For my first post of 2022, I'm looking back to my favorite reads of the past year. On my former blog, The Emerald City Book Review, I awarded the "Emerald City Gem" each year to the most memorable books in various categories. You can visit those lists here if you like, covering 2014 to 2020. … Continue reading Stars of 2021
Retable of the life of the Virgin, anonymous, c. 1480 At the turning point of timethe spirit light of the worldentered the stream of earth-existence.Darkness of nighthad ceased its reign;day-radiant lightshone forth in human souls.LightThat gives warmthTo simple shepherds' hearts;lightthat enlightensthe wise heads of kings. Light divine,Christ-Sun,warm our hearts,enlighten our heads,that good may becomewhat from … Continue reading Shepherds and Kings, warmth and light
This has been my first year of fully blogging on Entering the Enchanted Castle. It's been a wonderful new adventure and I want to say thank you for being here and sharing it with me. Here's a month-by-month review of some blog highlights: In January I looked back at some of my favorites from seven … Continue reading Year-end reflections, and a blog break
For the next several months, I'm joining in a readalong of C.S. Lewis's Narnia series, hosted by Chris of Calmgrove - starting with this month's volume, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. As I mentioned earlier, while the Narnia books have many weaknesses, they were incredibly formative for me as a reader and thinker, … Continue reading Through the wardrobe door: #Narniathon21
Back in October, when winter was already approaching in our region, we spent a couple of weeks exploring and looking for sunshine in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. It can only be reached by going over or under the Alps -- we spent 15 minutes driving through the Gotthard Tunnel, a wonder of modern … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Ticino
While I'm rounding up my 2021 reading, I wanted to take a look at how I did with my goal of reading more books written or set in in different countries of the world (see my Around the World page for full details of what I've read so far). I was pleased to see that … Continue reading Around the World reading in 2021
After last month's My Year in Nonfiction post, I thought it would be fun to look back on my fiction reading this year and see what patterns or themes might emerge. The results were enlightening -- I see that I've done a lot of unchallenging comfort reading, including loads of light comedy and rereads of … Continue reading My Year in Fiction
Some months ago Chris of Calmgrove announced plans for a Narniathon -- reading through the seven Chronicles of Narnia, one per month, starting in December with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I've been looking forward to this chance to revisit some of my childhood favorites together with other readers, and I'm so excited … Continue reading Join us in a Narniathon?
What comfort are you finding in these challenging times? Books are high on my list, as always, along with family, the chance for meaningful work, and the ongoing quest to understand our amazing, complex world. Here's a survey of what's come my way this month. Literature I really enjoyed participating fully in Nonfiction November this … Continue reading Month in Review: November 2021
It's been another amazing Nonfiction November, and as usual, I've learned so much and gathered so many new reading ideas. The OC BookGirl is our host for this week's topic, which invites us to share all the books we've added to our TBR. Here are some of mine, with thanks to the bloggers who brought … Continue reading Nonfiction November: New to My TBR
