Books Lately, January 2023

 

What do you do when you love to write, and still, years later, don't have the time?

Good question. I'm still working on an answer.

And yes, I have read Jennifer Fulwiler's excellent book, Your Blue Flame. I loved it.

But I still don't have time. 

(I did try the whole "get up at 4:00 a.m. to write" thing. I lasted two days before I collapsed. Back to the drawing board.)

In the meantime, I did come up with the idea of posting my monthly reading log. I'll provide brief comments, and readers are welcome to chime in. I love to hear your thoughts.

A few ground rules:

(1) I will post books under the month in which I finish each book. Thus, if I started a book in 2017 and finished it in January 2023, under January 2023 it shall go.

(2) This is not a complete list. I will not be listing books that have to do with issues I feel are too personal to discuss publicly. Just an FYI, y'all.

(3) As always, discussion should stay at least relatively positive. Comments in the "You are an idiot, woman!" genre should generally remain unsaid. Also, know that books these days can be a mixed bag. My listing a book does not mean that I am giving a full thumbs-up to 100% of the book's content. Use discretion. 

Our New Year's 2023 started with a gorgeous double rainbow...

... followed thirty minutes later by our FIRST-EVER hailstorm here in the valley! (We've lived here for twenty years!) Our children were so excited! This reminds me that perhaps I should make time for a family update sometime... perhaps soon!

And now, moving on to January 2023 books!

No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends Upon the Strength of Men (Anthony Esolen) - Before you read one more word of this post, go to your local library or bookstore and pick up this book. Right now. Before you do anything else. (I'm waiting, y'all.)

Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism (Fumio Sasaki) - Guess how long it took this chap to pack his apartment, drive his stuff to his new place, and unpack? (Drumroll....) Ninety minutes! Wow! The book is, obviously, extreme, but there are great minimalist lessons here. 

The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery (Ross Douthat) - I picked up this book because I have greatly enjoyed Ross Douthat's previous works, such as Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics. I had no idea that this most current work was about Lyme disease. But now I know a lot about Lyme disease, and so will you after you read this book! (And I will never, never, ever go anywhere NEAR tick country. Ever.) Downsides include various dives into U.S. politics and Covid politics, but aside from those, the book is a gem - especially for anyone wanting to gain or share knowledge about life with chronic illness (Lyme disease or other).

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World (John Comer) - Written by a Protestant pastor. So good. 

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Re-reading this for the first time since high school. It's pretty good. If you love funny writing in this style, try P. G. Wodehouse. (Spoiler alert: Wodehouse is better. But this book is pretty funny too.)

Just Show Up: The Dance of Walking Through Suffering Together (Kara Tippetts and Jill Lynn Buteyn) – Written by a woman dying of cancer, and a friend who accompanied her on that journey. Good stuff. I hope that a later edition of the book will distill the main points into an appendix so that each reader doesn't have to go through the book making notes. One of my favorite parts was the bit about being gentle on oneself regarding one's hospitality style. Like the author (Jill), I am a "give me two weeks' notice" kind of woman when it comes to hospitality. Her encouragement to work with our styles rather than fret over our deficiencies was wonderful. 

Lazy Genius Kitchen: Have What You Need, Use What You Have, and Enjoy It Like Never Before (Kendra Adachi) – I will quote from my Amazon review: "The content is amazing, the writing is skillful, interesting, and funny, and the layout is super-practical and helpful. Additionally, as a side note, the book is aesthetically delightful - the paper, the fonts, the colors, the binding, the artwork, are all done to perfection. It is a literary, culinary, and aesthetic joy." I am now off to read the original book, "The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done."

The Perfectly Imperfect Home: How to Decorate and Live Well (Deborah Needleman) - Lovely thoughts, lovely pictures. However, you still have to have some basic talent to work with. (I'm missing that part.) But I did pick up some good hints! (Such as, "Every room should have one antique." Okay, I can do that. Maybe.)

Current Read-Alouds for Children

The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport (Laura Lee Hope) - I loved this series as a child, and my husband is now reading these to our children. 

The Lighthouse Mystery (Boxcar Mystery series by Gertrude Chandler Warner) - Another much-loved childhood series. 

A Bear Called Paddington (Michael Bond) - We love Paddington! My husband plays an online audio version for the boys at night. (We have all memorized the theme music.)

Bonus! A few awesome new recipes from this month...

Caramel Popcorn - This is the kind of recipe that makes people act like ravaging beasts. Seriously.

Crockpot Mississippi Pot Roast - The best recipes are (1) healthy, (2) delicious, (3) fast. Usually, you can only net two points out of three for a given recipe. This is one of those recipes that garners all three points, and it is utterly amazing. Next time I will add baby carrots to the crockpot. 

Almond Flour Chocolate Cake - Gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free. So good that no one knew it was healthy, and they still gobbled it up - and it was delicious. Only downside... it still has sugar in the form of honey, so not okay for people doing keto or low-carb. However, I have found that - goodness gracious! - there is a keto honey substitute out there! I bought some and am going to make the cake again for my dad. 

Upon thinking about it for a few days...

I realize that I am actually using my "blue flame" - but only in the ways that directly bless my family, rather than personal ways (like writing). Specifically, I have been working on finding homemaking tasks, especially cooking-related, that speak to my deepest loves. One way that I am expanding my personal joys this year is in the baking of pies. I adore pie-making... but I never make them. This year, however, my husband and I have combined forces to make two never-happening things - pies, and family devotions - happen at last. Every Saturday, I make a pie. And we have a family devotion. The pie happens after the family devotion, and not otherwise. Motivation, y'all. In January, our pies were...

Pumpkin

Apple

Pecan

Lemon Icebox

Let's see if I can keep this one up!

Another homemaking love that I have pursued of late has been - drumroll, please! - fruitcake. Yes, seriously. I adore fruitcake, and have been *meaning* to make one for, um, decades now. This year, I finally made it happen. Oh, so delicious. Other cooking projects on the horizon are pierogi and pasties. 

Have a great month, everyone! I hope to check in again in March!