What I Read and Watched in July 2026

My reading was limited, but rich, this month. I finished Volume 8 of John Wesley's Works (mostly correspondence), which I enjoyed. One of my goals this year is to read the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Aeneid. I read the Aeneid last month so this month I listened to Elizabeth Vandiver's lectures on Homer's Odyssey and then listened to the audiobook (narrated by the marvelous Dan Stevens.) I did not know that there was a new Odyssey film coming out till I finished the book, but it definitely made it easier to understand what all the criticisms of the film were about. 

To round out the month, I read two delightful shorter books: My Dear Charlotte by Hazel Holt and Lassie, Come-Home by Eric Knight.

I watched two patriotic movies in July. The Wings of Eagles starred John Wayne playing naval aviator Frank Wead (1895-1947). He and Maureen O'Hara have great rapport, but it was hard to believe her as a hard drinking American wife. The film was directed by film-genius John Ford so I was surprised at how much slapstick was included. And it actually pained my heart to see Wayne, someone who always plays "bigger-than-life" characters, limping along with canes. 

A Bell for Adano (based on John Hersey's Pulitzer Prize winning book) was my second film. It is about a small Italian town ravaged by World War II and the American major who comes to restore order. John Hodiak's wooden acting was grating, but William Bendix shone as his underling. It could have been heartwarming if it hadn't been so depressing. 

The highlight of the month was Project Hail Mary, which I enjoyed so much that I'm going to write a separate blog post about it. 

What about you? Did you read or watch anything related to American Independence Day?

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in October 2025

One of the items on my schedule recently was to fly to Sri Lanka and speak at a few events planned by my sister who is a missionary there.

The 20-hour trip allowed me to watch more than my usual quota of movies so I was able to watch three that have been on my radar for a couple of years. "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) had come highly recommended by Anthony Esolen (in his monthly newsletter "Word and Song"). It managed to be quite funny while still addressing some serious issues. "The Miracle Club" (2023) is a story about four women who leave Dublin to go to Lourdes seeking healing for various maladies. Mostly, they just need healing for their brokenness. Will God grant a miracle? Or is it all false propaganda? The movie shows that there is more than one way to be cured. It was especially poignant for being Maggie Smith's last performance.

The final in-flight movie was "The Great Escaper" with Michael Caine, the true story of an 80-year-old WWII veteran who flees from his nursing home in England to attend D-Day celebrations in Normandy. Caine is brilliant in the role and I loved the conclusions made about the value of a life well-lived. (Please note that airplane movies are often edited to be more family friendly so I do not know if the original movies had bedroom scenes or heavy profanity.)

I was able to do quite a bit of reading during my travels and enjoyed two Ngaio Marsh titles: Surfeit of Lampreys (#10 in the Roderick Alleyn series) and Death and the Dancing Footmen (#11) both of which were excellent mysteries.

When I got back to Brazil, I read two books about WWII in the movies, and watched a film (on YouTube) from 1943 called "First Comes Courage" about a female spy in Norway. It had its cheesy moments, but it was VERY suspenseful.

I also enjoyed an abridged version of Emma, wonderfully narrated by Emma Thompson.

Finally, I had a glorious serendipitous moment this month. I've been reading three fables a week from Ovid's Metamorphoses. On a Monday I read the story of Pomona, a woman gardener who I had never heard of before. On Tuesday, I was reading a Richard Crashaw poem about rotten apricots and he blames Pomona (!) Later I saw a reference to her in Little Women.

Don't you just love the literary life?

Blessings,

Worthwhile Movie #23 - The Quiet Man (1952)

BBC period dramas and classic black-and-white films are my entertainment of choice, but it has taken me a few years to learn to appreciate John Wayne. I thought he was good in The Searchers and okay in 3 Godfathers. The first hint that I had of his charisma and charm was in Stagecoach, but the other Wayne movies I’ve watched seemed like run-of-the-mill westerns.

When Anthony Esolen featured The Quiet Man as his film-of-the-week (Substack newsletter), I decided to give Wayne another try. I had seen the movie many years ago and thought it a pleasant bit of romantic fluff, but Esolen gave me eyes to look at it in a new way. He said that the movie is actually about quietness. 

He writes, Prizefighter Sean Thornton, an Irish-American living in Pittsburgh, has killed his opponent in the ring. It’s an accident, but Sean can’t accept that. So Sean will never fight again, but instead moves back to the old family homestead in a village in Ireland, to farm and pick up the rest of his life, as a peaceful man. He’s made a vow never to throw a punch again. That’s what he intends, but sometimes a man has to fight, regardless of what he’d like, especially if he is fighting for something — or someone — he loves.

In addition to the excellent acting by both Wayne (playing Sean Thornton), Maureen O’Hara (playing Mary Kate Danaher) and the rest of the cast, the scenery is gorgeous and John Ford’s filming is stunning. Mary Kate and Sean fall in love, but his refusal to fight for something that she believes to be her right, gets their relationship off to a rocky start.

Esolen concludes his essay, In many ways, The Quiet Man is a film for those who believe in marriage and who know that what men and women do is that staggering and monumental thing, so closely related to tending the soil with love and care: they make children. The dialogue is priceless, yet it all seems perfectly natural, not stylized. We like everybody in The Quiet Man, even granite-jawed old Will Danaher, and there are gestures in the film that are unforgettable for a kind of down-to-earth nobility that I can’t find so well expressed in any other film except for John Ford’s own How Green Was My Valley. Ford was a poet of scene and dialogue and music, and of silences that are more filled with meaning than any words can be. But above all, when you watch this film, have fun! And thank God for the two great sexes that animate the world, because if it weren’t for them, where would we be? 

The only free version of the film is a video tape transfer at Internet Archive. If you watch the movie, you will greatly appreciate reading this article about the film AFTER you view it. I loved it, but I'm glad I didn't read it first because of all the spoilers.

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in August

I've been too busy recently to do these recaps, but this month I watched two movies that were too good not to mention. A Hidden Life  tells the true story of Franz Jagerstatter (an Austrian who refused to pledge allegience to Hitler), and shows the terrible consequences he suffered. It is beautifully filmed (though the constant shots of windows and doorways seemed a bit quirky at times) and very harrowing. We had to spread it out - an hour a night for three nights. Not exactly a "feel-good" movie, but our hearts were strengthened after viewing it. 

No Highway in the Sky is an underrated gem that we found on YouTube with Jimmy Stewart as the proverbial "absent-minded professor." But this is no comedy. Theodore Honey is a widower. He is an aeronautical engineer who believes that a newly manufactured plane has not been tested sufficiently, and he goes to great lengths to prove that it is not safe for flying. There are many poignant moments and wonderful acting by Stewart - and also by Janette Scott (who plays his young daughter) and Glynis Johns and Marlene Dietrich (who both fall for him). The movie was extremely engaging and had a good balance of light and tense moments.

I also finished three books that I've been reading for months: The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis (Vol. 1), Poems and Letters of Emily Dickinson, and Listening to God in Difficult Times by Kay Arthur (a three month deep dive into the book of Jeremiah.)

I continue to plow through the Mitford series and read books 8 to 10: Shepherds Abiding, Light from Heaven, and Home to Holly Springs. I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook of Agatha Christie's The Secret of Chimneys and C.N. Williamson's vinatage novel, Set in Silver. (review coming soon)

Honorable mention goes to an excellent book I finished in July that will be reviewed here soon: A Fugue in Time by Rumer Godden. 

It was a great month! Has anyone else enjoyed these movies or books?

Blessings,

Worthwhile Movie #21 - BBC's North and South

It’s been four years since I have recommended a movie, but a recent viewing of BBC’s 2004 production of North and South proved that good movies still exist if you are willing to look for them.  

Based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1854 novel, North and South tells the story of how Reverend Richard Hale moves his family from the (traditional) south of England to the (industrial) north after he loses his curacy due to “matters of conscience.” Living at reduced means with a sickly wife, Mr. Hale tutors young pupils and even gives lessons in Latin to John Thornton, overseer of a large cotton mill.  

One of the main story lines is how Hale’s genteel daughter, Margaret, adapts to this new reality. Members of Milton's upper class are suspicious of her father’s mysterious departure from the ministry and do not welcome her into their circle. She reaches out to several factory workers, but they misunderstand her overtures of friendship. It is delightful to watch her grow as she stumbles along (yet persists) in building relationships under these difficult circumstances. 

A secondary story, but a no less crucial one, is about the dynamics of power. Are all the factory owners villains who care only for money and not a bit for the laborers? Do the workers have a right to strike for better wages? In our present-day understanding (relying heavily on a “critical theory mood”), there are only two categories: the oppressed and the oppressor. No “master” can ever be right. And the oppressed can never be wrong. I was stunned by the deft, nuanced handling of these subjects in this film. It would have not been made in the same way today.

Third, is the love story, which, though central to the narrative, was understated, simmering just below the surface for the most part. I love a story of unrequited love (don’t ask me why!) so the fact that it took four hours for the romantic misunderstandings to be resolved was fine by me. I also appreciated that the lead characters were not over the top good-looking. He was a little too hawk-nosed and she a little too plump by Hollywood standards, yet they were perfection in their respective roles.

I am not sure where this can be streamed (maybe Brit Box?), but we found it on DVD and were so glad to have discovered it. Now I have to go back and re-read the novel!

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in November

When I'm overwhelmed, I do more movie viewing than book reading, so November was light on books. I finished the excellent Norms and Nobility by David Hicks, which is a marvelous book primarily about the fundamentals of classical education, but secondarily about what it takes to be a flourishing, virtuous society. (It's pricey so I'm glad my library had a copy.) Next came Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey, which I really liked after getting past the feminist intro and reading the actual diaries (last 1/5 of the book);  then came Rose-Garden Husband (a fluffy vintage novel), which fit the reading mood I was in. Edith Schaeffer's Hidden Art was not difficult reading, but my brain couldn't quite take it in.  

I enjoyed all the films I watched this month. We like the older Hitchcock movies because they are less grizzly and have a good dose of humor in them. Dan and I watched Foreign Correspondent (1940) and The Lady Vanishes (1938) on YouTube. On another date night we enjoyed I am David (2003) for its good acting and filming. By myself I watched the classic holiday film, The Shop Around the Corner, with the wonderful Jimmy Stewart. I also chuckled through Signed, Sealed and Delivered for Christmas.

Ever have months when reading just seems impossible? With less deadlines in December, I'm hoping to improve! 

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in October 2023

Our rented apartment has no television so I continue to get a remarkable amount of reading done. The books I read in order of most-to-least appealing were 1) The Bridge on San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (simply astonishing in its breadth of understanding of the human condition), 2) The King's Equal by Katherine Paterson (a delightful fairy tale with a strong, yet feminine heroine), 3) Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson (1957 Newbery winner), 4) Reading for the Love of God by Jessica Hooten Wilson, 5) When the English Fall by David Williams (dystopia in an Amish community), 6) On Asking God Why by Elisabeth Elliot (collected essays), 7) Out of a Far Country (non-fiction redemption story), 8) The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart (I love her suspense novels, but this one droned on for 150 pages before my heart rate even mildly accelerated.)

The movies that I watched on my computer were: The African Queen (via Hoopla), which was a fun classic that my husband and I both enjoyed. On YouTube I started to watch a Hallmark mystery called The Curious Caterer, but turned it off after 5 painful minutes of poor acting, banal script and odd situations. The Carrot Cake Murder is a sequel of sorts to the Murder, She Baked movies that I've raved about, but was so badly done that I barely hung on until the end. Finally, I watched another Hallmark mystery (via Frndly TV), The Dancing Detective. The male character was over-the-top ridiculous, but he kept me laughing. Plus, the footage of Malta was breathtaking. 

I linked to the books so you could read more about them, but I read all of them from library, thrift store or loaned copies. Hopefully, so can you. 

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched this Summer 2023

We were on the road most of July and didn't watch anything. But in August we settled into our apartment and had a few evenings free to use my Hoopla account. I like Hallmark mysteries but the Darrow and Darrow pilot was a huge disappointment. Not only was it cheesy, the acting and script were embarrassingly bad. The way the case was solved went against one the chief rules of detective fiction: a true mystery must include clues that the reader (or viewer) can see for themselves. The resolution of the mystery cannot come out of nowhere. Secondly was Dog Jack (a true Civil War story), which was also poorly acted and scripted.  On the bright side, we really enjoyed C.S. Lewis: The Most Reluctant Convert, which we watched at a friend's house.

My reading choices paid much bigger dividends. Except for Le Morte d'Arthur, which I ditched after 15 hours (of the 30 hour audiobook), everything else I read in July was good: Thornyhold by Mary Stewart, The Musgraves by D.E. Stevenson, The Truth and Beauty by Klavan, and the vintage novel, The Clue of the Twisted Candle, by Edgar Wallace. In August I enjoyed Deborah Crombie's A Share in Death. Because it was an audiobook, I could not skip over the swearing, but I thought Crombie's prose was exceptionally beautiful. I liked her detective and his sidekick too. Finally, I read Robert Farrar Capon's The Supper of the Lamb, which I loved. (review forthcoming)

All of these titles are reviewed on Goodreads, but I cannot figure out how to link to my reviews with their new configurations.

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in June 2023

This was a hectic month as we taught our classes, kept up with ministry responsibilities, and tied up loose ends before leaving our apartment for six months of home assignment. I am looking forward to easy access to libraries and cheap books in the U.S!

The books I read in June are listed in order of favorite to least favorite, although I enjoyed them all:

All the Light We Cannot See by Doerr, which I reviewed at Goodreads. (some foul language, but what an amazing story!)

Holy Happiness by Kinlaw - a superb series of sermons on Genesis 1-3 

Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney seemed a little hokey at first, but when I began to put it into practice, I received rich dividends. Still learning how to pray through the Psalms. 

The Way to Pentecost by Chadwick was another devotional book that encouraged me to trust in Christ's strength and not my own.

The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis - I learned a lot, but it was uphill climbing.

A Maid in Arcady by Ralph Henry Barbour - Vintage fiction that I read when sidelined by a bad cold.

I finished up three books that I have been reading for months: All Things Wise and Wonderful has been our date night read-aloud since September of last year and evoked much laughter and a few tears. I started Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories in January, but finished it early because I couldn't just read one a day. I also finished Living a Life of True Worship, my favorite 40-minute Bible study from Precept Ministries.

 All our Friday night movies this month were via my library's Hoopla app. Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poitier (for which he won an Oscar) was delightful. The Hallmark Hall of Fame, Harvest of Fire was also excellent. (The trailer makes it look a lot more melodramatic than it was. And I got a kick out of seeing Eric Mabius from the Signed, Sealed, Delivered movies as a gawky teenager.) Finally, we watched the Hallmark mystery, Abracadavar, which had just the right amount of suspense for me (very little. ha!) 

What about you? Did you read or watch anything commendable?

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in April 2023

Does anyone iron anymore? Since dryers are a rarity here in Brazil, I set up my ironing board every few weeks to spruce up my husband's dress shirts, and my task is often lightened by the viewing of an old movie. This month I found a little comedy gem called The Peterville Diamond (1943), which though not Oscar-worthy, had some fun one-liners and a clever little plot. Later in the month my husband and I watched the classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, (1939). Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur are two of my favorites and they were in rare form in this film. My library has started carrying some Hallmark Hall of Fame movies (precursors to the cheesy present-day Hallmark films), and I enjoyed Remember Sunday about a man whose aneurysm causes him to wake up each morning with no short term memory. The acting was excellent, and despite the fact that it is a love story with comedic elements, it is definitely not a romantic comedy. 

I had an amazing reading month beginning with King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green, which started me on a huge Arthurian legend rabbit trail. I followed this up with James Knowles' Legends of King Arthur and His Knights, which I enjoyed even more. I have been an avid reader of classic literature all my life. How am I so late to this party?????

Uncle Tom's Cabin was my audiobook of the month. Not a perfect book, but much better than I was expecting.(review forthcoming) The other books I read were Out to Canaan, A New Song and A Common Life by Jan Karon (books 4-6 in the Mitford series). I also finished the excellent Prayers in the Night by Tish Warren, Preparing for Easter (readings based on C.S. Lewis' writings), and Lord, Teach Me to Pray in 28 Days by Kay Arthur. 

It seems like I read a lot, but I had been reading three of the books for some time and happened to finally finish them up in April. 

Any King Arthur fans out there? Any other thoughts on this film/book list? 

Blessings,

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,

What I Read and Watched in April

We've had some busy months and I miss writing leisurely blog posts. In spite of the busyness, I've been able to read a lot on busses and in cars as we've zipped around. Much of what I read was for the Literary Life 2022 challenge:

I read three fiction titles: The Enchanted April was fun though I had a few reservations about it (reviewed here). The Fair Miss Fortune by D. E. Stevenson was also a nice break from some of the heavier books I'm reading (reviewed here). Lastly, I finished Paradiso as part of the 100 Days of Dante challenge. I barely scratched the surface of this classic and hope to revisit it now that I've gotten over my trauma about reading it. 

My three non-fiction titles were: Israel, Palestine and Peace by Amos Oz (reviewed here), Key Principles of Biblical Fasting by Kay Arthur (reviewed here), and The Narnian by Alan Jacobs (reviewed here). 

We didn't have a lot of time for TV or movies, but we watched one episode of The Chosen each week leading up to Easter. My husband hates rom-coms, but I convinced him to watch Finding Normal because Candace Cameron Bure always makes a fluffy movie better. Our son showed us the first three episodes of Hawkeye (a new Marvel series), which would have been wonderfully family friendly except for all the swearing. If you watch a lot of TV it won't bother you, but somehow I don't think that is true for most of my readers. Last of all, I found the movie version of The Enchanted April on YouTube, but did not love it as much as the book.

What about you? Did you read or watch anything you can recommend?

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in June

I finished up a busy teaching schedule this month, reading only in snatches (early in the day and late in the evening). In general, though, if I had a free half hour, I watched a bit of a Hallmark mystery on YouTube. The acting is better in some films than others, but the mystery is usually interesting, and the romance takes a back seat, which I appreciate. The two movies that took me by surprise were from the Signed, Sealed, Delivered series. (From Paris with Love, Higher Ground) The premise of the show is that a team of four "postal detectives" try to match up letters from the dead letter office with their intended recipients.

I had tried to watch the series before, but thought the characters were too dorky. I discovered, however, that they grow on you. The acting is good and the characters' personal histories are interesting. (They each have experienced brokenness, which adds a richness to their stories) The music is great and the literary quotes dropped by the straight-laced Oliver O' Toole are a delight. The creator of the series, Martha Williamson, was head writer for the Touched by an Angel series and is not afraid to include elements of faith in the conversations. All in all, this has become a new favorite.

Books that I was able to complete this month were (1) Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes, a great mystery that I'll be reviewing next week. (2) Ideas Freely Sown by Anne White, a book about Charlotte Mason's teaching methods, which I read for Cindy Rollins' summer class. (3) So Much Generosity by Michael Greaney (overview of many Catholic novels), (4) Prodigal God by Timothy Keller, which was good but didn't dazzle me like his Meaning of Marriage and Counterfeit Gods. Finally, I read Rod Dreher's fascinating Live Not by Lies (also for Cindy Rollins' class), which I'll be reviewing soon. 

Did you read or watch anything in June that you'd recommend?

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in May

Another exceptionally busy (but fulfilling) month meant I could barely fit in time for reading: Fahrenheit 451 was a great re-read along with the Literary Life podcast group. All the rest were new-to-me titles. Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson was a nice, light novel. Miss Plum and Miss Penny by D.E. Smith was another pleasant vintage novel. It had a few brilliant moments, but I rarely engaged with any of the characters. Unfortunately, I've become quite attached to the folks who live in Thrush Green (12 novels by Miss Read), and no other villagers seem to match up.

I finished up with two non-fiction books: Dorothy Sayers' Mind of the Maker and a book in Portuguese for my theology class (Introdução à Teologia Armínio-Wesleyana by Vinicius Couto), which was excellent. 

I squeezed in a movie each week: Three Hallmark mysteries (Dating is Murder and Murder, With Love, which are Hailey Dean Mysteries, and The Peach Cobbler Mystery - from the Murder, She Baked series). My husband I also watched the newest episodes of The Chosen, season two. 

Blessings,

Cozy Christmas Suggestions

Most of us will be having quieter Christmas celebrations this year. And that's okay. It's a good thing that we'll focus less on shopping frenzies and over-full calendars and have more time to pay attention to the real meaning of the season.

I am reading some Christmas-themed books (A Christmas Carol, Shepherds Abiding and Letters from Father Christmas). I also plan to listen to Hercule Poirot's Christmas on YouTube, narrated by Hugh Fraser. In my early days of blogging I wrote about two free audiobooks that you might enjoy.

We are getting ready for our annual viewing of the movie, The Nativity Story, reviewed here. I also have some suggestions for lesser-known holiday films here. Last of all, I'm enjoying quiet, worshipful music in addition to the peppier tunes. Another blog post from yesteryear highlights some of those songs. 

May you have a peaceful and blessed Christmas,  

What I Read and Watched in October

Thanks to Agatha Christie, I'm finally out of my 2020 reading slump! It makes me so happy to have several books going at once when for so long it's been hard for me to get through just one.

I finished listening to book one of the Tommy and Tuppence series, The Secret Adversary, which I enjoyed immensely. I also listened to Jane Eyre while reading along in an annotated version that  was very helpful with the French phrases and obscure literary references. My other pick for Victober was Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell. I am overly sensitive to relentless suffering, so this was not an easy read (even though there was an eventual happy ending). 

I finished Knowing God after many months of careful reading. I am not a Calvinist so I saw more areas of disagreement than when I read it three decades ago. Still, it's a Christian classic for good reason. I've also been working my way through an old hymnal this year - one or two hymns per day - and finished it up early in the month. I read and enjoyed P.D. James Talking About Detective Fiction. Serendipitously, I read it at the same time I was reading book two of the T&T series, Partners in Crime, which was also a nod to the golden age of detective fiction. 

As far as movies go my husband and I watched the original True Grit with John Wayne. We liked it, but it lacked some of the haunting beauty of the recent remake. We also watched the Netflix program called The Social Dilemma about how internet platforms are designed to make us tech addicts.

I watched a few Hallmark mysteries: Aurora Teagarden: A Bone to Pick, Death on Duty: A Hailey Dean mystery, 15 min of Dead Over Diamonds (terrible acting) Mystery 101: Dead Talk, Emma Fielding: More Bitter than Death (both male leads were awful actors). I'm used to bad acting in the romance movies because the actors and sets are more eye candy than anything, but in general the mysteries have been far superior in that department. 

Anybody else read any Victorian lit this month? Watched any good, clean movies?

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in September

I watched an insane amount of movies this month. My only excuse is that I had an intense teaching schedule that took up all my days and three of my evenings. When it came time for R&R, I did not want to read. But when I realized that I'd watched 10 movies in the first TWO weeks of September, I put an abrupt halt to my film watching and made myself tackle a few books on my TBR stack.

Two of the movies were Dan in Real Life and Courtship of Eddie's Father. (Normally my husband won't watch romantic comedies with me, but consented to these two favorites for my birthday weekend.) Six were Hallmark mysteries, the best of which were the Hailey Dean Mysteries: Killer Sentence and Murder with Love. They were a little edgier than normal (hence the PG rating), but the writing and acting were good. The interracial friendships were satisfying because according to the American media, blacks and whites are doomed to never EVER being able to get along. I don't buy that.

We watched True Grit (the Cohen brother version) twice since my husband loved it so much. Then I had to read the book, of course, which was almost word-for-word as same as the movie.

In addition to True Grit, I read Little Britches by Ralph Moody which was pretty good, but not quite as winsome as the Little House books. Seaboard Parish by George MacDonald had a lot of good quotes, but the characters were not as interesting (nor the story as compelling) as Book One, The Quiet Neighborhood, had been. True Grit by Charles Portis was engaging, but the book I could not put down was Agatha Christie's By the Pricking of Her Thumbs. (Reviews for both of these will be posted soon.) 

I'm picking out a few books to read for Victober with Kate Howe. Her youtube video explains more about it.

Blessings,

Two "Beautiful" Movies (Worthwhile Movies #19 and #20)

I saw my two favorite movies of 2019 back to back. Two weeks before Christmas my husband and I went to see "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" with Tom Hanks. We usually enjoy anything Hanks does, but I was nervous about how Mr. Rogers might be portrayed. Would they make him look like a total goofball? Would they try so hard to show that he had feet of clay that we would lose our respect for him?

Thankfully, none of those fears were realized. The story is just as much about the hard-nosed reporter sent to interview Rogers as it is about Rogers. The juxtaposition of their two lives gave a wonderful texture to the film. Never too harsh. Never too sweet. The filming was beautiful. Roger's faith was not ignored. Frankly, it's been years since I've felt that good coming out of a movie.

Then a week later, I watched This Beautiful Fantastic. (Amazon Prime). It's quirky beginning requires you to suspend disbelief from the get-go, and the result is a magical ride through the life of recluse Bella Brown (played wonderfully by Jessica Brown Findlay of Downton Abbey). Bella has anxiety issues and only leaves home to work in the library. But through a series of encounters with other unconventional people, she learns to live life more fully. It's a wonderful tale of the messiness of life and of relationships, and yet it celebrates it all. The music, the filming, and the dialogue are top-notch, and I can't wait to watch it again. (Beware of some swearing.)

What was your favorite film in 2019?

Blessings,

Children of Heaven - Worthwhile Movie #18

I was a surprised to see that I haven't done any "worthwhile movie" posts since 2017. If you read my blog, you know that I enjoy films, but rarely do I come across anything that I highly recommend.

That changed last week when we watched the Iranian film, Children of Heaven, a heartwarming story of two children working together to overcome hardship. I purposely did not link to any trailer because it's best to go "blind" into this story. The clips I watched in order to give you a preview made the movie look silly.

Ali and his sister come from a poor family that can barely make ends meet. When he loses a pair of shoes, it creates a minor crisis. He spend the rest of the film trying to redeem himself, but since he chooses not to consult any adults about his problem, he makes some painful mistakes. These difficulties are what keep the movie from being too saccharine and also explain its PG rating.

I appreciated the movie for its lovely filming and for letting me peek into the daily life of an Iranian family (shopping, worship, school, etc). Because you can only understand it by reading the subtitles, be careful not to look away from the screen. My husband looked down for a second near the end and missed a crucial plot element, leaving him quite bewildered as to the final scene. 

This story of the triumph of a brother's love was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 1998. (It lost to Life is Beautiful, another excellent film.)

Blessings,