Bridget, abused as a teenager, creates a life for herself, husband, and son. A good mystery and compassionate story of people doing their best to successfully come through trauma with meaning and purpose in their lives.
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Bridget, abused as a teenager, creates a life for herself, husband, and son. A good mystery and compassionate story of people doing their best to successfully come through trauma with meaning and purpose in their lives.
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 Olive is hilarious; she says what she thinks. She says out loud what I sometimes think but am too polite/guarded/dishonest to say. I have compassion for every character in Olive’s life, and for Olive, too. As someone how visits old people, I wish I could visit Olive.  This story takes place in Winchester England in 1933, after The Great War and before WWII. Even if you are not interested in handwork (in this case needlepoint) or music (in this case bell ringing), I trust you will still be drawn into this story of 36 year old Violet’s life as she begins to craft a life of her own. This is a heartfelt story that I highly recommend to women; it’s awoman’s story. I probably won’t recommend it to men, but it very likely end up on my Top 12 for 2019.  A story of women pursing their independence in 1937 in Tennessee as librarians on horseback taking books to families living in the hills. A good read with drama and a happy ending.  Her first novel. I read her other two, loved them both, loved this one, too. All three are favorites. Each story is set in rural Canada. Each about families, their love, anger, fear and joy all mingled together. Each about a strong girl, growing to womanhood, planning an independent path for herself, and then returning home in a satisfying and rewarding way.  This compelling story of Kya, who grows up and lives her entire life in the swamps along the North Carolina coast, will undoubtedly be # 1 on my 2019 Top 12 Reads. Kya attends school for only one day, but then a friend teaches her to read and helps her publish her research and drawings of the flora and fauna that she knows so intimately. What I’ve just described is the background to the life story of this independent girl, known as Swamp Girl. As the saying goes, once you start reading, you won’t want to put the book down.  Stephen Mitchell tells the story of Joseph and his brothers. I would call it a contemporary Midrash (an ancient commentary on part of the Hebrew scriptures, attached to the biblical text), with theological reflections and wisdom on compassion, acceptance, humility, as well as forgiveness. It also goes on a new reading category I am creating: Beach Reading for Clergy.  I loved this book; I disliked this book. I wanted to quit reading it; I wanted to keep reading it. I recommend it; I don’t recommend it. I never disliked city girl Vivian (who is telling her life story beginning as an eighteen year old in New York City at the start of WW II until her aging years in 2010) as she made horrendous life choices as a young person. But as she grew older and experienced unexpected changes, I came to both admire and feel compassion for her. Revision: I loved this book; I recommend it.  This story was compelling enough to keep me happily reading it on my long flight home from Rome to Boston. It is about everyday people who struggle with what life had dealt them, and who make the best decisions they can to more forward. They are compassionate, but by no means perfect, which is definitely something I can identify with. 
A memoir of the life of Paul Alster’s father as seen through Paul’s eyes as he goes through his father’s house after his death. Everyone has a solitude self, as well as a public one. Paul discovers that the solitary father he knew, had social side to others. A profound read, for sure. |
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