SEPTEMBER 2023

 HELLO ALL!

We met last week at Jo Ann Abegglen's beautiful home and shared some wonderful books.  Below is the list..  We look forward to next month with a whole new set of books.  

Marlene Mattheson

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama - Michelle read the book and shares her insights from experiences in life.

The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku, Auschwitz Survivor - He told of his entire WWII experience from beginning to end. He finally found acceptance by living in Australia where no one knew his past. He didn't start telling his story to others until later in life and became a popular speaker. His positive attitude is admirable. He died in his late 90s just two years ago.

I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz - A third grade teacher tells how she focuses on including those who may have troubled lives. 

The Lost Family by Libby Copeland - Specific instances of how DNA testing connects many families but also tears some apart. 

Both Things Are True: Essays by Kate Holbrook, She shares insights between contrary ideas that are equally valid which can lead us to become more Christlike. 

 

 

Karla Cox

“The normal afterglow of literary communion” ~ Susan Cain

 What a beautiful way to describe the completion of an excellent book! 

 

Bittersweet by Susan Cain

“From trauma rises the soul, incandescent and perfect. It was always there, waiting to be embraced.” A single quote from this beautifully written book by the author of Quiet. 

I had a hard time getting into this amazing book; but once I did I talked about it constantly. Here’s her definition of compassion: the Union between souls… 

And here’s a quote from chapter 3, where she talks about Self-Transcendent Experiences, and the attendant research: 

…”Of a very long list, they found two items that consistently appeared as major triggers [in transcendent experiences]: ‘transitional period of life’ and ‘being close to death’. In other words, an intense awareness of passing time — the hallmark of bittersweetness itself.”

If you’re in the mood to slow down and enjoy every word instead of reading a story; if you’re in the mood to learn to appreciate sorrow and hardship and the strange joy that surfaces in “the upside of loss”; if you’re in the mood to be transformed, however simply, you just might love this book.

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—>Susan Cain’s version of Metta (lovingkindness meditation) can be found at Susancain.net

Both Things are True by Kate Holbrook, deceased

An indefatigable Church History historian and glorious champion of good women, Kate Holbrook died from ocular cancer that spread through her body before she was through living. The book was compiled and shared by her good friend Rosalynde Frandsen Welch, and includes a loving and tear-inspiring epilogue by her equally light-bearing husband, Samuel Morrison Brown. 

I would give this book to everyone if I could… I WILL recommend it to anyone who will listen or read it. 

A collection of essays, each reached into my heart and soul and changed and improved my perspective. And it includes her personal recipe for her favorite food, chocolate cake. 

This book, like Terryl & Fiona Givens’ books, opened me up and changed me in a way I don’t have the words to describe. So I’ll use Susan Cain’s, from Bittersweet: “[I was] Spellbound by language as lyrical as music itself.”

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I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

“The trials had been for nothing. The dread of futility has been my lifelong plague.” 

This random declaration midway through this short but powerful autobiography is the essence of Marguerite Johnson’s life. Though laced with humor, Maya Angelou’s account of her life is filled with sorrow and yes, futility. 

But she finds the light. 

 

Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

The story of a South Carolina Lowcountry boy, Tom Wingo, and his tragic family. 

This book deals with many unpleasant, even deeply painful things. But the prose is truly beautiful. And, true to the English teacher character, Conroy used many words I hadn’t encountered! The depth of verbiage and the beautiful writing made me grateful I finally dived in. 

Though this is a serious story about tragic lives and horrible issues, Conroy is a master storyteller and shares several situational anecdotes that brighten the story and the lives of the characters. My favorite is a hilarious section about the Wingo children’s grandma, who they refer to by her name, Tolitha. (p 966-970, if I can read it to them) I was laughing out loud in the Denver airport while reading it! 

I almost stopped reading it a couple of times, the material and language are so harsh; but I persevered, and the resolution was worth it. 

It’s not a book I can fully recommend, but it is superbly written and I don’t regret reading it. 

 

Maryann Stevens

When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, & Susan Meissner 4.5️ the story of three nurses, one Army, one Navy, one Philipina, who become the first female POWs in US military history. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Japan bombs Manila & after hard fighting, General McArthur famously leaves the island to the Japanese. Non-combatants, men women & children are interned with US military. The nurses fight to provide medical, nutrition & cleanliness in camps at least as horrific as the Nazi concentration camps. Imprisoned for four years at least three different camps, the nurses ache to reunite. One camp is only hours away from the mass murder of all prisoners, when MacArthur finally does return. Wow! 

The Sisters of Auschwitz by Roxane Van Iperene 4.5️

76% of Dutch Jews are turned over to Nazis as compared to fewer than 30% in France & 50% in Germany. Dutch Jewish family shelters others in a large home in the forest for two years. Obtaining Fake passports, ration cards, purchasing enough food is dangerous work. They never find out who has betrayed them. They barely survive & return to their non-Jewish husbands & children. Amazing details of camp diseases & effort by sisters to feed.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larsen 3️ non fiction tedious detail, 

boring until the last 1.5 hours. I kept listening to discern the connection between Marconi & Crippen.

Ukraine by Charles Rivers Editors 3️ brief non-fiction account of the history of Ukraine. 

The Utah War by Charles Rivers Editors 3️ New, brief, non-fiction account of LDS diplomats, military, & extra-military conflicts between LDS & federal & state governments in Illinois, Missouri, & Utah. Mostly even handed, mostly factual though I found some discrepancies. Don’t bother. 

Alice’s Tulips by Sandra Dallas 4.5️ very fine fiction. On an Iowa farm during the Civil War, Mother Bullock & her daughter-in-law Alice must work the farm while Charlie fights for the Union. Bushwhackers & Copperheads steal from their meager supplies but, when widowed Ann & her blind little daughter are found in their haystack fleeing from the same kind of violence, the women take them in & together they survive. 

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 4.5️ I enjoy O’Farrell’s writing style. I like the way she weaves fact & supposition seamlessly. 

Anne Hathaway is a main character in Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel Hamnet, a fictional account of Shakespeare's family centered on the death of their on son. It won the Women's Prize for Fiction in the same year. I recommend.

 

Beth Hedengren

 

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutant

Very fun murder mystery about an elderly Chinese woman who finds a body in her teahouse one morning. Being a very enterprising and capable woman, and since the police are clearly incompetent, she decides to solve the mystery herself. In the course of her investigation, she meets four suspects, who quickly become her friends, and whom she sets about to save. Very fun, with a controlling Chinese mother who has a heart of gold. 

 

Both Things Are True by Kate Holbrook

Lovely volume of essays by the late, wise, good Kate Holbrook. A list of the essays included: “I Belong to the True and Living Church,” “Revelation is a Process,” “Housework is a Crucible of Discipleship,” “Forgiving and Remembering,” and “The Weight of Legacy.”

 

A few quotes:

“Life in a community of fallible humans striving to know God is likewise messy. Our historical records bear witness to the kind of relational truth that is both messy and nourishing, to the kind of church that is both true and becoming true. I want to leave you with my statement of faith: that we find God in doing good for other people. I have learned the most about Jesus when I have tried to do the work of Jesus.” (from “True and Living Church”)

“Grappling with housework has been a part of the human experience from the beginning, and it really can be ‘for our sake.’”   “Doing housework makes me grateful for our house, our car, our garden.” (“Housework”)

“What do we do if we don’t feel we receive answers to our prayers? . . .”they recoginize that some of us have an easier time receiving and understanding revelation than others. . . .”They continue in the everyday practice of their faith, at home and in their church community, even when they do not have strong spiritual manifestations.”. . . Finally, they are humble.”  (“Revelation”)

 

Lowcountry Bombshell and Lowcountry Bookshop

No more Lowcountry books—I’ve read them all now. One about a Marilyn Monroe look alike, another about a group of women who rescue abused women.

 

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Raymie’s father has recently run off with another woman, but Raymie has a plan to get him back. She will win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition which will induce him to return. At baton twirling lessons, she makes friends with two quirky girls with their own problems, and together they rescue each other.

 

Sue Demartini

West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge - Depression era story of the transport of the first two giraffes designated for the San Diego zoo from New York to Los Angeles. Adventure, loss, laughter, and educational

 

Finding Chika by Mitch Albom - He and his wife serve as foster parents for Chika, a young girl from an orphanage in Africa who develops cancer.

 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - a group of elderly residents in a senior community solve a murder. This is the first in a series. Fun read

 

News of the World by Paulette Jiles - At the insistence of a Native American chief and against his better judgment, an older man, who travels throughout the west sharing news of the world in small communities, agrees to return a white girl who had been kidnapped by another tribe to her parents. Sweet bond between the two and great adventures. 

 

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B Ross - This is also the first in a series. Miss Julia is recently widowed and learning how to manage in life while maintaining the reputation and influence of her esteemed husband in a small southern town. She gets a surprise that turns her life upside down. 

 

JoAnn Abegglen

Esperanza Rising by Pam Ryan. This is a charming children’s book about the terrible times of 1930 from the perspective of a wealthy adolescent who through tragedy goes from Mexico to Southern California and becomes a farm picker.

Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynn. The book traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The war with the Comanche lasted four decades.

Geri Christensen

The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden

Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls school in 1865s Victorian London. She is also a well-respected author of silver-fork novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories--the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage amont the working-class men. Under the pseudonym Charles King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting supernatural threats, intelligent detectives solving grisly murders and dangerous outlaws romancing helpless women.  They contain all the adventure and mystery that her real life lacks. A fun read with a clever writing stuyle.  *** 1/2 Stars

The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins

As the Allied Forces slowly begin turning the tide of World War II, Hitler vehemently orders the impossible0--kidnap Winston Churchill, or kill him. A crack team of commandos led by a disgraced war hero must venture into the heart of England to carry out their mission or die trying. Meanwhile, in a quiet seaside village, a beautiful widow and an IRA assassin have already laid the groundwork for what will be the most treacherous plot of the wear. It begins on November 6, 1943, when Berlin receives the fateful message...THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!