Sarah's March Books

[sk8eeyore]

In honor of the newest release, this month I re-read the books in S. D. Smith's Green Ember series:

The Green Ember -- the story that introduces Heather, Picket, and their role in the destiny of rabbitkind.
The Last Archer -- a novella set during the events of the first book, but focusing on side character Jo Shanks. Some very satisfying character development.
Ember Falls -- the second novel in the series. The perspectives of more characters are introduced (perhaps a few too many), and Heather and Picket and their friends mature into their roles as the stakes get higher for the kingdom of Natalia.

Ember Rising -- the new book in the series. What a glorious story! Each Green Ember book has gotten steadily better in its storytelling and pacing, and its world has grown both vaster and more richly layered. I enjoyed the earlier books, but Ember Rising is truly an achievement. I could feel the Tolkien influence throughout.

One of my favorite aspects of this book, and really the series as a whole, is that small, weak, and seemingly marginal rabbits have their heroic roles to play as well—not just the frontline soldiers, kings, and princesses. Everyone is called to their “little work,” as Emma wisely says, which has its part among all the thousands of others in the great Story.

And so many interesting characters, both male and female! Harmony, Heyna, wonderful Helmer. WEEZIE. So many backstories I’d love to see explored in future novellas.

The violence in this book is grimmer, and there are more chilling moments (perhaps for adult readers even more than for children). But the tender moments ring truer as well. I'm so glad there will be at least one more book to tie up the storylines.

The Cross by Sigrid Undset
The last of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. Kristin deals with widowhood, watches her sons grow up, and seeks God's face in her declining years. In some ways the darkest and saddest of the trilogy, but the ending is satisfying and true to the themes of the earlier books. Again, I highly recommend the trilogy to fans of historical fiction; it epitomizes the best of the genre, in my opinion.

Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul by Hannah Anderson
I'd read this before, but I was asked to review it for a magazine recently. The author does a good job of showing how pride manifests in our lives and how the solution is found not in mastering a technique, but in learning over a lifetime how to take Jesus' easy yoke and light burden upon us. She uses a lot of thoughtful illustrations drawn from her life as a rural pastor's wife.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
This book was charming, as all of von Arnim's novels are, but I was a little underwhelmed. It's the story of three 1920s Englishwomen (single, widowed, or in unhappy marriages), strangers to each other, who rent an Italian villa for a month. They learn to appreciate each other and find reconciliation with other people and circumstances in their lives. It's very funny in spots, but it all ended a bit too tidily for me.

The Suicide of the West by Jonah Goldberg
I received an ARC of this book, and I'm still working on a review, so I haven't fully processed my reactions yet. Basically, it's about how, in Goldberg's view, Americans of all political stripes have lost the will to defend our central values and institutions and need to rediscover gratitude for our founding ideals. Preserving liberty takes work, and in the short term, it's more satisfying to hide in tribal echo-chambers--but that path will lead to long-term disaster. The first several chapters were fairly dry, but I thought the second half of the book provided some interesting fodder for discussion.

The Clouds Ye So Much Dread: Hard Times and the Kindness of God by Hannah K. Grieser
This is a lovely book. I’d rate it a 4.5, and the only reason I don’t give it a 5 is because of the unevenness of books like this that are adapted from a blog series. And even when parts didn’t entirely flow for me, this book is more successful on that count than many.

Naturally, many of the reflections center around her son’s battle with leukemia. Not all of them do, however. I actually thought the most compelling chapters were those with a strong narrative, such as Hannah’s story of encountering food taboos at her intercultural boarding school and comparing it to her experience of feeling like a “food foreigner” upon returning to the PNW. She has some great points about the power of questionable food/health fads within Christian communities.

The chapter on emotion and grief is really good, especially her points about the maturing of imagination required for empathy.

I loved her comment about scripture and catechisms as “sturdy old truths stacked on the shelves of my memory” at times of crisis.

This is a worthwhile read for any Christian—I feel I could never read too many accounts of learning to trust in God’s faithfulness through trials and suffering, and I’ll likely return to this one.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Speaking of books about suffering...

I remembered enjoying this story as a child, so I thought it would be fun to revisit in the springtime. The first half was really charming, but the second half was kind of ruined for me. Following a hunch, I read a bit about Burnett's dabbling in unorthodox religious beliefs like spiritualism, theosophy, and Christian Science. Once I knew that, it was hard to read the language surrounding Colin's healing in the same way (i.e., it's basically a metaphor for the Christian Science view of illness and suffering being caused by false thoughts). It was actually kind of disturbing. I'm surprised I haven't heard this talked about elsewhere. I understand why this remains a beloved classic for people, but I'm not sure I could enjoy reading it again.

Collapsible: A Novel of Friendship, Broken Bones, Coffee, Shenanigans, and the Occasional Murder by Ruth Buchanan
A fun, quick read. I haven’t read much in either the Christian fiction or cozy mystery genres, but my enjoyment of eccentric thirty-something spinster protagonists is well established. And I kind of enjoy murder mysteries as long as they’re not too dark. Rachel is kind of a self-absorbed, melodramatic protagonist, but she shows potential for growth by the end.

I will likely consider getting the other two books for plane reading next month; I’d like to see how characters and relationships develop. Not that it greatly matters, but my one complaint is that BFF Lynn’s and sister Ann’s names are SO similar I kept mixing up their characters as I was reading about them.
Total for March: 11
Total for 2018: 17

Comments

[lovedandamazed]

I'm catching up on DW posts and saw a few things here I wanted to reply to. :-)

Recently "Green Ember" and "Ember Falls" were both free on Kindle, and another friend of mine had read them when the second book came out and liked them a lot. I picked up both of them but haven't started reading them yet. I'm glad to hear of another recommendation for them! :-)

I remember when the movie version of "The Secret Garden" came out. We were never allowed to watch it because of some questionable content, and I've never read the book, either, although Burnett's "A Little Princess" was one of my favorite childhood classics. I think the questionable content did have something to do with spiritualism, but it's been such a long time ago and I was a kid so I don't remember exactly.

[sk8eeyore]

Oh, I hope you enjoy the "Green Ember" books! It's funny--as a kid, I didn't enjoy fantasy or animal stories very much, but I've loved this series as an adult. Author Sam Smith seems like a really cool person, too.

Another friend was just telling me that when she and her siblings watched that movie as children, there was a scene involving a healing ritual that frightened them, so they would always fast-forward over it. The equivalent scene in the book was what tipped me off that Burnett may have held some questionable views. I'd still like to read "A Little Princess" sometime.