In this review, I lament how disappointed I was in Anne of Avonlea after having loved Anne of Green Gables so much. I am happy to report that I found Anne of the Island to be a vast improvement on Anne of Avonlea. Still not as good as the original, it is a worthy follow-up…
Author: Sara Masarik
Curators of things Good, True, and Beautiful
In The Realm of Mist and Mercy
One of my favorite couples in the world had a baby last week. Holding their sweet newly-minted little princesses in my arms I was struck, again, by how sacred the task of parenting is. At the birth of a child, a tender immortal soul is entrusted into our love and care so that we may…
Disappointing “The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place”
The review praises “The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place” as a charming, gothic children’s book but notes concerns about its mature themes.
Thoughts About Rod Dreher’s “The Benedict Option”
The author emphasizes that “The Benedict Option” calls for a spiritual renewal and the strengthening of Christian communities, not retreat.
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of Green Gables is pretty nearly a perfect book. Even if you don’t love the story or the character, it is hard deny that Anne Shirley…
The Chronicles of Prydain #1: The Book of Three
Almost a decade ago, friends were raving about Lloyd Alexander and The Chronicles of Prydain. At that time, I had a newborn baby and didn’t have enough headspace to investigate their recommendation, but for some reason, I never forgot how much they loved the books. A few years ago, I was studying the Mensa reading…
The Monks of New Skete
The Monks of New Skete “…the best image to capture what a monk is can be found in the words of the Russian author Dostoevsky, who remarks in The Brothers Karamazov that a true monk is nothing more than what everyone ought to be… he was pointing to an attitude of heart that he believed…
Book Club: The Bark of the Bog Owl
As I explained in this post, I am having great fun hosting a young readers book club at my local Christian book store, Cathedral Book and Gift. The second book in our middle-grade reader series was The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers. Bark is a fantastic first book in a very worthy…
Book Club: Henry and the Chalk Dragon
This summer I hosted a Henry and the Chalk Dragon book club at my local Christian bookstore. We had 12 kids aged 6 to 13 attend and we really did have a wonderful time together. Because we hosted this at our Christian bookstore and because I think that the Christian themes are absolutely present in…
The Chosen
The podcast version of this book review can be found here. “When Mendal was already the far-famed and much-hated rabbi of Kotzak, he once returned to the little town in which he was born. There he visited the teacher who taught him his alphabet when he was a child and read five books of Moses…
The House of Wings
My family and I have developed a fun little habit of heading to our local St. Vincent de Paul Charity Resale shop about once a month to donate our excess and rescue books. Sometimes I discover homeschool gold like a 1980s set of Childcraft. Sometimes I find a book set I know nothing about but…
Why I think that Percy Jackson is dangerous
The author appreciates classical mythology but critiques the Percy Jackson series for its subpar writing, secular morals, and unsuitability for children.
The Fiddler’s Gun
The thing that this classics-lover continues to most appreciate about Rabbit Room authors is how echoes of the great classics sound in new and vibrant stories from contemporary authors. As a reader, I am so pleased to have new and worthy stories to love. As a Christian living in the modern world, I am grateful…
Billy and Blaze
I have a cowboy kid. You know, a little guy who loves horses, dreams of living on a cattle ranch, and who believes that the wild untamed West is still out there, waiting for him to put on his boots and spurs so he can saddle up to that special kind of man’s work. I…
Understood Betsy
In 1899 Dorothy Canfield received a B.A. from Ohio State University, then went on to receive a Ph.D. in Romance languages from the University of Paris and Columbia University. At a time when women rarely attended college, Canfield was distinguishing herself as a serious academic. In addition to her college and graduate school degrees, she…