In which we encounter Iceland, an immortal doctor, a 6'4" frozen female, and mysterious memory loss.

Warrior Queen of Mars begins at Forgotten Classics. Get your pulp-fiction goodness now!

Well Said: Love can be hated when it challenges us

From my quote journal.

God is love. But love can also be hated when it challenges us to transcend ourselves. It is not a romantic "good feeling." Redemption is not "wellness," it is not about basking in self-indulgence; on the contrary it is a liberation from imprisonment in self-absorption. This liberation comes at a price: the anguish of the Cross. The prophecy of light and that of the Cross belong together.

Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI),

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

This is the continual struggle, at least for me. I can't express how much I appreciate Christ putting up with my continual back-sliding into laziness and self-indulgence.

We're Not Sure What "Funky" Is, But We Know It When We Hear It.

Muscle Shoals: The Movie is a terrific documentary about music, creativity, and life, and it's the subject of Episode 74 at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

What's It All Mean? - Patron Saints and Patron Saints for the Year

When I review a book, I don't just post it here. I share the wealth by putting it at Goodreads, over at Patheos, and to just about anywhere I've got access. Which is a lot of places, now that I think of it.

At any rate my review of A Song For Nagasaki brought up some questions over at Goodreads. I had casually mentioned that Takashi Nagai was my selected patron for 2014 and that I'd chosen J.R.R. Tolkien for 2013 (click through on the review for more).

I may have equally bewildered folks here. Just in case, I thought I'd share that conversation. Keep in mind that questions are always welcome and that these answers weren't meant to be a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

What does taking someone as your patron for the year mean?

A patron saint in general is someone who you choose to guide or support or protect you. Catholics choose a patron saint when they are confirmed into the Church. It is often because one relates to the saint's life in some way or they are examples of something one likes. I chose my patron, St. Martha, because she's the patron saint of homemakers and cooks. I like both of those things. Turned out that when I was learning more about her life that we are a lot alike in personality, both in strengths and weaknesses. It's kind of like having a best friend who's ahead of you in school and who helps you through some of the hard or confusing bits. (This may all be really obvious info but better to have too much background than too little...)

Choosing a special patron saint for a new year is an old custom that has found favor again in some spots. It can be a name drawn from a hat of potential saints (one is really leaning on divine inspiration at that point) and there are several Catholic blogs out there that facilitate such choices. The idea is that one is being directed (with help) to become more aware of specific areas in life where special guidance might be necessary. Last year I took the choice into my own hands, asking J.R.R. Tolkien to give me a hand, based on the spiritual insights I received from rereading The Hobbit. I think the choice was inspired because it was so amazing for me.

We'll see how this year turns out with Takashi Nagai helping guide me ... but so far I have already been greatly assisted with a couple of areas in my life where I've needed extra awareness.

Very interesting! So was this one out of a hat then? :)

And does a patron saint for the year have to be Catholic? Or even a saint? Was Tolkien Catholic?

Easiest answer first ... Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He was a major influence on C.S. Lewis's discarding his atheism for Christianity, but was always frustrated that he didn't become Catholic.

Neither Tolkien nor Nagai are saints as recognized by the Church, although I read in a few places that Nagai is given the title Servant of God, which is the first step on the road to canonization. However, I felt that both were inspirational enough Catholics (because of their lives and works) that they could give me good, solid guidance during the year. That certainly proved to be the case with Tolkien and, as I mentioned, Nagai has definitely inspired me already this year.

The Church canonizes saints but she readily acknowledges that there are many, many saints of which she knows nothing. The ones that are recognized enough for canonization are the really big, obvious ones such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. There are many, such as my grandfather, whose saintly qualities were recognized by all those who knew him but who expressed them through living a very normal life. My grandfather wasn't Catholic, though he was Christian, but he was definitely saintly and beloved by all.

We are all called to become saints. That, in fact, is our calling in life if one is Catholic. It seems like an impossible goal but if we are all doing God's will to our utmost in daily life then that is all that is required. ("All" ... haha!). Mothers, fathers, children, business men and women, can all be saintly wherever they are put. God put us where we are to bring Him into the world in all parts of life.

Neither Tolkien or Nagai were out of a hat. I chose both based on particular circumstances of my life at the time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Palau Baro de Quadras

Palau Baro de Quadras
taken by Carlos Lorenzo

Do go to Barcelona Photoblog for more information about this gorgeous example of Catalan modernisme. Be sure to check out the photo for the full size and glory of the original photo.

The Faithful Traveler ... in the Holy Land!

Longtime readers may recall that I'm a big fan of Diana von Glahn's The Faithful Traveler Catholic travel show to shrines around the U.S.

Her new series is in the Holy Land. They visit the holy sites and explain their history, talk about the art, architecture, and so forth. Each episode is 30-minutes, so they aren't meant to be in-depth theological looks, but instead, fun and breezy introductions. The goal is to give people the knowledge they need to either go there themselves and know what they're looking at or enable them to be entertained and educated armchair travelers.

Check out a sample here.

There is more info at The Faithful Traveler site where you can see samples of the first series and this upcoming show.

And put it on your calendar ... it begins February 17.

Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

In celebration, eat second breakfast. Then elevensies.

via ThinkGeek's Facebook page

Filets Mignons with Mushrooms

How we started the New Year ... get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

My 2014 Book Challenge List

My 2013 book challenge was so rewarding, making me pick up books I would just keep skipping over in favor of lighter reading. I'm doing it again for the third year in a row.

Some books are carried over from last year and some I dropped because ... well, I'm not married to these lists. If am inspired at all to reach higher than before, that's good enough for me.

As before, I may not get through all of them in a year, but I will be trying always read one of them despite other distractions. In no particular order.

Fiction

1. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
   This was on my 2013 list and having begun it about a week ago, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Unabridged. Of course.
   
   Result: oh the agony! I loved the first bit about the bishop. Then I was gratified to see that the general plot had been well represented in the musical. However, the constant meandering here and there drove me crazy. I'm not usually a "don't bore us, get to the chorus" reader but Hugo beat me. Quitting this book.
2. Rabble in Arms - Kenneth Roberts
   My second favorite historical fiction author. This is a big 'un I overlooked somehow about the Revolutionary War.
   
   UPDATE: This book wound up overlapping with my Book Bingo Challenge as A Book Based on a True Story. It kind of saved me because I really hate books based on real stories usually. But it don't get much realer than the Revolutionary War. Especially the way Kenneth Roberts tells his stories.
3. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra —
   One of Rose's favorites which she's been pushing on me for a long time. Also, Scott from Good Story said he was interested in reading it this year. They were too much for my weak will.
   
   UPDATE: This will be one of Scott's choices for A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast for 2015 - so I don't need to keep it on a challenge list.
4. Charles Dickens novel
   Not sure which one yet. I'm wavering between Our Mutual Friend and Nicholas Nickleby.
   
   Result:  Ok, this was decided when a kind friend gave me Simon Prebble's reading of Great Expectations. Not the book I'd have chosen, but it is Dickens and that's good enough for me.
   
   I struggled my way through Great Expectations (chronicled here). Later I picked up The Pickwick Papers with the idea of something light, Dickens-wise. I raced through it in about a week, really enjoying it (as chronicled here). I'm now very slowly enjoying the novel from the other end of Dickens' timeline, Our Mutual Friend.
5. Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis
   I've had this pushed at me by everyone and his brother. Never been able to get past the first few chapters of Silent Planet but recently I tried the audio. That did the trick so I have begun. I'll give myself a year. That should be long enough.
   
   Out of the Silent Planet: Thanks goodness for the audio version or I'd never have made it. As it was I went in and out of being interested in the story, primarily because I was much more interested in the world development and exploration than in Ransom's dealings with his fellow Earthmen. Lewis was fantastically inventive about what the planet and living beings were like. I didn't know he had it in him! The scientist's final letter to the author really caught my attention. In particular, his comments about death among the Hrossa were mind-blowing in their implications about our own life here on fallen Earth. I also really liked the use for "bent" instead of "evil," showing just how we are turned from what we were meant to be. However, this does seem very obviously aimed at those who have Christian interests or mindsets, just as The Screwtape Letters was. I wonder if non-Christians enjoy this book.
   
   Perelandra: Just as with Out of the Silent Planet, I found the beginning of the book fairly uninviting. However, also just as in that book, having the audio helped me past that to the point. This book is so different from Out of the Silent Planet and yet we see C.S. Lewis's vivid and inspiring imagination just as clearly. I am simply blown away by his vision of creation on Venus. For me at one point, close to the end, I kept thinking that these are almost glimpses of the sort of creativity and inspiration that we will see in Heaven. Amazing insights as to battling evil, the dance of God's creation and plan, and our part in it. I find Lewis's style rather heavy-handed. What I'd change I'm not sure. I think it is simply that these books would go on the theology shelf in my library while something like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings would go in more general reading. It is not Lewis's fault, and in fact I now want print copies of these books for rereading, but I prefer the purer fiction style to this one.
   
   That Hideous Strength: As with the other two books in C.S. Lewis's "space trilogy" I found this one difficult to get into and, yet, once I got past the indefinable point where it was no longer a struggle, I couldn't read it fast enough. Consequently this was a 24-hour book for me. It is a testament to Lewis's imagination and writing skill as to how different all three of the books are in this trilogy, while simultaneously all carrying out the same basic theme. No wonder J.R.R. Tolkien loved them.
   
   Speaking of Tolkien, I was stunned to see Numinor mentioned twice and Middle Earth once in this book. I never dreamed there was such a deliberate, direct connection between this book and the Lord of the Rings, which was not yet published in its entirety when this book came out as Lewis says in the introduction. One can see the way these books and LOTR go hand in hand with similar themes, although expressed differently through the authors' different styles.
   
   This book itself was really terrific and left me striving to be a better person, to be truer to myself, as did the other two. Not many other books really leave one feeling that way.

Nonfiction

1. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien — this will move to the 2015 book challenge
   I chose Tolkien as my 2013 saint last year (admittedly not a recognized saint, but at the very least as an inspiring Catholic I wanted to help me on my heaven). It was an amazing year filled with lessons that have definitely helped me. I want to know Tolkien's thoughts in his own words now instead of just reading his fiction.
2. A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb - Paul Glynn
   Takashi Nagai isn't recognized by the Church as a saint but in my eyes he's qualified. I find him extremely inspiring and am going to spend 2014 in his company, as I did last year with Tolkien. I've begun this and it is really fascinating.
   
   Result: Superb and inspirational. My review is here.
3. Art: A New History - Paul Johnson — I'm about halfway through. This will move to my 2015 book challenge
   It's been on my coffee table for about a year. I've very slowly read some and loved it. This may help me read it more dedicatedly.
4. America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom - William J. Bennett
   I really enjoyed the first volume last year. This is on my book stack and, as with Art, I hope this will get me to crack it open. That's all it will take, I have a feeling, to hook me.
   
   UPDATE: still sitting on my shelf. I'll get to it but not as a book challenge.
5. The Scarlet and the Black: The True Story of Monsignor Hugh O Flaherty, Hero of the Vatican Underground - J.P Gallagher
   This also was on last year's list. I am really enjoying Song For Nagasaki and hope I'll also enjoy this true story of faith under crisis just as much.
   
   Result - The story itself is fascinating. The writing is less impressive with everything strung together so fast that it can be hard to keep track of events. The book could have done with just a touch of breathing space.
   
   That said, this is still very worth reading. One realizes that although the Vatican's official neutrality had to be maintained (as did that of others highlighted in the book), there was a lot of frantic activity below the surface to save lives in Rome right under the Gestapo's nose.
6. Something that Takashi Nagai wrote. Since he wrote over 40 books I'd like to see what one of those was like. After reading A Song for Nagasaki, that is.
   
   Result: I read The Bells of Nagasaki which was really amazing. I'm glad that I read Glynn's book first and, yet, also very glad that I didn't let it rest there as Nagai's own words corrected a few things that Glynn had glossed over. My review is here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Waxwing

Waxwing
Taken by Remo Savisaar

I really love these beautiful birds and no one photographs them better than Remo.

My Top 2013 Movies

My favorite movies seen in 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the approximate order in which I saw them.

1. Looper (2012) directed by Rian Johnson, stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Bruce Willis
   Time travel, big themes, from a director I love. (my review here)
   
   
2. Searching for Sugar Man (2012 documentary) directed by Malik Bendjelloul
   An American musician, a South African legend, a mystery investigated. (my review here)
   
   
3. Bernie (2011) directed byRichard Linklater, stars: Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Shirley MacLaine
   A sweet funeral home manager, a possessive and grasping widow ... a true story. (my review here)
   
   
4. Argo (2012) directed by Ben Affleck, stars Ben Affleck and a big cast of "hey, it's that guy!" actors
   Smuggling six Americans out of the Iranian revolution ... a true story (my review here)
   
   
5. Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read (2012 documentary)
   Erroll Garner's genius in improvising, communicating joy, and inspiring others through jazz. (My review here)
   
   
6. Of Gods and Men (2010 French: ‘Des hommes et des dieux’) Directed by Xavier Beauvois
   Trappist monks must decide whether to flee Algeria from terrorists or stay and serve God ... a true story (My review here; the A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast discussion here.)
   
   
7. 12 Angry Men (1957) directed by Sidney Lumet, starring: Henry Fonda
   A classic, "must see" for a reason. Simply wonderful. (My review here.)
   
   
8. Attack the Block  (2011) directed by Joe Cornish
   Solid alien invasion, monster movie set in British council block (a.k.a. "the projects). (my review here)
   
   
9. Gravity  (2013) directed by Alfonso Cuaron, stars Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
   An immersive emergency in outer space ponders gravity on several levels.
   
   
10. Muscle Shoals: The Movie  (2013 documentary) directed by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier
    A man who's lived the blues, the Swampers, shattered stereotypes ... and lots and lots of music. (My review here)

Top 2013 Audiobooks

My favorite audiobooks from 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the approximate order in which I heard them.

1. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
   Classic mystery with unexpectedly hilarious characters. Read by B.J. Harrison at The Classic Tales Podcast, my review here.
   
   
2. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
   Listening to this much-beloved book gave it new depth (Read by Rob Inglis)
   
   
3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
   I've never enjoyed the last book of the trilogy ... until now. (Read by Rob Inglis. My review of Return of the King here which reflects my experience listening to the entire trilogy.)
   
   
4. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
   Perfect noir listening for our vacation travels together. (Read by William Dufris' whose "fat man" has to be heard to be appreciated.) 
   
   
5. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
   Enchanting tour of Halloween history with boys on a mission. (Read by Bronson Pinchot.)
   
   
6. The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle
    The apocalypse in Victorian times told by a master storyteller (Read by Gildart Jackson. My review here)

Best (Print) Books of 2013

Top print books I read in 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the order I encountered them throughout the year. (Audio books will have a separate post.)

1. Take Five with Pope Benedict by Mike Aquilina and Kris Stubna
   Wonderful daily resource that refocused me on what really matters. (My review here.)
   
   
2. Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko
   Only Russian novels I've ever enjoyed. (Good Story podcast discussion. My reviews here: Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, Last Watch)
   
   
3. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
   Fantasy, adventure, romance wrapped in theological science fiction.  (my review here)
   
   
4. King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village by Peggilene Bartels
   The subhead says it all. I've read it twice. (review here)
   
   
5. The Woodcutter by Kate Danley
   A new, yet familiar, fairy story where true love conquers all. (review here)
   
   
6. Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K. Dick
   Lovecraftian elder god gathers team to benefit mankind. (SFFaudio discussion here. My review here)
   
   
7. Save Send Delete by Danusha Goska
   Catholic and atheist debate faith in emails. Unputdownable. (my review here)
   
   
8. Middlemarch by George Eliot
   Marriage seen through the lens of "What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" (my review here)
   
   
9. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
   Why investigate a murder if the world is ending? (my review here)
   
   
10. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters (sequel to The Last Policeman)
    Still asking questions in the face of the apocalypse  (review here)
    
    
11. Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick
    Can utopia be created by one man? Also African folktales.  (review/discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find)
    
    
12. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
    A contender with Bleak House as my favorite Dickens novel.  (excerpts and comments at Goodreads)

Yep. I cheated on just a few for that 10 word limit, most notably Middlemarch. Had to happen. Be sure to go through and read the reviews of anything that looks interesting. I promise there are a few in there that surprised me by winding up on this list.

ALL THE 2013 BOOKS
Here's my year in books according to Goodreads, where I may not have always written a review but I did keep pretty accurate track of what I read.

The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

I'm really surprised I forgot to share my reactions on this book since I was so eager to share the first three. Making up for that now!

The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As with the other books in the series, Last Watch is made up of three novellas. Unlike the other books though, these act as connected pieces in one overall story. Although Anton goes to Edinburgh and then to Uzbekistan, his missions are all in service of solving one big puzzle. What possible plot could cause an alliance between a powerful Inquisitor, a Higher Light One, and a Master Vampire?

I thought I understood what the title Last Watch was about but, as with every other time, Sergei Lukyanenko surprised me. In the end this turned out to be a story about the depths to which love drives us, especially when we feel we have failed it, and the ultimate power of forgiveness.

I eagerly await the translation of the final book in the series, New Watch.

Worth a Thousand Words: Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeak
From my favorite nature photographer, Remo Savisaar

Y'all, You Guys, or Youse? Our Time Waster for This Morning.

We spent a very enjoyable hour going through this word quiz as a group. Then we saw that at the end they will give you their best guess on where you are from. So I went and took it myself. (Warning, the last map with the overall conclusion loads super slowly compared to all the other maps ... be patient or you'll lose the whole thing.)

I wound up with Spokane, Tacoma, Portland which were way off based solely on the word "kitty corner", but the map does show a very high match to Kansas where I grew up and North Texas, where I now live. I could see real connections on certain words to my time in Houston and my parents' Cincinnati / Illinois connections also.

Then I saw you could link to the specific map results and so took it a second time to try to capture the map, was asked a few different questions in the mix. I wound up still with stubborn Spokane but two more realistic cities about my word learning: Des Moines and Wichita.

None of this is as good as the Dictionary of Regional English which would be my wish if a bookish fairy godmother showed up to ask what very expensive books I'd love to read for the next year. But its fun enough and interesting. Enjoy!

The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Strangely enough, I wound up listening to this apocalyptic book while wrapping gifts. Talk about making me grateful for Christmas with my family! This review is from SFFaudio whence came the review book. Needless to say (I hope), this is my uninfluenced opinion. 

What would you do if you had discovered that the planet was about to be engulfed in a belt of poisonous "ether" from outer space? Professor Challenger invites a hand-picked crew of adventurers and scientists to his home outside London.

I like Sherlock Holmes but I am much fonder of Arthur Conan Doyle's other fiction. He was a skilled teller of "weird tales" and I have heard he was proudest of his historical fiction which I really enjoy. The Poison Belt is the second in a series of fantasy and science fiction novels featuring the brilliant and overpowering Professor Challenger.  It functions very well as a stand alone novel.

Having assembled a newsman, big game huntsman, and another scientist to explore South America in their first adventure, The Lost World, it is only logical that Challenger would call upon the same group for this scientific emergency. Professor Challenger puzzles them when he asks each to bring along a cylinder of oxygen. They are well acquainted with Challenger's eccentricities but little do they suspect that he anticipates an apocalyptic event.

I'd say more but I think reading the whole description would have ruined my astonishment and interest in the story as it unfolded in this superb audiobook. In fact, having grabbed this review book solely based on my enjoyment of The Lost World, I hadn't read the description at all. I was stunned to find this was such an apocalyptic novel. It is really well written and thought through. I was frequently surprised as various events occurred because I simply hadn't thought through the consequences of an apocalypse in 1913 England.

Part of the enjoyment of The Poison Belt comes from the adventurers' interactions. Doyle is very good at inserting humor, often through the two scientists' bickering over conclusions, and at other times in hunter Lord John's casual comments as in this instance when Challenger has asked the group to look at an amoeba through a microscope.

Lord John was prepared to take him on trust.

"I'm not troublin' my head whether he's alive or dead," said he. "We don't so much as know each other by sight, so why should I take it to heart? I don't suppose he's worryin' himself over the state of OUR health."

I laughed at this, and Challenger looked in my direction with his coldest and most supercilious stare. It was a most petrifying experience.

"The flippancy of the half-educated is more obstructive to science than the obtuseness of the ignorant," said he. "If Lord John Roxton would condescend----"

"My dear George, don't be so peppery," said his wife, with her hand on the black mane that drooped over the microscope. "What can it matter whether the amoeba is alive or not?"

"It matters a great deal," said Challenger gruffly.

"Well, let's hear about it," said Lord John with a good-humoured smile. "We may as well talk about that as anything else. If you think I've been too off-hand with the thing, or hurt its feelin's in any way, I'll apologize."

Part of the humor comes across thanks to the excellent narration by actor Gildart Jackson. As is often the case with actors, his reading is rife with expressive accents, subtle nuances, and changes of pace. This isn't a very long book and goes along at a rattling pace. I was hooked from the beginning.

I don't know when I've enjoyed an audiobook more and I hope that Dreamscape is considering more of Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction for the future.

Worth a Thousand Words: Cosette

Portrait of "Cosette" by Émile Bayard,
from the original edition of Les Misérables (1862).
Via Wikipedia

I have begun reading Les Miserables. Inspired by yesterday's portrait of Tolstoy, I went looking for portraits of Victor Hugo and found this along the way. I was so surprised to see that what I thought was a modern image of Cosette actually had been with the novel from the beginning. As Wikipedia tells us:

French illustrator Émile Bayard drew the sketch of Cosette for the first edition, and this engraving was prepared for an 1886 edition. The image has become emblematic of the entire story, being used in promotional art for various versions of the musical.

A Lovely Piece of Advent Fiction: A Shepherd I Will Remain

It is irresistible. We walk to Bethlehem, bells ringing, bringing our sheep. My uncle carries the injured one on his shoulders, and we travel familiar, narrow by-ways that keep us, always, at the margins of the city—away from marketplaces and inns, for we know our place; we are shepherds; we stink of the sheep.

We find the hewn place, like a cave, and again there is light or not light, precisely—oh, how do I tell it? It is a kind of mist of brightness, and it is alive; it contains a hum, a buzz, a fizz that is like pulsing life, and it is everywhere, and it bathes everything and everyone in its warm glow.

From Elizabeth Scalia comes a very good short story, almost just a snapshot really, of the Nativity from a shepherd boy's point of view. Read it at First Things.

What I like about this so much is that Scalia paints the place so vividly. I could hear the fire crackle, feel the rough trails under my feet, and see the young mother's pride. I especially liked the way that details were introduced which followed very logically but which I hadn't thought of before ... such as the fact that shepherds would naturally take their sheep with them.

Scalia is an expert nonfiction writer who often inspires me ... but I think we need more fiction from her. She's good.

In which we go on the carrier's rounds, enjoy a picnic, meet Caleb's daughter, and see an unimaginable sight.

That's right, Chirp the Second of The Cricket on the Hearth is ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics podcast.