Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It had been about five or more years since I had enjoyed this wonderful book, so I gave myself an early Christmas present and enjoyed it the whole month. I read my original paperback version that I have had since about ninth grade. I wish it could talk! There were many times that I paused during this reading and wondered, how did I like this part or understand that part in my early teens? And how did my teachers approach it, since I know it was part of an English class in my past at some point. Which one, I don't recall. But I do remember enjoying it every single time I read it. I love Austen's humor, her insightful understanding of human character, and her satisfying endings!

Austen's books also invite me to dream about the art of conversation and how wonderful it would be to spend hours uncovering a person's character through conversation. The way technology invades my world and the world of my associates dismays me. This book hearkens to a time and way of being that I long for. Quiet, regular walks, formal dinners, lots of talking, and extensive letter-writing  all sound delightful to me!

I admire the characters, too, who are able to learn from their mistakes. In this case, Darcy and Elizabeth are the main learners. It's instructive to watch their thinking and behavior change over time, particularly when they learn of their own pride and prejudices!

Little Britches by Ralph Moody

I first heard this book as a sixth grader. My teacher, Mr. Rude, read it to us daily after lunch. I'll never forget crying with the rest of the class at the end! I also remember begging him to keep reading and not to stop at the end of just one chapter!

I often talked about this book with my children, and am not sure why I never sought it out to read to them! Somehow, Eli remembered this and found a copy through great difficulty, and gave it to me for my birthday several years ago. I read it then, and decided to read it again now. Just for the joy of it. For the reminder about how hard work and honesty and sacrifice lead to fulfillment.

It's also a great reminder about how trials and hard times can build faith, confidence, and character. I love the resilience of Ralph. Because I grew up with horses and ponies, I particularly enjoyed the parts about how Ralph grew to become a great horse person.

One thing that amazed me this time through was this: how did Ralph's mother know how to do all the things she did? His father was exceptional, too, and had great mechanical sense. But much of their gardening, farming, and food preparation was very sophisticated and required special know-how.  Where and how did they learn all of this? If this was "common knowledge" at the time, when and how did they share it? They relied on their neighbors, and I wonder if some of their learning happened with them? I guess this is something a little historical research would reveal...

It's still one of my favorite stories of all time. I think it's because Ralph's father reminds me so much of my own father. Very practical, very knowledgeable, and very mechanical. And not given to much praise! Still, like Ralph, I have always felt very loved.

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thad Carhart

This little book is amazing! It opened up a musical world, a piano world, and a Parisian world all at the same time! I probably never would have picked up this book myself...but my friend Sally handed it to me one day and told me she thought I would enjoy it. She was right! She guessed I would appreciate it, even if I wasn't quite what one could call musical. She was right! What I learned about is the marvelous complexity of music, particularly classical piano music. How to play it, how to feel it, how to appreciate it, all came into play. And layered in amongst all that complexity, the author weaves in the history of the piano and its various manufacturers. And this is all told as the author experiences his Parisian neighborhood with its intriguing cast of characters. This is a very enjoyable, engaging read because he's an American who appreciates and describes beautifully his Parisian experiences. It's nonfiction writing at its best, in my opinion. My only frustration was the occasional French quotes that he didn't translate. Many quotes he did; but others, inexplicably, he did not?! And me, with my one quarter of college French, couldn't get it. However, that's a small criticism and my only one...

Cambridge by Susanna Kaysen

I picked this book up off the "new releases" shelves at the Rapid City Public Library. It was a good choice. The narrator in this story, Susanna, grows from about six or eight years of age to about 13. The story chronicles her thinking and fascinating life as a daughter growing up in the fifties, with her father, a Harvard professor, and her mother, a sparkling stay-at-home mother. The family spends years abroad in the English Cambridge, in Italy, and in Greece. Susanna's reactions and thinking capture some of my thinking and feelings at this age very accurately. While Susanna is very different than I was at that age, there are similarities. She feels alien in her family; which I occasionally did. Her careful listening to her parents' disagreements and her interpretations of them felt very familiar to me. She has a nuanced ear for emotions behind the words.
I enjoyed reading about her relationships with her Swedish nanny and her mother, in particular. And it's interesting that she never gives her little sister much credence or even tells us her name. But what was especially intriguing to me was her intense dislike of her mother, and how it angered her that her mother was always right and always knew what she was thinking. She could verify her father's knowledge in the encyclopedia, but her mother's assertions were baffling to her. How did she know those things? It reminded me very strongly of Leonard's frustration with his mother over similar issues. She asserts things with great confidence that "everyone knows" but really aren't true. Like..."50% of football players are homosexuals."
I also enjoyed reading about Susanna's music lessons and her fondness for her teacher. It's just a fascinating age to reconnect with and the author does a very credible job of recreating that thinking.

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

Leonard surprised me with this book. He chose it because he remembered that I liked The Joy Luck Club by the same author. I love how Amy Tan opens up the world of Chinese immigrants, especially those in the San Francisco Bay Area, to her readers.
This was an engaging book, from beginning to end. The modern daughter has no idea about her mother's past; this book is the story of her mother's coming of age in China. It reveals a harsh male dominant culture that is hard to read about. The powerlessness of women in that society is described in graphic but tasteful detail. Winnie, the mother, tells her story with lots of questions about her own role and choices in it. It's fascinating to read about how she considers herself both weak and strong. We are invited along her thought process and get to witness incredible patience, courage, fortitude, and love. It's inspiring.
I enjoyed this book because both my sister and I had Chinese friends in high school and college. While reading, I would sometimes think back to some experiences I had with them...this book explained some things for me...It's fascinating to consider how different and how hard the transition to American life would have been for these immigrants. And how baffling their own American-born children would be to them! I imagine this book could be a welcome bridge-builder in those families.

Faithful Place by Tana French

So for my two days in the car coming home from California, I chose this mystery. It certainly held up for the 16-plus hours, but the story was a dark one. Set in Dublin, Detective Francis Mackey returns to his boyhood home and family to solve the mystery of his missing (for 22 years) first love. Colorful characters, violent family members, raw language and painful emotions all make for a lively story. French is a lyrical writer; her descriptions and analogies are beyond compare! And often they make me laugh out loud. The reader's Dublin accent was difficult to understand at times, but certainly added to the authenticity of the story.

One aspect of this story that was educational to me was seeing a dysfunctional family in action. It felt authentic. The cruelty of the parents inspired some of the children to become protectors of the others. Their courage and resourcefulness was bittersweet. And the price they paid for the dysfunction was huge. It also prompted me to wonder about the strength of genetics and environment on the children...

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

I didn't read this book; I listened to it on my recent solo road trip to California. I have to say, it got a little long. I usually enjoy Penny's characters and settings, but this one was different. The setting is a monastery and the characters were not as intriguing to me as usual. However, I did enjoy the spiritual references and the explanations of the monastic life. Of course I love Chief Inspector Gamache, and he didn't disappoint! I also enjoyed learning about the history of ancient chants. When I got to California, I spent quite a bit of time at Mont La Salle, a Christian Brothers retreat center. So it was fun to feel like I had a deeper understanding of the place. Another less enjoyable aspect of this story, and one that is unusual for this author, was the gradual and painful undoing of Jean-Guy Beauvoir...

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City by David Lebovitz

My sisters got to see David Lebovitz when he hosted a dinner in the Bay Area. They avidly read his blog before they went to Paris last summer. They both heartily recommended this book to me, and I was not disappointed!

This is nonfiction writing at its most entertaining. Often witty, often ascerbic, always insightful, his view of all things Parisian is very enjoyable reading. I could readily relate to the people he describes after having spent quite a bit of time with Parisians in Berlin in the 70's, and in Paris itself on several occasions. Love it, love it, and, like, Lebovitz, find myself also perplexed!

I also learned quite a few tricks in the kitchen and would enjoy trying out some of the recipes. However, I decided Sierra would enjoy this for her birthday, and so I gave it away. If I ever borrow it back, I would like to try some of the simpler dishes.

The Likeness by Tana French

This book is a loose sequel to In the Woods and contains many references to that mystery. It also continues the story of one of those main characters, Detective Cassie Maddox. This time, she goes undercover and becomes part of an intimate group of college students in Dublin. They are in the process of living an almost alternate reality, and their story is intriguing.

While the premise is far-fetched, that is, that Cassie could impersonate someone who was so close to her group of friends; the story is nonetheless suspenseful and interesting on many levels. Will she be found out? Will her desire for closeness cause her to sell out? What, exactly, is going on here?

French is a wonderful writer with insightful and beautiful descriptions. Her milieu is dark, however. This was a dark read, but a real page-turner. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the previous novel were more current in my brain so I could make some of the connections. Still, I was able to follow the story and wonder about the permeability of personality. I really think this would make an interesting movie...

Home Tonight by Henri J.M. Nouwen

The subtitle of this book is "Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son." The further reflections are beyond his previous book, The Return of the Prodigal Son. I enjoyed that book and related to it so well that I ordered this one with anticipation. It, too, is wonderful, but slightly less compelling and interesting to me. I found it hard to connect to the ideas and to the highlighted quotes by other authors. I did enjoy the chapter on the elder son, however. Nouwen explores his own role as the eldest son in his family and very eloquently describes his resentment and bitterness. It's instructive because it's a trap that is so easily fallen into!

Like in his other book, Nouwen is masterful at describing the unconditional love of our Heavenly Father. It feels lush and abundant! I love how he describes it! Here's an example from page 103:
 "Our spiritual journey is nothing more than a return to the intimacy, the safety, and the acceptance of that very first relationship with Love, that is uniquely present within each one of us."

From page 110: "True homecoming is choosing the way of Jesus, where we acknowledge the good and painful in our lives and we ask for patience and courage to forgive all those who have wounded us on the journey. Their love was limited and conditional, but it set us in search of that unconditional, unlimited love. This way takes us on a path through the desert of suffering to our hidden wholeness and to our utter beauty i the eyes of the One we name God."

From page 111: "In your stillness, listen and respond to the question "Who is your God?" Listen deeply for what you believe are the characteristics of the very Source of your life. Listen to how your heart relates to your God. Next look again at the painting of the meaningful but limited image of the One Jesus called God. Listen to the Heart of all hearts longing for intimacy and togetherness. Imagine the eyes of the father figure moving from the son to embrace you and to invite you to take the place of the adult child. When you are ready, put your head on Love's breast and allow the tender female hand to touch you in gratitude for your return. Feel the strong male hand caress you with joy and thoughts of celebration. Listen to words of tenderness, welcome, unconditional love directed toward you."

From page 113: "Let us be aware of small gestures of love offered us by others that remind us of our unique beauty. Let us try to gratefully accept the smile, the tender word, the caring embrace, and the recognition that affirms our personhood. These are but reminders of the overwhelming reception awaiting our every return to communion with God's Spirit, and that mercy is always available and always confirming the truth of our belovedness."

Here's an example of the highlighted quotes; this one from the epilogue:
"We do not hae to be saviours of the world! we are simply human beings, enfolded in weakness and in hope, called together to change our world one heart at a time." From Becoming Human by Jean Vanier, 1998, House of Anansi Press, Toronto, p. 163

From page 130: "When I saw the poster of the Rembrandt painting with the returning son being embraced by his father, I was totally overwhlemed and I said, 'That's where I want to be.' I began to think of myself as the runaway son wanting to return home. But then...the older son suddenly started to speak to me. I'm the oldest son myself and I recognized a lot of resentment in me, a lot of not fully enjoying where I was in my life. I woke up to the truth that both these young people lived in me.

"More than a year later something incredibly important happened for me. I suffered from depression and was on a long sick leave from L'Arche Daybreak. One member of my community came to visit me and in the course of the conversation she said, 'Henri, you're alwasy talking about yourself being the prodigal son, and you're often talking about yourself being the elder son, but not it's time for you to become the father! That's who you're called to be.'

"Look at the father figure in the painting. This person has the hand of a mother and the hand of a father, the male hand and the female hand touching a beloved child. Look at the figure of a father who is like a mother bird with a big cloak to safely enwrap her young close to her body. Look at the one who wants to welcome the child home without asking any questions. The father doesn't even want to hear the story of the younger son. He simply wants them 'home,' around the same table with him, growing up to become like him.

"In a moment I suddenly realized that my final vocation is not only to return hoe but also to welcome people home by saying, ' I'm so glad you are here! I'm so glad you're here! Come now. Bring out the beautiful cloak, bring the precious ring, find the best sandals. Let's celebrate because you've finally come home!'

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley

I was most anxious to read this, the sixth novel in the series by Alan Bradley that I LOVE! In my haste to read it, though, I read it via Kindle, free, from the library. I think maybe this format interfered with my enjoyment of the book. While it was in the same delightful vein of the previous books, it wasn't quite as sparkling to me. I could actually put it down; which did not happen with the other books. Or maybe I'm finally conquering my story-addiction and can read at a reasonable pace? I don't know...all I know is that when I wanted to read, I felt a little disappointment that oh yeah, it was going to be on my iPad. It's annoying to hold it, to worry about skipping ahead or behind on the pages by a misplaced finger, and I never risk looking back to check a fact because who knows how long that will take!

However, it is a good book. And if I find it used or in paperback soon, I will attempt it again. I was particularly interested in this book because the fifth book ended with the promise of Harriet, Flavia's missing mother, returning. So this book's opening is very dramatic, chronicling her return. There are some juicy historical references as well, which I'm not sure are authentic. But they are entertaining!

It also seemed to me that the characters weren't as finely drawn or as detailed or as interesting. Flavia's little cousin, for example, needed more air time for us to get to know her.

But did I enjoy it? YES! Will I read it again? YES! I'm definitely hooked. And even though I don't think this one is as good as previous ones in the series, it's better than most! Flavia's character is just a hoot...

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

This title has intrigued me for a long time, so I was motivated to finally read it when it was on our Relief Society book club agenda. I'm so glad I finally read it, and when I was done, it was great to be able to discuss it. This book club night was postponed to a Friday (snow, again) and men were invited to join us. We had a lively discussion in Heather's Black Hawk living room, and it was enlightening to hear others' favorite parts. Heather shared some of the quotes from this book that have been quoted in General Conference of the church, so that was an interesting addition to the discussion, too.

This book was not what I expected...but  it delightful when I got in a little beyond the beginning essays. While Lewis's charm comes through, sometimes he's a little over my head. Some of his metaphors are brilliant; some of his reasoning I couldn't grasp. But there is so much good thinking here, I believe I need to read it again in a few years and see if more of it resonates with me. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite quotes:

From the chapter called "Sexual Morality" -
Finally, though I have had to speak at some length about sex, I want to make it as clear as I possibly can that the centre of Christian morality is not here. If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting, the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither.

(That final sentence made me laugh out loud!)

From the chapter called "The New Men"
To become new men means losing what we now call 'ourselves.' Out of our selves, into Christ, we must go. His will is to become ours and we are to think His thoughts, to 'have the mind of Chirst' as the Bible says. And if Christ is one, and if He is thus to be 'in' us all, whall we not be exactly the same? It certainly sounds like it; but in fact it is not so...(he gives a light and a salt illustration)...
The more we get what we now call 'ourselves' out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. There is so much of Him that millions and millions of 'little Christs,' all different, will still be too few to express Him fully. He made them all. He invented--as an author invents characters in a novel--all the different men that you and I were intended to be. In that sense our real selves are all waiting for us in Him. It is no good trying to 'be myself' without Him. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. In fact what I so proudly call 'Myself' becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events which I never started and which I cannot stop.What I call "My wishes' become merely the desires thrown up by my physical organism or pumped into me by other men's thoughts or even suggested to me by devils. Eggs and alcohol and a good night's sleep will be the real origins of what I flatter myself by regarding as my own highly personal and discriminating decision to make love to the girl opposite me in the railway carriage. Propaganda will be the real origin of what I regard as my own personal political ideas. I am not, in my natural state, nearly so much of a person as I like to believe; most of what I call 'me' can be very easily explained. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His Personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.
At the beginning I said there were no Personalities in God. I will go further now. There are no real personalities anywhere else. Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self. Sameness is to be found most among the most 'natural' men, not among those who surrender to Christ. How monotonously alike are all the great tyrants and conquerors have been: how gloriously different are the saints.

But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away 'blindly' so to speak. Christ will indeed give you a real personality: but you must not go to Him for the sake of that. As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self  (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

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Those thoughts are so beautifully put! They remind me of much of Elder Neal Maxwell's writing and talks. And I love how paradoxical they are...the beauty of something that my soul loves but my brain finds hard to comprehend! Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia puts this philosophy so seamlessly throughout the series...it's a different perspective of a similar point.

Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg

I found this book in the library one day, where I had gone to get a different book for our Book Club. I just picked this one up also because I have enjoyed several of Berg's other books. Plus, I met her one time when she came to Rapid City several years ago for a book signing. She's about my age, and I relate to her writing and the feelings she describes.

And so it was with great anticipation that I opened this up....but it wasn't up to her usual standard. The characters were kind of vapid and predictable. The story wasn't very interesting...I read to the end, but not with a lot of enthusiasm.

In the Woods by Tana French

The way Sierra described this book to me, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it...and then the Amazon reviews confirmed that some people found the ending frustrating. Sierra also said, though, that she LOVED the writing style, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did!

I love mysteries, and I love great characters. This novel had both an intriguing mystery and great characters. And Sierra was correct; the writing is absolutely amazing and beautiful and descriptive and funny. It's absolutely astonishing that this is a first novel! Not only are the characters interesting, but the setting, Dublin, is equally fascinating. It made me want to visit...

The relationship between Detective Rob Ryan and his partner Cassie Maddox is full of ups and downs and great dialogue. It's their relationship that moves the story along. I was intrigued by their intimacy and mutual understanding and hoped that it would work out well...

The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny

My second Louise Penny, Inspector Gamache "cozy" murder mystery. We were in Kailua for the holidays, I was shopping in a used bookstore shortly before our long flight home, and picked this up. This light book, set in Canada with characters I was already familiar with, made the trip home enjoyable. I especially enjoyed learning more about Gamache's history and family. Now I'll need to go back and read the second book in the series...probably this summer.

I think that what appeals to me is the intimacy of the villagers and their idyllic life. The food is great, people are "characters" and they accept each other's oddities. A nice little series to escape into for a rest!