spring & summer reading, part 1

I titled this post, spring & summer reading, but it really should be titled something like, what to read with a new baby. This year, what with spending all my time kissing the cheeks of my precious baby (and wiping other kinds of cheeks), my reading list has been somewhat lowbrow. I'm good with that. One of the more enjoyable tasks that I've set for myself is to read my way through the works of P. G. Wodehouse, and so far this year I've read Thank You, Jeeves; Something Fishy; Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit; The Adventures of Sally; Heavy Weather; Mr Mulliner Speaking; and Right Ho, Jeeves. Can't get enough Wodehouse!

You rock, Mr Wodehouse!

While spending more time awake with my babe in the middle of the night than asleep, my eldest gave me her favorite book to read, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I was surprised and pleased at how much I enjoyed reading this book! The themes were more mature than I expected, but put in a way that wouldn't be scary or threatening to a kid. In fact, one would hope to be heroic with the help of your friends and family!

In The Motherhood and Jane Austen Book Club, I heard about Dear Mr Knightly by Katherine Reay. I don't usually go in for that sort of thing, being allergic to modernity, but thought I should try to step out of my box now and again, and I'm glad I did. It's composed of all letters, is modern with a nod to the classics, and isn't completely free of cliches or cheese, but is a very quick, fun read. (And it was fun to read with my daughter.) The book centers around Sam(antha) who spends most of her growing up years in a home that harkened back to the home for children that my parents worked in when I was young. Some of the struggles the heroine has to work through gave me a renewed respect for my mom, and the things in her past that she was able to overcome with God's help. It's clean and redemptive and you just might enjoy it. But the absolute best thing about reading this book was that it inspired me to reread The Count of Monte Cristo and Daddy Long Legs (and watch the movies).

Next up on the summer reading list, Notes From a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider of The Art of Simple, was just what I needed. Her encouragement to live intentionally, choose where my time goes, and to not make unconscious excuses for not doing what I want/ need to do, was a shot in the arm. You will now find me a little more often at the farmer's market and playing in the rain with my terrific kids...and blogging? I hope!

More to come!

Read part 2!
http://thebowerofbelle.blogspot.com/2014/08/spring-summer-reading-part-2.html