A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

Read April 2021 - Zoom Reading Circle

This book had true 'laugh out loud' parts.  It was hard to read when I was holding a sleeping baby!  :D  I truly enjoyed this book although I have a sneaking suspicion I might get annoyed with the author in real life.  Some of the people he mocks really remind me of myself!!  :)  I enjoyed the relationship between him and Katz and was fascinated by both their adventures and experiences alone the trail and the historic and scientific background information.  I would be interested in a follow up on more recent times about the trail, forest service, national parks and etc.  So in some ways it did feel dated (written in 1998).  One interesting note - since I read this book the same month as The Prodigal Summer, all the talk about the chestnut trees and the horrible blight that killed them definitely connected those two reads.  I really wish I could have seen those magnificent trees.  And this book adds to the grave concern about climate change, extinction of species, and mismanagement of lands and nature.  

Quote from the book...

In America, alas, beauty has become something you drive to, and nature and either/or proposition - either you ruthlessly subjugate it, as at Tocks Dam and a million other places, or you deify it, treat it as something holy and remote, a thing apart, as along the Appalachian Trail.  Seldom would it occur to anyone on either side that people and nature could coexist to their mutual benefit - that, say, a more graceful bridge across the Delaware river might actually set off the grandeur around it, or that the AT might be more interesting and rewarding if it wasn't all wilderness, if from time to time it purposely took you past grazing cows and tilled fields. 

Reader's Digest interviews Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods - official movie trailer

A Walk in the Woods - Hike with the cast featurette

The Book of Lost and Found

The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley

Read April 2021

I really did enjoy this story.  It is different from other books by Lucy Foley in that it is more historical fiction than hard core mystery.  Following the deaths of her mother and grandmother, Kate discovers a portrait that greatly resembles her mother and she sets out to discover all she can about the woman in the portrait.  The story is told from through different characters voices across decades from the 1920's to current days.  Much of the story takes place in Corsica and the author truly brings that locale to life with vivid imagery.  The last part of the book, I will admit, felt a bit like a whole other book that tacked on and then sprinted through.  But overall the book was quite engaging. 

Quote from the book...

"That view, out there, it's the same as it has been for centuries, perhaps even millennia, give or take a couple of the boats.  When you are confronted with the permanence of other things in that way way..." he paused.  "Well, it heightens the sense of ones own short span here."

(Reminds me of how I feel in Wyoming.) 

The Keeper of Lost Things

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Read March 2021

The book begins with a box almost falling off a train seat but being caught by a man who takes it home and carefully catalogues it - placing it in a huge room of other 'lost things'.  We get some of his story and then the book turns to the young woman he leaves everything to - who he also entreats to return all the lost items to their owners.  It was a good story and is one of those books that I like even better now thinking back than when I first read it!  ha!  

Quote from the book - 

At the bottom of the tree, she was tiny and the tree was an invincible giant.  At the top, the tree was still huge, but tiny though she was, she had climbed it.  

The World According to Mister Rogers

The World According to Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers

Read March 2021 - Zoom Reading Circle

This book is simply a collection of quotes and stories of Mister Rogers.  Simple yet profound wisdom.  I do love Mister Rogers so much and so very much enjoyed the book.  What is not to like?  It is a lovely little pocket book or a small coffee table book and would make a very nice gift. 

The Best of Mister Rogers - Charlie Rose Interview

Fred Rogers Acceptance Speech - Emmy Awards 1997

What Unites Us

What Unites Us by Dan Rather
Read March 2021 - Zoom Reading Circle

Wonderful and timely book!  I appreciate Dan Rather's thoughtful take on patriotism and what it truly entails.  Not all the gunk that tries to pass for patriotism far too often.  He covers topics such as Service (he believes everyone should have a period of some kind of public service), Public Education, Inclusion and more.  His history - as a journalist, his upbringing, and his longevity in the midst of American history - provides him with good insight.  I wish all would read this book.  

Patriotism, he says, is loving your country and dialoguing with your fellow citizens to improve it. Nationalism is the belief that we are better than everyone else and leads to conflict and war.  Patriotism is rooted in humility.  Nationalism is rooted in arrogance.  

Good points all!

What unites Americans regardless of political belief - PBS Newshour

What unites Americans?  We took a road trip to find out - Bloomberg Quicktake

Ahead of election day, what unites Americans? - Bloomberg QuickTake

Dan Rather - What Unites Us?

Trouble I've Seen

Trouble I've Seen by Drew G.I. Hart

Read March 2021

Drew G.I. Hart is a young black pastor who shares insight about racism in our country and in the church.  He shares his own experiences - and those of others - and offers ways the white American church can and should examine ourselves in order to move forward in positive ways.  We have to be aware of systemic racism through the eyes of those who experience it - and not just through our own personal lens.  We cannot know or understand what minorities go through because our lives just are different.  It is also not the way of Jesus to continue the hierarchies that have long been established that keep others down.  We must be part of the solution - actively.  I highly recommend this book. 

Quote from the book - 

Those who violently colonized you ought not set the standard of what is proper and respectable. (p. 135) 

Systemic Racism - the Unscripted Series

From Tablet to Table

From Tablet to Table by Leonard Sweet

Read Feb/March 2021 - Books With Friends

I enjoyed many parts of this book and learned from it.  However, the author annoyed me a bit.  If you can get past that there is a lot of good info.  Basically, he states that the table should be a focus of our homes, churches, and communities and that Jesus is the table.  He references how often food is used in the gospels - including the Eucharist.  He makes the case that sharing a table with others dispels anger, lets us truly know and see others, offers conversation instead of fighting or ignoring others.  It also establishes intimacy, provides for and serves others, and builds community and relationships.  I'm on board. 

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert

Read March 2021 

This was a decent book but not nearly as good as my previous read, The Late Bloomer's Club.  Lou is trying to keep her French restaurant, Luellas, afloat.  The restaurant receives a scathing review from a man who writes under a pseudonym, which pretty much causes it to fail.  Of course the two meet and begin to date, while agreeing to never talk about work.  When the truth comes out, how will they make their relationship work?  

It sounds like a decent premise but Al, the writer, was so obnoxious and then suddenly changed course too quickly; it didn't make sense.  Lou's first boyfriend was SO stereotypically evil, even named Devlin (like the devil?)... it was a bit much.  And then Lou just wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.  Weirdly, there was a lot of sex written into the book, which didn't seem to fit.  But I did love the recipe for coconut cake included at back of the book!  :)