I first read The Great Gatsby in high school. I loved it, and looking back now, I honestly don’t know why. The ending is terrible and so sad! Not my sort of book at all. I think it was Fitzgerald’s writing and his picture of life in the Roaring ‘20s that hooked me. Which is why I thought reading some of his short stories would be safe. It would allow me to live in the ‘20s without the tragic ending.

Well, that turned out not to be entirely true. Tragedy is part of life, and Fitzgerald certainly writes about life. But he views life also as an amusement. He sees what is funny in a situation and includes that to balance out the sadness. And he is one of those writers that knows how to craft the perfect turn of phrase, one that leaves you thinking, “That couldn’t have been said any better.”

Tales of the Jazz Age holds a variety of stories. The first section includes stories similar to The Great Gatsby, realistic stories that take place in the everyday, crazy life of the Roaring ‘20s. The second section is entitled “Fantasies.” The title is quite accurate, because Fitzgerald certainly let his imagination fly. The third section is more miscellaneous, classified by Fitzgerald as “masterpieces.”

Fitzgerald annotated the table of contents, which was honestly one of my favorite parts of the book. It always adds something to a story or book to know a bit of the background. I’m not a big short story person, but I will gladly read an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story anytime. The characters and plot are often larger than life, but the heart of each story is something we can still relate to today.

I am a huge fan of both Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. I have read Jane Austen's six books multiple times (so much so that my copy of Pride & Prejudice is literally falling apart). When I discovered Georgette Heyer a few years ago, I began rapidly devouring her books.

Turns out Regency romances is one of my all-time favorite genres.

When I recently picked up An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan, I found so many similarities to Austen and Heyer that I found the book boring to begin with. And that got me thinking - are all Regency romances basically the same?

1. The main female character has a mind of her own. Doesn't matter what age she is, but she is sure to make her opinion known.
2. The main male character is either an upstanding man who has never thought of marriage, or a rake in desperate need of being reformed.
3. At least one person elopes or tries to.
4. There's a ball of some sort. Probably more than one.
5. The main characters protest that they will never fall in love - until they do, usually on the last page.

An Accomplished Woman had all of these aspects, which is probably why I discounted it right off the bat. It's just a rip-off of Austen or Heyer.

But then it turned out to be more. Each of these authors has a slightly different approach to the Regency romance. Jane Austen's is an authentic approach - she lived during Regency times and was simply writing about life as she knew it. Georgette Heyer's is an accurate approach - she includes so much period detail and slang that sometimes I can't even understand what the characters are saying (took me a long time to realize that "making a leg" meant bowing). Jude Morgan's is a nearly satirical approach - he is simultaneously writing and laughing at the genre of Regency romance.

And that's what finally set An Accomplished Woman apart from any Austen or Heyer book I had read. He walks right on that line of making the story believable, yet helping you realize how ridiculous these characters and events are. It's how Jane Austen would have written a Regency romance if she lived in 2015. Once I realized this, I settled in to thoroughly enjoy An Accomplished Woman. And enjoy it I did!

I'm blessed to be able to have done a fair amount of traveling in my life. I've been to Europe ten times, and every time I go, I read like crazy beforehand. I like to know something about a place when I get there. So I have several shelves of travel narratives about Europe - and elsewhere, but it's just a fun genre to read! Here's my Top Ten list for armchair travelers like me:

Living in a Foreign Language by Michael Tucker
A Year in the World by Frances Mayes
The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman
Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik
My Heart's in the Lowlands by Liz Curtis Higgs

In Search of England by H.V. Morton
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (Or really anything by Bill Bryson. . .)
A Walk Across France by Miles Morland
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

Last week was a bit crazy around here, but in a really fun way. I teach in a Lutheran school, and last week we celebrated National Lutheran Schools' Week. Which essentially means that we dress crazy and have some fun activities (it's a lot like Homecoming Week in high school). Monday was a pancake breakfast cooked by the teachers (for which we had to get up extra early. Yikes). Tuesday, all the Lutheran schools from the area met for worship and a ventriloquist. There were more than 2,500 people there! Friday was Movie Day, where each classroom shows a movie and the students get to pick which one they want to see. Like I said, it was crazy - but in the best possible way!

An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan (My thoughts will be posted on Thursday.)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (Amazing, of course!)

In the Woods by Tana French (This is our book club selection for the month. I am so not a fan of murder mysteries. I'm just trying to make it through without too many scary mental images. On the other hand, I do have to rave about the writing, as I've been hearing from anyone who has read anything by Tana French. She is definitely a good writer!)

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (I have a feeling I'll need something a little lighter next. . .)

Last summer, my husband and I took a trip to Italy. Milan was our last stop, and we weren't there for very long. We had one evening and one full day, and then our flight left the following day to come back home. We walked 16 miles in our day in Milan, trying to see as much as we could. We also stopped for gelato three times. Gelato has to be one of the best parts of Italy!

We started by touring La Scala Opera House, one of the most famous opera houses in the world.

Then we visited the Milan Cathedral, the largest church in Italy. You could even go up on the roof, where - believe it or not - they showed movies on Friday nights during the summer.

Next was the Sforza Castle. The white things on either side are exhibition areas for the upcoming Expo 2015, which Milan is hosting.

Then we spent a lot of time just wandering around the city. We happened across this church, the Santa Maria della Grazie, where da Vinci's Last Supper is. Unfortunately, the tickets were all sold out for the day. So we just kept wandering and ate some more gelato!

There have many books, both fiction and nonfiction, written about the life of William Shakespeare – despite the fact that we don’t know all that much about his life. Was he even the playwright he is claimed to be? How could a lowly glover's son become the most famous playwright of all time?

Jude Morgan tackles that question, and answers it in a perfectly plausible fashion. Shakespeare comes to life on these pages, with all of his restlessness and passion to be on the stage and to be writing for the stage. Despite that, this book really doesn't spend much time on the writing of the plays. Instead, it focuses on Shakespeare’s relationship with his wife, Anne, who was left behind in Stratford while he ran off to London. Not an easy relationship, to be sure. Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson make cameo appearances. And Will Shakespeare himself becomes a sympathetic, but flawed, man. If you want a version of Shakespeare’s life that could have been the real one, then this is the book for you.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Cora Diehl has come home to the family farm in Montana, only to have her life turned upside down. Her father has a stroke, and then it turns out that he isn’t really her father. Soon, Cora’s summer plans include the Grand Tour in Europe with her newly discovered half-siblings.

I loved this book from page one. First of all, it’s Christian historical fiction, which means I don’t have to worry about swearing. And the characters turn to God to help them through their struggles. Extremely refreshing!! Secondly, Cora is strong in her faith and strong in herself. Yes, she goes through a lot of soul-searching to discover who God means her to be. But in each of those struggles, she is very relatable and real. And who of us hasn’t wished we could have gone on the Grand Tour, spending months in Europe seeing all the major sights?

This is the first book in a trilogy, and I can’t wait to see where Cora and her family travel next and what God brings them along the way.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Time for another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! I wasn't sure if I could come up with ten favorite books from the past three years, but it turns out I've read more amazing books than I thought! In fact, I had a hard time narrowing the list down to just ten books. Here they are, in no particular order:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman
The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

I read totally outside of my normal reading habits this week. I started The Little Book on Sunday. I was really enjoying it and wanted to read it slowly and savor it. Then we had Monday off of school, and I knew I would spend lots of time reading. So I switched over to The Tale of Applebeck Orchard - much lighter, a nice quick read for a snow day. But at the end of Monday, I was in the middle of two books. Ah! I'm very monogamous in my reading. This was quite weird for me. I ended up taking turns by day (The Little Book on Tuesday; The Tale of Applebeck Orchard on Wednesday, etc.). I finished one on Friday night and the other Saturday morning. Whew! Now I'm back to a much more comfortable one book at a time.

Getting to Know Meg, Jo, Beth & Amy (My thoughts on Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys)
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - Review
Monthly Mix-Up Mania - Challenge Complete!

The Little Book by Selden Edwards (Sadly didn't live up to its potential)
The Tale of Applebeck Orchard by Susan Wittig Albert (This series just keeps getting better and better!)

An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan (A Regency romance à la Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. Very enjoyable so far!)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (It's March! Time for my next Narnia reread!)