Monthly Archives: April 2018
Back to Basics: How to Read Shakespeare
Today is Shakespeare’s birthday, so to celebrate I thought I’d share another post in my Back to Basics series. Last time our focus was on reading and understanding poetry, and today we’re taking things one step farther by focusing on the man, the myth, the legend: William Shakespeare. Today’s post starts with some overall tips […]
Half Gods by Akil Kumarasamy
Half Gods by Akil Kumarasamy is a new collection of short stories that all touch in some way upon the journeys of two brothers who are both named after demigods from the ancient text The Mahabharata. These stories, while spanning great distances in geography and time, all feel like parts of a larger work, a […]
Review: Maisie Dobbs
Over Spring Break I picked up the first book in the Maisie Dobbs series at a used bookstore, and I managed to have one of those fun reading days where you get to camp out and read a book from cover to cover beforethe day is over. I love it when I can finish a […]
Review: Persuasion by Jane Austen
I honestly don’t remember the first time I read Persuasion, but it was definitely after I had already read several other novels by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, as you can imagine, was the first novel of hers I read, followed by Emma and others. I knew from the opening pages of Persuasion, however, that it would be my […]
Back to Basics: How to Read a Poem
In January I started a series called “Back to Basics” where I broke down some common reading issues we all face. The series started with a post on finding time to read, and then I also wrote about reading comprehension and making connections with other texts. Today, in honor of National Poetry Month and this […]
London Calling (Again)
One of these days you guys are going to get tired of me writing travel posts about the UK. But even when that day does arrive, I won’t stop! I lived and studied in Oxford for a term when I was in college, and the rest is history. I visited again with my Mom in […]
12 Months of Books: April Suggestions
Of all the themes we’ve been reading together for this year’s Reading Challenge, so far I’ve been most excited about planning April’s–poems and plays. April is national poetry month, and it’s also the birth month of William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright in English literature. That’s why I selected this theme for our 2018 reading journey! […]
A Way Other Than Our Own by Walter Brueggemann
And now, says the poet, there is another way. It is not your way. You would not have imagined this alternative way nor been able to predict it, and you surely cannot control it. There is a way into the future of your life, because God is at work doing strange, wondrous things for you […]
Book Fifty 