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| Frogs reading and sipping tea. Seen while canvassing in 2019. |
Below are the first lines of the books I finished reading in February (and one DNF). I made a point of looking for some lighter material vs last month. For me, that means more Alexander McCall Smith.
The internet admonished me to download my kindle-Amazon books to my computer by Feb 28th but I have not done so. Most of my kindle material is borrowed from the library. By today it is too late to do so.
I was encouraged to learn that there are potentially viable alternatives to Amazon kindle. But right now I am too lazy / anxious / distracted to make that change.
Book 1
Once, at the dawn of a very dark time, an American father and daughter found themselves suddenly transported from their snug home in Chicago to the heart of Hitler’s Berlin.
Book 2
When Pat Macgregor received an invitation from Bruce Anderson to meet for coffee at the Elephant House on George IV Bridge, her first reaction was to delete it.
Book 3
I’m dead.
You want to talk about my family and here I been dead to them for fifty years.
Book 4
01 for this ordinary day
Lord, here I am.
How strange it is,
that some days feel like hurricanes
and others like glassy seas
and others like nothing much at all.
Book 5
Scotland was gorgeous— even more so than I’d imagined.
Book 6
Miss Constance Kopp, who once hid behind a tree near her home in Wyckoff, N.J., for five hours waiting to get a shot at a gang of Black Handers who had annoyed her, is now a Deputy Sheriff of Bergen County, N.J., and a terror to evildoers. —New York Press, December 20, 1915
Book 7
November 1994
Little River, NY
I’m standing at the end of my driveway in the dark, watching Mrs. Varnick’s trailer, waiting for her lights to go out, getting really pissed off.
Book 8
Many and varied are the interpretations dealing with the teachings and the life of Jesus of Nazareth. But few of these interpretations deal with what the teachings and the life of Jesus have to say to those who stand, at a moment in human history, with their backs against the wall.
Book 9
“Mozart,” said Isabel Dalhousie. And then she added, “Srinivasa Ramanujan.”
Did not finish
So Gelon says to me, “Let’s go down and feed the Athenians. The weather’s perfect for feeding Athenians.”
The titles and authors revealed:
Book 1
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
By Erik Larson
448 pages • first pub 2011
nonfiction history
Highly recommend, if you can stomach it right now. There are so many parallels to the United States today, it’s disgusting. I read it for Book Club #2, and barely finished it before the library snatched it back from my kindle. This was my second reading, but the first reading was a while ago, back when I never imagined the events in the book would be relevant to the US today.
The foreword to the book is crushingly apt for today:
In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost.
—DANTE ALIGHIERI, The Divine Comedy: Canto I
(Carlyle-Wicksteed Translation, 1932)
Excerpt which reflects my feelings about US leaders today:
The thing that weighed on [Ambassador Dodd] most, however, was the irrationality of the world in which he now found himself. To some extent he was a prisoner of his own training. As a historian, he had come to view the world as the product of historical forces and the decisions of more or less rational people, and he expected the men around him to behave in a civil and coherent manner. But Hitler’s government was neither civil nor coherent, and the nation lurched from one inexplicable moment to another.
Book 2
A Time of Love and Tartan (44 Scotland Street Series #12)
By Alexander McCall Smith
256 pages • first pub 2017
fiction contemporary
I was desperate for a light read, and this series never disappoints. This one was published in 2017; I saw what I thought was timely commentary:
Book 3
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother
By James McBride
256 pages • first pub 1996
nonfiction memoir
For PT book club. Just as good as the first time I read it. Better, in fact, with what I have learned in the past 9 years. James McBride as a writer is a gift to the world. The book just reads so easily, and yet goes into great depth.
Quote from a biographical video of James McBride
“When you do something small that is to the positive, it shoves the world forward to the good. And that’s the thought that gets me out of bed in the morning, that’s the prayer that’s on my lips every night.” – James McBride
Book 4
The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days
By Jessica Richie, Kate Bowler
256 pages. First published 2023.
nonfiction literary poetry religion
Not a book meant to be read straight through, but I read most of it, skimming some. There are chapters with a plan for Lent and for Advent, which I think could be very helpful. I might buy this book to have on hand, for the imperfect days that are upon us.
Book 5
An American in Scotland (A Scottish Isle Mystery Series #1)
By Lucy Connelly
304 pages • first pub 2023.
fiction mystery thriller lighthearted
Enjoyable. I like the main character. The murder occurs almost right away. There were so many possible romantic interests popping up that I was fearing it would be less a murder mystery and more a romance. It didn’t, in this book. But it’s a series, so it’s set up for the romance to develop.
Book 6
Lady Cop Makes Trouble (Kopp Sisters #2)
by Amy Stewart
310 pages • first pub 2016.
fiction crime historical mystery
I enjoyed this second book in the series. Some amusing moments. It dragged a teeny bit in the middle. The first line is either the headline from an actual news article, or based on such an article. The author draws the story line and most of the characters from the news of the time.
Book 7
The People We Keep
By Allison Larkin
368 pages • first pub 2021.
fiction literary
The main character is a teen named April who has made bad choices and has a difficult life. I don’t want to give anything away, but the ending is just way too happy-go-lucky. I liked most of the characters, and thought it was a good fiction treatment of what it is like for a young person to live in poverty. I read it for book club (for March).
Book 8
Jesus and the Disinherited
By Howard Thurman
106 pages • first pub 1949.
nonfiction religion
A short but meaty book. Thurman seeks to answer the question: what does the teaching of Jesus have to offer to those “with their backs against the wall”? How can oppressed people (the “disinherited”) keep fear, deception, and hatred at bay? Is it possible to practice Jesus’ example to love one’s enemies? Parts seemed to be exactly describing the deep loneliness of our current time, although this was written well before its rise. If I get around to it, I’ll post a lengthy excerpt about that.
Book 9
The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds (Isabel Dalhousie #9)
Alexander McCall Smith
288 pages • first pub 2012
fiction mystery
The main character, a philosopher, often sinks deep into thought while muddling around in other people’s lives, to whimsical effect. The mystery does not involve murder, but the theft of a painting. This book is just what the doctor ordered - light but thoughtful literature written before the rise of the toddler-in-chief.
Did not finish
Glorious Exploits
By Ferdia Lennon
289 pages • first pub 2024.
fiction historical literary
This was supposed to be uproariously funny. But given the current times, the first two chapters did nothing for me but raise my anxiety. What can I say? I am a sensitive reader. Even if it’s the Athenians’ fault, I didn’t find the portrayal of the conditions of holding them prisoner amusing in any way. It just reminded me of detention camps for undocumented immigrants. What could end up amusing is that the book seems to be written in the lingo of current-day Ireland.
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Dear reader, please tell – what are you reading? Or link to your latest post about your recent reading.
