^Tim Keller is very good. We watch his talks at church sometimes .

Queen Susan: I still have to read What He Must Be. We have a copy but I haven't picked it up yet. Voddie Baucham is excellent though .

Fanny: that's nice . I have 5 Ludy books but I'm only reading the third now .

I'm reading George MacDonald's The Princess and Curdie, the sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. Its pretty good so far.
And those summaries of 'The Once and Future King' are so right. The 'being turned into animals', part was funny.

I just read a book called "Alice In Blunderland" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and it's so awesome! I laughed through the whole thing

I am reading an awful lot. I just started Westmark by Lloyd Alexander. Its good so far. And I must finish rereading The Silmarillion

^^ Turin's part is indeed depressing as his story is in the book "The Children Of Hurin" and I read that and cried!

Yes, Turin's story,

^^ ditto! I cried so hard after reading Turin's story, though it was well worth it even though it was sad

*flies by*

When People are Big and God is Small-Edward Welch
Good book! It focuses on our fear of man, and how we can overcome that by focusing on God and His holiness. In the end, when we realize God's power, greatness and holiness, we're MUCH less likely to care about what the people around us think of us, because they are SO small in comparison.

How cool is that! I'm reading the same book for a small group study this summer. It has been incredibly challenging to me as I examine my thinking in this area. I've learned I'm controlled by other people because I need them (their approval, admiration, respect, etc.) more than I love them. The author, Ed Welch, addresses the problems with psychology and the whole concept of self-esteem. I have learned so much and I know I will be revisiting this book. I think half of my copy is already underlined

Spiritual Depression-I forget.

I'd be interested in finding out who the author is. Recently I have been discovering the wholly consistent worldview of biblical counseling, encapsulated in the foundational belief that Christ and His Word are sufficient for every need we have in this life (2 Peter 1:3). I absolutely love it.

- Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard (incredible discussion of faith, centered around Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac)

I just love literary coincidences! I picked this up a week ago at a library booksale. I'm not sure that Kierkegaard is doctrinally sound in all areas, however. It will be interesting to read. What do you think of it so far?

My own literary wanderings have been wide-ranging of late. I read Augustine's City of God, which took forever (started in February and finished at the end of June — unprecedented for me!). Of course I'm currently reading Till We Have Faces for the reading group. I listened to the FotF Screwtape and enjoyed it. I'm reading Pilgrim's Progress for our summer adult Bible fellowship and it's simply amazing. Can't put it down.

I've also revelled in some Dickens lately, listening to Great Expectations on audiobook and (back in March) finishing off Nicholas Nickleby in one intense weekend. So many good books.

There are plenty other books I'm reading, but I don't want to list each one. I think I got burnt-out on this thread before, trying to respond to each post and give every detail of my current reads. I don't want to disappear like that again, so I'm not going to give myself extra stress keeping up here. We'll see how it goes!

Re: Wives & Daughters...

That is correct. I don't remember exactly how they worked it in the copy I read, but the ending was tidy enough for me. And I loved the rest of the story!

I actually forgot that it was unfinished! That's how tidy it is, as Mel called it. It's certainly not the type of unfinished work that haunts your imagination like a ghost not properly laid to rest....or something.

Thank you both so much! I was leaving on a youth trip in the next few days so I didn't get a chance to respond, but I brought it and Little Dorrit with to read in the van. I finished Little Dorrit first and read W&D at home, and I loved them both so much! It's true, the unfinishedness isn't troubling, there's no plot point left dangling, but I completely loved every bit of the rest of the story and am determined to continue looking for North & South, because I really enjoy Elizabeth Gaskell's writing.

Little Dorrit was also excellent (unreservedly so). I loved the characters (Even the minor ones! Dickens gives each of them a little quirk to make them their own person and I love it!) and the way the story kept referring to prisons, whether it was the Marshalsea, or Mrs. Clennam, or other little obscure references, was a really neat detail. I might not have noticed it had my copy not had the little blurb on the back calling it a masterful look at the psychology and such of imprisonment, but it was cool all the same. What other Dickens (or books in general) should I put on my list to read? I've noticed that once summer hits I get all itchy to read classics, so I've got N&S, Cotillion (if I can find a copy), The Woman in White, and maybe an Austen reread planned. All the Bell at Sealey Head talk is making me wonder if I should put that down too.

Yay!!! Maddy's back!

Well, I feel appreciated. I think it was the increased font size, or maybe that third exclamation point. It's great to be back!! Hopefully I can keep it up!

Haha, I thought the heroes-as-food would be something you'd appreciate! As for Wildwood Dancing, I'd advise going into it not expecting too much. I'm trying to remember what exactly I wrote about it, but I had a friend paint it in pretty glowing terms and I don't consider it to be quite as amazing as she did. That is, I enjoyed it a lot, but I don't think it was the best fairytale retelling I've ever read (although strictly speaking, it's not any one particular fairytale that's being retold, so maybe that doesn't apply) as she seemed to consider it. I'd hate to say it's fantastic and then have it not live up to your expectations, so hopefully this doesn't reduce your desire to read it too much, because it was still quite good.

YAY for Conspiracy of Kings!! Sophos is, like, awesome in that book. And the end, the end, oh I loved the end, but maybe I'm just vindictive. That said, wow, really? Favorite Attolia book ever? I throw no vegetables, but my reaction to it was "Hm, good, I think I need to really reread it in order to love it as thoroughly as I love the others." That's really interesting that you think you like it best immediately. Although, you've said that you don't like her third person so much as her first (while I am just greedy and will take everything and anything MWT chooses to write, be it first, second, or third person), so that may be a contributing factor. Are you past where it changes into third for a bit? I hesitate to talk about anything spoilery because I don't know where you are.

*waves at wisewoman* Good to see you again! I was actually thinking of you the other day while listening the Les Mis musical soundtrack (that my friend had lent to me after falling completely in love with the book) and wondered if you'd gotten a chance to do your reread, and if so how it went.

I think half of my copy is already underlined

How neat that you're reading it too!! There was quite a bit underlined in our book too, but that was from my Mom reading it before me. I remembered her saying what a great book it was, so I read it myself.

And I think Spiritual Depression is by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Don't worry, Maddy, I've already had one dissenting opinion on Wildwood Dancing (wisewoman's) so I know to go in not expecting too much. But I've been really into shorter retellings of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" over the past year, so I thought I'd give it a try. I still think I'll make Daughter of the Forest my first Marillier, but Wildwood Dancing looks so much more digestible....

I think I'm just about to the point where it switches to third. I don't know that for sure, but I'm guessing that the first person narrative is winding up right now. And maybe that is why I like this one better! The two Attolia books that use first person most, The Thief and A Conspiracy of Kings, seem to be the two that triggered my interest most as well. There is something slightly impersonal to the way she uses third person, but I think it's intentional. Ah, well. We'll see what I think of the books when I reread, prior to the release of the next one. (Whenever that will be! )

Lady Haleth, is this your first time reading the Westmark trilogy? Those are definitely some of my favorite Alexander books, although I haven't read them in a long, long time.

I remember some thought that CoK's perspective-shifting was confusing, but I didn't. I liked that we finally got into the head of a character again. One of the really enjoyable things about TT was that we were inside Gen's head and he still managed to trick us. It was nice to get some of that again.

Yes, this is my first time reading Westmark. I just finished the first chapter. Its pretty good so far. I'd always liked Prydain, but only in the last year have I started reading some of Alexander's other books. The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian, and The Rope Trick. They were pretty good too.

Booky: I agree. (And I just got into the third person section, btw! Sophos and Eddis are awesome!)

Lady Haleth, another Alexander I highly recommend is The Iron Ring. I reread it this past year and consider it one of his best stand-alone titles.

My sister got The Iron Ring from the library, and from what she said it sounds good. I plan to read it once she is finished with it.