Now, – the sowing and the weeping,
Working hard and waiting long:
Afterward, – the golden reaping,
Harvest home and grateful song.
Now, the long and toilsome duty,
Stone by stone to carve and bring;
Afterward, – the perfect beauty
Of the palace of the King.
Now, – the tuning and the tension
Wailing minors, discord strong;
Afterward, – the grand ascension
Of the Alleluia song!
~Francis Ridley Havergal
The Cloud of Witness, p. 86
Here is what I read in January! My plan for the year is to try to read slowly and deeply as much as possible. I also would love to pick at least one title from these four genres each month at least: one classic (I’m apart of an Instagram 2020 Classics Challenge, so those have been chosen ahead. I may not read their choice every month, but instead stick in one of my choice instead), one poetry, one middle grade, and one nonfiction.
Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster (****) – These two connected stories were HILARIOUS. They are written in the form of letters from the main character to others. In Daddy-Long-Legs, a young woman who is aging out of an orphanage is given the chance to attend university at the expensive of an anonymous orphanage board member, whom she dubs Daddy-Long-Legs. The only requirement is for her to write him and keep him updated on everything. However, my favorite book was the sequel, Dear Enemy, in which the girl from the first book now sends a friend to run and improve her former orphanage and hilarious situations ensue as she reforms everything and meets many interesting characters. This book has simple, almost crude line drawings by Webster, I believe, and they add to the hilarity of this. I highly recommend these two books, only with the one caveat that there is some political themes and outdated/disturbing views of disable people, but other than that, I really had fun with these!
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (***) – Amazingly creative, but definitely creepy, dark, and morbid. This was a collection of interwoven short stories, that are told as swirling tattoos on a man, hence the illustrated man. I really enjoy Bradbury, but I wouldn’t say these were my favorite, boarding on a little too dark for my taste, but wowsers, he was a wonderful wordsmith!
Flying at Night: Poems 1965-1985 and Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser (*****) – these were my poetry selections for this month and they were amazingly beautiful. I wrote down snatches and phrases and can’t wait to try more of his work soon. Delights & Shadows was my favorite. In a teeny way, he and Billy Collins have a bit in common, but I found Kooser’s poetry a little grittier.
The Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones (***) – For my middle grade choice, I decided to try another DWJ, as I’m a new fan of hers. This was a strange, yet creative retelling of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Not sure I completely love it, but it was definitely unique.
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (**) – This was our first title for my IG Classics Challenge and my classic for the month. Beautiful writing, heartbreaking story-line. Hardy’s natural descriptions are just lush and amazing, but this story was super hard for me. It got under my skin and it frustrated me. I don’t like stories that seem hopeless. One thing that really jumped out to me was his use of subtle implication…it seemed to me that through his writing of descriptive natural settings, he was comparing and highlighting Tess and some of the main characters using the natural world. Angel Clare seemed a little “too perfect” to me throughout this book…hmm, with a name like Angel? I had to skim a little of this book about 3/4 of the way in, because I couldn’t handle it. Hardy was definitely brave for his time, taking a very difficult subject and writing a depressing 😉 book with hard-hitting, almost silent, subtle rebukes in it. Ack. Not my favorite Hardy.
The Holy Bible (*****) – 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and working my way through Isaiah.
~
What did you read that you loved in January? My favorites were definitely Dear Enemy and Delight & Shadows. Happy Reading! I didn’t finish any nonfiction, but I have a few going. ❤
I thank Thee more that all our joy
Is touched with pain;
That shadows fall on brightest hours,
That thorns remain;
So that Earth’s bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.
For Thou, Who knowest, LORD, how soon
our weak heart clings,
Has given us joys tender and true,
But all with wings, –
So that we see gleaming on high,
Diviner things.
A. Procter, The Cloud of Witness, p. 29
{I certainly didn’t plan being away from this little space for almost the whole month of January, but it was so needed. I’m learning to let go, being patient with myself, and yet, there also has to be a point where one shows up to one’s creative work. So, as yet, I’m not sure what that will mean, still muddling that through, but I do so hope I will be back more frequently}
~
{Sunset over Hearth Ridge}
I have always had one lode-star; now,
As I look back, I see that I have wasted
Or progressed as I looked towards that star –
A need, a trust, a yearning after God.
~Browning
p. 51, The Cloud of Witness
Happiest New Year! Here are my favorite reads from 2019. I’ve categorized them so you can scroll to a genre that interests you, if you only have a few moments. Otherwise, I welcome you to stay and scroll around for awhile! The above photo shows a couple of things non-book related that I loved reading. Commonplace Quarterly is a Charlotte Mason book quality magazine which is so encouraging. The Letters From the Sea Tower is a monthly subscription based handwritten-letter and art piece, and I can’t tell you how much we’ve all loved these letters. The thoughts and ideas in them have enriched our lives. Ourselves by Charlotte Mason –Book 2, I was privileged to go through as apart of Nancy’s Living Education Lessons.
~2019 was a harder and richer year for me in many ways. I honestly struggle so much emotionally and physically with pregnancy. And yet…there is this precious little person here smiling at me as I type with his little two-bottom tooth grin. Sigh. So darling! This above devotional poured out it’s life-giving water to a parched woman-mama soul over and over again. Even just one small line or word from one of the daily snippets meant the world to me very often. A faith lifeline, really. I highly, highly recommend it. You can purchased it here and I check this helpful calendar and there is an Instagram and Facebook account to keep you current as well. My church tradition doesn’t follow these days/feasts so those are all so useful. I love to know if I’m keeping up with all the others sharing in the beauty and encouragement.
The Holy Bible, OF COURSE. I read and reread the four Gospels many times as well as my favorites Psalms, John, James, and others.
The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith (*****) – This title has been on my shelf and TBR forever! One of “the Read and Finish things on my shelf books”. I am so glad I did. This is probably will be a favorite forever for me and I hope to make it a yearly reread. The title of the book is a bit strange and misleading, don’t let that stop you from soaking in lovely book from Whitall Smith. There were a few things, I may quibble with, but overall this was the most challenging and encouraging read for my faith in a very long time. Highly recommend!
Picnic in Provence: A Memoir with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard (*****) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND)– This was beautifully written and I love her honesty with struggles about motherhood and as a creative. I loved her perspective as an American married to a Frenchman and learning to live in French culture. She was so interesting and the recipes, bits of life, and gorgeous look at motherhood made this a HIGHLY loved book for me. I would love to attempt some of the French recipes, too, I appreciated them seeming approachable for the average cook. If you need to escape to the French countryside for a bit, pick this one up.
A Trail Through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place by Hannah Hinchman (*****) – Just wow. I can’t even explain why and how much I loved this book. This book has an overall sadness or loneliness to it, in some ways. But, I think we all understand that and some of us crave a quietness that is very elusive in our modern culture. This is an amazing small sampling of what a nature journal could be and mean to us as a person. This book requires time, close attention, and contemplation. Just the point the author shows through her intimate and close observation of our natural world.
Letters of a Women Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart (*****) – A friend recommended this to me and I’m so glad! This is hilarious and super inspring. I listened to it on Librivox and was so charmed by her hard-working spirit, love of nature, and resilience. Eye-opening, turn of the century real letters between two women. My children enjoyed listening to some of it as well. Page turner! Just FYI: racial slurs and some scary/intense situations.
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim (*****) – A favorite reread! In the back of my mind, I remembered really enjoying this fictional account of two English women, who on a whim, answer an advert for month in Italy at a medieval castle. They end up inviting two other women to share the costs and space with them. Sigh. This is so lovely in that I think it does a wonderful job in relating the struggles and internal battles women in different circumstances and life stages go through. The beauty of Von Arnim’s descriptions of Italy and the gardens are so soothing and there’s a subtle deepness underlying the story line of these women. I highly recommend this one. I then watched the movie and really, really enjoyed it.
The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim (*****) – The hilarious introspection of a wife and mother. Lush descriptions of nature, gardens. Enlightening, insider’s look at a wealthy, upper class woman’s life. I really enjoyed this title. This is technically a sequel to her Elizabeth and Her German Garden, but I don’t think you need to necessarily read them in order.
Virgil Wander by Leif Enger (*****) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!)
“All this building and talking and flying made me homesick. It wasn’t logical, since I was home, but that’s what I came to perceive – a fulminant ache high in the rib cage, a sense of time’s shortening fuse. After the first accident, it had felt as though my apartment belonged to someone else; after the second, I began to feel as though there was a home I belonged to, and this one, though pleasant and likable, wasn’t it. The previous tenant would’ve rejected such nonsense, but then the previous tenant never had an eccentric foreign house guest, sewing up artworks to hang in the sky, talking to ravens, spinning twilit Arctic stories. My weary old ground was broken and watered, and what sprang up was a generalized longing. I began to feel like a character myself, well-meaning but secondary, a man introduced late in the picture. I wished to spool back and watch earlier scenes, to scout for hints and shadows, clues as to what might be required of a secondary actor when the closing real began.”
~Leif Enger, Virgil Wander
Breathing the Water (*****) by Denise Levertov {gorgeous nature poetry}
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver (****) – This was a 450+ page anthology of Oliver’s poetry. I checked it out from the library following her death earlier this year. Oliver is one of my favorite modern poets, A Thousand Mornings, being my favorite collection of hers. Overall, I loved this and really enjoyed revisiting poems I’ve read before over the years as this is a collection from most of her poetry books. Poetry seems to really be feeding my soul during the last bits of winter and into early spring.
Mine the Harvest by Edna St. Vincent Millay (*****) – a collection of beautiful poems! I’m planning out our poets for autumn study and have been reading different poets here and there. I was only slightly familiar with St. Vincent Millay’s work and I’m glad I read this.
A Pentecost of Finches: New and Selected Poems by Robert Siegel (*****) – This took me awhile to really get into and appreciate, but as I read further along, I fell in love with many of these detailed, observant poems. I’m so glad I finally picked this up off of my TBR pile. I found one of my favorites here online.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (*****) –This one did made me cry! The ending was unbelievable, love lost, and the importance of family and friendship. I really enjoyed this classic.
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (*****) – Lovely imaginative tale about a clock that strikes thirteen, opening a time portal to a dreamy garden, friendship, and beauty.
The Load of Unicorn by Cynthia Harnett (*****) – This was a fascinating, children’s historical fiction. I’m now obsessed with learning more about watermarking paper before it was used. This lovely story is set in England in the late 1400’s, follows the adventures of a boy who’s apprenticed to a printer, a controversial position for a scrivener’s son. Thieves, pirates on the Thames, the War of the Roses, and a story set in the shadows of the gorgeous Westminster Abbey, this is such a lovely book to bring English history alive. The author illustrates the book with lovely inky sketches full of glorious details, which really adds so much charm. Can’t wait to share this one with my children! I also read The Wool-Pack (*****) by Harnett and JUST as much, if not more charm! Her little sketches and illustrations really make these shine. The story is again at the end of Middle Age England, and this time the son of a wealthy wool merchant uncovers a bunch of thieves stealing and discrediting his father. The subtle lessons, suspense, and the father son relationship were wonderful! (One thing about this title that may need some explaining? is that the 14 yo son is betrothed to a 11 yo! Yikes. However, it’s done in a tasteful way and they are just friends when they meet one another. It was a little creepy to my modern sensibilities, but it was reality of a wealthy young man’s life at that time.)
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol. 1-3 by Diana Wynne Jones (****) – These are tomes because each volume is 2 books. I had so much fun with these and they would be perfect for over the holiday vacation. They are interrelated stories about a powerful enchanter whose title is Chrestomanci. He has nine lives and the current enchanter is Christopher Chant. He is an enigmatic, mysterious personality and he helps in many different children’s lives and situations throughout the books. These are SO fun and escapist fiction with interesting ideas in it. Jones really understands children’s imagination and thoughts. I found that so lovely. My favorite of the books were The Pinhoe Egg and Witch Week. If you are a fan of light fantasy/magic Middle Grade books with subtle British humor, you will enjoy these!
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden (****) – an online friend mentioned that this was a good read during Lent. I have had it on my shelf forever and am so glad I dove in. I found it fascinating and found a lot to contemplate as I thought over the life of these nuns. This story is focused on a career business woman who gives everything up to enter the Brede convent. The lives of the nuns and the intricacies of their relationships was so interesting. Godden did a wonderful job making each woman really interesting and deep.
Middlemarch by George Eliot (****) – I did it! I finished this massive classic. I read some and listened to the rest on Librivox while waiting on my baby and then during the long nursing sessions. It took me a long time to get into this, but then I really started to appreciate it. The different characters and marriages in and around the town of Middlemarch were very interesting to me. My favorite character (s) was (were) Mr. Garth and possibly Dorothea Brooke. There are many deep, wonderful lines that I’d love to go back through and copy down in my commonplace. My brain was sort of muddled currently, so I’m not doing this book justice, but it was fascinating.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (*****) – I read along with an Instagram group and I really loved this book. One of my favorite things about this was how places take on a life of their own, how amazingly distinctive Dicken’s characters are, and all of the children in this were fascinating and heart-wrenching. Mr. Bucket was one of my favorite characters, but I still can’t pinpoint why. I will probably have to reread it, someday! Ha. This follows multiple story lines and slowly culminates in them all tied together in some way. It features two main narrators, a young woman Esther Summerson, and a third person narrator, presumably Dickens himself? I can’t even begin to do this A-mazing book justice. Dickens gives us an immersive experience literally bogging us down at times in the foggy, gritty details of London. Highly recommend!
Home Education by Charlotte Mason (*****) One of my favorite home education and parenting books ever. I reread it again this year!
Reflections: On the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne Jones (*****) – 6 stars…best book on writing (especially for children) I’ve read, I think. I’m starting right back over. These are speeches and essays by Wynne Jones on writing and I found a kindred spirit in this book.
~What richness! I was so blessed by my reading year in 2019! You can always look through my Year in Books category for hours of book browsing, if you so choose. Here are my past years favorite books as well! Ever upward and onward to our 2020 bookstack! 🙂
The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian, by Lilias Macbean Hart, illustrated by Mary Azarian
Continuing my Advent Monday musings with Azarian and The Cloud of Witness…
In every gladness, LORD, Thou art
The deeper Joy behind.
~George MacDonald
p. 29, The Cloud of Witness
(emphasis mine)
{Take Joy home. Considering the words from J. Ingelow in the above photograph and Mr. MacDonald’s from a few days ago. Just perfection for contemplation while gazing at Azarian’s lovely woodcut. Christmas blessings to you all!}
The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian, by Lilias Macbean Hart, illustrated by Mary Azarian
Continuing my Advent Monday musings with Azarian and The Cloud of Witness…
…Heaven within the reed
Lists for the flute-note; in the folded seed
It sees the bud, and in the Will the Deed…
~D. Greenwell
How shall we judge their present, we who have never seen
That which is past forever, and that which might have been?
Measuring by ourselves, unwise indeed we are!
Measuring what we know by what we can hardly see.
~F.R. Havergal
Be not proud of well-doing;
for the judgment of God is far different
from the judgement of men, and that
often offendeth, Him which pleaseth them.
~Thomas A Kempis
God judges by a light Which baffles mortal sight;
And the useless – seeing man the crown hath won
In His vast world above, –
A world of broader love, –
God hath some grand employment for His Son.
~Fabor
all partial or full selections above from The Cloud of Witness, p. 20
~
The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian, by Lilias Macbean Hart, illustrated by Mary Azarian
Continuing my Advent Monday musings with Azarian and The Cloud of Witness…
Earth breaks up, time drops away,
In flows heaven with its new day
Of endless life, when He who trod,
Very Man and very God,
This earth in weakness, shame
and pain,
Dying the death whose signs
remain
Up yonder on the accursed tree, –
Shall come again, no more to be
Of captivity the thrall,
But the one God, All in All,
King of Kings and Lord of lords:
As His servant John received the words,
“I died, and live for evermore.”
~ Browning, p. 9
The Cloud of Witness
The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian, by Lilias Macbean Hart, illustrated by Mary Azarian.
It may be in the evening,
When the work of the day is done,
And you have time to sit in the twilight,
And watch the sinking sun,
While the long bright day dies slowly
Over the sea,
And the hour grows quiet and holy
With thoughts of ME:
While you hear the village children
passing along the street –
Among those thronging footsteps
May come the sound of my feet
Therefore I tell you, Watch!
By the light of the evening star
When the moon is growing dusky
As the clouds afar,
Let the door be on the latch
In your home,
For it may be through the gloaming
I will come.
~B.M. , p. 4
{Join me this month in quiet contemplation and prayer on our Savior’s coming…}
~
Full of gratitude today for:
51. staring out my bedroom window in the dark, on our bellies, my 5 yo and I, looking at a sky-full of stars, endless and amazing
I’m grateful for…
31. Rereading old, silly Ogden Nash poems with my younger kids, my older kids chiming in with “Isabel, Isabel,” my husband telling of how he said this poem as a child, also
Compensation
Solitude that unmakes me one of men
In snowwhite hands bring singular recompense,
Evening me with kindlier natures when
On the needled pinewood the cold dews condense
About the hour of Rigel fallen from heaven
In wintertime, or when the long night tides
Sigh blindly from the sand dune backward driven,
Or when on stormwings of the northwind rides
The foamscud with the cormorants, or when passes
A horse or dog with brown affectionate eyes,
Or autumn frosts are pricked by earliest grasses,
Or whirring from her covert a quail flies.
Why, even in humanity beauty and good
Show, from the mountainside of solitude.
~Robinson Jeffers
Modern American and British Poetry, p. 223
edited by Louis Untermeyer
