October Book Reviews
I'm proud to announce that in October I read 7 books, bringing my annual total so far to 43 books, back on track to easily meet my goal of 50 by the end of the year! Four paperback books and three audiobooks; four nonfiction (what?!) and three fiction. I did not end up reading a Joni Eareckson Tada book all the way through this month, but I did read two books for which she wrote the foreword. Sometimes it's fun to read books that our heroes read, right?
This was my book club's October read. It's a book that our church spent some time with a few years ago, but most of the people in our book club had not read it before, so we thought maybe we should. After reading it, we collectively decided never to read nonfiction for book club again - not because it was a bad book, but just because we have more fun discussing fiction. However, through our discussion of it (and with the help of a little wine and chocolate) I think we are all glad that we read it. I'm not sure I'm fully on board with everything that was written about in the book, but I did like the perspective that it brought. After all, Christian discipleship really does need to include the infusion of joy, community identity, and relational connection. I would say it's a good book, but I won't exactly rave about it.
Not a Sometimes Love, Keith Korstjens
This was an incredibly helpful resource to me. Joni wrote the foreword, and I learned that this is actually the book that she and Ken read for their premarital counseling. It is the true story of a married couple in the '60s; the wife had polio and became a quadriplegic four years after they were married. I read the first chapter, which was the backstory to her illness and decline, which was sad to read, but I wondered if I would really relate to the story. However, by the time I got to chapter two, I was completely hooked. I learned so much from this couple and the way they learned how to do life and love together after her illness. There are some things in it that are a bit dated, but overall the themes and truths are solid and relevant, and I'm so glad I read it.
Unmet Expectations, Lisa Hughes
My friend Jenni sent this one to me for my birthday back in the spring, and it's been sitting in my stack ever since. I trust Jenni's recommendations, and I have been very intrigued by what this book might teach me, but I was also a bit afraid of it. There have been many unmet expectations in my life over the years, and I wasn't sure I was ready to dig them up and deal with them in this way. But it gave a very good biblical perspective on expectations and how to shift our mindset and attitude to see our circumstances as gifts from the Lord with purpose, direction, and grace.
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, Mark Vroegop
If I was nervous about reading Unmet Expectations, I was downright terrified of this book. Some of you know I absolutely judge a book by its cover, and this book's cover is literally gray and black, with dark clouds; nothing about it attracted me to it. I resisted picking it up, but my friend Lori sent it to me and said it was important, so I decided that while I was on a roll with nonfiction, I would read it, too. I am so glad I did. Joni wrote the foreword for this one as well. I got through it as quickly as possible, and I'm actually glad it's in my personal library now, so that when I need to lament, I have a good tool to guide me. Little did I know that three days after I finished, I would hear about the school shooting in Bend, Oregon. The shooter was a 16-year-old boy who targeted a special needs classroom and killed three children and a teacher. As anger, sadness, and confusion overwhelmed me, I thought of this book and took some time that day to lament in the ways that I had learned: I turned to God and complained, asked Him to intervene, and reminded myself of who He is. I think this book will come into practical use in my life more often than I want.
After all these heavy book topics, I treated myself to something fun and silly. I've had this book in my "want to read" category on Goodreads forever. I decided that since it's October and, well, Halloween, maybe it was a good time to pull it out, and it was. I love Neil Gaiman's style of writing and the mythical, whimsical way in which he weaves story. Anansi is a god in West African/Caribbean folklore who is in the form of a spider and is a clever trickster. This story is about Anansi's sons, who live in the modern world. It was all chaos, and in the most delightful way.
A Guardian and a Thief, Megha Majumdar
My book club is meeting again this week, so I went ahead and finished our November book, too. Like I said before, we decided not to do any more nonfiction, so here we are back at a novel that none of us had read before and knew very little about. It is set in India, about a family trying to immigrate to America. A very interesting tangle of moral dilemmas catches up with the different characters in different ways, and many obstacles get in the way to increase the tension of will they/won't they make it. I think the most interesting thing to me was that I couldn't figure out exactly how this book was going to end, although I suspected it was not going to be a happy ending. At this point, I don't think I really loved it, although I have felt that way about other book club books until we get together and talk about it. Then I feel better about it, because of my camaraderie with such cool ladies who read the same thing. Reading in relationship is always better!
MY OCTOBER TOP PICK:
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 8, Beth Brower
This is the latest published book in the series, and now I have to just sit and wait around until volume 9 is released next year... perhaps February? Anyway, this was probably my very favorite book so far in the series. I love the way that the author is weaving together the lives and relationships between the main characters into such a rich and beautiful thing. I love her description of Stonecrop, the country estate that Emma spends the month of June in: not only the grounds and the house, but the whole atmosphere of freedom, hospitality, rest, and celebration that she found there. I think I'm going to need to buy these books so that I can mark up my favorite words, phrases, and sentences throughout, as there were some gems that I would sometimes just stop and look at and smile and let sink into my soul.
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