Strangers at My Door by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
This was really an amazing book. Many people may be familiar with the scripture where Jesus says "I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in..." and the response is "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger? and He replied what you did not do for the least of these you did not do to me." (Matt. 25:40-45 paraphrased) Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and his wife Leah take these words to heart and decide to try to be Jesus to the least in their community. They move to the Walltown neighborhood in Durham, NC - an area of mostly African-Americans known for povery, drugs, and gang violence. They basically open up a hospitality house and will take in anyone in need. Anytime day or night their neighbors can call or stop by for help. They live with the very people they are trying to help. He is honest with the struggles and the failures, but there are also LOTS of success stories. Many of the people they help never had long-term, healthy relationships with anyone and fell easily into drugs or gangs and prison, but when they realize these people truly care for them and will be there for them many are able to completely turn their lives around. This was an inspiring read of a couple who truly took Jesus's words to heart and decided to try their best to be Jesus in their community for people who need it the most. Obviously, not everyone can do work like this, but I'm thankful there are people out there like the Wilson-Hartgroves who are giving their lives to really help people like Jesus did - meeting them where they are with love, compassion, and grace.
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith (book club)
I don't know how this book was recommended for our book club since it's the 7th in the series, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I haven't read anything else in this series, but I guess these don't HAVE to be read in order to get the story. I'm sure there were things that would have made more sense if I'd read the previous 6 books, but I was able to understand everything going on. I'm not a fan of mysteries and I'm definitely not a fan of "cozy" mysteries, which is what I would classify this book. I'm just not much for cutesy, everything-works-out-in-the-end, and everybody-learns-an-important-life-lesson type books. I also didn't love that most of the detective "cases" were just either miscommunication or a misunderstanding. Even though I didn't love it, it was a quick, light read and I can see why it has such appeal for some people. Not a bad book, just not my reading style.
Sum It Up by Pat Summitt (Books & Banter book club)
I remember hearing about Pat Summitt's Alzheimer's diagnosis when she announced it a few years ago, but I didn't really follow women's basketball and didn't really know who she was. The only reason I read this book is because of my book club, but I absolutely LOVED it. Pat Summitt was an incredible trailblazer, not just for women's basketball, but for women everywhere. I had no idea that until 1979 some states did not allow high school girls to play full-court basketball because they thought it would "damage" them somehow. Pat and other women in basketball fought to change those out-dated rules. Through her experience you see how Title IX started to change women's sports - how her teams went from being on the fringes to getting all the same perks and benefits that men's teams did. Her personal life was amazing too. She grew up with 3 older brothers and 1 younger sister and everyone in the family worked HARD all day, every day. She grew up knowing what hard work means and how important that is for success. While her father was not openly affectionate with his family he obviously loved his children and did everything for them. When Pat was in high school her school didn't offer a women's basketball team - so her family moved over the county line so she could go to a school with a women's team. That was unheard of at the time in the early 1970's. While I've never been into watching women's basketball my husband did get me interested in college basketball, so I think that helped me enjoy the book more. But, whatever your interest in basketball, Pat Summitt is a trailblazer for women and everyone should know who she is and what she's accomplished.
In speaking about feminism and the women's movement Pat describes watching the famous Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs:
"Did I have grievances as a young woman? You bet. But protesting or sign carrying wasn't me - and wasn't going to get it done. Billie Jean, now there was an influential force. Was there anything more equalizing than her sheer toughness, her combination of smarts and muscle? I wanted to influence, and to change. But there was only one way I could see that changed things: winning. You changed things for women by winning." (p. 79)
In speaking about feminism and the women's movement Pat describes watching the famous Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs:
"Did I have grievances as a young woman? You bet. But protesting or sign carrying wasn't me - and wasn't going to get it done. Billie Jean, now there was an influential force. Was there anything more equalizing than her sheer toughness, her combination of smarts and muscle? I wanted to influence, and to change. But there was only one way I could see that changed things: winning. You changed things for women by winning." (p. 79)
The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
The Girl You Left Behind follows the stories of two women separated by over 100 years. Sophie Lefevre's artist husband Edouard leaves her in 1916 France to fight in the first world war. Sophie clings to a painting Edouard did of her when they first met to remember him by. As the Germans begin to occupy Sophie's small town, a commander takes a liking to both Sophie and the painting. Can Sophie trust this German soldier to help reunite her with her husband? Or will her decision be her ruin? Fast forward over 100 years to Liv Halston living in modern day London. Her late husband bought a painting for her on their honeymoon that he said reminded him of Liv. After his death Liv remembers all the good times with her husband whenever she sees that painting in their house. But, one day she finds out that her painting was supposedly stolen from it's original owners by Germans in WWI and the family of the artist is trying to get the painting back. Liv can't bear the thought of giving away one of the only remaining things from her husband, so even though she can't really afford to she hires a lawyer to fight to keep the painting. As both sides try to find out what really happened to Sophie and the painting, now known as The Girl You Left Behind, during WWI and it's aftermath, Liv tries to figure out not only how to keep her beloved painting but also how to move on from her husband's death. Sophie and Liv's stories show the power of true love that can overcome any hardship.
I really like Jojo Moyes and it seems like every book she writes is even better than her last one. She is truly a gifted writer and as the storylines unfold you just can't put the book down - you have to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters. I would highly recommend this one!
I really like Jojo Moyes and it seems like every book she writes is even better than her last one. She is truly a gifted writer and as the storylines unfold you just can't put the book down - you have to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters. I would highly recommend this one!
Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life by Marta McDowell
This was a really interesting book that explored Beatrix Potter's life through gardens. I knew Beatrix Potter had gardens and drew plants and flowers, as well as the animals that inspired her books. But, I had no idea just how much land Beatrix Potter bought over the course of her life. Apparently because of her much of the Lake District in Northern England has been preserved solely because Beatrix Potter bought every piece of property she could, then had all that property willed to the National Trust after her death. "Our access to the views, the lakes and hills, the cottages and pastures of Cumbria, are thanks in great part to Beatrix Potter and her Tales. The lakesides are not strewn with holiday cottages. The jagged vertebrae of the fells are free of vacation homes perched on unlikely heights. She left a legacy of land as well as words and pictures." (p. 143) And she also farmed much of the land she purchased, not because she needed the money, but because she felt like it was wasteful to have all that farmland and not actually farm it. The book is divided into 3 sections - Beatrix Potter, her life as a gardener, the year in Beatrix Potter's gardens, and visiting Beatrix Potter's gardens. I feel like the middle section was kind of redundant and could have easily been left out. The first and last sections are the more interesting, but the whole book is filled with beautiful photographs of the areas described, photographs of Beatrix and her family and friends, and of course lots of Beatrix Potters drawings and illustrations. If your a fan of Beatrix Potter and also like to garden this is THE book for you! I thought it was a really unique way to explore Beatrix Potter's life.
Lighthouse Island by Paulette Jiles
Nadia Stepan is born into a future, dystopian US, where after the population exploded and cities popped up on every available square inch of earth drought seized the land. Most animals are extinct, only a few crops can be grown, and water is issued by the quart. Nadia is abandoned by her parents at the age of 4 with only a scrap of paper with some constellations drawn on it. She is shuttled from orphanage to foster home with little hope of a better life. But, Nadia is convinced that if she can get to Lighthouse Island in the Pacific Northwest she will be reunited with her parents. When the political climate heats up to the point where people are rounded up, arrested, and executed for no reason Nadia decides that she must escape and make her way North. Along the way she meets James who's confined to a wheelchair, but knows he will someday walk again. James is surprised by Nadia's intellect and helps her on her journey. Will James and Nadia make it to Lighthouse Island? Will things be better there or worse? In this dystopian nightmare world James and Nadia cling to their dreams and to the hope of each other.
This was really a weird, yet interesting book. The first 1/3 of the book is a little slow, but once the pace picks up you can't wait to find out what happens to Nadia and James. There are parts where the story is too slow and lots of added detail that probably could have been left out. Overall, it was interesting, but definitely not great. I did like Nadia's character and how determined she was to be more than what was expected of her.
This was really a weird, yet interesting book. The first 1/3 of the book is a little slow, but once the pace picks up you can't wait to find out what happens to Nadia and James. There are parts where the story is too slow and lots of added detail that probably could have been left out. Overall, it was interesting, but definitely not great. I did like Nadia's character and how determined she was to be more than what was expected of her.
Harvest: field notes from a far-flung pursuit of real food by Max Watman
This book was so much fun to read. Max Watman wants to make/produce/grow as much of his food as he can. Throughout the course of the book he buys his own steer to raise for beef, tries his hand at making cheese, grows and cans vegetables, makes his own kimchi and charcuterie, and even his own salt from the ocean. He is honest about the failures and mistakes and makes lots of hilarious, dry remarks about everything. I very much appreciate his desire to produce as much of his food as he can because I strive to do the same thing, although I don't think I'm anywhere near the cook he is. He makes points about the problems and wrongs of the industrial food system, but the book is still light-hearted and funny. He hits just the right balance of being informational and entertaining. If you are a regular at your local farmer's market this is the book for you. Max Watman is the foodie neighbor and friend you wish you had!
Some quotes I really liked:
"...but what I'd really wanted was something that didn't take you back to the land. You don't have to walk out of the city and buy a farm - and you'd better not even try to, unless you have a magically refreshing bank account and a television show all lined up about doing it...I just wanted to do what I could with what I had, tune the system up and get better at it. I wanted my readers to think to themselves that maybe they should make their own bacon, despite the fact that they live in a tiny apartment in the city. I don't want a Garden of Eden, something out of reach, something aspirational. I want to do things that everyone can do. To turn myself on to the seasonal, agricultural rhythms. To live, in other words, as if I were on a farm but without the farm." (p. 156)
"One of the most powerful bits of Katz's book comes in his defense of amateur fermenters in response to Paul Stamets, who writes that 'making Kombucha under non-sterile conditions becomes, in a sense, a biological form of Russian Roulette.' Katz replies, 'The idea that kombucha (or any ferment) is safe only in the hands of technical experts denies the long lineages of home and village production that spawned them and plays right into the disempowering cult of specialization. Make sure you understand the parameters of the selective environment you need to create, and you are not playing Russian Roulette. Basic information and awareness are important. Empowered with them, you may ferment without fear'." (p. 194)
"Canning made me even more nervous than fermenting. Fermenting, after all, even if it's just rotting on the counter, is working with the natural proclivities of salt and bacteria. Also, in my experience, a ferment gone wrong is an obvious thing. Canning, however, is an attempt to create an environment in which nature can't happen...It seems improbable, if not impossible, that a thinking person would simply put some jars in boiling water and imagine that after so doing he could go ahead and set those jars on a shelf in the basement and everything would be fine. It works, obviously; it just doesn't feel like it should, and it certainly didn't feel like it should the first time I did it." (p. 196-7)
Some quotes I really liked:
"...but what I'd really wanted was something that didn't take you back to the land. You don't have to walk out of the city and buy a farm - and you'd better not even try to, unless you have a magically refreshing bank account and a television show all lined up about doing it...I just wanted to do what I could with what I had, tune the system up and get better at it. I wanted my readers to think to themselves that maybe they should make their own bacon, despite the fact that they live in a tiny apartment in the city. I don't want a Garden of Eden, something out of reach, something aspirational. I want to do things that everyone can do. To turn myself on to the seasonal, agricultural rhythms. To live, in other words, as if I were on a farm but without the farm." (p. 156)
"One of the most powerful bits of Katz's book comes in his defense of amateur fermenters in response to Paul Stamets, who writes that 'making Kombucha under non-sterile conditions becomes, in a sense, a biological form of Russian Roulette.' Katz replies, 'The idea that kombucha (or any ferment) is safe only in the hands of technical experts denies the long lineages of home and village production that spawned them and plays right into the disempowering cult of specialization. Make sure you understand the parameters of the selective environment you need to create, and you are not playing Russian Roulette. Basic information and awareness are important. Empowered with them, you may ferment without fear'." (p. 194)
"Canning made me even more nervous than fermenting. Fermenting, after all, even if it's just rotting on the counter, is working with the natural proclivities of salt and bacteria. Also, in my experience, a ferment gone wrong is an obvious thing. Canning, however, is an attempt to create an environment in which nature can't happen...It seems improbable, if not impossible, that a thinking person would simply put some jars in boiling water and imagine that after so doing he could go ahead and set those jars on a shelf in the basement and everything would be fine. It works, obviously; it just doesn't feel like it should, and it certainly didn't feel like it should the first time I did it." (p. 196-7)
A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke
Eva and Jackson have been married less than a year when he is killed in a tragic accident. Eva knew Jackson had had a falling out with his brother Saul and didn't like to talk about it. To deal with her grief Eva decides to travel from England to Tasmania to visit Jackson's family and help heal her grief. But, once there Eva finds out that her whole life with Jackson was based on lies. She has to deal with her grief and the anger she feels toward Jackson as she finds out more about his life before her. Eva is also surprised at the attraction she feels toward Jackson's brother Saul - is it because he reminds her of Jackson or is it something more?
The plot moves very quickly and this is a fast read because you want to find out the truth about Jackson and his past. I totally saw the ending coming so I wasn't really surprised, but there are a LOT of twists and turns and secrets to be revealed - it was almost too much. I liked it because it was so fast-paced, but I liked her previous book Swimming at Night better.
The plot moves very quickly and this is a fast read because you want to find out the truth about Jackson and his past. I totally saw the ending coming so I wasn't really surprised, but there are a LOT of twists and turns and secrets to be revealed - it was almost too much. I liked it because it was so fast-paced, but I liked her previous book Swimming at Night better.
Falling in Honey by Jennifer Barclay
This book was a HUGE waste of time to read. I was so excited to read it because I thought it sounded really interesting, but I didn't like the author and a lot of the book was very repetitive. Basically, Jennifer Barclay always enjoyed traveling and lived in a few different countries, but she always loved Greece. She had gone to a few of the Greek islands before she discovered Tilos and she just fell in love with the friendly, small-town atmosphere. After a heart-break she decides to stay on Tilos for a month to relax and recover from her breakup. When she returns home to England she reconnects with an old friend and they discover they each have feelings for each other. Soon they are engaged and going back to visit Tilos together. While they are there her fiancée rashly makes an offer on a house and they decide to live there permanently once his business sells in England. Then a week before they are supposed to fly over to Tilos together he confesses that he never owned the business, never owned the houses, etc. and Jennifer goes alone.
While I do think it's great that Jennifer always wanted to live on Tilos and she made it happen, she made some really poor choices otherwise. She tells her mother she feels like she doesn't know her fiancée well enough to get married quickly, but they're trying to get pregnant - so you know him well enough to have a baby and be linked to him forever, but not to get married?! And one of her Greek friends that she meets on Tilos, Manolis, seems like a jerk and it's not like she doesn't have other friends so I never understood why she spent so much time with him, then complained about it! Basically, I did NOT enjoy her story and would NOT recommend this book. This book was a big waste of my precious reading time.
While I do think it's great that Jennifer always wanted to live on Tilos and she made it happen, she made some really poor choices otherwise. She tells her mother she feels like she doesn't know her fiancée well enough to get married quickly, but they're trying to get pregnant - so you know him well enough to have a baby and be linked to him forever, but not to get married?! And one of her Greek friends that she meets on Tilos, Manolis, seems like a jerk and it's not like she doesn't have other friends so I never understood why she spent so much time with him, then complained about it! Basically, I did NOT enjoy her story and would NOT recommend this book. This book was a big waste of my precious reading time.
