Member: MereChristian

Oops, make that three great reviews!

posted by wisewoman at 8:12 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2012

Two great reviews, Tim! You know my thoughts on JE, of course. Great critique of Torrey, too!

posted by wisewoman at 8:10 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2012

You know, I don't remember the details of Murder at the Vicarage. I'm not even positive I've read it yet! A couple years ago when I first discovered Christie I would go on "binges" of reading four or five of them at a time, say in a weekend. Tons of fun, but it resulted in very fuzzy remembrances of the stories! I do think Christie often puts out red herrings in the shape of unsavory/unpleasant characters, just to throw the reader off the scent of the real murderer. I kind of like it, for the most part: it reminds me that people can look great on the outside and still be rotten within.

Thursday is Tolkien Day :D. I'll be starting my reread of LOTR. Can't wait!!

posted by wisewoman at 8:28 am (EST) on Sep 21, 2011

Hey Tim! That's funny, I just picked up a nice hardback copy of Murder at the Vicarage at a booksale over the weekend! I haven't read all the Miss Marple books but I think they're all written in the omniscient narrator voice, not her POV. Good fun!

posted by wisewoman at 11:58 am (EST) on Sep 20, 2011

Great review. I think you gave that particular plot point some good thought. I think you hit it on the head when you said that Miss Cornelia is a very "real" character. She acts like a real person would, and that includes having some attitudes and ideas we aren't comfy with. Thank goodness that humanity toward "Dick" prevailed and Gilbert did the right thing. I think it's pretty heroic of him. It is much harder to displease the people that we love than to go against public opinion.

Just like a man, indeed. :P

posted by wisewoman at 1:17 pm (EST) on Sep 6, 2011

Congrats on your Hobbit review going Hot! :)

posted by wisewoman at 9:56 am (EST) on Aug 23, 2011

I love that I can check your library here to see if you have a book or not. Check BookMooch for some goodies I picked up! :)

posted by wisewoman at 7:03 pm (EST) on Aug 5, 2011

Hi Tim! Thanks for your comment on my Hobbit review. Yes, I have a really nice leatherbound anniversary edition (70th?). Unfortunately, they spent all their money on the physical quality of the book but not on the copy — there are some really dreadful and obvious typos in there! Rather a disappointment.

And yeah, it will be really interesting to see how the film diverges from the real story!

posted by wisewoman at 12:51 pm (EST) on Aug 1, 2011

Thanks for your comment on my Shadow Rising review! I agree with your criticisms too. I feel bad because I know a lot of people enjoy the series, and I enjoyed parts of it myself. But there's just so much wacky stuff that I can't get over. I didn't know about the knife-carrying wives culture — eesh. It's amazing there are any men left!

Btw, loved your SC review.

posted by wisewoman at 9:28 am (EST) on Jul 29, 2011

Great VDT review, and how cool to see all the intersections with Lewis's concept of joy and Piper's later expansion of the subject! I love how Piper attributes everything he learned about joy to Lewis's influence. Good stuff :)

posted by wisewoman at 8:23 am (EST) on Jul 12, 2011

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. That's great that Lewis's sin is now used by God to encourage others! Recently there has been a situation with some people I know that has just shown me how God takes ugly things and uses them to create, in the end, something beautiful. What is meant for evil, He means for good. I love it :)

posted by wisewoman at 11:24 am (EST) on May 18, 2011

Hey Tim! We had a great time yesterday, thanks. My family isn't perfect but I do enjoy them :).

Miracles, wow — now that's a can of worms. I tend to believe that God still works miracles but that the "sign gifts" of the NT (tongues and healings and all that) ceased with the completion of the biblical canon. These sign gifts verified the authenticity of the message and operated in the churches as direction before the Scriptures were completed. Now that we have the complete Bible, we don't need any new revelation. John MacArthur has a fantastic book on the subject called Charismatic Chaos. As a former charismatic who believed in tongues and all that for today, I found it incredibly helpful. MacArthur is one of the most solid teachers out there because he is so uncompromisingly biblical. Todd and I really enjoy his books.

Of course God can still perform miracles and I think He does. But they are rare because they are no longer needed to prove the Gospel message is powerful. We have His Word now for that!

Okay, that's probably wise. Good wholesome food is what you need right now.

posted by wisewoman at 10:50 am (EST) on Sep 28, 2010

Hey, sorry I haven't responded sooner. I don't know, it's such a complicated thing. I think Francis realized that not everyone had such a strong desire as he did to be separated from the world. But then he would get angry when he felt his rules were being violated (one time he came back from a trip and found that the people of the town had given the brothers a place to live... Francis started tearing tiles off the building's roof, he was so angry that they now "owned" something).

Yeah, there are a lot of theories about stigmata. I find it interesting that Francis was the first one to supposedly have it; so we went twelve centuries without it ever showing up? I would think that if it were legit, Christians would have manifested it throughout the centuries. Wikipedia has an interesting article on it. I guess I just have to conclude that I don't know and it's not a salvific issue.

If you'd like it, I can send you this Francis bio with your Waugh title. Just let me know!

posted by wisewoman at 3:49 pm (EST) on Sep 22, 2010

Thanks Tim! :)

posted by wisewoman at 8:41 am (EST) on Sep 13, 2010

Ah, I love literary surprises like that! I saw this at the thrift yesterday and picked it up. I think our church has used one of his books as an adult Bible fellowship curriculum. Hope you are able to find it! If not, I can reserve it for you on BM. I have so many Christian nonfiction titles to get to, I'm not sure when I will be able to read this one. Just let me know!

posted by wisewoman at 9:40 am (EST) on Aug 20, 2010

Great review of CoK! I enjoyed your insights on Gen and Irene's relationship especially. It's so subtly brilliant, isn't it?

posted by wisewoman at 8:13 am (EST) on Jun 2, 2010

MereChristian,
I will post it right away I won't be able to send until two weeks into May. I've got a large shipment going out on Friday and postal rates in Canada suck. If the other books I'me sending out remain under my budget I'll do my best to send out your book too.
~ Missy

posted by cdnbookworm at 8:26 am (EST) on Apr 27, 2010

Hello MereChristian,
I have a copy of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis available as wisewoman did not need my copy. I think there is actually two copies floating around. Let me know if you'd like my copy. It is a soft cover with yellowing edges some dogearing on the last for or five pages and a sticker on the back cover. Other wise it is in great shape.
~ Missy

posted by cdnbookworm at 8:04 am (EST) on Apr 27, 2010

Hey Tim, thanks for the heads-up! I've requested Winston Churchill. It looks great, and your review piqued my interest.

As for italics, I use html coding. So to italicize something, it would be {I}italicized text here{/I}, only use instead of { and }.

posted by wisewoman at 9:56 pm (EST) on Mar 11, 2010

Nice review! Funny, how different characters evoke different responses. I don't care overmuch for Paul or Miss Lavendar, but I do like Davy, little scamp that he is :P. Glad you enjoyed the book so much!

posted by wisewoman at 10:22 am (EST) on Jan 4, 2010

Yes, I saw that your review went Hot. Nice job! I agree, it's a small thing but it *is* fun to see people appreciating your thoughts. Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference!

Looking forward to seeing your list of 2010 reads!

posted by wisewoman at 10:12 am (EST) on Dec 24, 2009

Hi MereChristian! I loved your Anne of Green Gables review. Just a lovely thing to read. It makes me want to dig AOGG out again. :) I see you added Jane Eyre, one of my favorite books. Let me know what you think!
Take care!

posted by Mialro at 10:35 pm (EST) on Dec 22, 2009

Two thumbs up on your Anne review! :) Isn't it wonderful? And there are many sequels too, each special and fun in its own way.

posted by wisewoman at 12:08 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2009

Thanks Tim. I had a lot of ideas swirling in my head as I reread this time, so yeah, they certainly came out in my lengthy reviews! I enjoy doing it though.

Oh yay, you're going to love the Anne books! I think you'll really appreciate Rilla of Ingleside, too, for its homefront focus. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on them. They really helped shape me as a young teen.

posted by wisewoman at 3:45 pm (EST) on Nov 23, 2009

Hi Tim! I heard about The Blythes are Quoted a few weeks ago and have it on my various wishlists. From what I've read, it sounds like it's a reworking of some existing unrelated stories that now bring in the Blythe family. And from the Wikipedia summary, it sounds like the collection is a bit darker than the rest of her books (though I would agree the issues they mention are in the other books, just muted a bit).

Have you read anything by Montgomery yet? Definitely start with Anne — though I love the Emily books too. The Emily books are supposed to be far more autobiographical, which is fascinating.

I'm going to finish the seventh in the series (Rainbow Valley) today, and start the eighth (Rilla of Ingleside) which vies with the first book as my favorite in the series. I love weekends :)

posted by wisewoman at 10:16 am (EST) on Nov 21, 2009

Thanks Tim. I know you will LOVE the FoTF Narnia dramas! They are superb. Parts even brought me to tears — something that doesn't happen very often.

Hope things are going well with you. You continue to be in our prayers. Take care! :-)

posted by wisewoman at 3:00 pm (EST) on Nov 11, 2009

Thanks Tim! I think you will really enjoy it when you read it. Can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Hey, you add Z for Zachariah! I really liked that when I read a year or so ago. It's not the kind of story I generally like, but somehow it worked. O'Brien's style was so sensitive. Have you read anything else by him? He wrote the NIMH books and also an old childhood favorite of mine, The Silver Crown. Good stuff! :)

posted by wisewoman at 1:45 pm (EST) on Oct 15, 2009

I liked your review of The Clicking of Cuthbert! Isn't Wodehouse great? :)

posted by wisewoman at 1:29 pm (EST) on Aug 20, 2009

Nice P&P review! I like how you brought out the moral themes of the story; aren't they great? And w00t for the BBC adaptation, eh? :)

posted by wisewoman at 11:12 am (EST) on Jul 20, 2009

Welcome to LT! Yes, the lifetime membership fee is a one-time charge. If you're planning on cataloguing more than 200 books, you'll definitely want to get it. There's no rush though — maybe see how you like it for a few weeks first (unless you know for sure right now that you adore it :)).

Do let me know if you have any questions about LT, and enjoy :)

posted by wisewoman at 8:02 am (EST) on Jun 8, 2009