I'm a bit bookish. It's not a secret that I love all things Anne of Green Gables and all things Austen (yes, even Fanny Price). And no matter how many times I read Little Women, I will get all teary-eyed because it's just so wonderful. So when I saw an etsy shop with gorgeous original art and saw Anne and Diana's familiar faces and the Dashwood sisters and Marmee and her four girls, I jumped for … [Read more...]
In Defense of Fanny Price: Why You Don’t Like Mansfield Park as Much as You Should
I’m re-reading Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park for the fourth time as part of an online book club. As we make our way through the book, I’m hearing all the comments I expected to hear about the book: “This is my least favorite Austen novel.” "Fanny just isn’t likable.” “Why is she so boring and prudish?” “Mary Crawford would make a much better heroine.” “Lighten up, Fanny.” And those reactions are … [Read more...]
Miniseries Monday: Jane Austen’s Emma
Welcome to the second Miniseries Monday! I'm Ellie, Haley is my best friend, and we love each other partly because of and through our mutual love of miniseries. And musicals. We also love musicals. We discussed it and decided that Miniseries Monday would be pretty loosely arranged. Last time we did a comparison between three versions of Jane Eyre. Two were feature films, and only one was a … [Read more...]
10 Books You Must Read to Your Son
After 10 Books You Must Read to Your Daughter, I thought the boys were getting rather left out. Having never been a boy, this list didn't come as naturally. But, being the mother of a boy it seems equally important. Basically, I want my son to be a confident, thoughtful, compassionate, strong-minded, and virtuous man like Mr. Knightley, not a weak, desire-driven, selfish cad like Willoughby. So … [Read more...]
10 Books You Must Read to Your Daughter (Or How to Keep Your Daughter From Ending Up Like That Horrid Girl in Twilight)
So now we have a baby daughter. Look how she slumbers. She doesn’t even know that I stay up at night worrying about her self-image. And, oh horrors! What if someday she wants to read Stephanie Meyer’s literary atrocity, the Twilight series? You know the one, the books featuring a non-descript female protagonist who, in addition to having no interests or talents of any kind (other than smelling … [Read more...]
This Week’s Miscellany: Vol. 4
Coming up in the Liturgical Year: Feast of the Epiphany this Friday! Planning to say goodbye to Christmastide by putting away the Christmas ornaments with Benjamin and giving the Nativity scene one last hurrah by telling the story of the Wise Men one last time before putting it away. And Daniel will probably read T. S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi" aloud for us. Listening: I finally … [Read more...]
