Patricia St. John’s “Treasures of the Snow,” a Credible Story of Conversion
The depiction of Able the gardener, a humble and devout Christian, in “Tom’s Midnight Garden” brought to mind the novels of Patricia […]
Mothers Who Read: Their Secrets
Everywhere I have lived, I have found continual delight in a rare type of person: the mother who reads. There are oodles […]
Philippa Pearce’s “Tom’s Midnight Garden”: Trading Time for Eternity
Carol Joyce Seid of Homeschool Made Simple suggested the book “Tom’s Midnight Garden” by Philippa Pearce. That was the first I’d heard […]
The Best Books I Read in 2024
I had no intention of abruptly ending the year of blogging in mid-December on the subject of “rawdogging.” But the frenzy of […]
Catherine Pakaluk’s “Hannah’s Children”: The Hidden Motives of Those Who Welcome Children
“Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth” is a unique book. The qualitative economic study of college-educated women in the […]
Books as Friends: Reading to Cultivate Desire for Immaterial Goods
“Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls,For thus, friends absent speak…” -John Donne, “To Sir Henry Wotton” Happening upon a book […]
Demographic Collapse is a Local Issue: The Response is Personal
A strange new coalition of vaguely conservative political actors is taking shape. One of the common threads is concern over declining birth […]
“My Bounty is As Boundless As the Sea”: The Feminine Vantage Point Beyond the Material World
My friend’s hairdresser rereads classics covered in high school English classes each decade of her life. Because we live in a culture […]
Your Kids Can Handle Old Books
Sadly, many people think their children are incapable of understanding old books. It is likely that attempting to read “Little Britches” or […]
Greg McKeown’s “Effortless”: Strategies to Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Others
If you know what it’s like to get a word stuck in your head, you’ll know what I meant when I say […]