Best Books from 2019

I thought I would choose five favorite books from my 2019 reading list and share them here. I plan to share a longer list (15 titles) in my next newsletter (you can sign up for the newsletter on the left sidebar of my blog).

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
I appreciate Trevor Noah for his ability to make me laugh. I'm so glad I read his memoir. It opened my eyes to what life was really like under South African apartheid. Trevor's personality and humor made his story deeply engaging and easy to read. Somehow he also managed to communicate the heart-wrenching reality that was apartheid, and the prejudice that was encouraged then and still continues around the world today. This book can help us better understand injustice and the effects it has had, and give us compassion for those we may know who have directly suffered under it.


Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii by TW Neal
This book had me compulsively flipping its digital pages as I flew across the Atlantic this summer. Want to know what it was like to grow up in the 70's on wild Hawaii with two hippy parents who were mentally ill? Does that seem far out? The setting might be, but more people than you might think will find elements of their own childhood inside this story.

 Choosing Rest by Sally Breedlove
It was providential that I ran across this book on my shelf and decided to re-read it. This book seems to have been condensed down so it contains gem after gem of wisdom on how to live a life characterized by rest and peace in the midst of heartache, trouble, trials, and the mundane. I highly recommend it.


 Over the Hills and Far Away: The Life of Beatrix Potter by Matthew Dennison

I can't resist biographies of Beatrix Potter! This relatively new one is a manageable size and gave me the chance to escape away to the world of Beatrix Potter and the circumstances that led to her gifting the world with such beauty and timeless stories.


 Glittering Images by Susan Howatch
I was introduced to Susan Howatch this year and I'm thoroughly enjoying her novels. I'm working on the Starbridge series which is set in 1930's-1940's England and subtly tells the history of the Church of England during the 20th century while following the lives of some of those that live and work within the church. These books could be characterized as Christian fiction, and yet, in a good way, you don't notice that they would be that genre. I enjoy all the psychology and deep thinking that Howatch includes in her novels, and of course I can't help but enjoy the English setting.

That's it for now! If you want to know some of my other reads, just wait for the newsletter!

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Christmas Book List 2019

It's that time of year to order Christmas books from the library or your favorite bookstore! Here are the books I'm currently recommending for this festive time of year:

 A Literary Christmas: An Anthology by the British Library
I just got this book from the library and am excited to read it this season! The book is arranged around themes such as Before Christmas, The Nativity, Christmas Day, A Child's Christmas, or Seasonal Snow and Ice. Within each theme are up to ten works by famous authors: poems, story excerpts, essays. The authors include William Wordsworth, Emily Bronte, G. K. Chesterton, Samuel Pepys, George Eliot, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Kenneth Grahame, and Charles Dickens, among many, many others. It's just the sort of book one can dive into for a few minutes at a time and come away with something to think on.

The History of Christmas by Heather Winslow LeFebvre
Of course I have to recommend my own book! I feel passionate that everyone should understand what they are celebrating (or not) and why. My book is aimed at 8-14 year olds but is also ideal for adults who want a quick overview of Christmas history, and for young children who will enjoy the illustrations (done by my mom!). There's even activities, recipes, and suggested questions.



 Christmas books by Tasha Tudor
I'm on a Tasha Tudor kick right now -- although to some extent I always am. I've added a number of her books to my collection this year as well as discovered that one can reasonably come by an advent calendar of hers! My all-time favorite is Becky's Christmas, probably because so much in the book resonates with my own family's traditions. Here are a few books to check out:

The Dolls' Christmas
Becky's Christmas
The Christmas Cat
A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays
Take Joy!: The Tasha Tudor Christmas Book
A Book of Christmas
Tasha Tudor's Advent Calendar: A Wreath of Days
Corgiville Christmas
Tasha Tudor's Favorite Christmas Carols
Snow Before Christmas
The Night Before Christmas (illustrated by Tasha Tudor)


The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet & Allan Ahlberg
I've purchased this book for a surprise for the younger kids this year. What's not to love about little pockets filled with pull-out letters and other surprises along the way! It makes me want to be a mailman! Or at the least, write lots of real letters to people.


 The Christmas Stories of George MacDonald
I pulled this off my shelf this morning and need to read it this season. I've been studying the (interesting) life of George MacDonald this year and this will be just the thing to add to my growing knowledge of his works.


 Lucy & Tom's Christmas by Shirley Hughes
Next to Becky's Christmas, this might be my other favorite! I love this peak into a traditional British Christmas in the late 1990's. Shirley Hughes is one of my very favorite illustrators. She has many, many books, so check them out throughout the year!


Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp
I love this advent devotional and have used it several years in a row with our children.

 Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
My favorite adult fiction read for December. I'm always on the lookout for new good Christmas-time stories. I have a hard time finding exactly what I like. Someday I will have to fill this gap by attempting to write my own.

 Advent Calendars
I purchased a new advent calendar on our fall family vacation and then realized that all these years I probably could have been collecting advent calendars on Amazon! Yes! They are available! Search for German advent calendars and you'll come across more traditional types. Through various situations, we now have three new-to-us advent calendars for December! I'm so excited! (It's the little things that matter....)

And that's my recommendation for this year! If you have books you love that I haven't mentioned, please comment and let me know! I am always looking for new Christmas books!

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Gene Stratton Porter State Historic Site

Last week I made the trip north to Rome City, Indiana to visit the home of Gene Stratton Porter (1863-1924), a famous Indiana writer from the last century whose life work of nature study, writing, conservation, and business ownership has inspired me for some time. 

I wanted to move right in to Gene's "Cabin at Wildflower Woods". Set on the banks of Sylvan Lake, Gene designed this house to provide spaces for hospitality, her own writing and photography work, and relaxation.

Look at that beautiful cherry woodwork! It was harvested from trees right on the property! I also loved the blue and white china in use on the table and filling a corner cupboard. 

Like Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, Gene was born into a minister's family, the twelfth child in the family! She was steeped in nature from her birth, being constantly taught to see beauty around her.

Here is a large fireplace in the front room at the Cabin where Gene used stones collected from all 48 states and given by friends to form the fireplace decoration. She had the stones inserted to include pictures (see a Revolutionary soldier on the right side of the fireplace).

Gene began her writing as an outlet for her love of nature and desire to be creative. She also wanted to earn her own money. She wrote for women's magazines and then began to publish nature books and novels. Get this, at the height of Gene's career her books were more popular than the Harry Potter books are now (taking into account population growth, etc.)! That's serious numbers!

The fireplace in the writing room is made from Pudding Stone, a type of stone found only in a very small area of the country, including parts of Indiana.

Birds were at the heart of Gene's love for nature. As a child she roamed her family's fields caring for every nest and bird she came across. She was, in fact, a "bird whisperer." She created this beautiful, light-filled porch room for growing plants and included a low table with a faucet for growing seedlings.

Photography was cutting edge technology during Gene's time and she built herself a proper darkroom in this house so she wouldn't have to operate in a darkened bathroom. Many of her nature writings were illustrated with her own photographs.

I loved the kitchen: the floors, the tall ceilings and large windows, the blue on the walls, the cupboard for the state of the art icebox, the well-designed island with its spice rack, and an entire wall of cupboards. Gene hired cooks and housekeepers to help her, so she didn't really use the kitchen herself, but I sure wouldn't mind having this kitchen!

The Cabin at Wildflower Woods sits on the bank of Sylvan Lake and it makes for such a tranquil place to be.

We couldn't see upstairs in the house, but there are seven bedrooms as well as that huge sleeping porch! I just wanted to move right in!

Gene loved this place but found that as she grew in popularity the area became overrun with fans coming to visit/disturb her.

On the day I visited there were no hordes of tourists or meddlesome media. All was quiet with a gentle wind and the soft light of autumn sifting through the trees.

Behind the house were the gardens -- 35 "tidy" beds and then many "untidy" areas beyond that. Gene was devoted to plants and hired gardeners to make sure she could keep all these areas maintained.

Perhaps some of you are familiar with Gene's most famous novels: Girl of the Limberlost, or Laddie, or Freckles. Gene wrote 12 novels and 8 nature study books. When she felt her life at the Cabin becoming too overrun with people she moved out to California where she became a film producer and saw many of her books turned into movies!

After touring the house, a friend and I wandered the little trails meandering through the small amount of acreage left from Gene's original property.

This part of the property is being returned to prairie land, similar to the state park at Prophetstown.

Gene was killed in a traffic accident in California in 1924 but was eventually buried back here in Indiana at the Cabin of Wildflower Woods, as she had stipulated.

Gene was a woman who celebrated the wonder of nature and did her best to share that with others. She was a woman ahead of her time with her conservation work and efforts to save the Limberlost Swamp from being eradicated. If you haven't ever read a book by Porter, I highly recommend you try one! I've just picked up The Song of the Cardinal myself.

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London: A Bibliography

I finally have a young adult bibliography compiled for the sketching tour I am leading to London in January. I am making that bibliography available below. For those interested in my more complete adult list, please be sure to sign up for my newsletter if you haven't already (form in sidebar) as that booklist will be made available shortly to newsletter subscribers. 

London: A Bibliography for Young Adults

Disclaimer: Please note that some of these books/videos may contain offensive language in parts. I have attempted to limit the list to books I feel are wholesome enough to be used for high schoolers. I have not previewed every single video and I do know the Crown, and perhaps other series, contain some material that would be best to skip over. Discretion advised!

Day One:

Walking Tour of Westminster and Palace Areas

VIDEO

— The Crown

     TV Series depicting the life of Queen Elizabeth II

— BBC TV Westminster Abbey

     Documentary about Westminster Abbey

— The Queen’s Palaces (BBC)

     Documentary about Buckingham Palace

— Downton Abbey

     TV Series depicting life in the early 20th century in Northern England

— Sherlock Holmes

— Paddington Bear

— Darkest Hour (Winston Churchill movie)

— The Royal Wedding: William & Catherine

     The royal wedding inside Westminster Abbey

— Queen and Country (PBS)

      Documentary about the British monarchy

— The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

      Documentary about the Queen’s coronation

Day Two:

Tower of London

VIDEO

— Secrets of the Tower of London (PBS)

     Documentary about the Tower of London

BOOKS

— The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of 

     London by Christopher Skaife

Day Three:

Kensington Palace, V&A Museum, Afternoon Tea

VIDEO

— Victoria 

     TV Drama Series about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

— The Queen

     Movie based on the days immediately following the death of Diana, 

      Princess of Wales

— Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy

      Documentary about Diana to commemorate 20 years since her death

BOOKS

— Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days that Changed Her Life 

     by Lucy Worsley

— Victoria: The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen 

     by Helen Rappaport 

-- Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

    Kensington Park was used as inspiration for the story of Peter Pan

Day Four:

Markets/Shopping

VIDEO

— 84 Charing Cross

     Movie depicting the correspondence and subsequent friendship of 

      an author in NYC and a bookseller in London

BOOKS

— 84 Charing Cross by Anne Bancroft

     The story of a friendship between an author in NYC and a bookseller 

      in London

— Pretty City London by Siobhan Ferguson

     A compilation of beautiful photos from London by an instagram artist

Day Five:

Church, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery

Day Six:

Day trip to Bath

VIDEO

— Persuasion

     Jane Austen’s famous novel partially set in Bath

BOOKS

— Persuasion by Jane Austen

Day Seven:

Day trip to Windsor Castle

VIDEO

— The Queen’s Palaces

     Documentary covering Windsor Castle

— Elizabeth at 90 (BBC)

     Documentary of the Queen’s 90 years

— Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work (BBC)

     Documentary about the Royal Family

— Bertie & Elizabeth: The Story of King George VI & Queen    

     Elizabeth

     Tells the story of the present Queen’s parents

BOOKS

— Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia NacNeal (fiction) 

Day Eight:

Day trip to Oxford

VIDEO

— *Tolkien

     Movie about Tolkien’s early years including WWI and the TCBS

— Harry Potter Movie 1

     Scenes inspired by the dining hall at Christ Church College

— Inspector Lewis/Endeavor

      Murder mystery TV series set in Oxford

BOOKS

— Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan

     Historical fiction telling the story of C.S. Lewis’ relationship 

     with the woman who became his wife

— Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

     Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) was a teacher at Oxford and wrote 

     Alice in Wonderland for his little friends at Christ Church College

-- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

    The first in Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series

-- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

-- Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber

    Tells of the real-life experience of an American studying at Oxford

Day Nine:

Dickens’ London

VIDEO

— *The Man Who Invented Christmas

     Movie telling about Dickens’ life and the story of A Christmas Carol

— Oliver Twist

     Orphan boy lured into a life of crime on London’s streets

— Bleak House

     An orphan raised by her aunt and later taken in by a philanthropist

— Little Dorrit

     Movie about a little girl raised in a London debtors’ prison

— A Christmas Carol

     Movie about Dickens’ best-loved Christmas story

BOOKS

— A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

     Dickens' most famous Christmas story, set in London

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Book Review: Alternative Baker

I found a new gluten-free cookbook I am all excited about. Alternative Baker by Alanna Taylor-Tobin is filled with delectable desserts of just the sort that my family loves to enjoy. The best part is, the recipes are created using flours other than just the plain old rice or coconut or almond flours one typically uses in the gluten-free world. Oh, those flours make their appearance, but they come as an add-on here and there rather than being the main focus.

The book includes more than 100 recipes for cakes, pies, tarts, scones, muffins, oven pancakes, skillet cakes, and hand pies with titles like Maple Teff Apple Pie, Chai-Spiced Nectarine Skillet Cake, Blackberry Cream Scones, and Maple Bourbon Peach Cobbler.

Here is a blueberry version of the blackberry scones:

What makes these creations so toothsome is the absence of the gritty, white rice flour. These scones use millet flour, oat flour, and sweet rice flour. It makes me so happy to have something more nutritious than white rice flour in my baked goods.

I was also very excited to try a new, gluten-free pie crust:

This crust incorporates the three flours in the scones plus ground chia seeds, arrowroot, and tapioca flour. I just love its nutty flavor.

The book is not refined-sugar free, nor dairy free. However, it is fairly simple to replace refined sugars with honey or maple syrup or maple sugar. Some dairy substitutions could be made as well.

If you do a lot of gluten-free baking, check this book out! It's nice to have some new ideas to add to one's repertoire!

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From the Bookshelf: The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables

The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables: The Enchanting Island that Inspired L. M. Montgomery by Catherine Reid is destined to be one of my favorite books this year. It has filled my soul with such beauty -- it's the next best thing to going to Prince Edward Island in person.

The pages are filled with delightful photographs: PEI scenery, historic photos of Lucy Maud Montgomery's life, and interiors.

It's balm to the soul looking at these scenes of idyllic countryside.

My dad took us to PEI when I was a teenager. I realize now what a gift that was. It would be fun to go back one day, and to explore the island as an adult.

For now the book suffices. Check it out!

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