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#18. BLACK SHIPS BEFORE TROY: THE STORY OF THE ILIAD by Rosemary Sutcliff // ★★★★☆
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I read aloud this Iliad adaptation to my youngest two boys and we all really enjoyed it.
#19. THE HIDDEN POWER OF KINDNESS: A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK FOR SOULS WHO DARE TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD, ONE DEED AT A TIME by Lawrence Lovasik // ★★★★★
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This is the book I read for Lent and don’t let that innocent looking cover deceive you! I’ve been on an enlightening (sometimes painful) journey with overcoming vice with virtue and this book was perfect for that purpose. Very straight forward, extremely practical and thought-provoking.
#20. OEDIPUS THE KING by Sophocles // ★★★☆☆
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I read this play as part of the The 10 Year Reading Plan for the Great Books of the Western World and whoa! Such a brutal story. I followed along as I watched this production and that was extra helpful. And while I don’t particularly buy into the idea, I also now get the full background behind Freud’s “Oedipus complex.”
#21. GREEN DOLPHIN STREET by Elizabeth Goudge // ★★★★☆
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From the back of the book:
When Marianne Le Patourel meets William Ozanne in the 1830s on an island in the English Channel, she sets her heart on him. Her sister Marguerite, however, falls in love with him too. When his Navy career is cut short, William eventually settles in New Zealand and writes to Mr. Le Patourel to ask for Marguerite’s hand in marriage—but in his nervousness he pens the wrong name in his letter. It is Marianne who arrives aboard the sailing ship Green Dolphin.
And so begins this sweeping novel that takes the characters on dramatic adventures from childhood through old age, on land and at sea, and from the Channel Islands to the New Zealand frontier and back again.
I read this epic novel very slowly and I think that was the perfect pace to fully appreciate the writing and story. There are a lot of thought-provoking themes in this book that I feel would be interesting discussion for a book club.
#22. FOUR QUARTETS by T.S. Eliot // ★★★★☆
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This was my first poem from T.S. Eliot and I sought out a lot of help to fully understand it. (See all the links in this post.) For me, the biggest theme I identified with was the passage of time. I’m not sure I would have gotten as much out of this as a young adult, but I definitely understood some of the feelings now at 40.
Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We can only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire. (p.57)
#23. MRS. POLLIFAX AND THE WHIRLING DERVISH by Dorothy Gilman // ★★★☆☆
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I was in need of a little palate cleanser and Mrs. Pollifax did the trick. This is the ninth book in the series and this time, she went to Morocco! 3.5 stars.
MY 2025 UNREAD SHELF PROJECT
Unread Books as of January 1, 2025: 206
Books Finished in April: 6
Books Donated/Sold in April: -12
Books Added: +0
Unread Books Remaining: 176
Current “Read 100 Books Off My Shelves Project” Total: 24/100
#19 sound interesting!