Here be adventures

1. On the Way Home, Laura Ingalls Wilder. 101pp
A tad on the dull side in the body of the book. I agree with some other reviewers that the truly interesting parts are the beginning and ending written by Rose. However, while Laura's journal isn't that exciting, it is interesting to get a snippet of what daily life was like for them including
current prices of land and food.

2. A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson. 274pp
I've been literally CRAVING to read this book again for about a week or so. This rarely happens, but oh it felt so good to read it again.

3. All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot. 437pp
I honestly wasn't expecting to like this one much, not being a huge fan of animal stories... although I liked the illustrated Herriot stories for children when I was little (Moses the kitten, etc.) HOWEVER... it was the best book I've read in a long time. Herriot is a masterful storyteller, concise, entertaining, and touching. The shortness of the chapters made it easy to drop the book to take care of something and then pick it up again after a bit.

But the suspense. drove. me. mad. I'm sure he did it on purpose, but WAS IT REALLY NECESSARY to make me WAIT 20,000 chapters between each Encounter-with-Helen? Cruel. Just cruel.

4. Across China, Peter Jenkins. 343pp
I enjoyed the "Walk Across America" so much that I was sure I'd enjoy this book as well. It dragged a bit in the early chapters - I think there could have been less "how-do-I-tell-Barbara" and more jumping right into it. Once the travelogue started I was hooked. I know so little about China/Tibet and it was really, really fascinating to me.

Of course, I cringed in annoyance when he asked some of the Tibetan folks how they had their babies with no hospitals close by. Um. Yeah. Seriously, dude? But aside from that, it was grand.

5. Testimonies for the Church Volume 1, Ellen White. 718pp
This was a really interesting peek into the history of our people, with a lot of thought-provoking passages.

Total page count: 1873
Nonfiction: 5
Rereads: 1

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37. Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, Harriet Reisen. 302pp

This was a well-written biography and I enjoyed it. I've always admired Alcott's books (at least her children's ones - I am not interested in the pulp fiction she did), but didn't know a whole lot about her life, so I learned a lot.

There were a few statements I took issue with, and they may well be the result of poor proofreading, but for someone who appears to be as obsessed with Alcott as the author claims to be, I found it ridiculous that she made the three following erroneous remarks, all about events in the "Little Women" series.

Page 21: She says that the scene where Mr March and Demi are doing alphabet gymnastics is in "Little Men". It's not. It's in "Little Women" (or "Good Wives", to be perfectly accurate).

Page 139: I haven't pulled out my book to find the exact age of Beth at her death, but off the top of my head I know she wasn't 16. She was nearly 18 when Jo left for New York, so she was 19 or 20 when she died.

Page 238: She says that Jo had boy and girl twins, Daisy and Demi. She did not; Meg did. Jo had Rob and Teddy.

Aside from these errors, I really did enjoy the book, and found it really interesting to learn more about the Transcendental movement. It amazes me how many new and anti-Christian philosophies took root and grew like weeds in the 1840s: spiritism, Transcendentalism, evolution, et cetera. I was intrigued that she actually did mention the Millerite movement in passing, although she says they planted no crops in 1843, and as far as I am able to find in fact, some chose not to harvest crops. Anyway.

She had a hard life and strikes me as a very sad individual in whom the love of Christ would have made a world of difference. Working working working and never able to maintain happiness.

38. The Great Controversy, Ellen White. 678pp.

Third time through in three years. It gets better every time.

36. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne. 297pp

Quite fascinating. Very verbose in its descriptions of sea creatures and very formal in its dialogue, but managed to not be creaky in spite of the awkwardness. "Friend Ned." Seriously.

Not sure I liked it enough to read any more Verne, but it was interesting. I would have liked to know more about Captain Nemo and he just didn't put enough information there for me to read between the lines, and I found that cruel.

A few names I made up in some other vocabulary sentences, 2 May 1995:

Uralkkenzookkow (rālk kĕn zō ŏkō)
Sallbuannielln (sāl lŭb vān nīelēn)
Htiijonnoeeualgu (tĭ ī jōn ăn ō ē [schwa] ū ăl j)
Zncellaae (sĕl ā)
Eaallecnzxi (ē [schwa] ā ůl ůl ĕs nēz)

And yes, I had supplied the pronunciations, too.

28 September 1992, a letter writing lesson:

Dear Mathka,
Hi! I'm glad you can come to Idaho. Let me tell you something - it's freezing right now. (It's winter) That's the thing to expect up here. When you come (good for you!) it will be summer. When you leave, it will be fall. You've never heard those words before, have you? Spring is the time when flowers bloom, and gardens are planted. It's fairly cool. Summer is the warmest season. That's the time to go swimming. Fall, or Autumn, is harvest time! The leaves of trees change color and fall down. Winter is the coldest season. White snow falls. Snowmen, sleds, and ice skates are my favorite things about winter. (Snowball fights too!) Well, come soon, and very soon!

Good Bye.
From William Peter Featherlight

P.S. Bring nice, thin clothing so you won't get hot!


24 Feb 1994, a lesson in Prawpah Lettah Writing:

1801 Fungus Street
Enders Heights, OH 82996
Feb. 27, 1994

Dear Margaret,

"I love them  that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me." Prov. 8:17 Greetings! Thanks a lot for the scrapbook; it was visited as much as I was!

My friends liked the kitten page a lot. Where didyou get the kittens, or did you draw them yourself? I liked the poem too. My favorite page was the hot air balloon page. How did you manage to collect 10 balloon stamps, 15 pictures, the puzzle... ? You draw hot airballooons really nice, too. The whole thing was just simply marvelous! I'll let you go now.

Goodbye!

Love, Maria Rose

The following is a letter from the same little girl, but with a different address and 16 years earlier. What even?

2196 Honoluli Rd.
Honoluna, HI 74412
July 4, 1970

Dear Grandmother,

Greetings! I am writing to thak you for letting us come to visit. Momma is showing me how to play the ukelele we bought. It sounds really neat - maybe I can make a tape & send one to you.

At your island, it is really amazing - in the same state are two totally different islands! Maui is too crowded, (at least to me).

We had a wonderful time. Come visit us sometime!

Love, M. R.

3 May 1995, sentences:

Eittod of Eittos is the one who will teach at Brownsville.

Glubbity Gushmush, of the city of Cornmeal, is the gargoyle whose money was returned.

A. Miller and E. M. Martin discovered that the person whom we met at church, Rendition Coleezo, resides near the Oom River, the main tributary of Calliope Stream, in the town of Bloop.

"That is the box of falee that Father wanted to buy, but it just was too expensive," explained Arithmatikce Tolly to Sentfer Go of Plungaterlit.

"Those, Rendition, are our visitors from Switzerland, and they are staying in Plungaterlit, where they admired the flowers that we planted in front of Go's house," said Athtreb Yel of E. Martin and A. Miller.

Assignment, 16 March 1993:
Write 2 sentences with direct quotations for the picture in the lesson.

My answer:
Jasonetelatbon said, "Lassie probably hit a careless driver." Tork said, "She didn't hit the driver; the driver hit her."

Erg.

I feel like I spend my life not accomplishing much of anything.

Number of times Molly burned her mouth with electricity: 2
Number of pro wrasslers met: 1
Number of patterns transferred to 9x12 manila envelopes: 15

27. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan. 201pp

Everyone interested in health and food needs to read this book. Actually, I think everyone should read it regardless. It is so plain and simple and full of common sense, and really balances out a lot of things.

Dan has always been (at least since I've known him) big on buying local and shopping in the periphery of the grocery store. We both spend a lot of time reading ingredient labels, so some of what Pollan writes about we already know and practise. But there was a lot that was new to me as well.

It's late and I'm not doing the book justice.

28. Prophets and Kings, Ellen White. 733pp

I have to admit, this one was really a lot harder for me to get into than the others I've read in the Conflict of the Ages series. I enjoyed it but didn't get that overwhelming amazement and emotional connection I've had with the others. The accompanying Bible reading plan for this one was a bit daunting (huge chunks of Scripture often accompanied each chapter) and I'm wondering if that might have been a factor.

29. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Bill Bryson. 268 pp

A tad too much time spent on sex-related topics for my liking, but aside from that, it was a grand, fun excursion into growing up in the 50s. The part where he discusses Dick and Jane was priceless. He talks about how much he loved the books and brought them home from school, and then writes:

There was just one very odd thing about the Dick and Jane books. Whenever any of the characters spoke, they didn't sound like humans.

"Here we are at the farm," says Father in a typical passage as he bounds from the car (dressed, not incidentally, in a brown suit), then adds a touch robotically: "Hello, Grandmother. Here we are at the farm."

"Hello," responds Grandmother. "See who is here. It is my family. Look, look! Here is my family."

"Oh, look! Here we are at the farm," adds Dick, equally amazed to find himself in a rural setting inhabited by loved ones. He, too, seems to have a kind of mental stuck needle. "Here we are at the farm," he goes on. "Here is Grandfather, too! Here we are at the farm."

It was like this on every page. Every character talked exactly like people whose brains had been taken away. At which point he draws comparisons to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

30. Thursday's Child, Noel Streatfeild. 275pp

There was something about this one that just... didn't sit well with me. It was well-written, but the main character was really annoying thinking she was somebody so special and deserving of all kinds of attention.