Rite of Fancy Book Recommendations & Reviews

  A short summary of The Death of Adam: Marilynne's thoughts about American culture. My favorite Marilynne Robinson quote from the book: "The antidote to fear, distrust, or self-interest is always loyalty." Questions to ponder while reading Marilynne Robinson's The Death of Adam: Do you have faith? Do you know your history? My review of the book The Death of Adam: A great philosophical look into the foundations of American culture. Well-researched and logically thought out. Not a casual read - keep your Oxford's nearby. ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroads.com #TaketheBackRoads Like my page? Please consider supportin...

  A short summary of Let Me Tell You What I Mean: More of Joan's thoughts. My favorite Joan Didion quote from the book: "Make a place available to the eyes and in certain ways it is no longer available to the imagination." Questions to ponder while reading the book: Do you write? Did you get into the college of your choice? My review of Let Me Tell You What I Mean: Another book I wish I had read much earlier in life. I'm a big fan of Joan Didion. I'm a pretty big fan of Martha Stewart too. ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroads.com #TaketheBackRoads Like my page? Please consider supporting my work by visiting my sponso...

  A short summary of Thoughts in Solitude: Thomas's thoughts on philosophy, current culture, and God were discovered during his time in the desert. My favorite Thomas Merton quote from the book: "...man knows when he has found his vocation when he stops thinking about how to live and begins to live." Questions to ponder while reading Thomas Merton: Do books speak to you? Do you enjoy silence? My review of Thoughts in Solitude: A perfect book found at the perfect time. Deep thoughts said quietly. I may be planning a desert pilgrimage now... ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroads.com #TaketheBackRoads Like my page? Pleas...

  A short summary of Pantheon: Discovering philosophical truths through history. My favorite Quintus Curtius quote from the book: "Yet truth and reason rarely find a favorable reception in those burdened by defeat." Questions to ponder while reading the book: What do you spend your time on? How do you define courage? My review of Pantheon: Good essays on important and difficult topics. The book might cause some introspection. Definitely not for the casual reader. ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroads.com #TaketheBackRoads Like my page? Please consider supporting my work by visiting my sponsors and  webshop  ...

  A short summary of Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander: Merton's musings about current events. My favorite Thomas Merton quote from the book: "We believe, not because we want to know, but because we want to be." Questions to ponder while reading Thomas Merton: Do you think compassion is a weakness? Do you question your beliefs? My review of Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander: A great, philosophical look at the modern world. Lots and lots of wisdom. Still very relevant in today's world. ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroads.com #TaketheBackRoads Like my page? Please consider supporting my work by visiting my sponsors an...

   Dear Henry, Have you ever heard of the mythological demon called the Lamia?  She is a particularly scary creature amongst the ancient Greek cosmology. Lamia was once the very beautiful queen of Libya, so beautiful, in fact, that she got the attention of the god Zeus, who immediately pursued and seduced her. Of course, getting Zeus's attention also meant she got Hera's. Hera was not inclined to be seductive and instead sought vengeance. Hera took all of Lamia's living children and then forced her to devour the child she was carrying from Zeus.  Hera didn't stop there. She would proceed to force the woman to devour any child she had, from any man, until Lamia finally went mad and no longer needed Hera's to force her own, and soon Lamia would begin searching the country looking for other children after she had run out of her own. She has become something of a bogeyman in Greece and is now closely associated with vampires, succubi, and witches.  Lamia is an easy ...

Dear Henry, There was the most amazing story the other day about the rediscovery of a lizard thought to be extinct.   During a 2018 bird survey around Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Indonesian researcher Chairunas Adha Putra discovered a dead lizard that he hadn't ever seen before and called in expert Thasun Amarasinghe, who, stunned, immediately sent the sample to Jakarta. It turns out the lizard was a Modigliani Lizard, and, until now, there was only one other specimen that existed and it was in a museum in Genoa Italy, where it had been for 130 years. There were, of course, sculptor representations of the lizard in Indonesia.  The lizard existed in Batak mythology and there were wooden figurines of the lizard, but outside of the specimen in Genoa, no other real-life example of the lizard existed. Until 2018. Mr. Putra returned to Lake Toba and discovered a living population of the lizard. Learning about a thriving population was such a moment of hope for me. We hear so mu...

  A short summary of Facing Unpleasant Facts: Essays about life, boarding schools, and other things unpleasant. My favorite George Orwell quote from the book: "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." Questions to ponder while reading Facing Unpleasant Facts: Do you work with your hands? Have you ever fought for your country? My review of the book: Orwell at his best. So incredibly relevant, even today. I'm so glad I've never gone to English boarding schools. ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroads.com #TaketheBackRoads Like my page? Please consider supporting my work by visiting my sponsors and...

  Dear Henry, Several months ago, I took a road trip to the Precious Moments Chapel  and fell in love with the work of Samuel J. Butcher.  Although their works couldn't be more different, Samuel J. Butcher was inspired by  Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.  Michelangelo has been the inspiration for many artists throughout the ages and almost everyone can think of something he has made. Michelangelo was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475, in Caprese Tuscany.  After the death of his mother, Michelangelo lived with his nanny and her stonecutter husband, until he apprenticed with the artist Ghirlandaio when he was thirteen.  He would gain the attention of the Medici family within a year. Michelangelo was a prolific artist and scholar and would continue to produce art, most of it religious until his death on February 18,1564, at the age of 88. The statue of David and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel ( the inspiration for Samuel J...

Dear Henry, Today's internet rabbit hole began with a meme.  The meme suggested that everyone was wondering if penguin meat was any good.  While I hadn't thought about it before and would, under no terms, eat a penguin, it made me wonder if they were, in fact, tasty and if there were a culture, somewhere, that considered them a delicacy. I should mention, right at the beginning, that it is absolutely illegal for a US citizen to eat a penguin according to the Antarctic Conservation Act.  Don't try it.  This would be such a silly reason to end up in federal prison.  I should also mention that I'm not even advocating eating a penguin, and I would judge you harshly for doing so (starvation aside). Still, I wondered about penguin meat palatability and whether or not it was something that had ever been widely consumed. The verdict:  Eating penguins is terrible in all regards.  There are no cultures that I have been able to identify that used penguins as a fo...

Dear Henry, One of my "bucket list" trips is to check out Washington D.C.'s tidal basin during the Spring when the flowering cherry trees bloom.  The trees have become such an iconic part of monument photographs that it is hard to believe that the trees almost never came to be and were, several times, at risk of being destroyed. D.C.'s tidal basin was created in the 1880s to keep silt out of the Washington Channel, prevent flooding, and to provide a recreation area for D.C. residents.  It was originally called Twining Lake after Major William Johnson Twining, although it is now called the National Mall Tidal Basin.  Initially, there wasn't much there, although the Washington Monument would appear in 1885 and the entire area was rather bland and treeless. Fortunately, the author and traveler Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore knew exactly what was needed for the tidal basin. Ms. Scidmore discovered and fell in love with the Japanese Flowering Cherry while traveling with her br...

  Dear Henry, Earlier this year, to fill a flower bed, I scattered a couple of packets of a seed mix called "Southern Favorites", because I loved the pictures of the flowers on the packet and was sure that they would work well in the bed.  These seed packets have created quite a gardening adventure. I've been very surprised by the flowers that have grown, none of them were in the picture on the package and none of the flowers on the package grown and while that may sound disappointing, it hasn't been, it's just been a daily surprise. One of the best surprises that grew was the scarlet flax and I  fell in love with the flower.  Realizing I was growing flax also re-awoke a latent dream of mine. I have always harbored a secret dream to learn the fiber arts. In the back of my mind, I have wanted a little farm with sheep for their wool, and where I could grow cotton and flax and bamboo and make yarns.  Adding to this list of fiber art dreams, I also want to learn to ...

Dear Henry, When Fish and I first moved to Arkansas, we visited the Pea Ridge Civil War Battlefield . As we were both raised in the Western United States, this was our first experience with "the Confederacy," It was an incredibly foreign concept. I have since learned a little bit more about the Confederacy after touring the Oak Alley Plantation  and the Prairie Grove Battlefield , but I have to admit, I still don't "get" it. I struggled specifically with the Confederate idea that one can own another person. I struggle with this belief so much that it is unfathomable for me to think that someone would be willing to go to war and die to do so, and I can only think of the words of Oscar Wilde, who said: "A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." I started a research project on the history of slavery in the US. As far as I can tell, it is a story without an absolute beginning, or for that matter, an end, nor was it ever, exclusively, a ...