Happy September 1st! We are prayerfully and slowly getting into the groove this week with our autumn homeschooling schedule which kicks into high gear next week. I’m still holding onto late summer though. September has the potential to be a favorite month, EXCEPT if we get extremely humid weather. 🥵 Like yesterday. 😂
My last read for the Keep Me in Suspense Bingo Board. It’s actually turning out to be deeper and more introspective. The mystery is a bit slow and lackluster but the interpersonal relationship dynamics between the older father and his daughter, a 40 yo nun, is fascinating! Welcome, Early Autumn mugs! A favorite spot ☺️♥️Charlotte Mason Co-op prep! Book mail! 📬💌📦📖Very sweet new-to-me series! Husband and wife in small town! The wife is a wee-bit manipulative, but I loved the first for the most part. From Instagram! August was a great month! 🥹🥰😍♥️ I’m amyofhearthridge on there, too, if you use IG! Hubby and I went to Chicago for a quick 1 1/2 day trip! He surprised me with a ticket to see BTS. 💜
Korean pop band! It was an fantastic show!
So proud of myself for making a half eggplant and half noodle lasagna! 😅💜 Next time I need to figure out a better way to prep the eggplant. It was a bit salty.
Hope your week is starting on a high note. I’m still holding onto all the inspiration and beauty from this past weekend. I’m hoping still to make a vision/inspiration board for our new school year! ♥️
{I saw some book questions on an Instagram account called PensandPoison (I like SOME of her stuff, she’s a bit too clickbait-y for me) recently and have been having a lot of fun thinking about my answers. I think she answered them using all fiction, but I’m using everything to answer! I adapted these questions for me. It is a lot of questions and as usual, I can’t have just one answer 🤣, so I’ll be breaking this up into parts! I’d love to hear your answers and I hope you may find a new favorite if you try any of these!}
LFL finds! We actually found quite a few in this series. We like the illustrations more than the stories. 😄😉🙃
♥️book that surprised me ~ Vanity Fair really surprised me, because I’m generally a character reader and there weren’t many characters to love. The writing won me over.
♥️book that disappointed me most ~ this is a hard one, as I don’t read a lot of anticipated/new releases. I think I was surprised by how different I Cheerfully Refuse was than what I thought. Leif Enger is a bit more thoughtful and darker writer, but it was surprising how sad it was. I got to go to a book signing and loved his talk.
♥️books I recommend most often ~ possibly Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Jane of Lantern Hill and The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery? Maybe The Hobbit?
♥️Books I wish more people knew about ~ anything by Ray Bradbury!
♥️book I wish I could read again for the first time ~ Bleak House by Charles Dickens or A City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge.
♥️book that made me fall in love with reading ~ The Boxcar Children #1! 🥹😍
♥️book that deserves to be taught in every school ~ David Copperfield or Jane Eyre, unabridged, of course!
♥️the greatest novel ever written ~ jury is out on this for me, it’s probably a Victorian novel? or something from my favorite authors. I just don’t know if I’ve read enough to make a serious decision. Ha. 😅
♥️the most beautiful sentence ever read ~ another so difficult to answer. “Once upon a time “ 😂?!
♥️one final book recommendation that hasn’t been mentioned ~ Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace is such a gentle and thoughtful deep dive into servanthood.
How about you? What’s your answers to these questions? ♥️✨
Decorating pages to write a little review on these two books for myself. A penpal sent me that lovely Regency-era printed paper! Recent letters I’ve received! Just sent out a few responses! I had a big stack to catch up on. Still more to go! ♥️Trying very hard to use a lot of the stickers and washi I have! I had those random 1920’s stickers and I thought they were perfect for Brideshead Revisited! Glass Roses featured letters and a rose garden! So I found some stickers for that, too! A reread set on an island. Random sea coast type bird stickers I had. I used up the last? I think of my Totoro cards! Need to dig deeper in my stash and see. Hopefully, soon I can get more cards. Ephemera and paper piles make me happy. 😊
{I saw some book questions on an Instagram account called PensandPoison (I like SOME of her stuff, she’s a bit too clickbait-y for me) recently and have been having a lot of fun thinking about my answers. I think she answered them using all fiction, but I’m using everything to answer! I adapted these questions for me. It is a lot of questions and as usual, I can’t have just one answer 🤣, so I’ll be breaking this up into parts! I’d love to hear your answers and I hope you may find a new favorite if you try any of these!}
Lovely collection of nature poems and essays by a wide range of women!
♥️favorite poem~ I have SO many favorites, but Wendell Berry’s collection ‘Peace of Wild Things’ is an absolute favorite. Robert MacFarlane’s The Lost Spells is a family favorite. Currently, Emily Dickinson’s ‘If I Could Stop One Heart’ poem is probably my favorite.
♥️favorite first chapter ~ probably The Hobbit. 🥹😍🥰♥️
♥️favorite closing chapter ~ TheBook of Revelations from The Holy Bible. Wowsers!
♥️favorite literary friendships ~ this is unbelievably hard. Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, Anne and Diana, Molly and Mr. Gibson, I could go on for an hour! 😅♥️
September/autumn buddy reads! 🥰♥️
♥️favorite literary romance ~ (spoilers 😅) Anne Eliot and Captain Wentworth, Anne and Gilbert, Darcy and Elizabeth, Laura and Almanzo, Molly and Roger, I could go on and on… there are so many! These are the first that come to mind.
♥️most unforgettable scene ~ the Persuasion letter by Captain Wentworth.
♥️best narrator ~ I’m enjoying Ishmael’s POV of the whaling world in Moby Dick currently. Otherwise, I’ve loved Richard Armitage’s audiobook narration of various classics.
♥️book I wished had a sequel ~ a 5th book in The Mirror Visitor Series would be nice to tie up the ending more.
♥️book that has intimidated me the most ~ anything by George Eliot,Don Quixote, The Divine Comedy, anything Russian 😅, The Odyssey and Iliad. Lonesome Dove!
♥️hardest book I’ve ever finished ~ The Divine Comedy– woohoo! 🎉
I highly recommend this epistolary story between two cousins that has Cinderella and Beauty & the Beast vibes! Very well-written, slow paced. 🥰♥️
How about you? What are your answers to these 10 questions above? What are you currently loving reading? Any good magazines lately? I may get a subscription for Christmas and don’t know what to pick! 😅♥️🥰Happy Reading!
{I saw some book questions on an Instagram account called PensandPoison (I like SOME of her stuff, she’s a bit too clickbait-y for me) recently and have been having a lot of fun thinking about my answers. I think she answered them using all fiction, but I’m using everything to answer! I adapted these questions for me. It is a lot of questions and as usual, I can’t have just one answer 🤣, so I’ll be breaking this up into parts! I’d love to hear your answers and I hope you may find a new favorite if you try any of these!}
Wives &Daughters, Sylvia’s Lovers, North & South, or Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell. Really ANY of her full length novels. Her shorter things are a little hit or miss (looking at you A Dark Night’s Work 😒😅) but her novels are so good! 😊
• books I wish I had read sooner ~ Do Something Beautiful for God by Mother Teresa, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (just finished this!), A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini.
•books that changed the way I think ~ (The Holy Bible is a given here) Home Education Series by Charlotte Mason, The Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge, Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter. I could go on for hours.
• most beautiful prose I’ve ever read ~ currently for me, Thomas Hardy’s writing, wow! Sad stories, gorgeous writing! I read A Return of the Native last year and was blown away. This is Happiness by Niall Williams and The Road Past Altamont by Gabrielle Roy this year had BEAUTIFUL writing.
• favorite opening sentence ~ this has to go to Jane Austen’s opening for Pride & Prejudice. If you know, you know. 😅 Sarcastically funny and draws you right into the story.
• favorite endings ~ I was wracking my brain for this. I think Elizabeth Goudge’s endings are pretty great. The Lord of the Rings! I liked the sad, open-ended ending of The Mirror Visitor Series by Christelle Dabos. Although, I wouldn’t mind a 5th book, if you are reading, dear author. 😂😉🥰
• favorite literary characters~ I could probably list 100 favorites here, so I’ll just say the firsts that came to my mind! Vis from The Will of Many by James Islington, Anne Eliot from Persuason by Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Gandalf, Mrs. Weasley, etc, etc, etc, etc!!!!!
•literary characters I relate to the most ~ Patricia from Pat of Silverbush by L.M. Montgomery (I struggle with change, too, Pat!😫) Emily from Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery, Emily from Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace. So many more!
• favorite literary villian ~ I love to bash Mrs. Norris and the Crawfords from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride & Prejudice by Austen.
• favorite author ~ my top favorite (I have many) is Lucy Maud Montgomery! Thank you, Maud for your wonderful stories! ♥️
My current cozy mystery!
How about you? Have you read any of these? Agree or disagree {kindly} disagree? What are your answers here? Let’s talk books! 📚 😅♥️📚✨
Sauté zucchini with browned and drained sausage! Add s&p and red pepper flakes to taste! So good! 😋
Good Monday morning to you all! Getting a late start! I’m on a little accidental reading/planning retreat and I’m not complaining. 😅♥️🌿 I was thinking about all the unread books I own! 😫😱🤣 A small project I’d like to start which works well with my 50×50 list is to start reading my owned books. I get a lot from the public library or Little Free Libraries, but would like to prioritize books I own. I also reread favorites quite a bit. I was shocked that in my bedroom alone, I had over 100 books I haven’t read! 😂🙃 I had even more that I have read and want to reread. 😱So in full disclosure, I made myself write out the unread ones in my room. Eeep!
Let’s not even talk about my Kindle. 😂 Those don’t bother me as much, but I’d like to be conscious about not just getting ebooks because they are cheap or free.
This project is for fun and also a little challenge to myself as I’ve been thinking a-lot about how I can use my time and energy enjoying what I already have or creating meals or art instead of chasing something ‘out there’. Does this mean I will quit book buying/borrowing? No! I so enjoy browsing and discovering treasures. I’ve already seen myself naturally start to slow book buying over the years because of our home library being so rich. What a blessing to be able to draw from our shelves life giving words. I want to be able to choose myself how my time is used and be led by the Holy Spirit instead of social media or ‘experts’. This applies to many areas of my life, but this is one small area I can slowly make concrete changes. I can give myself ‘things to look forward to’ in nature experiences with my kids, photography, shopping our own home shelves, being creative with meals, rearranging and freshening what we have! Putting those puzzles together, using up those craft supplies, the list goes on and on! It’s actually kind of exciting.
A quick visit to my aunt and uncle’s home has been so peaceful and perfect before things pick up this weekend. Praying for a yielded and submissive heart to the Holy Spirit’s soft whispers. ✨♥️🌿🙏🏻 This ends my 100 Day Project, I didn’t quite do 100 days posting consecutively, but I really grew to love chatting and being purposeful about seeing my blessings. Hope to keep going here. How are you doing? ~
Miss Mason’s definition of an educated child both charms and challenges: “A child who possesses a sound and fairly wide knowledge of a number of subjects, all of which serve to interest him; such a child studies with delight.”
~ from Jack Beckman essay in When Children Love to Learn
Soaking up the sun 🌞 on these cooler days! ONE WEEK UNTIL WEDDING! ♥️😅🙏🏻
~listening to~ ♥️🌿 I just barely started a new audiobook called Dream of Kings by Sharon Hinck. It’s a perfect listen on my riding lawnmower. I have wedding programs to work on later so I will probably listen to more! I heard about this free choice in the Audible Plus catalog if you have an Audible account from the lovely Booktuber, Emily
Colorful stack amongst my deck flowers! 💐 😍♥️🌿 Trying a few and continuing others!
~watching~♥️🌿I really want to try the 1995 ‘Little Princess’ movie! 🎥 I’ve only seen the Shirley Temple version. It just came in from the library so hopefully my kids and I can watch it soon. I’m loosely participating in The Hardest Reading Challenge You’ll Ever Do 3.0😆😂, so I enjoyed watching the announcement for that, too. Albeit she’s very opinionated, just FYI. 🤣😬😅
•reading•♥️🌿~ my mood is still somewhat 😆nonfiction, and I finished up the YRE of Radium Girls (fantastic) and Do Something Beautiful for God (gorgeous!), but I feel a shift to cozy? stories. I did read one of the Great Mouse Detective stories on my deck the other night. Our weather went from boiling and smokey to gorgeous and cool! 😍 I’m most interested in finishing up my reread of Sense & Sensibility and continuing Jane Austen’s Bookshelf. I’m currently very intrigued by Artifact by Gigi Pandian (so far some language) and starting The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink! The truth is I have SO many good sounding books on my physical and kindle stacks. 🙃😍♥️📚 I’ve been ordering picture books from library because most of ours are packed away. It’s been fun to curl on my bed and read these with my youngest three. I find this gals recommendations are overall GREAT!
~noticing~♥️🌿the details for my daughter’s wedding are slowly coming together! It’s getting close! 😱😭😍 I’m struggling staying with some of my rhythms and habits that are helpful, so trying to ease back into them for my sanity. However, trying not to guilt trip myself either. I’m finally feeling the school planning shift. Making some lists and poking around on websites. Love looking at book recommendations! Where do you look most for homeschool inspiration? ♥️
The Holy Bible ~ this is not always an easy book to read and I don’t understand a lot of it, but my spirit connects with it. It’s foundational to my life and faith. My favorite books are Psalms and John.♥️🙏🏻🌿
The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry ~ this collection of Berry’s poetry speaks to me deeply. It makes me consider time and future generations in a huge way. It makes me think of now. It makes me consider life outside of self. Our lives have meaning for a greater purpose!
Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery ~ my handle online is Amy of Hearth Ridge directly inspired by this book. There’s something to be said for hoping to be useful and a blessing to someone else in your life. How living a selfless life actually is fulfilling. Beautiful story of a daughter and father’s restored relationship bringing healing to those around them.That home keeping can be art.
Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell ~ I can’t begin to tell you how much I love the characters and journeys they go through! The father-daughter, mother-daughter, father-son, and marriage relationship studies in this Victorian novel are fantastic. This is a beautiful story!
Persuasion by Jane Austen ~ a lovely story of redemption and finally being able to have a voice. How one can live kindly and generously in the wake of S.S. Selfish People. 🚢
Home Education by Charlotte Mason ~ late 1800’s to early 1900’s British revolutionary educational philosophy. This is so very Christ-centric and focused on the personhood of children and mothers. A beautiful life-giving read.
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher ~ a lovely story of how a child can blossom under loving and listening caregivers.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury ~ a father and son meeting evil together face on! Underlying themes of temptation, fear, and growing older! I’m due for a reread!
Christy by Catherine Marshall ~ beautiful story of a young teacher’s growth and learning in a rural Appalachian school. Gorgeous lessons for her as the very people she came to ‘help’ grow her so much in return. Wonderful female friendships embodied!
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder ~ the sheer bravery and strength of the early pioneers is astounding, convicting, and so inspiring! I often reevaluate my complaints after rereading this one. 😨♥️
I could have put Elizabeth Goudge on this list, Gladys Taber, Susan Branch, and many more poets! How about you? Which books do you think of over and over? ♥️✨🌿📚
Short Description: Peter Blood, an Irish physician and soldier in England in the 1680’s, is wrongly convicted of treason and sentenced to indentured slavery in the Caribbean. He escapes and becomes the most feared pirate captain on the Spanish Main, but all the glory of his adventures cannot help him, for the woman he loves cannot love a thief and pirate. Even when he destroys England’s enemies, even at his most triumphant…but wait! What’s that…
~ Goodreads
Wow! I loved this story of Peter Blood, gentleman pirate! 6 stars ⭐️ from me! If you enjoy historical fiction, adventure stories, or Treasure Island, you will love this Robin Hood- like tale of loyal friendship, ingenuity, and high seas stakes. I bet it would be wonderful as an audiobook! I’ll have to see if I can find one! I definitely will be trying others of Sabatini’s books.
Do you have any good recommendations for high seas or pirate stories with a classic feel?
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 