First Lines: January 2026 edition

I would have to say, looking back over the month’s reading, that there is a thread running through most of these six books: patriarchy.  

Dearest Blog Reader, in the likely event that you do not read any of my blathering below, I will ask you now – what’s in your book stack these days?

Book 1

Cordelia

I didn’t know how long I sat cross-legged in the snow, waiting for the dead man crumpled on the ground in front of my building to wake up. 

 

 

Book 2

I’m here because two people broke a promise to God.

 

 

Book 3

Scene - Dr Stockmann’s sitting room.  It is evening.  The room is plainly but neatly appointed and furnished.

 

 

Book 4

At the Window with Binoculars

Standing at her kitchen window, Domenica Macdonald, cultural anthropologist, denizen of Scotland Street, citizen of Edinburgh, lowered the binoculars that for the last fifteen minutes she had trained on the street below.

 

Book 5

This is what happened in Faha over the Christmas of 1962, in what became known in the parish as the time of the child. 

 

Book 6

The Door to Hell

I am lost. The flames in the crater have erased the stars and then drained all the shadows of light.

 

 

The titles and authors revealed:

 

 

Book 1

A New Lease on Death (The Ruby and Cordelia Mysteries #1)

By Olivia Blacke

325 pages • first pub 2024 

fiction fantasy mystery

Recommended through Mel W’s blog

 

The premise is that one of the detectives has already met her demise.  !  I enjoyed the characters and the setting.  Sometimes the prose was a bit repetitive.  Ends on a big reveal which will obviously require the reading of the next book to resolve.  And that is somewhat annoying, but I would like to read it.

 

Book 2

Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds

John Fugelsang

304 pages • first pub 2025

nonfiction politics religion 

Instructive, amusing in parts, and infuriating in others.  I was astonished to hear the Catholic Church’s actual practice on birth control in one place described.  I was already aware of many of the theological interpretations of the Bible verses, but I still found it interesting.  And we all know there is plenty of patriarchy to be found in both fundamentalism and fascism.

 

 

Book 3

An Enemy of the People - the play by Henrik Ibsen

164 pages • first pub 1882.   

Although this play was written in 1882, the issues treated are relevant today.  It was an easy read, and was available to buy for Kindle for very little $ being passed on to J.B., the King of Amazon*.  I read it for book club, and then we are going to see an interpretation of the play next month.  

Themes: environment, male hubris, crowd mentality, economics, family dynamics, reasons for compromising one’s values, the price to pay for not compromising one’s values.

 

Book 4

A Promise of Ankles: (44 Scotland Street #14)

By Alexander McCall Smith

320 pages • first pub 2020

fiction contemporary

I could only get this book from the library on audio.  Curses on my need to read series in order!  I managed to finish, but it was a struggle.  I liked the narrator's voice, and judging by his name, Robert Ian Mackenzie, he seems the perfect choice to narrate a book that is set in Scotland.  I have no idea if he is Scottish.

Includes some amusing plot developments about a human skull and, separately, language dominance.

Re patriarchy:  McCall Smith’s characters often express views about how they feel females or males should live.  It’s maybe not patriarchy per se, but I can’t remember any instance where the characters in the Scotland Street series show wide variance from what I will call traditional societal gender norms.  However, to me, there is an overall feeling of acceptance of others’ differences in his books.  It’s just that the differences portrayed are not too far from “center”.

 

 

Book 5

Time of the Child By Niall Williams

304 pages • first pub 2024

fiction literary

Recommended by Stephen Colbert and S. K.

A story ultimately of hope, in a slow but enjoyable read.  It takes place at Christmas-time in a small town in Ireland in 1962. The characters are quite appealing.  Loads of mentions of tea, but often it’s an offer of tea, only to be refused.  The patriarchy is inherent in the setting (a small Catholic town in 1962); the plot ultimately pushes gently against that patriarchy. 

The prose varies from delicious to a bit convoluted, but it’s mostly lovely.  I recommend it, but it’s best to read during a long snowy winter, with a cup of hot tea at hand and the news turned off.

 

Book 6

Sovietistan - a travel diary of going through former Soviet Republics.  

By Erika Fatland with Kari Dickson (Translator)

470 pages • first pub 2014 

nonfiction history travel

“A good mix of humor and despotism” – Older Daughter

A fascinating description of the Norwegian author’s travels through the five Central Asian countries that used to be part of Russia/ Soviet Union.  Recommend, but best perhaps to read in periodic doses.

This book was highly recommended to me in 2023 by Older Daughter, who read it as part of her project to read books by continent.  I supposedly studied the Soviet Union in grad school, but learned next to nothing about the Central Asian SSRs (I am pretty sure this is my fault, not the school’s fault).  I started reading Sovietistan, gave up, bought the kindle version about 6 months ago*, then stopped again because of other reading assignments (book clubs) and despair at my own country’s descent toward autocracy.  

To encourage me to resume, she said that I should keep reading it because the book is “a good mix of humor and despotism”.  Which it is.  This book works well to read in chunks, with a section for each of the five countries.

That is the same daughter who in December exclaimed enthusiastically, “I finished the dictator book!”  

Me:  “THE dictator book?!”

Older Daughter: “There is a whole genre of books from Central America called the “dictator” genre. The title of the book I read is called I, the Supreme. Or in Spanish, Yo, El Supremo.  From the country of Paraguay.”

I will not be reading Yo, El Supremo anytime soon, but it could be fun to shout that phrase.

While reading Sovietistan I could read about the dictatorships without looking away – at their core, autocrats are ridiculous.  They insist on being called El Supremo. From afar, their narcissism is amusingly appalling.  But for some reason I balked at reading about girls/young women who were kidnapped and forced to marry the man who kidnapped them, often with the permission of the girl’s parents.  I skimmed those sections.  Patriarchy is prominent in these Central Asian countries.  (And, it seems now, plenty of other places too.)  

This book enlightened me on how those former Soviet republics have fared since the dissolution of the USSR.  I did not fact-check the history as presented in the book.  It should be no surprise that there is plenty of environmental disaster.

There is some description of the changing demographics of the countries. Since publication, there have been some changes in leadership for some of the countries.  

- - - - - - - - 

* I despise any of my money going to Amazon but I simply must continue to read, which is easier for me on my kindle.  If I can’t get the kindle version through my library, I might buy it.  Reading helps fight the patriarchy.  In my opinion.

Use Your Voice

HOLD ONTO HOPE

A friend asked me how I am managing to keep my sanity.  I wrote the following to him, and want to share here.

It has taken me a while to understand Timothy Snyder’s advice #1 for resisting tyranny:  “Do not obey in advance.”  I could see what it means for people in positions of authority or influence, but what about me?  

I have realized that, for me, it means using my voice, my speech, as much as possible to contact my elected officials.  There is no way I am going to let my thoughts about what the government is doing not be heard.  If I don’t call/write/visit my electeds regularly, then that, for me, is obeying in advance.

So here is what I have been doing to maintain my sanity while using my voice.  I invite you to do the same.

1.  Call, visit, or send webmail regularly to an elected.  

I aim for once a day, but don’t always manage that.  I try to limit my missive to one issue.  (But no yelling, no cuss words, no threats.)

I usually concentrate on Sen. McCormick (R-Spineless), and my messages have been either about the cabinet nominees, or most important right now, the illegal, anti-democracy unconstitutional acts of Elno Mxsk and his team of mini-me data bandits.  It. Is. A. Coup.

But it can be healing to call my Dem representative, because that office is more sympathetic, and urge him to stay strong in opposition to the horror of the Mxsk-Tromup regime.   

For PA residents, here are some phone numbers for our Senators:

Senator McCormick, DC office: 202-224-6324 (or look up other office #s online)

Senator Fetterman, DC office: 202-224-4254 (or look up other office #s online)

Sometimes the phone mailboxes are full.  In which case, writing a webmail can suffice. Or if I am too upset, I skip calling and go straight to webmail.

To send a webmail:

Links to electeds' webpages

https://www.mccormick.senate.gov/

https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/contact/

If I can manage it, I try to go in person to the Senator's office.  This takes more time and money (oy, the cost of parking!).  I did this twice this week, with some friends.  It was a heavy lift.

We heard from a former congressional staffer that snail mail (on paper) letters can carry a lot of weight with the staff, because they know that person went to a fair amount of bother and expense to send the letter.  Of course, calling is more immediate. Staff may pay more attention to calls than webmails, I am not sure.  The former staffer said that if calls start to go above 100 on an issue, they will pay more attention to that issue.  However, lately electeds’ voice mailboxes have been full, so I have had to send a webmail.  I need to remember to put my “ask” in the subject line, because that is most likely how the staff counts opinions.  

There is supposedly an app called something like "5 calls" that makes it easier to do all this, but I haven't used it.

2. Read only the news that I need to know.  

It is often more than I want to read, but I feel I have to stay informed.  I try to balance it with maybe local good news, if possible.  Not always possible.

3. Notice one thing in nature once a day. 

 Doesn't have to be a pleasant thing. One day it was the biting brisk wind, which made me glad I had a warm house to go back into.  Another time it was the bright and beautiful crescent moon.

4. Spend time in person with like-minded people and loved ones.  

Or talk on the phone with them.   We need each other.

5.  As much as it is possible, support the vulnerable with prayer, monetary donations, caring words, and whatever else I can think of.  Harder to do when I am in a foul mood.  I get consumed with anger.

The most vulnerable are the LGBTQ community (especially transgender people), children, people of limited financial means, immigrants, people of color, women (especially young women), federal workers.  I am probably forgetting someone.  There are so many who are vulnerable to what is coming/already here.

6. Work on local elections.  

In my county we have had free and fair elections.  This year we have important elections for judicial, school board, and municipal seats.  I recommend making a connection with someone who shares your values and whose guidance you trust to advise you on how to vote on judges or the other races.

Doing this is actually part of #5.  Judges, school board directors, municipal reps – all have a huge effect on the lives of vulnerable people.

7.  Seek instances of gratitude

The day after we saw the axolotl at our local library, I decided to call the library to thank them for having an axolotl, to tell them that it brought joy to me and others.  That phone call made me feel really good, and maybe did the same for the librarians.

8.  Sing.  

Haven't been doing too much of it lately, but singing is really, really good to do.

9.  Remember that the opposition wants us to feel helpless and alone.  Remember that we are not either of those.  

- - - - - - - - - -

I am trying to draw strength from the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  When they were told they should bow down before the seemingly powerful shiny rich god that towered over them, they refused.  They knew they would be thrown into the fiery furnace.   They said, Our God is more powerful than you.  Our God will rescue us from the fiery furnace.  And even if the rescue doesn’t happen, we are still not bowing down to you.  

If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us.  But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

– Daniel 3:16-18

I am not saying God is going to snatch us out of this mess.  If we are to keep a democratic republic, it's up to us.

Do not bow down in advance.  Do not give up.  Use your voice.  Call.  Write.  Sing. 

First Lines: January 2023 edition

Dusk falling in North Park

I look back wondering how I managed to finish eight books in January.  It was part holiday, part travel to the Old Folks Home, part insomnia.  But mostly an inexplicable lack of energy all month, probably due to the burst of energy required in December for me to do all the tasks that I put off until after the election. And we made SO many cookies in December!  January filled me with a great desire to hibernate, crawl under the covers and do nothing but read.  I was privileged to be able to do that, at least some of the time.

If there are themes emerging from this selection of books, they would have be forest, and justice, and justice for the forest.

 

Book 1

Rego Park, N.Y. c. 1958

It was summer, I remember.  I was ten or eleven.  I was rollerskating with Howie and Steve.  “Last one to the schoolyard is a rotten egg!”

 

Book 2

The world, as it is, is the enemy of God.  The world, as it is, is the enemy of the people of God.  

 

 

Book 3

Three-quarters of the way to the newsagent’s, a trek she will come to deeply regret, Millie Gogarty realizes she’s been barreling along in second gear, oblivious to the guttural grinding from the bowels of her Renault.

 

 

Book 4

SCENE I. Athens. The palace of THESEUS.

Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, and Attendants

THESEUS

Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour

Draws on apace; four happy days bring in

Another moon: but, O, methinks, how slow

This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires,

Like to a step-dame or a dowager

Long withering out a young man’s revenue.

 

Book 5

In the late spring of 1995, just a few weeks after I’d turned twenty-eight, I got a letter from my friend Madison Roberts. I still thought of her as Madison Billings.

 

Book 6

This book grew out of a series of Facebook posts designed to help guide Christians in the United States through the maze of issues that were debated during the presidential election in 2012.

 

Book 7

I remember now standing with my face to the horizon in the waist-deep tide of the Gulf of Mexico, making up a dance routine.

Book 8

First there was nothing.  Then there was everything.

Then, in a park above a western city after dusk, the air is raining messages.

Did not finish

Wheels Up

I am running late for the airport, trying to catch a cab on my street corner.  A woman in a wheelchair and her date, a man, arrive at the corner seconds after me.

 

The titles and authors revealed:

 

 

Book 1

The Complete Maus (Maus #1-2), By Art Spiegelman.  Nonfiction graphic book.  Part memoir. 296 pages. first published 1986.

This book has been challenged to be removed from school curricula.  It is a difficult book to read because of the subject matter, but I found no reason to ban it from high school curricula or libraries.  I did have to put it down for a few hours because of the harrowing story.  It reinforces how random was the possibility of survival for Jews in the Nazi regime.   There is plenty to discuss after reading this book. For starters: the author-artist’s choice to represent humans as animals, and by a different animal for each group of people (e.g. Jews, Nazis, Poles).

 

Book 2

Doing Justice: Congregations and Community Organizing, by Dennis Jacobsen.  Published 2001.  103 pages.

This book was a shocker to me, starting with those opening lines.  I didn’t feel that starting off by saying the world is the enemy is helpful for organizing.  But then I haven’t done any organizing.

 

Book 3

Good Eggs, by Rebecca Hardiman.  336 pages. Published 2021

Recommended by Pai.

Funny but also filled with off color language.  The frequency of the f-word was surprising to me, given that most of the characters are Irish.  Maybe my copy was Americanized? The book is also sad and tense.  This family was exhausting but I was compelled to read to the end to find out what happened.

 

Book 4

 A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.  256 pages. First published 1595.

For book club.  This was a relatively easy Shakespeare to understand.  Two of my kids and I read it out loud in the living room, which was a blast.  I’ve got to find time to watch a movie version, because the part with the wall has got to be even more hilarious on stage. This play involves a lot of traipsing about the forest. "Into the woods, and who can tell what's waiting on the journey?"

 

Book 5

Nothing to See Here, by Kevin Wilson.  Published 2019.  277 pages.

This book  examined parenthood from a unique perspective, but I thought it was a bit repetitive and tense.  Not as funny to me as others’ Storygraph reviews claimed.  But this could be because I am just tense myself. That said, there's quite a lot to think about when reading this book.

 

Book 6

Public Faith in Action: How to Think Carefully, Engage Wisely, and Vote with Integrity, by Miroslav Volf, Ryan McAnnally-Linz.  240 pages. Published 2016.

The authors expound on the commitments, convictions, and virtues that they feel should guide those seeking to lead a faithful Christian life.  The book has a beatitude-like list of political and social goals for our society, but also asks valid questions.  They do not address if and how Christians should support democracy; the existence and continuation of democracy is a given.  In 2016 most of us did not see a threat to democracy.

Book 7

Bomb Shelter: a memoir in essays, by Mary Laura Philpott.  Published 2022. 288 pages.  Essays about anxiety and optimism.  Includes a very good description of vertigo.  I enjoyed it.  More essay collections, please.

 

Tree roots on forest floor, far below the overstory

Book 8

The Overstory, by Richard Powers.  2018.  502 pages.  Pulitzer Prize winner.

 An extraordinary book that left me with questions, although the main thesis is consistent and strong.  If you have time to read a long book, I recommend this one.  It’s about trees and forests, but also a revealing portrait of activism.

 

I admire a writer who structures the book according to the theme (e.g. All the Light We Cannot See).  At around page 70 of The Overstory I decided that this was not, in fact, a novel, but a collection of short stories.  I was wrong.  The first 150 pages are the roots --  in-depth expositions of the nine (!) major characters. If I had bothered to read the Table of Contents I would have realized that from the beginning.   In the Trunk, Crown, and Seeds sections, we see how the characters branch out, and into each others’ lives. 

 

In the prologue, the trees tell us humans:

Your kind never sees us whole.  You miss the half of it, and more.  There’s always as much belowground as above.

Human that I am, surely I have missed deep points and clever details. It’s a longish book (502 pages), yet the characters and plot swept me right along.  I wish I could have lingered with it, but I finished it with only one day to spare before the library snatched back the e-book.  

A recent word from the author: Five Years Ago, I Wrote a Fictional Disaster That Is Now Playing Out in Real Time.  Feb 2, 2023 New York Times.

Did not finish

Look Alive Out There, by Sloane Crosley.   Essays.  Published 2018.  257 pages.

Parts were very funny.  But also snarky.  I was not in the mood for this level of snark.