2022: Oh how I adore this book! The friendship between the animals, the alternately pompous/repentant Mr. Toad, the way his friends rein him in[image]
2022: Oh how I adore this book! The friendship between the animals, the alternately pompous/repentant Mr. Toad, the way his friends rein him in, the quotidian pleasures, the messing around in boats, the affinity with another childhood favorite, Winnie-the-Pooh, all the things. How I love this book!
As someone (somewhere) mentioned, it highlights both the pull of travel/adventure and the joy of home comforts.
2017: Bravo Shelly Frasier for a superlative performance in narration!! This is a lifetime book that I've enjoyed many times since I first read it around age eight. After listening to the Close Reads podcast (an online book club, sort of) I realized it was time to listen again.
Like all wonderful children's books, it rewards repeated re-readings.
Narcissistic Toad and his multitude of false conversions is a character you can't help but love. Even at the very end, he takes delight in being the center of attention: not for his typical flamboyant bravado, but for his chaste, humble, demure attitude.
There was a shaky point in our marriage when Curt did not appreciate TWITW. Thankfully, time has done its work and he now acknowledges its genius. Laughing at/with Toady is so much better than scoffing. Don't be a stoat....more
For years I've wanted to read each book of the Bible through in one sitting. Psalms and Isaiah had to be broken up, but I scheduled time to read otherFor years I've wanted to read each book of the Bible through in one sitting. Psalms and Isaiah had to be broken up, but I scheduled time to read other long books through. I got the flow of the book and picked up on motifs I missed in the past.
The Literary Study Bible was a good choice for this project: one column, only a few cross-references at the bottom of the page, the layout clearly identifying songs and poetry. I enjoyed the literary notes, better understanding genres and allusions across the spectrum of Genesis to Revelation.
I'm reviewing each book's introductory notes to write a short phrase in my journal that encapsulates each of the 66 books, e.g. James — New Testament book of proverbs. I've read the Bible all of my literate life, but am fuzzy on lesser known books like the minor prophets....more
I read this *after* I watched the movie and *before* I listened to the discussions on the Close Reads podcast. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, all theI read this *after* I watched the movie and *before* I listened to the discussions on the Close Reads podcast. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, all the idiosyncrasies of Poirot, and the joy of people-watching through Agatha Christie's eyes.
She's like a sheep, you know. She gets anxious and bleats.
The sweep of her hair back from her face, the curve of her nostril suggested the figurehead of a ship plunging gallantly into a rough sea.
I have fond memories of reading/listening to Hank the Cowdog 25 years ago. This was good enough to like, but not to rave over. There is a lot of Hank I have fond memories of reading/listening to Hank the Cowdog 25 years ago. This was good enough to like, but not to rave over. There is a lot of Hank talking smack, dogs vs. cats, word play, and funny tight spots. ...more
The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction. A person cooking is aThe table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction. A person cooking is a person giving: Even the simplest food is a gift.
Occasionally details date this 1992* book, e.g. how unhealthy eggs are. But overall, Colwin's writing is timeless and enduring. I love her. Though our lives are/were (she, 48, didn't wake up one October day in 1992) different in context and culture, her themes of cooking, reading, writing, family, and community are practices I cherish.
She writes about reading and I purr (not even a feline aficionado) as I vow to reread all of Barbara Pym.
Basically, all I ever do is read. I read about monastic life, polar Eskimos, arctic travel — I have no interest in ever going to the Arctic, by the way, and as I am not Christian, I can never enter a monastery — and I read English novels. One of my favorite novelists is Barbara Pym, who is an underrated writer, like Jane Austen. Everyone things she's just darling, but she is not just darling, she's really tough. One of the great things about Barbara Pym is that the food in Barbara Pym is just wonderful.
Colwin is Queen of zingers.
Black beans are the frazzled person's friend. Biscuits are the utility infielder of the culinary world. What is good for Mrs. [Edna] Lewis is good for the nation, in my opinion. A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins. Lentils are friendly — the Miss Congeniality of the bean world. It is amazing how many adults loathe beets - although puréed, strained beets are a staple in the baby-food industry.
Added to the riches of Colwin's prose, are the resources she recommends: cookbooks by Elizabeth David, Marcella Hazan, Edna Lewis, Sylvia Thompson, Jane Grigson, Margaret Costa, John Thorne, and Madhur Jaffrey. A hemisphere of food writing awaits.
The recipes look lovely, but so far they have nourished only my spirit.
*I chuckled at this: If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me "I don't have time to bake bread anymore," I would be as rich as Donald Trump used to be.
I listed the plays individually on Goodread in order to write my responses to each one. This volume stands for Shakespeare's sonnets and poems.
And whI listed the plays individually on Goodread in order to write my responses to each one. This volume stands for Shakespeare's sonnets and poems.
And what is to be said? He's brilliant. That's all.
Would I read all the works again? Only a few sonnets. I have a "never again" list of plays. But I plan to keep reading my favorites.
This edition is frill-free. No introductions, no illustrations, no footnotes, no gloss. I liked that. It was good to come to the bard with my wits, such as they are, and a dictionary if needed. The text is in two columns and sometimes overflows with a [bracket on the line above.
For this project, I listened to the excellent Arkangel recordings as I read. It spoiled me; for the few works where no recordings were available, I scrounged up a Librivox audio. In the other direction, the few times I listened to a play in the car without the text, I went back and read/listened.
This last play recalls motifs from previous plays. Hamlet came to mind: a mad song-singing Ophelia (Jailor's daughter); Melancholy laced with comedy.
This last play recalls motifs from previous plays. Hamlet came to mind: a mad song-singing Ophelia (Jailor's daughter); a duel; a funeral followed by a wedding.
Two noble kinsmen, the cousins Arcite and Palamon, are the best of friends. Moments after Palamon asks Is there record of any two that loved better than we do, Arcite? ... I do not think it possible our friendship should ever leave us, they look out a window, see enchanting Emilia, both fall in love, both declare ownership of Emilia (!), and both become instant Enemies.
It is curious (and delicious) to me that Shakespeare's plays begin with Two Gentlemen of Verona and end with The Two Noble Kinsmen.
How I love synchronicity in my reading, reading intersections. Yesterday I read the book of Acts (Bible) where a jailor prepares to die when his prisoner escapes. Today in this play the gaoler fears for his life when his prisoner escapes.
I'm also in the middle of a biography of William the Conqueror, full of medieval chivalry. I was reminded that nobility were forbidden by social norms to take pay for any occupation other than fighting. No wonder they loved wars and duels. Only in the context of medieval mores could two cousins profess their love for one another while they fight to kill each other in the name of honor.
Which brings me to the word noble. I failed to find the word count for "noble" in this play. But it is always present, at times with admiration, at times basted in irony.
It was day three of cousin-togetherness. Six boys off-schedule, wound-up, unraveling; the fellowship was frayed. Mom suggested a movie, then changed hIt was day three of cousin-togetherness. Six boys off-schedule, wound-up, unraveling; the fellowship was frayed. Mom suggested a movie, then changed her mind. Nana, would you read a book? Oh, dear. I grabbed my Kindle, swiped through the library and found Henry and the Chalk Dragon, a book I had bought in May for .99 and promptly forgot.
Enter real, genuine, palpable magic: when the read aloud is perfectly fitting. Some boys are talented artists, a few consider themselves dragon and dinosaur experts; all have verdant imaginations. The words I spoke, reading from my device, matched their desires. Oh-ho-ho-ho! they giggled when Henry's dragon jumped off his bedroom door and stood in the hallway.
With some aluminum foil, Henry fashions the armor he needs with notes taped to the inside to remind him of chivalry. BE BRAVE. SPEAK UP, SCAREDY PANTS. DON'T INSULT ANYTHING THAT JUST SHIMMIED DOWN THE DRAIN.
DON'T RUN AWAY. He thought of St. George and that other dragon. He thought of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. He thought of Peter Pan and Captain Hook. He thought of David and Goliath.
There's so much to love in this fantasy, a genre I generally don't love.
Henry names the smiles from his beloved teacher, Miss Pimpernel. I'm-Teaching-You-a-Very-Important-Lesson smile. You're-Going-to-Like-what-I'm-about-to-Tell-You smile. Be-Nice-to-Me-I-Haven't-Had-My-Coffee smile.
Trafton explores the anxiety of artists, the bravery required to use imagination in art and share it with others. Seeing life outside the box. Friendship and loyalty.
People are like puzzle pieces. Put together, the shapes make a picture. And a friend is the one whose shape fits into your shape — fits perfectly because it is different, opposite, like a key in a lock, or a foot in a shoe.
Above all, this book is delightful. It is funny, surprising, and stuffed with literary allusions which will go over most kids' heads but brighten the faces of those that connect the dots.
Henry's Principal Cleaver Bunk (of La Muncha Elementary School!) is an incarnation of Mr. Gradgrind from Dickens' Hard Times. Facts, numbers, budgets.
My grandkids hold me to a Covenant Not to Read Ahead. We didn't get through the book before some had to go through the woods and over the river back home. They allowed me to read on by myself. Next time we meet, we'll finish Henry's story together....more
I've read much about William the Conqueror, but it took Jacob Abbott to explain how the geography and weather patterns of the English Channel influencI've read much about William the Conqueror, but it took Jacob Abbott to explain how the geography and weather patterns of the English Channel influenced 1066.
The line of coast on the southern side of the Channel, which forms, of course, the northern border of Normandy, is a range of cliffs, which are almost perpendicular toward the sea, and which frown forbiddingly upon every ship that sails along the shore. Here and there, it is true, a river opens a passage for itself among these cliffs from the interior, and these river mouths would form harbors into which ships might enter from the offing, were it not that the northwestern winds prevail so generally, and drive such of a continual swell of rolling surges in upon the shore, that they choke up all these estuary openings, as well as every natural indentation of the land, with shoals and bars of sand and shingle.
Aha! This explains why it was necessary to build "moles" (a causeway or pier) during WWII. (A large part of the Dunkirk evacuation.)
Another I-never-knew-that fact: The Normans brought pre-fabricated forts with them so they could erect them as soon as they found a place on the English shore. !!!! 1066!!!
Abbott's commentaries add interest. Brothers are seldom friends in families where there is a crown to be contended for. His phrases tickle the ear... e.g. frenzy of vengeance.
William's story is ultimately a sad one. He conquers a kingdom but, like Israel's King David, ends up in combat with his own son. His death and the final disposition of his body is truly grim.
Ellison, like my son's family, was a novice at raising sheep. If there is hope in fixing our food supply, more folk need to start farming in a similarEllison, like my son's family, was a novice at raising sheep. If there is hope in fixing our food supply, more folk need to start farming in a similar fashion: without generations of wisdom and experience behind them. Of course, Joan Jarvis Ellison, was not without resources.
Friends are an important part of farming. I'm not sure it would be possible to farm without them. Dave and I certainly wouldn't have learned to farm without friends. Friends listen when you complain, they lend you equipment, they share your natural disasters, they help you physically if you need extra workers, and they give you advice.
I'm as ignorant as can be of agriculture. I gleaned little quips like this three-part lambing ritual: clip, dip, and strip. Clip the umbilical cord to one inch, dip the stub into an iodine solution, and strip milk from the ewe's teats to help the nursing lamb.
The pitch and cadence of her writing was particularly pleasing. She is unsentimental about her work; yet, her early losses are laden with emotion.
I was learning to see the sheep in general as farm animals rather than pets. I didn't have the emotional resilience to mourn each individual lamb when I took them to market. I still thanked them, but I can't mourn them. I had come to accept that planned death as well as unplanned death was part of being a shepherd.
Her mom, seventy, comes to help with castration, ear-tagging, and tail-docking chores.
Mom smiled up at me from her bucket. What a wonderful thing it is to share the most exciting time of the year with my mother. For all my life she has given to me, taught me wonder and curiosity and joy. Now I have something to share with her. Through my sheep I can feed her wonder, satisfy her curiosity, share with her my joy.
My favorite quote of the book, especially since I've witnessed this in the lambs in my kids' pasture:
Forrest Pritchard had me at Foreward by Joel Salatin. He kept me with his story telling, his prose, and his pitch. He chronicles the process of turninForrest Pritchard had me at Foreward by Joel Salatin. He kept me with his story telling, his prose, and his pitch. He chronicles the process of turning around a failing farm without bogging down in soggy sentimentality or in detailed lamentations of exhaustion.
He exposes his failures and false steps with humor. A large part of Forrest's farming success is marketing. He not only sells frozen meat and free-range eggs; he builds relationships with his customers. I especially appreciated the interplay of intergenerational family involvement.
He articulates beauty:
There are certain moments of the year when the farm is breath-takingly beautiful. Morning in early Septembers, when mist lingers over the emerald-green pastures, droplets of dew caught in the gossamer web of a yellow-and-black garden spider, sparkling opalescent in the first light of dawn. Or midsummer, the sacred calm before the storm: sycamore trees effervescent with fireflies and the air thick with kinetic energy, not so much as a leaf stirring, the sky an indigo bruise before suddenly stitched with jagged white lightning.
This story transcends Pritchard and his work. He often steps aside so the reader can view the animals, the farm, and the markets. Warm, sincere, but not preachy.
The soil. It was the common denominator for every farm. Fertility was what made a farm a farm instead of a desert, or a parking lot. Dirt, rain, sunshine, and seeds. It didn't get any more basic than that. ...more
There is much to appreciate in this play, but it didn't grip me like King Lear did. A few scenes piqued my interest, but the play as a whole seemed spThere is much to appreciate in this play, but it didn't grip me like King Lear did. A few scenes piqued my interest, but the play as a whole seemed sprawled, splayed, and flat. Again, I find it more difficult to assess a play I've only read once.
Queen Katharine's (his first wife, whom he divorced) character was winsome in the dignity of her self-defense. She stayed with me longer than any other.
:: January 2023 :: I saw similarities to Othello. A man with a good wife believes lies about her behavior without pondering how unlikely they are.
:: N:: January 2023 :: I saw similarities to Othello. A man with a good wife believes lies about her behavior without pondering how unlikely they are.
:: November 2017 :: I read this play as a fairy tale, and why not? There's a wicked stepmother, an oppressed princess, a creepy suitor, and a secret marriage.
As always, Shakespeare's phrases compel me to laugh, sigh, sing, groan, and shake my head in wonder. [he] took such sorrow that he quit being.
Oh melancholy! Who ever get could sound thy bottom?
Poison in the ear, that staple of Hamlet, makes a metaphorical appearance when Imogen's supposed infidelity is reported to her husband. The husband's servant doubts it. What strange infection is fall'n into thy ear?
Taken out of context, away from its original meaning, still this made me laugh: 'tis said a woman's fitness comes by fits. Oh, Will, how fitting for this woman.
Marjorie Garber (Shakespeare After All) is an illuminating tutor. Cloten is not a noble savage but the opposite, a savage noble....more
Oct 2018 - Wow. If this isn't my favorite Shakespeare play, it's in the top three.
It is awful; it is beautiful. You can read this as a story of treacOct 2018 - Wow. If this isn't my favorite Shakespeare play, it's in the top three.
It is awful; it is beautiful. You can read this as a story of treachery and disorder — or — as a picture of loyalty and faithful service. I especially see it as the story of a banished daughter's steadfast love for her imperfect father. :: long exhale ::
The King of France plays a miniature role, but, folks, he is my Prince Charming. Come to court Cordelia, then informed that she has lately been disowned and disinherited by her father, King Lear, the King of France's response is nothing short of magnificent: She is herself a dowry. #smitten
Now I understand why Anne Shirley wanted to be called Cordelia!
I read this in conjunction with a new podcast focused on close reads of Shakespeare plays, The Play's the Thing. I highly recommend it. Thanks, David, Tim and Matt.
- — - — - — - — - — ~ - — - — - — - — - — ~ - — - — - — - — - — Enthralled. Had I known how good this was (I had seen a film version and read Lamb's summary, but had not read the play) I would have reserved it as my last Shakespeare play to read this year. End on a high note.
It thrilled me to see the threads of thought weave in and out of the text. The word 'nothing' is notable. First, it is Cordelia's answer to the King's query about her love for him, What can you say? Later Lear echoes, 'I will say nothing.' Gloster remarks, 'The quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself.' Edgar concludes, 'I nothing am.' Lear tells Regan, 'Thy sister's naught'.
The plot twists into pretzels of discovery and deception. While Lear sorts out his relationship with his daughters, Gloster learns the glory and gloom of his sons.
The words! One of my whimsical hobbies is collecting be- prefix words. Shakespeare is a South African diamond mine full of gems. Bestow, bethink, beweep, bestirr'd, beguiled, beseech, bemadding (*a virgin word for me), bemonster, bereaved, belike, bespoke....more
This was my first (and likely my only) read through a play that is slippery and quirky. It kept going in different directions, with new locations and This was my first (and likely my only) read through a play that is slippery and quirky. It kept going in different directions, with new locations and new characters in the first four acts.
At times it felt like reading a farce: ...martyrs, slain in Cupid's wars; ??!!
How many bizarre things can we cram into five acts? The two main plot lines in literature (stranger comes to town, hero goes on a journey) show up, along with father-daughter incest, resurrection, prostitution, and the great unmasking at the end. One surely must suspend belief and be swept into the swelling, swashbuckling story.
That I enjoyed it is most surprising. Not the incest part (ew!), but there were some laugh out loud moments. [Man leaving brothel] I am out of the road of rutting for ever. Why lament you, pretty one? / That I am pretty. Pray you, without anymore virginal fencing, will you use him kindly? If your peevish chastity, which is not worth a breakfast... [a character, preparing to slit the throat of another, announced his intention with the suggestion that the victim prays] Pray; but be not tedious.
The overarching theme I saw was death and resurrection. I counted at least five instances of this cycle of death and rebirth. The unmasking scene begins with this simple request: Tell thy story....more
Often, the celebrity family memoir is either a distasteful tell-all or a yawn-inducing whitewash. This book leans white-washy, but it is by no means bOften, the celebrity family memoir is either a distasteful tell-all or a yawn-inducing whitewash. This book leans white-washy, but it is by no means boring. The answer to my frequent question while reading any book — would I like to invite this author over for dinner? — is a resounding Yes! Since the author died in 2014, I'd be delighted to have dinner with one of her five children!
Mary Soames is the child of consolation of Winston and Clementine Churchill: born after the death of their toddler daughter Marigold, Mary was 8, 11, and 13 years younger than her older siblings. Beloved and adored, she inherited the best qualities of both her parents. This book covers her early life up to her marriage in 1947 to Christopher Soames.
More than just a memoir of the child of a famous person, it is a portrait of a long-ago time (in England - it has to be in England) when a nanny named Nana read for hours to her charge, and teenage friends memorize a Shakespeare sonnet each day. Soames expounds on books she loved and the Victorian religious stories she didn't!
At the end of each of these busily and happily occupied days came an evening ritual — reading aloud. This was a treasured highlight of my routine, and my greatest punishment was to be depriced of this great treat. Starting after teatime, Nana would read to me; when bedtime arrived, we adjourned upstairs, and the reading continued while I undressed, folding my clothes carefully; we then removed to the adjacent bathroom, where I took as long as possible to wash — tiresome interruptions to the narrative being occasioned by very necessary knee scrubbings. Swathed in a towel, I would try to spin more time out: "Oh, we must finish the chapter — please..."
Nana seemed an inexhaustible reader, and throughout my nursery years I listened enthralled to her renderings of many books—some of them favourites with my grandchildren's generation still: all of Beatrix Potter, and the Christopher Robins; then Black Beauty (I remember sobbing into my face flannel over poor Ginger's story); The Cuckoo Clock and The Tapestry Room by Mrs. Molesworth; Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass; Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows and Charles Kingleys The Water Babies—and, of course, J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan.
She also writes about her childhood faith, raised by her nanny to say prayers, guided by a vicar at a neighboring church, rooted and grounded in the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible.
All in all, this was a winsome read. And now I'm combing through YouTube clips of Mary Soames speaking.
I snatched this from my public library. I was, in a phrase, an Eliot virgin. I popped the CD into theI'm not giving stars on this one. Not qualified.
I snatched this from my public library. I was, in a phrase, an Eliot virgin. I popped the CD into the car stereo and drove across our pastoral valley ... thoroughly baffled. Listening to The Wasteland? It's a trip! While a phrase grabbed me here and there I honestly could make NO sense of it.
Today, I found all the poems online and listened/read along, even reading a bit of commentary. Well, I'm still bewildered. But people wiser than I say Eliot is an honorable man. Perhaps this is the Jackson Pollock of poetry?
I view this as my first attempt.
Eliot (1888-1965) reads his own work on this CD. If you've been to poetry readings, you'll understand it when I say he reads with a 'poetry voice,' where the pitch seems forever suspended above normal speaking range.
I was *thrilled* to get most of the references from "Difficulties of a Statesman" from Coriolan. I just read Shakespeare's Coriolanus three days ago. Hashtag 'readingintersection'. Booyah!
The most accessible and frolicsome poem was "Macavity: the Mystery Cat" If you've seen Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical "Cats" (I haven't) you know it. The recording was live and it was fun to hear the audience's snickers and guffaws....more
4.5 stars. If I hadn't read Churchill's memoir, My Early Life --a source she quotes often -- two months ago, this would've gotten five solid stars. It4.5 stars. If I hadn't read Churchill's memoir, My Early Life --a source she quotes often -- two months ago, this would've gotten five solid stars. It's a remarkable story, though, and I didn't mind entering into it a second time. Simon Vance was a superlative narrator.
Millard filled in some blank spots and gave cultural context to the Boer War.
I've become a devoted Candice Millard fan, having read her three published books. I look forward to many more. She brought James Garfield alive to me in Destiny of the Republic. Like this book about Churchill, I read Millard's River of Doubtafter reading the source material by Theodore Roosevelt. In TR's case, Millard's was the easier book to read....more
2020: I kept thinking of King David who sought refuge in Philistia when Saul was trying to kill him. I'm tempted to knock one star off, because I foun2020: I kept thinking of King David who sought refuge in Philistia when Saul was trying to kill him. I'm tempted to knock one star off, because I found myself much more uncomfortable with it this time. Specifically, I was repulsed by Coriolanus's mother, Volumnia. As a mother of sons, it made me pause and reflect at ways I am manipulative. Ouch.
2017: I jumped into this play with no fragment of knowledge about it; I found myself swept up into the see-saw of Caius Marcius' fortunes. The layers and textures still intrigue me.
Laughed aloud: suffered me to be whoop'd out of Rome...
I definitely want to revisit this in the future.
(Aside — I was watching Game 5 of the Cubs-Dodgers National League playoff game. When the Dodgers went ahead 7-0 in the top of the third, all hope evaporated; I turned it off and picked up Coriolanus.)...more
Ah, Mitford. 4.5 stars. This book didn't have the tension/celebration of a wedding but there were some fine moments. I just listened to an interview KAh, Mitford. 4.5 stars. This book didn't have the tension/celebration of a wedding but there were some fine moments. I just listened to an interview Karon gave for Wisconsin Public Radio; she said this is the last Mitford book. [sob] I will come back after I've copied quotes into my commonplace book.
I'm ready to go back to At Home in Mitford and reread the whole canon.
Reading intersection: Jan Karon said that she imagined the Orange Marmalade Cake. Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock developed a recipe for it. Sigh... I read Edna Lewis' glorious memoir, A Taste of Country Cooking earlier this year after she was referenced in another book (Home Cooking?) I read. ...more
Carol Bakker
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