#Madeline L’Engle

[bookfirstlinetourney]

Round 1

Sophie had waited all her life to be kidnapped.

-The School for Good and Evil, Soman Chainani

My mother used to threaten to tear me into eight pieces if I knocked over the water bucket, or pretended not to hear her calling me to come home as the dusk thickened and the cicadas' shrilling increased.

-Across the Nightingale Floor, Lian Hearn

It was a dark and stormy night. In her attic bedroom, Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind.

-A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engle

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Literary NYC: A Literary Landmark Honoring Madeleine L’Engle!

[rrreadrrreviews]

A Wrinkle in Time

Madeline L’Engle

Children’s fantasy // 200 pages

—————

Premise: Meg sets out with peer Calvin and little brother Charles Wallace on a surreal outer-space coming of age adventure to rescue her missing father.

Stand-out elements: Fun fantastical settings (they visit multiple worlds) and characters; an existentially upsetting villain

Downsides: A lot of details glossed over because it’s written for a younger audience

—————

3.75 stars

Recommended to children, or to adults who have a sense of whimsy and want to see what a high-quality example of children’s fantasy looks like. It has Christian religious undertones in a few sections, if that hurts or helps its chances

[momentsbeforemass]

Go away

Have you ever wanted to push someone away?

To spend as little time interacting with them as possible? To make sure that they don’t want to be around you? And to make sure that it’s their idea – so you can blame them for it?

Here’s how.

Constantly second guess their decisions. All of their decisions, from their most important life choices to what to have for lunch. No matter what it is, make sure that they know that they could have done better.

Let them know that their ideas and beliefs are wrong. Both in general and specifically, especially about anything that is truly meaningful or important to them.

Make sure they feel stupid for even thinking that. Don’t bother explaining why they’re wrong. Unless you can make them feel bad by doing it.

And – every step of the way – make sure they know that (unlike them) you’ve got it all figured out. That you’re right.

Start doing this, and you’ll see results almost immediately. If done consistently, the effects will be permanent.

Can you tell I’ve been spending too much time online lately?

I can’t tell you how many supposedly Christian sites and commenters are doing exactly this. Using this approach to interact with other people.

Saying all manner of angry, hateful, and/or fearful things. And then trying to dress it up with some “Jesus talk.” Maybe a slogan or a Bible verse out of context. Following this approach every step of the way.

If this is our approach, it kind of doesn’t matter what we’re talking about. What great and good cause we think we’re defending.

Because if this is how we’re doing it, if this is the “Jesus” that we’re showing people? Then we’re not showing people Jesus at all.

We’re showing people us. We’re showing them how small and weak and fearful we are.

And we become the reason they turn away from Jesus.

If we want people to go away, this works. Every time.

If not, here’s something else we could try.

“We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.” - Madeline L’Engle

Today’s Readings

[mashithamel]

House of Flame and Shadow: Sarah J Maas

After this one I’ll be all caught up and will join the queue waiting on the next book in either series. *sigh* Time for House of Flame and Shadow! 🧵:

* We hardly got to know Cormac 😢. Maybe he and Sofie are together again.

* “I do not pry where I am not willingly invited.” Noble, but perhaps stupid, Rhysand? But of course we don’t want to make the book too short by making it too easy.

* “It wasn't wise to taunt a dragon. But he'd been on a hot streak of making stupid decisions lately, so why stop now?” So true! At least you have insight, Tharion. That’s half the battle.

* “The Hawk smiled up at Baxian. "How about we start with your tongue today, traitor?" To Baxian's credit, he stuck out his tongue towardthe Hawk in invitation.” Finally, a tongue-sticking-out in a Maas book I can get behind.

* Bryce and Nesta in a one-on-one conversation—I have made it through seven books to get to this moment 🔥

* Seeing Nesta as an outsider, clocking her immediately as a warrior and watching her just be competent and trusted, is pretty cool ❤️.

* "If we encounter something that wants to eat us again," the warrior said, "don't stare at it like a startled deer. Either run, or fight." Randall would like this female.” Yes, Randall would like Nesta! I bet Ember would too.

* I do wish there was more to indicate a change in POV, like a mark or something. Half the time I just turn the page and am halfway into the next sentence before I realize we’ve changed scenes and POV.

* In medical-ese “ataxia” is a loss of balance and coordination, usually causing an unsteady gait (ie, stumble drunk down the street). Can be cause by intoxication, stroke, tumor, degenerative diseases, etc. anyway, the name Ataraxia, for a sword used with balance and precision, makes me laugh.

* Ithan, I’m not a lawyer and the *least* you could do is ask a few more clarifying questions. Who am I fighting? How dead does the other person need to be? Off the top of my head…

* I’m still not over it. Good of Bryce to go back for Nesta and Azriel after setting them up. But still no guilt for the selkie and others the Viper Queen offed as a direct result of you? I’m pretending it never happened it canon, but I won’t forget!

* In the spirit of not forgetting, #FreeViktoria! (If the next book is called Many Waters [also a title by Madeline L’engle, who taught me what a wrinkle/winnow is] then that’s when she’s rescued? 🤞🏻)

* Feyre (smirking): When I killed the Wyrm it was with only my wits and a sharp bone.

Nesta (scowling): Well I didn’t get half killed in the process.

Elain (sighing): You know guys, worms are very important for a garden’s ecosystem.

F&N: Shut up, Elain.

* "I don't know," Bryce said. "I always wondered what happened to the gods of the original worlds, when their people crossed into Midgard. Did they follow them? Did I bring Urd or Luna or any of them with me?" She gestured to the caves. "Are they here, or am I alone, stranded in your world with no gods to call my own?"

* I think I’d be as annoyed as Ruhn to hear people arguing about who was going to carry the “burden” of biting my hand off, while I’m sitting there waiting for it to happen. Flip a coin and just do it already! (Apparently the fact that it’ll grow back makes it all ok)

* The part of me that loves a tragic romance has warmed to Baxian being Danika’s mate, although I still find the idea that she wouldn’t have told *Bryce* but *Sabine* knew about it absolutely ridiculous. I’ll probably write my head canon that Bryce at least knew there was someone important to Danika.

* "You idiot," Bryce spat at the image of Pelias and Theia hovering over a table full of star charts. "Both of you: fucking idiots." Fair.

* Oh, Ithan 💔

* Is it weird to anyone else that we spend all this time in Bryce’s head as she plays a long con, and we don’t get clued in until she’s ready to pull the plug? Like, I’d buy she figures out how to use landing in the Autumn King’s study to her advantage, but planning all of it in advance?

* "I wanted you to listen," she snapped, "but you wouldn't. Yet now that I fit some sort of acceptably sad female backstory, you're willing to hear me out." Ooo, ouch. But fair, Lidia.

* How many places are left in the world for Tharion to jump out of the frying pan into the fire? Will there, someday, be the perfect place for him to hide from everyone who is gunning for him but that won’t feel like a cage?

* "Oh boy," Bryce said, sighing at the ceiling. She whirled to their group. "Okay, let's do a head count. If you're disowned, disgraced, or both, raise your hand." Tharion, Baxian, Lidia, Hunt, and Ruhn raised their hands.” Heh.

* I’m gonna suggest Hypaxia not attempt any more necromancy, and maybe should stop making decisions for a while. None of them really seem to be working out.

* Ithan should probably stop making decisions too.

* "I mean it," Sathia said, not taking Bryce's shit for one second.” I like Bryce (or, at least, book 1 Bryce, who I loved), but as she’s the self-proclaimed bull-shit queen, I can get behind this. Even better that it’s from Bryce’s POV 😆

* “Flynn and Dec seemed content to let them do the work, because they didn't show up. Or perhaps they'd gone off on some important errand and couldn't let them know, with no way to text or call.” I’m 90% sure your two non-idiot friends, who are risking everything in this quest and know it’s time sensitive, are not goofing off. With the Murder Twins on the loose maybe you should check in on them? (I mean don’t stop making sexy eyes at Lidia, but both of you are too smart to be this dumb)

* Yay for Ruhn and Lidia getting together! But seriously, you have major toh to Flynn and Dec for not looking for them.

* I like some characters are allowed to be gray, that even if Bryce wants to write them off they are acknowledged to be more complex than that. Theia, Helena, Aidas, Lidia. Tharion too. And no matter how righteous they may be the “good” characters screw up too. Hunt, Bryce, Ithan. It’s complicated.

* "After what happened this spring," Hunt said to his mate, "you trust them not to fucking eat everyone?" "Those were our pets," Aidas insisted, "not our armies. And they have been severely punished for it. They will stay in line this time, and follow our orders on the battlefield." Sure. Seems trustworthy.

* Standing ovation, cheering for Ruhn right now. Stick that sword in harder!

* Her brother only pressed a kiss to her brow and said, "Long live the queen." 👑

* This “sword and dagger together open a void to nothing that will suck in the Asteri” is both convenient and completely theoretical. No one’s actually tried it, they’re just going on a millenias old report that it’s for sure going to work. I mean, they don’t have anything better but it still seems like a leap to hang the fate of the world on.

But awfully nice of Helena and her sister leave very expository videos and demon princes to (finally) fill in some gaps.

Does Nesta come back?

* She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I can't even think about what they did. To Ophion and the camps ... to theMeadows ..." Her voice broke” This is the Bryce I remember from book one.

* “He'd always thought of himself as a good guy, but maybe he wasn't. Maybe he'd been deluding himself.” My poor Ithan 😢

* I love that Flynn’s earth magic is going crazy in Avallon

* I want Ithan to walk into the Den with Danika’s sword, have him take out Sabine in combat, and accidentally become the new Prime. Sucks Sigrid is dead, kinda, but Ithan seems to be overlooking the argument for *him* to be Prime.

* “Bryce grabbed Randall and said, "Surprise: I can teleport. Don't barf." Is anything more classically Bryce than this line?

* "That is ...," Randall said, and retched again. "Useful, but horrible." "I think that sums me up in a nutshell," Bryce said.” Nevermind, Bryce found this one all on her own.

* 🎉🎉Nesta!!!🎉🎉

* “Holy gods, his wife had balls. Tharion wisely wiped any sort of reaction from his face, but Ogenas damn him, if they survived this meeting, he wanted Sathia to teach him everything she knew.” It’s good to see a male recognize and respect a queen when he sees her.

* I’m sorry, Bryce is using her *parents* as collateral for the Mask??? I was wondering why Ember was along for the ride. Did they even know this was going to happen?

* I love the Fallen getting another chance to fight the Asteri.

* “The mech-suit held out a hand, and Hunt knew. He knew which of the Fallen controlled this suit, whose soul had come to offer a hand. To help him do the impossible. "Shahar," he said, tears falling.” 😭

* “Ember continued, looking only at Nesta, "I am glad of one thing: that I was able to meet you." Yeah, Ember’s got the right idea!

* Nesta gets Gwydion, and there isn’t a happier combination to be found in my world 😁

* I stayed up way too late last night when I had to get up early this morning to finish this book, and it’s a little overwhelming. I loved Shahar and the Fallen giving Hunt Bryce. I loved Connor and the Bone Island residents making the bullet. I loved Ithan’s arc, and Jesiba’s story. I love the fire sprites, and Ruhn and Lidia. I’m weirdly obsessed with Baxian/Danika. Hypaxia, Ithan, and Tharion are just the chaos triplets and should have their decision-making rights suspended, despite the fact that two out of three are major leaders.

* It’s amazing how science works in a few hours, but, eh, magic, so sure. You still can’t shock asystole to restart a heart. Bryce is…Batman? Always has a plan within a plan and is thinking ten steps ahead? I liked it better when she was fast on her feet and adaptable rather than omnicient. The conflict with Hunt about him having doubts and being there but not *completely* there for her got old fast. There is *a lot* of exposition to move the plot along. Nesta remains awesome and Ember needs to be her adoptive mom. Sigrid’s story is pretty tragic and I’m hoping it’s going somewhere. Tharion managed to piss off everyone and still survive, he should really play the lottery. I’m annoyed there are extra chapters that you have to hunt down (but thank god for fans on the internet).

* Anti-Nessians are grasping at straws, imo (Cassian is allowed to disagree with Nesta, think she made the wrong choice, and think Rhys is right. He’s even allowed to be angry with her for taking such a risk, while still respecting her integrity. He doesn’t leave her side and is very cautious about guarding her. People can feel more than one thing at a time.)

* Obviously the first book is my favorite. Things got a bit unwieldy after that, with some excellent storylines and some that fell flat. The third was better than the second, but the first half was better than the last part. I would love more Nesta & Bryce interaction

* Also, so I don’t forget: #FreeViktoria!

Bottom line: I’m glad this one doesn’t end on a cliffhanger like the last one as we’re facing an uncertain wait for further book news, but I hope there is more story to be told. Quite the trip!

[saintcolumbiformes]

For the book asks, 3, 4, 5?

3. What were your top five books of the year?

In no particular order:

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

Dungeon Meshi vol 11 by Ryuko Kui

Witch King by Martha Wells

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

June Hur!

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Probably fantasy?

[kbkirtley]

A Light So Lovely - Sarah Arthur

Madeline L’Engle is one of my favorite authors and this is one of my favorite biographies. Sarah Arthur does a brilliant job of explaining L’Engle as someone who thrived within paradoxes, holding competing ideas in tension and saying that it’s okay to do so. L’Engle’s most known work is A Wrinkle in Time (which I posted about earlier this week!), but Arthur goes much deeper than that I’m exploring the world through L’Engle’s unique perspective. A singular biography about a singular author that I can’t recommend enough to fans of her work!

[rose-of-oz]

🌟 + Mara Yang, please??

@dancingsunflowers-ocs ✨💛✨

Ooooh, Mara ask, yay!! Thanks so much, Alexandra!! (And I shall also tag the other Glee babes @luucypevensie, @ginger-grimm, @ginevrastilinski-ocs, and @manyfandomocs.<3 )

My girl Mara is a huge Swiftie - her favorite album is Fearless, and she and Quinn definitely make a date out of going to the Eras Tour in the future.

She has a nervous habit of fiddling with whatever bracelets she might be wearing, and there always is something there to fiddle with, because she’s always wearing bracelets.

She absolutely adores the old Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella movie from the fifties, with Julie Andrews, but of course she also really loves the newer one with Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother - during the club’s tribute to Whitney, she actually does a performance of the version of “Impossible” from that movie.

Her favorite books growing up where the Wrinkle in Time series by Madeline L’Engle, and she still has her old copies on the bookshelf in her room, their spines all creased and some of the pages stained from the times she tried to read while eating.

Her first pet was a sweet little grey hamster that she named Hermione, after Hermione Granger.

She has a certain yellow hoodie that she always wears on lazy days - it’s a bit stained and worn thin, but it’s also incredibly soft after so many washes and it’s perfect to wear just laying around or working on her latest jewelry-making project.

She loved The Powerpuff Girls when she was younger, and always wanted Bubbles’ powers.

A few times during Pride Month and every day during Lesbian Visibility Week, Mara will style her makeup after the lesbian flag. It’s her own way of showing pride, and the colors compliment her really well too.

She had a brief crush on Santana in fifth grade, but it didn’t last long, as she moved on to crushing on Quinn almost as soon as they started middle school. (She is kind of proud of herself for picking up on Santana’s queer vibe so early, though.)

Mara is very afraid of large dogs, having been attacked by her neighbour’s Rottweiler when she was four years old.

send me an oc and i’ll give you ten facts about them!!

[sheiskindasweet]

What’s your favourite book/ any book Recommendations?

Many of the foundational books on the topic of international feminism such as Women Race and Class by Angela Y. Davis , Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall or Ornamentalism by Anne Anlin Cheng.

If you’re into dystopian movies id try some of the classics from Orwell, Atwood or Mandel, as many of them have been adapted to film and are quite interesting reads.

After a few heavier reads I’ve started to reread a childhood fictional series I loved A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. I do love rediscovering series or books I read years ago.

Kind of all over the place here sorry!

[sometimesanalice]

for the ask game: 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

Oh I love this! 🫶🏻

Authors: Madeline L’Engle, Marie Rutkoski (the winners trilogy is my everything), Emily Henry, Carly Fortune, Danielle L Jensen.

For fanfic, I love anything that @gretagerwigsmuse , @laracrofted, @callsignspark, and @theharddeck have to share! I live for their updates! (That’s for the TGM fam, but I have others for some of my earlier fandoms like The 100 and THG)

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

[tothelighthouse1]

books and authors that shaped my childhood (before the age of percy jackson/harry potter/etc):

literally everything by erin hunter

everything by kathryn lasky

the perpetual search for the next 59 clues book since there were so many with different authors that they were shelved EVERYWHERE

the inheritance cycle

septimus heap

wings of fire

secrets of the immortal nicolas flamel

everything by jessica day george

scarlet by a. c. gaughen

spirit animals

everything cornelia funke

everything madeline l’engle

avalon web of magic

goddess girls

sisters grimm

frindle

the fairy chronicles

and so many others

y’all the impact these books had on me cannot be overstated. i would be a different person now without these.

[wordspinning]

The language of logical argument, of proofs, is the language of the limited self we know and can manipulate. But the language of parable and poetry, of storytelling, moves form the imprisoned language of the provable into the freed language of what I must, for lack of another word, continue to call faith.

Madeline L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet

[clevermird]

tagged by @dandelionsandderivatives to list 5 comfort characters. Like her, I needed to think about it for a while, lol.

1. Meg and Charles Wallace Murry from Madeline L’engle’s Time Quintet: While I will not in any way claim to have Meg’s level of genius, reading A Wrinkle in Time as a 10-year-old undiagnosed autistic girl who excelled in some school subjects and struggled in others, I felt very heard and seen. While I might have related more to Meg, I wanted to be friends with Charles Wallace and A Swiftly Tilting Planet in particular had a massive effect on my taste in fiction as an adult. Both characters are very special to me.

2. Honor “Beauty” Huston from Beauty by Robin McKinley: As I said in the review I posted of this book, Beauty is basically hot cocoa in book form, and that extends to the protagonist. A horse-loving, bookish young woman who hasn’t quite realized that she’s no longer an awkward-looking teenager. She has such a relatable thought process and approach to being trapped in the Beast’s kingdom that you can’t help but liking her.

3. the wizard Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (movie only, haven’t read the book): I just love him. He’s cute and funny and despite his tantrums, seems like a fun and exciting person to be around - not particularly safe, but fun and wondrous.

4. Jacqueline de Ghent from Ever After: I could have picked several characters from this modern-styled, pseudo-historical, non-supernatural take on the Cinderella story, but Jacqueline’s character arc is my favorite, going from a quiet, awkward girl to the fiance of the crown prince’s best friend and slowly realizing that she doesn’t need to just go along with her mother’s schemes and insults and can in fact side with her stepsister and her other friends. Her last line - “of course not, Mother, I’m only here for the food” is just *perfect*

5. Selene from Underworld: This is kind of a silly/strange one, but Underworld is just my perfect “I’m sad or sick or tired and don’t want to think, I just want fun action with hot people” movie. That’s really all there is to it. Also, I like vampires.

[declanscunt]

top five novels?

forgot how difficult it is for me to decide anything ever lol but....... currently my top 5 novels are:

the lonely city — olivia laing

nona the ninth — tamsyn muir

beloved — toni morrison

the time machine — h.g. wells

the things they carried — tim o'brien

nope sorry i must add more:

the cardturner — louis sachar

mister impossible — maggie stiefvater

a wrinkle in time — madeleine l’engle

a man called ove — fredrik backman

the dream thieves — maggie stiefvater

circe — madeline miller

[jerichomere]

Did Madeline L’Engle write this

Bacteria do have souls, but binary fission doesn’t produce new souls 99% of the time, so most single celled organisms share these sprawling souls that just get bigger every time they divide. Over time they compact down into these big mats of soul get compacted into geological layers that gradually accrete to the world soul. Sexual reproduction creates new souls but they’re much shorter lived as a result, and rarely make it into the bedrock, so most of the world spirit is from the Proterozoic.

[vileviale]

I think Madeline L’engle making a character that only speaks in quotes is so genius. I too have so many quotes (let’s forget for the moment that they’re brain rot) that need to be shared with the world