Did you notice I started this page on the first of the month? It has been a while since I’ve been able to start at day one because of my traveling, vandwelling, and general disorganization during #vanlife. I’m still sleeping in my van, but I’ve got a place to park it now.
February 2020 is a great time to rake the yard, start a new compost pile, and think about things that could grow as soon as the weather is reliable. This is also a great time to read books – something I do every day. This is my life.
My Word of the Month
Dependable
My Haiku of the Month
Bird high in the tree
Yet this is still called winter
Cat walks quietly.
Bible Verses of the Month
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
What I’ve been reading in February 2020
✓ Recent Fiction: The Witch Elm, by Tana French
I meant to read this novel last year but didn’t get around to it… so I found it in my Audible library, and decided this is the perfect time. Guess what – I’m liking it! I like the writing style, the suspense and the characters. There is no witch or witchcraft in this book, which is what I was concerned about when I first saw the title. There’s a type of Elm tree called a Witch (or Wych) Elm. This is written in first person with what seems like an unreliable narrator. I guess by the time I finish it I’ll know just how unreliable he was.
✓ Recent Fiction: Daughters of the Lake, by Wendy Webb
Apparently I like suspenseful mystery books. This was a page turner for me. It is classified as Northern Gothic. The story is about Kate who has been dreaming about being a strange woman, but then that woman is washed up dead on the beach near her parents’ home. Who was she? Law enforcement wants to know.
A review by one of my Booktube friends…
✓ Writing: The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life, by Marion Roach Smith
This is a short, five-chapter memoir writer’s idea and inspiration book. Great advice for those of us writing memoirs, from someone who teaches classes on how that’s done.
★★ Christian: The One Year Pray for America Bible, NLT – Inspirational Daily Bible with Non-Partisan Prayer Prompts, by Tyndale, with an introduction by Chaplin Barry C. Black
I’m using this daily-read Bible this year… to possibly read the entire Bible in a year.
★★ Christian: The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids, Nancy Guthrie
I’m using this devotional this year… it uses the same one-year Bible reading plan as the Pray For America Bible.
✓ Recent Fiction: Digging In, by Loretta Nyhan
A widowed woman finds solace in the act of digging in her yard. She has a troubled teenage son, still grieving for his father, and a job working in a PR firm that required her creativity and productivity. She spends time with a friend at the farmers market. This is an adorable and upbeat book of regeneration after a tragedy. I appreciated the positivity and hopefulness. I couldn’t find a video for Loretta Nyhan, the author.
✓ Recent Fiction: My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante
This novel has mixed reviews. It reads like a memoir but is a novel, low on plot but with a nice writing style. It was recommended by a friend at the River Readers book club who wanted someone to discuss it with. I enjoyed reading this story about two girls growing up in Naples, Italy.
✓ Vintage SciFi: Native Tongue, by Suzette Haden Elgin
I finished this on February 14. What a weird novel it is, and oh yeah, it is the first of a series of three books. I don’t plan to read the other two novels. This one was published in 1984. It is about the repression of women in a future USA society. I read it for a 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt, to read a book with a made-up language in it – and this book is perfect for that prompt.
★★ Christian: Follow, by Andy Stanley
I’m currently reading this with my local women’s Bible study group.
✓ Classic Fiction: Beloved, by Toni Morrison
It is what a novel could be and should be. A work of art. Beloved. Aside from that, I’m speechless.
✓ Nonfiction: Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A personal narrative about the perils of being black in America.
★★ Classic Fiction: Ramona, by Helen Hunt Jackson
I’m reading this with my local book club. It is a classic, originally published in 1884, about a half-Native American, half-Scottish girl living in Southern California.
Helen Hunt Jackson left this world in 1885, a year after this novel was published. This is a great biographical reenactment.
✓ Nonfiction: Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren
Wonderful and scientific memoir.
★★ Recent Fiction: The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Seterfield
I love the cover.
★★ Nonfiction: Abandoned Parents: The Devil’s Dilemma: The Causes and Consequences of Adult Children Abandoning Their Parents, by Sharon A Wildey
For all my reasons for reading this – see the February 25 entry in the reading diary, below.
My February Reading Diary
February 1 – Yay, I published the page. Unfinished, but who really cares? I’ll finish it later. Today I had my first successful geocaching experience! It was so much fun with four children to share the fun with me, and my daughter as well. One of the girls (a neighbor of my daughter’s) found the cache. Yesterday we tried for another cache and finally had to call my son who knew where the cache was supposed to be – and he said it has been taken. Anyhow, books! I’m reading The Witch Elm by Tana French and very much enjoying her writing. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I’ve heard her other novels are better. I want to read more… because this one is superb. It is a mystery story told in first person with a probably-unreliable narrator.
February 2 – I have a few more chapters to read (listen to, actually) in The Witch Elm . . . but first, it being Sunday and all – I went to church, and I have a Bible I’m reading this year … it is Pray For America … the NLT Bible to read in a year, with many prayers for America. After one month, I’m up to date… also pairing this with a devotional, Pray Through the Bible for Your Kids … it uses the same one-year Bible reading plan. Works well to pair the two books.
February 3 – I finished The Witch Elm last night and started reading Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb which is described as Northern Gothic. A woman is dreaming of another woman whose body is found in the lake. It goes on from there. I also started reading a book about writing by Judy Reeves – more on that later. Last night I finished reading The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life by Marion Roach Smith. That was excellent – and short . . . only five chapters. I have the audiobook and since I’m writing a memoir, found it to be very much worth listening to.
February 4 – Finished Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb last night. Today I went to the River Readers book club. Another member suggested we read My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, the first book in a trilogy. My River Readers friend said she just read it and wants to discuss. I’m in.
February 5 – Last night I struggled to decide which book to read next – My Brilliant Friend or Digging In by Loretta Nyhan. So, Digging Inwon as it was the shorter of the two novels, and I’m glad it did. It is about a woman digging up her yard which is exactly what I need to do. I appreciate the inspiration and encouragement. I’m 20 chapters into it and expect to finish it tonight. Finally got this page finished today… except for adding more books and more diary entries!
February 6 – I spent most of the day sitting in my van in the driveway waiting for the kerosene delivery person, and catching up on my Bible reading. I’m reading the Pray For America Bible and loving it, but I was two days behind on the daily readings. I’m nearly caught up now. Last night I finished Digging In by Loretta Nyhan and started My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. This book is beautifully written. I love that it is set in Naples, Italy. I recently read another book set in Italy, Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, set mainly in Milan. I’m getting an Italy education this year. Che cosa meravigliosa! (What a wonderful thing.) I have yet to make any kind of reading plan for 2020. #Vanlife! It really interferes with my literary lifestyle.
February 7 – I’ve been struggling with My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, and decided to start the book over while taking notes. There are a lot of characters but mainly, Elena and Lila, the friends. While I read/listen a lot of other names come up and in an audiobook format you can’t just flip back a few chapters to see what a certain character did before. Confusing, but the writing style is beautiful.
February 8 – Great day celebrating Carl’s birthday with my children! Who is Carl? Well, if you knew me better you would know, right? Anyhow, wonderful to see the family. I’ve been working on websites more today than I’ve been reading. I started my page about the Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists.. I’d like to read more from the list. I’m still working on that page, to place links behind the title of each book. Tonight I’ll be reading My Brilliant Friend again. I’m a little more than half way through right now. The girls (Elena and Lila) are no longer children; they’re dancing to rock’n’roll and having boyfriends!
February 9 – I’m getting close to the last quarter of My Brilliant Friend and to be honest, I’m looking forward to moving on to something new. The adventures of Elena and Lila are interesting because I’ve never lived in a poverty stricken section of Naples… but 350 pages of this? Maybe not for me. There’s no plot other than that two girls are growing up as friends and experiencing many misadventures… however it is a window into another place in the world, and some of us like that. Remember how I had trouble at the beginning, keeping track of all the characters? Yesterday I looked at the book’s page on Amazon and in the preview I noticed there’s a character list in the print edition of the book. This is another reason why a physical book is sometimes better than the audio version. In other news, I spent much of the day reading 2 days worth of my Pray for America Bible (I was a day behind again) and took a walk alongside the Klamath River Highway in a section I used to hike back when I lived on that side of town. Also went to church this morning and had lunch with friends. Lovely day. Sunset now.
February 10 – I finished My Brilliant Friend and tried to start Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke… I read the first chapter and decided the novel, a murder mystery, is not for me. I had chosen the book to be my “book by a woman of color” for the PopSugar Reading Challenge but was dismayed by some attitudes and political commentary in chapter one, and knew I didn’t want to read an entire novel like that, even though I liked the female character who left pies on her loved ones’ gravestones. I’ve subscribed to Audible.com for years for audiobooks and this is only the second time I’ve returned a book to them. The other one I returned was The World According to Garp by John Irving because he chose to use his recently updated edition to write an introduction broadcasting his political views. If I wanted to read about politics I’d buy a politics book. But no, I just wanted to read a good story and got blindsided into his opinions on presidential candidates… so I returned that book too. I think I’ll replace Bluebird, Bluebird with Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, another woman of color… a book I’ve wanted to read ever since I saw it in a bookstore a few years back. I’ve decided my next novel to read (listen to, actually) is an older sci-fi, Native Tongue … about a society oppressing women. It is a bit dated as it says laws protecting the rights of women in the USA were repealed in the 1990’s, and we all know that didn’t happen, however, looks like a good story anyway. It is for the PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt #18 – a book with a made-up language. Today was my women’s Bible study where we’re reading Follow, by Andy Stanley, and watching the video series that goes along with the book. I’m really enjoying that. I appreciate Andy’s sense of humor.
February 11 – I’m very much enjoying the sci-fi book I started reading yesterday – Native Tongue, originally published in 1984. The author is Suzette Haden Elgin. It was a popular book back in the day. It is about a society in the future USA that suppresses women. Today I went to the River Readers book club and Anne suggested a new book for us. We agreed on Ramona, a classic book by Helen Hunt Jackson about a half-Scottish, half-Native American girl living in Southern California. It was published in 1884 and was also very popular in its day, inspiring many places in Southern California to be named Ramona. For example, a town, Nuevo, renamed itself Ramona in honor of this fictional character. I got the Kindle version because the audiobook version is abridged, and I don’t like abridged audiobooks. I haven’t started reading it yet. I want to finish Native Tongue first. I know from years of experience that if I start a second novel, I’m very unlikely to finish either of them. One at a time seems to be working for me. I didn’t mention to the River Readers that I have a half-written novel manuscript about a girl who was also a California Native American, mixed with Mexican/Spanish heritage. I might be inspired to finish my manuscript by what I read in Ramona. Speaking of books I’ve written, I found out today that my novel, River Girl, is now in the Siskiyou County Library system… ready to be checked out.
February 12 – I’m still reading Native Tongue … I’m on the fence between calling it interesting, or calling it a slog. As often happens, the sci-fi really doesn’t work well for me. So much isn’t understood. On the other hand, with a woman killing her husband after he sells her baby (behind her back) so he can have all her attention, and the baby being killed by linguistic scientists, and another baby being kidnapped for linguistic studies . . . there’s hardly a dull moment. So, I remain on the fence, but reading onward. I’m all caught up on my daily reading for the Bible in a year book and devotional about praying for your children. Hope that lasts. When I have only one day’s reading to do in those two books, it is easy. I’ve set up a little reading nook in my cargo van and that’s working out well for me. I find it easier to focus on my book reading while I’m away from the computer. Also, I’ve set some reading goals for 2020 finally (more on that later) and watched the Hopewriters webinar interview with Beth Moore, and I started reading Wild Women, Wild Voices: Writing From Your Authentic Wildness, by Judy Reeves. I also started a 2020 Reading Journal in a notebook so I can take notes on the books I’m reading. I bought one book, a Kindle version of a classic, The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope. It will be my choice for a book about one of the seven deadly sins… that’s a PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt this year. It is about greed, and has satirical humor. I’m looking forward to reading that but won’t start right away – I have several other novels to read first.
February 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day! If you want to be my valentine just leave a comment at the bottom of this page. I won’t cry if you don’t… but anyhow.. I skipped a day in this reading diary because I was so busy yesterday with writing a page for Valentine’s Day all about the Audible audiobooks I’ve purchased over the last year. That was fun! I really do love audiobooks. For me, they’re usually much easier to digest than print books, though I still am SURROUNDED by books and I have a full Kindle library as well. On my desk right now I have ELEVEN books and TEN journals – both art and writing journals – so that gives you some idea of what my life is like, notwithstanding audiobooks and Kindle! I’m still reading Native Tongue for fiction, currently on chapter eighteen. Yesterday I read 4 pages in my current art book: Creative License. I made a decision to read my art and writing books every other day, switching from one to the other. Today I’m planning to read chapter two in my writing book, Wild Women, Wild Voices. I’ll also be reading the Bible and my devotional, as usual.
Today I made this border in my bullet journal using Kuretake watercolors and a silver Uniball Signo pen, and 1 John 1:5-7.
Late at night on the 14th I finished reading Native Tongue. Next I’ll be reading Beloved, by Toni Morrison.
Here’s my Goodreads review of Native Tongue.
Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
What a weird novel. Sci-fi futurism, aliens and linguistics. Definitely a cult classic, published in 1984.
In a future USA women are suppressed and disrespected by the men who have somehow gotten the upper hand and taken away women’s rights of all kinds. This supposedly happened in the 1990’s and that statement is the only part of this 1984 book that is dated, as in, obviously untrue and obsolete.
The action of the book takes place a few centuries from now. Aliens are visiting earth for commerce, and this necessitates having talented bilingual translators, many of whom are women. The groups of people who produce great translators are the Linguist Lines. Linguist women, to counteract their suppressed status, are surreptitiously creating a language the men won’t understand. Meanwhile the government is trying to manufacture children who can replace the Linguists. One non-Linguist woman hates the Linguists because her child was kidnapped. There’s a lot going on in this novel, and it is the first of three in a series!
I read this for the 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge that contained a prompt to find and read a book that contains a made-up language. This novel fits the bill perfectly. I listened to an audiobook version from Audible. The reader has a lovely voice though it seems rather mechanical for this book, and being as this book is weird and sci-fi, that worked well throughout. A great performance.
February 15 – Another day, another opportunity! What will I read today? I started listening to my audiobook of Beloved by Toni Morrison last night, read by the author! It immediately struck me as super well-written and interesting, and I’ll go back and listen to the first chapter again today, and take notes.
February 16 – Sunday – At church we read John 10:22-42. At home I listened to my audiobook of Beloved, by Toni Morrison and painted this in my sketchbook.
February 17 – Made a lot more progress on reading Beloved. This story is brutal and tragic. I’m listening to the audiobook version. The first chapter was over seven hours! The second chapter, three hours, and the third chapter, two hours. I’m near the end of chapter two. [Later] . . . finished Beloved. The first words that appeared to me are, “It is what a novel could be and should be. A work of art.” Truly a phenomenal novel. Now there’s nothing left to me other than to read Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson – which is via Kindle. There’s an audiobook version, but it is abridged, and I won’t buy an abridged version. It would make me feel like I never listened to the book at all.
February 18 – Between last night and this evening I listened to all of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ nonfiction treatise on the perils of being black in America: Between the World and Me. A good follow-up to Beloved, by Toni Morrison. I’ve also been reading Ramona on my Kindle. Also spent time today reading Creative License, Wild Women, Wild Voices, and How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck.
February 19 – In the Praying for America Bible (a one year reading plan) we’re up to the seventh chapter of Leviticus, and the third chapter of Mark. Getting through it. I started a new audiobook last night – Lab Girl, a memoir. So far, I like it a lot. I’m 9 chapters into part one. I’m reading it for the PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt – #22. A book about or by a woman in STEM. Today also read a few pages in Creative License… and I’m still reading Ramona. Currently, on chapter five – not very far into it. Page 53 out of 382.
February 21 – I woke up in the middle of the night last night (in my van) and started listening to my current audiobook – Lab Girl – and she was talking about her lab assistant who was so broke he had to move into his van. Interesting episode, as I do still sleep in my van, and am looking forward to the day I can travel back to Oregon and Idaho for more #vanlife. Right now I’m custodian of a piece of property the Lord blessed me with, although I can leave this in the hands of my son and daughter and her spouse while I go home to Idaho for a while. The main issue here is … two outdoor cats who came with the property, who like to be fed.
February 22 – I’m not sure I read anything at all today. I’ve been busy blogging and doing housework. Hopefully I’ll get more reading done tomorrow. I’m almost to the end of Lab Girl. I enjoyed the memoir and learned more about trees, since she’s a botanist.
February 24 – Great good fortune! I finally finished listening to the audiobook version of Lab Girl, and can move on to listening to something else. I don’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t enjoy the memoir. It is wonderful, and I was happy to find out more about what it is like to be a botanist working in a laboratory on a university campus. This memoir demystifies everything about it. Great memoir! But… I’m really happy to be done now, and ready to add another audiobook to my reading schedule. I think the next one will be The Thirteenth Tale. I’ve been wanting to read that for years because I love the cover. I’m reading this for the 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt #16: A book that has a book on the cover.
Here’s my Goodreads review of Lab Girl.
Lab Girl by Hope JahrenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This memoir has a lot of info-dumps, mainly about trees. If you like trees, and who doesn’t, you will learn more about them by reading this memoir. The information is balanced by a gradually unfolding personal interest story of a woman who was raised visiting her father’s laboratory and who needed her own to be happy. She became a botanist. Her relationship with her lab assistant is deep and long-lasting, so he occupies a lot of the action in this book.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book, and thought the reader did an outstanding job of speaking slowly and clearly, especially when the subject matter concerned scientific explorations. Her voice radiated sympathy for trees, moss, and the lab assistant, and even sometimes, for the students.
Hope Jahren opened up her heart and life to show us what it is like to be responsible for a laboratory at a university. It sounds exciting, and definitely is, for her, but it is also stressful as there’s pressure to qualify for research grants. That income, however unpredictable, is essential to the longevity of the lab.
I read this book for the 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt #22 – “A book about or by a woman in STEM.” Definitely a good choice. The challenge opens up to me many types of books I wouldn’t otherwise have looked at, but I always love a good memoir.
February 25 – A special day! This is my mother’s birthday. It is also my brother’s birthday – he was her special birthday present many years ago. She has passed on now… to where, I don’t know, because if she was saved she never gave an indication of it. That’s something that causes me grief… just, not knowing and wishing, hoping I’ll see her in heaven when I get there. Anyhow, Happy Birthday, Mom and bro. Last night I started audio-reading Diane Setterfield’s novel, The Thirteenth Tale. I think I got through most of the first chapter before I fell asleep. I’ll try again tonight. Today was the local River Readers book club. Surprise – I’m the only one who got six chapters into the current novel, Ramona. It is a period piece for sure – and I’m reading it as a historical document because at one time it made a large and positive impact on our culture, especially here in California. It was published in 1884. One other person in the club has read the first chapter, and the others are all still trying to get hold of copies which are, by the way, available at no cost from Gutenberg.Org . . . but some people in the club need a physical copy as they haven’t adjusted yet to digital reading. I’m reading on my phone via the Kindle app. I also got another book delivered to me today, and sat here just now to read the first chapter. It is a topic near and dear to my heart, Abandoned Parents: The Devil’s Dilemma. I have been abandoned by my two oldest daughters. One hasn’t spoken to me in 20+ years since she was a teenager, and the other quit speaking to me a few years ago… which I expect is due to religious shunning as she has not yet left the cult I belonged to prior to 2001. I like the way this book comes right out with the truth about abandonment of parents by their adult children: “Abandonment is a form of abuse. Abandonment is ostracism. Abandonment of parents by adult children is violence. . . . Shunning is the intentional act of harming another by silent bullying.” (page 7) and “…the intent of the behavior of the adult child toward the parent is to be cruel…” (page 10) …yes, I agree. Might as well call a spade a spade, as they say. I’ve had to live with this intentional cruelty for over 20 years. Good thing I know Jesus loves me. He fills me up with love and heals all the places that were emotionally bruised by my abandonment. He sees it all. He knows me and what I’ve been through, and all my sins and shortcomings, and 100% of the entire situation and all who played a part in what happened, and Jesus chose to love me and heal me and call me His own. I am a happy, contented person in life, despite the abandonments. They tried to hurt me but the Lord used this for good, to draw me close to Him. I know where I’m going when I leave this world – I’m going home to my heavenly Father. Fear is gone and joy is in my heart.. and peace. I wouldn’t ordinarily choose to read a book on this topic but I was drawn in by the qualifications of the author – she says she’s an attorney and an ordained pastor.
February 26 – Month is almost over! Today I read a few more pages of Abandoned Parents: The Devil’s Dilemma. A lot of what she wrote makes sense to me, and puts things into a better perspective than what I was thinking before. On page 26 she wrote: “Some of us have been led to believe in the magic of our connection with our child and that there is an unbreakable bond, probably biological, that will sustain it forever.” I did believe that, and I think a lot of my reaction to the abandonment is shock that this belief is untrue. I cannot understand abandoning a parent. I didn’t do that to my mother and think I had more reason to, but for me, it wasn’t an option. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12) Anyhow, I look forward to reading the rest of the book. I also continued reading The Thirteenth Tale, my current fiction audiobook.
February 29 – Where did the last few days go? Well – I made the video (above) yesterday. Today – I spent the day shopping in Medford, Oregon so no reading got done. I need to get to bed early – there’s church tomorrow – and I can enjoy listening to my audiobook while hiding under the covers.
March 2 – The February reading wrap-up video went live today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG7R-USomy0
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