F E B / B o o k s

BOOKS READ / FEBRUARY

WALKING ON WATER

by Madeleine L'engle 

Non-fiction, on faith & art

There was a lot packed into this book! She touches on a lot of things. 

Took me a while to get through but was quite good. 

"Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies & ambiguities & sudden, startling joys."

"Alleluia! We don't have to be right! We do have to love, to be vulnerable, to accept joy & pain, & to grow through them."

"to love anyone is to hope in him always."

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA

by Katherine Paterson, fiction (audio)

A childhood classic I never read. Enjoyed it.

"the closer he came to the dry creek bed & the crab apple tree rope,

the more he could feel the beating of his heart.

He grabbed the end of the rope & swung out to the other bank,

landing gently on his feet, taller, & stronger, & wiser 

in that mysterious land."

LOVELY WAR

by Julie Berry, historical fiction (audio)

A love story set in WWI. I enjoyed this book overall, though I found some parts a bit trite.

"The most ordinary human bodies are housed by spectacular souls." (Hades)

"Let them start their dreadful wars, let destruction reign down & let plagues sweep through, 

but I will still be here - doing my work, holding humankind together with love like this."

(Aphrodite)

FIGHT NIGHT

by Miriam Toews, fiction

(there is a fair bit of profanity in this book should you pick it up)

Quite the characters in this book. Didn't always love the writing style, but it's told/written by a nine year old. The Grandma Elvira totally made it for me & goes down as a Most Memorable Character. It deals with harder issues in a lighthearted way. I laughed a number of times.

"Don't let this be the hill you die on!"

"Fighting means different things for different people. You'll know for yourself what to fight."

"What's done is done! Have I learned something? Fun & games!"

HOMEGOING

by Yaa Gyasi, historical fiction 

(audio - narrated by Dominic Hoffman)

Picked this randomly from someone else's book list & it was really good. A black history narrative following the lineage of two sisters separated at birth. Follows a long plot line from 1800's to nearly present day. Great narrator.

"This is how we all come to the world, weak & needy. Desperate to learn how to be a person. But if we do not like the person we have learned to be, should we just sit & do nothing? I think that maybe it is possible  to make a new way." (Efia) 

KEEP MOVING

by Maggie Smith, essays on loss, creativity & change. 

(audio, narrated by the author)

This is a lovely little book on moving forward / grace / time & change. Written in little snippets I found this a nice read/listen while I got ready in the morning.

"In some way today, give of your heart & your time."

"Everything has been said, & done, & felt before. But not by you."

"Stop obsessing over the lasts; be ready to greet the firsts & yet unseen nexts that are coming around the bend. Look alive, they'll be here any minute now."

CROSSING TO SAFETY

by Wallace Stegner, literary fiction (audio)

Picked this up as an Anne Bogel personal favourite. I didn't love it, but kept going. Maybe because it had no major climax it felt a little flat to me, but it was interesting to relate to & ponder the circumstances & reactions of the people involved. Life & being human.

"They have missed something. Why? Because they are who they are. Unanswered question. Perhaps unanswerable."

"Over the years it has become a rueful blessing. She has become more than she would've been otherwise. It has taught me at least the alphabet of gratitude."

BIBLIOPHILE: An Illustrated Miscellany

By Jane Mount

This is such a fun book! I've been flipping through it at random. It's basically different book lists in art form, plus interesting anecdotes, recommends, etc.