Much like the earlier Cheaper by the Dozen, Belles on Their Toes is written for a young audience, with funny anecdotes about their large family, and inspirational parts about how they rose to every occasion while dealing with grief and sudden financial hardship.

*** NOVEL: The Great Divorce AUTHOR: C.S. Lewis YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1945 REVIEW:  *** I have been reading The Great C.S. Lewis Reread by Matt Mikalatos, which is, exactly as it sounds, an online column in which Mikalatos re-reads as an adult an author who greatly influenced his literary and theological development.  I’ve appreciated his … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: The Great Divorce →

Looking for something to read in honor of Halloween, I thought of Alvin Schwartz. 

I purchased Ghosts of New York after reading about it in The New York Times Book Review, specifically, after reading [a] passage quoted from the book…

*** BOOK: Ghostly EDITOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Audrey Niffenegger YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2015 REVIEW:  *** I’m not at all sure why I decided to read a collection of ghost stories in the middle of summer.  Everyone knows that you either wait until October for the spooky stuff, or you do the Victorian thing and enjoy them … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves – Ghostly (2015) →

*** NOVEL: The Sun Also Rises AUTHOR: Ernest Hemingway YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1926 REVIEW:  *** I picked up a copy of The Sun Also Rises at the Hemingway House in Key West when I visited recently, and read it on the plane on my way home.  (I’d read it before, but it had been many … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: The Sun Also Rises →

*** NOVEL: Night Train to Lisbon AUTHOR: Pascal Mercier (pseudonym of Peter Bieri) YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2004 (English translation 2008) REVIEW:  *** Night Train to Lisbon probably wasn’t meant to be read while lounging poolside, but somehow that’s what I did, finding myself, despite the unlikely setting, thoroughly absorbed in this philosophical novel.  It concerns … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: Night Train to Lisbon →

I read Kenny & the Dragon along with my first grader (and the rest of her elementary school–each year, the entire school reads a book together) and found it to be a rather sweet story.

Happily, I saw a copy of The Hunting Party on the small bookshelf located between the t-shirts, postcards, and Florida souvenirs, and it was $9.99 well spent.

*** NOVEL: Airs Above the Ground AUTHOR: Mary Stewart YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1965 REVIEW:  *** Due to complicated circumstances, Vanessa March finds herself traveling to Austria to try and locate her husband, who has apparently been lying to her about his whereabouts.  She’s accompanied by Timothy Lacy, a young man who at age seventeen has … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: Airs Above the Ground (1965) →