January 2012 Reads

Now that we’re really settled into life with two kids, my sleep-deprived mind is getting back into the swing of reading for pleasure.

In January I finally finished Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. It was a beautiful clothbound Penguin edition, see?

I am more than mildly obsessed with these Penguin editions and my wonderful in-laws gifted me several for my birthday last year. Can’t imagine a better gift. Cranford was my first Elizabeth Gaskell. I loved the miniseries with Judi Dench and honestly, although the book was delightful…(I’m scared to say it) I kind of liked the film better. Don’t tar and feather me. Cranford doesn’t read as a novel so much as a collection of vignettes. It’s charming but I think I will like North and South or Wives and Daughters better in book form.

And while we’re on the subject of the clothbound Penguin classics, this is the coolest phone charger imaginable:

Thanks to Cassie for alerting me that such things exist.

I also finished Stephen Lawhead’s Arthur. I can’t say no to Arthurian related books. I didn’t like Arthur as much as the first book in the series, Taliesin. But it was still worth reading and I’ll probably track down the final two books. It’s actually well-researched and not as embarrassing as the cover art would lead you to believe.

During my Holy Hour I started reading the Blessed John Paul II’s Encyclical Familiaris Consortio: On the Christian Family in the Modern World. It’s as wonderful as I expected.

And every morning I treat myself to the day’s reading in Karen Edmisten’s Through the Year with Mary. Sometimes I forget and the next day I treat myself to TWO wonderful quotes about Our Lady.

Benjamin has recently made a leap in his reading time attention span and has been enjoying Dr. Seuss in particular. He can sit through several stories in a row and beg for more.

What have you been reading? What are your kids enjoying?