Books, Cider, and Autumn

As the weather grows colder, the house grows cozier.

Sweaters come out, mugs are filled with cider, the front porch is laden with pumpkins, and trees turn to radiant reds and orange; reflecting the autumn sun as they flutter to the ground.

An important key to enjoying your autumn to its fullest (because indeed, Autumn is the best season of the year) is a book.

But not just one.

Many, many, books.

That, my friend, is an important key.

Keep the books flowing constantly through your day.

When you finish a book, have another one waiting.

When you have a moment of rest, read, read, read.

Flood your minds with words and stories that will become as dear to you as flesh and blood.

You will feel secure in these stories, in those pages that smell of memories, in that book that becomes thicker and thicker each time you read it with your thoughts and emotions.

To fulfill this oh so lovely plan, I have compiled a small list of books I will be reading this Autumn. Its not long, nor complicated: it is simply a list of random books that have called me to rest in their pages. Nothing more.

I am at the moment reading:

A Room With A View; by J.M Forster. Written in 1908 it addresses the standing of the social circles; and follows Lucy Honeychurch as she visits Italy and meets a young man with emotional problems, but who is also of lower social standing than she. Though her older cousin, and other ladies and gents of her social circle, snub their noses at them, she finds George and his peculiar, but honest, Father strangely interesting.
   I cannot say much with out predicating for I am but in the fifth chapter. It is an interesting book to read; I feel that if I were to have lived back in the years before the 20's I might better understand the underlying sarcasm and satire. But I am enjoying it, nonetheless.

After I finish Forster's book I will be changing paces and jumping up to a book written in 2010:

Unbroken; by Laura Hillenbrand. A World War II story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Louis Zamperini grew up a cunning delinquent, a reckless youth that spent his time stealing. In his teens he found that sports, racing especially, distracted his rebellious spirit and gave him a goal in

life. But World War II interrupted that dream, and when his bomber crashed in the ocean he had to fight for his life: only to be brought ashore by Japanese. Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of a man who turns his life around and (its my understanding) becomes a Christian in the life changing events of World War II. I am very excited to read this, especially since it appears to be an amazing story of God's mercy and love. Let us hope I can get it soon; the library's books have a lot of requests. :)

The rest of the books in my list:

The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare; by G. K Chesterton. I know very little about this book. A friend recommended it to me and I suppose you could say I'm taking her word for it. I know a bit about Chesterton (enough for me to trust him) and I think this is a book I would enjoy. I love books that I know very little about before reading it; it gives off a sense of mystery...

Bleak House; by Charles Dickens. I started this about year or so ago, but when my birthday rolled around in November I ditched it to read Lord of the Rings. (We have to be a certain age to read it) So I've read about 200 pages of Bleak House, but should really read the last 700. :) 

Night; by Elie Wiesel. A book mentioned by Abby in her most recent Blog Post, It looks to be something I would enjoy. Someone's experience of WWII? Yes please. 

These last few are books that have been in the back of my mind the past couple months. I do realize that they all (except Mere Christianity) are on the darker side, and I promise it is not on purpose.

Mere Christianity; C. S Lewis 

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dracula; by Bram Stoker

Frankenstein; by Mary Shelly

Rain and wind and wind been my companions these past several days, and my heart fills with joy as I watch the autumn burned leaves fall to the ground..  
 
What books are your Autumn Book List? 

I've been playing around with layout, as I'm sure you've noticed, and have settled on this one. The Raven and the Writer is sort of a new title to my blog; I think it better befits the mood and flow of my blog. 

I finally have an answer for the Alice in Wonderland riddle:

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Because The Raven, my dear computer, is my writing desk.

<3 Eva

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