Despite the silence since February, I have been reading, albeit slowly. May was once again a more productive month, with more routine, fewer interruptions, and boasted the finishing of longer selections started earlier in the year.
Reading ahead for school
David McCullough, John Adams. I read this over three months, enjoying every word. It was a very in-depth look at the life of John Adams, second President of the United States. I had read biographies of Abigail Adams so I knew some of the story. I really appreciated hearing John’s side of the story, especially what he was doing during those long months and years when they were apart and he was serving as a diplomat over in Europe.
Susan Wise Bauer, The Story of Western Science. When I studied science in school, they always presented what they believe to be true today as facts. Honestly, there’s some stuff – like the Big Bang – where I scratch my head and wonder, How did they come up with this? Bauer begins with scientific understanding at the time of the Greeks and works forward to the Renaissance. Then she breaks out into the various disciplines and carries forward, writing about the major shifts in scientific thought through the ages. We’ve all heard about the debate of whether or not the earth was the center of the universe – now I better understand how evolution, genetics, quantum mechanics and, yes, even the Big Bang all came around as solutions to problems scientists were hung up on. Great read if you enjoy either science or history.
C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves. I always enjoy Lewis’s thoughts on things. I think I read this book back when I was in my early twenties, just on my own. This time, what really stood out for me was his description of the love of friendship, especially of that between males and how females influence the dynamics. That may or may not be due to the changes in Scouts right now with policies now allowing girls to join. The other chapters on other types of love were good as well.
Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selbourne. This book is a series of letters written in England about White’s observations of the natural world during the 18th century. It was very interesting to see him describe things he saw and his deductions of what it meant, especially in light of what we know today. He would note exact dates when birds appeared in the spring and their activities. There were descriptions of specimens dissected and questions about what the various organs might do. Great little book that belongs next to Bauer’s book about the history of science.
Scheduled reading – books for book clubs and podcasts
P.G. Wodehouse, Code of the Woosters. Close Reads podcast. I’ve heard Wodehouse mentioned many times on Close Reads as a favorite and I’ve wanted to read one of his books. [Close Reads] decided to do this one in April so I can now say I’ve read Wodehouse. Sad to say, I didn’t like it. Hated it, actually. The story line was so stupid, the supposedly humorous ramblings so inane. I tried listening rather than reading in hopes that might help, but in the end, I listened to a slightly abridged version and made it through the book only because I was determined to read it so I could enjoy the podcast. I feel the same way about this book as I do about so many sitcoms on tv – they’re shallow, stupid, and I just shake my head and walk away. Obviously I was born lacking a certain funny bone everyone else seems to have. No more Wodehouse for me.
Djuana Barnes, Nightwood. Guardian book club selection. A modernist book, along the lines of Faulkner and James Joyce. I must confess I was glad it was only 211 pages. I both read it on my Kindle and listened to it via Hoopla. I would listen first in order to get an overview of a chapter, and then go back and read it hopes to grasp more of it. They say people either hate this book or love it and study it passionately. I feel like I got maybe 10% of what it was about. There is a lot of flowery writing and vivid descriptions that seem to go nowhere. Plot is minimal—it is far more about the characters and who they are than a description of a series of events. I see why it is considered a classic. I have done my part to try to appreciate it and will leave it at that.
Homer, The Odyssey. Bookenings podcast. I was supposed to read this my freshman year of college, but when I found myself floundering in the first pages, someone mentioned Cliffs Notes and I read that instead. Andrew Kern [Circe Institute] speaks often of The Odyssey as a great book, one of his favorites, but I still hadn’t the courage to pick it up again. Then Bookenings decided to do it, and since I love their theme music [true story – I love their discussions but their theme music is what I live for when I listen], I decided to attempt it again. I listened to the W.H.D. Rouse translation read by Anthony Heald. This time I really go into it. What a great story about a long journey home, justice served, and a faithful wife who waited all those years for her husband to return!
Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter. Close Reads podcast. I read this a couple years ago for the Well Read Mom. It was a lovely book that broadened my understanding of my grandmothers’ generation. Both my grandmothers lived on the farm and raised children who were educated and left home never to return except for visits. My second reading did not disappoint. A great book about marriage and family and the ties that bind.
My own picks, starting with fiction.
Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory. This was a Well Read Mom selection in January that I missed. It’s the story of a priest in Mexico during the early 20th century when the government was killing all the priests. By chance he kept under the radar and went from place to place, bringing the sacraments to the people who on one hand were happy to see him and be blessed and on the other hand were fearful to lodge him for what the soldiers might do to them on account of it. As I finished it, Close Reads announced it will be doing this book later this year; I will definitely be re-reading it for that discussion. The audio narrated by Bernard Mayes is excellent.
Charles Portis, Dog of the South. At the end of the Close Reads podcast series about True Grit, David Kern mentioned this as a good next-book to read if you enjoyed Portis. This book did not disappoint. In fact, I may have liked it more than True Grit (I’d seen the movie and loved it a couple years ago, which half spoiled the book, I think). This writing is great, and the story pretty straightforward—his wife runs off with another man, taking his car, and he takes the other man’s car and goes after them down into Mexico. It’s a mixture of strange characters somewhat reminiscent of On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I started just reading the Kindle version, which I loved, but then I discovered the audio read by David Aaron Baker. I ended up listening to it and then going back and reading it, chapter by chapter, because both were just so good.
Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. This was a lighter read I had been hoarding, waiting for a time when I was too distracted to read more serious stuff. I started it before we left on our two week trip to Kentucky and the Great Smokey Mountains, but I didn’t finish it until after we got home. The writing was good, but the story was not what I expected it to be. There were so many little incidents that could have been turned into a great drama, but the book was more about small, significant moments between characters, a la Jane Austen. The ending was, well, a bit over the top, and while it tied everything together, my disappointment was never put to rest. Only 3 stars for this one.
Michael Nicholas Richard, Tobit’s Dog. This book was in the Well Read Mom book store as recommended on their blog (I never read the blog entry). It begins with a dreadful racial incident in the South, the gravity of the situation so severe that I put the book down and didn’t touch it for over a week. When I picked it up again, the story continued along the lines of the tv show Touched by an Angel where this guy comes into their lives and has influence and brings about events that seemingly bring everything back together and more. It was more of a feel good story than a story that challenges you to think, so, sadly, only 3 stars for this one.
on to nonfiction.
Tim Ferriss, Tools of Titans.This book had a lot of hype at the end of last year and is on my list of 18 Reads in 2018. I haven’t read anything by Ferriss and was expecting something more along the lines of Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles which was a great roundup of success strategies. Ferriss has friends who do really weird things, from workout and diet routines that seemed outlandish to the guys who dropped everything, magically started a business that is very successful and now live at the beach. None of it is anything I would ever do. The last 10% was some great advice from people I know including favorite writers, so I managed to finish the book with a bang. But still, only 3 stars.
Liela Miller, Primal Loss: The Now-Adult Children of Divorce Speak. If you think divorce is something that kids get over and move on from without any damage, think again. Even in the most amicable divorces, there are deep scars. I heard about this book on the Fountains of Carrots podcast. I’ve never been a proponent of divorce except in dire situations, which sadly, so many instances aren’t. If the parents are happy, then the children will be happy is what we’re so often told, but there is so much more to it than that. If you’re considering divorce, this would be a good book to read before giving up on your marriage. You have so much to fight for.
Finally, reading with the kids
Gary Paulsen, Harris and Me. The May selection for our community library’s kids book club that I read aloud. Set in the late 1940’s, a kid from a very troubled home goes to spend the summer on the farm with extended family. His cousin has all sorts of ideas for adventures and this boy’s ignorance of what might actually happen serves to only egg on his cousins and all his ideas. As an adult, some of the stories leave you sure someone had to go to the hospital after something like that, but all seems to be well. There is a bit of language in the book (the kid gets in trouble for it, but it’s there none the less), so some parents might want to read aloud and edit as they go. The book ended up being a favorite among the kids and there is good reason why.
Robert C. O’Brien, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.Another read aloud with the kids. Mrs. Frisby is a mouse who lives under the garden which is about to be plowed the the spring. The problem? One of her children is too sick to move to their summer home. After several consultations with creatures of the forest, she learns about the rats of NIMH who may be able to help her. A Newberry Award winner worthy of its award.
Elizabeth Yates, Mountain Born. Another read aloud with the kids. The story of a cosset and the boy who raised him. The lamb is found unresponsive after birth but they take it inside and manage to revive it. It becomes the boy’s pet and later becomes the leader of the flock. I have the sequel, A Place for Peter, in our queue to be read aloud soon.
Harold Keith, Rifles for Watie. This was the audiobook we listened to in the car during our family vacation in the Smokey Mountains. This story of the Civil War was an especially interesting read as we drove around in the area where so many battles happened. A boy from the north joins up to fight and ends up on the other side of enemy lines. They are good to him, and he sees the humanity on both sides. Eventually, however, he escapes and goes back to his regiment where he gives them information of a smuggler whose actions may have dire consequences. A great read that not only gives insight into the Civil War but made the miles seem so much shorter.
Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper. We listened to this on our way home from Kentucky. Two boys of similar ages and appearance decide to switch places – the prince gets to leave the palace and have the freedom to roam and play with other boys while the pauper gets to live the life of luxury he’s always dreamed of. Both boys are rather lost in their new circumstances but family members chalk it up to amnesia or something like that. Then the king dies and the pauper is set to be crowned king. Twain never disappoints, and this book is no exception.