Herewith, the first lines:
Book 1
It was a cold December weekend in Chicago, and I was excited. One of my best friends was getting married, and to top it off, he had asked me to officiate the wedding.
Book 2
I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm.
Book 3
The Moon And The Yew Tree
This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary
The trees of the mind are black. The light is blue.
The grasses unload their griefs on my feet as if I were God
Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility
Fumy, spiritous mists inhabit this place.
Separated from my house by a row of headstones.
I simply cannot see where there is to get to.
(that was just the first stanza of the poem)
Book 4
It was one of Paul Stuart’s friends who said to him, “I can’t stress this enough, you know: breathing is important. Really important.”
Book 5
Finally, it was the freshmen’s turn. Ten of us—nine Democrats and one Republican—wandered around the big hall, surveying where we might sit. We talked about location: which row to sit in, whom to sit next to, which desk was closest to the front—it was all perhaps a bit too reminiscent of high school.
Book 6
Christmas House, North Pole
22nd December 1920
Dear John
I heard you ask daddy what I was like and where I lived. I have drawn me and my house for you.
Book 7
I still remember the very first time I heard about Fannie Lou Hamer. It was in spring 2008, when I was a senior at Binghamton University, and I was taking a course on the American civil rights movement.
Book 8
___ 1801
I have just returned from a visit to my landlord—the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with.
Book 9
So it comes to this, I remember thinking on Wednesday, June 7, 1871. The date sticks in my mind because it was the day of my sister’s first funeral and I knew it wasn’t her last – which is why I left.
The titles and authors revealed:
Book 1
White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White, by Daniel Hill. © 2017. 221 pages.
I read this for my church’s Matthew 25 Initiative group, which is focusing on anti-racism. I found it to be a meaningful and helpful book. Our group’s coach recommended it, and I also recommend it to church-going folk.
Book 2
Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler. Published 1979. 264 pages.
The narrative frame of this book is quite interesting; trying to avoid spoilers (I hate spoilers) I will just say the book takes place in two time periods, the 1970s and the early 1800s. Butler wrote it in response to young black Americans minimizing the horrors of slavery and claiming that if they had been enslaved, they simply wouldn’t have tolerated this or that. The main lesson I drew from the book was that normalization of an unacceptable situation is what often happens. This was the December selection for one of my book clubs. They all appreciated and praised the book.
Book 3
Poems of Sylvia Plath, selected by a friend in book club.
Brilliant poet. She met a tragic end. It was good to read and mull over the poems in book club - I got a lot more out of them through the discussion than without it.
Book 4
The Second-Worst Restaurant in France: A Paul Stuart Novel (2nd in Paul Stuart Series), by Alexander McCall Smith, published 2018. 259 pages.
A light-hearted read. A sequel to My Italian Bulldozer.
Book 5
Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America, by Sherrod Brown. Published 2019. 366 pages.
Uplifting and utterly discouraging all at the same time. The current senior Senator from Ohio writes profiles of 8 men elected to the US Senate who (most of the time) fought for what I believe to be good policy and against what I believe to be damaging policy. The discouraging part is how often they failed, in the face of nasty opposition in what Brown portrays as conservatives’ firm ties to supporting the interests of big business and working against the interests of regular folks.
Side note: his wife, journalist Connie Schultz, spoke at my daughter’s graduation. I read this book on the suggestion of one of the Senator’s constituents.
Book 6
Letters from Father Christmas, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Published 1976. Originally written 1920-1943. 128 pages, with many drawings.
I read this for the other book club, for our December selection. “Father Christmas” wrote these letters to Tolkien’s children each Christmas season. As someone who wrote morning notes to my youngest child every school day for an entire year, I found an affinity for the whole project. The book is charming. Note that there are an unexpectedly large number of explosives stored at the North Pole.
I got the Kindle version from the library, and read it on my desktop, so that I could see the drawings in color and in a large enough size to see the details. If you can get a hardcover copy, that’s probably the best, but our library didn’t have one and I am forbidden from acquiring physical books unless absolutely necessary. Don’t bother reading it on a small b&w kindle screen.
Book 7
Until I am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America, by Keisha N. Blain. Published 2021. 209 pages. The author is Associate Professor of History at University of Pittsburgh.
Hamer was a brave leader in the civil rights movement, but differed from many of the other leaders of the movement - she did not have the same education as others. She famously said, “For three hundred years we’ve given them [white people] time. And I’ve been tired so long, now I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. We want a change in this society in America.” This was in response to white people suggesting that gradualism was the best approach to gain civil rights.
For her actions seeking the rights that should have automatically been hers, her fellow citizens inflicted disrespect, harassment, violence, beatings, sexual abuse, and more indignities. But she kept on working for justice.
She tied her own civil rights to the rights of everyone else. “Until I am free,” she boldly told the mostly white audience members at the University of Wisconsin in 1971, “you are not either.” Her message to America was: “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” Vice President Kamala Harris quoted Fannie Lou Hamer in her acceptance speech.
Book 8
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. Published 1847. 208? Pages.
I am trying to decide if this is the best book I read all year, or the worst. This is not an inbetween book. I read it for book club - I am leading the discussion in January. I think the discussion will help me. I can’t stop thinking about the book, which perhaps indicates that it is truly a classic. Your thoughts on this book are greatly appreciated.
More at this link, including one-sentence summaries and The Moral Of the Story, according to me.
Book 9
One Came Home by Amy Timberlake. Published 2013. 272 pages (Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, Newbery Honor )
A murder mystery which takes place in 1870s Wisconsin, with the arrival of a large flock of passenger pigeons precipitating the events of the book. Enjoyable characters.
