vague approximations of what he said because Henry didn't keep the speeches he wrote and no one else could remember more than the basic gist of them.  Yes, including the famous "Give me liberty, or give me death speech."

Second, George Morrow makes a convincing case for Thomas Jefferson being virulently envious of Patrick Henry for decades because Henry was a much more accomplished lawyer than Jefferson and a much better public speaker.  Morrow contends that, after Patrick Henry's death, Thomas Jefferson began systematically and effectively erasing Patrick Henry's good qualities from public and private memory alike and replacing them with the idea that Patrick Henry was a mediocre lawyer who got a lucky day in court now and then, was a lazy and cowardly state governor, and so on. 

If nothing else, these two essays have convinced me I need to read more about Patrick Henry and not rely on my memories of what my high school history books said about him thirty years ago.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Nothing scandalous or untoward here.

This has been my second book read from my #RevolutionaryWarReads list!

"Daniel Boone's Own Story" by Daniel Boone and "The Adventures of Daniel Boone" by Frances Lister Hawkes

How weird that these two short books have never crossed my path before this!  Especially considering what a big fan of Daniel Boone I have been since I was in single digits.  I've read so many junior biographies about him, so many articles... but never his own short account of how he helped open Kentucky for settlement?  Not sure how it escaped me before now.

Well, Daniel Boone's Own Story is the bold adventurer's own recounting of how and when and why he explored Kentucky with his brother and a few friends, how he returned to lead surveyors there, and why he brought his own family with a larger group to settle there.  This all happened before and during the American Revolution, but had little to do with the Revolution except to mention Lord Dunmore a couple of times (he who was Royal Governor of Virginia until the Revolution began) and to talk about refusing to surrender to British authority even as a possible escape from being held captive by a hostile tribe.  

I loved how Daniel Boone expresses himself in this.  He's straight-forward, modest, thoughtful, a little funny here and there, and can turn a pretty phrase.  And he repeatedly credits God with blessing his efforts, helping him and others out of difficulties, and making the beautiful wilderness land that Boone so cherished.

The Adventures of Daniel Boone by Francis Lister Hawks obviously draws on Boone's book, but fleshes the narrative out more.  It talks about Boone's life before and after the opening of Kentucky, which is nice.  I didn't learn much new from it that I hadn't read in other books, but I enjoyed the refresher anyway.  Hawks has a high-flown, old-fashioned writing style that makes Boone seem doubly plainspoken and uncomplicated by comparison.  But I didn't dislike the book just because his prose got a little purple here and there.  

Particularly Good Bits:

So much does friendship triumph over misfortune that sorrows and sufferings vanish at the meeting not only of real friends, but of the most distant acquaintances, and substitute happiness in their room (p. 4, Daniel Boone's Own Story)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for discussions of torture, some of which would be very disturbing for people with vivid imaginations.

Since these are so short, I am counting them together as my 50th book read for my 4th Classics Club list.  Which means I have finished my list!  Again!  Since January of 2014, I have read and reviewed 200 classic books :-D

(Actually, I've read more classics than that in those ten years, because I only count a book once for the Classics Club, and if I read it again after that, it doesn't count for my lists.)

I'll be making a fifth list soon!  Stay tuned for that...

#RevolutionaryWarReads in 2026

I mentioned earlier this month that I am planning to read at least thirteen books about or set during the American Revolution this year, one for each of the original thirteen colonies.  That feels like a really fun way to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday all year long!

Several people have asked if I would share my list of books I plan to read, and so I am doing exactly that in this post.  I will also be posting about this from time to time on my Instagram account and using the hashtag #RevolutionaryWarReads when I do.

I made one change from the plans I originally set forth in graphic you see above because I discovered that one of the books I planned to read (A Heart Adrift by Laura Frantz) actually takes place in the 1750s, not the 1770s.  I'm reading that right now anyway, and really enjoying it!  But it won't count toward my challenge.

Here are the books I currently plan to read:

Fiction

1. The Lady and the Loyalist by Stephanie McRae (Heart of the Revolution, book 1)

2. The Hero and the Patriot by Stephanie McRae (Heart of the Revolution, book 2)

3. Heart of the Revolution book 3 by Stephanie McRae (releases later this year)

4. Or Give Me Death by Ann Rinaldi

5. Spark of the Revolution by Megan Soja (Harbor of Spies, book 1)

6. Secrets of the Revolution by Megan Soja (Harbor of Spies, book 2)

7. Scars of the Revolution by Megan Soja (Harbor of Spies, book 3)

8. Harbor of Spies book 4 by Megan Soja (releases later this year)

Non-Fiction

9. The Greatest Lawyer That Ever Lived: Patrick Henry at the Bar of History by George Morrow

10. Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution by Eric Jay Dolin

11. Strange and Obscure Stories of the Revolutionary War by Tim Rowland

12. The Swamp Fox, Francis Marion by Noel Gerson

13. Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose

I already own copies of all of these, except for those two unreleased books, so this will also be a good exercise in reading things off my TBR shelves!

Are you planning to read some books about the American Revolution in 2026?  Have you read any of these?  Let me know!

"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!

"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.

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Sprang Sprung

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Books on My Spring 2025 To-Read List."  

I will freely confess that I am actively reading four of these books right now, which are marked with an asterisk.  I know I will definitely also read Before the King because it's my book club's next pick.  Also, I'm determined to read the Agatha Christie collection during the correct season.  The rest are things I'd like to read in the near future, but I'm a total mood reader, so some of them may simply get pushed off for another time.

Before the King by Heather Kaufman

The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White

A Rose in West Egg* by Storm Shultz

The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by Catherine Louisa Pirkis

The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler

Sinister Spring by Agatha Christie

Eldest* by Christopher Paolini

Rowan Farm* by Margot Benary-Isbert

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

Rembrandt in the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey

Did you share a Top Ten Tuesday list this week?  Have you read any of these?  Leave a comment and let me know!

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!

"Stuff Every Gardener Should Know" by Scott Meyer

Let us be clear: I did not read this book cover-to-cover.  I skipped swaths of it that had nothing to do with the kind of gardening I do right now.  I gave up growing tomatoes when the local groundhogs got spiteful one night, climbed over and through my layers of fencing, and took one bite out of each tomato.  Rude!  The ground around here isn't great for vegetables anyway, without loads of enrichment.  We do have an asparagus bed, but that's my husband's baby.  Me, I tend a couple of rose bushes and azaleas, and random rings of daffodils around the yard, but my main gardening focus is my container flower garden on our deck.

So, I skipped the sections in this book about food and concentrated on the sections about flowers and landscaping and problem-solving.  Those had lots of good nuggets of wisdom, and I have added a couple of lemon balm plants to my flower garden in hopes that they really do help cut down on mosquitoes like lavender does.

This is really more of a book you consult when you're having a question about gardening, and it's filled with lots of good tricks and tidbits.  I knew some of them, I learned others, and I will go back and learn more in the coming years, I'm sure!

"We'll Always Have Casablanca" by Noah Isenberg

I really love learning about the creative process.  Whether it is how someone writes and edits their book, how movies are made, how songs get written -- it all fascinates me.  Especially if I am familiar with the creative work in question.  So about 3/4 of this book absolutely fascinated me.  Isenberg has meticulously put together a behind-the-scenes look at how Casablanca (1942) came to be, from the writing of the stage play Everybody Comes to Rick's through the post-production editing and scoring for the film.  

I think the coolest thing I learned from this book was that almost everyone involved, aside from Humphrey Bogart and a handful of other actors and crewmembers, were actually pretty recent immigrants to Hollywood from Europe.  Many of them experienced the kind of refugee situation that is shown in the film, waiting desperately for an exit visa and hoping against hope to make it safely out of Europe before the Nazis completely overwhelmed everything and everyone.  That is going to make this film extra poignant the next time I watch it.  I had realized that, obviously, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid and Peter Lorre were European and had probably come to Hollywood in part to escape the Nazi threat.  But even director Michael Curtiz was originally Hungarian, and the actors playing the Nazis in the film were mostly native Germans who had fled Germany.  Making this pro-freedom film must have been so immensely satisfying for so many involved, and yet heartbreakingly real, too.

The last couple chapters are about how the movie has influenced Hollywood and society, and I mainly skimmed those.

Anyway, if you like learning about how movies get made, this is a cool book.  For adults.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for discussions of sexual topics, mainly things that couldn't be shown in the film, but also sections from fairly explicit sequels that have been written over the years by people who want to fill in the things the movie only hints at or leaves open to interpretation.  You can skim those bits, but they aren't always easy to spot coming.

"The Legend of Bass Reeves" by Gary Paulsen

Funny thing: I thought I had read this book before.  I assigned it to one of my homeschool co-op classes to read for this month, remembering it as an exciting recounting of Bass Reeves's adventures as a U. S. Marshal in the Old West.  I started reading it this week to have it fresh in my mind for our discussion next week... and discovered I had actually only read the last 50 pages or so before.  About half of the book is actually about Bass growing up in slavery in Texas.  Then it explores why he ran off to Indian Territory as a young man, and how he found friendship and belonging there among the Creek tribe.  Only the last third is about his career as a lawman.

The book is fictional in that Paulsen writes about Bass's life as if he was writing a novel, with all kinds of situations and dialog that are supplied by the author.  Historians really know very little about Bass Reeves's early life growing up in Texas, so a lot of that is filled in based on typical conditions and experiences of that time and place.  The subtitle of the book is Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Valiant Marshal in the West, which gives you an idea of how this is a blend of real and imaginary things.

It's actually a deeper, richer book than I remembered... but also a bit sterner stuff than I would ordinarily have assigned to my 3rd-thru-5th-grade class.  I don't know if the reading level is above them, but there's some content here that I might have shied away from for them, such as a handful of bad words, mentions of torture and massacre (very lightly described, but could be really hard for very sheltered or sensitive kids to read about), and a pretty serious look at life as a slave.  (There's also a whole introduction that I would just advise most kids skip, to be honest.)  It does address the kinds of racism that Bass faced, and did an okay job pointing out that black, white, and native peoples all had different prejudices that worked against their getting along together.  It felt a little heavy-handed with that once or twice, but overall I think it was a really fair and sensible depiction of the era.

Anyway... class time next week could be interesting!  Happily, most of the kids in that class are into books like Goosebumps, so I don't think they'll find it scary.  And none of them are what I would consider quite sheltered.  We shall see how it goes!  I do know one of the nine-year-olds was about half done with it when I bumped into him earlier this week, and when I asked him what he thought of it, he said it was really interesting and not hard to read.  SO... it will probably be fine.  But I have definitely learned my lesson about relying on my memory about books I haven't read/reread within the last few years!

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for the aforementioned scattering of bad language, as well as non-detailed descriptions of torture and massacre (naked dead bodies and scalpings are mentioned, along with vague description of mutilation, such as referring to "people being cut up").  The word 'rape' is used once in the book, but not defined, and the word 'prostitute' is used in the introduction, but not defined. 

Because it turns out I actually hadn't read most of this book before, I am counting it as my first read for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge this year.

"Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves" by Art T. Burton

This book has been on my wishlist for a while now.  When I spotted the updated new edition at the Hole in the Wall Bookstore at Wall Drug in South Dakota while on vacation earlier this month, I snapped it up.  What better time to read about a great Old West hero than while driving around the West?

Bass Reeves was born into slavery in Arkansas in the summer of 1838.  He became one of the most-respected and feared Deputy U. S. Marshals in American history.  While enforcing the law under the jurisdiction of Judge Isaac Parker in the Indian Territory, Marshal Reeves served more than three thousand arrest warrants, but rarely resorted to gun violence.  He killed an estimated 14 people during more than thirty years as a peace officer, survived numerous assassination attempts, and was only wounded once at the most.  

This book is a meticulously researched deep-dive into Reeves's life, especially focusing on his career as a lawman.  It includes many, many court records, letters, telegrams, and even interviews with a few people who had met him.  It could have become a dry recitation of facts, but Burton fleshes out the litany of arrests with descriptions of Indian Territory and newspaper articles, as well as recollections of people involved when available.

One of the things I found most interesting was how the nature of keeping the peace on the frontier changed during Reeves's career.  When he first started enforcing the law, Indian Territory was a haven for lawbreakers and bad people of every sort.  Reeves arrested murderers, peddlers of illegal alcohol, and thieves of every sort for decades.  But, as the frontier gradually was settled by more and more farmers and tradesmen, and eventually was turned into actual states, he had fewer violent criminals to track down, and more disturbers of the peace, swindlers, and so on.

It was also interesting that there was such a focus on arresting people for "introducing and selling" alcohol in Indian Territory in the wildest years.  From what I could gather, the Marshals had an approach somewhat similar to the way New York City cut down on crime for several decades -- if we can stop people from committing "small" crimes and convince them that even "minor" crimes don't pay, that will cut down on the "big" crimes too.

Also very interesting was how racial relations changed during his career.  When he was one of a handful of men brave enough to ride into Indian Territory after lawbreakers, the color of Bass Reeves's skin was rarely an issue.  Black and white Marshals worked together with American Indian peace officers, and everyone arrested anyone who broke the law, regardless of race.  But, as the area became more "civilized," there were more and more instances of white people taking offense at his authority.  Black lawbreakers also seemed to submit to his authority more readily than to a white Marshal's, at least in the instances described.  

I found this especially interesting because it agrees with other research I have done into Old West history, which points to the idea that, when survival was everyone's primary concern, racial conflict was more rare.  But whenever people got comfortable with their surroundings and started to feel safe about life-and-death issues like water, food, shelter, and "public safety," then racial conflicts increased.  Certainly bigotry and hatred of people with perceived differences have existed since Cain killed Abel and fled, marked as "other."  And, also, there was a lot of racial hatred from both sides involved in the wars between the American Indians and the white settlers.  But it's really fascinating how people were more willing to peacefully live and work with someone who was somehow "other" when they were all trying to survive.

ANYWAY!

Even if you've never heard of Bass Reeves before, you have probably heard of a fictional character that was most likely based on him.  Historians think that when George W. Trendle and Fran Striker created The Lone Ranger radio show in 1933, they took inspiration from Marshal Reeves's dedication to bringing in suspects alive as often as he could, his habit of teaming up with American Indians when pursuing lawbreakers, and the way that good and bad people alike feared him, as well as his tendency to use disguises.

I wrote a column about Bass Reeves for the Prairie Times last fall, which you can read online here if you want to know a bit more about his life and legacy.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for matter-of-fact and non-sensational mention of murder, rape, and other violent acts.  You will definitely come away from this book convinced of the depravity of humankind, but it is not gross or gruesome.

This is my 35th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023 (though it technically never made it to my TBR shelves because I bought and read it while on vacation).

"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.

"My Hygge Home: How to Make Home Your Happy Place" by Meik Wiking

I picked this up at the library on a whim and really enjoyed browsing through it!  I have been interested in the Danish concept of "hygge," or "a safe, happy, cozy atmosphere," for a while now, but I really hadn't read much about it.  I just know I like hygge-ful pictures of books and reading on Instagram, and a friend who has a homemaking blog writes about the concept sometimes.  I wouldn't say I read this book, exactly, as there were some pages/chapters I just skimmed, but there were others I read in depth.

The chapters that I paid the most attention to were "A Perfect Night In," "Shining a Light on Happiness," and "Hygge is Homemade."  I really liked the things Wiking said about needing to have different spaces within your home for different functions.  Obviously, we know a kitchen and a bathroom have different functions than a living room or bedroom.  But within the living room and bedroom spaces, it's important to have places where we can gather with others, and places where we can cozy up alone.  The importance that lighting choices can make in those different areas was very interesting to me too.

(Just sharing some of my most hygge book pics
from my Instagram account...)

Will I be changing things in my house because of this book?  Actually, not much, because it turns out I have intuitively set up our house to be very hygge already.  In our living room, we have a couch and two comfy chairs that face each other, providing a place for people to interact in comfort.  In our library, we have a loveseat with a nice light, a pillow, and a throw blanket for people who want to read in semi-solitude.  Our basement also has a couch for those who want to be more away from others for a while.  We have mostly warm lighting throughout our house, which promotes the feeling of cozy belonging.  And we are blessed with an abundance of natural light through our many windows.  We have plenty of green, growing things outside to see through the windows, and we have houseplants in four rooms inside too.  We have a jigsaw puzzle set up almost all the time for people to gather around and work on together, which facilitates togetherness and conversations.  We eat meals together every day around our dining room table, not by the TV.  And so on.

The things I found most fascinating in this book were the studies on the way that sunlight can affect us, the way that different kinds of social interactions can affect our mental and physical comfort, and how much the specific kinds of light you have in your living and working spaces can impact your mental, emotional, and physical health.  Plus, there were a lot of lovely pictures throughout :-)

Particularly Good Bits:

...staying at home and finding comfort and joy in what you already have is an act of rebellion.  This is what hygge is truly all about -- living the good life on a tight budget.  It is the enjoyment of simple pleasures.  It is the art of creating a nice, warm, comforting atmosphere (p. 128).

I think one of the best things we can give to our children is an understanding of where we can find joy and well-being without spending money (p. 129).

Play just for the sake of play is vital to our happiness.  To me, the good life -- a rich life -- includes moments of laughter, joy, and play (p. 196).

A hygge home means a series of spaces that remind you of who you are and what brings you happiness.  It means making space for what you love to do (p. 235).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Nothing objectionable here, content-wise.  There is some humanistic thinking about people being basically good that Christians can politely disagree with and move past.

"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.