What I Read and Watched in February 2024

We arrived back in Brazil in January which is summer vacation month. Hence we were able to ease back into our ministry responsibilities and I had loads of time for reading. I read (or finished up) nine books in January and eight in February.

J.K. Rowling's The Christmas Pig was my favorite January read (reviewed here) and the quirky movie "Esio Trot" with Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman was my favorite movie. (I purposedly did not post a trailer because they all give the story away!)

In February I read more non-fiction than usual. Stories of Faith and Courage from World War II was an excellent overview of the war with inspiring stories (review forthcoming), How to Flourish was an abridged version of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Then came two books on the Christian life with an emphasis on prayer. Henri Nouwen's The Way of the Heart dovetailed nicely with The Dazzling Darkness by Guy Bowden (review forthcoming). Interestingly, both had completely different takes on what it means to "pray without ceasing." A Quiet Life in 7 Steps by Susan Cain was one of the dumbest books I've read in a long time. Cain makes a not-too-convincing case for spirituality without God. 

I read two books in preparation for the Literary Life Podcast. Howards End surprised me by being much more than a comedy of manners. Many snippets of its excellent prose went into my commonplace book. The second LLP title was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which I liked more than I thought I would. Last of all, I read Esio Trot by Roald Dahl after I saw the movie, but it wasn't nearly as delightful.

We mostly watched selections from our DVDs (My Three Sons, Perry Mason, I Love Lucy). We had our annual viewing of True Grit, which, in spite of its violence and rough language, is one of our favorites for its excellent filming and storytelling. And the soundtrack!

Blessings,