Finding Eloquence: Eloquent Finds: Updates and What I'm Into and Stuff

Eloquent Finds: Updates and What I'm Into and Stuff

By Elizabeth Tuesday, July 26, 2016 Eloquent Finds, My Life

After far too long, I have another post of fun Internet finds, quotes, and updates. For some reason, these can be the most difficult to compile. Still trying to work out why, to be honest, but here we are and I hope you enjoy.

Life

First off, a few updates! As you may know if you read this and this, I’ve got a few big things coming up! I’m now only about a month away from both my long-awaited trip to England and from moving to Washington D.C. In the meantime, I’m cramming in last visits with family and friends as well as a family vacation to Boston! Thanks for having a nicely located business trip, dad. ;) My parents and brother and I are leaving at the end of the week, and hopefully the trip will offer a small break from family craziness (yes, there’s been lots). As usual, I’m very excited to visit a place I’ve never been and will no doubt have a full report or two to post afterwards. Stay tuned with me on Instagram to follow the action live.

A favorite recent friend outing. The Little Mermaid was a delight!

Links

25 Books to Read When You Feel Like the World is Falling Apart
Lots of great titles on this list and a timely word from Anne Bogel.

Things Lucy Maud Montgomery Lied to Me About
But really though.

This Book Nerd’s Tweet to a Bookstore’s Official Twitter Account Ended in a Love Story
A book nerd’s dream, am I right?

Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin Go Speed Dating!
I finally saw Me Before You last week, and the performances of these lead actors packed an emotional punch, making me laugh and cry in equal measure. They were just as delightful to watch in this interview that is mostly silly and thoroughly fun. (And if you’re now looking askance at me because of how Facebook exploded with criticism of this movie, check out my review of the book here. I don’t agree with everything about it, but I still argue that it’s a worthwhile story.)

What I’m Into These Days

Hamilton

Yes, I’ve gotten caught up in the hype of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s musical Hamilton and have been listening to the soundtrack repeatedly. So far, I’d say it lives up to all the talk. Truly brilliant. I’m also checking out the source material – Ron Chernow’s biographical book titled Alexander Hamilton. We’ll see if it holds me for the 800+ pages.

Doctor Thorne

With the departure of Downton Abbey, it was refreshing to watch this new work of Julian Fellowes. It’s only four episodes long and has all the charm, wit, love, and glamour we’ve come to expect from period drama.

Stefanie Martini as Mary Thorne, Tom Hollander as Doctor Thorne, Richard McCabe as Frank Gresham, and Rebecca Front as Lady Arabella in Doctor Thorne
Screen Capture Source: YouTube

Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber

I’ve mentioned this book before and will likely mention it many more times in the future. It is without a doubt one of my new favorite books, likely in the top five at the moment. I read it for the first time back in February/March and just read it again this summer. Carolyn Weber shares how she became a Christian while in graduate school at Oxford in this gem, and she is thoughtful, vulnerable, engaging, and a masterful storyteller. You’ll likely forget you’re reading a true story because of how she draws you in and paints beautifully vivid pictures in her writing. Read it.

Grantchester
Here’s another one for fans of British drama, though I wouldn’t classify Grantchester as a strict period piece. Set in 1950s England, it brings together an unlikely crime solving team – Anglican vicar Sidney Chambers and gruff police detective Geordie Keating. Sidney has unrivaled people skills while Geordie relies on logic and hard facts. And in the midst of all the murder cases to solve – there are a surprising number of them in this quiet little village of Grantchester – these two men are also facing PTSD to one degree or another, having both fought in WWII. Friendship, crime mysteries, post-war changes, and social issues abound in this drama and I highly recommend it!

Robson Green as Geordie Keating and James Norton as Sidney Chambers in Grantchester
Photo Credit: Grantchester on Facebook

Quotes

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden. –The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

God doesn’t do contracts. You have nothing to barter with. –Matt Chandler

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. –Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

We always value something for which we’ve had to labor. –Dr. Nuttham, Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber

A place ain’t a place without a bookstore. –Lambiase, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

This was a day for soft wool, warms socks, loafers, and literature. –The Brontë Plot by Katherine Reay

You can do more with a castle in a story than with the best cardboard castle that ever stood on a nursery table. –C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

I like books. They’re so much less terrifying than people. –Leonard Finch, Grantchester (2015 TV Series)

It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. –Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

As I aimed to become a teacher, God made me a student. My spirit as a questioner does not affront Him; rather, it reflects Him, and honors Him, and pulls me toward Him. –Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber