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Review of Recently Read Books, Part 2

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Last week I posted about non-fiction books I’ve read in recent weeks, and this week it’s time to talk about fiction and memoirs. Lest anyone think I’m lumping memoirs in with fiction for reasons of memoirs’ veracity, let me clarify that I’m categorizing them together because of similarity in writing form. The non-fiction books I listed last week are prescriptive. Both fiction and memoirs are descriptive and contain narrative rather than topical chapters. So there you have it.

Let’s start with fiction. In preparation for the movie release, I read for the first time The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Not only was it my first time to read The Hobbit, it was my first time to read anything by Tolkien. As an English major, I’m a little ashamed to admit that, and I’m also sad that it took me so long to realize how wonderful Tolkien’s writing is. I’ve seen all of the Lord of the Rings trilogy twice, but I still can’t keep large chunks of the story straight with all of the various characters and their unusual names. After reading The Hobbit, watching the movie, and never once feeling confused by the story, I can’t wait to read the trilogy and experience the story as it was originally intended — in book form.

Not long after reading The Hobbit, I picked up where I left off in the Harry Potter series, the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and I made the opposite decision with that series — at this point I don’t think I will continue reading the rest of the series. Not because I haven’t enjoyed it greatly. Not because I don’t think it’s a remarkable story. But because I have such a limited time to read. My fiance, his 12-year-old son, and I recently watched all eight movies in the series (not all at once, over eight weeks — settle down!), and I don’t struggle to keep up with the story in that series like I do with LOTR. Now that I know how it all ends (probably the last person in America to know), I don’t think I need to read the rest of the books. If I’d been reading them when they came out, I would feel differently. But there’s only so many hours in the day and too many books on my to-read shelf. Please forgive me, HP fans.

Moving on to memoirs, a friend loaned me a well-loved (read: tattered) copy of Who Gets the Drumstick?: The Story of the Beardsley Familywith Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda on the cover. After losing her Navy pilot husband in an accident, Helen North (mother of eight children) meets and marries widower Frank Beardsley (father of ten children). Yep, that’s eighteen kids. Plus two more kids together. Twenty kids. I had expected a book from this time period to be overly sentimental and melodramatic, but the writing was both straightforward and clever. It’s a quick read and an enjoyable story, and the parts where Helen Beardsley shares her heart about losing her husband and falling in love again are well done and moving. Plus, Beardsley’s descriptions of the logistics and planning involved in smoothly running a household of twenty-two are fascinating.

Next I read After Action: The True Story of a Cobra Pilot’s Journey by Dan Sheehan. The majority of the book is a fast-paced account of Sheehan’s involvement as a Marine Corps helicopter pilot in the beginning of the Iraq war — I could hardly put it down, it is so well written and well paced. The last fifty pages or so, describing Sheehan’s decision to put pen to paper and the process of completing his book, were equally as gripping as the battle scenes, in my opinion, as Sheehan works through and identifies some of the emotions and memories he carried home from war. I highly recommend the book, with the caveat that it uses rough language throughout (I find that the language gives authenticity to Sheehan’s descriptions, but just wanted to offer the advance notice for anyone who might want to know).

What I hope to read next: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger; Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson; Matt Archer: Blade’s Edge by Kendra C. Highley; Falling For Your Madness by Katharine Grubb.

I see that I don’t have any memoirs on my to-read list — any suggestions? Or suggestions in fiction?

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Review of Recently Read Books, Part 1

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted a list of books that I’m reading, but there’s no time like now to change that.

I’m calling this post a review of “recently read” books because they aren’t recent books, just books that I’ve been reading recently. I’m afraid these days I’m behind the times when it comes to reading the newest and most popular titles, but I’d rather focus during this season of my life on the topics that are most practical and relevant to what I’m going through, with a few fiction and memoir titles sprinkled in for good measure. And so, here’s the break down of what’s been on my night stand the past few months:

Non-fiction

A lot of these titles would fall under the category “Marriage and Family” — not a category I’ve done much reading in in the past. I’m quickly finding there are good and helpful books to read in this genre, and there are…other books. I’m only writing here about the ones I recommend.

Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend — Friends and coworkers told me for years that I should read this one, and last summer I finally did. Now I realize just how influential the book is and why — it seems like every other title I’ve picked up recently quotes Boundaries or draws openly from its concepts. I highly recommend it for anyone who seeks to understand how better to relate to family members, coworkers, and friends in a way that protects your own mental and emotional health. I did quite a bit of highlighting in my Kindle copy to reread later, particularly in the section that discusses the boundary needs of children and parents during the stages of development.

ScreamFree Parenting by Hal Edward Runkel — My fiance, Stephen, recommended this one as the parenting book that has most influenced how he handles problem situations with his boys, so I eagerly read it to understand more about Stephen’s parenting style and found that Runkel quotes Boundaries and makes some similar points. Contrary to the title’s suggestion, the book isn’t just about not screaming at your kids. Every person has a different way of reacting in stressful situations, whether it is to scream, to shut down and become distant, to become sarcastic and insulting, or whatever. The premise of the book is that the parent should be the person in the house who sets the pace and maintains a sense of order, not reacting to children out of anxiety, fear, or a need to control. When we react to children’s misbehavior in negative ways, we teach children that they should behave so that we don’t scream at or ignore them — we’re manipulating them rather than teaching them and training them.

As soon as I read the book I started seeing multiple relationships in my life that have moments where I’m reacting and trying to control — screaming might not be my M.O., but still, I think there are ways I can apply the lessons of the book so that it’s not just about ScreamFree Parenting but ScreamFree Life.

The Smart Stepmom by Ron L. Deal and Laura Petherbridge — Yet another book that mentions Boundaries. I learned of this book through a podcast series by FamilyLife Today that Stephen and I listened to on our drive from Washington to Texas. I’m often hesitant to listen to “Christian” radio shows because I’ve found many of them to be “feel good,” lacking substance, or just downright annoying in their upbeatness. But the “Your Stepfamily: Standing Strong” series was refreshingly realistic, and Ron Deal and Laura Petherbridge’s book turned out to be equally grounded in reality but steeped in hope for the long term. Building a successful stepfamily takes years of work, and stepmothers often feel isolated, stigmatized, and unrecognized — but the fruit of the sacrifices made by stepmoms is more than worth it. As I prepare to become a stepmom to four boys (Oh my word. Four boys.), I enter into this family knowing that it will be far from easy, may often be heart-breaking, but if I live my days looking to God’s grace and praying to be a display of His presence to the boys, then I can be the stepmom I need to be.

Preparing for Marriage by John Piper — A thin e-book (can you call e-books thin?), the first chapter contains a long series of questions that Stephen and I worked through over several evenings — questions on everything from theology to household duties to expectations for the holidays. Highly recommended. Download it here.

Currently reading: Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas (the central question is a big one: what if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?); The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn; Pursuing Justice by Ken Wytsma.

Reading next: Anatomy of the Soul by Curt Thompson; Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman; The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler; Blame it on the Brain by Edward T. Welch.

This started out as one long blog post, but I decided to divide it into two. Look for the next post to cover fiction and memoirs.

What are you reading lately? Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?

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Fave Books of 2011

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Here it is, the not-so-clever introduction to my list of favorite books from the year. Last year was the first time for me to post such a list, and I really enjoy thinking through these types of things at year end, so here I am again.

On 2010’s list were two novels and three nonfiction books. This year I’m including two novels, three nonfiction books, and one book of poetry (hey! I read a whole book of poetry this year!). And just a note for anyone who cares about this sort of thing — this isn’t a list of books from 2011, but a list of favorites that I read this year. I’m not always so up on things that I actually read books the year they come out.

Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl: Wide Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World by N.D. Wilson — I wrote an Other People’s Thoughts post about this one in May and how affected I was both by the truths Wilson presents and by the masterful and artistic way that he presents them. I recently started rereading the book, again in an airport of all places. I guess I really need the poetic and the divine when I’m in transit.

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry — I sort of am in love with Jayber Crow. The character and the book. It was my first Berry novel to read, followed later this year by Hannah Coulter. Berry has a lot to say about love, and I like what he says about it in both novels, but Jayber Crow did a better job of completely stealing my heart. (Goodness, am I making Berry sound like a romance novelist? He’s quite the opposite.)

A Timbered Choir: the Sabbath Poems 1979-1997 by Wendell Berry — My poetry year started off with this book of Berry’s poems and changed the way I approach poetry: namely, I actually do approach poetry now. Before, it always made me feel nervous and intimidated. I learned so much from reading through this book of Sabbath poems and am thinking about starting off 2012 with it as well. (See posts on this book here, here, and here)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot — Crazy that I’m including a book with so much info on cellular biology and medical ethics, but somehow it works. The story was riveting, partly because it’s true and partly because Skloot does a terrific job of putting all the pieces together. I learned a lot about writing creative nonfiction from reading this one.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte — I wrote a lengthy post about why this is an all-time favorite. Read it to find out.

Country Driving by Peter Hessler — Another wonderful piece of creative nonfiction. I love reading Hessler’s writing on China in the last 10 or so years (Oracle Bones is another favorite), and I also enjoy seeing how he frames a story and brings it all together. Country Driving was of particular interest to me this year, as I’m working on my own book about a road trip, though mine will be through West Texas instead of China.

Honorable Mention: A Praying Life by Paul Miller — I’ll be honest, the writing in this one wasn’t spectacular — it’s not bad, though, it just doesn’t stand out. But what Miller has to say in the book has impacted my life and thinking more than just about anything I read this year. He completely pinned me down on his descriptions of cynicism and how it affects our faith. I’m still struggling with how to live in what he calls the desert that lies between hope and reality and how my being in that desert for a few years now is affecting my prayers. This book is another one that I’ve picked up to reread sections at the close of the year.

What have you enjoyed reading this year?

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Other People’s Thoughts: Linger Till the Sun Goes Down

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I wrote in January that I wanted to read Jane Eyre at some point this year. It’s October, and I’m finally getting around to it. For years I’ve said that it’s my favorite book, but I had lately started to worry that if I reread it now I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I did when I was younger. Look for a post in the next couple of weeks about whether or not I’m finding that the book lives up to my memories.

Today’s “Other People’s Thoughts” is taken from a scene early in the novel, in the lead-up to Jane meeting Mr. Rochester for the first time — such lovely, picturesque description of the countryside:

“I was a mile from Thornfield, in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for nuts and blackberries in autumn, and even now possessing a few coral treasures in hips and haws, but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose. If a breath of air stirred, it made no sound here; for there was not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle, and the stripped hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white, worn stones which causewayed the middle of the path. Far and wide, on each side, there were only fields, where no cattle now browsed; and the little brown birds, which stirred occasionally in the hedge, looked like single russet leaves that had forgotten to drop.”

I remember now why I loved and identified so much with Jane all those years ago — she can sit on the roadside and ponder a field and linger from 3:00 “till the sun went down amongst the trees, and sank crimson and clear behind them.” My favorite time of day, my favorite way to while away a few hours.

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Summer Reading List, 2011

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I’ve been meaning to write this post for a few weeks, but it’s hard to get motivated for a summer reading post when it still doesn’t seem like summer here in the Tri-Cities. Last weekend was nice and sunny, but the weather could only be classified as warm, not hot. I guess I need to continue refining my definition of the seasons.

Nevertheless, here it is, my summer reading list. I liked the categories I used in my “Reading List for 2011, the first half,” so I’ll go with some of those again and give a bit of follow-up to what I’ve read so far this year. As always, you can check out my shelves on Goodreads for more titles.

Poetry — My poem-a-day goal for 2011 is going well. I finished (and loved) A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry. I read a short book of poems by Gary Soto, and now I’m working on Emily Dickinson for a while.

Writing — I started Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg but lost motivation to finish it. I hope to pick it up and read a few essays here and there to wrap it up over the next couple of months. I also still need to read Creative Nonfiction magazine’s Keep it Real — I’m working on a couple of articles and a new book idea that would benefit from these essays on writing nonfiction.

Nonfiction — Not much change from my previous list, I’m sad to say, so I’m going to make a more reachable goal: I want to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as soon as I can get it off the waiting list at the library.

Fiction — I did read (and loved) the novel Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry, so now I just need to revisit Jane Eyre. I’ve been looking forward to that for months, but somehow other books keep sneaking their way in ahead of it. What better time than summer to indulge in an old favorite?

What are your reading plans for the summer?

 

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Other People’s Thoughts: from Jayber Crow

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“Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful. There is always more to tell than can be told. As almost any barber can testify, there is also more than needs to be told, and more than anybody wants to hear.”

- Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

A fine line to walk, a fine boundary to discover, the right amount of story to tell and the right amount to leave out. Something to think about as a writer and editor, but I imagine it’s also an apt word for just about everyone to apply to conversations with anyone other than a counselor!

 

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Where it all began

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This past week, on a quick trip to Texas for my cousin’s wedding, I packed up all my books from my parents’ house to ship back to Washington. It’s been over a decade since I lived in the same place as my books. I’ve become pretty militant about decluttering in recent years, so I own fewer books than I did at one point in my life, but there were still several boxes to pack on this trip.

I decided one box needs to go to North Carolina to my niece. In it are books that I’ve kept since childhood, but realize now that Patience will get more use out of them than me. An almost complete set of Anne of Green Gables (what happened to #6 Anne of Ingleside?). A few Nancy Drew books, some passed down to me by my own aunts. Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Secret Garden. Several Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.

Several didn’t go in Patience’s box, but will go with me to Washington. I bought her a set of the Little House books a few years back, and she’s reading them aloud with her mother now, so I’ll take mine with me. And my Chronicles of Narnia — well, I’ll buy her a set of those because I just can’t part with mine, not after I read them so many times as a child and again in a literature class at Baylor.

And one Beverly Cleary book will find a place on the shelf in Kennewick. Ribsy, printed in 1982 and purchased at a book fair at David K. Sellars Elementary in Fort Worth. My teacher wrote in clear letters inside the front cover: Becky, Room 2. I very distinctly remember buying this book. It cost $2.25 and was the first book I picked out and bought on my own. I was very proud that day to be old enough to buy my own book, and even though it’s just paper, just a thing, it makes me happy that I still have it with me. Because even though it’s just paper, it’s something much more than just paper. It’s a tangible reminder of a day almost 30 years ago, when I started down a path that shaped the me of today.

 

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About Goodreads

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After my post yesterday about Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl, a friend asked me on Facebook if there was a way I could organize a place to share books and recommendations. Thus, this post about Goodreads, the place that is already organized to do just such a thing.

I’ve been on Goodreads longer than I’ve been on Facebook. Only by a few days, but still, Goodreads is technically the first social media site I used. Kind of appropriate for someone who loves books as much as I do, huh?

Goodreads is a super cool site for several reasons, and I’m going against my typical stance on lists in blog posts by highlighting those reasons here:

Goodreads is great for keeping up with what your friends are reading. As your friends update their books, you can log on and interact with them, or you can choose to get email updates. If you have a lot of friends who read, it’s a great way to stay in touch about what you’re currently reading, what you are enjoying, what you wouldn’t recommend.

It’s also handy for nerds like me who like to keep track of what we’re reading or have already read. You can make list upon list on Goodreads, as well as let people know what page number you’re on in your current read. I’m not so obsessive as to update page numbers on a regular basis, but I have used that feature to keep track of my progress during my poem-a-day in 2011.

Goodreads is the best way I’ve found to give book recommendations on Facebook and Twitter. I went through a couple of Facebook apps for sharing book reviews, star ratings, and recommendations before realizing that Goodreads is just the best. It’s easy to link your Goodreads account to both Facebook and Twitter.

It’s also easy to link to a blog. See that link on the left? It takes you to my Goodreads shelf called “Favorites.” Any time you want, you can click to see what books I love. Any time. My friend Jen uses Goodreads on her blog to highlight the books that she’s found useful while training for triathlons.

It’s a great site for looking at reviews when deciding if you want to read a book. Once upon a time, I consulted Amazon’s reviews alone for this information, but now I check Goodreads before Amazon when deciding if a book is worth my read. Which leads me to say…

Goodreads helps out writers. Writers can choose to develop a Goodreads Author profile and have more opportunities to interact with potential readers. Obviously, good reviews given to authors on Goodreads lead to more people buying and reading their books. And writers who interact with readers through social media also have the potential to increase book sales.

Goodreads has one of the best newsletters for keeping up with the latest books to hit the shelves. I get a lot of email newsletters in my inbox, but I actually read the one from Goodreads before deleting it. And I’ve purchased books that I read about in that newsletter, which means, once again, that Goodreads is helping writers and publishers.

Are you convinced yet that you should start a Goodreads account? Be sure and friend me when you do.

 

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Other People’s Thoughts: Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl

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A late landing, a mad rush to find my next gate, a connection delayed because the pilot was at a different airport. I ended up having a two hour layover in Dallas instead of Seattle on my way from Raleigh back to Washington. Frustrating to be stuck in an airport 35 miles from the house I grew up in, the house my parents still live in. Frustrating to be stuck in what may be the last airport in North America not to have free wi-fi, when I had banked on settling into a corner at Sea-Tac, sipping coffee, and getting a couple of hours of research done.

I called each of my parents at work to say hi from the short distance and to complain over the phone about how crummy my day was turning out to be. I wasn’t happy about having to run through the airport with my backpack and roll-aboard. I wasn’t happy about the TSA nazis. I wasn’t happy that I had woken up at 3:45am to start my journey, which my sister pointed out would really be 12:45am by the time I made it back to Kennewick. I whined.

And then I plopped down, and out of boredom and lack of wi-fi I turned to the book I had chosen to start reading on this trip. The book I hadn’t had time to read yet in the previous two weeks. Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World by N.D. Wilson. He writes many lovely analogies of our existence on earth and relationship with God. One is that we are each characters in a story — read the book to do the analogy full justice. God is sovereign and He is good. How do we deal with that in the day-to-day, not to speak of in the tragic moments?

“What will your character do when the petty things happen, when your car betrays you in the cold? When the pipes freeze? When God knowingly places ice on the sidewalk beneath your feet? When the sun sets beautifully while you needle your wife? Do you laugh at the jokes and love the lovely? Are you too important to be amused at your own finitude? Are you unaware that your bowels move daily? How lofty are you?”

Rebuked. When the pilot is still in Austin and wi-fi is a distant thought, I need to just get over myself. God has bigger things going on, and I’m cranky over an inconvenience. That’s not the character I want to be in this story.

 

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A Garden in Our Minds

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April is National Poetry Month, and in a few days I will finish reading my first book of poetry during my year of reading a poem a day. For my first book, I chose A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997 by Wendell Berry. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past few months of reading Berry’s poetry out loud each day, and I look forward to reading his novel Jayber Crow soon (as I promised myself to do in my reading list for the first half of 2011).

A few lines from Berry’s Sabbath poems of 1992 that I found fitting for this season of the year:

“The winter world of loss

And grief is gone. The night

Is past. Along the whole

Length of the river, birds

Are singing in the trees.

 

Again, hope dreams itself

Awake. The year’s first lambs

Cry in the morning dark.

And, after all, we have

A garden in our minds.”

 

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