PUZZLES I FINISHED - NOVEMBER 2024

Lake Tahoe - Artist: Eric Dowdle - Dowdle Puzzles - 1,000 pieces (1 missing)

It's always fun to find a Dowdle we haven't done at a thrift store. I found this one at Twice Sold Tales, the Friends of the Library book shop in Wilsonville. 

BOOKS I FINISHED - NOVEMBER 2024

Akin, written by Emma Donoghue and narrated by Jason Culp

A widowed man on the cusp of his 80th birthday. An 11 year old boy with nowhere to go. This unlikely New York pair, a man and his great nephew, meet right before the man heads to France, the place of his birth. Taking the trip together, the book shares historical information while navigating generational differences, loss of loved ones, and a quest to get answers about some mysterious pictures. I love stories about relationships between people of different generations and I'd enjoyed another of Donoghue's books several years ago, so I knew I'd like this one. The downside is that the book had way more profanity than I like. Due to the plot, I assumed the language would ease up as the story progressed, so I didn't ditch it like I usually do. I was wrong. It never eased up. Sharing that content warning for those it would be a deal-breaker for. 

3:08:27, It struck him that being able-bodied was a temporary condition, what with the weaknesses of infancy and age and all that could go haywire in between.

3:59:30, Noah supposed a new form of fun, such as video games, always triggered a moral panic about its capacity to rot the brain and pervert the character. Like comic books when he'd been a kid.

Be Still: A Simple Guide to Quiet Times, written by Brian Heasley

This book was a gift from a friend and I've slowly read it over several weeks. Like many people, I struggle to regularly and consistently spend time reading my Bible and praying, but I want to be more intentional and committed in that area because it's always worth the effort. The fourteen practical chapters of this book were a gentle, non-judgmental nudge toward change.

p. 14, In the midst of success and breakthrough, receptive crowds, people keen to become followers and eager to hear his words and witness his actions, Jesus took himself away from all of it and removed himself to a solitary place for a quiet time.

p. 37, The distraction may come from a genuine sense of doing something in the Kingdom of God, some act of Christian service, or simply trying to live missionally. Even in this, we need to be careful not to focus so much on building the Kingdom that we never take the time to sit at the feet of the King. 

p. 41, You must approach the Bible with prayer, and you must approach prayer with the Bible. 

p. 91, A filtered life can rob us of wonder. If we are not careful, our appreciation of what is beautiful becomes distorted. Our definition of beauty needs an overhaul. There is beauty in toast, in wrinkled skin, in industrial skylines. There is beauty in barren deserts. There is beauty in hospitals. There is beauty in rust. 

p 98, I have been disturbed on more than one occasion by someone saying, after a time of worship in a church service, "I didn't get much out of the worship today." My honest response is Good; we weren't worshiping you.

p. 105,We live in an instant world. If we want it and can find a way to pay for it, we can get it - and we can get it quickly. For our generation to survive and thrive, we need to learn the art of perseverance in a culture of immediacy, which may not come without deliberate effort.

p. 109, This is what I have discovered: Put in the quantity time, and the quality time will happen. <snip> In the midst of quantity time, we have quality moments.

p. 140, Grateful people tend to be generous people.

p. 153, Prayer will make you an activist, but don't let your activism lead you away from prayer.

p. 158, If we plan on picking a fight with injustice, it's vital to prepare, to train ourselves so that we are spiritually healthy and fit. Your quiet time is the gym; it's the road on which you train.

Christmas Jars, written by Jason F. Wright

A small book that's short enough to read in one sitting, I loved this novel about belonging, ambition, generosity, and humility. It's a story about looking past yourself, seeing how your choices impact others, and doing what's right without ulterior motives.

 

Foster, written by Claire Keegan and narrated by Aoife McMahon

Set an Ireland during the 1980s, this short story is about a girl who's sent to live in another household for a time. There's a significant difference between the home environment she came from and the one she's staying in and she finds herself thriving in her foster home. It's a bittersweet story of what it can look like for a child to be truly cared for.

Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds, written by Kara Richardson Whitely

Whitely's climbed Kilimanjaro three times, summiting on her first and third trips at 240 and 300 pounds respectively. This memoir, which I heard about on What Should I Read Next?, episode 82 - Obsessive readers and bookish kindred spirit angels, is not only about the amazing and agonizing experience of climbing that mountain, but also about life experiences that led to the climb and the personal growth she experienced in the process. She's a voice for those who are treated poorly because of their weight, a testament to the fact that strength has nothing to do pants size, and an inspiration to keep moving forward when life's hard.

p. 200, The good thing about being on the mountain is you have all sorts of time to think. The bad thing about the mountain is that you have all sorts of time to think.

The Museum of Ordinary People, written by Mike Gayle and narrated by Witney White

I enjoyed this novel about a woman who's dealing with the unexpected death of her mother, sorting through her childhood home in preparation for selling it. An outdated, yet meaningful set of encyclopedias in that home becomes the catalyst for new experiences, personal growth, and the revealing of secrets as she becomes the curator of a unique museum. With a mysterious inheritance, a hunch that something's more valuable than it appears, and a London setting, it's a story of the people we love and the people we lose, significance of memories, process of grief, and the various ways people respond when life doesn't go as planned. Bonus points for the London lingo. 

The Nature of Fragile Things, written by Susan Meissner

I've read and enjoyed three of Meissner's books over the years, so I grabbed another when I recently browsed the library. I loved this novel about an Irish immigrant, a young woman living in New York, who responds to an ad from a man in San Francisco who's looking for a wife who would also act as a mom to his daughter. They marry and she begins to form a relationship with his daughter, a young girl who won't speak, but he remains very detached from her. One day she discovers that nothing he's told her is true and the next morning the city's devastated by the 1906 earthquake, her life figuratively and literally upended. It's a story of betrayal and loyalty, trauma and healing, and the power of both loving and being loved.

The School of Essential Ingredients, written by Erica Bauermeister and narrated by Cassandra Campbell 

A random selection simply because it was available immediately, this novel is about a group of people taking a cooking class and each chapter focuses on a specific person's story. I enjoy stories with multiple voices, very different lives that become intertwined in a particular setting, and details that are realistic because people have hard things happen to them or make stupid choices. I also love books with compassionate characters, which this one has. I was distracted by what felt like an excessive use of similes and metaphors, but the book was fine. I neither loved nor hated it.

4:25:44, "I think," he said contemplatively into the dark, "we are each a chair and a ladder for the other."

We Never Asked for Wings, written by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and narrated by Emma Bering and Robbie Daymond

I needed an audiobook to listen to, remembered a novel I enjoyed many years ago, and checked to see if the author had any more. This is her only other novel and it was great. A single mom whose two kids have been primarily raised by their grandma unexpectedly has to take full responsibility for them. A teenage boy falls for a girl at school who's bullied because of a physical disability. An absent dad suddenly comes on the scene. A single man falls for a woman who's unsure about what she wants. This story touches on so many things - teenage pregnancy, desire for a good education, undocumented immigration, and more - while showing people doing what they believe is best for the people they love, even when what they do is wrong.

A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman, written by Joan Anderson

I don't know where I heard about this 1999 memoir, but it's been on my TBR list for well over a year. Anderson's husband started a new job that required moving out of state and she decided not to go with him. Their kids were grown and their marriage was unhealthy, and therefore unhappy, so she chose to step back for a while to figure out what she wanted from life and marriage. They were separated for one year, time she spent at their Cape Cod home. This book documents that year one month at a time, describing her growth as an individual, her shifting perspective toward her decades-long marriage, and the experience of being immersed in nature all year long. While her life was very different than mine and I don't share her opinions on some things, I found that much of what she said resonated with me (I'm a middle-aged woman, just a few years behind her in age, length of marriage, and ages of kids as she was when she wrote it) and I enjoyed her writing style.

p. 45, Some go it alone, but most venture out with a crew, each possessing a well-developed skill that will serve him best when all the men pool resources and work in tandem. Such is the way to land a sizable catch. Such is also the way to lead a successful life. 

p. 62, I'm deep into my time-out season of life, where it seems best to be actively passive, involved in little, aware of much.

p. 74, I'm thinking how pleasant it is when two people try to be gentle with one another. 

p. 90, I shall give up on the idea of a fashionable body, or an Olympian body. I just want a body that works, that is durable and resilient, that can climb a mountain, carry grandbabies on its back, be vital and energized even after a long day.

p. 106, Every woman should have a mentor - not her mother, but someone who doesn't have a stake in how she turns out, who encourages her to risk, who picks her up when she falls flat on her face.

p. 143, It occurs to me that I will continue to know my children less if they think I want them to be more.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful the chair I sat in at my dad's church was low enough that my feet touched the ground. What's one thing that you're thankful for? 

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for phone calls from two long-time friends this week. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for nearly three years that Naomi, Tyler, and I have been able to volunteer with Salem for Refugees. What's one thing that you're thankful for?