I’ll be honest, we’re only 2 months in and I’m already
struggling with the challenge I’ve set myself. January gave me a false sense of
security since I finished The Shock of
the Fall well before the end of the month, and then suddenly February was
over. Since I’d started February’s first book in August last year and I…still
haven’t finished the second one…I didn’t actually manage to complete a whole
book in February. But we shall persevere. The many cries of ‘WE WANT BLOG’ from
my countless fans have spurred me on. You are welcome. (Seriously though, I received
so many nice messages after my last two posts – thank you!)
January’s two books were very similar in many ways (you can
read all about them here *plug*), whereas my two books this month had zero
similarities. One of them brought about a dilemma – The Sword in the Stone (T.H. White) is the first of five volumes in The Once and Future King, and even though I’d originally planned to
count all five as one of my 30 books, once it became clear that I was never
going to finish it on schedule I took the easy way out and decided to count
them as five separate books. I felt bad about it, don’t worry.
The book I actually did finish in February was The Hole in our Holiness by Kevin
DeYoung. I. loved. this. book. I’ve been reading it on and off since August,
and the main reason it took me so long is because every chapter gave me a whole
lot to think about (which is the case for many Christian books). Holiness feels
impossible when you are aware of how sinful you are, but even though as
Christians we are still sinners, we are also alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:4)
and we are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Holiness is possible because of
who we are: we belong to God! He has given us everything we need for a godly
life (2 Peter 1:3) – it’s not impossible, but it’s also massively important that
we do not think we can manage it by ourselves. This book was both challenging
and encouraging, and I would really recommend it to any Christian. I got to
hear Kevin DeYoung preach on Sunday night which was very cool, but that was not
how I imagined his voice. If (more like when) I read this book again I’m going
to have a whole different voice in my head.
If you’re not a Christian and you’re interested in knowing
anything more about this, I would love to chat to you!
The Sword in the Stone
is based on the legend, and unlike
The Hole in our Holiness, features a
castle made out of food. And a poem all about it:
Its two soft door-posts of custard,
Its dais of curds and butter,
Beds of glorious lard,
Many shields of thin pressed cheese.
Its dais of curds and butter,
Beds of glorious lard,
Many shields of thin pressed cheese.
Yep. That’s just one verse. There’s also a chapter where
Arthur gets turned into an ant, for reasons which were not clear at all. Arthur
gets called ‘The Wart’ and Merlyn is Merlyn not Merlin and Robin Hood is in it
except he’s actually called Robin Wood…it’s an interesting experience. My plan
is to read all 5 of the books but since I’m two thirds into the first one and
there has been mention of neither a sword nor a stone, I’m finding it difficult
to stay motivated. We shall see. At the very least reading it has made me want
to watch the Disney film.
This month I’m going to get back on track and read Compared to her by Sophie de Witt and The Story of my Father by Sue Miller.
Keep coming with the recommendations and plz lend/give me your books. You da
best, thanks for reading!
