A little light reading and a little more...

I love reading and usually have a pile of books waiting to be read sitting beside my bed.  I have a somewhat eclectic taste.  I do enjoy a soothing book – a book that is easy to read when nothing terribly bad happens.  Why?  Sometimes I feel the weight of sadness in other people’s lives.  This last week has been particularly hard – and I am only a bystander. 

I have spent time with a woman who lost her eleven year old daughter last December, a woman who has just lost her much longed for baby who died in the womb at 19 weeks, a couple who were struggling to emotionally connect in their marriage and I listened to hurts expressed, a woman whose husband had just lost his job and this is not all.  Sometimes life is hard and sad and sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed and swamped.

Reading light books sometimes helps me and gives me some space to collect my thoughts.  I have just finished reading a series of three such books.  I suspect I am not the only woman who craves to read a book that is pleasant company.  I have a number of women who ask me for suggestions of books to read and they often say “I just want a nice book to read”. I am often lending my books to friends and lose track of them for months at a time and hope they will return.

The Elm Creek Quilt series by Jennifer Chiaverini is not demanding and utterly enjoyable.  Each volume contains three stories.  Recently, I was given the second series as a gift from my work colleagues – they loved the look of the cover and know that I am a mad quilter.  These stories are based around a group of women who live in rural America who are friends and share a passion for creating quilts. 

Mostly, the stories revolve around one particular woman and events that are happening in her life – the stuff of life is present – relationship issues, infertility, wild children and other issues, however, they are stories in which the women survive these events because of their friendship and they are prepared to face up to weaknesses in their own self that they can change.  There is much detail about quilts, so if you have zero interest in quilting, you would probably hate this series.

I found one of the stories The Runaway Quilt particularly interesting, as it explores the family history of one the characters – Sylvia, in which she discovers that her ancestors were involved with smuggling slaves from the South up to the Canadian border to safety.  A particular quilt would be hung on the washing line, indicating that the house was a safe house for slaves to take refuge.  These events took place just before the American Civil War – it is a time in history that I find quite fascinating.

This week I took refuge in these stories.   To be honest, this is not my only solution to escaping life when it becomes overwhelming.  I have recently returned to the gym and regular walking exercise and this helped enormously. 

I do also seek refuge in God’s word – particularly the Psalms.  This last week I have been reading Psalm 77.  The voice of the Psalmist expresses his distress – he feels rejected and abandoned.

“Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favour again?

Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion”? vv 7-9

These are deep questions that we all have from time to time.  Last week, I felt this, not so much for myself but for my friends.  There was nothing I could do to fix any of the situations other than sit and listen.  However, the Psalmist turns and remembers what he knows to be true about God and reminds himself of how God rescued His people – with His mighty arm, he redeemed the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.  He remembers how the Red Sea parted so His people could walk safely through the waters.

“Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. 

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”  v19-20

God’s footprints are there – we just can’t see them.  I find that immensely reassuring.  This blog post is not just about a little light reading at all.  It is about things that help me walk with friends during times of crises.

After River

I have been a bit like a caterpillar of late, as I have read my way through a huge pile of books that I was fortunate enough to get and it has been wonderful.  I have recently finished reading this book "After River".  It is written by Donna Milner and she writes beautifully.  If you have read any of Joyce Carol Oates's books with any enjoyment, you will like this book.  It reminded me of "We were the Mulvaneys" which is harrowing to read, but memorable and thought provoking.  As is this book.

River is the name of a young man who arrives at a dairy farm in British Columbia in the mid 1960s.  River is an American draft dodger, who has illegally crossed the border to escape the Vietnam war.  The Ward family are dairy farmers in a tiny rural community.  The story is told by Natalie, the youngest and only daughter who is fifteen when River arrives.

The narrative moves backwards and forwards in time and the reader gradually fills in the gaps about what happens in the mid 1960s two years after Rivers arrival that tears this close family wide apart, shattering and changing their lives for ever.  It is a story about shame, secrets, small town prejudices, harboured hurts and the loss of innocence and the impact of an event on each member of this family.  It is sad and I had tears streaming down my face by the end.  There is much in the book that you could say is too coincidental or contrived, but it might have happened.  I was reluctantly drawn into the world of Atwood - a remote village in the Rockies and felt as if I was an invisible observer and participant.

It is easy to think that life was better in the "good old days", where there was no internet, computers, mobile phones, and that life in a small country village was wholesome and without problems.  Isn't that the problem the Israelites had?  Soon after they had been freed from slavery in Egypt, they were grumbling and complaining.  All they could think about was the food they had to eat - it was if they have forgotten the hardships of life in Egypt, as in their minds they had forgotten all of that in the light of the present hardships they were facing.  We can do this today and think that our life would be better, easier or less complicated if we lived in a remote village - away from the evils and perils of today. We could protect our children and ourselves if we lived in such a world.  Reading this book made me realise that life was fairly complicated back then too - many of the prejudices and "taboo subjects were the background to my childhood - I am not that sure that I would like to return to such a world.

I liked all the characters in this book and felt their realness, their pain and their hurts.  I can imagine what Atwood must be like - dominated by high mountains, five months of snow, and living in the shadows of the mountains that plunged the valley into darkness for most of the year - not always the idyllic place of our imagination.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, originally uploaded by KarenSaraGaches.


I read this book over a year ago.  I was quite intrigued, as I had spent time with one of my daughter Susannah's friends and her mother and both had been completely engrossed by this book.  They both told me separately, that they had not been able to put it down.  As I am a bookworm and devour books, I purchased a copy and was hooked and became inseparable from it until I had finished the final page.  This is extremely dangerous when life beckons and there are many things that demand my attention.  I then got hold of the second book, and put my name down to get the third on its release last September.  They have been well read books, as I have passed them to different friends and work colleagues.
The film has just been released, and I went and saw it yesterday with a good friend.  I usually hate seeing the film of a book when I have enjoyed, but this time I was pleasantly surprised.  The film captures the main characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikhail Blomkvist perfectly.  The story is well told - nothing is left to the imagination - it is fairly brutal, so there were times when I was grabbing Amal's arm and closing my eyes, but I enjoyed it immensely.  I am not going into details, as I don't want to spoil either the book or film for anyone.  But if you enjoy a thriller, you will enjoy this.
I have to confess that I love thriller books and thriller movies.  This often comes as a surprise to people who know me, but I am smitten.  I have a secret life of interest in the underworld of crime at work also, as I write regularly about criminal cases that have gone to court and about the law generally on a blog for legal studies students.  I am hoping that Keith will want to see it, despite not having read the book, so I can get to see it again.  Am I mad or ?

Daddy-Long-Legs

Daddy Long Legs Spider (Pholcus phalangoides), originally uploaded by berrimbillah.

I am terrified of spiders - particularly large black creepy crawly ones.  For some reason, I tolerate daddy-long-legs and will happily welcome one into my home and treat it as part of the family.  One summer, I happily co-habited our bathroom with a large daddy long legs.  At present there is one sitting in my mix master and I will let him stay there until I need to use it for cooking.  I have never understood this until I re-read Jean Webster's Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy.  I read and adored both books as a young teenager, but have not read them since.  Perhaps my tolerance for daddy-long-leg spiders comes from warm memories of reading this book.

I have intended to re-read both books for ages.  A few years ago, my Mum asked me to buy her a copy of both books from Amazon as she had not been able to find them in any book shop near her.  She bought two and gave the second copy to Susannah for Christmas, and I had planned on reading it after she had.  However, it disappeared into the bowels of Susannah's room not to resurface and I forgot.  Again, after reading the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, I thought that I must revisit Daddy-Long-Legs.

Last week I received a beautiful gift from my aunt, who I made a quilt for - she gave me her copies of these books.  They were both printed in 1917 and had belonged to her father, my paternal grandfather and I read them immediately with much enjoyment.  In fact I couldn't put them down they were so entertaining.  Daddy-Long-Legs consists of letters written by Jurusha Abbott, a little orphan girl who grew up in an orphanage, who is given the opportunity to go to college by a wealthy benefactor - one of the orphanage's trustees.  He wants to remain anonymous, and his only stipulation is that she write letters to him about her college education.  Jerusha catches a glimpse of this man and sees that he is very tall and thin, so she calls him Daddy-long-legs.

According to my aunt, these books were great favourites of my grandfather, and she has had them in her collection of books for years.  They have travelled with her from England in 1976 to reside in Australia until 1990 and returned to England.  They are now in my hands back in Oz, so they are well travelled , and much loved.  I have nothing that belonged to my Grandfather, who died in the mid 1970s shortly after celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary.

This is the only photo I have of my grandparents with all their grandchildren.  It was taken during a summer I spent in England with my mother and sister.  Guess which one of these girls is me?

Remarkable Creatures

Fossilized snail-shell, originally uploaded by Roberto Verzo.

Fossils are remarkable creatures, as are two women in the early 1800's who defy convention and share the passion of fossicking for fossils. I have to confess that I am rather ignorant about fossils.  This is despite the fact that I have a husband who is fascinated by rocks and fossils.  I remember my surprise when we married, that two boxes of rocks and fossils were coming too.  Not only that, but they were to be displayed on a shelf in our lounge room - they are still displayed in a glass cabinet.

Tracy Chevalier's latest book Remarkable Creatures is a treasure.  Having read it over our Christmas break, I now know much more about fossils and the two women Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot.  These women actually existed as this book is based on real events.  This makes it even more fascinating, as both women contributed richly to our knowledge of the world.  These women found fossils of creatures that no longer exist, plunging them into a debate with the church about creation.  Surely, God could not have made a creature which then became extinct?  What did this say about God? At the time, it was men who engaged in such debate and it was men who went fossicking for fossils.

Neither woman is particularly likeable, both are eccentric and have few friends.  They share an interest in finding fossils.  For one, Mary, it becomes a livelihood and a way of putting food on the table.  For Elizabeth, it is a way to fill an empty life and empty days, but they form a friendship of sorts. Tracy Chevalier is such a wonderful writer, that I was gripped by this book and became fascinated in the life these women lived in Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast of England.  Elizabeth could well have crossed paths with Jane Austen, who visited this town.

This week at work, I had a client ask me about laws covering the exporting of fossils from Australia.  I couldn't help myself, so I asked her "have you read Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier?"  Indeed she had, and had met the author herself during her book launch last August.  This client is also an author and had returned from a fossil dig in a part of Queensland researching for a new book to discover that this book had been published.  I am often asked quirky questions and I love fossicking for an answer and yes, I was able to answer her question.  I will keep an eye out for her next book, which I am sure will explore the discovery of fossils and their disappearance overseas - she is a crime writer.

Children's Christmas books

Wombat plays baby Jesus, originally uploaded by G a r r y.

A friend asked me to buy two children's books about Christmas. She gave me a generous budget - she just wanted them to be overtly "Christian". This type of shopping fills me with much delight. I love reading and reading books to children is one of my passions. I recall hours spent reading book after book to my children when they were small.

We have four good bookstores within walking distance of my home, so I thought I would have no problems at all spending this money. Alas, much to my dismay, I have discovered that the first two had no books in them that I thought were appropriate. I don't recall having this difficulty when my children were small. I am yet to visit the other two shops, so I am hopeful I will find something that will appeal.

My sister in law Julie asks me every year for the names of the books that I have for children about Christmas. She was a primary school teacher and is now a Mum with two small children. I thought I would share my list of books with you, as once again, she asked me for this information. I have given the links to details about each book on Amazon. I am sure they are available locally and could be ordered in, but Amazon is incredibly quick and it is so easy to fill that online basket....

For younger readers, but they will beg you to return to them year after year

The Story of Christmas by Jane Ray. (Orchard Books) This has the lushest illustrations. Mary and Joseph look middle-eastern and Mary actually looks pregnant. There is an earthiness and richness to each picture. For small children, it is the illustrations that tell the story - but the words let the pictures tell the story.

A Christmas Story by Brian Wildsmith. (Oxford University Press) The illustrations are magnificent.

Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki and Ivan Gantschev. Santa shares the story about the birth of Jesus and that it was God's gift to us on the first Christmas. The illustrations are soft and mellow, its simplicity makes it a wonderful book to read again and again.

Tale of Three Trees by Anglea Elwell Hunt. If you haven't come across this book before, I won't spoil it for you, but it is a wonderful book that can be read at Christmas and Easter - and can be read and understood at many different levels. It moves me everytime I read it.

For the older reader

The Worst Kids in the World by Barbara Robinson. We had a tradition of reading this book every December. It is quirky, funny and filled with unexpected surprises. Christine Jensen gave this book to our family and it has been a wonderful friend to us since then. Christine has introduced my family to many wonderful books and I am forever grateful to her enthusiasm and love for books.

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. This is a beautiful story about a crippled lamb who witnesses the birth of Jesus. The illustrations are simply beautiful.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski. We read this book each December, and each time, I was reduced to tears - it will still move me.

Star of Wonder by Pat Alexander is a delightful anthology of Christmas Stories and Poems for Children (Lion Book). This book was given to the Condie family by the Jensen family.

During December, we would also read the story of Christmas from each gospel. The bible we used depended on rsthe age of our children. When they were very little we used the Beginner's Bible. I might put this pile of books on the table in our lounge room so we can all look at them and be reminded of the wondrous story of Jesus' birth and arrival into our world.

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, originally uploaded by elycefeliz.

I first heard about this book after reading an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Thomas Friedman titled "We cannot abandon the children of Afghanistan" (23 July 2009), in which he refers to this book written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

The author had just watched Mortenson open one of his schools for girls that he has built in both Afghanistan and Pakistan over the last few years. I love reading books about Afghanistan and I love cups of tea, so I promptly found the book on Amazon and put it in my shopping basket ready to buy when the dollar was stronger. The dollar finally reached 92 US cents, so I decided it was time to purchase my collection of books in time for some summer reading.

Greg Mortenson grew up in Tanzania with Christian missionary parents. During their time there, his mother built a school and his father built a hospital. He also had a sister Krista who had poor health who died quite young. Each of these things have shaped the type of man Mortenson has become and the decisions he has made about living his life.

In his late twenties, Mortenson was in Pakistan after attempting a climb of K2 one of the most difficult mountains to climb and on failing this was returning to base camp. He stumbled upon the village of Korphe, and was the first white man the villagers had set eyes on. In his state of near collapse, they took him in and cared for him while he recovered. In a serendipitous moment, he realised the children had no school to attend and vowed to raise the money, return and build it for the children he had befriended.

This is the amazing story of the building of this school and many more in the most remote parts of the world. Mortenson learnt a valuable lesson while building his first school in Korphe. Haji Ali is the village leader and he has been watching Mortenson twitching with anxious energy channeling all his efforts into getting the school built as quickly as possible. Haji Ali finally takes him aside to his home where Salika his wife brews makes them a cup of tea. He then says:

"If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways, the first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honoured guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die, Dr Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated. But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time."

That day, Haji Ali taught Mortenson the importance of the sharing of three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He took this lesson to heart and from it worked on getting to know the people of this area, befriending them, learning about their traditions and religion. Since this time, Mortenson has built over eighty-one schools. This book has become compulsory reading for senior US military commanders, Pentagon officers in counter-insurgency training and Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan. Having just read it, I can understand why. It is an eye opening and inspiring story of what this unique man has achieved. I felt transported to the remotest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, I could even smell the room he slept in while in Korphe. This would make a wonderful book to discuss for a book group. The Three Cups of Tea website has additional information and discussion questions.

His new book "Stones into Schools" is being published today. I am adding it to my Amazon basket, but I don't think I will be able to wait....