Author: Deacon Nick

Notes from the Upside Down

Book Review / Books and Reading

Notes from the Upside Down by Guy Adams

If you’re a fan of the Netflix series Stranger Things and you want to know more about what inspired the creators, then you’ll probably like Guy Adams’ Notes from the Upside Down. Adams goes through each episode of the series and discuss the music, TV shows, and movies and that have made their way into the show. While the book does discuss the plot and characters of Stranger Things, it tends to focus more on introducing readers to the late 70s and early 80s sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. I grew up in...

Javert

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: 25 Percent Done

Yesterday, April 1, besides being Easter Sunday, was also the one quarter mark in our Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along, based on the number of chapters read. Congratulations for making it this far, and thanks for staying with the read-along to this point. Here’s what it means to have read the first twenty-five percent of Les Misérables together: Ninety-one chapters read, including: Fourteen chapters on the Bishop of Digne  Nineteen chapters on the Battle of Waterloo Almost one hundred tweets with the #lesmisreadalong hashtag, including: Favorite quotes from each chapter Pictures...

Book Review / Books and Reading

Cries from the Earth by Terry C. Johnston

My wife’s family is from the Camas Prairie, a beautiful region in North Central Idaho that includes communities like Grangeville, Cottonwood, and Winchester. That same area is the setting for Terry C. Johnston’s Cries from the Earth: The Outbreak of the Nez Perce War and the Battle of White Bird Canyon June 17, 1877. I purchased Johnston’s fictionalized account of the beginning of the Nez Perce war mostly because of its setting, and I hoped the history would come alive because of my familiarity with the area. Unfortunately, the...

Waterloo

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Waterloo and More Waterloo

The rest of the month of March may be the most challenging portion of the entire Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. After the dramatic end to Volume I, not only does the narrative shift to a completely different scene, but that shift goes on for nineteen chapters. The characters that the reader has become so invested in are seemingly abandoned for a sixty page account of the Battle of Waterloo. And of course, reading only a chapter a day makes this section last even longer. All I can say...

These High Green Hills by Jan Karon

Book Review / Books and Reading

These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon

These High, Green Hills is the third book in Jan Karon’s The Mitford Years series, and I have to admit that I really enjoy these books. I haven’t written about this series before, so rather than review this third book, I will simply say that each of the first three books have the same charm, humor, and uplifting themes. The stories center around Father Tim, pastor of a small Episcopal parish in the fictional village of Mitford, North Carolina. Father Tim is a good man and a good...

Battle of Waterloo

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Welcome to Volume II – Cosette and Waterloo

If you have been reading one chapter a day in Les Misérables, then congratulations on reaching Volume II today. It’s been over two months since we started, and we have finally finished the first of the book’s five volumes. I hope you have been pleased by what you have read so far of Hugo’s magnum opus. Fantine is behind us, Cosette is before us. But before we get back to our little Lark, Hugo will take us on an extended tour of the battlefield of Waterloo. Prepare yourself to...

Harry Baur as Jean Valjean

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along / Movies

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Film Comparison

In light of the Academy Awards show last night, this week we take a different look at Les Misérables, comparing several different film versions. Les Misérables has been filmed dozens of times, and rather than give a full review or summary of the difference versions, I am going to simply give you the same scene from six different films and ask you what you think. I’ve chosen arguably the most famous scene in the book, the Bishop’s Candlesticks, and I’ve tried to find as many versions as are available online....

Madeleine and Candlesticks

Book Review / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along / Twitter

#LesMisReadalong on Twitter: Week 9 Highlights

An agonizing decision, an enigmatic dream, a frantic carriage ride to a strange town–such was week nine of the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. And here is what it looked like on Twitter: Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Happy 216th Birthday, Victor Hugo! #lesmisreadalong https://t.co/AOhYJuVxLA pic.twitter.com/kjC7RczHAY — Nick Senger (@nsenger) February 26, 2018 https://twitter.com/buttontapper/status/968153813491372032 https://twitter.com/kimpineapple/status/968219418722521088 #lesmisreadalong https://t.co/TObqroIaNi — AStrongBeliefWicker She/her 5 x VAXX ??‍♀️ (@AStrongBelief) February 27, 2018 …he looked, and he saw that these two stars were the lamps of a carriage. By the light which they emitted, he could...

Cowboy Hat and Rope

Books and Reading

Wild Wild West Reviews for January, February, and March

It’s time for a link-up of reviews of western books for the Wild Wild West Challenge. It’s March already and I didn’t think to make link posts for January and February reviews. If you did read a western for the Wild Wild West 2018 Challenge in January or February, then you can link to your reviews below, along with any books you review in March. Going forward I’ll try to do better at providing linkups at the beginning of each month so you can link to your reviews...

Victor Hugo

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along: Happy 216th Birthday, Victor Hugo!

Today is February 26, the birthday of Victor Hugo. On this day 216 years ago, Victor Hugo was born to Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet. More importantly to me, this also happens to be the birthday of both my mother, Mrs. Senger, and my wife, Dr. Senger, two people who mean much more to me than Victor Hugo ever could. Happily, both are participating in the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. So if you are feeling deprived of the ability to wish Victor Hugo a happy birthday, please feel free...

Sr. Simplice

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along / Twitter

#LesMisReadalong on Twitter: Week 8 Highlights

We’re two months into the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along, eight full weeks. We’re still in Volume One: Fantine, and this week we finished Book Five: The Descent, we read Book Six: Javert, and we began Book Seven: The Champmathieu Affair. Here are a few examples what people had to say about these chapters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/burns_nancy/status/965496932872458240 https://twitter.com/joyacousin/status/965572164337520641 https://twitter.com/buttontapper/status/965603099120250880 https://twitter.com/bronasbooks/status/965871081637650432 https://twitter.com/buttontapper/status/966062507671474176 https://twitter.com/bronasbooks/status/966095318570827783 https://twitter.com/MissCarrieLA/status/966162970232307713 Great grief is a divine and terrible radiance which transfigures the wretched. At that moment Fantine had again become beautiful.V1 B5 C13 #LesMisReadalong pic.twitter.com/z5OVIHsdod — Rick...