THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful to live in a time when I can easily store a camera in my pocket. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

BOOKS I FINISHED - OCTOBER 2024

The Birds' Christmas Carol, written (and I assume illustrated) by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Born on Christmas and about to turn ten years old, Carol is a delight to her family. A bedridden girl in poor health, yet sincerely grateful for all she has, she comes up with a plan to create a phenomenal Christmas for the kids who live next door. This short story - only 69 pages, including illustrations and lots of white space - was originally published in 1886 and is referred to as a classic, but I just discovered it. It will definitely go on my list of books I check out from the library every Christmas season from here on out.

The Book That Made Me: A Collection of 32 Personal Stories, edited by Judith Ridge

I discovered this book when I was searching a particular author's name in the library system and checked it out. As a reader, it was interesting to learn about how various books impacted different authors. The contributors are all Australian, which meant I didn't have preconceived ideas about any of them and was made aware of many books I'd never heard of before. Books about books are a win!

p. 33 (Mandy Hager), This is the magic of truly great fiction: it can either provide a mirror in which to reflect what is going on (in ourselves or our world) or it can become a window (to see into a life or a world other than our own).

p. 54 (Bernard Beckett), Yes, children need stimulation, but not too much. They need a parent who loves them and wants what is best for them, but not one who is neurotic. They need to be protected, but not hovered over; after all, it is only when they're left to make mistakes that they can learn the art of assessing risk. They need to be supported in their education, but not to the point where they feel their parents living vicariously through them. It's not their job to please us.

p. 194 (Julia Lawrinson), It was only later that I realized that I was experiencing one of the gifts of reading: the ability to identify with people whose experiences were far removed from our own, to inhabit the skin of another for a short, imaginative while.

 

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, written by Ruth Reichl, narrated by Bernadette Dunne

I read a wide variety of books and this one, which wasn't like anything I'd read before, was really fun. The author was the food critic for two major newspapers and the editor of a popular food magazine, but this memoir is specifically about when she worked at the New York Times. Knowing she'd be given special treatment if she were recognized at a restaurant, she decided to go undercover as a variety of characters, complete with different costumes and personalities. As expected, she not only learns about many specific restaurants and their staffs, but also about the city, her co-workers, and herself. While I'm sure the print version is just fine, I specifically loved the audio version for the narrator's ability to read in so many voices.

I Want to Trust You, but I Don't: Moving Forward When You're Skeptical of Others, Afraid of What God Will Allow, and Doubtful of Your Own Discernment, written by Lysa TerKeurst

I first read one of TerKeurst's books a decade ago when a friend gave it to me, stumbled upon another one two years ago, read a third over the summer, and put this one on hold at the library before it was even published. I really appreciate her focus on what the Bible says, conversational tone, humble transparency in sharing her own struggles, and tact in discussing the behavior of others. Each of us, regardless of our life's circumstances, have had our trust broken and this book helps guide the reader through healthy ways of coping with that hurt. In other words, it's about what the tagline says it's about. 

p. 18, Safety is both fact and feeling. Therefore trust is both fact and feeling. I don't just need to be told I'm safe; I need to believe it for myself.

p. 56, We were made to come together with others, not to be torn apart by others. Broken trust complicates every bit of the parts of love that should be comforting.

p. 67, Look for the fruit in someone's actions, and you won't have to wade through their words. Anyone can say what you want to hear when rebuilding trust. But the truth comes out in their actions. If their actions are in alignment with the fruit of the Spirit, then most likely Jesus is guiding them. And if Jesus is guiding them, you can trust the good work of Jesus is occurring in them.

p. 74, Without compassion, honesty, humility, and true repentance on the part of the offender, broken trust will most likely stay broken. Trust requires both parties to be willing to work through the process of rebuilding.

p. 107, Ultimately, trusting God is holding loosely the parts of  my life I want to hold most tightly. 

p. 123, Now, let's pause before we start fist-bumping and saying, "Yeah, they got what was coming to them." Trust me - I'm tempted to celebrate when those who have caused destruction and devastation experience hardships I think they deserve. But I need to remember that adding more hate and hurt never healed anyone, and it isn't wise. It certainly wouldn't help me find peace.

p. 135, I'm exhausted by picking up the pieces of things I didn't shatter.

p. 179, Sometimes whole doesn't mean put back together the exact right way. For is someone discovers fullness within each broken piece, each part takes on a wholeness of its own.

p. 192, Unresolved hurt inside us will be multiplied out by us unless we make the conscious choice to stop it. 

p. 213, I also realized time doesn't heal all wounds. Its what we plant in the course of time that determines if we heal or not.

Out of My Mind, written by Sharon M. Draper, narrated by Sisi Aisha Johnson

An eleven year old girl with cerebral palsy has a brilliant mind, but a body that can't walk or speak. Frustrated by her inability to communicate with others and eager to fit in with students outside of her special needs classroom, she finds a way to prove to others that she's much smarter than they assume and learns about what matters most to her along the way. This is the first in a three book series. The story reminded me of Lisa, a smart and spunky girl with cerebral palsy who I helped to take care of when I was high school. 

Sidenote: A book narrated by a black woman with a protagonist who describes herself as having short, curly hair probably shouldn't have a white girl with long, straight hair on the cover. The disconnect between the narrator's voice and the physical appearance of the girl on the cover was confusing to me when I first started listening.

The Plan: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius, written by Kendra Adachi

While this book would certainly be useful for a man to read, it's written specifically with women in mind because, as I've heard Adachi say on her podcast and she mentions in the book, 93% of time management books are written by men. They're not bad books and she's definitely not anti-men (I wouldn't follow her if she bashed men), but most women are trying to follow the time management advice of authors who, through no fault of their own, are incapable of relating to the lived experience of being a woman. Just like everything else she's spoken or written, this book is super practical, exceedingly compassionate, and totally realistic. Rather than tell you how to structure your time, she guides you through the process of deciding for yourself based on what matters to you and what your personal circumstances are. Kendra Adachi is a gem. Always. 

p. 52, Your season defines your needs, your needs affect your priorities, and your priorities inform your choices. If you're not aware of your season, life becomes too unwieldy, too spread out, too unmanageable. 

p. 56, Stop judging every day against your best day, and ask yourself what best means anyway.

p. 79, Kate Northrup, the author of Do Less, says we should manage our energy, not our time. I'm so grateful for such an important, simple distinction.

p. 161, Remember, good is here now, and the more we look for it, the more often we see it.

p. 206, When you don't have help, you also don't have hope, and that can bleed a person dry.

The Right Kind of Fool, written by Sarah Loudin Thomas

A deaf thirteen year old boy discovers a dead body near the river, putting himself and his family in the midst of a murder investigation. As law enforcement works with them to solve the crime, the boy's family - the boy who wants to live a normal life, the mom who's always been committed to protecting him, and the dad whose guilt over his son's hearing loss led him to abandon his family - works through their own issues.

River Sing Me Home, written by Eleanor Shearer and narrated by Debra Michaels and Eleanor Shearer

Slavery has just ended in Barbados and been immediately replaced with apprenticeship, another form of forced labor. One woman chooses to run, to actually be free. Inspired by real events in the 1800s, this novel is about the extraordinary lengths she goes to find to her five children who were taken from her and sold into slavery themselves. It's about what what freedom means, how personal it is.

Song of Redemption, written by Lynn Austin

A young woman is captured by the Assyrians. Her years in captivity are filled with brutality, both in how she's treated and what she witnesses. Meanwhile, King Hezekiah has chosen to lead his country according to God's law, something that's new to him and for which he seeks guidance. It's a choice that will be tested in big ways as the Assyrians threaten to attack. Their two stories alternate and eventually converge in this second in a five book series of biblical historical fiction called Chronicles of the Kings. I read the third book last year, a gift from a friend, but haven't read any of the others.

p. 23, "You know, son, there's a reason I wanted to come outside to pray," Zechariah said. "Its too easy to believe in our own importance when we're surrounded by our own creations all day." He reached to pluck a silvery green leaf from an olive tree and twirled it between his fingers. "But look at this. Can we fashion anything as fragile and perfect as this leaf - or as solid and enduring at those mountains?"

p. 61, "Hold your wife close to you, son. Confide in her. Listen to her. Sometimes women see things more clearly than we do. If you win her loyalty and her love, you'll be the happiest man alive."

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for a stove to cook on. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the satisfying sound that comes from driving over walnuts that have dropped from trees to the streets in my neighborhood. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for people who smile. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for Tyler's hugs. What's one thing that you're thankful for?