Book Reviews for the Month of May {Ode to Books, Installment 3}
My time for reading seems to constantly be under the whittling knife, but as all those devoted to the written word can tell you, there's always time for a few pages here, a chapter there, and so it is that I find myself working through the following selections:
Chasing the North Star, by Robert Morgan, is the story of Jonah, who ran away from his master on his eighteenth birthday. and of Angel, who met up with Jonah at one point and decided to join him, even though he tries to leave her behind several times. In some ways the story moves slowly- and as far as I can tell, the entire book is about this epic race for freedom in the north- but the author is very talented with his descriptions and imagery, and the story is keeping me riveted. There are some acts of brutality and violence in the story that are hard to read, but they keep the story real and are a sobering reminder of what a black slave (and a runaway at that) may have faced in his/her quest for something we take for granted: freedom.
The Life-Giving Home, by Sally and Sarah Clarkson, is one that I have been slowly working my way through for maybe a month or two now! I often read a couple pages over my breakfast of scrambled eggs and coffee, and while this doesn't win any races, its a fine way of enjoying a book that is meant to be savored and mused over- as this one is!
This particular book, with its subject matter of creating a home which is a place of belonging and becoming, caught my eye awhile back, but before I invested in a copy- something I am rather slow to do!- I saw it featured as a blog giveaway, and when the drawing was held, I actually won!!! This was my first time ever for winning something like this, and I was thrilled! Anyway, the book came to me in the mail and I've been enjoying it in bits and pieces ever since.
The Life-Giving Home, written by a mother-daughter team, talks about what makes a home, and then about the seasons of a home, with a new subject matter being introduced for each month of the year. For instance, January is about Creating A Framework For Home (Rhythms, Routines and Rituals), September is When Season Change (Gathering In for Home and Soul) and November is called Blessed and Blessing (Grace, Gratitude and Generosity). Each chapter discusses the topic at hand, tells how the Clarkson family implemented different things into their lives that were important to their family, and gives ideas and inspiration for making home and family a place of love and welcome.
Teaching from Rest: A Homeschoolers Guide to Unshakable Peace, by Sarah Mackenzie, is another one that I've had my eye on for awhile, only this time I did buy my own copy when the opportunity presented itself at a homeschool convention this past weekend! I am only a few pages in, but already the investment has been worthwhile and I am really looking forward to delving further into the theme of the book.
It's pretty hard to give a review on a book I've barely begun, but I will leave you with a quote that I read at the beginning and which then gave me food for thought the next day when I was facing my own Monday morning challenges...
Chasing the North Star, by Robert Morgan, is the story of Jonah, who ran away from his master on his eighteenth birthday. and of Angel, who met up with Jonah at one point and decided to join him, even though he tries to leave her behind several times. In some ways the story moves slowly- and as far as I can tell, the entire book is about this epic race for freedom in the north- but the author is very talented with his descriptions and imagery, and the story is keeping me riveted. There are some acts of brutality and violence in the story that are hard to read, but they keep the story real and are a sobering reminder of what a black slave (and a runaway at that) may have faced in his/her quest for something we take for granted: freedom.
The Life-Giving Home, by Sally and Sarah Clarkson, is one that I have been slowly working my way through for maybe a month or two now! I often read a couple pages over my breakfast of scrambled eggs and coffee, and while this doesn't win any races, its a fine way of enjoying a book that is meant to be savored and mused over- as this one is!
This particular book, with its subject matter of creating a home which is a place of belonging and becoming, caught my eye awhile back, but before I invested in a copy- something I am rather slow to do!- I saw it featured as a blog giveaway, and when the drawing was held, I actually won!!! This was my first time ever for winning something like this, and I was thrilled! Anyway, the book came to me in the mail and I've been enjoying it in bits and pieces ever since.
The Life-Giving Home, written by a mother-daughter team, talks about what makes a home, and then about the seasons of a home, with a new subject matter being introduced for each month of the year. For instance, January is about Creating A Framework For Home (Rhythms, Routines and Rituals), September is When Season Change (Gathering In for Home and Soul) and November is called Blessed and Blessing (Grace, Gratitude and Generosity). Each chapter discusses the topic at hand, tells how the Clarkson family implemented different things into their lives that were important to their family, and gives ideas and inspiration for making home and family a place of love and welcome.
Teaching from Rest: A Homeschoolers Guide to Unshakable Peace, by Sarah Mackenzie, is another one that I've had my eye on for awhile, only this time I did buy my own copy when the opportunity presented itself at a homeschool convention this past weekend! I am only a few pages in, but already the investment has been worthwhile and I am really looking forward to delving further into the theme of the book.
It's pretty hard to give a review on a book I've barely begun, but I will leave you with a quote that I read at the beginning and which then gave me food for thought the next day when I was facing my own Monday morning challenges...
"The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's "own," or "real" life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life- the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one's "real life" is a phantom of one's imagination."
- C.S. Lewis
Well spoken, Mr. Lewis! And this is just one example of what this book has to offer by way of inspiration and challenge. I am hoping that if I take the summer to digest the book, that by the time teaching resumes in the fall, the truths of teaching from rest will have settled into my being so that they can have a positive effect on our little homeschool!
I can already tell that I am going to need all the help I can get, and if it comes in paperback form worth $10.98 (Ok! So I did buy it when there was a 20% discount offered!!!) then I just found one more reason to love a good book!
And to somehow protect the time I still have for reading from the whittling knife...
Ahhh...those last two books sound like ones I need to read. I might need to add them to my Amazon list. I love hearing what you are reading.
ReplyDeleteGina