The past few weeks I’ve been having a grand time “living” in 1800 thanks to two friends of mine.

Christie you may already know. She designed My Book of Centuries with its helpful guides that give gentle direction for the user: designated spaces for sketches of artifacts, lists of noteworthy people, narrations of the centuries, plus the wonderful century-at-a-glance grids.

What you may not know is that Christie recently redesigned the book. The new edition of My Book of Centuries condenses the content of the original, keeping all of the elements, but shortening each century to a single two-page spread. This is more in line with how Charlotte’s students marked time and makes the book thinner, more portable, and less unwieldy.

Christie has received great feedback about this more manageable format. And we’re happy to make the new thinner version of My Book of Centuries available to you. Download the free sample and take a look at the new design.

My Book of Centuries has played an important role in my enjoyment of 1800 lately, for it has been helping me make my own mental connections in history. You see, my friend Crystal happened to mention The Grasmere Journals in one of our conversations. “You would love them!” she told me. So I grabbed a used copy online and started reading. What a delight!

The Grasmere Journals chronicle the everyday life of Dorothy Wordsworth when she lived with her brothers, William and John (yes, that William Wordsworth!), in a little cottage nestled in the Lake District of England during 1800—1803. Her sweet descriptions give such a wonderful peek into life during that time period. And part of the treat is the extensive notes that have been added to give background details and to put the reader “in the know.”

Of course, for Charlotte Mason readers, her frequent references to Ambleside is one of the strongest mental connections, for that is where Charlotte set up her teacher training school a few years later. Reading The Grasmere Journals, I feel that I am getting to know the people and countryside among which Charlotte lived and walked every afternoon.

And other people of that century wander in and out of Dorothy’s journals too. Yesterday I read about the first time she met Thomas and Catherine Clarkson, who worked alongside Wilberforce for the abolition of slave trade. So many connections!

And one of the joys is being able to record those connections, my own connections, in my Book of Centuries.

I’m eager to see in what time period I’ll have a grand time next!