What to Read: Part I

I need to explain today's post a bit. A few new readers ["Welcome" to you!] may have already read it published as a guest-post on another blog, and long-time readers of this blog will recognize some of the content. But besides being pulled together in a new way, there will be something new coming up in this short series that you will not want to miss: free downloadable book-lists!

But first, let me back up and introduce myself...

Hello. My name is Hannah, and I love to read! Maybe the same is true of you. Or you may have children whose voracious appetite for books is hard to keep supplied with wholesome fare. Possibly you have the opposite challenge of finding any books that could interest your child in reading!

I have been gleaning the benefit of other people's book-lists through the years – including suggestions from some of you blog-friends! Plus when my nephew finishes a first time through his new chapter-books, he passes them on to us. Yes, this 2-year-old has "read" each and every book he gets as gifts. Children are never too young to enjoy read-alouds… and parents [or aunts, uncles and grandparents] are never too old to enjoy children’s books!

Some of my earliest memories include our parents reading aloud to my two sisters and me. Beatrix Potter and Laura Ingalls Wilder were favorites with Mom, while Dad brought Poor Ralph, The Droodles and The Chronicles of Narnia to life. We also loved poring over the Kurt Mitchell illustrated editions of the Biblical books of Jonah and Esther, both during read-alouds and on our own.

Even though my childhood and youth were filled with books, I have probably read more in the past eight years than the previous three decades combined. For that I have chronic illness to thank. But due to a combination of physical and adrenal weakness and the resulting PTSD, I haven’t been able to handle many of the books I used to enjoy. So, while I used to read a higher percentage of heavier and non-fiction books both for school and leisure, these years have leaned toward more fiction and biographies - especially those written for children and youth. It is a joy to see how God turns that limitation into a blessing as I now have more books to suggest to parents.

Another blessing that has come out of years of weakness is learning to appreciate audiobooks. Since our local library didn't have enough good options, I began searching online. That led me to LibriVox.org: a growing library of free, downloadable audiobooks recorded from works old enough to be past copyright and in the public domain. Though most of the volunteer readers are not professional, my family has enjoyed book after book as if friends are reading aloud to us.

At some point during those first months of listening, an old dream began to revive. Years ago when my Grandpa, an avid reader, lost his eyesight to macular degeneration, I wanted to record books for him to enjoy. But that was not possible due to copyrights. Since joining the team of LibriVox volunteers in 2015, I now help to record public domain books that can be enjoyed by anyone around the world. I am still amazed that God gave back this dream when so much of life as I knew it had crumbled.

Besides learning to be an audiobook narrator, I now have the joy of sharing book reviews and recommendations on several platforms. This eclectic blog often features the books I am enjoying, and my LibriVox reader-name of HannahMary has inspired the following accounts.

Instagram: @storytime.with.hannahmary
YouTube: Storytime with HannahMary
Telegram channel: Storytime with HannahMary

At the request of another blogger I have now put together some book lists that I hope will be a blessing to you and your families. I’d also love to hear of your favorite books! Simply leave a comment below.

I'm nearly through with this lengthy introduction, but hopefully it helps explain where I'm coming from as you watch for the book lists in upcoming posts.

For now, please note that my inclusion of an author does not condone all of their books. I have read many more by some of these authors as well as by authors not listed. If I know a reader or parent personally, I can maybe suggest more. But in these lists I tried to include only the cleanest and best for the imaginations and characters of any reader.

Also, while my lists are ordered roughly from younger to older readers, please do not feel stuck to reading in any order. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “No reader worth his salt trots along in obedience to a time-table.” Every reader is unique!

I also once heard C. S. Lewis attributed with saying, “Good fiction is a ship carrying a cargo of truth.”

And since I personally learn best from stories – both real-life (biographies) and fictional, my lists include many of them. You will see that fiction and non-fiction are all mixed together. I believe that can be a healthy way to read. Just as a balanced diet includes a wide variety of foods, our hungry minds need a mixture of healthy facts and nourishing stories to help us learn and grow strong in character and faith.

As a favorite children’s book (which I first read as an adult) puts it:

A man must have a care to what he puts in his mind, for when he’s alone on a hillside and draws it out, he’ll want treasures to be his company, not regrets.

• Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates

My hope is that you will find many new treasures for your reading in the days ahead!

~ Hannah

We Expected Some Other Good

Not all books I want to read (or re-read) are in the public domain. So I am thankful for the audiobook/ebook apps available through my local libraries.

This fall I came back to the following C.S. Lewis - years after my first reading. It was just as good the second time, despite a few Lewis quirks!

"I am beginning to feel that we need a preliminary act of submission not only towards possible future afflictions but also towards possible future blessings. I know it sounds fantastic; but think it over. It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at that moment, we expected some other good. Do you know what I mean?... God shows us a new facet of the glory, and we refuse to look at it because we're still looking for the old one."

Letters to Malcolm - Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis
[Excerpt from letter about the phrase "Thy will be done" in the Lord's Prayer]

Never Too Old for Children's Literature

A children's story which is
enjoyed only by children is
a bad children's story.
The good ones last.

C.S. Lewis

"Where the children's story is simply the right form for what the author has to say, then of course readers who want to hear that, will read the story or re-read it, at any age. ... I am almost inclined to set it up as a canon that a children's story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children's story. The good ones last. 

"...the neat sorting-out of books into age-groups, so dear to publishers, has only a very sketchy relation with the habits of any real readers. Those of us who are blamed when old for reading childish books were blamed when children for reading books too old for us. No reader worth his salt trots along in obedience to a time-table."

C.S. Lewis On Three Ways of Writing for Children

"Some such readers, in virtue of
their hearts being young and old
both at once, discern more in the
children's books than the children
themselves."

George MacDonald in 
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood

"But I find I have been forgetting that those for whom I write are young -- too young to understand this. Let it remain, however, for those older persons who at an odd moment, while waiting for dinner, or before going to bed, may take up a little one's book, and turn over a few of its leaves. Some such readers, in virtue of their hearts being young and old both at once, discern more in the children's books than the children themselves."

George MacDonald in Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood

[NOTE: Please never take the word of any Christian author for ultimate truth, but rather check it against the Bible. MacDonald was a fallible man with some unorthodox/unbiblical beliefs and both he and Lewis were also influenced by the unbiblical evolutionary worldview. That said, their works contain so many gems that draw me closer to the Saviour.]

Good Fiction

 As a reader and a sailor, I love this quote I once heard attributed to C.S. Lewis:

"Good fiction is a ship carrying a cargo of truth."

During these 7 years of disabling chronic illness, Elsa and I have probably read more books and audiobooks than in the combined decades preceding. But while we used to read a higher percentage of heavier books both for school and for leisure, these years have leaned toward more fiction - especially children's fiction. 

If you have dealt with chronic illness, you will understand the ways it can weaken the brain and nerves - to the point where we still can't handle many good books and movies we used to enjoy. There are even whole sections of the Bible that I cannot listen to in a dramatised version, and historial non-fiction and biography often needs some fast-forwarding nowdays.

In a way it is a gift to be extra sensitive to any hint of evil, sin, and violence, but it also makes it harder to live as an adult in this world where every day's news can be gut-wrenching nightmare-material to our adrenally-exhausted bodies.

To find enough books to keep enjoying and learning from in a low-key way, we often turn to LibriVox.org. As mentioned in the past, it has also been a joy for me to occasionally record books or chapters for free audiobooks that others can then enjoy. This is the fulfillment of a long-ago dream which I had given up for years. How amazing that this dream was given back to me when life as I knew it had crumbled.

For the last many of Grandpa's 103 years of life, he was nearly blind. This was hard for a serious reader, so audiobooks from the library became a part of his daily life. But the options for good audiobooks were much more limited back then. How I wished I could record favorite books for him, but copyright issues prevented that idea. It wasn't until I ended up couch-bound and dependent on audiobooks myself that I learned of LibriVox. By then it was too late for me to record for Grandpa. But what a joy it is to now see others being blessed by the work, even while I am still learning to improve these skills.

It has also been neat to gain new friends around the world through this work, some of whom have led me to even more new [old] books. 

In hopes that this combined experience can help others, I have begun sharing family-friendly book and audiobook ideas, samples, and reviews under the name "Storytime with HannahMary." (HannahMary is my reader name on LV.)

Keep checking back for more book and audiobook ideas on
Instagram: @storytime.with.hannahmary

YouTube: Storytime with Hannah Mary

A Cup of Tea

"You can't get a cup of tea large enough
or a book long enough to suit me."

· C.S. Lewis

__________

This tea-cup which holds more than a pint of tea

is keeping me company as I try to work through 

some piled-up computer tasks. And when away 

from the computer, a book (27 hours of audio!) 

is keeping Elsa and me company during long

hours and days of extra chronic pain and fatigue.

We love autumn! But it doesn't do us well these

years. It is sad to have to seal up the house as 

harvest dusts and molds and wildfire smoke make 

our pain and inflammation skyrocket. 

Oh, for a breath of fresh, clean air again!

But, as C.S. Lewis also said:

"It must be good for my soul when there are things 

I really like for dinner and I mustn't have them!"

I can echo that regarding food allergies (which also

get worse as the body is fighting harder at this 

season), and I can pray it becomes true regarding 

all involved in this season of extra suffering.

Looking Up

After years of blogging I can't remember things like "have I used this favorite quote before?" That makes the search feature in my blog-writing dashboard so helpful! Many times a quick search turns into an encouragement as well - as I once again read what was blessing me in the past.

There is not currently strength to keep up with new posts, so why not repost something I needed to hear again today?! Even if you read it back in 2016, I hope it can bless you again too.

---------------------

As we traveled more than 5 hours to the doctor again recently there was plenty of time to listen to a story from Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's wonderful production of C.S. Lewis' series of allegorical fantasy, The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Magician's Nephew tells the beginning of the story - including the creation of Narnia. There are insightful parallels to Genesis here, but what struck me most this time was a comment about the Jesus-character: a lion named Aslan.

To give a little background, an English boy named Digory arrived just in time to watch Aslan create a perfect new world. This powerful Lion could surely heal his dying mother back in London, Digory realized!

Alas, an evil character had accidentally arrived in Narnia along with Digory - brought by him (not without fault) from another world. When he approached Aslan about healing his mother there were other things that had to be taken care of first.

"But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure Mother?" Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.

"My son, my son," said Aslan. "I know. Grief is great... Let us be good to one another. But I have to think of hundreds of years in the life of Narnia..." (chapter 12)

As this part of Aslan's (actually, Jesus's) character played out on the CD, the tears came to my eyes as well. Here Elsa and I were after two full years of intense doctoring and treatments - riding down to yet more appointments. 

I have always known that God is powerful. He could heal us instantly if He chose. Yet as I have waited and entered one new trial after another, too often I find myself just looking down at His great powerful "feet" and "claws." 

Suddenly on this drive I looked up with Digory and saw God's tears. For a moment I realized He really is sorrier about my pain than even I could be. He created this world to be perfect. He wanted to give me a perfect body to live in a perfect world - in perfect communion with Himself. But evil and sin entered to mar it all.

But we are not left without hope. Aslan told his new creatures that evil would come, but "I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself." And Jesus did just that on the cross.

And yet, we are still ill. We ask God for His healing. And we still have to wait.

Digory also had to wait; not knowing if Aslan would ever heal his mother. And Digory had to act - to fulfill a challenging assignment to help protect Narnia from the evil one. He had to pluck a special apple from a certain tree far away and bring it back to plant in Narnia.

Once successfully planted, the tree that grew was to keep the evil character away from Narnia. Since she also had traveled to the original tree and had stolen an apple for herself, Aslan explained, 

"...that is why all the rest are now a horror to her. That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after."

Oh, how glad Digory then was that he had resisted the strong temptation to eat one himself, or even to sneak back to his mother with it instead of bringing the fruit back to Aslan!

But what about his mother? Did the waiting ever come to an end? Did Aslan really care about one or two hurting people in particular? For those answers, I'll let you read (or listen to) the story for yourself. :-)

And what about my illness? 

And what about your pain, loneliness, loss...?

Let's keep trusting and obeying, knowing that God hurts over it even more than we do. 

And we'll know the rest of the story... one day.



(Photos from the HarperCollinsPublishers hardcover edition of The Magician's Nephew)

Why So Sad?

           

Each year I try to build a snowman.

This began well before my namesake, Anna, 

in Disney's Frozen sang to her sister Elsa, 

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

(Yes, we have fun with those characters 

being named "after" us.)

I never know how it will turn out when I begin. 

Last year's turned into Snoopy. (More pictures here)

This year's snowman surprised me, and it still surprises anyone who drives in our yard.

As I stood looking at the sticky snow while just out for a little fresh air one evening, I saw the fences around the rose bushes holding in their blanket of leaves. And somehow, I pictured a snowman inside the fence. 

So I began with the traditional 3-ball structure. Next I added a nose, which ended up big and round. That led to big ears. Then the head needed to be pointy and the body shaped more like a man's. 

By this time I knew I was building an "Earthman" from C.S. Lewis' book The Silver Chair from the Chronicles of Narnia. He needed a sad expression as he grips the fences in his hands. Not that the Earthmen were imprisoned by visible fences or bars. But they were imprisoned by the invisible power of the evil ruler of Underworld.

                      

After finishing this creature, I strolled down the driveway and thought about all the people around me who live like Earthmen. 

They are sad and hopeless -- prisoners of a darkness they can feel but can't understand. They have no knowledge of the true nature of things: that they were created for a joyful life in a beautiful land ruled by their loving Creator. The fact is hidden from them that this dark world in which they find themselves is not their real home. 

They are slaves to the will of the evil ruler of this land and have no way in themselves to break free. They need to know the amazing truth that One came to break the spell and set us free! 

Why are you cast down, O my soul, 

and why are you in turmoil within me? 

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, 

my salvation and my God. 

Psalm 42:11

The people walking in darkness

    have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

    a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: 

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

Romans 5:8

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 

“I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

...to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, 

and from the power of Satan to God, 

so that they may receive forgiveness of sins 

and a place among those who are sanctified 

by faith in me [Jesus].’ 

Acts 26:18

Tears Bigger than Mine

As we traveled more than 5 hours to the doctor again recently there was plenty of time to listen to a story from Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's wonderful production of C.S. Lewis' biblical allegories, The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Magician's Nephew tells the beginning of the story - including the creation of Narnia. There are insightful parallels to Genesis here, but what struck me most this time was a comment about the Jesus-character: a lion named Aslan.

To give a little background, an English boy named Digory arrived just in time to watch Aslan create a perfect new world. This Lion could surely heal his dying mother back in London, Digory realized!

Alas, an evil character had accidentally arrived in Narnia along with Digory - brought by him (not without fault) from another world. When he approached Aslan about healing his mother there were other things that had to be taken care of first.

"But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure Mother?" Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.

"My son, my son," said Aslan. "I know. Grief is great... Let us be good to one another. But I have to think of hundreds of years in the life of Narnia..." (chapter 12)

As this part of Aslan's (actually, Jesus's) character played out, the tears came to my eyes as well.  Here Elsa and I were after two full years of intense doctoring and treatments - riding down to yet more appointments. 

I have always known that God is powerful. He could heal us instantly if He chose. Yet as I have waited and entered one new trial after another, too often I find myself just looking down at His great powerful "feet" and "claws." 

Suddenly on this drive I looked up with Digory and saw God's tears. For a moment I realized He really is sorrier about my pain than I could even be. He created this world to be perfect. He wanted to give me a perfect body to live in a perfect world - in perfect communion with Himself. But evil and sin entered to mar it all.

But we are not left without hope. Aslan told his new creatures that evil would come, but "I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself." And Jesus did just that on the cross.

And yet, we are still ill. We ask God for His healing. And we still have to wait.

Digory also had to wait; not knowing if Aslan would ever heal his mother. And Digory had to act - to fulfill a challenging assignment to help protect Narnia from the evil one. He had to pluck a special apple from a certain tree far away and bring it back to plant in Narnia.

Once successfully planted, the tree that grew was to keep the evil character away from Narnia. Since she also had traveled to the original tree and had stolen an apple for herself, Aslan explained, 

"...that is why all the rest are now a horror to her. That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after."

Oh, how glad Digory then was that he had resisted the strong temptation to eat one himself, or even to sneak back to his mother with it instead of bring the fruit back to Aslan!

But what about his mother? Did the waiting ever come to an end? Did Aslan really care about one or two hurting people in particular?

For those answers, I'll let you read (or listen to) the story for yourself. :-)

And what about my illness? And what about your pain, loneliness, loss...? 

Let's keep trusting and obeying, knowing that God hurts over it even more than we do. And we'll know the rest of the story... one day.

(Photos from the HarperCollinsPublishers hardcover edition of The Magician's Nephew)