Book Talk Wednesday-- Southernmost

'The rain had been falling with a pounding meanness without ceasing for two days and then the water rose all at once in the middle of the night, a brutal rush so fast Asher thought at first a dam might have broken somewhere upstream.  The ground had simply become so saturated it could not hold any more water.  All the creeks were conspiring down the ridges until they washed out into the Cumberland.  There was no use in anyone going to bed because they all knew what was going to happen.
They only had to wait.'

I don't usually begin by copying the complete first paragraph, but I can't remember the last time I read a book whose first paragraph so symbolically sets the stage for the story that is about to unfold.

Asher Sharp, a small town Pentecostal preacher, wanting to help two men, after their home is destroyed, finds himself questioning long held beliefs.  He alienates his wife, his congregation and his community.  After serving up a sermon on tolerance,  Asher is fired by the Church hierarchy. 

When the Courts award Asher's wife full custody of Justin, he takes his son and leaves for Key West in hopes of finding and reconciling with the brother he turned against years earlier.  In search of a brother, Asher and Justin discover the importance of just loving.

   

"I've studied on it a lot, Lydia.  You know I don't believe that way anymore.  All my life I've thought I've understood everything in that Bible, but now I know that none of us can know the mind of God. He's too big for that."

Southernmost is a timely and beautifully told story of re-evaluating ones beliefs and the consequences incurred.   Asher discovers, what I believe, "love thy neighbor", truly means.   I promise this is one of those reads that will make you sit and ponder long after you've turned the final page.    Southernmost  touched my heart and conscience in so many ways, and is going to the top of my "best books of year" list   

  If you are looking for a book that will stir up a great book group discussion...
this may be the one. 

*****

Perfect Pairings

May I suggest you pour yourself a nice tall glass of iced tea and head out to the porch.   Heck,  just take the whole pitcher outside, you are not going to want to put this book down. 

Happy Reading Friends, and

Enjoy!

Wednesday Book Talk (a day late)

I'm feeling a bit guilty after my last post.  

After my pitiful lamenting over Autumn's reluctant entrance, we awoke Wednesday morning to perfect pumpkin patch weather.   The temp stayed in the 60's and the clouds held it there for most of the morning.   Tomorrow it will begin to get warmer, by Saturday it is expected to hit around 91.

hooray!

Sorry if my cheer sounds a little less than sincere.

No matter the temperature, it is always tolerable when there is a good book to be enjoyed.

"What I know now, my son:  Evil begets evil.  It grows.  It transmutes, so that sometimes you cannot see that the evil in the world began as the evil in your own home."

Tonight my book group will be discussing Yaa Gyasi's, debut novel, Homegoing.     This is generational story of the descendants of Maame, beginning with her two daughters coming of age in eighteenth century Ghana. Effia, a Fante, marries James Collins, a white man, Govenor of Cape Coast Castle.  Esi, daughter of an Asante leader, is captured, sold into slavery and awaits her destination in the dungeon of Cape Coast Castle.  Neither is aware of the other's existence.

The structure of Homegoing is a bit difficult to follow.  After a few chapters it is apparent each chapter tells the story of a different descendant, alternating between the two sister's family line.   The hand-held book has a table, making it easier in keeping up with the characters and who beget whom.   

Though this novel may be a little cumbersome to follow, the language and landscape make it well worth the time.   So often we finish a book and begin thinking about what we will read next.  Homegoing is a book to sit with and ponder the many layers peeled away while reading. 

There have been so many excellent books published the last few years.   I spent my summer frantically reading everything I could get my hands on, and I am still going.  (you can follow my reading frenzy on Instagram, livingbeeslife)   Yes, I read the "good, the bad and the ugly", and so much in-between.   I'll be sharing some of my favorites soon.   

Here are a couple of books I'm enjoying this week.

You know I want to know what you are reading, and what is on "to read" list.

Happy Reading!

Sunday Thoughts... Rest with no guilt

"If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, 

illness becomes our Sabbath---our pneumonia, our cancer, our heart attack, 

our accidents create Sabbath for us".

Wayne Muller,  Sabbath

(taken from  "Rhythms of Rest)

Spring Break...Resting and recharging...

no guilt!

This was my instagram post a week ago.   And.... this is pretty much how I spent my week. 
I have done nothing, and I have done everything.

When I left school Friday, the beginning of a week long break, I was exhausted.  I wasn't physically tired, my spirit was empty.  I left feeling like I had nothing left to give.  I had allowed too many things to weigh on my heart.   Some things are worthy of taking up space, the rest is clutter.   I allow the clutter to gather and empty me.

Worthy or not, very little can I control.  I don't know about you, but it is those things I cannot make better that wear down the heart... the soul... the spirit.  Everyone has something, some place, someone they go to when the well is empty.  Would it surprise you it was a book where I rested this week?

This was one of those finds placed in front of me so often, I had to pick it up to see what it was all about.  Yes... I do believe things are set in our path when we need them.

Shelly Miller shares her thoughts and experiences on implementing the practice of rest, Sabbath.  The older I get the more I realize I can't do it all.  About 70 + pages in I was slapped in the face with a question.  "Do you often help others, but rarely, if ever, admit you need help?  If your answer is yes, you may be deriving a false sense of self-worth."   I wrote to the side.... maybe.    Just days before stumbling into those words I had been ask by the one closest to my heart, "Why do you think you have to do everything yourself?"  Bam!

The jewel I take away from this book (I think each reader will take away what they are needing)  rest is not sitting down for a day, but learning to take a block of time to put away the work, the chores and do what fills you... curling up with a book, pulling weeds in the garden, writing, cooking a great meal, enjoying a glass of wine and conversation with a good friend.   I can implement rest on my terms and my schedule... and not feel guilty.

From the back of the book,
"Sabbath is a from God to be embraced, not a spiritual hoop to jump through..."

My book is filled with underlinings, asterisks and sticky tabs.   There is so much rich text between the covers, I will be referring back for encouragement often.   Learning to put the "have to" to the side for awhile will take some intentional practice.

And, on the other end of the spectrum.  I recently finished Trials of the Earth by Mary Mann Hamilton.  This was a book group read, though not my selection, I pushed for this one during our book selection.   When I began the book, the simplicity of the writing pulled me in, but caused me to wonder how my fellow readers would review it.

 
Trials of the Earth, is Mary Mann Hamilton's remarkable life's story.  The simplicity of the writing is what made this autobiography enjoyable.   Her story is one of heartbreak, one disaster after another, and true love.  Though she often speaks of needing rest there was never time.   Her life is spent raising and burying children, running a boardinghouse, living in a logging camps,  watching one dream after stolen, and never losing faith in a husband with a mysterious past.

I finished Trials of the Earth, after our book discussion (everyone seemed to enjoy it... the discussion was lively), and....
I loved, loved, loved this book.

Today is my last day of spring break and I am ready to return.
I hope you are enjoying a restful weekend doing what gives you rest.
I hope you will share where and how you find rest when you are depleted.

Another Reading Year

September not only takes me back to the classroom, but also ushers in a new book group year.   Our first meeting of the season is always my favorite to host.  Everyone brings a list of books they have either read or want to read.  As I have said before we are an eclectic group with varied interest and taste in literature, making this night so much fun, entertaining and informative.

It is an evening to enjoy a favorite beverage,

a few tasty bites,

but it is really all about the books.



My suggestions this year were:
Jane Austen's England, Leslie Adkins
Everybody Was So Young, Amanda Vaill
Howard's End, E.M. Forster

Everyone came with wonderful suggestions.  We try to include at least one non-fiction and one classic.  After the nominations, discussion and voting we came up with our final list for our seventh year of reading together.

The Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline
Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Carol Rifka Brunt
The Forgotten 500, Gregory A. Freeman
The Maid's Version, Daniel Woodrell
The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson
Secret of Lost Cats, Dr. Nancy Davidson
Howard's End, E.M. Forster
The Dovekeepers, Alice Hoffman
In Harlem's Way, Robert Pucci

I'm excited!
Did you see anything that peaks your interest?



Happy Reading!

Reflections

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be 
The candle or the mirror that reflects it.” 

                                                                                        Edith Wharton

During winter I often stand in the sunroom looking out with camera at the ready to catch something new growing, in motion or just a tiny something I find amazing.  When I pull up my photographs I often find the above reflection, and I hit delete.

This morning I woke to the sound of rain and thunder.   I left everyone upstairs and eased downstair to write,  catch up and enjoy a few minutes of quiet time with my book.  I stepped out into the sunroom and saw the reflection of the fireplace in the window reminding me to stop, to breathe and take a few minutes to reflect a week past...

via

meeting a good friend for lunch,

(we stayed a bit closer to home)

  preparing for book group with my electrical power out; 

 enjoying a lively conversation both about our book and other subjects,

  looking out one afternoon to find

old friends 

 returning to the garden,

 how bringing home a simple bouquet made my heart smile,

 raindrops falling on the skylight giving me a morning of music,

of all that is sweet,

and all the sweet moments which lie ahead.

And now,  at the end of my reflection....I know I am truly blessed.

Have a wonderful week, and savor all that is good and beautiful.

Reading a Classic

"Set wide the window.  Let me drink the day".
                                                                                  Edith Wharton                                                                                         

Thursday, January 24th was the 151st birthday of the American writer,  Edith Wharton.  You might remember several things were published coordinating with the celebration of her 150th birthday.

  After reading several blog posts about Edith and enjoying the beautiful layout in Vogue's September issue

via

I suggested an Edith Wharton novel to my book group as our classic of the year.  Many of us had previously read The Age of Innocence and some consider Ethan Frome (one of my personal favorites) too dark;  we agreed upon The House of Mirth.

At the close of our January meeting I reminded everyone I was hosting in February and the title of our next book.  Not to many sounded thrilled.  There may have been a moan or two.   I might take a beating on this one, but I, myself,  savored every last word, finishing the last 50 pages ironically on her birthday.  

It is often advised, by teachers, to write what you know.   Ms Wharton most certainly followed this advice when she penned The House of Mirth.   She was very much a part of the turn-of-century society she satirises in the novel many believe to be her best work.

Our heroine, Lily Bart, unlike our author, is a woman with a desire to live among the "irresponsible pleasure-seekers", but without the personal means to do so.   She must instead rely on her her beauty,  a small stipend she receives from her aunt and the kindness of those with whom she has attached herself.

"...The glow of the stones warmed Lily's veins like wine.  More completely than any other expression of wealth they symbolized the life she longed to lead, the life of fastidious aloofness and refinement in which every detail should have the finish of a jewel..."

I found this to be the perfect description of Lily's desires.   Lily discovers when one is on the outside looking in there is no room for bad decisions or poor alignments, and intentions are easily and sometime purposefully misconstrued and used to harm.

"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; 
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth."
                                                                   Ecclesiastes 7:4
                                                                      King James Bible

Edith Wharton does not write a "happily ever after" novel nor does she write with brevity. She does capture the desires and weaknesses of the human character beautifully.  Still today many seek to fit into a group where they find themselves walking the edge and always beholding to others.  And, like Lily they find the price forever steep and the fall quick and shattering.  Is the message in The House of Mirth still relevant?
Absolutely!

This has been my favorite book of this book group year,
but I may have to wow my fellow readers with the food...
or drink.

 A list of the books we've read so far this year:
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (a mystery/crime thriller...page turner, but not a favorite)
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Robert Olen Butler
(a collection of stories told by Vietnamese refugees 
who built a and around a part of the United States I know very well)
The Unit, Ninni Homqvist (it is really hard for me to dislike a book so much)
Where'd You Go, Bernadett, Maria Semple (totally enjoyed it)

via tumbler

Enjoy your winter reading!