Hello again,
Three weeks in a row! This is probably the most consistent I have been with anything since being pregnant…I’m hoping this bodes well for homeschool starting in the next few weeks.
Random Thoughts
Harry Potter and Summer Expectations
I am writing to you while watching the first Harry Potter movie (because when Dad has social plans this is what mom and the kids do I guess?) for the millionth time or so. The kids and I have been reading (or listening to) the Harry Potter books over the summer. In my head we were going to finish the whole series in a summer. Which is now funny since summer is pretty much wrapping up and we are…..almost done the second book. Which just seems like a good reminder of how far my expectations are from my reality.
Thankfully, kids seem to have no such expectations! They are simply enjoying everyday when we get to sit down and read/listen to their favorite story. I need to bottle up all these thoughts and take them straight into the homeschool year. Consistency and routines are so much more important than the booklists and checklists.
When we turned the movie on one of my kids said, “I don’t even know how many times we’ve watched the Harry Potter movies…I guess we are just Harry Potter people.” And to that I say, “Amen!” Let’s just enjoy our stories and hold our expectations loosely.
The Summer Book Slump (TSBS)
Last week I mentioned that I was in a book slump, which is apparently a yearly summer thing for me. I wanted to report that I have made it out of said slump by finishing (almost) two books this week and enjoying them immensely.
The first book was The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, and I really need to talk about it! This was my third Ann Patchett novel and I feel similarly about all of them. I enjoy them immensely while reading them and then have no idea what to do when I have finished. I love her storytelling, I believe in her characters, and I’m moved by her writing. And yet they leave me slightly off kilter when I’m finished. The other two I’ve read are Tom Lake and Bel Canto if anyone wants to talk to me about this. I would love all your thoughts and feelings!
The second book I’ve (almost) finished is To Kill a Mockingbird, which is a reread for me (I feel compelled to read this book most summers and I’m always glad I did). I now want to read Go Set a Watchman….but I should probably finish one of the 20 books that I’ve started and not finished this pregnancy instead!
I would love to hear about any books that are getting you out of your TSBS1 too!
August Angst
After reading this post by Annelise Roberts I realized that I am totally have August Angst. There is something about summer almost being over, but not over yet that will lead to lots of overthinking. I am somehow wanting to get into the new school year routine and simultaneously wondering if we’ve had enough Summer Fun yet. I’m sure some of this comes from being able to determine our school schedule (as a homeschooler). And some of it probably comes from being pregnant and last school year ending while I was super morning sick and I’m worried we will do a bad job again. In reality I’m sure we just need to pick a start date, enjoy summer until that date, and then dive in….and remember that it won’t be perfect, but it will be fine! And it will probably even be mostly good. Heck, I’m a melancholic type A….I love routines!
But after having these thoughts I’ve seen it all over Substack so it seems that this is not just a me problem but maybe just a mom problem in general. It is always nice to know that everyone is going through similar crises!
So, here’s to August Angst and getting through it….we are all going to be fine!
What’s New(ish) Around Reading Revisited
Alright….onto the Reading Revisited Announcements…..
In Person Book Clubs
Are you going to be reading with us for the 2026-2027 Reading Year? If so make sure that you give yourself Proper Bookish Peer Pressure by joining or starting a Reading Revisited Book Club! There are new ones popping up EVERYWHERE (a map to find them is in the works…and by “the works” I mean that I think I will start thinking about making one). In the meantime, message me and I will help you find your people!
On the Podcast
This Week- ep. 120: Mansfield Park Chat w/ Eleanor Bourg Nicholson
Last Year- ep. 68: Revisiting Everything Sad is Untrue w/ Annelise Roberts
Coming Up- This week we are chatting with our friend Elise Boratenski about all the Jane Austen books in the form of casting other books’ characters as Mansfield Park characters. This fun episode should help us think how Jane Austen uses similar characters to make very different stories!
August Book Club Book
We are still in Austen month! So, don’t worry, you haven’t missed it yet! Make sure to listen to the podcasts coming up in the next two weeks and read the Resource Roundup to be all up to date on the Mansfield Park happenings around here!
And don’t forget to attend your local book club or hop onto our Virtual Meeting (scheduled for August 24th) after you read!
Up Next
September
Reread- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
October
American Classic- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Everything Paradise Lost
We recorded for Book Seven this week and it was SO fun! I can’t wait to share the conversation with you. Make sure you’re all caught up with reading and listening!
Latest Podcast: Book Six
Coming Up: Book Seven (available next Monday!)
Society Only Virtual Book Club on Books 6-8 will be on September 14th at 8:30pm (EST)….Look out for a zoom link in the Subscriber Thread!
Random Things I’m Enjoying
These McGuffy Readers I found at a used bookstore! I started using them with some of my kids and there is something about having everything in one place and holding a beautiful book while teaching a kid that A really does say aaaaaa….a thousand times. Maybe the pretty books remind me that this “hacking and gagging2” serves the purpose of the child ultimately being able to read beautiful books later down the road!
Jane Austen’s Juvenilia, specifically A History of England…which, by the way, is only a few pages and you could easily read in half an hour or so. I was sick earlier this week and this was exactly the laugh I needed. I also enjoyed reading about Austen’s pro-Catholic sentiments! I finally read this because after talking to Eleanor Bourg Nicholson on the podcast I signed my daughter and I up for her Jane Austen classes at Homeschool Connections and the first two classes are on her juvenilia. If you want to join us in our Year Long Jane Austen Obsession…it is VERY affordable!
“As I am myself partial to the roman catholic religion, it is with infinite regret that I am obliged to blame the Behaviour of any Member of it: yet Truth being I think very excusable in an Historian, I am necessitated to say that in this reign the roman Catholics of England did not behave like Gentlemen to the protestants.”
Guys! I have never watched Legally Blonde before and my husband and I wanted to watch something funny (which usually means The Office or Parks and Rec), but then I remembered seeing something going around Substack about Legally Blonde so I looked up where we could stream it and it is free on YouTube right now! And we loved it! Also…a reminder to check out YouTube’s rotating free movies because there are some good ones!
I really loved this piece by Jenny Uebbing, Have One More…it somehow treaded the NFP wars line by never saying NFP is wrong, but also encouraging people that in certain stages of marriage and parenthood it might be a good time to just….see what happens!
And finally I was excited to read JRR Jokien’s thoughts on the next Rings of Power season…now to decide if we should binge it while waiting for this baby to arrive or save it for the newborn late night snuggle sessions….
Aright, I have a full morning of soccer try outs and then a date to go see The Odyssey (look out for a podcast in the next few weeks with the Reading Revisited Ladies AND their husbands….since we all went on dates to see it). So I will leave you to your Saturdays. I hope you have fun catching up on Reading Revisited stuff, reading lovely books, and soaking up the last of the summer days angst free!
Till next time,
Kelsie Hartley
Until next time, keep revisiting the good books that enrich your life and nourish your soul.
What We’re Reading Now:
August
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Reading Revisited Society Read-Along
Paradise Lost by John Milton
A Few Reminders:
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Thanks Meredith Hinds for helping me decide on an acronym!
If you get this reference from 10 Thing I Hate About You, then we should be friends!
I've only read The Whistler but I totally agree about this feeling from Ann Patchett! What is it! And being "Harry Potter people" is a great thing to be :)