November books

I really enjoyed reading The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. I wanted to read this during the winter time, so November was close. My heart ached for this past middle-aged couple who longed for a child.  Their desire for a child led them to kind of imagine a snow child, out of the snow child they made after the first winter snowfall. It was kind of a fantasy book, and at times it was kind of driving me crazy, but I kept me guessing throughout the book. The writing was beautiful and I enjoyed the journey through the Alaska fierce winter, and other challenges of that wilderness. The couple left their home in Pennsylvania, and family behind to forge a new life together.

Pg. 34: It would be a hard life, but it would be theirs alone. Here at the world's edge, far from everything familiar and safe, they would build a new home in the wilderness and do it as partners, out from under the shadow of cultivated orchards and expectant generations.

Pg. 155: ...can we choose our own endings, our joy over sorrow? Or does the cruel world just give and take, give and take, while we flounder through the wilderness?

Pg. 177: It was as if Esther (neighbor friend) knew exactly what memories she had conjured, and Mabel (main character) understood--she had gone through labor, it only to deliver a dead child. She had survived that, hadn't she? It was if she had reached into her own pocket and discovered a small pebble, as hard as a diamond, that she had forgotten belonged to her.

Pg. 270: She was in love. Eight years she'd loved here, and at last the land had taken hold of her, and she could comprehend some small part of Faina's wildness.

The seasons of the past six years had been like an ocean tide, giving and taking, pulling the girl away and then bringing her back. Each spring Faina left for the alpine high country where the caribous migrated and the mountains cupped eternal snow., and Mabel no longer wept, though she knew she would miss her.

Pg. 351: I love you child, she whispered. Faina's face was quiet and kind I wish to be the mother you are to me, she said so softly Mabel doubted her own ears. But those were the words she spoke, and Mabel took them into her heart and held them there forever.

Mabel and Jack endured so much together. Their love was strengthened by their relationship with Faina. The book didn't end the way I would have liked, but probably the way that was best for Faina. She was a strange, mysterious creature, that was difficult to really figure out, but that definitely kept the book quite magical.

I'm glad I read it, especially, too, because Julia loved it and she even had the chance to meet her and listen to her speak in person.

I listened to A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Another great classic on how to view the world through the lens that I'm special, no matter what others say or do, "I'm a Princess."

Pg. 178: "Whatever comes, she said, cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside I would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.

Sara was a remarkable character She could look at life through positive eyes. She could live in a terrible attic, and make the best of it. She made friends with animals, and could see that even a rat can be liked instead of feared.

Pg. 141: How it is that animals understand things I do not know, but it is certain that they do understand Perhaps there is a language which is not made of words and everything in the world understands it. Perhaps there is a soul hidden in everything and it can alway speak, without even making a sound, or another soul. But whatsoever was the reason, the rat knew from that moment that he was safe--even though he was a rat.

I listened to The Magnolia Story by Chip & Joanna Gaines. I read it earlier this year, but it was our Book Club book of the month, so I listened to it this time and enjoyed it so much more to have their personally tell their story. I really loved how they turned to God for help, gave him the credit for the good in their lives, reached out and served others, would not let hardships get them down, but tackled their problems head on, how family was important to them, and many other good qualities.

The Secret Garden - by Frances Hodgson Burnett
5 stars
Read:November 2017

Loved this classic. So many good, quotable lines. Good wisdom to live by.

I read and listened to this while in Hawaii helping Meredith with her new baby. It is one of my favorite books. I learned so many good lessons from this book.Where, you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow. Loved this classic. So many good, quotable lines. Good wisdom to live by.

Where, you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow. 

The Railway Children - by E. Nesbit

4 stars

Finished: Nov. 15, 2017 This is an endearing children's classic. I was impressed with the courage of these young siblings and their good desires to help others, make friends, and give service willingly. Because they were good to others, goodness was returned to them in the ways they needed it most.