What I Read and Watched in January

I've had a terrific start to the New Year. If you read this blog regularly, you know I determined to read more physical books for the purpose of more careful reading. (Digital books, whether we admit or not, encourage scanning.) Anyway, I've LOVED the books I've read so far. This may be due to the fact that I read them more attentively OR just due to the fact that I'm very choosy about which books I lug to Brazil with me. Probably both are factors.

The books I read were:
1) The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge - Book One of a wonderful trilogy. Review forthcoming.
2) The Shallows by Nicholas Carr - contains many valid points on how the internet and social media have changed our thinking and reading habits.
3) Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey - a rip-roaring mystery

I read Be Right (Warren Wiersbe's commentary on Romans) on my Kindle as a part of my morning devotions. And listened to What's Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton. (Some of it was laugh-out-loud funny.)

We enjoyed United Kingdom, the story of an interracial marriage that rocked the evolving country of Botswana. This would be a great date night movie since it's based on a true story (something my husband loves) and yet has good acting and a sufficiently happy ending (which I love).

The movie that knocked our socks off was Richard II, the first of four movies in The Hollow Crown series. We've watched Kenneth Branagh's Henry V at least a dozen times so we have accustomed our ears to Shakespearean English. But the pronunciation and clarity of Richard II far outweighed even our beloved H.V. Richard II was not a pleasant story, but it was wonderfully scripted (of course!) and the acting was extraordinary.

Blessings,