Two of my siblings are reading The Ashtown Burials for the first time, they read The Dragon's Tooth this past week. I am currently trying to decided how long they should wait before reading The Drowned Vault. With the local library currently closed, I am more glad than ever that I purchased all three books last fall. However I don't want them to rush through the series then not have new books to read for a while. Also I really want to reread them myself.

I'm currently reading Where Eagles Dare by Alastair MacLean, I read it several years ago and enjoyed it very much then. There's more language than what I remember, but overall I am having fun reading it again.

I'm also reading Why I Still Believe by Mary Jo Sharp, I had been rushing to finish this one because it need to be returned to the library, but then the library closed and since then I have only read one chapter.

SnowAngel

I finished up The Man Who Was Thursday, and like you all mentioned, the last chapter was well beyond me. If I have some time I'll have to research into the meaning behind it.

Been meaning to comment on this for nearly two years now.
Did you ever look into this more, fantasia? I have been meaning to, as well, but have not yet.

My four-year-old daughter just LOVED Charlotte's Web (which I just finished last week). I started Homer Price this week and my six-year-old son can't get enough of it.
For those who have read it, there's a chapter in there with doughnuts so we had to go get some doughnuts this afternoon to eat while we finished that chapter up.

Homer Price is the only book I know that has the ability to give me an insane craving for donuts! What I wouldn't give to get my hands on that donut machine]

So glad A. loved Charlotte's Web, fantasia. Has she seen any of the films?
As for Homer Price ... indeed! Such a fun book, which always seems to induce a donut-craving.

Just finished my speed-read of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.

Niiice! I need a re-read soon. My dad is such a Dickens fan that some of his inanimate/non-sentient objects in his apartment are named after beloved Dickens' character, with his computer and email being related to Mr. Samuel Pickwick, himself.

I'd forgotten how well-drawn Dickens' characters can be, and how humourous his work can be. There is a lot of sorrow and injustice in the book too, but I think it makes the understanding of human nature - and the occasions for joy and humour - even brighter.

Hear-hear! I know some folk find the long descriptions very arduous, but to me, they only enhance and make more real these superb tales.

I've been on the hunt for a while now for a modern set of Encyclopedias. And I found one! The Houston Public Library was selling their hardback World Book Encyclopedia set

I smiled big-time when I read this back in February. Encyclopedias are wonderful, indeed (especially at a discounted price!). And there is something about picking up that big volume that is filled with a world of information. They usually smell great too.

For those who might be interested, Andrew Peterson is reading On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness tonight, live on FB.

I am catching these every evening and enjoying the re-read so very much ... and by the author, himself, no less, who is just such a down-to-earth, fun guy. I think tonight's the 12th night of readings, and we are more than halfway through the first book. Thing is, when life picks up again, we are all going to want AP to continue live readings until he completes the series. He'll just have to cancel everything (concerts, etc) again to keep on going.

My reading has certainly not decreased since the start of home-staying. I can't recall offhand all the books I have gone through since I last posted here (way too long ago), but a few selections are:

*Agent Jack:The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter So confusing; so good

*a biography of Fanny Crosby: I always love hearing/learning more about her

*Every Living Thing by James Herriot (a delightful re-read)

*The House on Garibaldi Street: The First Full Account of the Capture of Adolf Eichmann. A fascinating read, made even better by the fact that it was written by the then Chief Executive of the Secret Services of Israel and director of Operation Eichmann.

*Daddy Long-Legs, by Jean Webster ... a childhood favourite

I am about to start re-reading The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman, a very hard (emotionally) autobio of his life as a Polish Jew through the horrors of WW II.
Also, a re-read of The Holiness of God by a man I have highly respected for years, R.C. Sproul. And The Horse and His Boy, 'leftover' from my Narnia re-read late last year. Just TMN and TLB to go after that, and before I begin my biennial re-read of The Lord of the Rings.

I've been meaning to do a post detailing some of the books I've read over the past several months, but I'm tired at the moment, so that will wait for now.

I finished up The Man Who Was Thursday, and like you all mentioned, the last chapter was well beyond me. If I have some time I'll have to research into the meaning behind it.

Been meaning to comment on this for nearly two years now.
Did you ever look into this more, fantasia? I have been meaning to, as well, but have not yet.

This reminded me — I had seen a tweet in the past few weeks relating to just this topic. Did some digging and finally turned it up, and that led me to an article by Michael Ward of Planet Narnia fame: Chesterton and the Seven Heavens.

I found it quite insightful! It makes me want to read the book again. I've wanted to recommend The Man Who Was Thursday to my brother because I think he'd enjoy most of it, but I was pretty sure he'd have a lot of questions about the strange ending that I wouldn't be able to answer; maybe having this link handy will help with that. (Come to think of it, some of Chesterton's other stories have an odd ending — the rollicking adventure The Ball and the Cross turns rather dark and dramatic and eerie in the last chapters, for instance. Maybe I can find an article making sense of that, too. )

A friend just emailed me that there's some news on the fourth Ashtown! In a very odd but creative turn of events, we're back to subscription serial novels. Information - and some explanation of why there's been no book for years - on The Silent Bells are on the site.

In other news, I'm reading Death by Living by N.D. Wilson and almost finished; I read most of it in a huge chunk last weekend, but have made myself wait until this weekend to finish. I'm also still reading Last Letters from Attu by Mary Breu, about Etta Jones, who was taken from the Alaskan island Attu as a prisoner of war by Japanese troops during WWII. Otherwise, I'm trying to make a dent in my reread-and-decide-if-I-want-to-get-rid-of-them book shelf.

A friend just emailed me that there's some news on the fourth Ashtown! In a very odd but creative turn of events, we're back to subscription serial novels.

Ummm.... what's that? Or should I just follow the link and it will be explained?

ETA: Just found it! I had to scroll down a bit on the page.

ETA2: I have ordered my subscription! Ironic that I just finished these books and now there's news. LOL

I've just finished reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle — I'd encountered it as a 10-year-old in primary school (my excellent Grade 4 teacher, Mrs King, highly recommended it), but I thought it sounded a bit weird and was put off. Now that I have finally read it all these years later, I'm really glad I did.

The story was a little odd to start off with, as a fantasy/sci-fi mash-up — after the first few chapters I decided to give up on it, but by the end of the day I realised I was rather missing the characters and wanting to know what happened to them next, so I continued. I was already aware that Madeleine L'Engle was a big fan of C.S. Lewis, and it definitely shows! The only bit I wasn't really happy with was Jesus being included as just one of a list of great fighters against the darkness of evil, the others being a mishmash of famous historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Bach, Madame Curie, Gandhi and Buddha. All of whom are important, sure, but... well, while I'm not the ultra-conservative type myself, I would say Jesus has done a BIT more to overthrow the powers of darkness than any of those others!!!

(That was British-style ironic understatement, by the way, in case anyone didn't pick it up — i.e. for "a BIT more", read "EVERYTHING". )

But that one quibble aside, I felt this book's heart is definitely in the right place and I especially enjoyed the themes of goodness and love overcoming evil, with some very thought-provoking episodes, including one where a creature that looks outwardly bizarre and monstrous turns out to be very tender and motherly. Not to mention at least one implicitly divine being (I won't give too much away for those who haven't read it) who is wondrous and protective and loving and at the same time oddly bonkers. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series when I can get hold of them!

A Wrinkle in Time was one of my Mom's favorite books growing up. It had a big impact on her. I'm not as big a fan myself, not being a science fiction fan. But I can definitely understand why it's a classic.

Madeline L'Engle's books tend to be of mixed quality. Parts of them are great and parts of them are boring. I think A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door were her mostly consistently good ones.

I saw the announcement for The Silent Bells serial on twitter, but hadn't seen how to order it. Will have to get that done soonest. One of the sibling is reading The Drowned Vault this weekend and another one is reading Leepike Ridge.

Hope you are enjoying Death by Living, Valia.

Last night I finished reading Collision of Lies by Tom Threadgill, it was pretty good, definitely one of the better suspense novels published by Revell in recent years.

I currently reading Agent Jack at Scarlet's recommendation, I think I'm on chapter 3. I haven't read any of it for several days. I'm also reading R.C. Sproul's commentary on Mark, I borrowed it from dad.

I'm trying to decide if I want to start reading Von Ryan's Express (library book) or The Austin-Stoner Files (my books), I have read both before and since we've been watching a lot of western films lately I am leaning toward The Austin-Stoner Files by Stephen Bly.

SnowAngel

@Courtenay, I adore Wrinkle in Time. I can't read it anymore without crying though.

We just started a book via our homeschool curriculum called Understood Betsy. I'd never heard of it before, has anyone read it? I'm all of three chapters in (and we're taking a break now until late next week for Easter and my daughter's birthday), but it is SO SWEET. I really love it already. It has the same flavor as The Secret Garden.

Understood Betsy is one of my favorite books! It is very gentle and encouraging. Not surprisingly, the farm was one of the fictional places I wanted to visit when I was a kid.

Understood Betsy is great, but not very well known. And if you're ever curious, you can still find Northern Spy apples in certain orchards in New England.

Understood Betsy sounds like something I'll have to read some time soon! Thanks for the recommendations, everyone — I'd never heard of it at all.

It's a New England story, Courtenay; that might be why you haven't heard of it. But you might find a copy in the library, or if you can abide ebooks, you can find it at Project Gutenberg. I've always meant to read more of Dorothy Canfield Fisher's works, since I enjoyed "Betsy" so well; alas, they remain on my TBR list.

After seeing AJAiken's recommendation of The Outcasts of Time, I read that about a month ago and I also really enjoyed it! It was interesting to think about what changes and what doesn't in an hundred years, and also what you can see and do in just a day.

It is good. It felt, for something that's essentially fantasy, very realistic. I was on kind of a 'time travel' kick so I also read Matt Haig's How to Stop Time which is about a man who's been alive for centuries, rather than travelling through time. I liked The Humans so I was looking forward to reading this, but it was probably a mistake to read it so close to the other book. It had some nice details but a lot of it felt contrived. I was intrigued by the story, but the ending came all in a rush. A pity.

My grandfather lent me George Gissing's New Grub Street, which is a semi-autobiographical account of writers trying to earn a living in London during the 1880s. It's very well written but rather depressing, as characters worry about the workhouse and how they are going to pay their rent and fall into melancholy, sickness, and despair. The light touches of romance kept me going, but in the end I wanted to throw it across the room. Perhaps, as a freelancer myself, it all was too close to home!

Miss Austen by Gill Hornby - I think the best thing about this book is the cover, but I liked the story once I got into the rhythm of it. The problem is that anything associated with Austen has huge expectations put on it, and (sadly) nothing can compare. I enjoyed learning more about the Austens, and other family members. I'm not sure how accurate it is in terms of how they are represented, though.

I really enjoyed reading Graham Robb's The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe, which uncovers some of the mysteries of the Celtic civilisation. This book is stuffed with all kinds of explanations and diagrams which, to summarise, show there is a pattern to the layout of Celtic places. Though some historians seem unsure about Robb's claims I think a lot of it makes sense. We already know that the orientation of buildings was important, and he takes this further by extending these solstice lines across Europe to see where they fall. Again and again, Celtic settlements and holy places line up along these ways. What's especially fascinating is how he compares the trajectory of Roman roads with these Celtic sites, and how it's clear that the Romans built on top of pre-existing routes. A really good read.

A friend just emailed me that there's some news on the fourth Ashtown! In a very odd but creative turn of events, we're back to subscription serial novels.

Thank you again for posting this Valia! I owe you. Mr. Wilson posted tonight that the goal of 2,000 subscriptions has been reached (actually hit 2,300) and so it's going to happen! I only put in one subscription, but I learned that once he starts sending them out, then there will no longer be any opportunity to sign up. So maybe I should get another couple just in case in the future?

So for those of you who think you MIGHT want to read the conclusion to the Ashtown series sometime in the future, now's your chance to get these. I'm not sharing mine. jk jk