After weeks of remodeling and painting, my muscles needed a break.  So even though I have lots of work to do on the house, I gratefully have spent evenings over the last week or so catching up on all the reading I set aside when we moved in.  Right before the move, I had re-read A Wrinkle in Time and resolved to read, for the first time, the remaining four titles in that series.  Having done so now, I think I’m still partial to the first one, but all are that fun and characteristically L’Engle combination of easy reading yet thought provoking.  I’m looking forward to introducing my oldest niece to these soon.

Also at the time of the move, I was about halfway through C. S. Lewis’ The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (I read a great review of it at a blog inspired by the book) and am back to that now. It was his last book and the one that perhaps captures him in his most natural habitat as a classics prof, and it’s one of those books I read with a full packet of post-it tabs for marking excellent points or quotes I want to remember.

Thanks to my sister, who’s a fellow Maisie Dobbs fan, I also got to catch up on that series with the latest, Among the Mad.  This is a consistently interesting series, I have to say.  I was excited to learn that a new one, The Mapping of Love and Death, is due out in April.

And now I finally have my TBR stack unpacked and organized again, so as soon as I finish Lewis, I’ll be reaching for one of these — which one, I haven’t yet decided.

What are you currently reading?

Writer David Rothman on the lengths we take to secure a muse, in this case, a pristine copy of Paul Bailey’s latest novel, Uncle Rudolph:

The express train gone, I turned back to my left to see if a local was coming. As I turned, I lost control of the book and it slid out of my hands and down onto the tracks. Yet when I looked down Uncle Rudolph was gone. Had the book fallen through to the busy intersection below? Had it somehow defied gravity and not fallen when I dropped it? Then I saw its profile, its spine facing upward. The novel had gotten stuck between the platform wall and the tracks. Uncle Rudolph was literally hanging on a thin metal bar, inches from the train tracks. My first thought was to climb down and get it, but the tracks were perhaps fifteen feet down from the platform and it would be quite risky to expose myself like that. I saw a number of people pointing at the hanging novel. A moment later a 7 train rolled by and I held my breath. I was not worried about paying the lost book library fine. I simply couldn’t imagine waiting weeks to find out what happened to Uncle Rudolph and his nephew in London. The train roared by and the novel shook a bit, but didn’t budge. Three more trains passed right in front of my eyes and the book stayed put.

I ran down to tell the station attendant, who nodded and said that “special teams” would meet me on the platform within a half an hour. Who were these people in “special teams,” I wondered. I stood again at the platform, guarding the novel with my stare, as each train came and went, dropping off and picking up anxious passengers. Twenty minutes later, there they were: the special teams unit, three guys in white uniforms running off the train holding long poles with nets. They looked like members of a lacrosse team. “Where is the object?” a man with a French accent said.

I pointed, he swept Uncle Rudolph up, handed me the book and had me sign a document. Then my three heroes in white suits waved good-bye and hopped onto the next train.

Read the rest in Glimmer Train’s Bulletin 36.

Burns Day (poet Robert Burns, b. January 25, 1759) is as good as any to return to blogging after my moving-induced hiatus.  (And thanks for reading through my archives while I was offline!)  Most years Brandon and I remember too late, but this year we’re on the ball.  Perhaps we’re just looking for excuses to celebrate in our new house?

The house, by the way, is coming along.  We took possession just over a month ago, immediately remodeled the only bathroom, moved in on January 1, painted the front bedroom to work as our study/library, updated some wiring, and have been busy doing all the little things you do to unpack and make a new space your own.  We still have lots of work to do—a complete kitchen remodel in the next few years is becoming apparent—but are trying to take it one room at a time.  And the fact that I’m writing this in “my” corner of the study, enjoying a cheery new Pottery Barn rug and keeping an eye on the birdfeeder outside one window and the snowflakes curling over the porch railing out the other window means HOME is coming to fruition!

But for now, back to Robert Burns.  Our fascination with him is partly our Scottish backgrounds (more than a few generations ago), partly his apparent disgust for one of Brandon’s ancestors (Patrick Wodrow, son of Robert—who, like Brandon, was a church historian—mentioned in “The Twa Herds”), and partly a simple appreciation for all poets.  We also like to celebrate Emily Dickinson’s birthday on December 10, but there seem to be a lot more poetry-lovers who come out of the woodwork for Rabbie!  We will not be having haggis for dinner tonight (despite our friend Sam’s hearty recommendations!) but we will gladly lift a finger or two of Scotch while reading a few selections.  I found some cool resources at the Burns Country website, including recipes and a guide to hosting a Burns Supper.

Are you an observer of Burns day?  Leave a comment and let me know how you celebrate.  Now that I’m settling in again, I’m looking forward to making the blog rounds and catching up with all of you!

Today marks the third Sunday of Advent, and I have to admit that waiting for the Christ Child is a bit overshadowed by waiting to take possession of our house.  We closed two weeks ago on our first house—after 15 years of renting near grad schools and temporary teaching assignments—and hope to begin moving next week (yes, best Christmas present ever)!  In the meantime (and in addition to packing), Brandon and I have been marking the season by reading aloud each evening from Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas.  This is our third year of observing Advent in the company of this book.  Each day features a selection from a great poet, theologian, or church father or mother, including Madeleine L’Engle, Thomas Merton, C.S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, Kathleen Norris, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Annie Dillard, Sylvia Plath, Bernard of Clairvaux, and John Donne.  As in all collections, some of the selections are more striking or original than others, and we enjoy noting the thematic and stylistic elements that characterize each selection’s author.  On the whole, we have found this useful for quieting and focusing our thoughts and sparking a bit of conversation as we unwind from the day.  

Do you have any Advent traditions?  Any favorite books you return to in this season?

Look what arrived in my mail today!  A few months ago, my multi-talented friend and fellow writer Ros, who blogs at Conversational Theology, did a Facebook meme offering a personal handmade gift to the first 5 people who commented.  Knowing her skills at all things crafty, I jumped at the offer — and am glad I did, after opening the package!  Enclosed were these two Moleskin notebooks — one lined, one unlined — which she personalized for me (in my favorite color) with prettied-up covers, fabric endpapers, pockets, and even handwritten quotes about writing tucked inside the pages.  

Among the quotes:

“However great a man’s natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once.” —Jean Jacques Rousseau

“To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself.”  —Anne Rice

“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” —Samuel Johnson

“Don’t get it right, just get it written!” —James Thurber

Also inside was a note written on this beautiful notecard, from the Bodleian Library at Oxford (where she has studied), featuring Victorian children’s books.  How perfect!

Thanks, Ros, for such a thoughtful and personal gift.  Just the thing to inspire me to do a bit of writing as I head into the weekend!