Fiction
-
Quick takes: capsule reviews of recent reads
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? For years, I’ve been a one-book-at-a-time reader. But lately, this has changed. I seem to have multiple reads going all the time, and…
-
In This House of Brede
Someone mentioned this novel by Rumer Godden a few years ago, so when it came up as a Kindle “deal,” I purchased it and started to read. I didn’t have any real expectations,…
-
What’s On My Nightstand: March 2018
I’m participating in the What’s On Your Nightstand? roundup at 5 Minutes for Books this month. Here are links to my reviews of completed reads, as well as some glimpses of books in…
-
Catching up with old friends
I’ve been reading around since my last post. Much of it is rereading. I reread A Wrinkle in Time, followed by A Wind in the Door. (They’re about to release a movie of…
-
The Art of Loading Brush
The few reviews I’ve seen for this latest collection by Wendell Berry make reference to its repetition of his “usual themes.” But I felt a sadness as I read. A combination of essays,…
-
Loading brush, and taking the measure
Andy is forced to question the worth of the advocacy that has so occupied him and his friends for so long. He knows that their advocacy has virtually no standing with professors, intellectuals,…
-
Reading Musings
Out of Sorts is my first read by blogger Sarah Bessey. The book details her efforts to reconcile the different parts of her experiences with church. Though she does not go into detail…
-
Norse Mythology
I was curious about Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology partly because of a recent reminder that C.S. Lewis was fascinated with “Northernness.” A shared interest in Norse mythology was one of the common bonds…
-
What Came from the Stars
This was an experiment for Gary D. Schmidt: a foray into sci fi. The story concerns Tommy Pepper, his father (an artist), and his sister Patty (a first grader who hasn’t spoken a…
-
Recent Reads: A Schmidt-fest and a memoir
After enjoying the Wednesday Wars, I forged ahead to Okay for Now, Gary D. Schmidt’s companion book written from the perspective of the Wednesday Wars’ narrator’s classmate. Doug Swieteck is a different kind…