Fostering a new renaissance through creativity, authenticity, spirituality, and art
I got this book at that recent library sale and have really been enjoying it. His pictures have wit and commentary while still being endearing. I took the liberty of sharing a few pages below, but check out his work for yourself on his website here. Apparently there is a $150 collector’s edition of this … Read more
Something about summer requires some good chic lit. (Normally I’d call it a “beach read,” but the beaches I’ve been on recently were too gorgeous for reading anything…) Anyway, the kind of book I mean is something far from great literature or demanding concepts. I like it for it’s fashion, it’s indulgences, the food and … Read more
I liked this book by Malcolm Gladwell and give it five stars. He debunks the theory that success is based on talent and instead shows how it is mostly the result of opportunities and hard work. “Outliers” are people that represent a phenomenon outside of everyday experience, but Gladwell shows that these exceptional people are … Read more
You may already know we have a lot of books in our small house. We stopped counting at 10,000. At that point my professional organizer friend insisted that for every book that entered the house one must also leave. I used to patronize library sales frequently but two years ago quit cold turkey; I was … Read more
I liked this book by Kathryn Stockett and give it 5 stars. This recently released novel is about black help in white homes in the early 1960’s. Through the voices of three women, one white woman in her early twenties, and two black maids, it clarifies the complexities of these relationships complicated by the climate … Read more
Reading Walden I remember when my sister had to read Walden by Thoreau; it was intolerable, excruciating, deafeningly exasperating like an incessant blaring alarm that can’t seem to be shut off. It was like walking barefoot over a path of rough rusty nails or being sprayed by a feisty skunk for no reason, the stench … Read more
There are those in my local homeschooling network here that call me “the book maven.” I earned the title scouting out the best homeschooling books at the cheapest prices, frequenting library book sales and used curriculum sales as well as homeschooling conference trade shows. We now have over 10,000 books in our small house, mostly … Read more
I have really enjoyed this book by Dawn De Vries Sokol and even give it five stars. I bought it in the fall and have savored it slowly and incrementally at bedtime, studying each page thoroughly and carefully before going on to the next. I disciplined myself not to flip forward, and didn’t allow myself … Read more
I read this classic book by Jean Henri-Fabre (France 1823 – 1915) to my homeschooled 6th grader as supplementary science material this year. She gives the book four stars in general, and five stars in the category of “school books.” She would often pick it out of the stack over other ongoing things. Originally published … Read more
This classic by D.H. Lawrence has been on my to-be-read list for probably twenty years. The best thing I can say about it is that it is off my list, finished, and I can move on to reading something I will enjoy more! I got so bogged down in the middle, I almost abandoned the … Read more
I loved this book and give it five stars. I heard a retrospective on NPR of their best interviews with writers, and that is where I first heard of May Sarton. I liked what she said in the interview, so I looked her up. She is the author of 48 books of poetry, fiction and … Read more
This is the first book I’ve ever read of Anthony Trollope. I liked it well enough to add it’s sequel, Barchester Towers to my reading list. I give it four stars. It took a while to get into it, and the warm-up and detailed description at points seemed quite drawn out, but the character development … Read more
My 12 year old daughter has read this book by Trenton Lee Stewart so many times, I finally succumbed to seeing what it was all about, and we listened to it in the car together. Recently, we made more progress on it than usual when we were caught in a colossal traffic jam as we … Read more
A review of this book in the Christian Science Monitor said, “This remarkable book will stir and provoke thought. It offers rewards to any reader concerned with the promise and power of faith, and the hunger for spiritual discovery.” It lived up to this description and much more. Pagels makes clear how choosing the gospel … Read more
The above two books are the best (non-spiritual) non-fiction I have read since the Omnivore’s Dilemma a few years ago. Now that I have to return them to the library after hogging them for months, I thought I’d review them together since I wrote extensively on the topic of their content in former posts: (see … Read more
This entry is a follow up to yesterdays’ entry on overfishing which you can read here if you missed it. What can be done about it? It turns out there are solutions to overfishing. There is hope if courageous action is taken soon. (All quotes are from The End of The Line by Charles Clover.) … Read more
I read this book because I had read another book titled The Beekeeper’s Apprentice a few years ago, also by Laurie R. King, and had really enjoyed it. I wanted to read something further by her, and this was the only other title by her in my local library. I enjoyed this book too, but … Read more