Library Loot 22.2

Over this weekend I rounded up all the materials I had checked out from the library and returned a hefty stack of mostly cookbooks. Taking a look at what I still have checked out, I’ve decided to (at least temporarily) impose a new rule that I can only check out as many books and DVDs as will fit on a particular shelf. This isn’t a very strict rule, but I think it will be a helpful guideline to keep my occasionally rampant checkout habit down to a manageable level! A reframing of my view on what to check out was overdue anyways. Even though I have actual free time these days, there are so many other things to do vying for my attention, so I am simply not reading as much as I thought I would be. That is not to say I’m not reading at all – especially nonfiction – it’s just not as much as I thought I would be reading.

However, I still have a good-sized stack of things checked out from the library that I am excited about. Read on for a little about each item, and leave a comment if anything catches your attention (and you’re so inclined)!

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week.

Books

*(not in the order pictured)

You Are Not Your Own by Alan Noble Nonfiction

“You are your own, and you belong to yourself.” This is the fundamental assumption of modern life. And if we are our own, then it’s up to us to forge our own identities and to make our lives significant. But while that may sound empowering, it turns out to be a crushing responsibility–one that never actually delivers on its promise of a free and fulfilled life, but instead leaves us burned out, depressed, anxious, and alone. This phenomenon is mapped out onto the very structures of our society, and helps explain our society’s underlying disorder. But the Christian gospel offers a strikingly different vision. As the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, “I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” In You Are Not Your Own, Alan Noble explores how this simple truth reframes the way we understand ourselves, our families, our society, and God. Contrasting these two visions of life, he invites us past the sickness of contemporary life into a better understanding of who we are and to whom we belong.

The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas Classic/Historical Fiction

A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ’s robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene’s robe-a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity and is set against the vividly limned background of ancient Rome. Here is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption.

Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy Historical Fiction

Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother has dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew and father, Hugh.

In Avonlea—a small, tight-knit farming town on a remote island—life holds few options for farm girls. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.

Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. Joining the Ladies Aid Society, she raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia that secretly serves as a way station for runaway slaves from America. Her budding romance with John Blythe, the charming son of a neighbor, offers her a possibility of future happiness—Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another. She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition—jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe. Now Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.

The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper Historical Fiction

We all know the story of the March sisters, heroines of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. But while everyone cheers on Jo March, based on Louisa herself, Amy March is often the least favorite sister. Now, it’s time to learn the truth about the real “Amy”, Louisa’s sister, May.

Stylish, outgoing, creative, May Alcott grows up longing to experience the wide world beyond Concord, Massachusetts. While her sister Louisa crafts stories, May herself is a talented and dedicated artist, taking lessons in Boston, turning down a marriage proposal from a well-off suitor, and facing scorn for entering what is very much a man’s profession.

Life for the Alcott family has never been easy, so when Louisa’s Little Women is published, its success eases the financial burdens they’d faced for so many years. Everyone agrees the novel is charming, but May is struck to the core by the portrayal of selfish, spoiled “Amy March.” Is this what her beloved sister really thinks of her?

So May embarks on a quest to discover her own true identity, as an artist and a woman. From Boston to Rome, London, and Paris, this brave, talented, and determined woman forges an amazing life of her own, making her so much more than merely The Other Alcott.

Other Media

1. Hope In Front of Me by Danny Gokey music CD
2. Children of God by Phil Wickham music CD
3. Hymn of Heaven by Phil Wickham music CD
4. Living Hope by Phil Wickham music CD
5. I Still Believe (2020) DVD
6. Redeeming Love (2022) DVD
7. The Chosen (Season 1 – 2017) DVD

Have you checked out anything from a library recently? And have you read, seen, or heard any of the materials that I’m currently going through?

Until the next chapter,

Jana