Mirkwood Reflections

Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard by Ben Crystal - 8/5/2014 Excellent - Non-fiction -  257 pages - Print Witty and user-friendly, this brief guide to Shakespeare proves him a genius who is still relevant and enjoyable. The Screwtape Letters (also includes "Screwtape Proposes a Toast") by C.S. Lewis - 8/5/2014 Good - Inspirational - 128 pages - Print A correspondence between two demons, the elder giving the younger instructions on how to lead humanity astray. My goal is to read ALL of Lewis. I've read this before, but it was good to re-read. Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich - 8/8/2014 Good - Suspense - 341 pages - Print An assassin is after Ranger. Out of 21 books by Evanovich, this one was satisfying! On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (6th edition) by William Zinsser -  8/10/2014 Good - Non-fiction - 294 pages - Print Principles, methods, forms, and attitudes of Good Writing. I have been wanting to read th...

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis 6/4/2014 Good - Childrens 224 pages Audio (4.5 hours) Shasta escapes from slavery with talking horse Bree and heads for Narnia. I remember not really enjoying The Horse and His Boy as much as the other books of the Chronicles of Narnia. But I read it aloud to Suzy and James and they really enjoyed it. I did too! The Space Between: An Outlander Novella by Diana Gabaldon 6/8/2014 Good - Fiction 118 pages Kindle Michael Murray escorts Joan McKimmie (Laoghaire's daughter) to a convent in Paris, while the Comte St. Germain experiments with time travel. Wow! This is a key part of the Outlander time travel puzzle. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis 6/9/2014 Good - Non-fiction 109 pages Print Essays on education, society, and nature and how the Tao relates to our morality. Lewis = genius.  An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon 6/10/2014 Excellent - Historical Fiction 820 pages  Audio (45 hours, 58 minutes) Jamie and Claire leave ...

4 more books in May - one a week seems like a good average, yes? The Eternal Argument: A framework for understanding Western Literature and Culture by R. Robin Finley - 5/16/2014  Good Non-fiction 286 Print Long time middle school English teacher Robin Finley traces the history of Western literature against the larger conflict between theism and humanism. I purchased this at the homeschool convention in 2013 and it sat on the shelf. But in April 2014, I heard the author speak at the homeschool convention in Cincinnati and remembered I had the book at home. Useful information to help understand Western literature. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis - 5/17/2014  Excellent Non-fiction 141 Print If God is omnipotent and good, how can we explain human pain and suffering? Lewis proposes reasonable answers. Finally decided to stop SAYING that I am going to read all of Lewis and get started on it. I decided to read just a short bit every day when I do my devotional reading. ...