This is part of Diane’s Literature For the Ages Series In January this year, I started on a “Read Shakespeare in a Year” plan. I made it until about March, by which time I had learned something about myself. There is a lot of Shakespeare I just don’t enjoy. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate Shakespeare’s genius. … Continue reading Anthony and Cleopatra
Hobbit Club: September Meeting
In our September Hobbit Club meeting, we drank Dragon Eye Red Ale beer that Greg and I brewed, we had birthday cupcakes for Frodo and Bilbo, and we laughed until our sides hurt. It was a party for Hobbits! The reading for this month was the Joseph Pearce commentary, Frodo’s Journey. At this point in … Continue reading Hobbit Club: September Meeting
The Odyssey
This is part of Diane’s Literature For the Ages Series We’ve finished The Odyssey and my girls enjoyed it. I’m happy to have helped each of them complete her first time through. Now that they are familiar with the characters and events, something deeper can be gleaned from each successive reading. Is it too optimistic to … Continue reading The Odyssey
A Daughter of the Land
If you love Gene Stratton-Porter’s Freckles or A Girl of the Limberlost, I won’t guarantee that you’ll love A Daughter of the Land. As I read through it recently, I kept changing my mind about whether or not the author herself liked her main character, Kate Bates. In one instance Stratton-Porter would seem to want … Continue reading A Daughter of the Land
Freckles & A Girl of the Limberlost
“The scene was intensely attractive. The thickness of the swamp made a dark, massive background below, while above towered gigantic trees. The men were calling jovially back and forth as they unharnessed tired horses that fell into attitudes of rest and crunched, in deep content, the grain given them. Duncan, the brawny Scotch head-teamster, lovingly … Continue reading Freckles & A Girl of the Limberlost
Please Don’t Eat the Daises
“We are being very careful with our children.They’ll never have to pay a psychiatrist twenty-five dollars an hour to find out why we rejected them. We’ll tell them why we rejected them. Because they are impossible, that’s why...You take Christopher - and you may; he’s a slightly used eight-year-old… I watch him from the kitchen … Continue reading Please Don’t Eat the Daises
Keeper of the Bees
The Keeper of the Bees has to be one of my all-time favorite books. When we talk about the love of things Good, True, and Beautiful, this book comes to mind. It is the last book written by Gene Stratton Porter before her death in 1924. Our hero, James Lewis MacFarlane, a stalwart Scotsman, … Continue reading Keeper of the Bees
My Ántonia
This is part of Diane's American Literature Course Series My Ántonia By Willa Cather My girls have kept up an admirable pace this year. My Ántonia is the last book in their American Literature syllabus. Though I had some titles in reserve for just-in-case, I hadn’t dreamed we’d get through the list with two months of school … Continue reading My Ántonia
The Virginian
This is part of Diane's American Literature Course Series Owen Wister’s The Virginian Oh, that old thing? Why, yes, it’s been one of my favorites for many years. I noticed, though, while doing research for our American literature class, that it seems to be going out of style. Too trite and formulaic, perhaps? Wait! Please note that … Continue reading The Virginian
Ramona
This is part of Diane's American Literature Course Series The first time I read Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson (not Beverly Cleary), was with my beloved book group in Colorado Springs. The person who chose the book for group perusal chose it partly because of Jackson’s Colorado Springs ties. As I’ve read more about her, I realize … Continue reading Ramona