My reading in April consisted of starting a
whole bunch of books, and actually finishing four of them.
In other parts of the world there has been no
end of calamity: trees falling on cars, six straight days of rain in
Washington, DC (is God trying to powerwash the deck there?), Hawaii exploding,
Kenya cracking open, not to mention the Middle East, where we are headed in
less than a week. One must try to either
learn more or to address the angst.
These four books were my attempt at that. Here are the first lines.
Book 1
For as long as I can remember, I remember
fear. Existential fear. The Israel I grew up in – the Israel of the
1960s – was energetic, exuberant, and hopeful.
But I always felt that beyond the well-to-do houses and
upper-middle-class lawns of my hometown lay a dark ocean. One day, I dreaded, that dark ocean would
rise and drown us all.
Book 2
Chapter 1: The Saint in Pointy-Toed Shoes
At nearly eight o’clock in the evening on my
fifth Friday in France, I dragged my hungry, tired family into a pharmacie downtown. “It’ll only take a second,” I promised.
Book 3
One: Everywhere and Nowhere
When I start writing, I inevitably feel
myself swallowed by fear.
Book 4
Ber. Who’s there?
Fran. Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself.
Ber. Long live the king!
* * * * * *
Titles and authors revealed:
Book 1
My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, by Ari Shavit, © 2013.
Reading in
preparation for our trip to Israel in late May.
My brief conclusion after
reading this book is that both Israel and the US have a national history marked
by a striving for high-minded notions of freedom and equality, combined with a
constant thread of oppression and violence.
Probably the same as any nation’s history, really.
Book 2
The Holy Éclair: Signs and Wonders from an Accidental Pilgrimage, by Rebecca S. Ramsey, © 2017.
Signed by the author! I received
this book in a blog raffle (thanks to published author Melissa Westemeier!). I enjoyed reading it slowly, one chapter
every few days, as a devotional. The
author is a beleaguered mom who moves to France because of her husband’s job,
and finds herself in a spiritual slump.
In each chapter she seeks to find evidence of God in the ordinary
extraordinariness of her daily life in France.
Includes frequent visits to the local marché, cafés, and boulangeries. Delightful and calming.
Book 3
Braving the Wilderness: the Quest for True Belonging and the
Courage to Stand Alone, by Brene Brown, © 2017.
One
must go through the wilderness in order to belong to oneself.
Book 4
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, 1599.
I’m counting
this even though, strictly speaking, I didn’t finish reading it. This was our book club assignment for March. Younger Daughter and I read it out loud at
home – a blast! – and got through Act 3.
Then the book club (plus spouses and a bona fide Shakespeare
scholar/grad student) went to see it performed live in the theater. This
combination is an excellent way to experience Shakespeare. And
there’s that oblique reference to origami, right in the second line.
* * * * * * *
Dear Reader, what have you been reading to
either learn, address angst, or escape?
3 comments:
Have fun on your trip! What are you going to see?
The plan is to see all the usual touristy things. But basically, we'll go wherever the guides say we should go. And more importantly, won't go where they say we shouldn't.
I'm glad you liked Becky's book. It does work so beautifully as a devotional. Hamlet! Good grief!
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