Saturday Good Reads – Oct. 17, 2026

The (unnamed) writer at A London Inheritance had a post this week about taking a walk in London. She calls pat of the “Rocque Ring,” and it forms the boundary of London in 1745. It begins at the Blue Coat School, located on Caxton Lane at the corner of Buckingham Gate, goes past Buckingham Palace, and then moves up Constitution Hill to Hyde Park. Our hotel – the one we’ve stayed at six times since 2013, is a short block from the Blue Coat School. This was “our neighborhood,” close to Victoria, near the Wellington Guards Barracks, and two blocks from the Palace and St. James’s Park. We could, and often did, walk to Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, and even Westminster Abbey. And we could, and often did, run into all the protests that are a daily occurrence in London. 

Englishman Henry Oliver, who writes about books, found himself in the Middle South of the United States – Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. And he discovered that there’s nothing boring in America. 

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

Freedom Around the Globe: A World History of the American Revolution by Sarah Persall – review by Timothy Symington at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

Passing Revolutionary History on to the Next Generation – Jim Sanderlin at Real Clear History.

 

The Revolutionary Battle of Valcour Island – Dan McLaughlin at National Review.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Belloc vs. Tolkien: Two Views of Anglo-Saxon England – Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

You Are Formed by What You Listen To; You Are Formed by What You Read – E.J. Larow at After Progress.

 

British Stuff

 

Rules, London’s Oldest Restaurant, Given to the National Trust – Jonathan Thomas at Londontopia.

 

Poetry

 

“Autumn,” poem by John Clare – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

The River & The Sea – poem by Rohini Sunderam at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Sweet Music – poem by Cody Ilardo at Power & Glory.

 

“Caedmon’s Hymn,” poem by Caedmon – Adam Robets at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Life and Culture

 

A Farmer’s Alphabet – Brian Miller at Notes from an East Tennessee Farmer.

 

His Love – Skye Peterson

Painting: An Old Man Reading, oil on panel (1729) by Willem van Mieris (1662-1747).

The crowds

After Luke 9:10-17 

The news of the healing,

of the teaching, spread;

the crowds followed.

Wherever he was,

the crowds followed,

to be healed as much

as to listen to his words,

which, they learned,

was the same thing,

one a physical healing,

one a spiritual healing.

When he withdrew 

to teach his disciples,

the crowds followed.

At the town by the sea,

the thousands followed

to the hillside, and he

welcomed them and

spoke to them.

They listened, and

they were healed.

 

Photograph by Keren Fedida via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Source,” poem by Nikki Grimes – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

Pieter Miedema: The Dutch Pastor Who Hid the Hunted – Jonathan Van Maren at The Bridgehead.

 

The Reality Gospel – Andrew Klavan at The New Jerusalem.

 

“Christ is Made the Sure Foundation,” hymn by John Mason Neale – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Not all Christian websites are good for your health – Murray Campbell.

 

He Made a Cross His Throne – Shane & Shane

Matthew Zapruder and "The Story of a Poem"

Matthew Zapruder is, well, a presence in poetry. He’s a poet. He’s published sixcollections of poetry the most recent being I Love Hearing Your Dreams (2024). His poetry is known for exploring themes of grief, perception, and logic. He published the influential work Why Poetry? He’s written essays and articles and done translations. He’s received awards, honors, and fellowships. He co-founded a publishing house. And he teaches in the MFA and English Department at Saint Mary’s College of California in suburban Sab Francisco.  

And now he’s published a memoir, The Story of a Poem. It may be the most unusual memoir I’ve read. No, it’s not written as a long poem, or series of poem. It looks like a standard memoir.

 

It is not a standard memoir. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Thursday Readings

 

“Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare,” poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Poet Laura: It’s Time to Pass the Feather – Donna Hilbert at Tweetspeak Poetry.

 

“How Doth the Little Crocodile,” poem by Lewis Carroll – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

Some Wednesday Readings – Oct. 14, 2026

In Which a Very Good Graphic Novel is Created, and I Meet Pooh Again – Sarah Hohner at Story Warren. 

The Grit That Built American Business – Richard Graber at The Coolidge Review.

 

The Art of Walking – Gracy Olmstead at Granola.

 

One Day in the Life of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – Cicero Bruce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language – Karen Swallow Prior at The Priory.

 

At Chiswick House – Spitalfields Life.

 

Rave in the nave: On the desecration of English cathedrals – The New Criterion.

 

Photograph of Chiswick House, London, by Said Camlica via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Poets and Poems: Mischa Willett and “This Gift Card Has Already Been Redeemed”

I’ve talked before about my experiences with the art of Anselm Kiefer. I’d seen two of works at the St. Louis Art Museum, and then in 2014 I walked into an entire exhibition at the Royal Academy of London. Over this past winter, the St. Louis Art Museum staged a massive exhibition of his works entitled “Becoming the Sea,” named for a line of poetry from Gregory Corso. One work also cited lines from the poet Paul Celan, and I just posted about Celan last week. Yes, I’m a fan of Kiefer’s art, but I don’t think I could quite articulate why. 

Until now. I read a poem in This Gift Card Has Already Been Redeemed, the new collection by Mischa Willett. The poem is about Kiefer, and it’s about art, writing, and books. And it’s mostly about the act of artistic creation. The poem explained, to me, at least, what it was about Kieffer’s art that I find so profound.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

In Defense of Rhyme – Euphrates Moss at Society of Classical Poets. 

 

Poetry Club Tea Date: Magician – Tweetspeak Poetry.

 

“In No Strange Land,” poem by Francis Thompson – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Lady Moon Launders – poem by Albert Giraud at Every Day Poems.

 

An Immigrant Requests a Heart Transplant – Rosa Lia Gilbert at Rabbit Room Poetry.

Some Monday Readings - Oct. 12, 2026

The Genius of Chesterton: Understanding the Heart of the Enduring Story – Kevin Belmonte at The Imaginative Conservative. 

Seven Years Alone on Wildcat Mountain – John Byron Kuhner at First Things Magazine.

 

Author Talk is Cheap – Terry Whalin at The Writing Life.

 

America Like Broken Pottery. America with Dragons Roaming – Katie Andraski at Katie’s Ground.

 

Such as she was, such as she would become: Richmond, Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown – Henry Oliver at The Common Reader.

 

Photograph: The Governor’s Mansion at Williamsburg, Va., by Christian Alvarez via Unsplash. Used with permission.

 

The One arrives

After Luke 3:1-22 

The one of which

the prophet spoke,

the one whose sandal

he was unworthy 

to untie, walked

among them, making

way directly

to the Prophet,

joining the people

seeking to be washed.

 

When the waters 

wash over him,

the heavens open,

the Spirit descends

like a dove, and 

a voice, the voice

is heard from above:

you are my Son,

my beloved Son,

in whom I am

well pleased.

 

And the prophet

knew his own time

was passing; 

the greater One

had come.

 

Photograph by Dewang Gupta via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

How Patient Attention Nurtures the Life of the Church – Mere Orthodoxy.

 

One Saving Word – Trevin Was at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Left To – poem by Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street.