A Few of My Favorite Things

Last Friday, my sister and I went to see John Crist live as part of New Life Family Service’s Laugh for Life. I looked forward to this night out with my sister for a couple months, and my excitement was very justified. We had a wonderful time! I intended to chronicle the entire evening in photos, but only ended up remembering to take photos in the car before we left and in the lobby of the church after the show. We ate dinner and dessert at a local tapas restaurant in between.

Kelsey and I especially enjoyed John Crist’s opener, Mike Goodwin. He performed our favorite sketch of the evening: a string of stories about his preschool-aged son. I laughed so hard because he perfectly described Samuel, and probably a lot of other preschool-aged boys, too. If you’ve never seen Mike Goodwin perform, you can find him on Facebook!

One of the reasons I enjoy teaching through Classical Conversations so much is that I get to hear all about the books my students read. The most-loved series of books among my class so far is The Chronicles of Narnia. I always ask which book they like the best, and I think every one of my students answers differently. My favorite book will always be Prince Caspian. I thought I’d post a short list of my other favorite YA Fantasy/Adventure/Fiction book series’.

1.The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson: I don’t think a series of books has meant more to me since The Chronicles of Narnia. These books exemplify what I like to see in a YA book, which is adventure, character development, humor, and a strong connection between real-life faith and fantasy. I highly recommend this series.

2. Wingfeather Tales edited by Andrew Peterson: This collection of stories takes place in the same world as the Wingfeather Saga. The last story in the book, “The Places Beyond the Maps,” is really a short novel written by Douglas Kaine McKelvey. I was so emotionally involved in this story about a father trying to redeem himself that I sobbed at the end. Not nice, quiet tears, but big, rolling tears and shaking shoulders. McKelvey’s writing is beautiful and vivid, and I identified with many of the emotions the main character experiences as he looks for answers from the Maker.

3. The 100 Cupboards series and The Door Before by N.D. Wilson: I liked The Door Before the best.

4. A Wrinkle in Time and the companion books by Madeleine L’Engle: My favorite book in this series is Many Waters.

5. The Redwall series by Brian Jacques: Lord Brocktree is my all-time favorite. Mariel of Redwall and The Bellmaker are close seconds.

Last, and maybe most importantly, Brian made this delicious Salted Caramel ice cream over the weekend. I added the walnuts for some extra crunch. I absent-mindedly placed the ice cream in the refrigerator instead of the freezer last night, so I will stare at this photo along with you and imagine I’m eating some, too :).