A Ring of Endless Light | 
We‘re way overdue for more Madeleine L‘Engle on my book podcast. On Episode 185, we set that situation right, this time for a conversation about A Ring of Endless Light. Author Claire Legrand joins me and shares her experience reading it for the first time. We have an in-depth discussion about main character Vicky Austin‘s journey with love and loss. We talk about dolphins, faith, mental health, and Gilmore Girls. Link to listen in my bio!
1. Challenger explosion. We watched it in school and everyone was so shocked.
2. Library 💜
3. A Ring of Endless Light - I remember getting shivers while reading it in about 5th grade.
#wondrouswednesday @Eggs
Today would have been Madeleine L'Engle's 100th birthday. For #lengle100, here's my shelf of treasured, obviously much-read paperbacks, dominated by you-know-who. The characters I met in these pages were bright, flawed, conflicted, confused, brave, foolish, and above all, human. (Even the seraphim.) Grateful to L'Engle for showing the world in all its dark and light, and the responsibility each of us bears to push the balance toward the latter.
The Austin Family Chronicles - I still have 2 to go. #bookseries #readingresolutions @Jess7
pickGoing through some of the books from my youth. I listened to this one about three weeks ago. All ways loved this book. It‘s still good, although from a different perspective as an adult. Great read for teenage girls as well.
1. A Ring of Endless Light (Runner-up: Emily of New Moon)
2. My gigantic collection of panda toys
3. Popcorn, cheese & apples at my best friend‘s house on Sundays while watching mysteries on PBS 😂
4. Cookies
#manicmonday @JoScho
One more thing before I return this library book & put the #ThrowbackReadathon to rest: I loved reading this but didn‘t swoon over ANY of Vicky‘s love interests. Leo wont leave well enough alone & seems like the type of guy who‘d complain about being “friend-zoned.” Zachary borderline sexually assaults her. And Adam‘s a condescending mansplainer whose levity is expressed entirely (& bizarrely imo) in cartwheels - but at least there‘s hope for him.
pickI first read this as a pre-teen (I was 11, maybe?). I loved it so much that I wanted to be a marine biologist for a little while. It‘s got quite a bit of heavy subject matter (mostly just A LOT of death) & some fairly cerebral poetry, to boot (Henry Vaughan, John Donne, the Bible). I can‘t imagine that I understood all of it.
*Cont‘d in comments below. 👇🏻
Isn‘t it funny how when there‘s so much “darkness” (pain, sadness, weariness), just one, beautiful, tiny thing - just one moment of “light” - can be so powerful?
I remember feeling utterly destroyed in college, after my first love broke my heart. I went for a night-walk & passed by a magnolia tree. My crying completely transformed. The blooming flowers smelled so heavenly. And I was grateful.
Part of my decision to reread this book was for pleasure... & another part was to re-confront an early terror. I remember being deeply... not traumatized, exactly, but *effected* by a graphic description of someone having a seizure. It was worse than I remembered. It‘s not just someone who has a seizure, it‘s a child. And she doesn‘t just have a seizure; she dies. She doesn‘t just die; she dies in the main character‘s - 15 year old Vicky‘s - arms.
I love & identify with this description — especially on a Monday morning:
“Dreamy Vicky, full of cobwebs.”
Welp, I read way less this weekend than I originally planned. I unexpectedly had to work on Saturday, a friend had a personal crisis, & I was called upon to be a good partner & attend a 40th birthday party. (Damn this being a good person thing!😉) Still, I had a blast co-hosting my first Litsy event! I managed to read 2 picture books, 1 comic book, & 3.5 chapter books. Hope you all had fun flashing back & participating in the #ThrowbackReadathon!
My husband is making me put down my book & go to his friend‘s birthday party. I‘m pretending to be happy about it. 😅
Don‘t look at me! I don‘t know why I didn‘t understand the meaning of the word “series” either!
“Into the Land of the Unicorns” literally ends with the phrase, “But that, of course, is another story altogether.” Did I seek out the next story? NOPE! My next book for the #ThrowbackReadathon was my absolute FAVE. Turns out, it‘s also book 4 in a 5 book series! Did I read books 1-3? NOPE! Did I read book 5? I‘ll give you one guess...
My walk took me past Camas Books and Infoshop, where I had a good browse through their socially conscious offerings.
Here are some of my favorite #comfortreads. Not pictured is my copy of the Blue Castle which I have loaned out to a person I trust. It appears that classics and YA are my go to genres when I need to recharge. #anditsaugust
This is the first book that comes to mind when I think of summer. A few summers ago, my dear friend and I sat together in my backyard bayou and read this aloud to each other over the span of a couple of weeks. #allthefeels #sweetsummerstack
As much as I love A Wrinkle in Time this is my favorite Madeleine L'Engle book. In it teenager Vicky Austin has to face #death and grief in various forms in a single summer. This is a book I loved as a middle schooler and still like to revisit every few years. #junebookbugs
My #ComfortRead for #FunFridayPhoto. I'm feeling equal parts torn up and motivated today. I will spend this day with my daughters—loving them, teaching them, showing them the strength of a woman who doesn't give up.
This beautiful Bildungsroman depicts a female who is wise, but conflicted. She loves with intention and observes the world with curiosity and reverence. I'll be like Vicky today, seeking peace even when nothing makes sense.
Ok- fun Friday pick. Here's a portion of my Madeline L'Engle collection. Book(s) that I always go back to when the world is a bit too much and I need comfort reads. They are full of light, honesty, and proof that there is hope in the darkest times.
@Liberty
"Be a light bearer" ? A most important book in my formative years and beyond. Wish I could have had one signed and inscribed to me, but this was still a joyful find. Madeline L'Engle is just amazing.
