Mom Culture! What are you reading now?

Jane Eyre

The language inspires me to put a quality feast before my girls.   

As Jane wrestles with doing what she knows is right, the author writes, “and Conscience, turned tyrant, held Passion by the throat.”  And in the end, Conscience was the victor.  Do modern authors write like this?  Probably not as our vocabulary has been stunted by all that flickers (mine included).

Also reading Mere Christianity.

I’m reading several things as I find time depending on my mood and time constraints. 

For fun and relaxation I am currently re-reading all of Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter books. I read them in high school and I know that it was exposure to these that lead me to want a classical education for myself. I wanted to know what he was quoting and who he was talking about. Little did I dream that it would become a desire to share with my chidlren…and started my journey to CM methods and philosophy. 

For poetry, I am reading Edgar A. Guest’s The Path to Home. I REALLY enjoy his work. Lovely collections of fun, uplifting poetry!

Parents and Children, Volume 2 of the CM Original Series. I am really enjoying it. She has a lot of good stuff to say. My little group is reading A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, and I am almost done with the Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner. I am trying to see if we would like to use it next year for our study guide book. 

Invitation to the Classics – I am enjoying this one, too. I will not get to read all the books listed in here, but they also give a little report of each one and why it is important in history. I am learning a lot. 😉 

I am reading the scriptures, a book about parenting through the scriptures, and another one called Teaching, No Greater Call. It is geared towards teaching at church, but there is so much that I am gleaming for our homeschool and as a mother.

Our family is currently reading and loving Little Women, Raggedy Ann, The Last Battle, and Within the Palace Gates. We just finished The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood and James Herriot’s Treasury for Children on Wednesday.

I just finished Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters and was surprised by how very much i enjoyed it! reminiscent of Jane Austen in that so much of it is about everyday life, but wow! that was a fun and fascniating read! I am really looking forward to reading more by this author, most especially her biography about her friend and contemporary Charlotte Bronte.

speaking of Charlotte Bronte, I also highly recommend Jane Eyre…i read that a couple months ago for the first time since 10th grade (at which point i despised the book) and found that it is absolutely one of my favorite novels of all time. (which is a good reminder to me that sometimes even great books, if enjoyed before one is ready for them, dont give a person very much)  ….i went on to read another book of hers, Villette, which was interesting, at times tedious (i know some french, but there is a LOT of french in this book!), but worth reading…..but the ending very much disappointed me.

Wives and Daughters is somewhat disappointing at the end bc the author died before the ending was completed. but enough of the main issues are resolved to make it not too disappointing:)  Mrs. K, i was considering starting North and South next too (though i think i want to read her bio on bronte first)! i would be interested in hearing what you think of it ( for so long i just assumed that it was a novel about the civil war:) before i even knew who elizabeth gaskell was!  

rejoiceforevermore,

Because you mentioned Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, I thought I’d mention what I learned in the introduction of Jane Eyre (Penquin Classics edition).  It says,

The critic G. H. Lewes thoughfully advised Charlotte to study Jan Austen’s novels and correct her shortcoming in the light of that great artists practice.  Charlotte had never read any Jane Austen, it appeared, but she was willing to learn.  Having read Pride and Prejudice she wrote to explain to Lewes with admirable spirit why such a novelist could be of no use to her, indeed, by the light of what she was trying to do, was not a novelist at all. 

Charlotte rejects Miss Austen’s work as ‘only shrewd and observant’, ‘sensible, real (more real than true) but she cannot be great’; one sees there only ‘a highly-cultivated garden but no open country’; she is ‘without poetry’; ‘Can there be a great artist without poetry?’

Ouch!  I love Jane Austen.  Those are cutting words by Miss Bronte.

I’ve not read Villette, but I did read that Charlotte’s father disagreed with how she wanted to end the book.  Apparently, her ending was not to be happy and he wanted it so.  So, she compromised and now it appears no one is happy. 

I read North and South last year and it was good.  I’m glad I watched the movie first (which I don’t usually do) because historical context better (industrialization, relationships between workers and masters).

Now, Wuthering Heights.  I’ve not read it.  Is it worth it?  Healthcliff sounds like such a tormented and dark soul.  Is there a redeeming quality in the book?

I am reading Gentle Measures in the Management of Children (or something like that) that someone here recommended a while back and it was either free or a couple of dollars from Amazon (kindle). It was written a very long time ago. I am SOOO enjoying it, and my hubby wants to join me reading it now, so we will try to read a bit each night . This is SUCH a good book…and I am SO excited that he is going to read it with me!!

I also hope to read some more of J.R. Miller’s Family book. This is also a really “old-fashioned” book. Many people wouldn’t place much value on it for today, but we find it a treasure-trove of wisdom and inspiration.

I think I will also read one of CM’s books, but haven’t decided which one yet. Maybe Ourselves.

Melissa, I LOVED the Scarlet Letter!