Five Thoughts on The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Since this (!!!) is coming soon...

... I am talking about The Hobbit today! Who doesn't love The Hobbit? (If you, for some unfathomable reason, do not love it, please do not tell me. It will create feelings of animosity.)

Five Thoughts on The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

1. Hobbits are English. 
Hobbits are unfailingly polite and expect the same of others. When they are in a social situation that becomes awkward or uncomfortable, they resort to politeness. When they do not know what to do with themselves, they resort to politeness. When someone says something uncouth or in anger, they resort to politeness. It is their default mode. Martin Freeman does an excellent job of capturing this fundamental character trait of hobbits. Bilbo is much more refined than his dwarvish companions and has a hard time relating to them in the beginning. I like to believe that Tolkien is poking fun at the English and their manners, showing that they do have a place but are not as important as they (and hobbits) seem to think they are.

"Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not today. Good morning! But please come to tea – any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Come tomorrow! Good bye!"

2. Beorn is a berserk(er).
The first time I read The Hobbit I devoured it, racing to finish it. This time I read at a more leisurely pace so I could notice details I had previously overlooked. Beorn in his warrior aspect was one such detail. The descriptions of him (and his wrath) during the Battle of the Five Armies was so quintessentially Anglo-Saxon/Norse that I cannot believe I missed it the first time. Beorn is my favorite character even though he plays such a small role. He can shapeshift into a bear, lives in a beautiful woodland home with beautiful horses, and has such fighting prowess that he can single-handedly turn the tide of a battle. Awesome.

"He came alone, and in bear's shape; and he seemed to have grown almost to giant-sized in his wrath."

3. Bilbo as thief of the hoard.
Hello, Beowulf allusion! In the Anglo-Saxon poem it is the theft of a cup by an unknown retainer that incites the dragon's wrath against Beowulf and the Geats. Guess what happens when Bilbo takes a cup from Smaug's hoard? One rage-filled dragon awakens to wreak fiery destruction upon the mountain. Bilbo could have taken any number of items from the hoard to prove he had been down there, yet he chooses a cup. Coincidence? Most definitely not.

"He grasped a great two-handled cup, as heavy as he could carry, and cast one fearful eye upwards... His heart was beating and a more fevered shaking was in his legs than when he was going down, but still he clutched the cup, and his chief thought was: 'I've done it! This will show them.'" – The Hobbit

"Therein went some nameless man, creeping in nigh to the pagan treasure; his hand seized a goblet deep, bright with gems... By no means of intent had that man broken the dragon's hoard of his own will, he who thus wronged him grievously but in dire need, being the thrall of some one among the sons of mighty men..." – Beowulf (Tolkien's translation)

4. Companions make or break a quest (or journey, or vacation).
This is the greatest strength of The Hobbit (and LOTR, I suspect). The dwarves need Bilbo and Bilbo needs the dwarves – and everyone needs Gandalf – to survive and complete their quest. Theirs is a relationship forged in the fires of suffering, loss, hardship, and long odds. The dwarves change Bilbo and Bilbo changes the dwarves. Their bond is cemented in a way that few bonds in reality are. Wouldn't it be wonderful if our society were more like the characters in these stories, who stick to the hard path and do not give up when the going gets tough because they know they can count on their friends to help them through (and vice versa).

"This is a bitter adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it. Yet I am glad that I have shared in your perils – that has been more than any Baggins deserves."

5. THE MOVIE(S) WERE TERRIBLE.
Y'all. I could go on a 5-page rant on how much I loathed what Peter Jackson did to The Hobbit. The first movie was great, which made the second and third that much more gross. No lie – you can ask my friend, Lauren – I almost got up and walked out of the theater when freakin' Kate from Lost showed up as a girl elf who is in the middle of a LOVE TRIANGLE. I am getting angry just thinking about it. I need to go drink some chamomile tea.

Rereading The Hobbit cemented its place on my top ten favorite books list. It was even better the second time around, which in my opinion is a mark of a great book. If you haven't read it, please do so. As a favor to me. And even if you do not like fantasy, please give it a try. It never hurts to stretch your horizons, as evidenced by Bilbo Baggins :)

Other Posts on The Hobbit: 
Top Ten Favorite Quotes From The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Bookish Place: Bookstory | Cluj, Romania
What To Do With All Those Gift Cards?!
Top Ten Tuesday: Under Our Tree
Top Ten Things On Our Bookish Bucket List

Tea Time in the Summer

For those of us who are raised in the South, or anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in the South, or just anyone who is familiar with Southern stereotypes, the drink of summer is sweet tea. This is not so unusual as summers in the South can be somewhat... intense. Case in point, it was 90F by 10:00 AM yesterday, with the humidity hovering at about 83%. This is my kind of weather. Yes, I realize I am in the minority. I am truly sorry that more people cannot appreciate the heat and thickness and heaviness of the air outside. It feels so much more alive than the air produced by air conditioning. Anyways, this is not a post about weather, believe it or not; this is a post about tea. Another way in which I am a minority is that I do not like sweet tea and never have. Give me hot tea or no tea at all. Just because it is shimmery with heat and humidity outside does not mean I stop drinking this elixir of the gods.

I have discovered two new teas that have made their way into my top five all-time favorite teas. Whether you can drink hot drinks in the summer or not, you need to know about them. Both are from Harney & Sons, though one I have only found at The Fresh Market and the other one I have found at The Fresh Market, Publix, and Barnes and Noble. Both are black teas because that is the best, in my humble opinion. Someone once told me that green teas are better gateway teas because their flavor is not as strong. If you like the taste of grass then by all means, please, go with green teas (Just kidding. There are some pretty good green teas out there, they just aren't my favorites).

The easier to find of the two, and the one more likely to be a gateway tea, is Hot Cinnamon Spice. This tea is the only tea I have ever had that tastes exactly like it smells. If you love cinnamon then you will love this tea. The flavor is so strong that it does not need any type of sweetener.

The second tea is called Paris. This one I drink with a bit of milk and honey. There are several flavors that make up this tea, giving it a robust fullness that is wonderful. A couple of friends have tried this one and loved it so you do not have to take just my word for it :)

I also have two tea-related items to share, though you might hate me for one of them. In Romania there is a sweet old man (actually, I do not know if he is sweet. He seems sweet) that sells honey with these awesome pump tops. He is brilliant and should go on Shark Tank because everyone knows how messy honey is. This top prevents any of that, barring human error. Honey is a wonderful sweetener and much healthier than most other options.

The second is this diffuser. My sweet mother-in-law found this for me at Bed Bath and Beyond, I believe. It is awesome because the shape allows you to use it to stir your tea. I am sure there are hard-core tea enthusiasts who would frown on this but I really like the convenience of it.

Whether you wait for colder weather or, like me, enjoy hot tea no matter the season, I hope you try one of these teas. If you do not like tea, thank you for your patience with this post!

Chaucer Takes on the Internet... and Wins

I went to a conference for Medieval and Renaissance studies last month <insert nerd jokes that I've never heard before> to present a paper on an recent adaptation of Beowulf. One of the people on my panel, Jessica, was presenting a paper on a project that she and some of her friends created called Pilgrim's Prize. It is SO neat that I wanted to share it with y'all because y'all need to know it exists.

Pilgrim's Prize as described by Jessica – "Pilgrim's Prize is a year long project supported by the University of Edinburgh. It is a modernized adaptation of The Canterbury Tales told through a variety of online media. It aims to bring the Tales to a digitally savvy audience and mimic the hyper-textual and non-linear narrative style employed so well by Chaucer over six hundred years ago."

Interpretation – This is a modern retelling of The Canterbury Tales through online forums, Twitter, blogs, advice columns, Storify, etc. The creators of the project have split up the characters from the original, created online personas, and have them engaged in a storytelling contest. The characters – and the audience! – are able to interact with one another.

See how awesome that is?! The Canterbury Tales are not the easiest read, though they are well worth the effort. Pilgrim's Prize interprets them for a modern audience in ways that a modern audience understands. Each character has their own Twitter account so you can follow and interact with them. You can read all about the characters on the Artists portion of the website. For those of you who are familiar with the Tales you will be able to figure out who the characters are. For those of you who are not, you will enjoy a clever storytelling competition and hopefully go pick up a copy of the original to read alongside.

Moral of this blog post – GO visit Pilgrim's Prize ASAP. Stop wasting time on Buzzfeed or Facebook or any of the hundred mindless websites out there. If you are a high school English teacher, use this website! It makes the Tales so much more relatable for your students.

*For those of you who do not know what The Canterbury Tales are or do not remember from high school, you can find an overview here.

June eBook Deals + Steals

It's that time again--grab your eReaders and get ready to stock up on some AWESOME eBook deals! There are so many eBooks on sale right now that Jenny and I couldn't keep this amazingness to ourselves. If you don't have a Kindle device, no worries. There's always the Kindle app for your laptop, tablet, or phone, and as a rule of thumb, if something is on sale for Kindle, it's usually on sale for Nook and Google Play, too. Happy downloading!*

$2.99

 

$1.99

$0.99

FREE

*FYI: This post contains Amazon Associates links. Thanks so much for your support! 

Musings: Finding My Way Back Home

When I was a senior in high school, I was definitely one of those kids who couldn’t wait to get the heck outta dodge. I knew where I was going to college. I had already planned the student organizations I wanted to be involved in and knew exactly what I wanted to study. I had a plan, and the only thing standing between me and the freedom of college was that final summer at home.

I was ready to experience something bigger than the life I had always known in our small town. I was ready to meet new people, experience life in a new city, and generally just learn more about the world around me. I was always more of the independent type, so my parents didn’t have to push me at all when it was time to leave the nest.

And man, does being one of 33,000 students allow you to experience something “bigger” than yourself. UGA overwhelmed and excited me all at the same time. And I loved it.

What surprised me the most, though, was how God brought my husband and me together in His knowing, sovereign way. My mindset going into college was not to get in a serious relationship right off the bat. But God’s plans were different (and so much better) than mine. I ended up meeting Kyle only days after moving away from home. To put it very simply, we started to “study together,” eventually fell in love, and then got married four years later. Life took us from one college town to another in Augusta, Georgia, where we spent almost three years for Kyle to earn his doctorate in physical therapy.

Fast forward to Spring 2013, and it was finally time to buy our first home together. Because of jobs and other circumstances, it brought us right back to where it all began for me. Five minutes down the road from my parents, to be exact.

Life has a funny way of bringing us back home, doesn’t it?

To be honest, moving back to the town where I grew up wasn’t an easy transition for me at first. There are some things about this town that annoyed me back then that still annoy me today. And the confused glances from people I knew before meant constantly explaining that yes, I do actually live here again. There was also the feeling that old friends who’ve been here all along had moved on and made other relationships without me, and I wasn’t exactly sure how I fit back into it all. It was an awkward transition, at best.

Through the awkwardness, I struggled with why God brought us here. Is this really where we’re supposed to be? Did we buy a house here because it felt like the comfortable, familiar thing to do?

If only I had known then what I know now. God was faithful to answer my questions and my doubts, and He reassured me that His work is not done here yet. I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be in this season. And He didn’t have to, but He has brought so many blessings with it.

The closeness to my family, for one, is something I genuinely treasure now as an adult. We can have weeknight meals together, call each other up to go on a walk, I can have spontaneous girl time with my mom, sisters, (and now my baby niece!). We can talk about our struggles and encourage each other face to face. It’s the best, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

And my fears about friendships? Turns out those were totally unfounded. The old friendships are still there, some stronger than ever. There are new ones as well, and I just wasn’t expecting the abundance in this area. There are so many people the Lord has brought into this community in the same walk of life as Kyle and me, especially in our church family, and I know God has something big in mind for this generation.

My heart is especially full of gratitude for the women in my small group. We've laughed, cried, and prayed together, there have been late night road trips, we've seen signs of life at each other's homes with laundry on the couch and dishes in the sink, and we're about to add two precious new babies into the mix. We group text each other almost daily for encouragement and prayer and general hilarity. There is so much to be thankful for, and sometimes I have to laugh at myself that I ever doubted God in this area. Not to say there wasn't/isn't any hard work required on my part--there certainly is. Friendships as an adult require intentionality and hard work, just like Lara Casey has been talking about in her #FruitfulSummer series. I couldn't have said it better myself when she said:

"When we surrender our fears, take leaps of faith, and focus on progress, not perfection, we begin cultivating what matters—what lasts longer than us. Relationships begin to bloom in soil that once felt lifeless."    

[Celebrating Liz's baby shower]

I think this is why reading The Peach Keeper meant so much to me last year. It was almost like I was reading my life and thoughts play out on the pages of a novel. One of the struggles for the main character was living back in her hometown as an adult, and this quote in particular stood out to me:

"People adapt. People change. You can grow where you're planted. She slowly began to realize she'd grown to like this place far more than she'd ever thought she would."              

So to sum up my rambling, I have grown to really love this community. I can appreciate why my parents thought this was a great place to raise us, and I’m excited about the possibility of raising my own children here, too (Lord willing). One day they may be clambering to get away, just like me. But hopefully, just like me, they can come to know it’s ok if life eventually leads them back home.

About Musings: 
Musings are thoughts that we have on literature-related things that don't necessarily fall into neat categories. These posts will tend to be rambling and, at times, philosophical. Books affect our everyday lives, and these posts are where we explore the intersection between life and literature.

Other Musings Posts:
What Is Love? | God As Other | Christmas Hymns

Ten Books On Lesley Anne's Summer Reading List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is one of my absolute favorites! Whether I'm at the beach, chilling on the dock at the lake, laying by the pool, or just doing some front porch sittin', summertime reading really is the best. Here are ten books I'm hoping to get to over the next few months:

1. Restless by Jennie Allen - I've been craving a lot of non-fiction lately, and no one can give me a kick in the pants more than Jennie Allen can. I've started and stopped this book several times, but have a feeling this summer is the right time to finally dig in to it.

2. Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson - Those who live close to Jenny and me will get a chuckle out of this title since there actually IS a town called Between in Georgia. We've heard our fair share of "in Between" jokes, and it's such a small town, it's kind of hilarious there's a book named after it. Anyway, I've been wanting to read a Joshilyn Jackson novel for a while now, so I think this will be the perfect place to start!

3. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen - There's something about this book that screams summertime reading to me. I'm so excited to get lost in this story and get to know the infamous Waverley family!

4. A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman - I'm actually in the middle of reading this right now and it's SO good. I expect to finish this before the week is over!

5 - 6. The Queen of the Tearling and The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen - I bought the hardcover of Queen of the Tearling back when it came out last summer (because if I'm being honest---the endpapers were way too pretty to resist). For some reason I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but now that the second book is out, I have even more motivation to knock both of these off my TBR.

7. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - I'm not sure what's wrong with me and why I haven't read this yet?! This is for sure next after I finish A Million Little Ways.

8. Emma by Jane Austen - GAHHHH I need to finish this book. Like yesterday.

9. Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul by Bill Hybels - Our small group is going through this one chapter at a time, so this will probably leak onto my Fall reading list as well. We just met to discuss the first chapter a few days ago, and I'm really excited about the practical implications of this book!

10. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai - Our book club is taking a break over the summer, but this will be the first book we discuss when we meet again in August. I know this will be an eye-opening read and I can't wait to get to know Malala's story.

What's on your reading list this summer? Let us know in the comments! 

The PR Report: May 2015

Hey y'all, LA here! It's been a while, hasn't it? After more than three months away, I finally feel ready to write again, and that's a GOOD feeling! I've missed this space so much. A lot has happened during my hiatus, and I'm not sure how to put it all into words (and for y'all's sake, I won't put it ALL into words, hahaha). The Lord has definitely been stretching and growing me in ways I never expected this year, and I'm learning to be content with where He has me right now.

May in particular was a pretty incredible month. I don't even know where to start! I got to meet one of my all-time favorite authors, I traveled to Hawaii with my husband to celebrate five years of marriage, and best of all, I became an AUNT to the cutest baby girl around. Bless my socks off! The rest of the year certainly has its work cut out for it. Here are just a few of the moments I captured from last month:

May In Pictures

Sarah J. Maas and Susan Dennard book signing! | Layover in Seattle | Waikiki Beach | The Road to Hana | Volcanoes National Park | Akaka Falls | Anaeho'omalu Beach | Kayaking the Wailua River | Swimming in Secret Falls

Kalalau Lookout | Waimea Canyon | Na Pali Coast | The best day in May--my niece, Lillianne Rose, was born on May 26! | Baby shower for my sweet friend Liz | My niece looking PRECIOUS at her newborn session

Favorite Book Read in May

Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims are Falling in Love With Jesus by Jerry Trousdale. This book was a gamechanger for me and couldn't have been more timely. It challenged me in the way I think about discipleship, prayer, and the power of God to draw people to himself through his Word. An awesome read for any believer, especially those who work in or are considering the mission field!

On My Shelves So Far In 2015 

 

Jane Austen Vintage Classics Collection
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen | Emma by Jane Austen | Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sarah J. Maas Love
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas | Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas | A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Nostalgic Book Buying Binge - Christy Miller Series 
The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 1 by Robin Jones Gunn | The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 2 by Robin Jones Gunn | The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 3 by Robin Jones Gunn | The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 4 by Robin Jones Gunn

Gifted
A Pocket Guide to the Hawaiian Language by Albert J. Schütz

Bought on Sale for Nook
Cinder by Marissa Meyer | Scarlet by Marissa Meyer | Cress by Marissa Meyer

Bought for Book Club
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr