Category Archives: Literature

Literature

March Book Reviews: “Waltz into the Waves, A Cinderella Story”

9 Comments

The author of Counted Worthy mentioned on her blog that the Kindle version of Waltz into the Waves by Sarah Holman was free, and Spencer (my tech-support) got it for me to read.

I glanced down.  The hem of my emerald gown was soaked, and my feet still had sand on them.  I turned a shy gaze back to him.  “I am sure no lady at court would be caught with a wet hem or bare feet.”  Alex took both my hands into his own and spun me around, laughing.  “Perhaps not, but why do you think I am always so eager to return to you?”  I gave a half-hearted smile.  “My father says it is time for me to learn the ways of a proper lady.  After all, it is only a matter of time before the one I am pledged to comes for me.” (8)

Amelia lives along the seashore, balancing her love for her father and her frustration at his next marriage, and her nervousness about her betrothal to a man she has never met with her love for her childhood-friend Alex.

After her father’s unexpected death shortly after his second marriage, one loss follows another for the crushed Amelia–loss of life and friendship, and the loss of her beauty after an accident with the kitchen fire.  As her stepsister and mother endeavor to take everything she calls her own, Amelia bravely tries to except the fact that her scars have rendered her undesirable as a wife for any man.

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

This is good book, but it is very romantic–which I guess I should have expected from the title! 🙂 And there is kissing before marriage, which might bother some of my friends who are saving their first kiss for their wedding; but other than that the romance was well-handled.

It is a sweet book, like Miss Good said; not to mention short: I read it in two days!  It was very interesting to think about having watched the Disney Cinderella so many times recently! 🙂

Anyone else read this book, or anything else by Sarah Holman?

Happy Thursday!

 

P.S. The flowers are courtesy of my reader Skylar, in the comments of this post. ✿

P.P.S. The Kindle app on my computer belongs to another user, and getting that quote between users was really fun! 🙂

Literature, My Writing

The End

11 Comments

I FINISHED SEARCHING FOR HIS NAME YESTERDAY!!!

IMG_0229

122 pages.

I am so excited!  I’m reading through it now and making little changes and coming up with some chapter names.  When I get done with that I’m going to start writing my next story!

Which leads me to an announcement:

I decided to call the queen Eleanor.

 

King Cedric and Queen Eleanor.  Like it?

I said I wasn’t necessarily going to do the one that got the most votes, but the fact that most of you voted for it just couldn’t be ignored.  Just like Allison.  Next time I should really just say I’m going with the one with the most votes.  And there’ll probably* be a next time, knowing me. 🙂

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

 

* Did you ever notice that most people pronounce it “prob’ly” instead of prob-bab-ly?  What IS the deal with me and pronunciation???

🙂

Life, Literature

Module 7 story #1

19 Comments

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

I’m not wearing green.  Just for spite, ’cause pinching always bothered me.  Sorry.  I’m like that.

IMG_0923

Trusty wreath always gives me pictures to post on holidays! 🙂

IMG_0924

Mom turned on Irish music; so I’ve spent all morning dancing around the house to the fiddles. 🙂  We switched to Rend Collective after lunch.  Still Irish, right?  Well, whatever you say, it’s at the top of my list–’cause Rend Collective’s at the top of all my lists. 🙂

IMG_0925

 

Okay: this wasn’t actually what I was planning on posting today, but then I realized I should post this story, so I’m going to post that ‘other thing’ I’ve been saying I will on the Tuesday after I get done with this story.

So I’ve always really like science.  But this year I started General Science and detested it.  Especially when he started trying to tell me that math was an indispensable aspect of science.  But we were reconciled when I got past pulleys and levers and how-to-perform-experiments, and started studying geology and archaeology.

But the tests were still torture.  So Mom told me not to do them.  She said I could write  a page about the module instead.  And that wasn’t so bad; but I wasn’t happy about how my papers turned out.

So (in a very round-about way) we came up with the idea of my writing a story for every module.  I feel liberated. #ILoveHomeSchooling

So this story goes along with Exploring Creation with General Science by Dr. Jay L. Wile, Module 7.  I borrowed a little information about how rocks form from Module 6.  (7 is the first module I wrote a story about.)  Okay, here it is:

IMG_0526

My dear reader,

This story is probably the most scientific story I’ve ever written. It was inspired by a chapter in my science book. And, as it was only one chapter and I haven’t finished the book, I don’t really know if it’s accurate. The only thing I’m sure of is the information about fossils. I don’t even know anything about Siberia. Nothing. This is my idea of how something like this might go, based on what I’ve heard. Enjoy!

H.M.R. on 3/7/15

Module 7 story:

I pulled my scarf up over my mouth and nose with my stiff, mittened fingers. That was the one thousandth time it had slipped down around my neck—I was sure. I glared down at Dr. Peterson and Dad’s boots crunching in the snow ahead of me. My backpack had felt like lead before Dr. Peterson offered to carry it for me. The thrill of being here did not really make up for the nose-biting cold and the fact that we had to drag our luggage up here ourselves. Who cared that I was in Siberia—I was in SIBERIA for pity’s sake, and I couldn’t think of the last time I had been this miserable.

Continue reading Module 7 story #1 →

Literature

Tired yet?

13 Comments

I didn’t think so.

You guys are never tired of talking about names, are you? 🙂  Just stop commenting if you are.  And if you’re not…

I could use your help again!

 

I am going to call the king ‘Cedric‘, which Savannah and Ellen both suggested.  I was hesitant to use it at first, because I first heard it in the book Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, and I didn’t want to be {any more of} a copy-cat.  But as Savannah and Ellen both said they had not read Ivanhoe and I have heard it one other place too, so I decided it wasn’t.

But I cannot decided what to name the queen.  Way too many suggestions! 🙂  So I narrowed it down to a few that you can vote on, like I did with Allison.  Okay, here goes:

* Lydia

* Sylvia

* Gwendolyn

* Eleanor

No offense to the people whose names I did not use, of course.  You guys came up with some awesome names!  It was really hard to narrow it down even this much!  Maybe I’ll use some the other names in a different story! 🙂

Once again, I’m not necessarily just going to use the one with the most votes–but I might.

So, if you’re willing, would you tell me which one you think?  Thanks, guys!  You’re awesome.

Happy Sunday,

 

Hanna

Life, Literature

Help me… again?

22 Comments

Please?

So, like I’ve been saying, I’m getting ready to write another story to post on my blog when I get done writing Searching For His Name.

Only I have a problem: I don’t have names for two of the characters.

Yep, names again.  You and me, Savannah.  Only, you come up with awesome names on your own… I think you just want the rest of us to feel included! 🙂

So:

I need a name for the King and Queen in my story.  Could you guys help me out?  Please?  One kingly name, and one queenly name–but go ahead and comment more than one of each if you have the inspiration, if you would be so kind.  I have no suggestions, just dump them on me!

Thank you!!!

 

Are you guys as excited as I am about next Tuesday?  I love being mysterious! 🙂

Happy Friday!

P.S. It’s a few weeks late, but my home sweet home turned 148 this month!  You can read about how Nebraska became a state on Spencer’s blog, here.

Literature

March book reviews: The Sign of the Beaver

12 Comments

I recently read The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare, for history.  A long time ago my Mom read The Bronze Bow to Becca, Spencer, and I (for history), which is by the same author.  I know at least one of you–a.k.a. Ellen–has already read this book. 🙂 I do not remember it real well, as I was pretty small, but I remember it well enough to compare the books.  I am also in the middle of reading Calico Captive.  Maybe I will do a review of that when I finish it.

The Sign of the Beaver takes place in the 1700s; and is about a thirteen-year-old boy named Matt.  He and his father go as some of the first pioneers to build a house in the wilderness.  Matt’s father then leaves him alone to defend the cabin while he goes to get his mother and younger siblings.

By the morning after that Matt decided that it was mighty pleasant living alone.  He enjoyed waking to a day stretched before him to fill as he pleased.  He could set himself the necessary chores without having to listen to any advice about how they should be done.  How could he have thought that the time would move slowly?  As the days passed and he cut one notch after another on his stick, Matt discovered that there was never time enough for all that must be done between sunrise and sunset. (7)

But living alone becomes less enjoyable when Matt faces unexpected problems.  Losing the gun his father left and losing most of his stored-up food due to a careless mistake, for instance.   Only after Matt hurts himself in a desperate attempt to get food, do the Indians who have long been watching him show themselves.

The Indian chief offers to bring Matt food if he will teach his grandson how to read in English.

“Attean learn,” he said.  “White man come more and more to Indian land.  White man not make treaty with pipe.  White man make signs on paper, signs Indian not know.  Indian put mark on paper to show him friend of white man.  Then white man take land.  Tell Indian cannot hunt on land.  Attean learn to read white man’s signs.  Attean not give away hunting grounds.” (31)

A task that is easier said than done.  Matt has never taught anyone to read and Attean has no interest in learning.  As the days pass the two boys begin to do more and more things together.  Although forced to admit that the Indian boy is teaching him valuable lessons about life in the forest, Matt finds spending time with him frustrating, due to Attean’s scorn of all white men and their customs and tools–which he goes to no pains to conceal.

Attean had only meant to help him.  If only he didn’t have to be so superior about it… He just wished he could make Attean think a little better of him.  He wanted Attean to look at him without that gleam of amusement in his eyes.  He wished that it were possible for him to win Attean’s respect. (57, 58)

I have to say I was infuriated by Attean arrogance as well, and read the whole book in one day because I could not bear the suspense!  It does have a happy ending though–not a perfect one, but a good one.  I am seeing that as a theme in Miss Speare’s books–at least in The Bronze Bow and The Sign of the Beaver.  I am not sure how Calico Captive ends.

And I am not giving spoilers about the white stranger, Ben.  I read two descriptions of this book, that both gave away his good guy/bad guy identity, leaving me just waiting around for things I knew had to happen.  Like when someone gave me their opinion of Strider before I read The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, and gave away all the suspense.  Small a part as he plays, I do not want to spoil the questions for you.

Over and over his father had warned Matt that it wasn’t as safe as a stone chimney and that he had to watch out for flying sparks.  He needn’t fear.  After all the work of building this house, Matt wasn’t going to let it burn down about his ears. (3)

This is probably the shortest book review I’ve ever done! 🙂  Any of you read this book?  No commenting spoilers please, though!  Any of you (besides Ellen) read any of Miss Speare’s other books?  Happy Thursday!

Life, Literature

“Into the Dragon’s Lair” #6

9 Comments

So, I had a bit of an adventure last night.  Rather different from the big one I just went on, but an adventure nonetheless: helping Dad unclog the bathroom drain!  Plumbing being something quite out of my experience, I was rather scared at the prospect.  And, of course, Spencer was off swimming with some friends–and probably having the time of his life–so I had to do it. 🙂  Cue Dad’s comment about how Becca and I are now ‘learning what it means to have a brother’.  Really, I think that should have been directed solely at me, as Becca just sat on the bed in the other room on her computer, using college as an excuse. 🙂  I must say that Dad did most of the work.  And, that kind of thing is somehow less gross when you’re doing it, not just standing around watching your dad and brother do it.  (I know, I know, that doesn’t follow.)  But only a little less–to say I felt like I needed to wash my hands afterwards is an understatement; I felt more like pulling them off and throwing them away.  Suddenly wishing I was a Lego mini figure and could grab easy replacements out of  the toy-box! 🙂  Even after I washed them they still felt dirty–and probably would have for hours had I not already been planning to shower.  Oh! and I bumped my head while climbing around under the sink.  Pathetically classic.

Okay: enough about my adventure, let’s get to Hannah and Spenser’s!

Hey! one more thing: for those of you who were disappointed because you were expecting a more classic, medieval dragon-story–don’t worry: the next one is a good ole’ unoriginal, knight-in-shining-armor, princess-story.  

And, in the original version part of this was in Chapter 4.  I decided that the chapter ended better the other way, so I cut it off on here.  And like always, here’s the last one.  Now:

:-: INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR :-:
:-: INTO THE DRAGON’S LAIR :-:

Hannah and Spenser pick up as much of the treasure as they can carry and start up the tunnel.  It’s very difficult to carry twenty pounds of hold and diamonds over two miles, especially when all you have to carry it in is a bunch of old chests that are so rotten that when you pick them up the bottoms break because of the weight.  It takes Spenser and Hannah three hours to move all the treasure back to the helicopter.

The two of them have a lot to tell Kirsten and Bekah on the way home!  The day after they get home, Reporter Mike Joseph comes to to Spenser’s house.  Hannah and Spenser get to tell their story on the news!  After that Spenser calls Jason Daniels, who is the director of a museum in Omaha.  Mr. Daniels says that he will buys the Rothfuss’ gold and diamonds and display it in his museum.

After that Spenser makes Hannah his official navigator, and The Darting Dragon becomes their official transportation.

Spenser, Hannah. Kirsten, and Bekah have many, many adventures together and become very good friends.

And someday, perhaps, I’ll write another book about this quartet! 🙂

THE END

_____________________________________________________________________

Which I never did! 🙂  And, yes, the smiley-face is original. *sigh*

So: what did you think of the first story I posted?  Who was your favorite character? (I know characters were limited, so if you don’t have one that’s fine! 🙂 ) What was your favorite part?  Any other comments, thoughts, concerns?  I want your opinion!  I won’t be offended if there’s something you think I should have done different!

Happy Tuesday!

P.S. And don’t give up on me.  I have another surprise for next Tuesday! 🙂

Literature

Good deed for the day

7 Comments

And he writhed inside at what seemed the cruelty and unfairness of the demand.  He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one. (146)

–The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis

 

At some birthday a long time ago (I don’t remember which one exactly) I was given a copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I had heard Becca and Spencer talk about The Chronicles of Narnia (I probably heard more spoilers for those books than any others I’ve read 🙂 ), but I had not read any of them before that time.  I was told I should read The Magician’s Nephew first* but I wanted to read the book I owned first, so I waywardly did.

I proceeded to read the rest of the books, and loved them!  I read them so many times that I couldn’t read them any more–which, for me, is 7 times. 🙂  I’m ‘into’ repetition!

So I moved on and read other things.  After a while I got in a conversation with someone about the movies, and she said they were good.  I told Dad I wanted to watch them.  So we watched The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe together.  I liked it–but that’s another story, and a long one too.  After watching the movie, I went and re-read the book (movies do that to me); and found I could read it again!  There were actually some things I had forgotten.

The other day I needed something to read, and grabbed a random book off my shelf.  It happened to be The Horse and His Boy.  I opened to a random place and started reading.  It was delightful!  Of course, I knew exactly what had happend, and what was happening, and what was going to happen, and what had happened and was going to happen in all the other books–but it was still fun!

What are some of your favorite books?  What are your ‘comfort books’ that you know you love?  Some of my others are The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott, and Prophet by R.J. Larson.  I go read my favorite parts of these just for fun when I need something to do!  I could probably quote most of them to you! 🙂

 

* It is a common misconception that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia.  And I guess in some ways it is, as it was written first, but The Magician’s Nephew takes place before it does, so I call it the first.

Life, Literature, My Writing

“Into the Dragon’s Lair” Behind the Scenes

7 Comments

And just to dash all your hopes quickly, no, this is not a story-post.  I decided I was going to do a post like this with all my stories right before the last chapter.  I’m just going to take the time to tell you where I got my inspiration, where the picture came from, and other random things now.

* I hadn’t thought of doing this when I started posting, so I already told you where my inspiration came from.  It was Spencer, me, Mom, Becca, and Michael that were on the geocaching trip; and Spencer made up titles  for all of us that I used in my story–except I think M was the luggage or the passenger or something (because he was in the stroller that Mom was ‘pilotting’) and I just couldn’t go with that; so I gave him a different job (spoiler alert: you’ll see him and Dad in the last chapter).  Oh! and Spencer actually left me alone and walked off out-of-sight in the trees looking for the geocache for a little while.  Being left alone in the Bolivian jungle would be WAY worse though, the only thing that made it nerve-racking was pessimistic me.  And I made the spider up off the top of my head–I don’t think there’s any such thing.

* The picture is actually of a tree in China, not Bolivia; and it’s not in the jungle, it’s in a park–but I thought it would suffice.  With a selection like this, it was hard to choose:

IMG_0762

IMG_0733

IMG_0766

IMG_0712

IMG_0711

* Like I said, all the characters are named after one of my family members, only spelled different.  I also mentioned that in the original manuscript I spelled the explorer’s name S-P-E-N-C-E-R like my brother, but here I spelled it S-P-E-N-S-E-R.  I also spelled the female dragon’s name F-O-G-G-Y-N-E-S-S in the first copy, but I changed it to the regular F-O-G-G-I-N-E-S-S for my blog.  I don’t know why I spelled it weird in the first one.  Maybe I didn’t know how to spell it right… I don’t remember.  This way feels more natural (because it is) and my computer doesn’t give it that annoying red underline.

* I think I wrote this book in one day, or maybe two or three–not many! 🙂 I made almost everybody I lent it to read it one chapter at a time, because I love dropping people on cliff-hangers!

 

I hope you guys are enjoying my story!  I can’t wait to post the last chapter!  See you guys, and happy Saturday! 🙂

Literature

March Book Reviews: “The Princess and the Goblin”

9 Comments

I am going to try to post a book review every Thursday in March.  I’m not ready to get a real schedule going, but I thought I’d try it for a month.  It shouldn’t be too hard, as I love to read and I love to write, and book reviews are a combination of the two!  Once again, I’ll probably fudge a little if I miss a day… or I might skip, ’cause you guys won’t be on cliff-hangers! 🙂

I read this review of The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald and thought it sounded interesting.  I told my mom about it and stated I would like to read it.  She had never read it, but she had heard of it, and said I could check it out from the library.

This book has good morals, but is also humorous and I really liked the beginning.  Somewhere in the middle of it I got pretty “weirded-out” and decided it was not my style.  By the end, though, I had decided I liked it again #inconsistency

To make a long story short: I liked it, but the fact that there was a pretty-much allegorical God-figure without it really being an allegory–And that that figure was a woman–and that she was biological related to Irene, but not to everyone in the story, was hard to get used to.

ANYWAY–This is a story about a princess who was sent to the country to be raised.  She lives in a house in the mountains, and is looked after by her nurse.

“Why, where can you have been, princess?” asked the nurse, taking her in her arms.  “It’s very unkind of you to hide away so long.  I began to be afraid–”  Here she checked herself.  “What were you afraid of, nursie?” asked the princess.  “Never mind,” she answered.  “Perhaps I will tell you another day.  Now tell me where you have been?” (24)

The people bringing her up are forbidden to tell the princess about the existence of the goblins that live in the caverns beneath the mountains.  These goblins only come out at night, when they love to make mischief.  So the people, naturally, stay inside after dark–except a few: some of the miners, who do not fear the goblins because they know what the goblins cannot stand–singing.

At all events, those who were most afraid of them were those who could neither make verses themselves, nor remember the verses that other people made for them; while those who were never afraid were those who could make verses for themselves; for although there were certain old rhymes which were very effectual, yet it was well known that a new rhyme. if of the right sort, was even more distasteful to them, and therefore more effectual in putting them to flight. (48)

Curdie Peterson happens to be one of those who can make up verses on the spot, and truly is never afraid, even when a strange turn of events places him in the kingdom of the goblins themselves (where his songs are less heeded) thanks to another goblin-weakness he discovers.

Princess Irene, in my first quote, happened to be up in the attic where she had gone exploring and gotten lost.  She meets someone who happens to be up there, but I am not going into all that right now… but I will tell you it is the beginning of the princess’s many, many trips to the attic.

Irene and Curdie meet quite by mistake, and that chance meeting is the beginning of several adventures they have together–not always on the best of terms: The princess’s nurse does not approve of Curdie; nor does Curdie approve of Irene’s stories of a thread that she follows that will always lead her to safety, which he himself cannot see or feel.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I enjoyed this book, though all the ‘magic’ was handled very mysteriously, without the reader ever being given a clear explanation, which bothered me.  It was more of a quiet, innocent story than what I have been reading lately, and both main characters were younger than me.  But there were still some goblin parts that were downright nasty.

They had enough of affection left for each other, to preserve them from being absolutely cruel for cruelty’s sake… (12)

I believe this statement to be contradicted strongly by all goblin-appearances in the rest of the book!

Neither Irene or Curdie had siblings, but I loved their relationships with their parents: Irene did not live with her parents, but her father would come and visit her (I do not think her mother was still alive) and she would go running out and get on his horse with him before he even got off–it was so sweet!!!  Curdie did live with his parents, and their love for each other was amazing!  They were always working for each other and helping each other; and Curdie was very respectful, which is rather hard to find these days.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In the review I linked to above, Miss Ruth said:

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien read George MacDonald’s books, and the Chronicles of Narnia and the Hobbit were both influenced by his writings. Thus, however indirectly, many of the fantasy books you read today are influenced by “the Princess and the Goblin”.

So I, of course, began looking for similarities.  I did not think they had a lot in common, but I found three things that reminded me of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work:

1) The goblins in Mr. MacDonald’s book have no toes (weird, weird, I know–bear with me) which might have something to do with the toeless troll in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

2) Shelob and the giant spiders in Mirkwood might have been inspired by this reference to extraordinary, if not large, spiders:

It is spider-webs–of a particular kind.  My pigeons bring it to me from over the great sea.  There is only one forest where the spiders live who make this particular kind–the finest and strongest of any. (78)

3) These quotes do not need much explanation!

“Then you’re leaving the story unfinished, Mr. Author!”  “Not more unfinished than it ought to be, I hope.  If you ever knew a story finished, all I can say is, I  never did.  Somehow, stories won’t finish. (203)

–The Princess and the Goblin

‘Why, to think of it, we’re in the same tale still!  It’s going on.  Don’t the great tales never end?’  ‘No, they never end as tales.’ (697)

–The Two Towers

There is still the whole those-were-good-but-these-were-bad problem, but that has little to do with inspiration.

The only that reminded me of C.S. Lewis’s books was the unexplained-magic (^see above^).

Over-all I liked this book, and it was fun to read–which I did in one day! 🙂

“But I must confess that I have sometimes been afraid about my children–sometimes about you, Irene.”  “Oh, I’m so sorry… To-night, I suppose you mean.”  “Yes, a little to-night; but a good deal when you had all but made up your mind that I was a dream. (105)

 

Do you think my book reports are too l-o-n-g???

Happy Thursday!

P.S. If you feel a little out-Middle-Earth-ed by my last two book reviews, so does everybody else whose ever talked to me.  Don’t read my blog if that bothers you.