My Life According to Literature 2015

I'm copying this from All the Pretty Books because it seems fun.  I've done something similar before, but that was a couple of years ago, so figured it was time to try it again.  The original meme says to use only books you've read in the past year, so here goes!

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Describe yourself: The Quiet Little Woman (Louisa May Alcott)

How do you feel today: Ain't We Got Fun (Emily Chapman and Emily Ann Putzke)

Describe where you currently live:  North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)  (We live in the northern part of a Southern state.)

If you could go anywhere, you would go to:  The Blue Castle (Lucy Maud Montgomery)  (In a heartbeat, honey!)

Your favorite form of transportation:  A Snicker of Magic (Natalie Lloyd)

Your best friend is:  The Secret Fiend (Shane Peacock)  (And you KNOW what I'm talking about!  You had better keep that promise to not kill off my favorite character!!!)

You and your friends are:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows)

What's the weather like:  Fortunately, the Milk (Neil Gaiman)  (We got 2 feet of snow in 36 hours last weekend.  Fortunately, we had plenty of milk.)

You fear:  Death by Petticoat (Mary Miley Theobald)  (Doesn't everyone?)

What's the best advice you have to give:  A Jane Austen Education (William Deresiewicz)  

Thought for the day:  Let's Pretend This Never Happened (Jenny Lawson)

How you would like to die:  In the Company of Sherlock Holmes (ed. by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger)

Your soul's imagination's present condition:  Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper (SARK)


That was fun!  Feel free to snurch this if you want to do it yourself.

Shane Read-Along: Chapter 7

Right here in chapter seven is where this story grabs me by the shirtfront and won't let go.  Up to here, the tension is building slow and easy, and I'm just kind of ambling along, and then all of a sudden... wow.

I think this chapter is written so splendidly.  We know Shane's going to be violent, and we kind of crave that violence, don't we?  We can't wait to see just how he's going to take that braggart Chris down.  Just like some of the folks in the story, I guess.  And then the fight -- did you notice how we're getting it kind of third-hand?  Ed Howells comes and tells the Starretts, and now a grown Bob is remembering it and telling us.  But it's described so clearly -- simply, quickly, with a kind of bare-bones elegance that matches Shane's actions so perfectly.  I'm going to mark this part and come back to it whenever I have to write a fight scene, because this is how they ought to look.

So Shane wiped the floor with Chris, and Joe and the other farmers are pretty exultant about this, but Marian Starrett sees past the temporary victory to what this has cost Shane.  Sometimes I think she understands him better than anyone else in the story.  I wonder how long it's been since someone has understood him so well.

Favorite Lines:

It was crude.  It was coarse.  I thought it silly for grown men to act that way (p. 56-57).

Possible Discussion Questions:

Shane tells Chris (albeit while he's unconscious), "There's only one thing really wrong with you.  You're young.  That's the one thing time can always cure."  Why do you suppose "the thought hurt him" (p. 62)?

Shane "did not care what anyone anywhere thought of him," and yet, "he did care what they thought of father" (p. 57).  What kind of man cares more for someone else's good name more than his own?

"The Bronte Plot" by Katherine Reay

Kara has been raving about Katherine Reay's books over at Flowers of Quiet Happiness for a couple years now, and lately, so has Carissa at Bookshelves and Daydreams.  Since I'm gearing up for my Jane Eyre read-along (even though, yes, I'm still in the midst of the Shane read-along right now), I decided it was time to see what all the Reay-centered excitement was about and try The Bronte Plot.

Let's just say I'll be reading Reay's other two novels, Dear Mr. Knightley and Lizzy & Jane ASAP.  In fact, I've got a hold request in at the library for the latter right now.

In her review here, Kara said, that Reay's characters "sneak into my heart so subtly until suddenly there they are refusing to leave!"  And that's exactly what happened to me.  At first, I wasn't sure I even wanted to like the protag, Lucy.  I liked her love-interest, James.  I liked James' grandmother, Helen.  I loved her boss Sid from the first (doesn't hurt that I imagined him as a blond Tom Hiddleston for no good reason other than that he totally fit the role).

(This is exactly what I imagined Sid looking like.)
(Now you know.)

But Lucy... Lucy was a habitual liar.  Lucy had abandonment issues because she hasn't seen her father for twenty years.  Lucy falsified information and cheated.  True, her father was a con artist, which intrigued me.  (I'm fascinated by con artists.  I expect it's a great moral failing.)  But that didn't mean she had to mess with the truth too.  And then, throughout the book, she came to realize that as well, and that's when I started to like her.  When she realized that twisting the truth hurt people whether she ever learned about it or not.  

The basic story is this:  Lucy works for Sid in the interior decorating business.  She falls for a young and ambitious lawyer named James.  James catches her in a lie and breaks up with her.  And then his grandmother, Helen, asks Lucy to accompany her in a buying trip in England, which is when things got really interesting.

One of the things I liked best about this book was the rich descriptions of furniture, antiques, and decorations.  I'm not at all talented in the decorating realm, but I enjoy learning about it -- I used to watch Trading Spaces a lot on TLC back when I had cable in college.  My friends and I had our favorite designers and would get really into critiquing their design decisions and discussing what would would do the same or differently.  So I really enjoyed that aspect of the book, and the way Reay could use just a sentence or two to make me see the room she was describing.  I struggle with writing succinct, rich descriptions myself, so I hope I learned a bit from reading this.

The Bronte Plot isn't overtly Christian fiction -- the characters don't go to church, don't pray, don't think or talk about making decisions based on what the Bible teaches.  But it plainly comes from a Christian world view, and to be honest, it was more wholesome and God-honoring that some "Christian fiction" I have read that puts lots of religious sentiment into characters' mouths, then has them behaving in decidedly un-Christian ways.  I'm happy to say I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone.


Particularly Good Bits:

As the silence continued, Lucy's angst faded with the realization that no one could press the answers, force the change, or listen well enough to heal her.  She was on her own (p. 118).

"Did you know Dickens never killed his bad guys?  Well, he killed off one.  The others were cowards, bullies, minor villains, and general degenerates, but they were worth something and they lived.  If they didn't change on the page and find redemption, they lived with that promise still out there (p. 126-27).

"You are your own person and I wouldn't worry about the stories.  We all compare our lives to them.  That's why we love them:  they help us understand ourselves" (p. 130).

"Artists create things that point us to beauty, to truth, to God" (p. 157).

How much changed in a life, in a person, when one wasn't paying attention? (p. 163).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for serious discussions of death and dying.  There's no bad language and zero racy scenes.

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

My hearty thanks to Fawnabelle Baggins for giving me this award!

Here are my answers to her questions:

What is your favorite fandom?

If you mean, what's my favorite fandom that I'm in, then Combat!, my favorite TV show about WWII soldiers that aired from 1962 to 1967.  I co-run a fansite for it called Fruit Salad, where I share episode reviews and fanfic.  I've written or co-written more than 30 stories for Combat!, so yeah, it's my favorite <3

Are you obsessed with that fandom?

Not as much as I was about 10 years ago, but I do still love the show, and I'm still good friends with lots of people I met through the fandom.  Combat! has been an amazing blessing -- it gave me my best friend, and I continue to find new friends through it.

What is your favorite book and why?

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  I love the characters -- determined, strong-willed Jane and angry, remorseful Mr. Rochester in particular.

What is your favorite hobby?

Since I don't make much money at it yet, I think I can still call writing my hobby.

How much time and effort do you put into your hobby?

Um, not as much as I ought to?  I only spend 2-5 hours a week on my fiction writing, though of course if you add in blogging that number more than doubles.

Where would you live in any fictional world and why?

I think I'd like to live in Avonlea, in the Anne of Green Gables books.  It's rural, quiet, and full of people who care about each other.  Second choice would probably be Mitford from Jan Karon's books, for basically the same reasons.

What is your favorite movie and why?

The Man from Snowy River (1982).  I've loved it since I was 2 years old, when I saw it in the theater with my parents.  I love it because it's full of horses, it's got great themes of "proving yourself" and "doing what's right even though it's hard."  And as I said in this post, I think by this point, it's mostly because I have seen it so often, I am best friends with all the characters, in a way. Partly, it's because it inspired a life-long love of horses and Australia. This movie has so many themes that resonate with me: false accusations, forbidden love, proving yourself when others doubt your abilities... do I love the movie because of those themes, or do I love those themes because of this movie? At this point, there's no way I can know.

What is one meal that you think you can eat every day forever?

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I ate them for lunch for five years straight when I first got out of college, so yup, pretty sure I could eat them every day forever.

You just won the lottery. What would you buy first?

I'd pay off our mortgage (so boring, I know).

If you were a cookie, what kind of cookie would you be?

An Oreo.  I go equally well with milk or coffee!

I've done a bunch of tags recently, here and on my Soliloquy blog, so I'm not going to tag anyone today, for fear of overtagging my friends.  If you want to do this, feel free to answer Fawnabelle's questions yourself and consider you've been tagged by me :-)

Shane Read-Along: Chapter 6

And now, having simmered merrily along for five chapters, suddenly our story begins to boil.  Mr. Fletcher has returned and is starting to ride prod on the homesteaders, so to speak.  This starts to get under everyone's skin... everyone except maybe Shane.  Bob says he used to "wonder how all the slow-climbing tenseness in our valley could be so focused on one man and he seem to be so indifferent to it" (p. 49).  Though of course, we get the feeling that Shane's not so much indifferent as... accepting?  Almost wanting the badness to focus on him and away from the Starretts and their friends?

So Shane lets Bob tag along as he goes to town and invites a confrontation.  And he gets a confrontation, though it doesn't go down the way anyone was quite expecting.

Favorite Lines:

"Why should a man be smashed because he has courage and does what he's told.  Life's a dirty business, Bob.  I could like that boy" (p. 54).

Possible Discussion Questions:

Do you think Shane suspected how all this would end up, and that's part of why he decided to hire on at the Starrett farm?

What My Kids are Reading #4

I've been meaning to write this post for a couple weeks now, but am only now finding time.  Tootie's had a birthday since my last installment in this series -- she's FOUR now!  And very proud of being so.

Sarah (5) and Tootie (4)

Baby Danced the Polka by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Jennifer Plecas -- yes, this book is beneath both of their comprehension levels.  But it is quite funny, and Tootie requests it every couple of months.  Cowboy and I have taken to quoting one part -- "Whoa, Daddy's whiskers!" -- when something surprising or sudden occurs.

My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall -- a great book for Valentine's day!  The illustrations are all different animals that have bodies made from heart shapes.  We're thinking of trying that ourselves for our own Valentine cards this year.

Olaf's Night Before Christmas by Jessica Julius, illustrated by Olga T. Mosqueda -- yes, I realize Christmas was a month ago.  But I found this book on clearance at the book store and couldn't resist it.  It's an enchanting retelling of "The Night Before Christmas," beginning with the familiar words and using them here and there, but telling the story from Olaf's perspective.  He has no idea what all this Christmas stuff is about or who Santa Claus is!  So it begins, "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  Stockings were hung by the chimney -- but why?  Had they gotten too wet?  Were they left there to dry?"  Olaf has an encounter with Santa and gets exactly what he wants for Christmas:  a warm hug.  The book came with a CD that has Josh Gad reading the story in Olaf's voice, which might be fun for a car trip next Christmas.


Sam (8)

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The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede -- I picked up the first book, Dealing with Dragons, at the used book store a few weeks ago because Sam loves The Runaway Princess and The Runaway Dragon by Kate Coombs so much that he begged to get them for his birthday, and this looked similar.  Well, he loved the first book and asked if we could get the rest from the library, and we have, one book per week.  He wants to keep renewing them, and has read them over and over and over now -- except the last one, Talking to Dragons, which we just got this morning.  That one he's only read once so far. 


Aloud to All of Them

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden -- I'm reading this aloud to them, a couple of chapters every day or two.  I've been wanting to read something aloud to all three of them for over a year now, and I've finally gotten it worked into our daily routine.  This is above the girls' reading level, which is good for them, but still something they can understand.  Sam declares it is "boring," which is why he hasn't read it himself, but all the same, he laughs and laughs while I'm reading, and today he asked if we could please just read one more chapter, so he's more engaged than he wants to admit.  I loved this book when I was a kid, and am really enjoying revisiting it.

Women's Classic Literature Event: Group Check-In 1

Here's the question asked for the first Group Check-In, and my answer.

Without revealing spoilers (obviously), describe how the opening of your current read for this event draws you in. Is it the language? the suspense? the voice? Why are you compelled to keep reading?

I'm reading The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer right now, my first Heyer novel!  I must admit I have only read the Prologue so far, but even that short section has me intrigued.  A languid, bored nobleman who has just fought a duel over a woman's honor, which he insists he has not impugned, writes a letter to a friend and signs it "Devil."  This promises to be one of those "let's redeem the dissolute young man" stories, which can be heartily entertaining in the right hands.  I picked this book up for a dollar at the used book store and am pretty sure I'll get my money's worth, as lots of friends have assured me that since I enjoy Jane Austen, I'll also enjoy Georgette Heyer.  Time to find out!