Here we go round the mulberry bush... Sunshine Blogger Award x 2!

Sally Silverscreen of 18 Cinema Lane and Hamlette of Hamlette's Soliloquy both tagged me with the Sunshine Blogger Award (thank you ladies!). They have some great questions so without further ado... let us to it! (Also, last time I peppered you with Bertie Wooster quotes, so this time I'm going to pile in bunches of somewhat-slightly-tying-in-with-the-topic Chesterton wisdom. Just because I can. And I still have to find good memes for my favorites -- turns out no one really makes memes with page long quotes from Manalive, alas :p -- but enjoy!)

~ From Sally Silverscreen ~

1) What is your favorite snack?

Currently a peanut butter and banana energy bar + cold milk.

2) Is there a television show episode that you like, but other people do not?

I've found out some folks believe there're inconsistencies in Death in Paradise, Season 6, Ep 7 (In the Footsteps of a Killer), but I've seen it a couple times and staunchly stand by the work of one of my favorite detective teams. So phooey! 

3) What was the last movie you saw?

A Mystery Science Theater. Does that count? If not, then Anchors Aweigh (1945).

4) Are there any blog posts that you plan on publishing in 2021? If so, what will it be?

Not sure if I'll do a blog party or just some sort of year long marathon, but I'd like to watch through and review as many Jane Eyre's as I can. Also a bunch of heavier, new-to-me period dramas (and also very familiar ones I just haven't gotten around to reviewing). Along the lines of which, I'm verrrrrrrrrrry excited as there're a bunch of interesting looking BBC things coming out soon. They're primarily set round the turn of the century and WW's I & II, and I think it'd be really fun to try and review them while they're still newish. (But that's if I can get my hands on them and realistically it'll probably be next year, since we're already in September.)

5) Which book would you tell your friends to stay away from?

I generally toss objectionable ones before getting too far. As for one I read right through: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. It's very well written and vivid (tremendously vivid) in its portrayal of a country without the gospel. It's one I'd definitely put on a classics/great books list, but with qualifications and taking into mind who was asking for the recommendation. It sears into your consciousness. And it can be depressing. It took me awhile to work through the emotions/they still leave kind of a wry taste whenever I think of it (and this is coming from a woman who loves Crime & Punishment and Heart of Darkness).

6) Did you perform a random act of kindness lately? If so, what was it?

Possibly helping dry wine glasses after church? *ducks cause I really don't like talking about this sort of thing*

7) Has there been a moment where you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone? If you want, share your experience! 

Well, um, pretty much whenever I have to make an Announcement of Any Sort in Front of a Large-ish Group of People.

8) What was the last thing to make you laugh?

In the sense of really hard, eyes-watering, the Mystery Science Theater. In the regular round the house sense, something my two year old just said. (Seriously, small folks make some of the loveliest besties. xD)

9) Which movie scene is your favorite?

*trying to wrap my brain around this* 

Uhhh no, not going to happen. 

It all depends what mood I'm in and what time of year it is and what genre we're talking about, see? 

Well, all right, generally I consider the ending of the '04 North & South as an epitome of the storytelling art -- metaphor, theme, characters, story, romance, reticence, everything -- snowballing into perfection. But bear ye in mind, this answer is under duress. It's not? Well, scratch that then. xD (No, seriously though, I do love it.)

10) What is your least favorite Christmas song?

Of the ones that might actually pop up in my playlist and then get skipped (not the ones that make you go 'ehhhhh, ick' on the radio or over the store loudspeakers), The Little Drummer Boy. It goes on forever and... yeah, various issues.

11) Is there a theatrically released film you’d like to see?

This might (or might not) be surprising, but I really really don't go to the theater much a'tall. Oh... but(!) as aforementioned, I am exceedingly curious about the new Death on the Nile coming out with Kenneth Branagh, Armie Hammer and others (though I know how it ends and who was cast as who, so still not sure how I'll deal with that -- it has the potential to be Very Tragic :P).

~ Hamlette's Questions ~

1. What's something good that's happened to you this year?

Going to Yellowstone. <333333 This makes the fourth time and I'm so happy and thankful and love it so much and am so so glad we were able to go. (Plus we were camping with cousins! Which 'twas marvelous.) And DH took the Little Princess and I on a stagecoach ride round downtown Jackson. So yeah, pretty entirely amazing. *sighing with much happiness*

2. What was your favorite movie when you were ten years old?

Probably the 1968 Heidi.

3. Have you ever discovered you now like a movie or book that you used to dislike?

I'm trying to fill this tag out with the first thing that pops to mind. So we'll just go ahead and make this answer very Austen-y. I didn't use to like Emma at all and now generally consider it my top favorite (and I totally get it if you disagree, it took me yeeeeaaaars to acknowledge this properly even to myself, because I do indeed love Persuasion and P&P very very dearly). Speaking of which, there's also the '95 P&P (which, believe it or not, I grew up disliking and now LOVE). I'm currently toying with the idea of seeing the '05 P&P yet again to see if my opinions have changed of late.

4. How long have you been blogging?

My first post went up... October 15, 2013. Wheeewhoo... jumping beanstalks it feels like a lot's happened since then.

5. What's your favorite joke?

Oh goodness. My favorite joke? How can one pick such a thing?? *looking pointedly at the friend coming up with this* Um, well I can probably pinpoint the kind that generally makes me giggle the most outright. I don't much like sarcasm at all, but I revel in dry, witty humor of the British and Wodehouse-ian sort. I guess most everybody likes that kind, but I'll stick with it. Me loves it. <3

6. What's a movie or book that people are surprised to learn you enjoy?

Book wise, maybe Dante? Film wise, probably Midsomer Murders and murder mysteries in general. (Note: and they all come with various content advisories, so we can talk more about those later.)

7. Do you play croquet?

No, but I always find it intriguing. First on my list I'd like to get good at bowling and pool though, and tennis sounds really fun.

8. How many blog posts have you published?

This'll make 233. 

9. What's the next book you plan to read?

The Fellowship of the Ring (see my sidebar and join our read along happening in three weeks!) 

10. What's the next movie you plan to watch? 

Royal Wedding (1951) is due for a rewatch.

11. Do you want to build a snowman?

We're in a regular hot streak of 100+ degrees these days, the mercury's near popping out of the thermometer, so yes'm please! xD I'll just need my own little blizzard cloud...

~

Thanks muchly Sally and Hamlette, these were all really fun! And.... I think most everyone I know has already been tagged with this, but if you haven't done it yet, and would like to, let me know and I'll officially tag you. ;) 

In the meanwhiles, let me know if you think I should do more movie (and specifically period drama) reviews. :) Ta ta for now!

Tolkien Blog Party 2019 // Tag Answers

These're frightfully difficult, terribly fun, and I couldn't be more pleased with how everything turned out. Can't wait to hear what y'all think! ;)

Would You Rather...

1. ...join Thorin's Company or the Fellowship?

The Fellowship because of... well, just every last bit of it. The Hobbit is a fun adventure, peopled with dear characters, but LotR is just epic. The point springing to mind is all the brothers-in-arms stuff -- likely and unlikely, like Gimli and Legolas. (And, depending who you were with when the fellowship breaks up, you might get to go through either Ithilien or Anorien. <3 And there's Aragorn. And all the other people you'd get to meet, like Faramir. Still, that's not all necessarily key to the question.)

Short answer: for personality variety in the band of adventurers, character development, and adventure-wise, I'd choose the Fellowship.

Except I do hate the Nazgul. Rrrrrr. 

2. ...ride Shadowfax or an eagle?

First off, the eagles always make me Very Happy. But still, gripping the feathers of a huge, fierce, lordly bird -- desperately trying not to pinch as the earth drops away -- v. a mighty, glistening horse, powerful and smooth running as the wind? Shadowfax all the way. <333

(Also must mention lately I'm sliiiiightly peeved at no one in particular, wondering why the eagles couldn't just've dropped Sam and Frodo off at Mount Doom in the first place and spared all the pain and suffering for poor dear everyone. But no story. I understand. Unless there's something I'm forgetting, it's probably just a little loophole Tolkien hoped we wouldn't think about. So let's forget I mentioned it. ;-))

3. ...travel through Moria or Mirkwood?

I dislike them pretty equally, both seem so dark and claustrophobic and endless. If I was a hobbit though I'd pick Moria, cause of all the Big Folk along. Even with all the heartbreak in the loss of Gandalf, Aragorn and Boromir heading and bringing up the rear of the band in the face of that terror, then carrying Frodo and Sam later makes me warm and teary.

4. ...learn to make elvish rope or mithril chainmail?

Both would be interesting, but mithril sounds like ripply silver beauty. Wikipedia says the name mithril comes from two words in Tolkien's Sindarin language -- mith meaning 'grey' and ril meaning 'glitter'. So yes please.

5. ...try to outwit Smaug or Saruman?

Tough one. Ok, bear with me here, but all in all I think I'd actually pick Saruman. Smaug would just be downright terrifying. Saruman would too, but I think of him as kinda the embodiment of modern philosophy -- with smooth beckoning words, twisting, subtly bending meaning and arguing in circles till you're more than half persuaded/feel a fool for holding out any longer. But yet, it's all wound through with pride, i.e. that was his downfall and (not that I've got everything pat in that department) but a humble man who approaches the debate with a little trembling quiver, but still sticks to his guns and keeps repeating what he knows is right -- I think he could make it through.

6. ...spend an hour with Grima Wormtongue or Denethor?

Denethor. Hands down. If he was going on about Faramir I'd be pretty inevitably tempted to give him a gargantuan piece of my mind, but he's still a gentleman and man of honor (albeit ultimately a fallen one). Grima is just... ick. And yuck.

7. ...attend Faramir's wedding or Samwise's wedding?

***First, how can you do this to me, Hamlette?!?!?!?!?***

Well... it depends. If I was in the mood for something epic, the happiness beyond tears, end of a fairy tale sort of occasion, I'd pick the former. If I'm in the mood for hearty food and hilarity and maybe riotous dancing, I'd pick the latter. (Ha, see how neatly I avoided choosing there?)

But I'll play fair and say Eowyn and Faramir. Especially as I intend to be in their retinue and go back to Ithilien and make everything loved and altogether lovely again.

8. ...have to care for the One Ring or the Arkenstone for a day?

The Arkenstone. Gold fever is a very real thing, but I'm not going near the Ring with a ten foot pole. Nuh uh.

9. ...have tea with Bilbo or Frodo?

Ummm... Usually I'd always pick Frodo, but I'm not sure how good of a cook he is, so maybe Bilbo? I do always want to try his seed cakes. For some reason I always picture them as poppy seed.

10. ...fight alongside Boromir or Eomer?

Ok, this one's near impossible. I've literally been thinking about it for a couple days. My initial immediate response was Boromir, but sometimes I feel like Eomer doesn't get as much credit or talking-about as he should and he really is splendid and valiant and loves his sister, and his manly desire to protect is just as strong as the others. So, though I'm not sure how much use I'd be fighting on horseback, at the moment I'm picking Eomer and the Rohirrim.

Thank you for the wonderful party and all the fantastic questions, Hamlette! Again, make sure to check out all the other entries HERE.

And be sure and let me know if you agree/disagree with any of the above! 

New Blog!

Hi one and all!

Lots of Life Stuff has been happening here in the last few weeks, so I'm still finishing up reading (and hopefully commenting!) on all the lovely LOWC posts, but I do have a few other blogger-y things I've been pondering over as well.

#1 -- I don't know if any of you remember the Inklings I used to host over on my author blog, but I'm thinking of bringing it over here to AtB and giving it a fresh start. Thoughts anyone??

#2 -- I've been thinking on this for quite a while and decided to start a couple other main blogging spots. (And if you enjoy AtB don't worry! I'm very fond of everything here as well, so not planning to shut it down anytime soon. ;)) But my daily interests have expanded a lot in the last few years. I don't want to parse my life up too much (or create that impression anyway) but at the same time I'm not sure everyone here will be interested in my new post topics/direction. Plus this'll be a way to just keep things more organized if you will. So finally I decided I'm gonna keep AtB for occasional movie reviews, philosophical ramblings, and sometimes more grown-up book-ish related stuff.

And... I've officially started two new blogs.

The first I put up a few months ago so you might remember it. On Story Bent, a book review blog for picture and chapter books for little people. (And also not so little. ;)) Due to working on LOWC Week shortly after putting it up there's still not much on it, but I'm hoping to have plenty more coming soon.

The second one is currently the very freshest and sparkliest. (And I'm both terribly nervous actually and super excited. :)) Called Angel in the Marble, you can find it HERE (with a slightly different web address, so be sure to take note of that -- the obvious addresses were taken but the name's integral to the whole idea and I tried to keep it easy ;)).

I really look forward to hearing your thoughts and hope you're interested in visiting over there now and again!

Happy Friday!

New blog! (And bookish related details...)

Hi y'all!

Can ye all believe it's already June?!?!? Anyhow, new month, new idea in my little blogosphere here. Actually, it's one I've had percolating for a long time, but reading and reviewing this recently pushed me into the action zone.

So! Now for the idea itself. (And btw, this in no way affects anything about Along the Brandywine here, which'll hopefully keep on its merry way with posts on any and all topics as time and inspiration coincide.)

First a C.S. Lewis quote:

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story.” C.S. Lewis

I've long felt that picture books don't always get their due. In addition, since there's so many, they could have the unfortunate effect of overrunning a blog devoted to other things as well. Hence, I've started a new blog solely to share excellent books for little people! (Well, actually it's for anyone and everyone.)

As we go along I plan to expand the site and also the selections to chapter books, YA fiction, etc, etc. Oh, and the focus is also on good read-alouds. It's all very relaxed, but I definitely have high hopes to see where it goes. Finally and in general (at least starting out) they'll be ones we particularly love -- just cause those're the things we really love raving about and can't wait to share.

Now... *drumroll please* HERE'S THE LINK. (I'm not even gonna spill the beans on the blog title, cause I can't wait to hear what you think. ;) Also, be sure to hit the "Read More" button on the main page. I'm super excited about the blog layout, but as always let me know if you have any issues with it, etc. Definitely want to make sure it's user friendly!)

So there ye go! If you're interested in short, simple, uncluttered reviews check it out, and if you like the looks of it be sure and follow for more.

I hope you're all having a lovely day! The sun is out here, the roses are literally spilling out in full bloom across my living room window, the parakeets are napping in the sunshine and my little buddy is napping with the fan on, so I'm gonna go get a sandwich and tackle more laundry. ;)

Happy June!

Book Review // The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie

This book is SO good. At first, for some ridiculous and (somewhat) unknown reason, I was dreading it’d be tedious and/or some sort of guilt trip, but I needn’t have worried. Once I started I gobbled it up in about two days (while camping in NV’s Black Rock Desert ;)). It’s straight up encouraging and inspiring and do-able. Everyone should read it and it’s definitely one every parent particularly should have stashed on their shelf. Or even better, out somewhere where it’s getting dog-eared and tripped over and referenced often.

The scope of the book covers various statistical points (on the importance of reading aloud and story in the life of a child both as regards education and development, etc.), but even more, it’s on shaping hearts and minds, building family bonds, shared history, and loyalty, and engendering a wide-awake, sprawling, deep vision of the world. Also (and especially helpful) lots of friendly, relaxed, down-to-earth, excellently unpreachy, from-the-trenches tips and ideas for how to actually go about it in a busy household. I don’t want to give away too many of the meaty bits or her excellent points, but here are a few gems:

“Fiction and nonfiction stories provide children of all ages an opportunity to experience what it feels like to be overwhelmed, struggle, fight, overcome, and emerge a hero. …When we read aloud, we give our kids practice living as heroes. Practice dealing with life-and-death situations, practice living with virtue, practice failing at virtue. As the characters in our favorite books struggle through hardship, we struggle with them. We consider whether we would be as brave, as bold, as fully human as our favorite heroes. And then we grasp—on a deeper, more meaningful level—the story we are living ourselves as well as the kind of character we will become as that story unfolds.”

“When I read a story with my children… the fog lifts, and I remember. I look up. I see it—that I am only one small part of a great, big, glorious world, and that the Maker of it exists—and has existed—always. That we are all part of His plan. That we have been invited to seek and follow Him, no matter what the situation. The book becomes a set of supercharged binoculars, helping us to see beyond our normal capacity.

“A story does this on its own without our having to say a word about it. Forget the whiteboard. Forget the didactic lesson. Forget the teaching points or the comprehension worksheets. When we’re telling our children the story of Jesus healing Jairus’s daughter, of curing the lepers, of raising Lazarus from the dead, we don’t need to wrap up the story with a trite explanation about how God is powerful, good, or merciful. We don’t have to add anything at all, because there it is—truth bubbling up out of the story. It is the story. When God pours down manna from the heavens, a child doesn’t need to be told that he will provide what we need right when we need it and not a moment before. We simply read the story, and our children feel the truth of it in their bones. This happens with true stories that are literal accounts (such as stories within the Gospels, or historical narratives), as well as true stories that aren’t meant to be literal at all (such as a myth or fairy tale).”

Plus, she’s got a plethora of tingly quotes tucked all throughout. Like this nugget:

“Fairy tales say that apples are golden only to refresh the forgotten moment when we found out they were green. They make rivers run with wine only to make us remember, for one wild moment, that they run with water.” G.K. Chesterton.

Or this one:

“When she was hardly more than a girl, Miss Minnie had gone away to a teacher’s college and prepared herself to teach by learning many cunning methods that she never afterward used. For Miss Minnie loved children and she loved books, and she taught merely by introducing the one to the other.” Wendell Berry, Watch with Me

Good, eh? Now off ye go to check it out and be sure to let me know what you think! ;)