Unexpectedly Disappointing Read. C. S. Lewis' "Surprised by Joy"

The small volume is a memoir or autobiography of the author's faith in God and return to Christianity. My reaction to the book is more a measure of my shortcomings as a reader than this esteemed writer's skills. I was interested in his narration: he suffered several very hard knocks as a child (he was born in 1898, died Nov 22, 1963, same as Kennedy): his mother was terminally ill with cancer and died in the home; his father was an emotional basket case, basically, for all of his life afterward. The boys were sent to a "dying school" with an abusive head master. Enough to make a person doubt in the deity.  But never again did he have bad teachers. He lost many friends in WW 1; was wounded himself.

But I could not grasp exactly how he reaffirmed in Faith, as an adult. The intellectual influence of many colleagues from the Academy. Lewis was a "Chair" at Oxford for years.

Maybe I will try the book again--or another by the author. But for now, I am "with" this little newborn shown above.

Here is a link to some of the notable "quotes" generated by the author: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/c_s_lewis

Siberian Squill and a Grape Hyacinth in pale blue; soon to bloom.

Next to Bloom in the Yard this Year: A Yellow Crocus. More to Come

And Finally, it Feels like Spring...

The Snowdrops in the yard are up and blooming. From now till November, there will always be something blooming in the yard. 

Tomorrow, weather permitting (no rain or snow and not toooooo cold) I will start the yard clean up.

Long Overdue Book Dump

Mostly, I was sewing, stitching, crocheting, etc. over the past few months. So not reading as much during leisure time. And walking and travelling.

Also, there's a dearth of "good" books; here's the best I could do lately:

A couple of crime thrillers by the late Elmore Leonard, namely "52 Pick-Up", published in 1974 and "Rum Punch" from 1992.   This author was a great writer whose chosen genre was gritty, urban crime in such places as Detroit and Miami. The older book delivered a great portrait of the life of Detroit as it was beginning its deep economic dive from which it's not yet recovered. In "Rum Punch" I wonder if we met a prototype for the later famous Raylan Givens? His secondary character, Ray Nicolet, a federal agent, fits to a "T".  The character of Ordell Robbie is perfect as gun-merchant crime boss on his final decline.         Both readable, recommendable little novels, if you like the genre.

The older I get, I find the less I enjoy gritty, violent thrillers; bloody, insane violence is all too present in our world and not that entertaining.

"Rosings Park" by Diane H. Morris is one of those modern novels that leverage on the themes, plots and characters of the various Jane Austin novels.  Full disclosure is that I haven't read a Jane Austin novel since high school--so long ago the author was practically "current"--And maybe I'm the only woman in the world who never got all that into it with Jane Austin.    But this novel was readable and felt authentic, with annotated references and a bibliography.

Sally S. Wright produced a book I wanted to like (similar to the works of Barbara Kingsolver), "Pride & Predator" made me think it was going to be another Jane Austin influenced novel. No. It is a classic sort of "who dunnit" published in 1997, set among the wealthier sorts in Scotland in 1960.  Odd. The plot was just arresting enough so that I was too far into the novel to give up and put it down unfinished; so I was peeved with the book already: it was 350 damn pages long! It needed a good, strict, no-nonsense editing. Too many damn characters, etc.  The hero, Ben Reese, is based on a real person, she says; perhaps someone she knew well; he was a hero of the Second World War, knows about combat and techniques of detection; he is given to odd mannerisms and small gestures; suffers from nightmares about the War. Maybe the author based this character on a relative, her Dad even? The plot? I really didn't care who killed the murder victims, or why. Just wind this thing up!

Sometimes I'm so busy living my life to blog about living my life.

At Home in the Summer. Part 3

Decorative ceramic garden wall in Paducah, KY

Inspired by such things as the photo above; encouraged by my neighbor, who invited me to create a garden stepping stone from her materials, I had the company of her and her extended family--each making a pretty stepping stone of broken china, etc.  Below is the one I made.

I sometimes tell my neighbor: if it were not for her, I would have few nice things at all. She once gifted me a designer daylily called "Chicago Fire", on condition I share the plant with her once it was large enough to split. Now both yards have one of these flaming red daylily plants, which bloom very well.

I have learned to hybridize the daylilies--which is easy but takes patience to see the results. The one above is an example of one of my better ones.

Two photos above are other "titled" purchased daylilies, I think. (especially the gold and orange).