Tag: book club

Swamplands

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends!! Happy Saturday and blessings be upon you. I shan’t write long. Burritos are in the oven and dinner shall be enjoyed shortly. And I hope to read a couple chapters of Lewis before then. But just thought I’d write a few words as I finally sit down and rest this day. It’s been a good Saturday but a busy one! Up and out the door before 6 to go to discipleship group. Good times were had there, then some errands before back home to see Dani. Then soon enough…off to book club at 10 to discuss the previously reviewed Jurassic Park. Solid discussion even if the book itself was not my favourite! Grateful for those friends. Following that…back home again for lunch and some more time with Dani. Then at 2? Off down south to go to a birthday party for little Ella (Daniel and Eunice’s daughter who is somehow now 9…what). Enjoyed some quality discussion times with the dads there and my heart was much encouraged. Sometimes kid birthday parties are worth it after all eh? Eventually drove back north and home again for the final time. Football on the TV! Haven’t watched the Gators this season and so it was a treat to watch them take it to Ole Miss (ranked 5 currently). Florida looked…good? They actually have a competent offense now? The mind boggles. It was a good football day elsewhere as well, as Iowa took out Michigan. Go Hawkeyes! While the football was footballing, I was also cooking and prepping for the burritos now residing in the oven. Now? Kitchen clean, freshly showered and about to enjoy a bit of reading. It is good to be busy and accomplish things and talk to all the peoples but…well, it’s also good to rest. Thankful to my Father God for granting me such. Also grateful for dear friends and family…some of my favourite moments of the day were my car phone conversations with Dad and Laura. Ah how I miss them.

Well. I’ve rambled enough. Time to close this laptop and open a book.

With a Cherry On Top

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends! A Saturday morning here. Dani making some breakfast and the plans for the day still to be decided. For now? Decided I would try and catch up on a few of my latest reads! I’m dreadfully behind ahhh!! Well, I will make this quick.

58. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. Yup, decided it was time for another re-read. I do love this series, it is warm and comforting like a fluffy blanket on a cold day. This first book? It is simple and sweet. Very much a typical children’s book in that classic British boarding school tradition. The writing is pedestrian and the plot is very basic. If this were the only book in the series, I doubt Harry Potter would be the cultural institution it is today. Yet? The imagination in this book is wonderful and all the groundwork Rowling sets up to give the world its colour and sparkle is something to behold. I am always a bit jealous of Rowling’s imagination! There is so much colour in this book, so many little details that make Harry’s world feel so utterly real.

59. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. Rowling finds her groove in this one. Her writing already feels much more confident and the story itself much more compelling. Yes still obviously a children’s tale, yet I felt myself enraptured by the story yet again even though I’ve read this one who knows how many times! I still find the spider scene one of the most terrifying scenes in all of the seven books. And the end confrontation scene between Harry & Riddle/basilisk is simply top notch. Beyond all that? Rowling continues to fill in her world and once again, I find it so pleasurable simply to immerse myself in it.

60. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. Another rollicking tale and probably the last one that feels purely like a children’s book. There is some time travel wonkiness yet Rowling does a great job of making it make sense as you read. It’s only after the fact that you start going “Wait a second…” I like seeing the children continue to grow up and their characters continue to deepen.

61. The Door by Magda Szabó. I don’t know if I can exactly call this a beautiful book, but wow is it a good one. It’s certainly one of the finest written books I’ve read in quite some time. I thought this might be a bit of a struggle to get through, yet once I started, the story pulled me in and I never slowed down. This is a challenging piece of fiction. It’s a fascinating character study and relational drama both. And I’m not sure when I’ve last read a book that made me think so much, both about the complex natures of individuals and the way we interact with those we love. Of course there’s a lot here that would likely make a bit more sense if I had grown up in Hungary, yet even so there is much here that transcends culture. This book does not shy away from the darker nature within all of us. Some passages are truly disturbing, some elements that horrify in their brutality and rawness. There are no black and white characters here, each character multi-faceted and understandable in their motivations even as you cringe a bit at their behaviour throughout. I’m grateful I read this one – the prose is truly top notch and the story strong. Will I re-read this anytime soon? Probably not, yet it has earned a place on my shelf. I loved this one. Of course I’m biased a bit, already loving Hungary, its culture and its people. I need to read more Hungarian fiction, I think.

Home By Eleven

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends! A rainy Saturday here and it’s nice to be warm and dry inside with nothing on the agenda this evening. Well, maybe some reading and perhaps some Great British Baking Show shenanigans. And I do hope some reading as well! But we shall see. I’m a bit tired but it’s not even 7pm yet so surely I can’t even start to consider bedtime yet. So thought I’d log a few of my latest reads and perhaps I’ll write more later? Nah I don’t want to promise that. But here we go, let’s talk about some books most briefly.

26. Disaster on Windy Hill by Lois Walfrid Johnson. The Northwoods series comes to a close! I do like this book and think it’s a lovely little capstone to the series. Finally they are all back at home again and we get the whole family and Kate continues to grow up and though the plot is pretty basic, the character arc is what matters here. Love to see Kate growing up into a strong woman of God. And some truly memorable scenes here, my favourite being when Kate witnesses Papa go out to the woods to seek the Lord and read the Bible in a time of hardship and fear. Might I remember this. Where do I go when I fear and my heart quakes? May I also cry out to the Lord in my distress, to one who shows lovingkindness to me his child!

27. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde. Another absurd romp by the literary mastermind Fforde. He really is quite a clever writer and I found myself much amused by this one. I suppose it really helps to have a good grounding in books and literary topics and I doubt I would have appreciated this one half as much if I read it fifteen years ago. Reading it now…well, it was simply superb. I don’t want to spoil overmuch, but the first part of the book is good, though just kind of ridiculous and off the wall. But about halfway through, when Thursday starts to enter other…er…dimensions…the book just becomes superb , tickling my fancy to the extreme. If you are a book lover and appreciate a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is wacky and fun and also chockfull of clever wordplay and bookish illusions….well, you’ve come to the right place.

28. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Didn’t quite think I’d read this book again so soon after my last read, but ended up reading it for book club this month and though I probably could have foregone the read and just gone off memory…of course I had to read it again. And oh this one still delights. Some may wonder why this book resonates so much with my soul. I doubt I can fully explain but I just know my heart thrills when reading this one. Such simple sweetness, such profound beauty. I love reading of the good and the beautiful and the human, and this book delights in all the ways. It’s brilliantly written – Montgomery has such a way with words and so many wonderful turns of phrase. The humour is top-notch and I found myself laughing out loud multiple times as I read! Yes Anne is a bit ridiculous and at times overly whimsical and full of drama. Oh so many mishaps and misadventures! Still yet we see her grow into a young woman who loves deeply and begins to think of others before herself. I do so love how the author alternates between scenes of nature that delight the imagination and lengthy passages of dialogue where you can just hear Anne speaking her heart and soul. This book is one that reminds me of the sheer beauty of the world in which we walk and breathe and also speaks of the wonder of what it is to be human. So many times as I read a short descriptive paragraph of the path Anne was walking, I found myself smiling as my heart warmed as I imagined walking there myself.

I did find one passage that I marked in a past read and I wondered why it was the only passage I had marked off. Read it and then nodded to myself. Yup, I agree with past James. This passage thrums a chord deep in my heart and I shall close with this now. “It’s nice to be eating ice cream at brilliant restaurants at eleven o’clock at night once in awhile; but as a regular thing I’d rather be in the east gable at eleven, sound asleep, but kind of knowing even in my sleep that the stars were shining outside and that the wind was blowing in the firs across the brook.”