Open Book - March 2022

 

I'm joining up with Carolyn Astfalk who hosts an #OpenBook Linkup on CatholicMom.com. Here's what I've been reading this past month. The dates indicate when I finished the book.

 

2-2-22 The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon -  Eva Gordon is an older woman starting to experience dementia. She lives with her granddaughter Breezy in Boston, but is determined to escape and make her way back to her home at Cape Cod. Breezy keeps catching her as she tries to escape, but things are complicated further when Breezy announces she is getting married and wants Eva to live on a farm with Breezy, her new husband Ian, and Ian's older uncle. Eva is also haunted by bad memories of her past and has a troubled relationship with just about everybody. This is MacKillop's debut novel. She is an older writer (although nowhere near as old as her character Eva) and she brings a great deal of insight on human life into her writing. This had the possibility of being a really hard book to read, but she was able to bring some levity to it while imparting some valuable life lessons. (Read for a book review publication)

2-3-22 The Fire of Eden - The Harwood Mysteries Book 3 - Antony Barone Kolenc - This is an excellent series for pre-teens to adults set in the middle ages. As this is Book 3, you'd probably want to start the series at the beginning. In this installment, Xan must face the choice between becoming a monk and leaving the monastery to become an apprentice to his uncle. While he's making that choice, there is a mystery to solve and an injured friend to help.  

 

2-6-22 House Lessons: Renovating a Life - Erica Bauermeister - This is a memoir of Erica (and her family) fixing up a home in Port Townsend, Washington. While at times the text meanders, it was an interesting story about the actual work of fixing up a run-down home and what it means to have a home. She also offered insights into how the project helped her grow as a person.

2/6/22 The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen - with intro by Matthew Kelly - I really didn't know anything about Ven. Fulton Sheen before I picked up this book, other than he was on TV many years ago. In the introduction, Matthew Kelly explains that this archbishop "knew that Jesus' model of reaching people was to go to the people." He offered "inspiring and practical messages" with his key message being "life is worth living!" With the exception of the introduction, this is a book of quotes (one for each day). Some are short, some are long, but I found myself pondering many of them. It is clear Ven. Fulton Sheen had a prophetic spirit about our world. 

2/10/22 Modern saints can often seem more approachable and understandable than those who lived a long time ago, especially for young people. Blessed Chiara Badano lived in the late 20^th century, and her life has much to teach young people today. In Blessed Chiara Badano: Her Secrets to Happiness, Geraldine Guadagno shares facts about this holy young woman’s life as well as the important lessons her example demonstrates. 

2/13/22 - Erica Bauermeister referenced Blink by Malcolm Gladwell in her book. I thought it looked interesting so I decided to pick it up. It is all about those instantaneous decisions we make without giving something much thought. Gladwell says it is our "adaptive unconscious", the part of our brain that leaps to conclusions. He goes on to discuss when we should trust our instincts and when we should be wary of them. It made for fascinating reading. 

2/15/22 - Restore: A Guided Journal for Prayer and Meditation - Lent is just starting and it isn't too late to get the e-version of this remarkable book. Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT takes readers on a deep-dive experience of Lent. She invites readers into a deeper relationship with God through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving with an emphasis on healing our relationships with God, others, and ourselves. Each day features a quotation, meditation, reflections with questions to think or journal about, and prayer. There is much to contemplate in these pages. If you are looking to have a deeper faith experience this Lent, this book is worth checking out.

2/15/22 Born on the Water - Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson - This is a powerful picture book to read for Black History month or at any time of the year. A young Black girl is doing a family history project for school. Her grandmother proceeds to tell her of her ancestors in Africa prior to 1619 and then how they are taken into slavery and brought to Virginia. The emphasis is on the culture of the people, on how they had their own culture in Africa, and then how they formed a culture on the boat on the way over and a culture here in America. The young girl's ancestors were people of courage and intelligence and beauty. I know the 1619 Project is controversial, but it is important that we not forget the atrocities that were committed against Black people and that we share history with our children, both good and bad. One line in this book that especially made me cringe was "And the white people took them anyway. Kidnapped them. Baptized them in the name of their god. Stamped them with new names." Yes, Christians often felt they were saving the Blacks and Native Peoples by baptizing them, but I think we can agree that conversion shouldn't come via sword or whip. I teared up reading this book. It is well-worth reading and sharing with your children.  

2/18/22 - Boulevard of Confusion - Spies of the Civil War, Book 2 - Sandra Merville Hart - Beatrice Swanson is a young woman from Washington City who goes to visit her aunt in Virginia in the midst of the Civil War. With various members of her family taking different sides, Beatrice leans toward the North (she's staunchly anti-slavery) but is unsure where her loyalties truly lie. Things become even more complex when she falls in love with someone solidly on the cause of the South. Can their love possibly survive the war? This was an enjoyable romance with a healthy dose of intrigue. (Read for a book review publication) 

2/18/22 - Child Consecration to Jesus through Mary - Blythe Marie Kaufman - This book was handed to me by an older woman at church who thought I should read it with my daughter. So far, I've read it on my own, but I probably will read it with my daughter as part of our homeschool program. It is based on the 33-day Marian consecration program but is designed for elementary school children. It begins with an introductory story of a young girl named Daisy learning how to garden from her mother. At the end, Daisy gets to present all the good things she has grown to her father who rewards her. The following days explain how Mary helps lead us to Jesus and God the Father and all the ways she can help us in our lives. The book is not available on Amazon, but https://childconsecration.com/ offers a list of places it can be purchased.

 

2/20/22 She Stitched the Stars: A Story of Ellen Harding Baker's Solar System Quilt - Jennifer Harris 

One of my hobbies is quilting and I read about this book in a quilting magazine. In 1876, Ellen Harding Baker completed a quilt accurately depicting the solar system as it was known at that time. She was a mother of five young children; the quilt took her seven years to complete. She then gave an astronomy lecture in her small town in Iowa using the quilt as a visual aid. An article was written about her at the time which was reprinted in several papers. The New York Times referred to her efforts as "somewhat comical." Little is known about Baker. This is an imagined story of her creation of the quilt. However, her daughter Carrie preserved the quilt, which now hangs in the National Museum of American History, a lasting testament to Baker's creativity and quest for knowledge.

2/23/22 - Studying to be Quiet: One Hundred Days of Keeping - Laurie Bestvater - This was recommended to me by the leader of the Charlotte Mason Mother Culture group I belong to. Bestvater expands the idea of lectio divina to go beyond the use of Scripture: "The underlying assumption of lectio is that the whole world is, in fact, a 'text' of sacred revelation." Bestvater invites us to keep a notebook for 100 days in which to record and reflect on quotes or ideas or images that we come across. She especially recommends this as a Lenten / Easter practice. If you start on Ash Wednesday and go through the Easter season, it will be just about 100 days. In this book, Bestvater offers an introduction and then shares the quotes she kept over two sets of 100 days which mostly centered on the theme of quiet.  

 

2/25/22 Her Hidden Genius - Marie Benedict - This is a fascinating fictional portrayal of Dr. Rosalind Franklin, a pioneering scientist who worked to unearth the secrets of DNA in the 1950s. Benedict skillfully examines Franklin's challenges in working in a man's world as well as her devotion to scientific discovery no matter the cost. 

2/27/28 - The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason - Laurie Bestvater - This was another book I read for the Mother Culture group I belong to. This was an interesting examination of the various types of notebooks that Charlotte Mason encouraged her students (and adults) to keep as a way of organizing and remembering information.

 

Since spring of 2019, I have been making my way through the Great Books Curriculum of Thomas Aquinas College (I'm currently working on the readings for sophomore year). 

The Algamest - Ptolemy -  This was written between 127-151. Most of what we know about ancient astronomy owes its preservation to Ptolemy. It is a study of the movement of the stars and planets. He presented a geocentric system (even though the heliocentric system was being thought about at that time). Honestly, I mostly skimmed and understood very little in this book, but I grasp why it was important to the study of astronomy.

My eleven-year-old daughter and I read the following books this month:

The Edge of In Between by Lorelei Savaryn is a darker retelling of The Secret Garden. In the world of Vivelle where young Lottie lives, people lose their magic (and their color) as they lose hope. When Lottie's parents die suddenly, she quickly fades to grey. When a woman comes to her, offering her a way to reconnect with her parents, she jumps at the chance, even though it means living Vivelle behind to go to the land of Forsaken. While there, Lottie learns some valuable lessons on making one's way through grief. This is a middle-grade book, but it does take a very dark, scary turn near the end. I would not recommend this for sensitive children. For those who don't mind a few hair-raising shivers, this is an interesting story with a great deal of symbolism that will keep you turning pages.  (I received a pre-release copy.)

Frankie and Amelia - Cammie McGovern - This was a sweet tale about a cat in need of a home who becomes friends with Amelia, a fifth-grade high-functioning autistic girl who has a great deal of trouble at school. My daughter and I both enjoyed it. 

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