This will be short, just something to get a post written in 2023. I have reached 81 books read this year; however, a friend has reached 100, and I am trying to catch up to her. In addition to that goal, I am attempting to finish all the books I started but have not finished yet in order to list them as being read in 2023.
And, just to have some sort of images on this post for interest, I grabbed and dropped a variety of books I read and took pictures of.
The book is grounded solidly in research, but it is not difficult to read. I like knowing where various thoughts, memories, and actions originate in the specific parts of the brain. I know other readers do not. Restak occasionally names the various parts of the brain; however, he does not do it every time. His research is current (as current as one's publication dates allow) because I know of some of the researchers and their research discussed in this book (e.g. Alia Crum). What did I feel Restak brought to the table? Research into memory and the brain is an absolute must have, yet I can get that from podcasts. Restak weaves together historical background, quotes from literary fiction, and case studies into his research with descriptive and imaginative language -- all of which applies what has been learned thus far about memory. Included in the chapters are practical exercises and ideas to try. My husband and I both took the "Is My Memory Functioning Normally" quiz. I read this comprehensive book from June 1 to June 5, ending up with 37 bookmarks. I need the actual book in my hands and on my bookshelves, so I will be purchasing my own physical copy. Thanks to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for this ARC.
Re: 52 Books in 52 Weeks? This is actually my 53rd book. I hope to fill you all in on the previous 52 soon.
It has been so long since I've blogged, I think I've forgotten how to do so! Here I am at the last day of the year with proof that I have been reading. Quite a lot as it turns out. This year 2021 was filled with lots of highs and lows which I won't go into right now. The big news is that my husband had a clear and clean PET/CT scan for a second time (three months apart) and we will stay the course with immunotherapy in his battle with cancer. The second big news is that I retired which means I hope to blog more as well as get to all those "want to do" activities. One thing that will not change (I don't think) will be reading. This time last year I barely squeaked by with my 52nd book. This year, somehow, I went way over. Here is the evidence in pictures (and if you are on Goodreads, you can check out my reviews of the books).
Starting to write in July and reviewing well over 52 books read for the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge which started in January seems like a hopeless situation. Nonetheless, let's see if I can do it.
The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy --Perfect gift book for the right person, and I was the right person for the person who gave it to me. I get that some reviewers think it's a bit cutesy or filled with feel good platitudes, but sometimes it's nice to read something lovely even while knowing in reality fox would probably eat mole. I read it through several nights in a row. I gave it 4 stars.
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss -- This is a discussion worthy book. The writing is beautiful, and it definitely is like Tolkien and Homer, or maybe those two meet up with Rowling. Yes, I wrote that, and I know I could not write a story like Rothfuss. The other shoe is going to drop with some critique, isn't it?
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles -- I confess to being disappointed with this book. I read Towles's A Gentleman in Moscow (and also bought it), and I wasn't in love with his characters in his first novel as I was in his second novel. I suppose one could say that the story line and characters fit the time period Towles was going for. If you like Fitzgerald type of characters, this could be the book for you.
The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own by Joshua Becker -- The first two chapters in I was going to give this book 3 stars -- lots of excitement but not practical. I liked it okay enough to read but not buy. Then, I kept reading and I found what I was looking for -- lots of answers to the "yes, but how". Also Becker strikes a balance, and by that I mean he doesn't write that I have to give up all but 30 of my books. Hah! In the end, I had decided to buy the book for myself and buy it for others so that means a five star book. Get past the rah-rah part at the beginning, and if you don't like books with stories from the New Testament Bible, there really are only 3 in the entire book and Becker explains why he chooses those particular stories. His references to other minimalists and their ideas are diverse and lead to other sources. Short book -- read it here at the beginning of the year to start de-accumulating or read it at the end of the year when you are just short of your GR reading goal and need to read something quickly! I gave it 4 stars.
The Joy Switch: How Your Brain's Secret Circuit Affects You're Relationships - And How You Can Activate It by Chris M. Coursey -- I bought this book after attending a free Thrive webinar. What Coursey brings to the table is an easy to read explanation of how to keep all parts of our brain open when all it wants to do is to shut down in the midst of unhappiness, sadness, fear, anger, etc. Keeping that same metaphor or analogy, I was hoping the table was going to include the 19 relational skills (it does not; the reader will be pointed back to the Thrive website). The book does include practices (so some good healthy food at the table) of which I was hoping for a bit more. On this same table I wish I had Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry along to say that there were a lot of repeated elements in Coursey's showstopper. In other words, I felt an editor with a bit stronger editing pen could have deleted some of the repeated sentences.
How to Be Less Stupid About Race by Crystal Marie Fleming -- Apparently I bought this book and put it on my "currently reading" shelf on July 1, 2019...and then life happened in the form of a lot of health stuff and sad stuff, and I knew I wanted to take my time with this book. I either heard Fleming speak on a podcast or I read about her book on an Instagram account. Whichever it was, it was her discussion of the fallacies surrounding racism that drew me in. Once I had the book in hand, I started reading about these fallacies in the opening chapter (I so appreciate when a book actually includes what an author has discussed elsewhere), and I knew I wanted to take notes, highlight, etc., something I did not have time or energy to do in 2020. So there the book sat on my shelf until January 1 of this year. I did indeed take notes, highlight, and follow up closely on Fleming's endnotes.
All I can say is if you read books with endnotes and you truly want to practice anti-racism, then read this book. I gave this book 5 stars.
Wow, one blog post in 2020. I haven't written so little since 2012. Yet, I did read 52 books in 52 weeks in 2020...barely. I squeezed in fourteen books during the month of December after asking for recommendations for books under 250 pages. I received a great many recommendations for which I'm thankful. Not all were so short. I finished two books which I had started earlier in the year, and I listened to two audio books (How have I missed 84 Charing Cross Road all these years?!) I even wound up with one book extra and one extra day in 2020! Libby, an online library was a lifesaver this year (although excruciatingly hard on my eyes until I got special online glasses). To a lesser extent so was Hoopla, online books attached to our local library system. Unfortunately, they only allowed me to check out five books a month.
Since I did not blog for each book in 2020, let me give reviews here which are shorter than the ones I put on Goodreads. I will post my Goodreads Books in Review pictures after I post a picture of the books I do own.
Yes, it has been a long time since I blogged...so long that Blogger asked me for not only one but two ways of verifying that I am who I say I am. However, today is the first day of Advent for 2020 (a year unlike other years), and the first word for #adventword2020 is "tender." I'm not sure that I'll post for every day of Advent, but I have some thoughts on this word (which even include a reference to a book although not one I have read this year in spite of thinking of it often).
My first thought was "Why tender?" Maybe they were thinking of the Christmas song "Silent Night"? ("Holy infant so tender and mild") Yes, babies are tender; mild? My second thought was my tender arm after getting shots, specifically since I am due soon for my second shot of the shingles vaccine, and my knowledge from the first shot leads me to believe my arm is going to be tender for a week. However, I do not have that tender spot to take a picture of...yet.
In an effort to understand the word better, I brought out my 1828 dictionary and also took a picture of my very tender Genovese Basil.
From here on out are my random thoughts about "tender". (Bear with me, I'm out of practice with blog posts.) My arm will be tender after my next shot, but it will be worth it because I saw how my mother suffered from a full blown case of shingles. My basil leaves are tender, but when they are crushed is when the sweet fragrance and taste comes from the spice. Still, when some people are tender and crushed, their spirits, souls, and bodies are quenched and destroyed, so there is a tension between knowing when to be compassionate and when goodness will be released through touching that which is tender.
I believe the Divine has that balance, and I would even go as far as to say that God "tenderizes" humans far less than some people think. I must write that I have known people who were given tenderness, but I wonder sometimes if a bit of crushing might have led to better outcomes (sort of like a shingles shot) because they wasted the tenderness given to them.
Basically, I surmise that God is tender toward us because we were given choice. I have not found anyone who has convinced me that love can exist without choice. I picture Stepford Wives. Some are happy (the men?) but there's no love. I picture Brave New World where everyone is soma'd into bliss. There's no love. Love requires choice, and when humans have choices, they can choose to do devastatingly horrible acts.
And now, dear readers (dear because you're actually reading this!), I'm not quite sure how to end this all Christmas-y. The first Advent candle is said to represent expectation or hope or expectation of hope. My hope is that in following Christ, I can choose a compassionate tender mercy over judgment and be rare in touching tender spots. There's Someone Who does it better than me.
