Books, Books, Books
Jennifer (hostess of today's simply smashing The Loveliness of Gardens fair, for which, drat it, I forgot to write something) commented on my previous post:
I must laugh because your children are adorable, but I found myself peering intently at the bookshelves behind them to see what gems you have stashed there.
I too must laugh, because I almost cropped the bookcases out of that photo and then I thought, wait, I LOVE to peek at what books are on other people's shelves, I should leave them there.
If you REALLY want to browse our shelves, Jane and I have been working on entering all our books at Library Thing. She reads off the titles and I type them in. This is a slow process. She may well be in college by the time I finish, and it'll be Rilla calling out the books.
I'm tempted to buy one of those scanner doohickeys you can hook up to your computer. LibraryThing sells them for $15, I believe. Then again, it's sort of fun talking over all the books with Jane.
Margaret Mary tagged me for a book meme the other day: "What books are you reading right now?" I'm almost embarrassed to answer...my books-in-progress pile is ridiculously large right now. Out of control. I won't even try to explain it; it just is what it is.
Fiction:
To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield. Someone, and I heartily wish I could remember who, added this book to that list of 100 Books to Read Before You Die that was making the rounds a month or two ago. I'd never heard of it before and that this blogger thought so highly of it that she had to append it to the meme list piqued my interest and I tracked down a copy. It's the story of a post-WWI young Englishman who takes a job teaching at a rural boys' school. I am loving it. It's like if James Herriot had been a teacher instead of a country vet.
Strangers and Sojourners by Michael D. O'Brien. I don't know why I picked this one up now, when I'm in the middle of the meaty tome above. One night last week, I was just in the mood to revisit this lovely, thoughtful, deeply affecting epic. Now I find myself in agonies of indecision when a sliver of reading time comes my way. Which novel to pick up?
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright, at Jane's request. This is one of those books much beloved by her which I somehow missed reading.
Non-fiction:
Living Language: A Language Arts Curriculum by Donna Simmons. I'm reviewing this for my ongoing Waldorf series over at Lilting House.
Homemaking as a Social Art by Veronika van Duin. Another little rabbit trail sparked by the Waldorf series. I have several books related to this theme—some old favorites like Holiness for Housewives and The Hidden Art of Housekeeping—and a few new ones that came my way. I'll probably post on this theme later so nuff said for now.
Whoops—I hear a boy waking up from his nap, so I'm not going to get to finish this list now. I'm posting it anyway. Maybe I'll update later. I should do another version, too, with the books I'm reading to the younguns.
Oh, wait, I forgot to tag people! Let's see. How about Linda Fay, Christine, the other Christine, Faith, and Gregory K.
You're reading To Serve Them All my Days?????
I absolutely love this book. Have read it several times and have the mini-series video.
Posted by: Elaine | May 07, 2007 at 05:36 PM
That first book sounds delightful. I think I'm years away from the opportunity to read it. I have a list a mile long, it seems. Thank you for the sweet link!
Posted by: Jennifer | May 07, 2007 at 05:41 PM
Thanks for the tag Lissa - it was my first tag ever!
Posted by: Christine M | May 07, 2007 at 05:52 PM
oh, Gone Away Lake...sigh. I LOVED this book when around Jane's age. Haven't read it since then...can't remember why I liked it so much....will have to read it again, I suppose...thank you for the reminder!
Posted by: sarah | May 07, 2007 at 07:15 PM
I went through a Delderfield phase in college. To Serve Them All My Days is wonderful. The miniseries is great too. You can get it from Netflix.
Thanks for tagging me on the book meme. I am right on it!
Posted by: Faith | May 08, 2007 at 04:52 AM
My dad is a Delderfield fan, though I never had strong enough arms to read his hardbound copies at night, I was always afraid I'd drop it on my head!
Smushilatum!
Posted by: Jennifer | May 08, 2007 at 05:32 AM
My mom recommended Delderfield to me when I was in high school. She in her turn had read them in her younger days. I read quite a few of them back then. Wow, I'd completely forgotten until you mentioned that name!
Posted by: willa | May 10, 2007 at 12:06 AM