Books Read in March

March was my "Month of D. E. Stevenson" and I am truly glad I took the time to read four of them.  She is definitely an excellent writer.  I found them different than the books by Goudge but delightful in their own way.

The four Stevenson books read were:

Miss Buncle's Book
Miss Buncle Married
Mrs. Tim Christie and
Still Glides the Stream*

I think Miss Buncle's Book was my favorite just because it caused me to laugh out loud quite often.  Miss Buncle Married was also fun to read.  I think I liked the actual story in Still Glides the Stream the best, though (it is the one book I read that was more serious).

I believe Mrs. Tim Christie was Stevenson's first book and based on an actual diary she kept.  After friends had read her diary, they encouraged her to write it for publication.  We can all be glad they did.

As for the nonfiction books read in March...

I was quite surprised to find Hillyer's A Child's Geography of the World at the used book sale at the library (as it is somewhat rare) but even more shocked to find Hillyer's A Child's History of Art at Goodwill the next week.  It is extremely rare to find an original copy of that book, much less for $1.99 at Goodwill.  :)

I used Hillyer's A Child's History of the World as part of a world history class for Christopher.  It had just been updated and reprinted when I bought it many years ago.  It's an excellent book (I had been warned to skip the first chapter, which is the only one I found unsatisfactory) and quite easy to read for kids and parents.

Hillyer was the first Headmaster of the Calvert School and his books are definitely written when society had more of a Judeo-Christian worldview.  I promised both the books to Stephanie but perused them first.  They are enjoyable to read, even if they are quite dated.  (I think the art book may have later been updated, too.) However, I found the original copies of "Geography" and "Art" to be highly enjoyable and informative.

As usual, I spent some time perusing favorite cookbooks.  I read them as if they were novels.  :)

This month I spent a great deal of time looking through two of my favorite cookbooks from Gooseberry Patch:  Get Together With Gooseberry Patch and Coming Home With Gooseberry Patch.  I LOVE these books, full of not only easy recipes but gorgeous pictures.  They make me happy, just looking through them.

I don't know why they've let them go out of print but they are still available through Amazon's used book sellers (which is where I ended up getting both of these).  They are the kind of recipes books I most enjoy these days.

I'm thinking April will be the time I'll read a few of the Edith Schaeffer books I'd planned to read in February before becoming ill.  These include her two books of letters and perhaps L'Abri.  I started Elizabeth George's book Loving God With All Your Mind the last couple days of March but it will be included with my April reading.

* Still Glides the Stream is also the title of a book by Flora Thompson and the sequel to Lark Rise to Candleford.