January and February 2011

I've been on a Rosemary Sutcliff binge since I saw that * The Eagle of the Ninth was being made into a movie. I read that one aloud to the kids but it was mainly for myself, since I wanted to read it again before seeing the movie. I still love it, the kids loved it, and now they want me to read them more of hers. I have the next two in that trilogy, so I'll be reading them aloud in the next few months. After I finished The Eagle, I read * Warrior Scarlet (by myself), which was every bit as good as I remembered it. Then, in bed with a chest cold, I read in one day * The Mark of the Horse Lord, which is my favorite Sutcliff ever. That one I don't let my younger kids read as it's much more adult in its content and approach. Heartbreakingly beautiful story about sacrifice.

I'm also on a C. S. Lewis kick right now:
* That Hideous Strength
* The Abolition of Man
* Till We Have Faces

The only first-time read so far this year is Barbara Pym's Crampton Hodnet, which I enjoyed. I gave this and one other to my eldest daughter for Christmas, and it was a pleasant diversion.

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Some quotes from the above books:

He cared nothing now for the blows he got, only for the blows he gave. It was a great fight, though a short one; a stand against hopeless odds such as no warrior of the Tribe need have been ashamed of. But it was a last stand, and the odds were hopeless; five against two. And Drem had only one arm to fight with.
Warrior Scarlet, page 82

* = reread