Questions and the Books that Raised Them
Because reading and asking ourselves questions is a good idea at any age
What is the effect of a good novel?
No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister is about a young woman, Alice, who wrote a novel, got rejected many times until a publisher, Madeline, bought it. We then learn about the perspectives of several people who read it, what it meant to them, and what reading a good novel can do for any of us.
Can beautiful music, or art of any kind, affect a war zone for the better?
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Stevan Galloway is a moving and compelling novel about the siege of Sarajevo that took place from 1992 to 1996. A cellist vows to play Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor for 22 days in honor of the 22 people who were killed while waiting to buy bread and the story tells of the difference his music makes to the people of Sarajevo.
Is age a matter of perspective?
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is a delightful novel about a giant Pacific octopus, Marcellus, who narrates parts of the book, a financially stable 70-year-old widow, Tova Sullivan, and Cameron, a 30-year-old who can’t keep a job, and they all get acquainted at an aquarium. Marcellus puts together a connection that will give both lonely people family again and does his best to make it known. My question might seem a strange one to ask of a book with this plot, but the author portrayed Tova’s friends and family as treating her as an old woman who needed more care. I’m a few years from 70, but from my perspective it not old. I assume the author is much younger than me.
Are there any actions I can take to help someone?
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is a short book about an Irish man, Bill Furlong, who was confronted by a Magdelene Laundry, which were places where “fallen women” and children were worked mercilessly. He decided to do nothing, but he couldn’t live with himself and decided he'd take one of the children out of that miserable place. "He found himself asking was there any point in being alive without helping one another? Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian, and face yourself in the mirror?" (p. 66) Good question.
Would I have persevered like these remarkable women?
Her Lost Words by Stephanie Marie Thornton is a historical fiction tale about Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, who was also an influential author, their struggles to be financially independent in the 1800s, which was not easy for women, and the men that they loved. They were both successful authors, endured criticism, gossip, and falsehoods, but in the end they both found success and love.
What is at the top of the hill I’m climbing?
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman. In the fourth Thursday Murder Club mystery, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron, who are all “pensioners” living in Coopers Chase, investigate the murder of a friend. They, and many others for various reasons, are looking for some lost heroin. The scene that sticks with me, a metaphor for consumerism at its worst, (p. 333ff) has one of the bad guys climbing up a hill of waste at a garbage dump, has a heart attack, and dies.
How does God lead us through surprising success and devastating disappointment?
All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore is an honest, interesting, heartfelt story of Beth’s transformation from a teenager called into ministry, although she didn’t know what that would mean, to a leg-warmer wearing aerobics teacher, to a Sunday school teacher, to a serious Bible study writer and speaker. Her one love is God’s Word, and she has studied it diligently, taught it well, and follows the Lord completely.
What are the correct dreams for a life well lived?
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir by Matthew Perry. Matthew Perry was both very fortunate and desperately self-destructive. When I heard he had died, it made me sad. At one point in the book he said, (something like) All of my dreams came true, but they were the wrong dreams.
What do I really think about aging?
Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live, by Becca Levy, PhD is an interesting book detailing research into ageism and how what we believe impacts our own health and well-being.
How many times have I missed opportunities to meet Jesus?
Stranger God: Meeting Jesus in Disguise by Richard Beck is a thought-provoking short book about meeting Jesus in "foreigners, refugees, in the homeless and the outcasts, in the prisoner and the hungry." (p. 8) Beck went to a prison to lead a Bible study because his relationships with God was lacking. He found that he wasn't the one to be Jesus for prisoners, he found Jesus among the prisoners. Jesus is all around us, if we have eyes to see him.
Have any books prompted questions in your mind? I’d love to hear!
I’ve read many other books this year, and some of the best were:
Fiction: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Horse, by Geraldine Brooks, The Scent Keepers by Erica Bauermeister, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare, True Biz by Sara Novic, Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett, Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly, The Measure by Nikki Erlick, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Hotel Oscar Mike Echo by Linda MacKillop, I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb, Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni.
Non-Fiction: Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) by Daniel Nayeri, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, Tell Me the Dream Again by Tasha Jun, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping the Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brene Brown, Next: The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work by Joanne Lipman, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work by Darrel Cosden, Work in the Spirit by Miroslav Volf, and Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Née, and The Bible.
Great list. Thanks. Years ago u sent me a thoughtful as well as powerful devotional book by Max Lucado. ( Still using) Do you have any recommendations for a favorite daily devotional? Thank you always
What a great list, Judy. We are reading many of the same books! Grateful that Hotel Oscar, Mike Echo is here.❤️