Week in Review - 8/31/12

This week we began to ease into a more structured day. Though not much more!

Monday - I had insomnia so we wound up having another day of summer because Mommy couldn't get it together enough to start anything.

Tuesday - Friday - 6th grader and 8th grader and Mom all started new copy books. Our quote was from Jeremiah - I just randomly picked it out of Tuesday morning's terce prayers:

A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the Lord, with the Lord for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream: when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

It took us all week to write that out! Well, it took Becky all week. She had a terrible attitude and was weepy and whiney. I'm being firm and patient. It has been a week of transition, shall we say. Hopefully, next week she'll be less ornery. Little by little....

Sean, surprisingly, was quite cooperative. He really focused on trying to write well. He finished his copy Thursday. Today, Friday, we did a 10 minute freewrite instead.

I know you are probably thinking it is pathetic that it should take my kids a full week to write out such a short passage. But they hate cursive, pish, they hate writing. It is all manufactured on Becky's part because she doesn't mind writing when I am not looking. It's definitely an act on her part. Sigh. Sean though really seems to have rounded that corner, I think handwriting is not going to be the issue it has been. It's like those 3 inches he grew over the summer has somehow also affected his stamina in writing. Hooray for maturity! At least physical maturity, anyway.

We finished reading The Creed in Slow Motion! We've been reading it bit by bit since last Advent. So we definitely went in slow motion. I'm going to write a book review about it this Sunday. Excellent, excellent book; an intelligent, witty, hits just the right spot, catechism for 10 years old and up. I learned from it!

We started up a very light Latin review where we are just practicing our pronunciation while reading the Pater Noster. Next week, we'll start back to trying to memorize it. This week we just read it several times, taking turns. We also went over very simple verb conjugations, pulling charts to look at from this book.

Becky and I started our Key To fractions book. While Becky did moan and groan (cuz that's just what she did this week), I think she likes it. I put the timer on for 20 minutes and most of the week 18 minutes was her limit. But Thursday and Friday she managed to work the whole 20 minutes. Hooray for stretching mental stamina!

Sean in the meantime was doing his assigned reading. (His math tutor doesn't start coming until 9/12). He's reading The Golden Fleece by Padriac Colum. He had a couple of false starts early this month, but didn't get past the first chapter. Now though he's sat down and read for 20 minutes each morning, though he too, can't seem to read for more than 18 minutes and that never improved all week, unlike Becky's ability to focus on math. However, he's doing splendidly, I think. He just got diagnosed ADHD this summer. I think now that he knows there is a reason that he never seems to finish a book, that it's not him, it's just his brain won't let him focus long enough, he seems more patient with himself. He was very down on himself before about reading but now he doesn't seem to be at all. Again, he was surprisingly cooperative about everything. I think the assigned reading at a certain hour every day, where it isn't too taxing might go well him. After he reads, he narrates orally. I've been sitting with him and asking him the names of the various characters. He tends to gloss over names and then gets terribly confused. Another reason why he finds it hard to finish a book.

Aunt Jackie's book, copy-write 1913

Inscription by my Great Aunt Stella to my Aunt Jackie on her 13th birthday, March 11, 1936.

I also started reading Bullfinch's Mythology aloud (see above). I'm pretty thrilled about this! The book I'm reading from is over 100 years old and it was given to my aunt for her 13th birthday in 1936. At that time they could only afford to buy used books, which is great because now so many of the books I inherited are antiques. The kids were pretty impressed by this. Becky made me wear gloves while reading it. I only read for 10 minutes. I just want to read the Ancient Myths out loud this year. We'll save King Arthur and such for another time.

Last week we started watching a lecture series by The Teaching Co., How To Be a Superstar Student (the old one, apparently they've come out with a new edition with a different teacher). We've completed lecture 6 so far. I don't know if we'll follow everything the teacher recommends, but I think it is giving the kids a perspective on how to be organized and strive for excellence. Friday's freewrite was inspired by the teacher's 'jam writing' exercise. A few years ago, we'd always do freewrites on Friday. So I'm starting that up again.

Rick's been reading The Hobbit out loud to Sean and Becky since we got back from our trip. I think they are nearly done.

Josh - the 12th grader - has been job searching, applying to fast food places, etc. He got his drivers license this summer. I sat down and talked to him about his Literature/Composition/Grammar course, which we'll start next week. He also watched the first lecture of The American Identity which is another Teaching Co. Course that will serve as the spine for his history studies. The first lecture is really just an intro. Next week he'll watch the first substantive lecture and then start his timeline. He also began his Physics class this week. He can drive himself there! Hooray! He doesn't start math and government until the week after next.

Hannah left for college but Will doesn't have to go until 9/5. So he's still hanging around. He's being a sweetheart, but I can tell he's looking forward to getting back. All his friends have already gone back. I don't know why his school starts so late. And he's tired of hanging around his younger siblings, as much as he loves them.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} 8/30/12

{pretty}

We got these eggs from a farm.  When I opened up the carton to make breakfast, I was taken by all the pretty shades so artfully placed.  Just a random act of beauty on the part of the farmer!

{happy}

Here's my daughter Hannah.  While she was in Germany this summer, she bumped into Rick Steves!  She and her brother Will happened to be doing the Rick Steve's ten day tour of Germany/Austria, exactly!  She was thrilled to meet him.

{not funny}

That eel that I was chuckling about last week?  The one that fascinated my husband?  Well, he committed suicide (the eel, that is).  He jumped out of the hole by the filter and we found him dead on the floor behind the aquarium.  He looked just like a snake.  In fact that is what Becky had dubbed him, Snake.  Poor fella.

{Real}

The night before Hannah left for college we all went out to a pancake house for dinner.  Here we are goofing around.

Hannah, Becky and Josh

Seano being fantastically goofy, with Will smiling on in the background.

My beloved husband.  He's wonderful.  

For more {pretty, happy, funny, real}  go to Like Mother, Like Daughter.

It's Strewsday Tuesday already???

Gulp! Wow, time has been moving at rocket pace. Haven't done any strewing. Can't even focus on it, dealing with all kinds of things around here right now.

So my escape has been, for some strange reason, to focus on planning a driving trip this coming May. Yep, it makes no sense to be daydreaming about this right now. I have deadlines and all kinds of stuff that must. get. done. now. But instead, I spend my stolen moments of time going to sites like this: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm


You see, Hannah will graduate from the University of Dallas this coming May. May 19th to be exact. And I'm thinking it would be really cool to make it into a road trip. I have titled this road trip - Americana Road Trip.

Here's the possible itinerary:

Day 1 - Drive to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (about 8 hours)
Day 2 - Do some hiking and exploring of the park
Day 3 - Visit Cherokee, NC and see the Cherokee reservation
Day 4 - Go to Dollywood!
Day 5 - Drive to Memphis (about 5 or 6 hours)
Day 6 - Explore Memphis-eat some BBQ, listen to some Blues, look at the Mississippi.
Day 7 - Drive through Arkansas and arrive in Dallas - sorry Arkansas!
Day 8 - Graduation!
Day 9 - Drive to Oklahoma City - get there early enough to see the Cowboy Museum
Day 10 - Drive to Mansfield, MO to see Laura Ingalls Wilder's Rocky Ridge Farm
Day 11 - Drive to St. Louis - maybe take an afternoon tour of the city?
Day 12 - Drive halfway back home
Day 13 - arrive back home
Day 14 - sleep

So this really only qualifies as pre-strewing, as opposed to actual strewing.

Now to get back to my regularly scheduled life!

But what's strewing at your place?

New Look!

This is just to say, I really think this new template is pretty!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} 8/23/12

{pretty}

This weekend, I went to a meeting out in the country at a vineyard.  Next door to the vineyard they had lots of horses!

{happy}

Guess who got his driver's license???

{funny}

Rick went and got an eel for our salt water tank.  I want to name him Narcissus.  He spends all his time admiring himself in the glass.  Eels, I feel, are more funny strange than funny ha ha!

{real}  

I made pot roast one night.  This photo proves that I can cook (sometimes!)

For more {pretty, happy, funny, real} go to Like Mother, Like Daughter

Strewing for me - Notes from AL Conference

Molon Lave Vineyards

I attended a Mentor Training and Retreat for Aquinas Learning Directors/Mentors/Parents.  It was held at a lovely vineyard in Virginia.  We got to have a nice wine tasting after lunch which added a bit of class!


Here are my notes fleshed out a bit so they are less choppy and make more sense:


What I like so much about Aquinas Learning is how much freedom is given to the child. The child is truly respected. This is reflected in the fact that AL doesn't call its teachers, "teachers" but sees them as mentors. Mentors are like midwifes that help birth learning. They are there to inspire and to spark the child to learn what he can at that time according to what the Holy Spirit inspires in that child. No teaching to a test and that sort of thing. The quote from Socrates was referred to over and over again: "Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel."

Jesus is seen as the master teacher, who taught by asking questions and by telling parables. One of the presenters talked about how sometimes when stargazing it is easier to spot a star not by looking directly at it but out of one's peripheral vision. Parables are like this. There's so much depth in a simple parable that allows the listener to draw their own conclusions. This is more effective teaching than a straightforward didactic style.

Ask leading questions so that the student has to draw their own conclusions as you, the mentor, leads him or allows him to discover the answer on his own.

The goal of Aquinas Learning (AL) is: To cultivate wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul in Truth, Goodness and Beauty (that's from Circe Institute). Rosario likes the image of marinating the child in Truth, Goodness and Beauty.

Goals of Classical education are mastery of language skills, logical and critical thinking skills, and speaking skills. These are addressed in the trivium of grammar (Language skills), logic and rhetoric. AL doesn't follow the neo-classical set up of the trivium as matched with developmental stage (first set out by Dorothy Sayers in her Lost Tools of Learning essay and then expanded upon by Douglas Wilson and followed by Susan Wise Bauer among others). The original classical method saw each learner in every age or stage as aquiring skills in grammar, logic and rhetoric.  Trivium in Latin means where the three roads meet.  These three roads are always meeting as we learn no matter the age of the student.

Just as in Catholicism there is a emphasis on natural law, so there should be an understanding of how we learn naturally.  Here are the five characteristics of natural learning:

1. perceive - with our senses - Rosario emphasized allowing children to behold things, not just see them but with the added depth that the word 'behold' lends.

2. absorb - making aware of previous knowledge to compare to new knowledge (mimetic learning sequence - which is really the job of the mentor at the AL day)

3. Apprehend - making connections - AHA! moments

4. Re-present the idea - somehow - asking questions, re explaining, talking about it at home, etc.

5. Apply the knowledge - do it!

Mimetic learning sequence is how the mentor presents material to the students. In AL this is done through introducing the memory sentences for History, Latin/Greek, Catechism, Grammar, Science (I guess also with the writing, language arts portion of the day - though that part does seem more tradtionally schooly) These are called the Five Topics of Invention in Lost Tools of Writing.

Mimetic Learning is to absorb through inquiry:

The presenter had a really clever way of learning these 5 concepts:

definition, comparison, circumstance, relation, authority

She used her five fingers:

Thumb - opposable thumb defines us as human. I can point my thumb at myself and define ME. Definition is simply defining terms. So when a student is presented with a new idea what words does he already know, what words does he need to find the definitions for?

Pointer finger - when we compare things we often use our pointer finger to say oh look at that! That's different from this over here. . . Comparison is naturally what we do when confronted with something new or when trying to analyze something. What is it like and how is it different from what we already know?

Tall man finger - sometimes in certain circumstances one might raise this middle finger! Not nice but circumstances can lead to this! Circumstances are looking at the context of something, how did it arise? What are the details that created it?

Ring finger - this is where we wear our wedding ring - what are the correlations and cause and effects of the idea or knowledge being learned.  How does it stand in relation to those things around it.

Little finger - when someone is wrapped around your little finger, you have authority over them. Authority is who says this knowledge or came up with this idea? How legitimate is their authority? Why we do think they know?

Classical education is about connecting old knowledge to new knowledge because that is how we naturally learn, therefore it is about knowing things by heart (but not so much in a meaningless rote way, but really owning material - the presenter emphasized the significance of phrase 'by heart'; what we've learned by heart has become part of us) and by imitating those who know before us. Imitation takes us from our own limited knowledge into new expanded knowledge.

When analyzing literature - ask 'should' questions. Should the main character have made that decision,that choice? What should he have done? This is the key to understanding a piece of literature and giving it its moral dimension.

Discipline in the classroom:

The hardest part of teaching is maintaining an order that allows for joyful learning but keeps behavior conducive to that learning.

Different presenters had different 3 R's

3 R's to give the student the concept of what is right behavior:

Respect - respect others by keeping hands to self, not interrupting, etc

Restraint - control impulses, learn to concentrate

Responsibility - the students's job is to learn from the mentor - must take responsibility seriously.

Practical 3 R's:

Rote - have the children learn by chanting, singing, marching, counting out, focus on getting it into their memory. Not boring drill but in an engaging way.

Rhythm - kids like to learn using rhythm - mentor uses sounds and rhythm to facilitate not only learning but order in the classroom. Clicking two sticks means sit down in your seats, etc.

Running - if kids are antsy, take them out to run for a few minutes. Be aware of their need to move. Make learning active.

NB - be very clear about the rules of the classroom. Clarity and brevity are important. Using fewer words and more signals or key words. For instance, saying "Position 1" and everybody knows that means to sit in a circle for story time is much better than saying, okay everyone finish up your copywork it is time to get in our circle for story time! Too much talking diminishes their response.

To continue the rule of 3 - a student misbehaving gets one reprimand (often just pointing to the board at one of the concept 3 R's for ex. someone got up from their chair and started running around. Point to restraint) and briefly and with authority say Joey, sit down! If Joey does it again, say: Joey, sit down, this is your final warning. If Joey persists, Joey gets sent out to the director in charge of discipline or perhaps just has to sit in the hall for a a couple minutes.  The consequence is determined by the mentor.

Here's a cheat sheet that one of the presenters gave for how to approach teaching during the AL day:

1 Pre-presentation - this is 40% of your time and energy spent assimilating the knowledge yourself so you can pass it on, prayer to allow the Holy Spirit to work through you the mentor and through the student. But it is also about beginning the lesson by preparing the students minds through questions that establish what they do know already about the topic. Ask what is familiar to them already. What do they recognize.

2. Presentation is only about 20% of the lesson - that is the acting out or whatever device is used to give the idea to the students, singing, chanting, tracing, whatever.

3. Engage the kids to compare an contrast the idea presented against what they do know or what occurs to them as they absorb the material.

4. Re-presentation - this shows the student gets it. They can explain what they have learned. This might be shown in many ways that often occur outside the AL day at home with their parents. But also the oral presentation does this formally in the AL day.

5. Application - this we don't know but will naturally follow once the student has absorbed and owned the material learned.  The AL mentor might not get to witness this, but that's okay!

These five things don't necessarily follow an order, except the mentor is responsible for the pre-presentation, presentation and using leading questions to tease and guide the ideas out of the child's mind; but really everything operates in a natural flow of interaction and conversation between the mentor and all the children.

Bab; a Sub Deb - Book 36

I have to thank Jean at Howling Frog Books who mentioned this book several weeks ago in her 52 Books challenge. It sounded so good that I downloaded it on my Kindle right away but only now have got around to reading it in the latter half of this past week. It is a scream! Everything about the book is delightful. I couldn't put it down. Last night I had really bad insomnia (caffeine induced - my own fault) and I read a big chunk of it. I had to muffle my guffaws so I wouldn't wake my husband.

I'll just summarize very briefly, Barbara Archibald aka Bab is 17 years old and always getting into hilarious scrapes through the best of intentions and incredibly bad judgment. She's a sweetie though who can't spell at all but wants to be a playwright, unless she's dreaming of a military career. She is 20 months younger and extremely jealous of her older sister Leila who is 'out' and on the marriage market. But Bab is a sub deb, meaning she's got a year to go before she can play the debutante. The story is set right before and then during World War I, I think in New York and Bab's family are of the wealthy upper class.

I'm not capturing any of the hilarity. I'm rushing because my time is up on the computer!

I highly recommend this book if you want a good laugh. I'm going to be seeking out books by the author, Mary Roberts Rinehart.

For more books got to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Bad Religion - Book 35

What he said.

That pretty much sums up what I thought when I finished this book!  Ross Douthat the author of Bad Religion:  How We Became a Nation of Heretics is a New York Times Op Ed Columnist,  former editor of the Atlantic and author (He's written two other books I think).   Bad Religion is a history of the relationship between religion and politics in America.  He traces it all the way from our beginnings but mostly focuses on what has led to the current conditions in which we live.  While Douthat is known as a conservative, he is pretty darn fair and objective when critiquing both the left and the right.  The book is just so intelligent and full of really on target insights and common sense. This is another book I want to reread, there's just so much here.

I got a really bad night's sleep last night, so I just am not up for writing an in depth analysis right now, but suffice it to say I think everyone should read this book!  How's that for an endorsement?

If you want to get a flavor of Douthat's take on things, watch this clip of him defending religion to Bill Maher.

For more book reviews visit 52 Books!

Strewsday Tuesday 8/14/12

I don't have much for today. I can't even believe that a whole week has gone by since the last Tuesday Strewsday. Time is just flying!

Hannah and Will came home from their European Adventure last Thursday afternoon. Hannah got busy putting together her travel memorabilia into framed artwork to hang in her apartment at college. Becky helped.

Hannah stenciling her Berlin map.

Becky placing the post cards just right.

Hannah's Madrid map.

We also decorated a wooden photo box for Granddad's 81st birthday.  Becky decorated the top as you can see below.

I am sticking in this bad picture of Will.  Here he is just getting up from the piano.  He was teaching Becky a song.  He strews music where ever he goes.  And it delights my heart to hear hear him on the piano and the guitar again.

Here's a shot of that jigsaw puzzle we started last Monday:

Ta da!

It was a family effort but I have to say Rick worked on it the most.  You can't see it from this photo but Rick always leaves the very last piece out and the first kid to wander by and notice gets to put it in and complete the puzzle.

A major thing going on this week is that Joshua is finally, finally doing his Behind the Wheel training.  He's getting an interesting education that way, as the driving teacher is quite a character.  He's a good driving instructor (we think) but he's also a very outspoken agnostic Muslim from Bangladesh.  So Josh (and Rick and I) are getting an earful of opinions from a decidedly different perspective.  That's one reason I love the area I live in.  Very multicultural in the best sense of the word.  A true melting pot where you can rub elbows with all kinds of God's children!  And besides learning to drive, Josh is busy filling out job applications and in fact today he goes for his first interview.  It just so happens Chick fil a is hiring!

So what's strewing in your place?

Jesus; A Biography from a Believer - Book 34

My book this week was Jesus; A Biography from a Believer by Paul Johnson. I found this book perusing the shelves of my local library. I recognized the author's name as Paul Johnson is a fairly well known historian. He's been recommended on the Well Trained Mind High School list. In fact I have his book on A History of the American People which I started to read a couple of years ago when I was teaching American History to my oldest two kids. I remember really enjoying it, but life got super busy and I got bogged down so it was one of those books that I have left unread much to my own shame and dismay! Anyway, that former encounter with Johnson was enough to make me take this book on Jesus home with me.

Johnson is a good historian but a little quirky, I think. He'll be going along telling you history in a surprisingly easy to read and very clear way and then suddenly he'll just introduce his own personal opinion about something. I don't always agree with him, but he's interesting and gives a lot of food for thought. Often he'll explain something in a way I had never thought of before. I might decide I reject that perspective but there is something refreshing and unstuffy about the way he does this. He's a pleasant read.

He also can turn a phrase quite nicely. One quote that stayed with me (there were more than this example) is this, when he is talking about Jesus's teaching style:

All the time he taught he was creating little pictures in the minds of the men and women who listened to him. He was the poet of virtue, the bard of righteousness, the minstrel of divine love.

The book is sprinkled through with those kinds of observations.

I also really liked the way Johnson organized his material. The Book is divided by chapters:

1) Birth, Childhood, Youth

2) Baptism, Temptation and the Apostles

3) The Danger of Miracles - What was so interesting to me about this chapter was Johnson's theory on why Jesus always tell people not to speak of his miracles.

4) What Jesus Taught and Why

5) Poetry and Parables, Questions and Silence

6) Encounters: Men, Women, Children, The Aged

7) Jesus's New Ten Commandments - This chapter was especially thought-provoking and introduced a lot of Johnson's own spin on the Gospels. Here's a quote:

The aim of Jesus was not to change the world. His aim was to fit its inhabitants for the Kingdom of God, which he insisted, "is not of this world."

8) Jesus's Trial and Crucifixion

9) The Resurrection and the Birth of Christianity

As I said before, I'm not sure I agree with Johnson's take on things all the time, but he is really insightful in some areas, and he often gave me food for thought, or presented well known information in a new light.

I thought this was a worthy read.

For more book reviews go to 52 Books.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} 8/9/12

{pretty}

Becky looked out the window Tuesday evening and gasped, then grabbed my camera and ran outside.  The sky was the most gorgeous, vivid coral-ish red.  Breathtaking!

{happy}

Somebody got her Felicity doll back from the American Girl hospital.  This was another birthday present.  Becky waited three long weeks for her doll to come back whole.  Actually, this doll is 15 years old and belonged to Becky's older sister before her.  Poor Felicity had lost an arm and one leg was very near to falling off.  Her face was pretty smudged up too.  But now she's back where she belongs.  All fixed up!

{funny}

Here's Seano being goofy.  This was taken on our last day in our hotel room in Madrid.  We were sooo tired and ready to go home.  Here's a funny story from this week.  See those glasses he's wearing?  He lost them this week. Second pair he's lost since January!  Argh!  So we went to Hour Eyes to have them replaced, but alas, they did not have his prescription in stock so we were told we had to wait 14 days for new glasses.  When I relayed this fact to Rick, he quipped:   "14 days!  That company should call themselves Two Week Eyes."    Get it?  Two weak eyes?  Hahahahahahaha.  I love my husband.

{real}

This is really real.  This is my new deodorant!

It works better than any other deodorant I've ever used!  I use to take a shower in the a.m. and dutifully apply deodorant before getting dressed.  By the time I climbed into bed at night, I have to admit, I smelled a little gamey!  I came across the suggestion to use baking soda when I was perusing this site, which is trying to rid our lives of plastic (which is both ecologically disastrous as well as chemically bad for our health. I read a really good book on this subject). Then I read about a study done on breast cancer which said that in a huge number of breast cancer cases they found that the cancer cells had parabens in them, something we absorb through our deodorant. (The article I read was scary. This link is more objective in its presentation of the facts.)

My oldest sister had breast cancer, so I guess I get the willies about it pretty easily. I decided what's the harm in trying the baking soda alternative? No plastic containers to throw into a landfill for thousands of years and no possibly dangerous chemicals.

I dug out of my cupboard the only remaining ramekin from a set I inherited many years ago. I dumped some baking soda into it, got some cotton pads and powdered it on under my arms. It worked! Wonderfully! So now I'm telling everybody!

Becky thinks I'm dumb for making this the {real} section, but I told her the other ladies would understand and appreciate my sharing this little tip. Right?

For more {pretty, happy, funny, real} posts go to Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Strewsday Tuesday - 8/7/12

I tried to strew a few things yesterday.

I got out a Beatles Monopoly game that has been gathering dust for a while. No one has taken me up on it though. Maybe later this week.

We went to Michaels and got a wooden box that we've decided to sand and paint and decorate. The box has little slots on each side to put photos. Sean said he'd find and edit photos for it (he likes editing a lot). This will be our gift to grandad on Sunday. He turns 81 years young!

The most successful strewing yesterday was this:

The summers we go to the beach for vacation, we often wind up doing a jigsaw puzzle found somewhere on a shelf of the rental.  And often, we work a jigsaw puzzle between Christmas and New Years.  This was my family tradition growing up.  For some reason it was important to get ii finished by New Years Day.   I remember my grandmother and father working away with great focus.  We kids liked to help too.  My mother only ever got frustrated by them and really couldn't see why we found it so engrossing.  Anyway, it was gratifying to see the kids wander by and then sit down for a few minutes and work until they got a piece or two in.  This one is going to be hard.  There's lots of white and lots of look alike shells.  But in the end maybe we can learn to identify shells better.  Perhaps we'll cap our completion of the puzzle with a trip to the beach!  That sounds nice!

What's strewing at your house?

Meditations with John Henry Newman

(I'm not including this book in with my 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge because it really is not a narrative kind of read.)

Take Five; Meditations with John Henry Newman by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan R. Velez is one of a new series of the Take Five books designed to provide the reader with a quote from a well known Catholic saint or scholar, along with a Scripture verse and pointed questions to help provoke thought and prayers.

The set up goes like this: first, an introduction to the whole book, which informs the reader of how the authors envisioned the book being used and why they set it up the way they did. Then there is a solid summary of the life of John Henry Newman. After this there are 75 readings to meditate on. Each reading has a title which encapsulates the theme, a short line or two that summarizes and puts into the context the quote presented, the actual quote which is no longer than a paragraph or two, next the authors present three points to think about. Under the caption "just Imagine" there is a piece of Scripture that ties into what Newman was saying in his quote and then lastly a little section called Remember which summarized the major point behind this particular passage.

This little book was my companion as I waited for my kettle to boil each morning. My little ritual was to fill the kettle, turn on the flame, make the sign of the cross and begin reading. I had until the kettle whistled to meditate. It really did just 'take five' as the title of the series implies and it was a great way to jump start the morning.

In the Afterward the authors recommend two books for further reading, both by Newman and neither of which I'd heard of before. I have read parts of The Idea of a University by Newman and I've heard of Apologia Pro Vita Sua which I have not read but want to. But now I am really inspired to learn more about this wonderfully brilliant and holy man. I discovered in some books I inherited two biographies about Newman, one by Maisie Ward (those familiar with Catholic publishing will recognize her name)entitled Young Mr. Newman and another book, by Meriol Trevor, another well known author, named Newman; The Pillar of the Cloud.


I'm wondering if I should read one of these biographies first before attempting more straight Newman? Should I reread The Idea of the University but this time from cover to cover, instead of just dipping into it here and there as I did before? Or should I begin with Apologia Pro Vita Sua?

Decisions, decisions.

And now I have to find the other Take Five book I bought way back last fall; this one on St. Ignatius.

A Sense of the World - Book 33

This book was so gripping to me! I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed learning about James Holman, the blind traveler. I listend to it on audio in my car. I had a couple of weeks of driving my daughter back and forth to music camp. It takes about 30 or 40 minutes each way so I knew I needed a good book to listen to in the car to avoid going crazy. I also had lots of other driving around to do as well. I found this audio recording at my local library.

James Holman was an apothecary's son, born in 1786, whose father connived to get him into the Royal Navy at age 12. This was very common at that time. Holman spent his time in the Northern waters of the Atlantic off the coast of Canada for the most part. The terrible cold and damp he was exposed to seemed to have caused rheumatoid arthritis. Over the years, he suffered terrible bouts that put him into the hospital. Finally he was sent to Bath, to the mineral waters there, that hopefully would relieve him of his suffering. It did, but while there he suddenly became blind. He was 25 years old. He had worked his way up to Lieutenant by that time. He was on half-pay but he knew that with his blindness that pay could be stopped at any time. He didn't want to burden his family, so he applied to become a Naval Knight, which was an organization set up in a rich man's will, that would provide room and board for an infirmed and impoverished naval officer on the condition that they remain unmarried and pray twice a day at the services of the church at Windsor. Holman managed to snag one of these positions. But he discovered it was not as ideal as he thought. He was bored out of his skull! He wound up talking the board that managed the will, into letting him study medicine at the University of Edinburgh! After he completed his studies there, he was sent to the Mediterranean area to help improve his health. And it worked! Holman discovered he loved to travel and that the thrill of traveling as a blind man was just the ticket for good health. He wound up traveling all over the world. The story of his adventures are fascinating. And so much history is uncovered as you follow him around the globe.

Jason Roberts, the author, writes an absolutely fabulous account. I was sad when the book ended. I felt like I'd lost a friend, he made the wonderful character of the intrepid James Holman so real.

The reader of the book has a great British accent, but I do think he garbled some of his words. And it wasn't just that he was pronouncing them the British way; he just sometimes pronounced words funny! However, it wasn't enough to be irksome, rather it just made him a bit idiosyncratic which was kind of fitting to the story!

This book gets a very hearty two thumbs up from me! For more book reviews, please go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

The Spanish Match - Book 32

The Spanish Match by Brennan Pursell reminded me of a good Georgette Heyer historical novel, only a little cruder; I guess this makes it more in line with contemporary sensibilities. I found it quite riveting, though it could have been a bit shorter and still have told a good story.

The story centers on what happened when Charles, the Prince of Wales (he became Charles I), is sent by his father James I to try to woo the sister of Philip IV, the Infanta, Maria. Basically, James and Charles want to ally themselves with the Hapsburgs in order to maintain a kind of peace in Europe to avoid the catastrophe that became the Thirty Years War. Charles and his aide, the Duke of Buckingham, rode secretly across France and into Spain and surprised the Spanish court there. He stayed for several months trying to win a match, but in the end, his mission failed. He later married Maria Henrietta, the sister of the King of France of the Bourbon dynasty, and the Thirty Years war continued unabated, one of the most horrific wars ever.

Pursell included some known facts about the incident, for instance Charles surprised the Infanta in a garden one day and quoted lines from a famous romantic Spanish play, but apparently we don't know much of what happened except that the engagement failed, probably due to a dispensation the Pope issued with an untenable codicil attached to it. Spain was Catholic and had been the sworn enemy of England, who had broken away from the Church under Henry VIII. Catholics had been openly persecuted; fined, oppressed, hunted down, tortured and killed in England. The Pope would only allow the marriage if the English stopped persecuting Catholics. Alas, in the end, that was too much to ask! The situation was actually a bit more complicated than that, but that is the gist of it.

Pursell writes very well. The story is told from the point of view of Charles I. He's young (only 22 at the time), insecure and overpowered by the personality and manipulative genius of the Duke of Buckingham (who later in life gets assassinated back in England - he is very evil so no sympathy there!). Charles has decent impulses and he wants to be noble and wise, but he falls short rather pathetically. He simply isn't as smart or evil as the Duke! (You know what happens later in life to poor Charles, don't you? He is the only king to be beheaded in all of English history. The Puritans took over, with Oliver Cromwell at the helm. He died in 1658. Two years later, on the 12th anniversary of Charles I execution, they dug up old Oliver and beheaded him and hung his head up for all to see! Tired of the Puritan's cruelty, they got rid of Richard Cromwell after a year and restored the kingship. That's a very simplified version of the story, but Georgette Heyer did write a really good historical novel set in that period about Charles II (Bonnie Prince Charlie) called Royal Escape.

The Spanish Match is very well researched and replete with accurate historical and cultural details. Pursell is a historian by trade. This is his first attempt at a novel. He does really well! It's also a romance and a murder mystery! So it's got everything you want!

Two thumbs up if you are in the mood for a nice thick novel that will transport you back to the days of European royalty.

For more reviews go to 52 Books.