Just A Second

Tuesday, January 21

Recent Reads - The Friendly Persuasion

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The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West - This novel is really a collection of short stories that follow a Quaker couple through the years. Jess Birdwell is a gentle, plain-spoken man with a love for music and nature, and with a poetic way of seeing and thinking about the world. His wife Eliza is the Quaker preacher, and a practical and peaceful woman. They have very different ways of seeing the world, and some slightly different values, but they love each other and their family with an unshakable loyalty.

Each chapter is a little slice of their life, and the character viewpoint shifts. Most are from either Jess's or Eliza's viewpoint, but occasionally one of their children is the focus. The tensions they face are usually of a quiet and homely nature - a dispute over whether to have a musical instrument in the house, conflicts and competitions with neighbors, and concerns as they age and consider their mortality. In each story there is gentle humor and homespun wisdom, and the Quaker manner of speech and quaint turns of phrase add such charm and warmth.

I was a little confused when the children in the early chapters disappeared and other children's names appeared seemingly out of nowhere, but of course Jess and Eliza got older and so did their family. Towards the end we even meet a granddaughter as one of the stories is completely from her point of view.

Overall, I loved this sweet and slower paced set of stories and was so attached to Jess and Eliza that I was sorry to reach the end. I'm not sure how I've never heard of this book before this year, but it's become a favorite.

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Saturday, January 18

Scripture and a Snapshot - Fortress

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

~Psalm 18:2~

Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

I also link up at Sunday Scripture Blessings, hosted by Peabea Scribble Pad; and at Seeking Sabbath, hosted by A Spirit of Simplicity.

Friday, January 17

Connect Five Friday - Prejudice

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The Friday Five Link Up is a List Link Up hosted by The Book Date. It can be five connections of any kind. Books can have been read last year or any year. Books can be used more than once. They may not have been read yet. . . It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Maybe it's not a list of actual books, but things connected to books - e.g. favourite book shops, recipes etc. It might even be five movies related to books or five poems or five poets or five bookish moments, five thoughts about reading - be creative! The link-up will be open each Friday and will close on Thursday. Use the hashtag #connect5books

Last week I listed five books I had read or was reading because they were assigned in classes I am teaching. One of those books makes an appearance on this list as well, because shortly after finishing it, I realized that my reading list included some other books in which prejudice or racial bias played a huge role in the theme and plot.

Five Books Featuring Racial Prejudice

Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain (reviewed HERE) - Pudd'nhead Wilson is the lawyer in Dawson's Landing, Missouri, but the story centers around children switched as infants. A slave woman switches her fair-skinned baby with the wealthy white family's baby in an attempt to keep him from being sold down the river. Tom grows up believing he is the Driscoll heir and never suspecting that he has the "drop of black blood". Racial prejudice features prominently and affects the actions and motivations of several key characters in this crime drama set in the antebellum south.

The Heart Changer by Jarm Del Boccio (reviewed HERE) - This is a YA novel about a Hebrew girl taken as a slave to Syria. Naturally she has prejudices towards the people that have attacked Israel and taken her captive! Her master, Naaman, although a good man, has so much prejudice against the Hebrews that he almost refuses to follow the instructions of the prophet Elisha so that he can be healed of leprosy.

**

Shadow among Sheaves by Naomi Stephens (reviewed HERE) is a retelling of the Biblical story of Ruth, but set in England shortly after the Great Rebellion in India. A young Indian widow goes to England with her widowed mother-in-law, and the two face extreme poverty and homelessness because the prejudice against Indians is so great that even the mother-in-law is shunned, despite being a member of British aristocracy.

**

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals is what I'm currently reading. It's the author's memoir of her experiences as one of the Little Rock Nine - the first black students to attend Central High School in 1957. I'm just a couple of chapters in but already I'm horrified by how hateful and cruel people could be simply because of skin color.

**

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton - This is one I started reading late in 2019 but wound up setting aside. I do plan to take it up again. It's a story about Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son, Absalom, in South Africa. The devastating effects of racial injustice and the apartheid system make for a melancholy and discouraging setting, but in what I've read so far the patience and gentleness of Stephen Kumalo is a hopeful contrast.

Wednesday, January 15

Recent Reads - Peter Pan

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Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - Everyone knows how the story of Peter Pan goes, right?! Yes - and also no. The novel by J.M. Barrie was one we studied in the high school literature class I teach, and we all agreed that the book is not quite the same as the Disney animated version! The events are very much the same, but the way Neverland and the character of Peter is portrayed have a different feel.

We're introduced to the Darling family, fairly ordinary in many ways, but Mr Darling has a few personality quirks and they have a dog as a nursemaid for their children. Wendy is the oldest of the three children and on the evening that Mr Darling says is her last in the nursery, she remains awake when Peter Pan comes in through the window to find the shadow he'd left behind. Peter has been the subject of many childhood stories, so she is quite excited to meet him and help him reattach the shadow. John and Michael, the two younger brothers, also awaken, and Peter Pan teaches all three of them how to fly and then takes them to Neverland with him.

While in Neverland, they encounter pirates and Indians, and have many adventures. Wendy acts as a mother to the Lost Boys, and when John and Michael show signs of forgetting their real mother, she decides that they have been away long enough and convinces Peter Pan that they must return home. Peter is firmly opposed to anything that involves growing up, and the plan is met with resistance. Throughout the adventures, Tinkerbell is antagonistic towards Wendy, but at this final crisis, it is Tinkerbell that saves Peter's life after pirate Captain Hook tampers with Peter's "medicine" that Wendy has left for him. He discovers that Wendy and the Lost Boys are all captives on Hook's ship, and finds opportunity for one more great adventure - defeating the pirates and rescuing his friends.

Barrie's book portrays Peter Pan far less favorably than the Disney movie. In the book, Peter is wholly self-absorbed in his childishness, and cares about Wendy only as she serves his imagination and thirst for adventures. He doesn't think about anyone other than himself, and practically forgets Wendy even exists any time she is out of his sight. While Disney showed him as mischievous and childish, it also gave him an aspect of heroism and chivalry that I did not sense in the book. In the movie, Neverland and all the adventures of the Lost Boys were portrayed as real, although magical; but in reading the book, it was far less clear whether these events actually happened or were entirely imagined.

Although not quite as heartwarming a children's story as one might expect, Peter Pan is still an entertaining flight of imagination. And it can raise some interesting questions about what it means to grow up, both positive and negative aspects.

Our class also noted the portrayal of the Indians on Neverland was not at all "culturally or politically correct" for our times! We marveled at the description in the book and the depictions in the Disney movie and all agreed that modern readers and viewers would see much of it as offensive and ignorant, although the original intent was surely not to offend but to play on childhood pretend games of the time, yet perhaps reflected poorly on the biased views of the time as well.

Monday, January 13

What I'm Reading/Connect Five - January 13, 2020

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This weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date. Join in to see what others are reading and maybe get some ideas of what to read next! Although the Book Date link-up happens weekly, I don't manage to post that often. All the same, I was shocked to realize that it's been a month since my last one! Over the holidays, I really was very busy and didn't read that much, so I guess it makes sense. Anyway, over the past month or so . . .

I finished reading . . .

The Rebel Bride by Shannon McNear - Staunch Rebel Pearl McFarlane is pressed into hosting and nursing captured Union soldiers in her home. One of them, Joshua Wheeler, earns her respect and friendship, but can there be any hope for more? (Read my full review HERE.)

Tiny Tim and the Ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge by Norman Whaler - In this short novel based on the Dickens work, Tiny Tim is all grown up but the death of his elderly friend Scrooge shakes his own faith. (Read my full review HERE.)

Penny For Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber - Verity's friend is the likeliest suspect in her husband's murder and asks Verity and Sidney to help. They follow a trail that leads through conspiracies, fraud, smuggling, and other murders. (Read my full review HERE.)

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - My homeschool co-op Lit class read this classic and just finished our discussion of it last week. We were all a little surprised at how differently Peter is portrayed in the book compared to our impressions from the Disney movie. (My full review is coming - in a day or two, if all goes well!)

She Laughs by Carolanne Miljavac - This is part memoir and part faith lesson, but throughout it the author's stories and writing style are both humorous and heartwarming. Fantastic book - a must read for Christian women, in my opinion. (Read my full review HERE.)

I'm currently reading . . .

The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West - I had to table this selection from our Lit class so I could keep up with all the other reading I had. I just picked it up again to finish the last couple of stories and am loving it.

Until the Mountains Fall by Connilyn Cossette - Just got started on this one from a favorite series by a favorite author. Rivkah is a new widow and Jewish law requires her husband's brother to marry her, but she is not interested in this arrangement at all.

The Blizzard Bride by Susanne Dietze - Another read I just got started with, it's the newest in the Daughters of the Mayflower series. Abigail Bracey comes to town as a schoolteacher with a secret mission that will help bring her father's killer to justice, but she is not happy about having to cooperate with the agent in charge of the case, since he happens to be an old flame.

Next on the stack...

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals
Emma by Jane Austen

On my blogs recently . . .

Here on Just A Second:

Scripture and a Snapshot posts
Wordless Wednesday - First Snowfall of 2020
Share Four Somethings - December 2019
Monthly Bookshelf Review - December 2019
Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Cookies

And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

Homeschool Highlights - Snow and Cold
Twenty Six Lists - Goals for 2020 #twentysixlists
Coffee Break Reading List - January 7, 2020
Homeschool Highlights - Beginning the New Year
A New Year: An Old Celebration
Homeschool Highlights - Christmas Week
Homeschool Highlights - Holiday Prep Week
A Concert PhotoJournal
Homeschool Highlights - Concert Week

What I'm Highlighting . . . something new over at Homeschool Coffee Break! I started a new link-up that I'm hoping will be simple and fun. Every other week I'll share a list-style writing prompt and invite you to link up your list, and wherever the prompt takes you. Join in - Twenty-Six Lists - Goals for 2020

What are you reading?

I'm not sure how often I'll be joining in with the Friday Five, and since my time was short this week I decided to combine it with my reading update.

Connection: Five Books I Read So I Could Teach

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - I remember reading this classic several times over when I was in middle school or so, but that was many years ago! It's the book we finished most recently in my high school literature class and it was a delightful re-read!

The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West - I am quite sure I'd never heard of this book before encountering it in the Literature class I teach, but I've loved reading it. The warm, gentle humor and lyrical style means this collection of short stories about a Quaker family is becoming one of my favorite books!

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (reviewed HERE) - This was another Literature class selection that I read way back when I was in school, but I barely remembered it. Science fiction isn't my usual genre of choice, so it was a stretch for me, and I found it a slow starter, but still a very good story.

Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain (reviewed HERE) - Had I read this before Lit class? Honestly, I'm not sure! I'm familiar with the story, but I really wasn't sure whether that was because I had read it or had read and heard references to it. It's a very clever story, despite the sad commentary on prejudice and racism, and I was surprised to realize just how ground-breaking the fingerprint identification idea was at the time.

The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick (reviewed HERE) - Last year I taught a fiction writing class for high schoolers at our co-op, and this YA novel was part of the course. It was new to me, but was a quick and entertaining read, and I really enjoyed it.

Sunday, January 12

Recent Reads - She Laughs

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee - thank you!

She Laughs by Carolanne Miljavac - From the very first story Carolanne Miljavac tells, she had me empathizing and laughing out loud. She has a delightful ability to share the humor in any situation, from the embarrassing to the mundane, and even bright moments in the middle of tragedy. Through these stories and lessons, Miljavac shares how laughter has helped her heal and deal with fear and pain, and why she believes that laughter is a sign of the joy and hope we have in the Lord.

There are ten chapters, each focusing on struggles and situations women face - shame, fear, failure, heartbreak, forgiveness, and more - and in each one, Miljavac tells stories from her own life experience and shares the lessons of faith she's learned and is learning. She builds a picture of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 who "laughs without fear of the future" (vs 25) that we can relate to. A woman who isn't perfect, who hasn't always got it all together - but she has a peace and joy that carries her through hard times because she trusts the Lord.

Miljavac's own experiences are heartwarming and heartbreaking by turns, and she shares them with a vulnerability and honesty that made it feel comfortable and companionable to laugh along with her, and earned my attention when she brought the preaching and teaching. These are lessons that I believe all women need to hear and perhaps especially young women.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and would love to get it into the hands of many of the young ladies that I know. As of this writing, Amazon has it free for Kindle, and I am considering purchasing copies to give away - it's that good.

From the publisher:

SHE LAUGHS! In the face of . . . Poverty. Grief. Brokenness. Disaster. Hopeless Situations. Life's Struggles.
And you can too!

Join CA Miljavac on a journey of joy.

She believes with all her heart that laughter is a gift, providing a sliver of distraction from whatever struggle you might be facing . . . relief when you need rescuing . . . hope in the midst of hardship.

Though her life has been dotted with disaster, it's through laughter that she found the strength and courage to persevere . . . joy for the journey. And she'll help you discover all the ways laughter can carry you through your very own painful situations.

In ten laugh-till-you-cry chapters, Miljavac shares how laughter has been an essential and valuable part of her own healing, plus hilarious true stories will help you get started on the path to a life of peace and joy.

Visit Barbour Publishing for more info on where to buy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Saturday, January 11

Scripture and a Snapshot - Be Strong in the Lord

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take a stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the Lord's people.

~Ephesians 6:10-18~

Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

I also link up at Sunday Scripture Blessings, hosted by Peabea Scribble Pad; and at Seeking Sabbath, hosted by A Spirit of Simplicity.

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Tuesday, January 21

Saturday, January 18

Friday, January 17

Wednesday, January 15

Monday, January 13

Sunday, January 12

Saturday, January 11