Ellen Bert > Recent Status Updates

So many good biblical references woven into this story, layered on top of each other - Abraham in his old age; Isaac and Ishmael; the prodigal son; many I’m certainly missing. So many paragraphs underlined, margins filled with pen ink. I can only read 20 pages at a time but they make me think more than the last 6 months of reading I did this year.

“So you must not judge what I know by what I find words for. If I could only give you what my father gave me. No, what the Lord has given me and must also give you. But I hope you will put yourself in the way of the gift.”

Shares a kinship with Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger, and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Direct but conversational, at once purposeful and meandering. Grave, reflective, hopeful. Maybe some Mary Oliver in there too. I like it but a reading it very slowly, to savor.

I am CAPTIVATED

Fascinated by the bad reviews of this book that go after it for being unrealistic. Have you read any books by Americans where characters travel through Europe???? And have you read any of Casey McQuiston’s other books??????? The prince of England and the first son come out as gay and in love during a hotly contested presidential race and it flips Texas blue - in 2020???? Lmao. Put reason aside and have fun

Oof. Kind of hard to read through Collum’s reflections on meaninglessness and spiritual death in… this era.

Lancelot du Lac!!!!! I’ve read and watched a lot of Arthurian revivals, and among them, I really like this version of Lancelot—magnetic, self-aware, lean from hunger, wistful. I also really enjoyed Dagonet’s reflections on grace, and the depiction of Galahad as thrill-less and miracle-driven, admirable for his skill but pitiable for lack of a life. For such a big cast, the characters are impressively distinct.

I think the issue with this book is that SJ Maas is good at writing falling-in-love stories, but she is not good at writing we-are-still-in-love stories. Heaped onto the traditional wrapping-up-plot lines struggle that comes with the third in a trilogy, there’s not a ton of momentum happening here.

Low key hate a second perspective added in the last book of a trilogy. Kind of a cop out. Also it’s ALWAYS the protag’s boyfriend. Also - the map has me laughing. What does Sarah J Maas have against Ireland?

I remain staunchly committed to reading only pure escapist nonsense. That being said… this book is WAY better than the first one! But also much different than BookTok would have you believe. It’s a strange situation where I did not like the book that is sold by the hype online… but I like the book itself pretty well.

I’m in my romance book era… and I’m feeling pretty good about it.

I mean. Truly. What a hot mess express of a plot. Not a single person has processed a single emotion. We’re just. Not gonna talk about how some people can magically burst into rooms and save the day. Other people are just, magically and immediately on the right side of history for no reason. What’s going on

Look… this is not a GOOD book… but by some magic it’s entertaining me for hours through flight delays, finding out my partner has COVID, maybe having Covid myself…. and that makes it worth its weight in gold.

This book is so ridiculous and joyful and STUPID

I love, LOVE, the moments of revelation that Mrs. Touchet has. From the “grace” chapter (!) to the revelation that a human life is a bottomless thing—really stunning contemplative moments in her POV. And they’re not too long, and not too preachy. They read like how it feels to be writing in your own diary.

This book is so dear and tender to me that it’s almost hard to reread as an adult. It’s such a special book. I’m startled by how childish I feel, how cracked open, how alive.

What better than a story about storytellers—frauds, friends, lawyers, ladies, writers, all with their own stories to hide and publicize? And (so far) Mrs. Touchet’s tender, judgmental heart at the center of it. It’s good.