JenniElyse

Narniathon: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

There are spoilers for THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER in this post.

Narniathon: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER is the third book in the Narniad (in published order). I finished reading it for the Narniathon21 I’m participating in on Monday. (The Narniathon’s hosted by Chris at Calmgrove.)

This is my favorite installment of the Narniad. I love how Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace get to Narnia, and I love reading about their adventures while sailing the Dawn Treader with Caspian and his crew. I think all of the different circumstances they find themselves in on each of the islands are interesting. My two favorite islands are Dragon Island and the one with the Dufflepuds.

I’m glad Dragon Island is one of the first islands they sail to. I don’t think I could’ve taken Eustace’s constant nagging, complaining, conceitedness any longer. The interesting thing is that Eustace actually becomes one of my favorite characters in the Narniad after his time as a dragon. I love getting more of Reepicheep in this adventure. He’s such a fun character. If I had a chance of meeting him, I’d be exactly like Lucy, wanting to pick him up and cuddle him. I him so much.

I said this with LWW and PRINCE CASPIAN, but I think every one of these books in the Narniad ends kind of abruptly and a little bit weirdly. THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER is probably the least out of the three so far because it at least winds down unlike the previous two.

As with the previous two, a few things regarding the allegory stood out to me during this read. I thought the way Eustace explained how he transformed back into a human with Aslan’s help was really interesting. It was almost like he was baptized and had his sins washed away. And, instead of Aslan bleeding like Christ did in the Garden of Gethsemane, CS Lewis turned it around by making Eustace hurt and bleed after Aslan cut through his dragon skin with his teeth or claws (I can’t remember which).

The other thing I noticed about the allegory is how Aslan was really only in THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER via second-hand accounts and the characters seeing visages of him when they were in danger. It was almost like CS Lewis was trying to portray Aslan as those of us who believe in Christ talk to Him through prayer.

I do like the ending when Aslan tells Lucy and Edmund the reason the Pevensies came to Narnia in the first place was so they’d recognize Him in their own world. It helps me make sense of why Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are now too old to return to Narnia, even though in my mind no one is too old to be in Christ’s presence since, you know, Aslan is Christ.

Also, over on Chris’ blog, he asked what we thought the significance was of the characters sailing east. I think the significance is part of the allegory. There are many scriptures that say when Christ comes again, He’ll appear in the east. Chris commented:

“I’ve no doubt that the journey to the east is meant to allude to Eden. Most medieval graves and many modern ones are literally oriented towards oriens, the ‘rising sun’ so that on the Day of Doom the faithful are facing the Second Coming. Lewis signals the symbolism very strongly with his references to the sun getting bigger, and the very name of the ship alludes to the theme.”

I didn’t even think of the name of the ship alluding to the theme of going toward the rising sun or pointing toward Christ, if you will. I think THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER has a lot about it that is very interesting to think about in terms of the allegory, again making it my favorite installment of the Narniad.

I’m looking forward to reading THE SILVER CHAIR this month. I don’t remember anything about it, except that Eustace returns to Narnia.

Have you read THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER? Did you like it? Why? Why not?

March 2, 2022/8 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday #7

Books I Enjoyed But Have Never Mentioned on My Blog

This week’s prompt is interesting! Do I go with books I’ve never mentioned on my blog since 2007 or since I started it up again in January? Hmmm. What to do, what to do. I’m going to go with books I haven’t mentioned on my blog since January. Here are my top ten books:

All ten of these books have something else in common besides me enjoying them and not having mentioned them on my blog before January. They were all written by authors from my home state–Utah. Utah has an awesome literary community. We always say there must be something in the water because a lot of authors get published from here. Some of our bigger named authors are Brandon Sanderson, Shannon Hale, and Ally Condie. They’re awesome people too. I feel fortunate to live near so many authors.

What about you? Which books have you enjoyed but never mentioned on your blog? Do we have any in common?

March 1, 2022/24 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Monthly

February 2022 Monthly Wrap-up

My reading momentum is still going strong. I didn’t read as many books in February as I did in January because of school and a little bit of anhedonia, but I managed at least one book per week which is really good for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish my Black History Month pick or get to my February Book of the Month pick. I’ll have to read them in March if I can.

My favorite book I read in February was ROCK PAPER SCISSORS by Alice Feeney. My least favorite book was TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE by Jenny Han because of the f*cking non-ending and love triangle.

Books Read

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

Books Reviewed

Stats

February

Books Read: 4

Pages Read: 1,100

Average Rating: 3.875

Year-to-Date

Books Read: 10

Pages Read: 2,776

Average Rating: 3.95

March Plans

How did your February go? What are your plans for March?

February 28, 2022/8 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Sunday News

Sunday News #7

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.

Feeling

I’m feeling crushed and a little bit numb. My friendship of 10 years with my BFF ended this week. She basically told me she can’t handle my Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) because the unpredictability of my moods is too much for her. She termed my mood swings as tantrums.

I understand being around someone with a mental illness like mine is hard. I also understand the last year has been difficult because of my suicide attempt last March. I know what I did didn’t just affect me; it affected everyone around me.

Last week, I said I was diagnosed with Quiet BPD, which means that I act in rather than out. In the past, most people, except maybe my husband, didn’t even know I was struggling. My moods have been more unpredictable because I’m in a very intense therapy program (I talked about it last week) and a lot of my struggles, pains, issues are rising to the surface what feels like almost constantly. This makes it really hard for me to regulate my emotions and it’s like the “quiet” part of my diagnosis is gone.

It’s all new terrain for me. At some point, I’ll be able to regulate my emotions better. That’s what my therapy’s doing for me–giving me the skills so I can navigate difficult situations. I’m learning, changing, and growing. And, with growing, there are growing pains. I wish my ex-friend could see that.

Blogging

I only started to blog again two months ago. I love blogging. I’ve actually had a website since 1996 in some way, shape, or form. The only reason I stopped blogging was because of severe depression. It just had too much of a hold on me and I didn’t have the tools to fight the anhedonia that accompanied the depression. It’s only because of my current therapist and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that I’m blogging again.

Why am I mentioning this? The devastation of losing my friend the way I did this week nearly caused me to close up shop again, especially since she’s part of the blogging community and I’ll to continue to see her around the interwebs. … I decided, though, that no matter how much this hurts, she doesn’t get to win, in that way anyway. I’m going to keep blogging, reading, and moving forward in my therapy. Not for her, for me.

This week on the blog:

Reading

I started reading THE SOUND OF STARS by Alechia Dow. To be honest, though, I’ve been preoccupied with other things as you can imagine. I’m going to put THE SOUND OF STARS on hold for a couple of days so I can quickly read THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by CS Lewis for the latest installment for the Narniathon21 that I’m participating in.

Listening

This week, I’ve been listening to The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. They used to be known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Whenever I’m feeling really down or I’m going through a really tough time, I listen to The Tabernacle Choir sing because it’s comforting and helps remind me I’m not alone.

I have several favorite songs, especially if they’re performing in person or on TV. My favorite, this week, has been “Consider the Lilies” because it was my mom’s favorite and it reminds me of her. I miss her lot. “Consider the Lilies” comes from the following scripture:

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.”
Matthew 6:28 KJV

Watching

I’ve been watching the new season of The Amazing Race. I really like the contestants. Kim and Penn Holderness are my favorite. I’m not a Holderness family fanatic or anything. I’ve watched some of their YouTube videos, but I don’t subscribe to them. I just really like Kim and Penn as a team. They’re very considerate to each other. I’ve never once heard them put each other down like other couples have and do on the show. The last time I watched The Amazing Race was season 9. It’s fun to watch it again after all this time. This season has been interesting because it was interrupted for more than 18 months by the pandemic.

Loving

I discovered Among Us, the video game, and I love it! It’s so much fun to play. I love that I can play it on my Nintendo Switch and Corey can join with his computer or iPhone. If you like video games, I highly recommend it. It takes a little bit to get used to the rules and game play, but once you understand what’s going on, you won’t want to put it down.

Wanting

I want a do-over. This semester is turning out to be a disaster. I’m having a hard time staying focused, caught up, and motivated because all my classes are online due to omicron and I do better when I’m actually in the classroom. Also, some of my mental health struggles during the last three weeks have made it a little harder than normal to focus on school.

Needing

I need Russia to leave Ukraine alone. And, honestly, it’s not really Russia, it’s Vladimir Putin. The Russians are subject to his whims and, unfortunately, the Ukrainians have to pay for it. I hope this ordeal doesn’t last long and I wish I could help other than just hurling insults at Putin.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

February 27, 2022/20 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday #6

Favorite Couples & Favorite Dynamic Duos and Trios

This week’s prompt is dynamic duos. Um … If I were a comic book reader, this prompt would be so easy. Unfortunately, I’m not so I’m changing the prompt a little bit. Instead of just dynamic duos, I’m listing my favorite couples and my favorite dynamic duos and trios. Here are my top ten:

Harry, Ron, and Hermione: I can’t help it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are my favorite trio. I love them and I love all that they do and accomplish in the seven books. I love how they help each other and I love who ends up with who. It’s perfect and no changes nor Cursed Child are necessary.

Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee: I could probably list all the duos in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Frodo and Sam are my favorite. In fact, Dumbledore, Atticus Finch, and Sam are my three favorite literary characters of all-time. I think Sam is the real hero of The Lord of the Rings, but I love his friendship with Frodo and how much he helps Frodo deliver the ring to Mordor.

Liesel and Rudy: I loved THE BOOK THIEF. I loved its message. I loved the way it was told. So many feels. Markus Zusak is a master of words. The moment Liesel and Rudy meet, they’re perfect together.

Lyra and Pantalaimon: I love the concept of dæmons in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. I love Lyra and Pan’s bond. I cried for them for what they had to go through in THE AMBER SPYGLASS. I can’t imagine what it would be like to do what they did, even though they’re fictional characters.

Jace and Clary: Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series is one of my favorite series. I love all the mythology, theology, adventure, and romance thrown into these stories. I love her characters so much. She has such a talent for writing stories that grab you from the first page.

Will, Jem, and Tessa: Clare’s The Infernal Devices trilogy is also one of my favorite series. I love the historical fiction element of this trilogy. This is one of only two trilogies in which I think the love triangle is done right and make sense. The other one is The Hunger Games.

Anna Oliphant and Étienne St. Clair: ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is my favorite contemporary romance. I love Anna and Étienne. Stephanie Perkins knows how to write swoony romance. The sexual tension between these two is palpable and it’s so fun to read. What I love more than their sexual tension is their friendship. They’re just good together in every way.

Henry and Kate: A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that EDENBROOKE by Julianne Donaldson has my favorite kiss in all of bookdom. Her other book, BLACKMOORE has my favorite friends-to-lovers story (if you don’t count ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, which I don’t since they weren’t friends as kids like Henry and Kate were). I love Henry and Kate. Their friendship is awesome and watching them fall in love, or realizing that they love each other, is a lot of fun to read.

Vasya and Morozko: If you’ve read The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden, then you know why Vasya and Morozko are on my list. The books are a wonderful mingling of fiction with 14th-century Russian history. I adored the medieval Russian setting at the time when pagan beliefs and Christianity clashed, not knowing which would overtake the other, rather than both trying to coexist together peaceably.

Charlotte and Wilbur: If you know me IRL, then you know I hate spiders. HATE them. I have severe arachnophobia. I had to read CHARLOTTE’S WEB by covering all the pictures of Charlotte, and the ending with all her babies flying through the air was enough to give me nightmares. Still is. But, I love her friendship with Wilbur. I love what she did for him. And, yes, the ending (other than the flying baby spiders) made me cry.

What about you? Who are your favorite couples and/or friends? Did you do dynamic duos or did you change the prompt like I did?

I’ve been learning in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) that life is full of dialectics, or two opposing truths. In this case, the two opposing truths are: 1) I don’t agree with JKR’s stance regarding trans people, and 2) I still love Harry Potter.

February 22, 2022/36 Comments/by Jenni Elyse