March comes, dancing into my life with spring flowers and yard work to do and many, many books to read. Sometimes it is more fun researching them in advance, than it is to actually read them. Depends on how good they are. I hope I read as many books this month as I did last month.
I have a few hold-over books this month. They are books I didn’t finish in February… but I still am committed to finishing them. Also I want to read some books for the March Booktube Readathons. I’m hoping to get back into posting videos about books (and other things) regularly as well.
My Word of the Month
Testimony
My Haiku of the Month
Without the story
each person is mystery
cloaked in pale fog.
Bible Verse of the Month
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15)
What I’m reading during March 2020
Hold-over books from last month:
★★ 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.
★★ Recent Fiction: The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Seterfield
I love the cover, thus, I must read this book. Also – this book is awesome. I’m starting the month in chapter two and am seriously enjoying this book about two older women. One is a famous author, and the other is a biographer who has been hired by the author to write her memoirs.
★★ Nonfiction: Abandoned Parents: The Devil’s Dilemma: The Causes and Consequences of Adult Children Abandoning Their Parents, by Sharon A Wildey
I’m reading this because I’m an abandoned parent. (Two out of five kids think I’m not worth talking to but refuse to tell me why. They were estranged from me early on when their father took them away.) After all these years I’ve recovered from the hurt and pain (thank you Jesus for loving me the way You do) but I got this book because the author says she’s an attorney and pastor. I’d like to read her special insights and from what I’ve already read, I’ve not been disappointed. I was hoping it would be more biblically based but it seems she’s mainly writing from her attorney and parent-experiencer points of view. Abandonment of parents is extremely common these days. It doesn’t make it easier for bereaved parents. However! I was not made to live in perpetual grief because someone else wants to be cruel to me. Jesus Christ helped me forgive and love and live in peace again. Hallelujah!
Other hold-overs…
An art book: Creative License, by Danny Gregory
A writing book: Wild Women, Wild Voices, by Judy Reeves
A one-year Bible: Pray For America
Two devotionals: Jesus Always, by Sarah Young
Praying Through the Bible for Your Kids, by Nancy Guthrie
New reading intentions for March:
☆ Classic Fiction: The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope
I’m reading this classic novel because it is #34 on the list of fifty books to read before you die, and because of the 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge – it will be for prompt #27: a book featuring one of the seven deadly sins. In this book, the sin is greed. The book is said to be a satire, full of humor. Exactly what I wanted… a classic novel about greed. So glad I found this book. It was originally published in 1875 in serialized form. It is called “…a sweeping panorama of vice for the sake of monetary greed” on Amazon. Perfect for this prompt.
☆ Western: Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
I’ve tried to listen to this audiobook before but didn’t get far. This time I’ll try to get through it as I’ll be reading along with a Goodreads group: Tackling the Pulitzer Prize Winners! It also works for a 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt, #37, a Western.
My March 2020 Reading Diary
March 1 – I’m so excited that a new month is starting – and on the first day of the month, I get to go to church. It is Sunday! [Later…] We studied John 12:1-11 today. At home I made a video and didn’t get much reading done. I did listen to my audiobook of The Thirteenth Tale for a while.
The video I made is a wrap-up discussion of my February reading list.
March 2 – Today is my women’s Bible study day… will be back later. I read more of The Thirteenth Tale last night though I had a hard time concentrating on it because I was worried about one of my daughters. The reading was slow-going and I had to start over repeatedly… but today is much better…
March 5 – I’ve been spending more time making videos than reading the last few days. Last night I read more of the Abandoned Parents book and also, more of The Thirteenth Tale (great novel!) [Later…] I read about ten pages more of the Abandoned Parents book. Right now, I’m considering buying the second book in the series. I like her perspective.
Here’s the March TBR video:
I also made a few art videos recently but I’m putting them on separate art pages on this blog.
March 6 – Great day… started with blood tests at the clinic… my son connected my TV… I’m catching up on my Bible reading (way behind on that now) . . . never say never, just keep reading. No more video making for a few days – I need to read!
March 7 – I’m making headway in reading Ramona, an intense love story, with all the head trips!! Plenty of players, to complicate things.
March 8 – Church this morning – we studied John 12:12-19. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Happy Sunday! I focused today on making progress in reading Ramona… which I’m reading on my Kindle. I’m 30% through it now. Slow going – I should read more often.
March 9 – Hello again. I woke up this morning and listened to more of my audiobook version of The Thirteenth Tale. I’m making slow progress. I really like the book – just need to spend more time listening to it.
March 10 – Today was our weekly book club downtown. We spent more time talking about politics than books! The others hadn’t even started reading Ramona. There seems to be a problem for some people in getting copies of the book from our library. The library is open only one day a week. For once I’m ahead of the pack. I’m not used to that because my reading speed is so slow. I’m slow and distractable. Today I published a video on my art YouTube channel about bullet journal page border art.
March 11 – I’ve made some progress in listening to the audiobook version of The Thirteenth Tale today. Also, spent time reading the Abandoned Parents book.
March 12 – Today I took a nice long hike with a friend, then came home and made a lot of progress in reading the Abandoned Parents nonfiction book. I wonder if the exercise helps improve my concentration! Later I needed to rest (go figure) and did that while listening to more of The Thirteenth Tale… until I fell asleep. Woke up and listened to a lot of Booktube videos.
March 14 – Focusing more on art right now. I got some new palettes and brushes.
March 15 – I painted this for a blog post about March Mystery Madness.
March 16 – I discovered an art group on YouTube and joined in to do a mixed media challenge.
March 17 – I’ve been focused on art the last few days. Still slowly making progress in reading The Thirteenth Tale. With all the turmoil going on with the virus scare, I’ve been preoccupied and have decided to stay inside more and not socialize so much. Fine with me – I’m good at hermitting. This is my last day of being “out there” …. I went to a cancelled St. Patrick’s Day dinner where food was given out, to-go. Also went to the store and post office. There are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in my county, but even though we’re in a remote location, some people do go “out there” to the larger towns, and could bring it back.
March 18 – I’ve had a nice, peaceful day. At one point I had to go take a nap and while I was out in my van resting I made some progress in audio-reading The Thirteenth Tale. Life is good, in isolation. So, so sorry for anyone suffering from the virus.
March 19 – Can’t say I feel very accomplished right now in the reading department. I’m still not finished reading The Thirteenth Tale. I was told there’s an unabridged audio version of Ramona now. Should I cave on the Kindle read, or continue?
March 20 – Truly loving chapter 11-12 of The Thirteenth Tale. I might listen to the rest of it today – there’s not much left. Today I published a video about my intentions for the 100 day project and a couple of jars I painted for dipping my paintbrushes into.
I also finished my 4 page spread of that mixed media project. Did that yesterday, and edited/posted the video today.
So many books, so little time…
March 22 – I have no record of what happened yesterday. So strange. Today I finished reading The Thirteenth Tale and started reading Lonesome Dove. I have heard many people say they loved this book, and I’ve seen the movie and enjoyed that, but honestly, I am not bonding well with the novel, a Pulitzer Prize winner of just over 800 pages. We are not friends, this novel and I. We have differences.
March 23 – I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever warm up to some of the characters in Lonesome Dove, but I did print out the character list from Wikipedia and re-listened to chapter one, using that list as a guide, and managed to make sense of it. Like many books that introduce a lot of characters in chapter one, it is hard to follow, for me, at least. I feel a bit better grounded now and continued on a few chapters.
March 24 – I published another episode of “Mesterpiece Theatre” . . .
March 25 – I have soared through the first eight chapters of Lonesome Dove now. What a lot of degenerate losers these people seem to be. Super degenerate. But this is a much loved Pulitzer Prize winning book, so I carry on, trying to learn from it. So far, what I’ve learned is the message that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously, and that’s a problem for me, because I take myself very, very seriously. VERY seriously. So I may clash with the novel on many levels, but I think there’s a good message in there. On the whole, March reading is disappointing. I wish I’d read more mysteries. Honestly, my TV and coronavirus news are getting in the way. What a messed up month. The good parts from my point of view are (1) I get to stay home alone (which I love) and nobody is giving me a hard time about my hermit tendencies, and (2) Everyone else is finding out what a great thing hand sanitizer is. From the bottom of my OCD soul I just want to say, “Thank you for washing your hands and using hand sanitizer, just like me.” Feels good not to have people laughing at me for using hand sanitizer anymore. However, not so good that it is sold out at the market now. That’s annoying. But, so cool, I learned how to make my own.
March 26 – I’m making progress in Lonesome Dove. Currently in chapter 18 out of 102 chapters. It is not boring, but characters continue to be degenerates. I wonder if there will be a lot of character growth. Time will tell. I’ve been using my old Linda’s Life blog for the last few days, for a to-do list, gratitudes, and a book list. Great way to start the day. It was my first-ever blog started in 2000 [some original posts are lost now] but even though I neglect it for months at a time, it is still on the web. Can’t say that much for a lot of other blogs I’ve given up on. I also read about eight pages in Abandoned Parents: The Devil’s Dilemma. Great little manual for people in that situation but in my opinion, it is overpriced. I’m also making some good progress on reading Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson. What a melodrama! Star crossed lovers.. and all that. Normally I wouldn’t get into a romance like this, but it is a classic that was chosen by one of our local book club members, so I’m sticking with it.
March 28 – Not making much progress with reading. Disappointed!
March 31 – It has been a rough month with all the changes and worldwide fears of the pandemic. Still, I’ve made good progress on reading the Bible and the novel, Lonesome Dove. I’m currently about a third of the way through the 800+ page tome… chapter 34 out of 102 chapters. It is amusing… a very entertaining Western. Now I’m going to go make my April reading report page.
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