Animals are used to each ABC's.  I liked that the animals were not the usual ones but from the jungles and oceans and different continents also.  The illustrations are colorful and bright.  I also liked how the letter being taught highlights the same letter in the prose on the page through all the words.  Perfect for 2-5 year olds.

For once my "quick roll before going to bed" is turning out just that -- hooray.  Knight's entries in the Medieval Murderers series are not necessarily among my favorites, but it is clear that he knows his stuff, and I might just as well finally catch up with his protagonist Sir John de Wolfe's earlier history.

Oh, I am really torn about this biography. 

I originally picked this up because a) I was looking for a better biography of Lewis than the last one I read ... I don't remember the author but it was dreadful; and b) I was trying to find out whether Duriez' style of writing biography works for me.

He seems to have written extensively on Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings, but he also seems to have a biography of Dorothy L. Sayers forthcoming. It is scheduled for publication in October and I was intrigued because I hope that he will use his Lewis/Tolkien/Inklings background to answer some of my questions about Sayers' interaction with the group and its members. 

The C.S. Lewis biography turned out to be surprisingly good in that Duriez seemed to include a lot of quotes from letters - especially, from correspondence between "Jack", his brother Warnie, and their father. This was fantastic and provided exactly what I was looking for in terms an insight into what they were like in relation to each other.

Another aspect I really liked, was that he tried to present facts and not justify Lewis as some other biographers I have read. If I read a biography, it helps if the author is enthusiastic about his subject, but it is a deterrent if the biographer turns out to be a "fan-boy" or "fan-girl". 

Duriez clearly is enthralled with the Inklings, having written about them several times, but I believe he managed to keep that distance that is required between the biographer and his subject to write a credible biography. 

For the most part, Duriez also refrained from giving meaning or interpreting events in Lewis' life against his later work and faith. This is something I very much appreciate. However, there were instances where he did so and I found them jarring, even if there were only a few of them. 

Where I felt the book was lacking, was the way that Duriez mentioned some of Lewis' theories, but didn't go into any explanations. So, it felt like some parts of the book were really superficial. Of course, the book was not supposed to be an analysis of Lewis entire work but if concepts are important enough to mention them in this biography, then I expect to be given an explanation so I can understand why and how they are important with respect to the biography.

I felt this was missing a lot. 

I also did not appreciate that with respect to Lewis' relationship with his wife, Duriez mentioned that she was a huge influence on his writing, but then withheld any examples or evidence to substantiate this comment. In fact, he the chapter on Joy really short and to my amazement merely referred the reader to William Nicholson's play Shadowlands. 

I'm a big fan of the play. I'm a big fan of the film which is also based on Nicholson's play. However, including a brief quote by Debra Winger - taken from an "endorsement" on the back cover of Don W. King's Out of my Bone: The Letters of Joy Davidman - describing Joy as "keen spirit, mind, and wit" does not fill me with a lot of confidence about how Duriez handled his research, even if - all credit to him - he added an end note to even mention that the source here was a book jacket endorsement.

Anyway, there are aspects I enjoyed immensely about this biography, and I would recommend it to anyone who has never read a biography of Lewis' before and wants to start somewhere. 

However, I would also advise caution: This book merely scratches the surface of Lewis' life and what it does contain about his work is negligible.

It's Friday night after a crappy week at work, which saw a departmental restructure that can only be described as A Game of Thrones...but without dragons, and therefore just stupid. So, I have resorted to watching films (The Two Popes is excellent) for comfort since I've come home, and I am planning to make the most of the weekend before work brings another week of madness (I have some new people starting and need to travel abroad for a meeting with another colleague, while trying to keep an eye on goings on ... preparing for another new start and the company's big office move in three weeks' time). 

Anyway..... It's also Granite Noir weekend. So, I am out with friends tomorrow to see Dial M for Murder at the theatre, then have a guided walk around town which is lead by one of my favourite local historians, and lastly, I have finally managed to get a ticket to Katheryn Harkup's Poisoned Tea Party on Sunday. I've been to her Poisoned Cocktail Evenings before but have never been quick enough to get tickets for the tea party.

I am very excited.

As for reading, I really, really want to start the Kelly book, but I just can't at the moment - it's a mood thing. 

The C.S. Lewis biography has turned out to be surprisingly good so far. Nothing entirely new, but I very much enjoy that Duriez has included quotes from correspondence that gives much more insight into Lewis' life so far, and has refrained from giving meaning or interpreting events in his life against Lewis' later work and faith. This is something I very much appreciate. He is also not coming across as a "fan-boy" of Lewis', which puts Duriez at an advantage (imo) over other biographers I have read. 

And I know that I won't have much time to read anything else this weekend, but I really want to pick up something else. Something from the category of "comfort read".

And of course, I will need a book for the flights on Monday/Tuesday.

And this month's book club read is due on Wednesday.... Erm.

Perhaps I'm just craving some nonfiction, maybe this is just a random book pick from my physical Mt. TBR shelve, but it is equally likely that @markk's recent podcast (link here) may have inspired me to start this Duriez's biography of C.S. Lewis tonight. 

Of course, I'm also trying to find out whether Duriez style of writing biography works for me. He seems to have written extensively on Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings, but he also seems to have a biography of Dorothy L. Sayers forthcoming. It is scheduled for publication in October and I am intrigued because I am hopeful that he will use his Lewis/Tolkien/Inklings background to answer some of my questions about Sayers' interaction with the group and its members.