#OpenBook for December 2023

 

Welcome to  #OpenBook. 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 books. Thanks for stopping by!

 

11-1-23 Amish Love Letters - Shelley Shepard Gray, Charlotte Hubbard, and Rosalind Lauer -  This Valentine's Day collection features three novellas of Amish romance, all of which involve love letters in some capacity. My favorite was The Wrong Valentine in which a young widow gets a second chance at love after one of the valentines she once made for her husband ends up in unexpected hands. (Read for a book review publication).

 

 11-5-23 Hidden Powers: Lise Meitner's Call to Science - Jeannine Atkins - This novel in verse is meant for younger readers (age 10 and up), but I truly enjoyed learning about this scientist I had never heard of before. Lise had to fight for her right to get an education and then worked in Germany in the early part of the twentieth century. She was Jewish and needed to flee during World War II. Some of the science she discovered was ultimately used to develop the atomic bomb, although she refused to help with that project and had very mixed feelings about her discoveries being used in that way. This book could foster a lot of conversation and I definitely recommend it for homeschoolers. 

11-8-23 Prepare Your Heart: A Guided Advent Journal for Prayer and Meditation - Fr. Augustino Torres, CFR - This is a lovely Advent reflection book that can be used year after year. Each week focuses on a different "way" - The Way of Nazareth, The Way of the Saints, The Way of St. Joseph, and The Way of Mary. For each day, there is a spiritual quote, reflection questions with room to journal in the book, and a closing prayer. It provides an excellent way to spiritually prepare for Christmas.

11-13-23 The Amish Quiltmaker's Unlikely Match - Jennifer Beckstrand - This book is part of a series, but it works great as a standalone. Mary Yoder is considered an old maid by Amish standards, but her life is about to change when a drunk professional baseball player crashes in to her family's barn. This is a heartwarming Amish romance with lessons about overcoming one's fears and healing from trauma. (Read for a book review publication)

11-16-23 I Would Like to Travel the World: Therese of Lisieux: Miracle-Worker, Doctor, and Missionary - This is an English reprint of a book originally published in French in 2003. It shares testimony about several miracles obtained through St. Therese's intercession, discusses the process by which she was declared a Doctor of the Church, and then traces the travels of her relics around the world from 1994 to 2003. If you aren't familiar with St. Therese, there are many better books to pick from, including her autobiography Story of a Soul, but I found the chapter on how she was declared a Doctor of the Church interesting and this book also made me reconsider my feelings on relics.

11-18-23 The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip - Sara Brunsvold - This was a beautiful story about a remarkable woman dying of cancer and the young reporter who is sent to interview her for her obituary. It is a faith-filled Christian novel with important lessons about accompanying someone as they prepare for death. I highly recommend this one!  

11-22-23 Miracles at Promise Lodge - Charlotte Hubbard - This is the last book in the series about a community in Missouri where Mennonites and Amish live side by side. Promise Lodge is made up of people who have all left their homes for one reason or another and get a second chance at life and love in this new place. This particular installment focused on two love stories and also brought back some characters from previous books. If you are interested in this series, I think it would be better to start with the first book: Promise Lodge. (Read for a book review publication.)

11-26-23 The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life - Janice Kaplan - I read this one over Thanksgiving weekend. I do try to be thankful in my life, but I admit I can be prone to negativity. This book offered a good reminder to be thankful for every day's blessings. Kaplan spent a year working on her own attitude of gratitude and offers some scientific backing for why being thankful is good for us. This is a secular book with a touch of new age thought in it, but the message is important. Those of us who come from a faith perspective know to give thanks to God, which should inspire us to be even more thankful! Since reading this book, I've been trying to think of something to be thankful for whenever I start to have a negative thought. It's only been a bit over a week, but I do think it is helping.

 12-3-23 Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math - Jeannine Atkins - This book was written for young people ages 10 and up, but even as an adult, I enjoyed it a great deal. It features short biographies of seven remarkable girls/women who took their love of math and made a difference in the world. Several of these women also raised families. The women profiled are Caroline Herschel, Florence Nightingale, Hertha Marks Ayrton, Marie Tharp, Katherine Johnson, and Edna Lee Paisano. Before reading this book, I had only heard of Nightingale and Johnson. The biographies are written in free verse, but it reads like prose. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about amazing women who were pioneers in their fields.  

12-4-23 'Twas the Day Before Christmas in Bethlehem Town - Leslie Bond Diggins - This is a sweet picture book for young children told from the perspective of a shepherd boy in the crowded streets of Bethlehem. His father explains about the census and tells him to welcome strangers with love. The boy performs a generous act, and then that night is among the shepherds who see the angel of God proclaiming the good news that Jesus was born. The shepherd boy is honored to get to meet the baby Jesus.

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 junior year). 

11-29-23 Principles of Philosophy - Rene Descartes - This was first published in Latin in 1644 with an expanded edition published in French in 1647. I read through Part 1, "On the Principles of Human Knowledge" which is the source of the famous "I think, therefore I am" quote. Descartes urged readers to trust in natural enlightenment as long as nothing contrary is revealed by God. I also appreciated his take that just because we can't understand something doesn't mean something isn't true. Parts II through IV dealt with scientific topics regarding both space and the earth. I mostly scanned those sections. He gets props for trying to explain the physical world, but by current standards, his scientific explanations were faulty. Still, it is interesting to see some of the theories that were being put forth in the 1600s.

My twelve-year-old daughter and I read the following book this month:

 

11-30-23 Return to Sender - Julia Alvarez - The main characters in this story set in 2006 are two twelve year olds, an American boy who lives on a farm in Vermont and a Mexican girl who comes with her father and uncles to work on their farm. This story brings a human face to illegal immigration and touches on some tough issues, such as when the girl's mother is kidnapped trying to return to the US from Mexico after she had gone home to see her dying mother. This story can foster conversations on immigration, friendship, and bravery. Both my daughter and I enjoyed this book.

 

 

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