I began Mother Reader‘s 48-hour Reading Challenge last night (Friday) at midnight, and I’ll finish up tomorrow at midnight. I’m still working on my first book, Doc by Mary Doria Russell.
The 48-hour Reading Challenge is sponsored this year by Miss Yingling Reads, and sh’s got some wonderful prizes and great posts about books and reading. Check it out.
I’ll update this post as I finish books for the challenge.
Children’s and Young Adult Fiction:
There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones.
The Drowned Vault by N.D. Wilson. Sequel to The Dragon’s Tooth in the Ashtown Burials series.
Code of Silence by Tim Shoemaker.
Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally. Ten drama/romance. Here’s my review at Breakpoint: Youth Reads.
The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy. I read an ARC of this hilarious sequel to The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. This second book is even more fun than the first. Look for my review closer to the publication date in late April.
Adult Fiction:
No Wind of Blame by Georgette Heyer.
Reinventing Rachel by Allison Strobel.
Nonfiction:
The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family, and Dicks Built a Dynasty by Willie and Korie Robertson, with Mark Schlabach.
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan.
Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger’s Love Story by Jerry and Mary Newport, with Johnny Dodd.
For twenty years I’ve stared my level best
To see if evening—any evening—would suggest
A patient etherized upon a table;
In vain. I simply wasn’t able . . .
~C.S. Lewis
I learned from a friend in college many years ago that you don’t read Eliot and other twentieth century poets the same way you read Tennyson or even The Odyssey. When I I first read The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock or The Wasteland, I wanted the poems to tell a straightforward story, a narrative. Prufrock does sort of tell the story of a man who is trapped by his own ineffectualness and lack of confidence. But that poem and especially the other famous poems by Eliot, The Wasteland, Ash Wednesday, The Hollow Men, and Four Quartets all have to be read the same way I have to listen to contemporary song lyrics: pick out the lines and images that speak to you and don’t try too hard to make sense of the whole.
So, my favorite lines from T.S. Eliot:
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
~The Hollow Men
Where shall the word be found, where will the word
Resound? Not here, there is not enough silence.
~Ash Wednesday
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man’s gift and that man’s scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?
Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again
Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessèd face
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice.
~Ash Wednesday
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
~Four Quartets
Forgive us, O Lord, we acknowledge ourselves as type of the common man,
Of the men and women who shut the door and sit by the fire;
Who fear the blessing of God, the loneliness of the night of God, the surrender required, the deprivation inflicted;
Who fear the injustice of men less than the justice of God;
Who fear the hand at the window, the fire in the thatch, the fist in the tavern, the push into the canal,
Less than we fear the love of God.
~Murder in the Cathedral
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard.
One of my children used to be particularly interested in naming and researching the four U.S. presidents who were assassinated: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. This book about the life, presidency, and assassination of President James Garfield would have been above her reading level since she was only 10 or 11 years old when she had the fascination with assassinated presidents, but it definitely is full of information about Garfield and would be absorbing for anyone with a similar interest.
Like Lincoln, Garfield grew up in poverty. He became an educated man by dint of hard work and his widowed mother’s sacrifice. He married a woman with whom he shared at best friendship, and only many years later, after Garfield had an affair and then re-committed to his marriage, did the two of them become partners in love in the truest sense. This part of the story alone is fascinating, a good example for our age of love’em and leave’em. (This breach of trust and reconciliation is documented in letters that Lucretia, his wife, kept and later left to his presidential library.)
But there are several other fascinating stories in this book:
the story of Vice President Chester Arthur and his conversion from party hack to presidential promoter of honesty and civil service reform.
the saga of Alexander Graham Bell’s desperate attempt to invent a medical device that would locate the bullet lodged inside President Garfield’s body before Garfield died.
the history of medical sterilization techniques that had not yet been accepted as standard practice in the U.S., contributing to the infection that eventually killed the president.
the sad (and currently relevant in light of the attention that is being focused on random shootings after Sandy Hook) story of the assassin, Charles Guiteau, who was obviously as mad as March hare but nevertheless cunning enough to plan a successful presidential assassination all by himself.
Candice Millard also wrote the book I read a couple of years ago about Theodore Roosevelt’s trip into the Amazon rainforest, River of Doubt, and my plan is to read anything she writes in the future. Ms. Millard, by the way, got her master’s degree in literature from Baylor University. Destiny of the Republic won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.
A Neurosurgeon Discovers the Power of Prayer . . . One Patient at a Time.
This nonfiction “blend of medical drama and spiritual insight” reminded me of one of my favorite books from 2011, Praying for Strangers by River Jordan. In Gray Matter, Dr. Levy, a neurosurgeon, tells the story of how he started offering to pray with his patients before surgery, and eventually at other critical moments in their medical journey. He writes honestly about the fears involved in this experiment of faith: how he feared losing his reputation, offending patients or fellow medical coworkers, making a fool of himself, even ruining God’s reputation if his prayers went unanswered.
But Dr. Levy also tells how he felt compelled to offer his patients the gift of faithful, simple prayer before, and often during, what was for the patient an anything-but-routine procedure. And very few of his patients refused his offer to pray for them. For those who did refuse, Dr. Levy respected their wishes and went on to do the surgery with all of the skill he had. But the book focuses on the stories of individual patients who did agree to have Dr. Levy pray for them. The author tells about how prayer became for him an integral part of the treatment process and about how those prayers and God’s presence acknowledged in the OR made a difference in the lives of both doctor and patients.
I was especially encouraged to read about the importance of forgiveness and the release of bitterness on the road to physical health. Many, many people are afflicted by diseases and ailments that are caused or exacerbated by the spiritual illness that they hold onto in the form of bitterness and resentment. As Dr. Levy began to pray for his patients, he sometimes felt led to ask about their spiritual health, especially in the area of forgiveness. And some patients he was able to lead to forgive those who had hurt them and at the same time bring themselves into a place to receive healing and forgiveness for their own sins.
It seems to me that if I really believed that God hears my prayers and that He chooses to work through prayer to work in the world and in people’s lives, I would offer to pray for people much more often and then I would do it. This story of a doctor who does believe, not without doubts and stutters, but nevertheless believes and puts into practice what God has called him to do, is inspiring.
“When a situation popped up she held my hand and simply said, “We will pray.” And I did. And I know she did. Her example and exhortation was worth more to me than a pile of pamphlets, even though they may be written by Martin Luther. . . She also prays for each member of our family. And I know that her prayers are answered. I know. Her spirit of humility and committment to follow Christ was a huge spiritual wake-up call to me.”
Simply pray. Offer to pray. Pray daily. Pray through. If I believe in Jesus’ words “wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I”, I will pray for those He gives me breath to encourage in that way. And my faith will grow, and God will be glorified.
For several years now, I’ve been starting off the year with projects instead of resolutions. I don’t always complete my projects, but I enjoy starting them and working toward a goal. And I don’t feel guilty if I don’t finish. If I do finish, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Win-win. So, here are my twelve projects for 2013:
1. 100 Days in the Book of Isaiah. I’m really looking forward to this study along with my church family.
2. Reading Through West Africa. The countries of West Africa (according to my scheme) are Benin, Biafra (part of Nigeria), Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. That’s fourteen nations, if I include Biafra, and I would very much like to read at least one book from or about each country. If you have suggestions, please comment.
3. I’m working on a project with my church for a community/tutoring/library media center. This TED talk by author Dave Eggers was inspirational, although it’s not exactly what I have in mind. I am working more on a library and study center for homeschoolers and of course, it would be open to kids who are in public or private schools, too. A lot of my work will be in relation to the library, gathering excellent books and adding to the library and helping homeschool and other families to use the library to enrich their studies. I am also inspired by this library and others like it.
4. I want to concentrate on reading all the books on my TBR list this year –at least all of them that I can beg, borrow (from the library) or somehow purchase. I’ve already requested several of the books on my list from the library.
5. My Classics Club list is a sort of addendum to my TBR list, and I’d also like to read many of the books on that list. In 2012 I read Scoop by Evelyn Waugh, The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West, and Memento Mori by Muriel Spark, three out of fifty-three, not a good average if I’m to be done with all of them by 2017.
6. I have house-keeping project that I’m almost embarrassed to mention here. I’ve started small–cleaning and sorting piles in a corner of my bedroom. I’d really like to continue cleaning, purging, and organizing around the perimeter of my bedroom and then the living room until eventually I get around the entire house. A project so ridiculously mundane and yet so needed.
7. I continue to work through this list of new-to-me recipes and through several cookbooks and other recipe sources for dishes I want to try this year. I would like to make one new dish per week, and maybe I can manage to “review” the meals and food I make here at Semicolon. If you have any extra-special recipes you think I should try, please leave a comment.
8. Praying for Strangers (and Friends) Project. I was quite impressed by my reading of River Jordan’s prayer project book, Praying for Strangers. I still can’t walk up to strangers and tell them that I’m praying for them or ask them for prayer requests. But in 2013 I hope to ask God to give me one person each day to focus on and to pray for. Maybe I’ll be praying for you one day this year. I have been much more consistent in praying for specific people this past year, and I hope to continue the practice.
9. U.S. Presidents Reading Project. I got David McCullough’s biography of Truman for Christmas in 2011, and I plan to read that chunkster during my Lenten blog break since I didn’t read it last year. I don’t know if I’ll read any other presidential biographies this year, but if I finish Truman I’ll be doing well.
10. The 40-Trash Bag Challenge. Starting tomorrow. My life needs this project.
11. 100 Movies of Summer. When we’re not traveling, which will be most of the summer, we might watch a few old classic but new-to-us movies. I’ll need to make a new list, since we’ve watched many of the ones on the list I linked to, but I hope to find a few gems this summer.
12. I got this Bible for Christmas (mine is red), and I’ve already begun transferring my notes from my old Bible into this new one and taking new notes. I just jot down whatever the Holy Spirit brings to mind with the intention of giving the Bible to one of my children someday.
Friday, December 25
“I awakened before the sun was up and saw that Mama was still by the hearth. I think she stayed up all night. The turkey was roasting on a spit over a low fire. It must have been the wonderful smell that woke me up. I hugged Mama’s waist and said Merry Christmas. She reached into her apron pocket and gave me a little gift wrapped in a scrap of blue velvet and told me to go ahead and open it before the menfolk got up. It was a beautiful ivory button, carved to look like a rose. It came from her mother’s wedding gown and I knew that it was precious to her and worth much because over the years in emergincies, Mama had sold all the other buttons like it. I threw my arms around Mama’s neck and kissed her face, still warm from the heat of the fire. It didn’t matter what else I got; this was the most precious gift I could receive.” ~A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence by Sherry Garland.
Z-baby (age 11) and I have been reading this Dear America book together as an assignment for her Texas history class at co-op. I thought it showed quite well the hardship and indecision of individual families in the face of the war for Texas independence. Lucinda’s father is against fighting, against the Mexican army, partly because he knows the cost of war. Lucinda’s brother, Willis, goes off to San Antonio to help defend the Alamo. Lucinda herself is conflicted, proud of her brother and her new nation of Texas, but also unsure whether Texas independence is worth the deaths of brave men and the loss of homes and friendships and families.
Bravely stepping over that “line in the sand” to fight against tyranny isn’t an easy decision, and there’s always a cost.
First of all, Cliffhanger Warning! This book may be hazardous to your reading satisfaction since it ends with those three dread words: “to be continued.”
Nevertheless, I recommend Storybound for those who enjoy, well, a good story. This one has all the archetypes: the lonely orphan girl, Una, the Hero, Peter, his friend and companion, Sam the Cat, the lady Snow, the evil Tale Master and the Red Enchantress. Una has been Written In to Story, a magic land of book characters without any books of its own to read. The Tale Masters keep all of the books locked away for the protection of Story from the Muses who broke their oath long ago brought havoc upon the land. Una doesn’t know why she’s been Written In or by whom, but she must find out before evil overtakes Story.
The story (or Story) definitely has Christian symbolism and undertones. (“We are only servants. And our charge is to wait for the King’s return,” says one of the most powerful defenders of goodness.) However, the lessons about good and evil are never blatant or preachy or overwhelming to the story. Mostly, it’s just a tale about the power and importance of stories and about the Hero Quest of one young girl and her companions as they find themselves and save the world from destruction.
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Other voices:
Pages Unbound: “Heroes plot in the night, villains prove kindhearted, and the enemy sometimes turns out to be a friend. The sense of mystery pervading the work will keep readers turning pages long after they should have gone to bed. The only problem with the work is that the sequel is not yet available.”
Books and Quilts: “I was totally immersed in this story. I could hardly put it down. How could there be a world where students trained to become the beloved characters as well as the evil villains in the books I read. Wow.”
Interview with Marissa Burt at Cynsations.
Interview with Marissa Burt at The Book Cellar: “Shy, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild is suddenly transported by a mysterious book into the Land of Story, where characters from books train to be cast into a Tale of their own, and Una attends the Perrault Academy while trying to discover who has Written her In and why.”
Here are a few books that have not yet been nominated for the Cybils Awards, blogger-given awards for young adult and children’s literature in eleven different categories. If you’ve read any of these and would like to nominate any one or more, you can do so at the Cybils website through October 15th.
Easy Readers/Short Chapter books
The Princess Twins and the Tea Party by Mona Hodgson April, 2012 (978-0310727118)
Big Bad Sheep by Bettina Wegenast. March, 2012. (978-0802854094)
YA Fantasy and Science Fiction
Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore. May, 2012. (978-1401686352)
Teen Librarian’s Toolbox wishlist for YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy.
Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction
Sword Mountain by Nancy Yi Fan. July, 2012 (978-0061651083) Semicolon review here.
The Last Martin by Jonathan Friesen. April, 2012. (978-0310723202)
Aldo’s Fantastical Movie Palace by Jonathan Friesen. August, 2012. (978-0310721109)
Seeing Cinderella by Jenny Lundquist. March, 2012. (978-1442429260)
The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain by Sarah Norkus. July, 2012. (978-0899577708)
More Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction eligible books from Charlotte’s Library.
Yet another list of not-yet-nominated Science Fiction and Fantasy from Charlotte’s Library.
Fiction Picture Books
Under the Baobab Tree by Julie Stiegmeyer. April, 2012. (978-0310725619)
The Herd Boy by Niki Daly. October, 2012. (978-0802854179)
Mary’s Song by Lee Bennett Hopkins. NOMINATED. June, 2012. (978-0802853974)
Minette’s Feast by Susannah Reich, illustrated by Amy Bates. Abrams, 2012. NOMINATED. Reviewed at Redeemed Reader.
Perogies and Gyoza: Fiction Picture Books to Nominate.
Middle Grade Fiction
Weight of a Flame by Simonetta Carr. November, 2011. (978-1596381582)
Non-Fiction Picture Books
The Very Long Life of Alice’s Playhouse by Andrea White.
Monet Paints a Day by Jullie Dannenberg. July, 2012. (978-1580892407)
Eric Liddell: Are You Ready? by Catherine Mackenzie. July, 2012. (978-1845507909)
Write On, Mercy! The Secret Life of Mercy Otis Warren by Gretchen Woelfle, illustrated by Alexandra Walner. Calkins Creek, 2012. Reviewed at Redeemed Reader.
Hanging Off Jefferson’s Nose by Tina Nichols Coury, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport. NOMINATED. Dial, 2012. Reviewed at Redeemed Reader.
Non-Fiction Middle Grade and Young Adult
Lady Jane Grey by Simonetta Carr. NOMINATED. July, 2012. (978-1601781901)
Young Adult Fiction
Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan. NOMINATED. May, 2012. (9781595547934) Semicolon review here.
Hand of Vengeance by Douglas Bond. August, 2012. (978-1596382152)
The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson. November, 2011. (978-0310727613)
Random Musings of a Bibliophile: Books Not Yet Nominated
Jean Little Library: Nomination Suggestions for Cybil 2012.
Hope Is the Word: Cybils Wishlist.
I plan to nominate some of these if no one else does, but I obviously can’t nominate all of them since the rule is one nomination per person per category. So go ahead and nominate these if they’re favorites of yours.
Children’s Fiction:
The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart. This one is a must for Mysterious Benedict fans, but others should start with The Mysterious Benedict Society.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio. It was just as good as everyone else says it is. A definite Newbery contender.
Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway.
Laugh With the Moon by Shana Burg. Semicolon review here.
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy. Semicolon review here.
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George. Semicolon review here.
Sword Mountain by Nancy Yi Fan. Semicolon review here.
The Traveling Restaurant: Jasper’s Voyage in Three Parts by Barbara Else. Not my cuppa, this one felt cobbled together and just not quite there. Maybe if I had read it as a book instead of on my Kindle, I would have liked it better. Does anyone else find it more difficult to get absorbed in some kinds of books on an e-reader as as opposed to the hard copy version?
Young Adult Fiction:
The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Review coming soon.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. My review at Breakpoint’s Youth Reads.
Between the Lines by Jodi Piccoult and Samantha van Leer.
Across the Universe by Beth Revis.
A Million Suns by Beth Revis. Good science fiction, but there are few discontinuities and plot questions.
Circus Galacticus by Deva Fagan. The plot felt jumpy in this science fiction story about an Earth girl who joins an inter-galactic circus, and the emotional bonding was rushed. Immediately, the main character knows all about the universe and bonds to other freaks like herself. It just didn’t wrk for me.
The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson. Too much action and it moved way too fast for me. I think there was a sub-text that I just didn’t get, and I think Mr. Wilson is too smart for my Very Little Brain.
Adult Fiction:
The Paradise War by Stephen Lawhead.
The Silver Hand by Stephen Lawhead.
The Endless Knot by Stephen Lawhead. I absolutely loved these books in the Song of Albion Trilogy, first published back in 1993 and recently republished by THomas Nelson. I got them on sale at Mardel, and the three books were worth every penny.
Canada by Richard Ford. I read most of this highly acclaimed novel about a boy whose normal, everyday parents turn themselves into bank robbers, but I lost interest in the second half of the book, the part that actually takes place in Canada.
Nonfiction:
The Blood of Heroes by James Donovan. Semicolon review here.
A Personal Country by A.C. Greene. A memoir about West Texas and its culture and people that I didn’t quite finish.