I have followed Christie Purifoy's blog, A Spacious Place, for awhile now and I thoroughly enjoy her writing. So I was excited to find out she had written a book, anticipating it so much that I preordered it on Amazon. Something I rarely do as I like to hear what others have to say about a book before I actually spend Amazon credit on it.
When Roots & Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons arrived, I set it aside until I had unlimited time to brew a cup of tea and curl up on the sofa to enjoy it. For it arrived while the weather was still cold and snowy and anticipating a good book is much nicer than squeezing in room for reading in the midst of a busy day. I have to do that with review books.
So it was actually a week or so before I could open the book and do more than peruse the chapter titles. The wait was well worth it, what a lovely story. Now, I have to admit a couple things. First, I thought I'd love it as I read the blog but I do know having a successful blog does not always translate well to writing books. Second, I love books about coming home and houses.
The first thing that came to mind as I read was how much I could relate to Christie's longing for a place to plant roots for we moved a lot at one time for my husband's career. The other unusual thought was that Roots & Sky is a nonfiction equivalent of what I loved about Elizabeth Goudge's Pilgrim's Inn. Christie understands the affect a house has on the people who live there.
Roots & Sky is the story of Christie's first year at Maplehurst, arriving in September with a baby due quite soon. To say it is a story of their learning about the house through the seasons, of following their adventures as they begin to turn an old house into the house of their dreams, or even how God used them in their new old home... it doesn't bring to you the beauty of this book.
It is the story of one year (with some background of past years) in Christie's relationship with her God. Written with such beautiful prose... without being flowery which I don't care for... that I was only a few chapters into the book and I knew I would reread it every once in awhile.
I love a book that makes me wish the author was a friend I could invite over for morning coffee or afternoon tea and just talk. The next best thing to doing that is to read the book.
Regular readers of A Spacious Place will know that Christie's brother-in-law (her sister's husband) was one of the military men killed in the helicopter crash in Hawaii a few months ago. It has been heartbreaking following the story but well worth reading Christie's blog to hear how God has made Himself real to their family at this time.
What Should I Read Next? with Anne Bogel (aka: Modern Mrs. Darcy) rarely has an unheard podcast in queue. There is one now only because I've been busy outside and I listen to them on the iPad inside.
In each podcast, Anne asks a guest to list a few books they love, that they hate, and if there are any changes they would like to make in their reading.
After they discuss the books, Anne then offers recommendations of books she thinks the guest would enjoy reading. Each podcast has had such an interesting guest and each has been enjoyable. It is fun to hear titles listed in books people hate by some guests and the same title listed as a book another loved!
I'm not much of a reader of recently published fiction unless it is by an author I already trust. However, since listening to this podcast I have a list of books on my "library" list and a few added to my Amazon Wish List. Not to mention a few nonfiction books that are now on my list.
While most of the guests are those of a Christian background, one thing I love about the discussions is that they are not all Christian based books. Although, if there is anything in a book that may be offensive to some people, a warning is usually given. Many of the fiction books just tell a good story.
The podcast can be downloaded as an app or listened to online.
Christie Purifoy's blog... here.
Roots and Sky on Amazon... here.*
Pilgrim's Inn on Amazon... here.*
The What Should I Read Next podcast... here.
*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links. I thank you very much.
4 comments:
I loved Pilgrim's Inn and have recently been reading Christie Purifoy's blog, so I'm going to have to read her book too!
I love talking books so I'm going to have to check out those podcasts as well!
I recently read Christie Purifoy's book and like you, will re-read it, as I do "Pilgrim's Inn".
We don't have a dishwasher, so doing dishes takes a little time. I love to listen to podcasts as I do them, and hadn't yet discovered this one - I will be sure to check it out.
I'm looking forward to your new, more frequent, book reviews!
i've not read pilgrim's inn but 'right clicked' the link to go there next. but i HAVE read roots & sky and am planning a second - slower - read of the book, especially to pour over the many underlined portions squiggly lined by me before dozing off for the night. podcast books? well i'll be ...... right clicking there as well. thank you. :)
So it is not fiction...this is a nonfiction book about going home. I also adore books that are either about going home or creating home, but they are always fiction. Now I am intrigued by your comment about flowery writing...
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