Ordinary Time

I think I have a solution to the conundrum that has bothered me for quite some time... why does everyone near Felon47 just go belly-up and go along with him? I find it baffling and disturbing. Then I remembered a bit from a Thursday Next book which I looked up this evening.  Now, I'm dropping you in the middle of the fourth book of the series. For some of this to make even the remotest possible sense, you will need a score card.  The narrator (I) is Thursday Next, who is having a conversation with Bowden, Millon and Stig (a neanderthal) who are other characters helping her out at this point.  Yorrick Kaine is the unethical politician who gets away with the most egregious of offenses.  Goliathopolis is the giant city from which the Mega-corporation, Goliath (which pretty much runs the world) operates. Mycroft is Thursday's genius, though scattered, exceedingly brilliant uncle, who invented The Ovinator . Landon is Thursday's husband. Formby is the England of Thursday'...

I finished a really good book over the weekend. Actually, to be more truthful, I binge read a really good book over the weekend. It was Wool by Hugh Howey. Now before you write it off as another of my rather niche fiber books, know that it actually has nothing to do with wool. Neither J. (who also read it) not I actually have any idea why it is titled as it is. It is actually dystopian fiction. This isn't a genre I typically read, but the storyline and characters were very engaging. I recommend it even if you, too, don't really care for dystopian fiction.  You are not off the fiber hook for this post, though. The thing I didn't really enjoy was when I was pulled out of the story because of the black hole that most people have about where their textiles come from.  To be fair to the author, he did do better than most because he acknowledged that fabric had to be made. There was a brief mention about looks to weave the cotton for their clothes. This is still a bit of fabric m...

I read about books and put them on hold at the library to take a look at them. Sometimes a book takes a while to arrive, at which point I have probably forgotten about the book entirely. Sometimes it's a nice surprise and sometimes I wonder at what I was thinking when I put it on hold. Then there are the books I'm looking forward to and they end up being a bust. Such is the story this evening.  I'd been waiting for No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity by Ashlee Piper. I'm always up for ways to save money, and if I can save my sanity and the planet... well what's not to like?  I didn't even make it through the introduction. Do you want to know what the easy 30-day plan is? Don't buy anything new for thirty days. After I realized this I did read a little further just to be sure I was understanding, but that's it. I figured since this is pretty much my entire life style that this book was really not ai...

My blog this week seems to be about me writing about the books I've been reading. Today's installment is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I'll admit that for the first several chapters I wasn't sure if this was a book I was going to finish. The main character, Vera, I initially found more than a little grating. And then I realized it was (yet another) book told from different character's points of view. That's been a thing recently and I'm pretty much over it. If I had known this ahead of time, I might not have even picked it up.  But forty or so pages in seemed a bit premature for dumping it, so I persevered. I'm glad I did because I'm the end I found the book charming, even coming to terms with Vera. It actually ended up being less about the mystery and much more about the characters. I'll also warn you that you might also experience cravings for Chinese food as you read it.  There is one thing that annoyed ...

Months ago, a friend had shared a photo from the book, Still: the art of noticing by Mary Jo Hoffman. I was intrigued, so immediately put it on hold. I finally arrived recently and I have been enjoying looking through. The photographs are stunning.  One thing I've found interesting, though, is that in one section, she has decided the year into two week spans. I think this is genius. First, because I think we humans have difficulty with moving through larger slabs of time. Currently, for instance, I'm feeling as though summer is endless and I have been fantasizing about twenty degree weather. (True story.) But the idea of breaking summer up into smaller bits feels more manageable. For instance, the author call the period between July 17 and August 7 as the "Time of Indolence". This seems about right to me, especially with another heat wave heading out way. When it is unbearably hit, indolence is about all one can manage. But then, on August 8, comes the "Time of R...

I just finished reading The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon. Originally published in Korean, it has been recently translated into English. Basically, it's a story of how kindness makes a difference and changes people. It's also an interesting glimpse into Korea and Korean culture, which I found nearly as interesting as the actual story. So if you're in the need for a short, light story that is an escape from current events, you might want to check this one out. 

"Our society has an entrenched way of thinking about behavior. We almost always assume it derives from a person's will -- that people behave consciously and purposefully. When people misbehave, we likewise assume that they're doing it intentionally. As a result, whenever individuals in almost any social setting act out or misbehave, those in charge usually respond by punishing the bad behavior. When you were a kid, did your parents take away your TV time or allowance when you misbehaved? Most did. When you continued to misbehave, they probably just stepped up the intensity of the consequences and rewards. And they probably also bestowed privileges when you did the right thing. School discipline is similar. We assume when kids misbehave in school, they do it on purpose either to get stuff (special attention, for instance) or get out of stuff (like doing their work or coming inside after recess). In the early school years, teachers will punish kids with time-outs. They are t...

You may or may not have noticed (I certainly have), that the amount of things I have made this year so far is incredibly small. I just haven't had the mental energy to do very much. I haven't been concerned because my interests do have wild swings, but I have made note of it. I think I have figured out a small piece of what's going on. When I read the news today that the selling of public lands was removed from the Big Ugly Bill the amount of relief I felt was significant. I don't think I was quite aware of how much stress and anxiety I was carrying about this. While this issue is important, there are still so many others, not the least of which is ICE kidnapping people off the street, that are still ongoing. I think that there are many of us who are carrying weight the extent of which we don't fully realize.  What I have been doing is reading. Copiously even by my standards. I'm currently averaging over nine books a month. It's been a lot of reading. Its al...

Over the weekend I did something to the muscles over my right hip and could barely move for several days. Monday was definitely the worse, with yesterday being a little bit better, but that was probably because I didn't really try to do all that much. Today there is still a little twinge, but I'm functional again. Yesterday, when I was doing all that much except sitting uncomfortably, I binge read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Yes, I'm a bit late to the party since it was published in 2017, but I rarely pick up super popular books at the time they were popular. I don't actually know why I put it on my library reserve list, but I think I came across a synopsis and it sounded interesting. I ended up really enjoying the book. I really liked the character of Eleanor, including her disdain for texting shortcuts. If you don't know the book, the character of Eleanor is the story of a person with significant past trauma including being in care for mu...

I'm currently reading the book, Imaginable: How to see the future coming and feel ready for anything -- even things that seem impossible today by Jane McGonigal. It's fascinating. You will probably be reading more than one blog post about it as I work my way through it.  One of the exercises she suggests is to think about what your life will look like in ten years. To get a sense of how much can be packed into ten years, it made me think about what life was like ten years ago. It turns out we've had a lot of change in that ten years.  Ten years ago, we were knee deep in our ongoing fight with the State of Illinois as to whether we would be able to bring home Y. and R. It was definitely not a sure thing and it was incredibly stressful.  Ten years ago we had ten children, ages 6 to 22, with three in or about to start college and seven children living full time at home.  Ten years ago we lived in the Big Ugly House and had no idea how long we would continue to be able t...

I've been reading quite a bit, so of course I have books to share. This is the last one for a while, so I'm sure there will be something different tomorrow. The book I want to tell you about tonight is  Re-Regulated: Set Your Life Free from Childhood PTSD and the Trauma-Driven Behaviors That Keep You Stuck by Anna Runkle. This book was recommended to me by a friend who is a therapist and knows my interest in childhood trauma.  If you have read The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk and found it helpful to explain what was going on with you due to past trauma, I highly recommend you now read Re-Regulated. This is a much lighter read than van der Kolk's book. His gives you the why you experience your life as you do, this book gives you the what now piece of the puzzle. I think it contains a really accessible game plan for moving forward. The author is someone who has experienced childhood trauma and has overcome it, so she is a very good companion to have along the w...

I just finished reading The Religion of Whiteness: How Racism Distorts Christian Faith by Michael O. Emerson and Glenn E. Bracey II. It's a short book, but still, I finished it in less than 24 hours because I found it so compelling. I also cannot begin to do justice to the authors' arguments in a blog post because there is just so much research, both quantitative and qualitative, to back up their conclusions. There is a lot packed into this book. I don't think it is an understatement to say that the year 2020 was tough. The juxtaposition of Covid, the brutal murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter Protests, the perpetual spiral of the current president combined together to create national trauma. But I need to take that back a bit, because my experience was that some parts of the Christian church didn't seem affected at all. In fact, life just seemed to go on with only a slight hiccup. For myself (and actually more than a few people I know), t...

Among some of the things I did today was spending an hour this afternoon finishing a book. Usually I try to keep my fiction reading saved for later in the evening. This works well except when I'm on the last hundred pages or so of a really engrossing book. This was the case this afternoon.  The book? A Drop of Contagion by Robert Jackson Bennett. It is the second in a series (and I hope he writes more), of which The Tainted Cup was the first. I told you about it last month or so. Someone mentioned that they had heard the second wasn't quite as good as the first, so I started with a little trepidation. I'm happy to report that I found the second book as engrossing as the first.  So if you are looking for a rather unusual mystery series, I would highly recommend this one to you. I'm always happy when I find the characters in a mystery series as interesting as the puzzle. This is definitely the case with these books.  The trouble with finding a new series instead of one th...

Okay book loving friends, I have another question for you. Have any of you read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Harrell by Susanna Clarke? It gets great critical reviews and I was excited to read it. I am now 125 pages into it and I am still waiting to love it. I'm okay with a slower pace if I like the characters, but so far I don't care for any of the characters at all. I hate spending time with characters I don't like.  So should I soldier on? Is it worth it? I wasn't sure about Cloud Cuckoo Land for about the first quarter, but kept at it and ended up living the book. I don't want to quit this one too soon if the best is yet to come, but boy, has it been a slog so far. It's taken me a week to read those hundred pages and that is a comparative snail's page from my typical reading speed.  I'm really curious as to what others think of it. 

It's been a less than spectacular day at the end of a less than spectacular week. So instead of moaning to you about it all, I'm going to share the book I read that was a definite bright spot. It's The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. It's a mystery but it's also fantasy in that it is set in a world other than ours. It's just an interesting combination. I particularly liked the detective and her assistant. Even better news? It's a first book, but there is already a second one published. I'm number 33 on the library loan list, but it will arrive eventually and be a nice surprise.  Sometimes it can be challenging to find a mystery that is a decent mystery and also well-written. Sometimes a light, cozy mystery fits the bill, but not for a steady diet. This book has some depth it. So if you're in search of a good and diverting book, pick up this one. 

This afternoon, after I had finished (finally) getting my recipe binders reorganized, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go outside and read. I truly had nothing pressing that needed to be done and I was two hundred pages away from finishing a book I was enjoying. I don't often decide to let myself have multiple hours of uninterrupted reading time, so the combination of free time, perfect weather, and absorbing story was pretty wonderful.  And the book, which I did finish? It was The Book that Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence. So I did finish it, but I discovered that it is actually a trilogy. This is both good and bad news. Good in that I can look forward to two more good books. (And yes, I have already put the next one on hold.) But bad in that I had so many questions that I was hoping would be answered, but now will probably need to get through all three books before I have them.  Do read it, though. It is quite an adventure. 

Re-entry can be tough. Between the jet lag (and really, two hours doesn't feel as though it should be a huge difference, but it is) and tackling all the things that need to be done that you didn't do while you were gone... well, I still don't feel quite caught up. And I'm tired. For that reason, I'm resorting to sharing a quote from a book for you to ponder.  I'm about halfway through Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence by Daniel Goleman. (I did get a little reading time on my trip.) I'm enjoying it and look forward to getting to read the rest of it. This quote is from the beginning of the book. I find it interesting because I think people mistakenly believe that they will only be content or happy if they never have negative thoughts run through their heads. This is an unrealistic idea. It is far better to frame what is going on in a different light. "The biggest challenge for even the most focused, though, comes from the emotional turmoil of our liv...

I fly to Arizona tomorrow, which means I need to think about packing. (Why did I love to pack so much as a child, but dread that as an adult?) True to form, I'm finding myself spending far more time thinking about the books and handwork I will bring rather than what clothes to pack.  I think I have settled on two books. (Just 2! It may be some sort of a record.) I'm taking The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons, which I'm already one hundred pages into. It's about the counter-intelligence spy organization that Ernest Hemingway created in Cuba during WWII, so locate Nazi submarines. While it's fiction, based on the author's notes, the book is actually about 95% based on historical record, including documents previously undisseminated which the author received via FOIA. While it's been a bit slow to start, I think it is going to be very interesting, especially since this is a piece of history I know very little about.  The other book I'm taking is Focus: The  Hi...

You will have to all bear with me as I read though Radical Homemakers and drag all of you along with me. Despite it having been published in 2010, I don't think things have improved for US society, and in fact, I think there are some important dots to connect as we live through the fall of our democracy.  This first part has to do with busyness. Forgive me for cherry picking quotes, because I really dislike doing so, but if I don't, I will essentially be typing out the entire chapter for you. You don't want that, I don't want that, and the copywrite lawyers certainly don't want that.  To begin: " Indeed, the woes of work have plagued Western society since the industrial revolution imposed clock time upon us. Despite labor regulations, the number of hours we toil today is more than the medieval peasants endured during the feudal period." (p. 88 - Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture by Shannon Hayes) I don't know about you,...

It took a while before the Trad Wife label made it into my consciousness. Much of popular culture tends to bypass me, and I think it was one of my children who first brought it to my attention. Curious, I then had to look it up. My immediate reaction was not positive, but there was no blog post about it at that time, because I needed to come to terms with it all. This was mainly because on some superficial level, my life and those glossy social media Trad Wives were kind of the same. I knew they weren't, but I truly didn't have words to explain the difference.  The library to the rescue! A while back, I came across the concept of Radical Homemakers. this sounded promising based on what I read, so I put the book of the same title on hold. And waited and waited and waited, until yesterday when it finally arrived at me library. And while I've just started reading it, I think this is my answer. From the introduction: "Some of the Radical Homemakers I came to know professed...