Dear me, let us be elegant or die!

Yes, it is time for my annual reading of Little Women. Thanksgiving night I always read the first chapter. This is the third year in a row to do this. I've read it more than that just not at a specific time of the year. I always write the date finished in the front of the book so that I can look back and see how many years I have read it.

It's been very fun! I love looking forward to reading it every year. It's always different because each year I'm coming from a slightly different perspective. Some years I identify with Jo most, sometimes Meg, even Beth one time. Not sure if I've ever identified with Amy but who knows? Maybe one year I will? Maybe I'll marry someone with all older siblings and I'll be the baby of the family.


Hoping you are enjoying to the fullest every moment of this fast fading year!

Fondly,
Jane

Used Book Store Find

I love this old copy of Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott! I think it a very charming edition. I love the sweet illustrations and the colors on the cover. I'm always excited to find L.M. Alcott books in good condition. Especially Little Women. I have a small collection of them right now and I would love to find more in the future. That's usually the first book I look for in used book shops.



So, now I just need to read it!
~Jane

Baedeker's Great Britain

I just wanted to share with you, what I think is one of the coolest books ever. :)

I found it burried in the Goodwill bookshelves for a mere $4.00 one day.

It's dated 1910 and as these amazing pull out maps...

Don't you agree, it's one of the coolest books ever? It looks like it's seen a good bit of the world. It's like finding an old friend. :) I hope to take it to England with me next trip and see if anything's changed.

New Book

Hey all! I absolutely LOVE North and South. *sigh* It is so good. Those of you who love the movie or other Mrs. Gaskell novels will adore it. To quote Kathleen Kelly, "Read it. I KNOW you'll love it." (Lizzie, we need to watch that movie!!).

But that is not what I was going to blog about. I will post about that soon. I just wanted to show you a new book I got. It is so lovely! It is called Artful Storybook by Terry Taylor.


It's a book on making your own story books. It has a few instructions on some basic bookmaking but is mostly made up of pictures of actual artsy storybooks that different artists have made and how they made them. Very interesting! And I love that it has such different styles mixed in. One was made by a knitter/quilter and she made a fabric book. Others took old books and decorated the pages or illustrated a well known fairy tale. Like this book illustrating Hansel and Gretel. A tale that has always seemed to me kind of creepy, but I love the photos and style the artist used to tell the story.
Just wanted to share it with you. If you are interested in writing, stories, fairy tales or any kind of art I would encourage you to check it out at your local library. :)

A Trip to the Library

Yes, my curent interest is Fashion. :)
~Lizzie

Book Shelves

Recently I organized my book shelf so I thought I should post a few pictures here as proof. :) For now, it is all alphabetical by author. I cannot say that it will be long until that is messed up.... :) They are all my books except for the pink Elsie Dinsmore book. I was babysitting them until Lizzie got back from England. She is here now and the books are safely back in her possession. So glad you're home my friend!!

This is not all of the books I own. I have packed some away for now. I'll get them out when I have a bigger book case.

Yay! Good book.... :)
My sister got this bust for me awhile back. Isn't she lovely? It makes a great book end. It is quite possibly my favorite item in my room.

I hope this glimpse of orderliness has inspired like stirrings in all of you to give your books a good going through. :) We should take care of our good friend, the book.

Happy Reading to you friends.

-Jane

Holding Nothing Back

I picked up this book at Soul Survivor last month and just finished it this week. It's pretty small but boy is it challenging! I'll just write out the description on the back to give you a better idea of what this books about:
'How should we worship God, the One who exists in and for himself, unchanging, eternal, everywhere, and beyond our powers of description? Tim Hughes finds answers in scripture, in creation, and in the pains and stryggles of humanity. The goal? A life of full-on-worship-where joy makes space for lamentation, and anger keeps close to humility. God held nothing back-can we do less?'
A bit about the author:
Tim Hughes is the worship director at Holy Trinity Brompton in London. He is the author of many well-loved worship songs, including Here I am to Worship, Beautiful One and Consuming Fire. He also leads a school of worship called Worship Central.

http://www.worshipcentral.com/
http://www.soulsurvivor.co.uk/