A Cottage by the Sea
  • Home
  • On My Mind
  • Quotes
  • Secrets of an Old Woman
  • A Solitary Traveler
  • Compassionate Reading
  • Comfort food
  • Books
  • Suggested reading
  • Poems
  • About me
  • About me and my blog

In Other Words, by Jhumpa Lahiri

5/24/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
In Other Words, by Jhumpa Lahiri
     This has to be one of the most profound books I have ever read. Compassion for those without one mother tongue because they have two—well kind of. For Lahairi it was English and Bengali. I admired her dedication to search for identity by learning to speak, read, and write in a third language, Italian. Her passion for that language is intense, all consuming. In other words, it represents her life purpose, her reason for being.
     We know something is truly profound when we can’t describe it in other words.


0 Comments

A Book of American Martyrs, by Joyce Carol Oates

5/14/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
A Book of American Martyrs, by Joyce Carol Oates
     How can I recommend this 700+ page book that delves into the tragedy of murder and abortion? And yet I encourage everyone to read this riveting, page turner.
     From start to finish I felt compassion for both evangelical murderer, Luther Dunphy and for his victim, abortion doctor, Augustus Voorhees—compassion for both men and their families.
     How easy it is to take sides. After all, we all have political and moral opinions on this hot button issue. But Joyce Carol Oates weaves a story that shows no partiality. Murder is a tragedy for everyone.


0 Comments

The Lowells of Massachusetts,’ by Nina Sankovitch

5/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Lowells of Massachusetts,’ by Nina Sankovitch
I’m in awe of the research that went into producing this engaging book about the Lowell family. Nina Sankovitch definitely pulled together pieces of Colonial and Civil War history for me.
My first breath of compassion goes to Sankovitch’s perseverance; the next, to the early settlers’ clarity of purpose.



0 Comments

2017 ReadingChallenge

5/2/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Here's my list so far. I am on my way: 44 down 8 to go, and I have until January 31st. Maybe I will double the challenge. AND some of these were long!

January 2017
**The Glass Castle, Annette Walls
Half Broken Horses, Annette Walls
The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van, Alan Bennett
*All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett
*Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance
The Space Between Us, by Thrity Umrigar
*Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
**Astrid & Veronika, Linda Olsson
Tolystoy and the Purble Chair, by Nina Sankovitch
Eleven Hours, by Pamela Erens
*The Lake, by Banana Yoshimoto
*Books for Living, by Will Schwalbe
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
Letters from Rifka, by Karen Hess
Upstream, by Mary Oliver
 
February 2017
* Conclave, by Robert Harris
**The Street Sweeper by Elliott Perlmann
By Chance, by Martin Carrick
*The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Navigation Log, by Martin Carrick
*Tattoos on the Heart, by Gregory Boyle
**Colorless Tsuuru Tazaki, by Haruki Murakami
**Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent
Pompeii, by Robert Harris
 
March 2017
Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh
La Bella Lingua, by Dianne Hales
Do Not Say we have Nothing, by Madeleine Thien
Flight of the Sparrow, Amy Belding Brown
The Geography of Genius, by Eric Weiner
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety, Jimmy Carter
Today Will Be Different, Maria Semple
A Tale for Time Being, Ruth Ozeki
Morning Glory, Sarah Jio
 
April 2017
The Jesus Style, Galye D. Erwin
Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the
Soul of a Renaissance City, Paul Strarthern
The Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
In the Name of the Family, Sarah Dunant
The Lowells of Massachusetts, Nina Sankovitch
The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis
A Book of American Martyrs, Joyce Carol Oates



0 Comments

    Author

        Compassionate Reading may sound strange, but that’s my purpose in joining the Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge. A book a week seems like a reasonable goal. Maybe I’ll read 52, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll read 32, but probably not 520.
         Number goals appeal to me, especially ones connected with the calendar. As a teacher, I loved the definitive school year. There is nothing like a Monday morning every seven days to give me another jump start. The first of every month I take delight in turning the page of my wall calendar. I like numbers.
         However, this reading goal isn’t about adding books to a list. My goal is understand lives different from mine. Up until now I have read through the lens of my own life, one of ease, privilege, freedom and advantage; they never promised a rose garden, but I was given one. Now I want to wear the lens of the authors and their characters. I want to step into their feelings and experiences without comparing them to mine. I want to observe without judging. I want to appreciate the nuances rather than put everything into categories. I want to I want to read with my heart more than my head.
         My plan is to post how each book opened my heart to compassion.

    Archives

    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    Akiko Busch
    Alan Bennett
    Alyssa Palombo
    Amy Belding Brown
    Anita Moorjani
    Ann Cleese's
    Ann Patchett
    Anthony Doerr
    Banana Yoshimoto
    Cara Wall
    Cindy K. Sproles
    Colson Whitehead
    Delia Owens
    Elaine Pagels
    Elif Shafak
    Elizabeth Berg
    Elliot Perlman
    Gail Honeyman
    Garth Stein
    Glass Castle
    Henning Mankell
    Howard Norman
    James McBride
    Jamie Ford
    Jeannette Walls
    Jean Thompson
    Jennifer Egan
    Jess Montgomery
    Jhumpa Lahiri
    Jim Defede
    Jodi Picoult
    Jojo Moyes
    Joshilyn Jackson
    Joyce Carol Oates
    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    Kate Eberlen
    Kate Morton
    Kazuo Ishiguro
    Kristin Hannah
    Linda Olsson
    Louise Erdrich
    Lucinda Riley
    Marie Benedict
    Mark Gimenez
    Martin L. Smith
    Mary Oliver
    Melodie Winawer
    Mirza Fatima Farheen
    Nina Sankovitch
    Pamela Krens
    Paul Kalanithi
    Paul Strarthern
    Richard Powers
    Robert Harris
    Robertson Davies
    Robert Woodward
    Ruth Ozeki
    Sarah Dunant
    Sarah Valentine
    Sebastian Junger
    Sherman Alexie
    Sigrid Nunez
    Stephen Mitchell
    Susan Ella Macneal
    Thrity Umrigar
    Tracy Chevalier

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.