I’m excited for another year of reading great books!
I’ve heard it said that if you want something done, ask a busy person. Maybe that’s how I was able to read so much this month!
A friend helped me tally all the various classes and activities that I’m involved in and we came to 10. That is a lot to have on one plate!
Enjoy the reviews and let me know of any good books you are reading!
Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr
Young journalist searches for a secret painting taken by the Nazis. A bit of a mystery, a bit of historical fiction. Fast-moving and fun. It would be a great movie.
Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud
The quoting of scripture got a little annoying, but I recognize that this is part of the point of the book. Still very helpful and with many practical suggestions to put into practice.
A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Melissa Flemming
I reviewed this amazing story in a separate post.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
These four excerpts will tell you everything you need to know about this unusual but engaging book:
“What I find interesting about rowing,” Dr. Mason was saying, “is that it’s always done backwards. It’s almost as if the sport itself is trying to teach us not to get ahead of ourselves.” He opened his car door. “Actually, when you think about it, rowing is almost exactly like raising kids. Both require patience, endurance, strength, and commitment. And neither allow us to see where we’re going—only where we’ve been. I find that very reassuring, don’t you?”
Courage is the root of change—and change is what we’re chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others’ opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what you will change. And then get started.
“The problem, Calvin,” she asserted, “is that half the population is being wasted. It’s not just that I can’t get the supplies I need to complete my work, it’s that women can’t get the education they need to do what they’re meant to do. And even if they do attend college, it will never be a place like Cambridge. Which means they won’t be offered the same opportunities nor afforded the same respect. They’ll start at the bottom and stay there. Don’t even get me started on pay. And all because they didn’t attend a school that wouldn’t admit them in the first place.”
Had anyone asked him, Calvin would have said Elizabeth Zott was what he treasured most in the world, and not because she was pretty, and not because she was smart, but because she loved him and he loved her with a certain kind of fullness, of conviction, of faith, that underscored their devotion to each other. They were more than friends, more than confidants, more than allies, and more than lovers. If relationships are a puzzle, then theirs was solved from the get-go—as if someone shook out the box and watched from above as each separate piece landed exactly right, slipping one into the other, fully interlocked, into a picture that made perfect sense.
The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet’s Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India by Rodger Kamenetz
Eight Jewish delegates travel to India to have a multi-day dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Amazing! I listened to the 30-hour audiobook (I just couldn’t stop and it was worth it). The intergenerational stories that link together through slavery and freedom were transformational. This is an epic book!
Novarodok: A Movement That Lived In Struggle And Its Unique Approach To The Problem Of Man by Meir Levin
This is a slim and engaging book about Rabbi Yosef Yozel Hurvitz, the Alter of Novardok, who founded many yeshivas in Lithuania and Poland in the early 20th century. The school of Novardok was a radical school of Mussar that taught nullifying one’s self-interests, tear down the unworthiness of the heart and mind and allow for inner rebirth. He had some radical methods inspired by the political climate in 1900s revolutionary Russia.
I’m writing my Masters Thesis on the three schools of Mussar that grew out of Rav Yisroel Salanter’s Mussar movement. I also re-read The Fire Within and Illuminating the Generations by Rabbi Hillel Goldberg
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Really excellent plot and a fast-moving read. It’s a sort-of sequel to The Glass Hotel.
More After the Break: A Reporter Returns to Ten Unforgettable News Stories by Jen Maxfield
Do you ever wonder what happened before the cameras started rolling or after the cameras leave? Maxfield introduces her readers to people who have lost children and other loved ones and people who have been through enormous traumas and have mostly recovered. Their stories are amazing and inspiring. I love that Maxfield inserts her own feelings, trepidations, worries, and stories of her family.
“Human being first. Journalist second. Because at the end of the day, we are telling people’s stories. We are there to bear witness, to listen, and to question. We are there to provide a healthy dose of skepticism, coupled with comfort and compassion. The information may flow through us, but we are not a neutral medium. The stories change us, for better or for worse. In my case, the thousands of stories I have covered have left me with a greater appreciation for life, a tendency to forgive myself and others for the mistakes we all make, and an overwhelming sense of respect and gratitude for the people who choose to spend time with me in service to the greater good.”
Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami
I loved reading about Murakami’s early beginnings as an essay contest winner, what he thinks about the literary world today, and some of his writing experiences.
The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel Pink
I listened to Daniel Pink read this on an audiobook and really enjoyed his explanations of his research on regret, including how to use it for growth.
Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir by Erika L. Sánchez
Sanchez writes that she “belonged nowhere and everywhere all at once.” Living this contradiction helps her remember that all people “are composed of multitudes,” which is something Walt Whitman could have written too. When she started to feel a sort of intersectionality of identity, neither fully Mexican or American, she became her own home. And she’s really really funny. 🙂
Women of color are regularly praised for our resilience, but what’s too often overlooked is that our resilience is a response to so many forms of violence. For us, resilience is more than a noble trait; it’s a lifestyle that oppression has demanded of us. Either we adapt or we die. Even so, we need not be mere caricatures. Our stories matter, despite what the rest of society would like us to believe. So here I present to you a series of my musings, misfortunes, triumphs, disappointments, delights, and resurrections.
Better to laugh at the absurdity of your time on earth than to resign yourself to mourning all of life’s misfortunes. Laughter is a beautiful form of resilience, one that evinces a generosity of spirit. But sometimes I do wonder: Is it brave to find joy amid despair, or is it simply part of being human? Does it even matter?
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
I loved this novel! I am guessing it’ll still be a favorite at the end of this year. I loved the story in its originality.
