It’s me again. The summer has been full, and in some ways it feels like we’re just rounding the bend to routine. I’ll fill you in about why summer felt crazy a different time, I think, but right now I want to give updates on how I’m spending my time, mostly what I’m reading. I’m hoping that what I read will spill over into some writing soon.
Fiction. I’ve realized how much fun fiction can be. I knew it once, but I forgot somewhere in grad school. Reading, even fiction that requires more focus, is really good and fun in it’s own way, but I had forgotten how fun it was to read mostly just for story. This summer I read:
- Christy, by Catherine Marshall, for book club and couldn’t put it down. It was not the Christian romance I had assumed it would be, and I felt like I learned a lot about Appalachian culture and history.
- I’ve also been re-reading The Lord of the Rings, and am currently in The Return of the King. I’ve read these books countless times, but this time has seemed richer and sweeter.
- Rebecca, by Daphne du Marier. It was so good it made me want to write a paper. Oh. Maybe that’s not a good advertisement. But really, it was wonderful. Read it.
- I also listened to Anne of Green Gables.
- Michael and I listened to Gray Mountain, by John Grisham, on vacation.
Nonfiction. Okay, this list is going to be long, because I have started so many and finished so few (I’m still working on them, though!). I’ve gotten a bit distracted by some other areas of interest and have dug into a number of off-topic books (which maybe just goes to show I’m not as strange as it might appear… I do like things other than death).
I also wanted to welcome two new books to the family. I’m eager to dive into them (although, looking at my list maybe I should finish a few others first). Here they are!
The Broken Connection, by Robert Jay Lifton, is, from what I’ve gathered, a psychological approach to understanding death, etc. The bit I’ve read takes some focus, which, in a house with two little ones and no nanny, means that it’s going to take some serious time to get through. It’s around 430 pages long, so don’t hold your breath for a review.
I’m really excited about the second: Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring, by Henri Nouwen. In addition to being hundreds of pages shorter, it’s by far the easier to read of the two. And it’s by Henri Nouwen, who is wonderful.
You can see that these lists are too long to give details about each one. But if you wanted to at least see a basic rating of the ones I’ve finished, hop on over to Goodreads—I’m usually pretty consistent at giving books ratings, if not actual reviews. Or, just ask about it in the comments section and I’ll tell you about them in more detail.
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