What I Read and Watched in March 2023

I am surprised that I read anything at all this month, but in between classes I was able to finish Introduction to a Devout Life by Francis de Sales and 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You. These High, Green Hills (third in the Mitford series) by Jan Karon was the highlight, but Wired Love was also a fun read. Strange title, I know, but it makes more sense when you know it's a vintage novel about two telegraph operators who meet "on the line." My review is here. (All other reviews are forthcoming.)

A heavy teaching schedule meant that I watched a lot more fluff than usual. I enjoyed my favorite movie, Dear Heart, but don't bother looking it up. No one who I have showed it to has liked it. My thoughts on it are here.

The other movies were black-and-white films on YouTube: People Will Talk, (Cary Grant as compassionate doctor), Practically Yours (WWII feel-good movie with Claudette Colbert), and Suddenly It's Spring, which starts out as a fluffy movie about marriage and divorce, and ends up being more substantial. The last two starred Fred MacMurray, who is certainly not handsome, so it intrigues me that he played so many romantic leads. I guess I could say the same for Humphrey Bogart! 

Blessings,

The Priorsford Trilogy by O. Douglas

If you are looking for light-hearted (yet literary) domestic fiction, look no further than the writings of Anna Masterson Buchan (1877-1948). She was the sister of John Buchan (famous for his mystery novels), which may be why she used the pen name of O. Douglas.

Penny Plain - Of the eight novels I've read, this is still my favorite. Jean Jardine lives in a small town in Scotland and is bravely raising her three brothers on very little money and lots of love. Delightful references to books, mouthwatering descriptions of tea parties, and a fairy tale ending make this a delightful read. My extended review is here.

Pink Sugar - Kirsty Gilmour is another plucky heroine who is making the best of a tough situation. After the death of her only remaining parent, she moves to a small town in Scotland to begin life anew. A more detailed review is here. (At the time I am writing this post, Pink Sugar is $2.99 for kindle, but can be bought in a bundle of five Buchan novels for just 99 cents.)

Priorsford - Written ten years after Penny Plain, Priorsford doesn't have quite the same "joie de vivre" as the first book. I gave it only two stars, but now I'm wondering if that had something to do with how low-spirited my reading life was during the pandemic.

The House that is Our Own is not an official part of the Priorsford trilogy, but its protagonist travels to Priorsford and meets all the main characters of the previous books so it's a treat for fans of the Priorsford novels to get a glimpse of Jean Jardine twenty years into her marriage. My review is here. 

I am working my way through AMB's canon and look forward to reading the last four novels as well as her two biographical books, "Unforgettable, Unforgotten" and "Farewell to Priorsford." 

Blessings,

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon (Mitford #1)

I devoured all the Mitford books years ago. According to my book log, I read this first one in 1998. Oddly, I only blogged about one of them (book 12 of 14). I haven't read the last two, so I'm looking forward to that AS SOON AS I re-read the first dozen. 

It was lovely to visit Mitford again this week. In At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon writes charmingly of the trials and tribulations of the folks in a small imaginary town in North Carolina. I wouldn't denigrate it by calling it Christian fiction. Yes, it's clean, and includes talk about God and prayer, but there are no syrupy sweet characters and no easy answers. The main character, Father Timothy, is an Episcopal pastor who has a vibrant faith, but who often struggles with burnout and insecurity. 

And in spite of the light tone (often conveyed through dialogue with hilarious townspeople), Karon manages to pack a lot of suffering into her books. In this one, there is a drug-addicted mom, a woman dying of a heart condition, thwarted love, a prison sentence and a diabetes diagnosis. Yet Karon still manages to deftly weave hope and laughter into each chapter.  

The quirky characters are fleshed out in such a way as to keep them from being caricatures. Take Miss Rose for example. She's a cantankerous nut job who wears a mixture of army surplus and rummage sale clothing and lives in a huge, crumbling house with her husband, Uncle Billy. As the story progresses, we discover that she is bi-polar and makes life miserable for Billy. But he is determined to protect her and love her because "that's what he promised to do." 

It's a lovely book and I can't wait to start the sequel!

P.S. I am stunned at how expensive these are Amazon. Thankfully, I picked up all my copies at thrift stores.

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in February 2023

I read a mixture of theology, light fiction and ancient classics this month. 

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh is a fun mystery and In the Teeth of the Evidence by Dorothy Sayers is a pleasant set of short stories. I read Aristotle's Poetics for the Lit Life podcast and also a children's version of the Iliad by Jeannie Lang. Light fiction included O. Douglas' A House that is Our Own, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also read The Awakening of Miss Prim and the delightful At Home in Mitford. (review forthcoming) Once a year I try to read a title on John Wesley so I read John Wesley and William Law by Green. I liked it, but think it would be boring to any but an avid Wesley fan.  

As far as movies go, we had our yearly viewing of Kenneth Branagh's Henry V. I enjoyed the novel Busman's Honeymoon last year so I watched the black and white movie on YouTube. Lord Peter was played by an American so you can imagine what a desecration it was! I watched it anyway. But worse disappointments were on the way. On the Wings of Eagles is a sequel to Chariots of Fire that barely mentions Liddell's faith and the final episode of season 3 of The Chosen fell flat for me. Is it just me or are seasons 2 and 3 just a shadow of the fine productions we saw in season 1? 

Have you read any of these books? Watched anything that you can recommend? Thoughts on The Chosen?

Blessings,