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​The Bird Artist, by Howard Norman

7/31/2019

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     This story is narrated by the bird artist, and young man in rural Nova Scotia in the early 19th century. Like the other stories I’ve read by Howard Norman, there are no heroes. All the characters we meet are flawed and yet also are kind and compassionate. Like all of us, the are doing the best they can. In the not perfect lives of all his characters, Norman offers them redemption. 

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​Why Religion? A Personal Story, by Pagels, Elaine

7/29/2019

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     This book is filled with brilliance and compassion. Historian Pagels weaves a lifetime of Biblical study to conclude that we can’t understand why good and the bad things happen, but we can live and learn with them as we sit in the mystery of God.
    Thirty years ago her three year old son died of a heart condition; a year later her husband died in a hiking tragedy. I took Pagels all those years to work through her beliefs about the truth of all that happened. Writing publically was a necessary part of the process for her, and in doing so we are all helped along the journey.

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​What is Left: The Daughter, by Howard Norman

7/21/2019

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    A new favorite author for me. Norman weaves the variant personalities of those who find their lives intertwined with each other—those usual way that include family, geographical location, and happenstance. Nothing new here, just life happening-- the particulars vary, but the human depth and nuance  of each person is universal. This is a story of ‘every man’. Howard Norman tells it well. 

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​Devotion, by Howard Norman

7/15/2019

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    A comforting love story between newlyweds Margaret and David, between William, Margaret’s father and David’s father-in-law, and between the love of each of them from swans. A heartening and a challenging novella. You won’t be disappointed. 

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​The Queen’s Accomplish, by Susan Elia MacNeil

7/12/2019

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      Another Maggie Hope Mystery. I have read five and I am aware that there is at least one more in the series. I’ve enjoyed following Maggie’s development as a spy as she solves mysteries and prevents catastrophes in World War II Britain. I’ve read the books in order, and suggest you do the same. I wait a month or so before picking up the next book, but I leave that up to you.   

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    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.

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