Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, by Anthony Esolen, came highly recommended, so I started reading my library copy with much enthusiasm. My husband stole the book after I'd read the first few chapters, and devoured the whole thing in a day, saying at the end that it was fantastic and we needed to own a copy. For the first few chapters, I agreed with both recommendations and was ready to recommend it to others. The author echoed many of my own opinions, and I felt he was on the right track in warning parents about overstimulating modern technology that can destroy imagination and intelligence. He also advocates classical education, referring to many wonderful works of literature, poetry, history, science, and philosophy.

The book is written in a similar tone as C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters, as if the author were in fact telling parents how to destroy their children's imaginations. He suggests television, video games, dumbed-down education, helicopter parenting, and other methods as ways to keep children from developing dangerous ideas and thinking for themselves. It's a clever conceit, but began to pall somewhat as the book went on, especially since the author seemed to have trouble keeping it up and it was sometimes difficult to gauge his sincerity.

Then I started to notice that he rarely mentioned girls or domestic activities. All of his examples of a good imaginative life were about boys doing things that might have come straight from The American Boy's Handy Book. At one point he mentions that he feels unqualified to discuss girls, having never been one. That's fine, but in that case perhaps the book should have been titled Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Son.

And then he started in on the feminists. Now, I can understand being less than enthusiastic about Virginia Woolf or Kate Chopin, especially if one is a man, but to imply that they contributed little or nothing to English literature is not only wrong, it's uneducated. And it shows a seriously flawed view of history to dismiss suffragists and other women's rights advocates as unpleasant females with nothing better to do than make themselves obnoxious. He even goes so far as to claim that no feminist ever risked her life for her cause. Mrs. Pankhurst, anyone? Emily Davison? The hundreds of women who were force-fed in English prisons simply because they showed up at a rally? There may be many people who think of feminists as "no-bra-wearin', hairy-legged women's libbers", but someone with the prefix of "Dr" should know better than that.

By the end of the book Esolen's argument had fallen into nothing more than a personal manifesto. He seems to believe that men should be men and women should be women, just like back in the good old days. While I'm one of the first to agree that men and women are and should be different than each other, I don't believe that that means traditional roles necessarily apply anymore. And at no point in history was there a magical time where everyone was imaginative and intelligent and happy. Modern technology does make it easier for people to dull their brains, and that's a great topic for a book. It's just too bad Esolen didn't stick with that idea.

I really wanted to like this book, and I think it might have been really good--if he'd had a decent editor. My husband and I both felt that the author simply didn't have anyone along the way to curb his rantings and bring him back to the original point. He got carried away and lost my approbation.

Well, I persevered through The Crowded Street, and in the end I suppose it was worthwhile. Perhaps I was in the wrong mood, or the comparison withMiss Buncle's Book was too stark, but I felt somewhat wearied by another story about a young woman whose family, situation, and disposition were all against her. Fortunately it ended well.

Then I picked up The New House, by Lettice Cooper--this novel was also published by Persephone, although the edition I read was a Virago from the library. At first it was depressingly similar to The Crowded Street, but overall I liked it much better. It was shorter, for one thing (The Crowded Street dragged on a bit too long), and followed more characters; and it covered the events of just one day, in which various members of a family deal with moving out of their house after the death of the husband and father. Some of them are glad to leave, and some are devastated, but all of them are changed for the better in the end.

I took this photo because I misread the rules for a photo competition as part of the Persephone Reading Weekend. The competition was for something else, but I liked the picture and decided to post it here. The book (illustrated in the photo by my son's toys!) is The Crowded Street, by Winifred Holtby, my second Persephone of the weekend, and I must say it's rather hard going after the innocent charm of Miss Buncle's Book. I shall persevere, however, and post my review upon completion.

In the meantime, here are links to several other Persephone Books, which I have read and reviewed in the past.

The Home-Maker, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, by Winifred Watson
Brook Evans, by Susan Glaspell
Every Eye, by Isobel English
Marjory Fleming, by Oriel Malet
Farewell Leicester Square, by Betty Miller
The Victorian Chaise-longue, by Marghanita Laski
Fidelity, by Susan Glaspell
William: An Englishman, by Cicely Hamilton

The Persephone Books are works of early 20th century literature, mostly by women authors, that were popular upon first publication, but that slipped through the cracks of time and languished unknown and unread for many years before being rescued and reprinted. You can find the full list of these wonderful publications here; so far I have read 25 out of 90, with several others currently in my TBR pile. Sadly I do not own any of the elegant dove-grey volumes yet, since they are somewhat beyond my budget, but I have been fortunate enough to find a number of them through our public library system. Though I have liked some much more than others, in general I highly recommend these excellent books.

I'm sliding this post in under the wire for Persephone Reading Weekend, I hope. We spent most of the weekend in town with my parents-in-law, which allowed me to read but not to blog. I had hoped to get through three Persephones, but sadly only managed one and a half; fortunately the one was very much worthwhile. Miss Buncle's Book, by D.E. Stevenson, reminded me a great deal of my first Persephone read, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day. Both are the sort of novel that I wish was still written nowadays--perfect, sweet, charming, and delightful. They are not at all "realistic", but are lovely daydream-like stories where everything turns out for the best and everyone (well, nearly) is happy at the end.

Miss Buncle is a spinster living in an English village, who turns to writing when her inheritance begins to run out. Knowing nothing but the people around her, she spins a tale that is not exactly fiction; every character in her novel is easily recognizable as one or other of her neighbors. To her surprise, the novel is snapped up by the first publisher to whom she sends it, and even more to her surprise, it is consequently read by the very people who feature (not so favorably) within it. No one suspects Miss Buncle as the pseudonymous author, but certain members of the village are very determined to uncover the secret.

As we amass an impressive collection of children's literature, and as our book-loving friends begin to have children as well, I have realized what a great opportunity I have for exchanging picture book recommendations. It is, for a number of reasons, difficult to browse the children's sections of bookstores or libraries, so I always like to have an ongoing list of titles and authors to look for. With so many to choose from, I like knowing what others have enjoyed so that we can give them a try. I hope others will post their lists of favorites after reading this post!

It took me a while to decide how to categorize these titles; I've listed our favorites first, then grouped the rest by attention span (according to the amount of text on each page, not necessarily the difficulty of the content). The author's name is first, followed by the illustrator.

Top Favorites

At the very top of any list is Tasha Tudor. I cannot recommend her books highly enough. Her stories are charming and delightful, and her illustrations are near perfection. My whole family adores her, and Sam regularly demands one of her books at storytime. Every one of her books is a treasure, but here are a few that we like especially: A Time to Keep; Pumpkin Moonshine; Becky's Birthday; Corgiville Fair; The Dolls' Christmas

We are especially fond of the following books as well, in alphabetical order:

Jill Barklem: Brambly Hedge books

The stories are somewhat lacking in plot and action, but the illustrations are marvelous!

Elsa Beskow: Pelle's New Suit

A sweet tale of a boy who works cheerfully for a new suit from his lamb's wool.

Betsy Bowen: Gathering: A Northwoods Counting Book; Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet

Wood-cut illustrations accompany appealing descriptions of life in the Northwoods of Minnesota.

Barbara Cooney: Miss Rumphius

A little girl declares that she will do three things in her life: go to faraway places, live by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful.

Irene Haas: The Maggie B

One of my absolute favorites. A little girl wishes for her own ship, and wakes up the next morning aboard the Maggie B, with her brother James for company.

Donald Hall, Barbara Cooney: Ox-Cart Man

A farmer loads up his cart with all the extra produce from his farm and goes to the market. This is pretty much my dream life.

Russell Hoban, Lilian Hoban: Bedtime for Frances; A Baby Sister for Frances; Bread and Jam for Frances

We love Frances! And we are in awe of her long-suffering parents!

Robert McCloskey: Blueberries for Sal; One Morning In Maine; Make Way For Ducklings

We love them.

Alice McLerran, Barbara Cooney: Roxaboxen

As children, my sisters and I were much inspired by this story of neighbor children and their own little town on a hill.

Iona Opie, Rosemary Wells: Here Comes Mother Goose; My Very First Mother Goose

Lots of nursery rhymes with cute illustrations.

Patricia Polacco: G Is For Goat

Cheery and colorful illustrations of little Russian girls and their farm animals (including Nubian goats!).

Beatrix Potter: The Tale of Two Bad Mice; The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle; The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin; The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse; Ginger and Pickles

Our particular favorites.

Alice and Martin Provensen: The Year at Maple Hill Farm; Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm

Fun and slyly humorous tales of life at Maple Hill Farm.

Richard Scarry: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go; The Great Pie Robbery; Find Your ABCs; Mr Frumble's Coffee Shop Disaster

How many times have we read these, as children and as adults? Oh, probably a million or so. But even though I groan when Sam pulls them out again, I still like them.

Jane Werner Watson, Eloise Wilkin: My Little Golden Book About God

A perfect introduction to Christianity. Theologically sound without being confusing, simple without being dumbed down. And lovely illustrations as well!

1-2 sentences per page

Allan Ahlberg, Janet Ahlberg: Each Peach Pear Plum

A long-time favorite--I spy fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters, with cheery illustrations.

Sandra Boynton: Blue Moo; But Not The Hippopotamus; Barnyard Dance!; Hippos Go Berserk; Snoozers

The board books are perfect for babies, and the songbooks/CDs are fun for everybody.

Margaret Wise Brown: Goodnight Moon; The Moon Shines Down; Seven Little Postmen

Classics.

Judy Collins, Jane Dyer: My Father

A beautifully illustrated version of a lovely sweet song.

Lois Ehlert: Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z

Bright and colorful pictures of almost all the fruits and vegetables you can think of.

Cathryn Falwell: Feast for 10

Count to 10 with a family preparing a holiday meal.

Marla Frazee: Hush Little Baby

Lovely illustrations of an Appalachian family accompany the familiar song.

Taro Gomi: Bus Stops; My Friends

Odd little books, but Sam enjoyed them as a baby.

Edward Lear, Jan Brett: The Owl and the Pussycat

Brilliant illustrations accompany the familiar poem.

Thomas Locker: The Mare on the Hill

These aren't illustrations, they're paintings--absolutely gorgeous. The story is simple but sweet, about two brothers who tame their grandfather's mare.

Jean Marzollo, Walter Wick: I Spy series

These are great challenges for both kids and adults--some of them are really hard! The photos are really interesting and well-arranged.

Jill Murphy: Five Minutes' Peace; A Quiet Night In

Funny stories about Mr and Mrs Large and their occasionally tiresome children.

Kadir Nelson: He's Got The Whole World In His Hands

Beautiful illustrations accompany the familiar song.

Jerry Pallotta, Rob Bolster: The Construction Alphabet Book

A must-have for boys obsessed with heavy machinery. The sound effects are a little annoying, but the pictures are nicely detailed.

Antoinette Portis: Not A Box

Sam is highly amused by this short and simple story of an imaginative little rabbit.

Peter H. Reynolds: The Dot

An odd but inspiring little story of a girl who becomes an artist in spite of herself.

Stacey Schuett: Somewhere In The World Right Now

A look at what's happening around the world right now--as children on the East Coast go to sleep, children in China are waking up, etc.

Simms Taback: I Miss You Every Day

Simple and a bit silly, but Sam likes it.

Cat Urbigkit: Puppies, Puppies Everywhere!

Very simple text with sweet photographs of sheepdog puppies in Wyoming.

Laura Williams: ABC Kids

Cute photographs of kids demonstrating letters of the alphabet.

Short paragraph per page

Lloyd Alexander, Trina Schart Hyman: The Fortune-Tellers

A winning combo of author and illustrator, and a funny little story.

Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long: A Seed Is Sleepy; An Egg Is Quiet

Beautifully illustrated --easy non-fiction about seeds and eggs. The information is simple yet accurate, and doesn't try to avoid big words like chlorophyll or cotyledon.

Felicia Bond: Poinsettia and Her Family; Poinsettia and the Firefighters

A little pig learns to appreciate her family; and not to be afraid of the dark.

Jan Brett: Daisy Comes Home; Annie and the Wild Animals; Armadillo Rodeo; Hedgie's Surprise

Predictable stories but amazing illustrations.

Virginia Lee Burton: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel; Katy and the Big Snow

Must-haves for any child's bookshelf.

Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Animals Animals; Dragons Dragons; A House for a Hermit Crab; Pancakes, Pancakes!

I'm always amazed by his illustrations--so inventive. Lots of good poems in the anthologies.

Judy Dunn, Phoebe Dunn: The Animals of Buttercup Farm; The Little Goat; The Little Lamb

Simple stories and sweet photographs about farm animals and the children who love them.

Katherine Holabird, Helen Craig: Angelina Ballerina

The Angelina stories are actually pretty lame, but I love the illustrations, and I want to live in her house.

Shirley Hughes: Alfie's Feet; Alfie Gets In First; Annie Rose Is My Little Sister

Cute stories about a little British boy.

Jack Kent: The Fat Cat

My favorite as a child. A silly folk tale about a cat who starts eating everything in his path.

Patricia MacLachlan, Katy Schneider: Once I Ate A Pie

Odd, amusing little poems describing the personalities of various dogs.

Christine Kole Maclean, Mike Reed: Even Firefighters Hug Their Moms

I love the imaginative games that the little boy plays with his sister, although I wish their annoying mom would quit bugging them!

Bill Martin Jr, Lois Ehlert: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Silly. Fun. A good alphabet introduction. Sam likes it.

Kate and Jim McMullan: I'm Mighty; I'm Dirty; I Stink!

Hardly great literature, but fun read-aloud books for boys who like vehicles.

Jacqueline Mitton, Christina Balit: Zoo in the Sky

A wonderful introduction to the mythology of constellations, with beautiful illustrations.

Liesel Moak Skorpen, Doris Burn: We Were Tired of Living In A House

Four children move out of their house and try out various alternative dwellings. Cute and imaginative.

Robin Stemp, Carolyn Dinan: Guy and the Flowering Plum Tree

Another childhood favorite--a little boy wonders what will happen after he swallows a plum pit.

Judith Viorst, Ray Cruz: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

Some days are like that, even in Australia.

Rosemary Wells: Max and Ruby books

Fun silly stories about Max the rabbit and his bossy older sister.

David Weisner: The Three Pigs

What happens when characters fall off the pages of their stories? They rearrange things to suit themselves, of course!

Laura Ingalls Wilder: My First Little House Books

These are a bit oversimplified, and the illustrations only try to be as good as Garth Williams's, but they are a nice intro to the longer books. Sam is particularly fond of Dance at Grandpa's and Going to Town.

Audrey and Don Wood: The Napping House; King Bidgood's in the Bathtub

Goofy and fun. Even better if you can find their CD and sing along.

Virginia Woolf, Julie Vivas: Nurse Lugton's Curtain

An odd little story found amongst Woolf's manuscripts.

Several paragraphs per page

Chris Van Allsburg: The Polar Express; Jumanji

The classic Christmas story and the very odd story of a board game that turns out to be very far from boring.

Judi Barrett, Ron Barrett: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Goofy fantasy about strangely edible weather.

James Harrison, Diana Mayo: My Little Picture Bible

A good beginner Bible. Most of the familiar stories are included, decently re-written, with small amounts of text on each page and illustrations that aren't too cartoony.

James Herriot: Treasury for Children

A lovely collection of some of his most touching stories.

Trina Schart Hyman: Little Red Riding Hood

Such an odd fairy tale, but retold well and illustrated superbly.

Virginia Kahl: The Duchess Bakes A Cake

When the duchess gets bored one day and decides to bake a cake, the results are surprising.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Susan Jeffers/Ted Rand: Hiawatha; Paul Revere's Ride

Wonderful read-aloud poems. Sam loves them both.

Marianna Mayer, K.Y. Craft: The Twelve Dancing Princesses

A gorgeously illustrated retelling of an odd but lovely fairy tale.

Louise Moeri, Trina Schart Hyman: Star Mother's Youngest Child

This is still a bit long for Sam, but it was one of my favorites as a child--a sweet Christmas story.

Jerry Pinkney: Noah's Ark

A nice adaptation--excellent illustrations and a decently re-written text.

Dr Seuss: Green Eggs and Ham; I Can Lick Thirty Tigers Today!; Dr Seuss's ABCs

I'm not a big Seuss fan, but these are tolerable.

John Updike, Trina Schart Hyman: A Child's Calendar

Poems for each month of the year, wih illustrations by one of our favorite artists.

For anyone who's wondering, yes, we do own all of these books (and oh, so many more--check out our complete picture book collection here). And Sam enjoys all of them at least as much as I do, including Angelina Ballerina and The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I always enjoy seeing the selection of books he chooses for storytime--it is invariably eclectic.

I love the new Blogger templates! I was never very happy with the last template I had, so I was glad to see some new ones, and had a hard time choosing one. Finally decided to stick with pink...

I've been reading a lot of short stories lately--not for any particular reason, just because I keep finding good collections. Here are a few reviews and recommendations.

The Montana Stories, by Katherine Mansfield
I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book--I actually put off reading it for a while because I didn't feel in the mood. When I read the introduction I was almost turned off again, upon learning that Mansfield would not have approved of the collection at all (because it included unfinished and unedited stories). However, I kept reading, and then I couldn't stop reading. I think I may never write again, after reading her unpolished gems. I loved these stories more than anything else I've read by Mansfield--her prose absolutely sparkled, and I found myself desperate for more after each fragment. I can understand why she would have disapproved, but I'm glad Persephone published this collection anyway. Absolutely lovely.

The New York Stories, by Elizabeth Hardwick
I was excited to receive this book as my first Early Reviewers win from LIbraryThing; its summary caught my eye immediately, and my first impression when it finally arrived was promising. However, after reading it I had to wait a few days before posting a review because I wasn't sure what to say.

The stories were well-written. They were interesting. The characters were realistic, and each story was an accurate snapshot of human life and interaction.

But I didn't like them. Even in the earliest stories, the author's tone was modern and sardonic, and she wrote from a perspective on life that is very different from mine. Everything seemed dreary and hopeless and tired.

Speaking as objectively as possible, these are good short stories, and I think many people would enjoy them--but they're not my style.

Good Evening, Mrs. Craven, by Mollie Panter-Downes
An excellent collection of stories. Well-written, striking, and with that perfect little twist that makes one sit back and reflect after each story.

A Harvest of Stories, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
In the prologue, the author describes her perceived role as a storyteller:

"...to focus what powers I had on the effort to understand and to invite readers to join me in trying to understand what happens to and within our poor, fumbling, struggling human race... to bend the utmost effort of mind and sympathy on the lives nearest at hand."

And so she does, beautifully. I loved every one of these stories, and am finding it difficult to choose one or two favorites to mention. She begins with a collection of 'Vermont Memories', stories written about her family and neighbors in the Green Mountains, and ends with 'War', stories about the French people with whom she lived and worked during the World Wars. In between were more varied stories about 'Men, Women--and Children', and these I enjoyed most of all. I'm eager to read her writings on Montessori education, since I particularly liked the stories into which some of her theories slipped ("The Rainy Day, the Good Mother, and the Brown Suit" and "As Ye Sow"--both very inspiring to me as a mother). In fact, I'm eager to read everything she wrote, and wish that more of her books were available.

This is a wonderful collection of short stories, and I highly recommend it.

Muse and Reverie, by Charles de Lint
his is one of his more random collections. Several of the stories I'd read before, and some were not really very interesting. I did very much enjoy "The Butter Spirit's Tithe", however, and "The Crow Girls' Christmas" was as delightful as all the Crow Girls stories are. "Refinerytown" and "Da Slockit Light" were typical of de LInt's mediocre tales, like form-stories written on a deadline. "Newford Spook Squad" was amusing, and "Riding Shotgun" was pleasantly creepy. "Somewhere In My Mind There Is A Painting Box" is in several other collections, but it's a great story and a return to the woods of "A Circle of Cats" and "Seven Wild Sisters"; it nicely complements the last story, "The World in a Box", which is also excellent.

It's not his best, but being a diehard de Lint fan, I had to buy it in hardcover as soon as I saw it on the shelf at Powell's. Worth owning.

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 1, by Jonathan Strahan
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this anthology, particularly the science fiction stories. Several of the stories were familiar to me from other collections, but the Elizabeth Hand and Connie Willis were new to me and quite delightful surprises. The anthology slows down a bit in the middle, with some stories that are more propaganda than science fiction, but picks back up quickly. I'll be on the lookout for more of these.

The Dragon Book, by Jack Dann
Lots of excellent stories in this anthology. The best one by far was Peter S. Beagle's "Oakland Dragon Blues", but that's not surprising since he's a fantastic author with a real knack for short stories. I was surprised by my second favorite, "The Dragaman's Bride", by Andy Duncan--I hope this author keeps writing and getting published.

Tamora Pierce's story was fun, especially for those familiar with her characters (and somewhat simplistic writing style); Gregory Maguire's "Puz_le" was also fun and reminded me a bit of Nina Kiriki Hoffman. The stories by Naomi Novik and Diana Gabaldon were light and amusing and rather silly, but I was a little disappointed in the stories by Jane Yolen, Tanith Lee, and Diana Wynne Jones--I always expect better from them. While I didn't really like Cecelia Holland's story, I enjoyed the writing enough to seek out some of her historical fiction, which is now on my TBR pile. I'll also be on the lookout for Sean Williams, with whom I'm not familiar but whose story was intriguing.

The worst story? "Bob Choi's Last Job", by Jonathan Stroud. I've occasionally thought of giving his Bartimaeus books a try, but this story convinced me to avoid them. I would recommend just skipping over this story, as it should not have been included in an otherwise well-written and enjoyable anthology.


And a few more that I haven't yet reviewed on LibraryThing:

The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, by Holly Black
Spell Fantastic, edited by Martin H. Greenburg
Great Short Stories by American Women
Minnie's Room, by Mollie Panter-Downes
The Matisse Stories; Little Black Book of Stories; Elementals, by A.S. Byatt

I'm finally getting around to this meme, which was picked up by Peculiar through Steve. How could I resist such a list as this? The top ten books which have most influenced my life--a delightful prospect indeed. And then I began listing books, and, not surprisingly, came up with more than ten; so I decided to group them chronologically, according to four stages of my life. Most of them are favorites, but I think they are favorites in great part because of their influence.

Books encountered as a child:

Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I received this book for my fifth birthday, which makes it one of the first real books I read to myself. The near-perfect industry and harmony of the Wilders' farm is a vision I come back to almost daily, and I still love reading about food, too.

A Time to Keep, by Tasha Tudor.
I've wanted to live in Tasha Tudor's world my whole life--to step into one of her illustrations and go to a sugaring-off party, or the dolls' fair, or a marionette show in the barn. Another ideal vision. This book is one of Sam's favorites, too.

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.
Three specific parts of me come from this altogether wonderful book: the desire for a cozy home like those of the animals, nestled underground or in the roots of trees or under riverbanks; a first taste of magic and mystery, awed and unnerved without knowing why by the piper at the gates of dawn; and the knowledge that I was not the only one to glory in the clean slate of winter and the stark bare bones of the land.

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis.
Because this list would simply be incomplete without Narnia--I've read them so many times that they are necessarily a part of me. My thoughts about creation draw heavily on The Magician's Nephew, my understanding of Christ is founded on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and my idea of heaven (as well as my beliefs about salvation) is pretty much straight out of The Last Battle.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte.
My parents gave me this book for Christmas when I was five, so I must have started reading it soon after that--I don't actually remember not having read it. At first I just read the beginning over and over, where Jane is a child, then as I grew older I ventured farther into the story. Jane's strength, honesty, and self-respect set my own standards.

Books encountered as a teenager:

Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis.
Though I haven't re-read this book in years, it's like a security blanket on my shelf. It's never been packed up for longer than the duration of a move, and sat on my shelf all through college and during my summer in Alaska. The first time I read it I wanted to underline every sentence because he just said everything so well. I felt as though he'd given me words for my faith, and the ability to speak of it to others.

The Private Life of Tasha Tudor, by Tovah Martin.
I don't just want to live in Tasha Tudor's world, I want to be her. I think about her daily without even realizing it, when I go barefoot or pin up my hair into a bun or milk the goats or prop up a book on the counter while stirring a pot on the stove. Tasha Tudor has influenced my feelings about clothing, hairstyles, gardening, crafts, farm life, goats, history, art (my own and that of others), books, productivity, birthdays, Christmas, cooking, and, well, pretty much everything else that I like. Really the only things on which I disagree with her are corgis, primroses, and Hallowe'en. And marriage. And, I suppose, religion, since I never found it necessary to make up my own.

Farming for Self-Sufficiency, by John and Sally Seymour.
The discovery of this book was a revelation. Here was the practical knowledge for the visions that were already deeply ingrained.

The Day I Became An Autodidact, by Kendall Hailey.
Despite being homeschooled, I hadn't realized before reading this book that autodidacticism was (or ought to be) the goal of education. It's still my desire to read the way Kendall did.

Books encountered as a college student:

Pensees, by Blaise Pascal.
I was shaken by Pascal's diversions--the things we do to keep ourselves from thinking about who we are and who we ought to be. My blissful ignorance was gone forever.

Moonlight and Vines, by Charles de Lint.
After Odious read Pamela Dean's Tam Lin aloud to me freshman year, I asked him for recommendations in the fantasy genre. I'd always loved "white magic" books, as I called them as a child, like Edward Eager and E. Nesbit, but hadn't encountered any grown-up fantasy other than Tolkien. As we walked through Uncle Hugo's Bookstore in Minneapolis, Odious picked up this short story collection with the offhand remark that I might like it. In fact, it was an introduction to a new world of reading as well as writing. These were not only the kind of stories I wanted to read, they were also the kind I wanted to write. While I'm not as infatuated with de Lint as I was at first, his books have greatly changed the way I see the world. Because of his characters, I look closer at people that I otherwise might have ignored, and am reminded that every person is more than he may seem at first glance.

Books encountered as an adult:

How Children Learn, by John Holt.
I read this while working at a small church daycare, and was utterly amazed by Holt's insight and candor. The brilliant simplicity of his educational theories is wonderful, and I only wish I could convince more people to follow them.

Pilgrim's Inn, by Elizabeth Goudge.
I'd read some of Goudge's books as a child, enjoying the fantasy element without really noticing much else about them, but when I rediscovered her last year, I felt my life change again. She does not write comfortable books, in that she forces the reader out of complacency and into introspection, and yet I feel so comforted by them because she contradicts the modern philosophy that has always seemed wrong to me. I've already blogged about her focus on self-sacrifice, so will just reiterate that Elizabeth Goudge (in this book and its two companions especially) has made me act as well as think differently.

Going through our boxes of books has been a delightful experience as we rediscover old friends. I've already pulled out way more books than I'm likely to re-read, and I can't wait to have them all unpacked and displayed again. I'm also using LibraryThing as a reading list for this year, and am trying to post brief reviews of each book as I read it. My plan is to post handfuls of these mini reviews here, grouping similar books together, in an attempt to keep my blogging a little more regular.

Here are three young adult fantasy novels that I just read for the first time. All of them were mildly entertaining, but I wish I'd read them when I was younger and less critical.

A Walk in Wolf Wood, by Mary Stewart
While I liked the premise of this book (brother and sister go back in time to a medieval forest and help a werewolf regain his place as the duke's best friend and counsellor), the details were careless and the plot somewhat dull. There were too many things that didn't make sense or existed only to stretch the story into a novella. Mary Stewart charmed and surprised me with The Hollow Hills and The Crystal Cave, but the other books of hers that I've read have been disappointingly tame and predictable. She has good ideas but doesn't fulfill them satisfyingly. Even so, this was a quick and diverting read, and children who enjoy fantasy might like it.

The Sherwood Ring, by Elizabeth Marie Pope
I loved The Perilous Gard, and was excited to discover this book at Powell's; however, the story is a little too neat and obvious, and the mystery is pretty silly. A young woman goes to live with her eccentric old uncle in a historic New England house, and is visited by four ghosts who relate their story of love and adventure during the Revolutionary War. The story told by the ghosts was much more interesting than the modern story, and I wished Pope had written more about Peaceable and Barbara. The little prison, the treasure room, and the relief map in the sand were wonderful little details, and I feel like she could have written a much better story that would have satisfied adults as well.

The Farthest-Away Mountain, by Lynne Reid Banks
I might have enjoyed this more as a child. Reading it as an adult only made me notice the stiltedness of the prose and the less-than-original plot of a farmer's daughter who goes off on a quest. It's a conglomeration of better-written fairy tales, and the heroine is rather dull despite her courage. Why, after experiencing such an exciting adventure, would her desire be to marry a prince? This story could have been a lot better than it is, and feels like something written to fulfill an obligation or deadline.