About

I want this site to be a guide to great books, a companion to your reading and thinking. I read with pencil in hand, underlining and writing in the margins. I also read with a pen and notebook, recording interesting and thought provoking lines. Thus ensues a conversation with the narrator and the characters, hopefully with a better understanding of my neighbor, my surroundings, myself, and my God. If any of my thoughts or book summaries or musings are of any help to you, I will be thankful.

As you navigate around, you’ll see some of the same books in more than one place. Since I’ve been involved with Classical Conversations for several years, there are categories related to the novels read in various grade levels (called Challenge). Some of these thoughts will be slow in coming as I have to get those hand-written thoughts typed up. On each book’s page there will be links to summaries (if I wrote chapter summaries), common book thoughts (see below), and possibly a few other categories like themes. If there’s something in particular you’re looking for and a link isn’t clickable yet, contact me and maybe I can get something typed up sooner than later—if it’s been written in a notebook!

The habit of using a notebook to record thoughts while reading is quite old. This idea is often called a common place book. My notebook of choice is the flagship confident from Baronfig. I love the size, the quality, and the fact that it lies—mostly—flat. My pen of choice, currently, is a Pilot Precise V5 rolling ball. You can find them at various places, including Amazon and Walmart, in various colors. I prefer black most of the time, though I use red, blue, and green for various other things.

The pictures on this site come from one of three places: my own photos, public domain photos from places like pixabay, or charcoal sketches by Elizabeth Bailey (She does commissioned portraits. If interested, fill out the contact form below.)

If there’s a book you’d like me to read and discuss, let me know through the form below. I’m always looking for good books to read.