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The Art of Living in Season: A Year of Reflections for Everyday Saints
"What can I give him?” Growing up in her native Provence, in southern France, Sylvie Vanhoozer learned about the traditional Provençal crèche. These nativity scenes were peopled by santons ―“little saints”―each bringing their unique gifts to the baby Jesus. As her own life took her around the world, to England, Scotland, and the United States, she kept up the tradition of her native crèche in her own home, adding to it souvenirs from each new place where she found herself. In The Art of Living in Season , Vanhoozer invites readers to join this communion of little saints and to follow them not only at Christmas but throughout the whole year. Each chapter introduces a new santon and opens up another aspect of our annual pilgrimage toward Christ. Structured as weekly reflections and illustrated with Vanhoozer's own botanical illustrations, this book invites us to follow Christ in our own places and seasons of life, beginning by keeping in step with the rhythms of nature and the church calendar. The Art of Living in Season is a companion for everyday saints who wonder how they can follow Jesus―and what they can give him―wherever, whenever, and whoever they are.
264 pages, Paperback
Published April 9, 2024
25 people are currently reading
3306 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 23, 2025
Oh, how I loved this book. I started it in Advent last year and took it very slowly through the year, all the way to Christ the King Sunday! It accompanied me through my own transatlantic move and I plan to start it again next week. The Art of Living in Season was one of the eight books that made it in my suitcase because I couldn't bear to leave it behind. It was such a comfort as I uprooted myself and continues to be a wonderful resource as I put down roots here in Scotland.
Sylvie Vanhoozer is from Provence, France, and illuminates the liturgical year through the light of the santons, local creche (nativity) figurines that represent everyday people coming to the manger. Yet, her purpose is not just to educate about this Provençal tradition--though she does that and more!--but to help each of us think about our daily lives lived alongside Jesus, who has come into every corner of the world.
As the revival of interest in the liturgical year grows (wonderful! so grateful to be living through it!!!), books abound and not all of them are of equal quality. The Art of Living in Season felt truly unique to me. Not just the Provençal element, not just the botanical illustrations, not even the better-than-average writing. It was the character of Vanhoozer herself, who so clearly lives a cruciform life. She delights in the natural world, sits patiently with hard questions, and the love of God fills her to overflowing.
The Art of Living in Season is meant to be read through the liturgical year, with four practices for each chapter--pause, ponder, pray, play your part--that can be done weekly. There is a glossary of French terms and the endnotes are helpful. I would highly, highly recommend a physical copy to enjoy Vanhoozer's glorious botanical art and illustrations of each santon. Don't miss this book!
Sylvie Vanhoozer is from Provence, France, and illuminates the liturgical year through the light of the santons, local creche (nativity) figurines that represent everyday people coming to the manger. Yet, her purpose is not just to educate about this Provençal tradition--though she does that and more!--but to help each of us think about our daily lives lived alongside Jesus, who has come into every corner of the world.
As the revival of interest in the liturgical year grows (wonderful! so grateful to be living through it!!!), books abound and not all of them are of equal quality. The Art of Living in Season felt truly unique to me. Not just the Provençal element, not just the botanical illustrations, not even the better-than-average writing. It was the character of Vanhoozer herself, who so clearly lives a cruciform life. She delights in the natural world, sits patiently with hard questions, and the love of God fills her to overflowing.
The Art of Living in Season is meant to be read through the liturgical year, with four practices for each chapter--pause, ponder, pray, play your part--that can be done weekly. There is a glossary of French terms and the endnotes are helpful. I would highly, highly recommend a physical copy to enjoy Vanhoozer's glorious botanical art and illustrations of each santon. Don't miss this book!
November 29, 2024
Love this book! It’s a feast of rich images and poignent questions that gently creates space for readers to ponder and reflect, and also invites us to joyfully participate in the rhythms of nature, the seasons of the church year, and seasons of life. Highly recommend, and am already excited to reread. This is a book I want to accompany me through life!
October 12, 2024
Where I found it: I won this book on GoodReads Giveaways! Thank you for sending me this wonderful physical copy of the book! This one truly is AMAZING and is just perfect to have in hand to read daily coming up on the holidays.
What I think: I truly wasn’t expecting it to be this good, once I got past the first 10 pages I was finally putting 2 and 2 together about what this book is truly about. Honestly it’s soo good I learned so much from this book, and I’m happy I got a chance to read it. This is a book that you can keep reading year after year. Read it fast in just a few days or slowly over the year; then do it all over again💙. This book has helped explain a few traditions about the holidays as well as giving you new ideas to start with your own family. Would recommend this book to any of my religious friends and family for sure. I love the idea of living in the season, to only eat where you are located and what god gives you at that time.
November 27, 2025
A Book to Read Through the Seasons
Whether you begin at Advent, or mid-summer, this delightful journey though the seasons is both insightful and calming. Using quotes from well-known saints and verses from the Bible, Vanhoozer guides us though the year as we cherish the foods, plants and rituals of each season.
Whether you begin at Advent, or mid-summer, this delightful journey though the seasons is both insightful and calming. Using quotes from well-known saints and verses from the Bible, Vanhoozer guides us though the year as we cherish the foods, plants and rituals of each season.
November 19, 2024
Beautiful art, thoughtful, thought-provoking words.
A very encouraging read.
A very encouraging read.
June 17, 2025
A really beautiful book. Lots of good things to inspire me and think about.
June 28, 2024
I’m interested in the cycle of seasons, both natural and liturgical. The author journeys thru both. The book is more of a memoir for the author than a devotional for the reader. Since I didn’t know much about Provence, the author’s home, it was educational. Stunning botanical illustrations.
July 24, 2024
What a beautiful book! I read a few pages a day and savored every minute of it. I especially enjoyed the artwork and the meditations.
May 9, 2024
In this unique book, Sylvie Vanhoozer explores the church calendar and the seasons of the year through the lens of santons, small clay figures that represent people bringing gifts to baby Jesus based on their everyday work and calling. She explains the roots of this Nativity tradition from her native Provence, and she shares shares how engaging with this cultural tradition and the everyday saints it represents has deepened her faith.
Throughout the book, she moves through an entire year of the church calendar, sharing thematic reflections, introducing different santons and what they represent, explaining traditions from Provence, and touching on elements of her own story. She also includes reflection points and applications for her readers, usually in a weekly format, and the book includes lovely illustrations that Vanhoozer has made of santon figures and different plants.
Chapters also include sections on "eating in season," with information about different plants that are in season at different times of the year. Although I enjoyed the botanical illustrations and some of the details that she shared, I did not appreciate the occasionally insensitive ways that Vanhoozer wrote about people's food choices. I agree that we lose a lot as a society and as individuals when we are disconnected from the earth's rhythms, and that the international food supply network is fraught with ethical and environmental issues. However, Vanhoozer frames this too much as an individual problem, when it is profoundly systemic and most people aren't in a place to do anything about it.
It requires time, effort, and financial privilege to eat a healthy and nutritious diet, let alone to manage your diet based on local farming. I am glad that Vanhoozer has found it so fulfilling to change her meal prep rhythms, but it greatly bothered me when she implied moral judgment to people who eat produce out of season. She connects this to greed, gluttony, and a lack of environmental sensitivity, but most people are just buying what's available and what they can afford, and are trying put nutritious food on the table. Also, some people deal with dietary sensitivities and health issues that limit their ability to eat whatever is in season at the moment. Vanhoozer's idealism is nice but out of reach for some people, and her judgment is unnecessarily harsh and out of place.
The Art of Living in Season is a unique book that flows from the author's cultural background and personal life, while also addressing universal experiences and core elements of the Christian faith. The author's beautiful writing and art appealed to me, and I learned a lot from this book. However, if food-related issues are a particularly sensitive subject to someone because of finances, health problems, or a history of disordered eating, they should know that a significant section of this book comes back repeatedly to food, sometimes along with the author's judgment. I found this aspect very disappointing, even though I enjoyed many other elements of the book.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Throughout the book, she moves through an entire year of the church calendar, sharing thematic reflections, introducing different santons and what they represent, explaining traditions from Provence, and touching on elements of her own story. She also includes reflection points and applications for her readers, usually in a weekly format, and the book includes lovely illustrations that Vanhoozer has made of santon figures and different plants.
Chapters also include sections on "eating in season," with information about different plants that are in season at different times of the year. Although I enjoyed the botanical illustrations and some of the details that she shared, I did not appreciate the occasionally insensitive ways that Vanhoozer wrote about people's food choices. I agree that we lose a lot as a society and as individuals when we are disconnected from the earth's rhythms, and that the international food supply network is fraught with ethical and environmental issues. However, Vanhoozer frames this too much as an individual problem, when it is profoundly systemic and most people aren't in a place to do anything about it.
It requires time, effort, and financial privilege to eat a healthy and nutritious diet, let alone to manage your diet based on local farming. I am glad that Vanhoozer has found it so fulfilling to change her meal prep rhythms, but it greatly bothered me when she implied moral judgment to people who eat produce out of season. She connects this to greed, gluttony, and a lack of environmental sensitivity, but most people are just buying what's available and what they can afford, and are trying put nutritious food on the table. Also, some people deal with dietary sensitivities and health issues that limit their ability to eat whatever is in season at the moment. Vanhoozer's idealism is nice but out of reach for some people, and her judgment is unnecessarily harsh and out of place.
The Art of Living in Season is a unique book that flows from the author's cultural background and personal life, while also addressing universal experiences and core elements of the Christian faith. The author's beautiful writing and art appealed to me, and I learned a lot from this book. However, if food-related issues are a particularly sensitive subject to someone because of finances, health problems, or a history of disordered eating, they should know that a significant section of this book comes back repeatedly to food, sometimes along with the author's judgment. I found this aspect very disappointing, even though I enjoyed many other elements of the book.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2026
This book is a reflection on the Christian year from an author who grew up in Provence, in southern France. She reflects on traditions from her native region, and how they help to understand both the changing of the natural seasons and the Church calendar. I didn't expect to like the book as much as I did, but I found it insightful both in terms of spirituality, and in terms of learning about a region that I wasn't overly familiar with before. She brings together history and culture in a unique way. She does get in to some of the current anti-capitalist fads, such as complaining about people eating out of season produce, but overall, I thought the book was very thoughtful, and generally reasonable. I had expected it to be more of a daily devotional, but it actually gives seasonal (and sometimes weekly) readings.
April 2, 2024
Vanhoozer's book is both down-to-earth, quite literally as she includes her beautiful botanical art, and profound as it takes us through the church calendar and natural seasons with santons, miniature clay figurines bringing gifts to Jesus, who guide the way. A shepherd, farmer, knife sharpener, fishmonger, a woman carrying soup, and a lavender woman are just a few of the everyday santons through whom Vanhoozer takes us into her hometown of Provence, France, into the church calendar, and into her life.
We are all everyday saints, and we have gifts to bring wherever we are, whatever we are doing, and at any stage of life. I highly recommend this book.
Many thanks to IVP for providing me with a copy of this marvelous book. All opinions are my own.
We are all everyday saints, and we have gifts to bring wherever we are, whatever we are doing, and at any stage of life. I highly recommend this book.
Many thanks to IVP for providing me with a copy of this marvelous book. All opinions are my own.
September 22, 2025
It was cool getting a taste of the writer’s homeland of Provence and seeing their church traditions.
December 27, 2025
Definitely a take on the Christmas crèche I’ve never heard before. Gardening bits were definitely my fave!
January 18, 2026
“The autumn of our lives is a season to begin preparing to leave a place we love and know so well for a place we love and know by faith alone.”
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews