I am listening to one of the most gorgeous acapella works for the human voice: O Magnum Mysterium. O Magnum Mysterium is a six-voice motet in the Aeolian mode in two musical parts. O Magnum Mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas.
For those of you who celebrate Christmas I hope you had a blessed time and for all of you I pray God makes his love real to you. Just know that I pray for all of you (that I know about) every day.
Well, so far I have read 196 books this year. My goal on Goodreads is 200 hundred. Will I slide into home plate and successfully read four more books before the 31st? It won't be easy because tomorrow I am driving with my son and Hercaloo to Florida to spend the week with my parents and my two adorable nieces and the people who brought them. (My sister and her husband-that's a joke; I told Debbie that after you have babies no one is interested in you anymore. She doesn't think it's funny.) Seriously though, I am excited to see everyone.
It's a ten hour drive and I plan on reading while my son drives, which won't be across Louisiana. He'll be sleeping since we're leaving early. But from Vicksburg Mississippi to Mobile Alabama, while I have light, I hope to get through some pages. I'm reading some great books right now: two presidential biographies about the same man; a nonfiction account of four people's lives in the South the year the Civil War ended; a fascinating book about Handel and his librettist and how they wrote the Messiah and a fantastic encyclopedia picture book about Irish history. Let's see if I finish any of these before the new year. Oh, and I almost forgot I am halfway through the most amazing book on modern architecture from all over the world. I may throw in a TinTin just to help.
But this is what I have just finished reading over the past couple of weeks:
All Creatures Great and Small & All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beatuiful edition of two books. I recently bought it because my original books have fallen to pieces from multiple readings over the years. I am cutting and pasting my original review.
This is an old favorite that I've read countless times. What do I like about it? Let me count the ways.
First of all, I like the way Herriot (or Alf Wight, if you like) turns a phrase. His use of absurd imagery to create a comical effect is superb. I found myself re-reading certain paragraphs just because I enjoyed how he expressed certain concepts.
Secondly, I like being taken to another time and place. Reading books is the closest thing we have to time travel. Reading about Yorkshire farmers surviving through the depression with the old dialect that the author uses to good effect provides me with a vicarious experience of life on the Dales and with a group of people I will never meet in real life.
Thirdly, I enjoy the way he intertwines his personal life, the two vets he lives with and their personalities and interactions and also meeting his wife with his veterinary practice. Each chapter involving treating an animal is like a little mystery as he has us follow his exertions to try to uncover what is wrong with an animal and how to treat it. He plainly reveals life before the age of penicillin and antibiotics and how vets struggled with what little resources they had. He also shows with compassion and admiration the grim poverty and grimmer determination of the farmers to make their farms thrive.
Finally, his writing is something I aspire to. I have no hope of ever writing like George Orwell or Evelyn Waugh, but if someone said my writing reminded them of James Herriot's I would feel as if I had arrived.
View all my reviews
House Styles in America: The Old-House Journal Guide to the Architecture of AmericanHomes by James C. Massey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fabulous book on the various architectural styles throughout the history of America starting with colonial times to the present. Styles include: Roman and Greek Revival; Paladian, Georgian, Colonial, French Creole, to the twentieth century styles of Wright's Prairie Homes, French Creole, Arts and Crafts, Sears and Roebuck pre-fabricated homes and Art Deco.
Each style is thoroughly described accompanied by several examples of actual homes in large glossy, colored photographs. Anyone interested in the development and history of architectural as applied to living residences will enjoy this book.
View all my reviews
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THOMAS A KEMPIS' "Of The Imitation Of Christ" IN TODAY'S LANGUAGE by Thomas à Kempis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this book as an Advent devotion for the month of December. It is a beautifully rendered exposition of Christ's words of love to his children.
Kempis at times writes in the voice of Christ by paraphrasing Scripture to create a greater sense of intimacy with the reader and God.
An excellent read to enter into the spirit of Christmas.
View all my reviews
And last but not least:
Typewriter: The History - The Machines - The Writers by Tony Allan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A cute small book with glossy pages, lots of photos and a concise history of the invention and development of the typewriter.
View all my reviews
I know that you are all on the edge your seat wondering if I'll finish my books on time. I'll let you know in my next post, same Bat Time; same Bat Channel!
 |
| My husband knows I love coffee and bought me a French press for Christmas! |
For those of you who celebrate Christmas I hope you had a blessed time and for all of you I pray God makes his love real to you. Just know that I pray for all of you (that I know about) every day.
Well, so far I have read 196 books this year. My goal on Goodreads is 200 hundred. Will I slide into home plate and successfully read four more books before the 31st? It won't be easy because tomorrow I am driving with my son and Hercaloo to Florida to spend the week with my parents and my two adorable nieces and the people who brought them. (My sister and her husband-that's a joke; I told Debbie that after you have babies no one is interested in you anymore. She doesn't think it's funny.) Seriously though, I am excited to see everyone.
It's a ten hour drive and I plan on reading while my son drives, which won't be across Louisiana. He'll be sleeping since we're leaving early. But from Vicksburg Mississippi to Mobile Alabama, while I have light, I hope to get through some pages. I'm reading some great books right now: two presidential biographies about the same man; a nonfiction account of four people's lives in the South the year the Civil War ended; a fascinating book about Handel and his librettist and how they wrote the Messiah and a fantastic encyclopedia picture book about Irish history. Let's see if I finish any of these before the new year. Oh, and I almost forgot I am halfway through the most amazing book on modern architecture from all over the world. I may throw in a TinTin just to help.
But this is what I have just finished reading over the past couple of weeks:
All Creatures Great and Small & All Things Bright and Beautiful by James HerriotMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beatuiful edition of two books. I recently bought it because my original books have fallen to pieces from multiple readings over the years. I am cutting and pasting my original review.
This is an old favorite that I've read countless times. What do I like about it? Let me count the ways.
First of all, I like the way Herriot (or Alf Wight, if you like) turns a phrase. His use of absurd imagery to create a comical effect is superb. I found myself re-reading certain paragraphs just because I enjoyed how he expressed certain concepts.
Secondly, I like being taken to another time and place. Reading books is the closest thing we have to time travel. Reading about Yorkshire farmers surviving through the depression with the old dialect that the author uses to good effect provides me with a vicarious experience of life on the Dales and with a group of people I will never meet in real life.
Thirdly, I enjoy the way he intertwines his personal life, the two vets he lives with and their personalities and interactions and also meeting his wife with his veterinary practice. Each chapter involving treating an animal is like a little mystery as he has us follow his exertions to try to uncover what is wrong with an animal and how to treat it. He plainly reveals life before the age of penicillin and antibiotics and how vets struggled with what little resources they had. He also shows with compassion and admiration the grim poverty and grimmer determination of the farmers to make their farms thrive.
Finally, his writing is something I aspire to. I have no hope of ever writing like George Orwell or Evelyn Waugh, but if someone said my writing reminded them of James Herriot's I would feel as if I had arrived.
View all my reviews
House Styles in America: The Old-House Journal Guide to the Architecture of AmericanHomes by James C. MasseyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fabulous book on the various architectural styles throughout the history of America starting with colonial times to the present. Styles include: Roman and Greek Revival; Paladian, Georgian, Colonial, French Creole, to the twentieth century styles of Wright's Prairie Homes, French Creole, Arts and Crafts, Sears and Roebuck pre-fabricated homes and Art Deco.
Each style is thoroughly described accompanied by several examples of actual homes in large glossy, colored photographs. Anyone interested in the development and history of architectural as applied to living residences will enjoy this book.
View all my reviews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this book as an Advent devotion for the month of December. It is a beautifully rendered exposition of Christ's words of love to his children.
Kempis at times writes in the voice of Christ by paraphrasing Scripture to create a greater sense of intimacy with the reader and God.
An excellent read to enter into the spirit of Christmas.
View all my reviews
And last but not least:
Typewriter: The History - The Machines - The Writers by Tony AllanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A cute small book with glossy pages, lots of photos and a concise history of the invention and development of the typewriter.
View all my reviews
I know that you are all on the edge your seat wondering if I'll finish my books on time. I'll let you know in my next post, same Bat Time; same Bat Channel!
21 comments:
I wonder what the last four books of the year will be?
Several years ago I read Imitation of Christ, but I guess I never wrote a post about it. I'll have to reread it b/c sadly I have no recollection of it's context.
And I can attest to the truth that once you have kids, no one remembers you anymore. It's the babies that everyone wants to see. : D
Hi Ruth. I hope you and your family had a delightful Christmas and a blessed year to come!
I probably could have done a better job reviewing Kempis but I'm in a hurry to finish the count down-not the best motive for reading and reviewing but there it is.
Merry belated Christmas Sharon.
My wife absolutely loves The James Herriot books. She also has read them a bunch of times. She is in the veterinary field so she really appreciates them. She is also a fan of the old television series. I will surely give them a try sometime.
I am jealous of the number of books that you have completed this year.
Have a very happy New Years!
Hi Brian. I loved the old series as well. My son and I used to watch them on Netflix and I watched them when I was a teenager. Good memories.
Best wishes for you for a great new year as well.
167 so far for me... i really like JH also; his books were one of the inspirations for my daughter becoming a vet; it was so obvious the man behind the words was a very nice fellow... is Magnum Mysterium plain song? or antiphonal? or both? people don't think about typewriters much, but they were an important component in the development, for better or worse, of the machine age...
hope you don't get roadsick, reading while driving... that happened to me once: quite unpleasant... actually i used to commute on freeways over long distances and developed the very dangerous habit of reading while i was driving; it's very possible but not recommended, especially nowadays with all the traffic...
Actually I'll only read when my son is driving. Ha, ha couldn't resist that. :) Although I did have a friend who read an entire book from my house to his house in Miami (14 hours). He went through small towns and read at the stop lights.
Good for you at 167. For some reason Goodreads is not updating my progress. I have read 197 so far (just finished a great book about Handel's Messiah last night).
Magnum Mysterium is not antiphonal because that is where two different choirs (or groups of instruments) question and answer each other. It seems to move homophonically but there is definitely slight polyphonic movement at certain points in the piece. However, MM is usually responsorial.
The composer, Morten Luridsen, is influenced by Gregorian Chant but his melodic ideas are original. If you listen you will hear snatches of plainchant, especially in the men's part.
That's interesting about your daughter. I bet she has some great stories!
As for typewriters, lately I have been interested in the history of things we take for granted. I'm finishing up a book about the printing press as well.
Have a wonderful end of the year, Mudpuddle!
probably not like Carl Orff? Carmina Burana?
it's different than i thought; interesting that Lauridsen has a place in the San Juans and worked on a lookout tower near St. Helens for a while... i don't know the characteristics of the Aeolian mode... beautiful piece with attractive dissonance...
You've read nearly 200 books? Wow! I am impressed. Your achievement persuades me that I ought to set some kind of goal for myself for 2017. Current events have destroyed my previously announced goals. I think my reading ought to embrace some things spiritual rather than literary for the coming year. Perhaps I will take a look at your past postings for some ideas. Of course, I'm open to recommendations.
Carl Orff took songs from the middle ages but applied his own music to it. Lauridsen incorporated melodic ideas of chant and wove them into his original compositions.
The youtube is not the best recording. Polyphony has a much more moving interpretation but I can't find it on the youtube channel.
Hi Tim. I will think about some recommendations. Where's your blog, by the way?
Herriot is a delight. I used to read him out loud to the kids. The whole family enjoyed it....and sometimes truly ended up all laughing out loud together.
I read the books to my son years ago as well (although I had to censor little). We both laughed hard at some of the stories.
I had a complete meltdown with Blogger and had to wipe slate clean and resume with different address but familiar name. Content postings will resume soon. Forgive my meltdown.
Happy New Year!
Tim
https://inquiriesinformal.blogspot.com/
I understand. I will check out your latest! Happy New Year!
That a cappella music IS gorgeous, I'm listening now. If I had to read four books in four days, I'm sure I would have included a few picture books. I hope you had a good Florida visit. I could use some sunshine about now (blizzard today..). Thanks for the reviews, always interesting. I'm going to find a copy of that book on typewriters.
Hi Marcia, well, I admit that I did puff my numbers last Setember when I visited my sister and read about twenty children's books to her children. :)
Florida was beautiful but in the thirties which is freezing for this Texan. It didn't stop us from getting around and hiking through the woods and visiting the beaches, however.
Haven't heard from you in a while... is everything all right?
Hi Mudpuddle! You are so sweet. I am all right. I just returned from Florida and still recovering. I hope to get back on board this Monday. I need to visit your blog as well. I'm little slowed up this week.
hope you had a nice visit and trip...
Thanks!
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