A handful of books

I'm so behind on my book review posts, so I'm just going to do a handful I've read at a time. This means you'll be seeing a few extra posts from me, rather than cramming them all into one mega-essay. I'm personally not a fan of ultra-long blog posts, so I'm sparing you the pain.

Before I begin, I decided mid-January that my one resolution for 2017 was to read 52 books. To some, that may be a small number. It seems like a whole lotta Mommy bloggers whip through books at a breakneck pace. I, however, am a relatively slow reader. At least when it comes to fiction, I tried to read at the pace in which I would read it aloud. So skimming, et cetera, is a no-go.

Also, I'm not part of the goal to read any ol' garbage just to fill out my checklist. My reading choices aren't exactly Aristotle, unlike my spouse (... truly...) but I don't want drugstore paperbacks to fill up the time I would have been previously using Facebook. Wouldn't that be 'out of the proverbial frying pan, into the fire'?

In this House of Brede 

by Rumer Godden

(re-read)

I do think this is in my top 10 favourite novels. It is a witty, suspenseful masterful story of a cloistered Benedictine convent and the fascinating women who inhabit it. It may be hard to believe a story about cloistered nuns could be so engaging, but Rumer Godden's ability to capture the complex inner workings of these characters is superb. I love how this novel treats the Church and religious life with reverence, without drawing the characters themselves in broad strokes of unrealtisic piety. These Sisters are very salt-of-the-earth and have some curious and occasionally shocking flaws, which pushes the pace of this page-turning story. As well, the confusion at Brede, the name of the convent, following Vatican II is a fascinating glimpse into history. Rumer Godden is tremendous writer, and this book is my favourite of hers that I have read as of yet.

The Awakening of Miss Prim

by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

If you are in the market for a breezy read that involves an innocent love story, then you might enjoy this one. It isn't a normal romance, though, in that it centers around a utopian town where everyone pitches in to educate the local children, to find meaningful work for the women that doesn't interfere with their family life, and everyone, everyone has hot chocolate and pastries at the ready for potential drop-in guests.

It felt like the author had tried far too hard to synthesize her favourite principles from Chesterton into a novel format, making it read more like a screed in praise of distributism and homeschooling than an actual story. I heard Haley Stewart on the Fountains of Home podcast say "I don't feel like this novel is trying to take itself too seriously." I disagree. The lightness of the plot -- a highly educated woman takes a job cataloging a well-read eccentric's huge library and is drawn in by his perplexing life -- indicates an unserious tone. Yet one can't help they are feeling bludgeoned by Chesteronian ideals at every turn. One of the characters actually had framed on her mantle his famous quote about motherhood

How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? 

How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone?

 No; a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness. 

{It's a great quote, don't get me wrong. It was just came off as too awkwardly didactic just tossed into the story like that.}

Surprised by Life

by Patrick Madrid

This was another book I was able to snag through Patrick's endless supply of review copies coming our way! I grabbed it excitedly because I knew Heather Scheider from Mama Knows Honeychild  had her story in it.

It's a collection of stories of people who had their conversion to the Catholic faith through the Church's teaching on life and the family.

Heather's moving story did not disappoint. She writes with tenderness and honesty about her troubled life as a pregnant teen, it was very moving.

Her story wasn't the only compelling one. I was especially moved by the amazing story of the woman who left a life of heartbreak, addiction and prostitution to embrace the Catholic faith. What a testament to grace!

This book was a very engrossing, quick read, so I'd suggest you have dinner in the crockpot the morning you crack it open, otherwise, you might forget to feed your family that night (something that almost literally happened to me that day).

I Capture the Castle

by Dodie Smith

Described as one of the original YA novels, this delightful book follows the antics and oddities of the eccentric Montmain family through the voice of the 17 year old daughter's journals. Cassandra, the protagonist, is incisively witty and her oddball family is truly endearing. I just loved this book so much. It made me laugh out loud multiple times, which I am not prone to do while reading to myself, and it made for a wonderful read while at my in-law's cottage. While not "racy" per say, it is not entirely squeaky clean, I suppose reflective of how YA books are nowadays.

The Girl of the Limberlost

I had never heard of Gene Stratton-Porter until a woman mentioned her on the Read-aloud Revival . I was intrigued, so I ordered this book, as well as The Keeper of the Bees (what the interviewee called her favourite book of all time) and Freckles.

I didn't adore The Girl of the Limberlost, but I liked it very much. The setting was captured vividly and beautifully, and the story of Elnora's triumph over adversity from her loveless childhood was moving. The characters definitely lacked depth, and the story lagged a little in the middle for a short while -- it felt almost like two different books contained in one, and the transition between the two was not smooth -- but the vivid setting, the lilting language, made it an enjoyable, worthwhile book.