Let’s get back to Eloquent Finds, shall we?! I’m SO excited about this batch of Internet gems to share with you today, plus some updates about what I’m doing and the quotes I’ve been collecting recently.

Links

Beauty and the Beast Trailer 
OH EM GEE. GUYS. I cannot remember the last time I was this excited about a movie coming to theaters! Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Josh Gad, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor… AHHHH!! Beauty and the Beast is my absolute favorite animated Disney movie and I can hardly believe that my childhood is now coming full circle with this live action reimagining that looks so gorgeous and magical. And with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as Belle and the Beast… I’m fangirling big time.

I'm doing backflips inside, I'm so excited, y'all. (Photo Credit: HDQ Walls)

Beauty and the Beast Cast on Facebook Live 
And while the fangirling is high, I’ll share this as well. With the film due out in March, publicity has begun, which means cast chats and interviews! YIPPEE!!! Here’s one of the first of hopefully many! Here we have Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Josh Gad, Luke Evans, and director Bill Condon sit down together and answer fan questions. Such fun.

Poldark Cast Plays “Would You Rather?” 
Season 2 of Poldark is nearly finished and the drama never ceases! And Masterpiece never disappoints with their collection of fun extras and this is one of my favorites yet as of late! Stars of the show Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, and Heida Reed play a short round of Poldark-themed “Would You Rather?” and the questions are pretty humorous.
Photo Credit – Heida Reed on Instagram @heida.reed: "Squad. #poldark"
 
Adoption: How One Life Touches Countless Others 
At the risk of a bit of self-promotion, here’s an article I wrote for my internship! I was honored to have it published on my organization’s blog and would love for you to check it out! :) 

Personality Hacker Podcast 
I’ve become quite the podcaster in recent months and this is my newest find, thanks to a friend’s recommendation. The hosts of Personality Hacker focus on the Myers-Brigg personality types and spend at least 45 minutes in every episode talking about something personality-related. It’s amazing how much there is to dissect and how much I’ve already learned! Every Myers-Brigg type is explained in its own episode and the topics just expand from there. Probably my favorite episode so far is titled “How Types Say ‘I Love You.’” 

5 Reasons You Need Fiction 
Couldn’t agree more with this excellent analysis! This author does a fine job of explaining the benefits of good stories and how they can increase our love for the bigger story of which we are all a part. As I like to say, we are story-loving people because our God is a God of storytelling. 

Carrot Top Paper Shop 
I felt like I’d discovered a gold mine when I heard about this shop. Literary décor to your heart’s content! The literary heroines we’ve grown up loving are the focus of this shop and it warms me from the inside out. 

Favorite DC Finds

In the meantime, I continue to enjoy Washington DC. This city is beautiful and I don’t think I’ll ever get over the fall colors at this time of year.
See? There's just nothing quite like Capitol Hill in autumn.

The walk out to the Jefferson Memorial is breathtaking. This is by far my favorite tourist spot I've visited so far. Can't wait to see this place bursting with pink in cherry blossom season.

View from the Jefferson Memorial

My roommate and I took a walk in an attempt to see the Super Moon; despite the cloudy night that hid it, the Capitol at night was more than worth it.

What I'm Reading Lately

I’m nearly to 50 including rereads, you guys! That’s the goal by the end of the year and I’m so excited to be close. Here’s a glimpse of what I’ve been enjoying lately. 

Jeremy Poldark and Warleggan by Winston Graham 
Books 3 and 4 of the Poldark series. The story of Ross and Demelza and their friends and family just gets better! I read these almost simultaneously with the airing of Season 2 of the show, but finished book 4 slightly ahead of the last few episodes. Warleggan is a new favorite so far! If you’re only watching the show, I cannot recommend the books enough! 

Holy is the Day by Carolyn Weber 
I’ve mentioned Carolyn Weber’s other book, Surprised by Oxford, as a new favorite, so I was excited to pick up this one as well. As I expected, she is candid, gentle, encouraging, and as literature-loving as ever. She gives essential reminders to cherish the present and trust the Lord with tomorrow. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 
This American classic is a long overdue read for me! Francie Nolan never made her way into my required school reading, but I’m so glad to be reading her story now. A friend recently described this coming-of-age story by saying, “It’s about nothing, and yet it’s about everything.” I think I agree. There’s nothing overly remarkable about this story, but it is a simple, endearing tale of a family who survives much hardship to do everyday life. 

Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper 
If you feel starved for joy or affection for Jesus, pick this one up. John Piper will help you regard Jesus with new awe. 

Quotes

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

If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. –Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling 

I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string. –Anne Shirley, Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery 

I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book. –J.K. Rowling 

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than a woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. –Captain Wentworth, Persuasion by Jane Austen

Don’t wait to celebrate the life you have been given, even if it looks different from the one you thought you would have had. –Jay Wolf, Hope Heals 

I can’t think of a love that is worth its salt unaccompanied by any fear at all. But it is in the facing of the fear and loving still, and through it, that the loving becomes burnished to a precious sheen and transformed into an ever-present gift. –Carolyn Weber, Holy is the Day 

…Candles burning, curtains drawn, warmth, tea, friendship, love. Those are what matter to me. –Demelza Poldark, Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham 

There is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self. –John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ