Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

"In the Midst of the World
A Call to Holiness"
by St. Francis De Sales
Selections from the Writings of the Saint
Compiled and Edited and Explanatory Commentaries Written
by
Sister Joanna Marie Wenzel, V.H.M.
Assisted by
Sister Aimee Franklin, V.H.M.
(Catholic spirituality)

"The Yada Yada Prayer Group"
by Neta Jackson
[Christian [Protestant] fiction]
{carried over from the past week}

"The Black Angels"#
by Maud Hart Lovelace
(fiction)

"Caroline M. Hewins
Her Book"#
Containing
"A Mid-Century Child and Her Books"
by Caroline M. Hewins
and
"Caroline M. Hewins and Books For Children"
by Jennie D. Lindquist
(non-fiction)
[many of the books mentioned can be
read online]

"The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down"
by Neta Jackson
[Christian [Protestant] fiction]
{carrying over into next week}

"The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice"
by St. Alphonse de Liguori
Translated by a Catholic Priest
(Catholic Sprituality)
[e-book]
{carrying over into next week}

Pippa Passes, Pippa Passes, Pippa Passes

So what's with the title in triplicate?
Quite simple, actually. Sometime in the near future, I plan to read, one
after the other:
"Pippa Passes"
by Robert Browning
[drama]
{e-book}
"Pippa Passes"
by Rumer Godden
[fiction]
and
"Pippa Passes"
by Scott Corbett
[children's fiction]

I may not read them in that exact order, and I won't start until I receive the Corbett book
which is now on its way to me.

Honor Roll of Hits

I've just made a, to me, fascinating discovery.
From 1945 until 1963 "Billboard Magazine" ran a chart called "The Honor Roll of Hits". This was a listing of hit songs rather than hit records, and listed the songwriter(s), the Best Selling Record, (if applicable) and finally, all available recordings of the song.
Here is a copy of "Billboard" from 1950. The chart can be found on page 18 of the magazine.
(I find all the contents worth browsing).

Red Sour Balls

I loved red sour balls when I was a little girl, and yet,
I never bought one. Never once.
I remember walking on Brighton Beach Avenue with my Grandpa, and stopping in a store that
sold appetizers. Even now, I can almost smell the pickles; I can see the olives.
But I was a little girl. Pickles and olives didn't really interest me.
What interested me? The candy. The bins and bins of cellophane-wrapped candy. Round, flat peppermints. Lemon-drops. Caramels. And sour balls of various colors: orange, yellow, green, purple, and, of course, red!
And other candies, too many for me to remember.
And always, there were several candies in the wrong bins. And always, I would put them
back where they belonged. And always, the owner of the store would let me have a piece of
candy for "helping out".
And always, I chose a red sour ball.
It's been years since I've had a red sour ball. From time to time I've thought about buying some.
But would they taste the same?

More "Betsy-Tacy" Elements in "The Black Angels"

Yesterday I mentioned the presence of goldenrod in Maud Hart Lovelace's first novel, "The Black Angels". Goldenrod, as I said then, is a recurring element in the author's "Betsy-Tacy" books.
Now that I've read further, I've found other familiar items.
The "Cat Duet", which was introduced in "Betsy and Tacy Go Over The Big Hill"
Alex, in "The Black Angels", and Uncle Keith, in the "Betsy-Tacy" books, were both based on MHL's Uncle Frank, who left home to go onstage because of an overly-strict stepfather.
Also mentioned in "The Black Angels" are:
Fried potatoes. Remember how Mrs. Ray was always frying potatoes?
A pill-box with hair in it. THAT made me chuckle, remembering the pill-boxes in the "Red Hair, Yellow Hair, and Brown" chapter in "Betsy-Tacy and Tib".

What Not To Read To Your First Grader (from someone else's blog)

I just had to respond to, and share,
this post.

Here, for quick reference, is my comment.
If I had seen this horrific, totally unsuitable earlier version in the first grade, I would have been traumatized!
SHAME on whoever wrote such a story for
first graders! SHAME on the teachers who
assigned this story!
The new version, which can be found by going
HERE
is MUCH more suitable, because only the ham gets eaten!

Looking For Goldenrod

I was looking for goldenrod today, and I found it. No, not out of doors, but in a book.
I'm reading a recent reprint of Maud Hart Lovelace's first novel, "The Black Angels", originally published in 1926! And, knowing how the author almost always put goldenrod into her books, I had my eye out for goldenrod!

To be honest, I hadn't really been thought about the goldenrod in these books until I read "The Betsy-Tacy Companion" by Sharla Scannell Whalen. It was just there, so familiar as to be almost unnoticed.