Letters from Home

2021 was a weird year, wasn’t it? For me, I was dealing with grief, preparing to send Tim away, and stretching a lot in church work. I was sick more than I wanted to be. It seems I read either fluff or lead. I read consistently and intentionally, which I learned was better for me than trying to read a certain number of books. I have highlighted the books that I think will stay with me the longest.

• Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (I loved it in a deeply personal way.)
• The Great Silence: Britain from the Shadow of the First World War to the Dawn of the Jazz Age by Juliet Nicholson (I liked the variety of accounts the author found from the time. It opened my mind to the idea of collective national grief.)
• Recollections of my Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit (I really like the things she shares about writing and influence and women. I also appreciate her earnestness, even if I can’t embrace all she says.)
• Gideon’s Trumpet: How one man, and poor prisoner, took his case to the Supreme Court — and changed the law of the United States, by Anthony Lewis (Just excellent)
• The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ (focus: the ministering of angels; the Lord’s promises to the House of Israel)
• Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump (This is the book from which the movie, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is based. It was fun.)
• A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (Just an escape, quick and easy to read.)
• My Antonia by Willa Cather (I liked the chapters about childhood best. There are stories while they lived on the plains that are unforgettable.)
• Dusk, Night, Dawn: on Revival and Courage by Anne Lamott (She shows me how memoir can help someone with a very different life feel less alone.)
• Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris (This was difficult for me to finish because it was focused more on policy than Roosevelt’s sparkly personality.)
• Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Admissions Scandal by Nicole LaPorte (The author helps explain how this could happen, from cultural expectations, wealth and privilege, and helicopter parenting, to the lack of oversight in college admissions and the greed of Rick Singer and elite schools. I felt the fascination-repulsion reflex throughout.)
• Freely and Lightly by Emily Lex (I absolutely loved this.)
• A New Song by Jan Karon (The fifth novel in the Mitford series)
• Recipes for a Sacred Life: true stories and a few miracles by Rivvy Neshama (I loved the short vignettes of sweet moments in life. Lots of different countries and traditions represented here.)
• Iron Rose by Lorie H. Nicholes (An out of print page-turner.)
• Angels Round About by Lorie H Nicholes (Not as good as the previous book I read by this author.)
• I am Malala by Malala Yousefzai and Christina Lamb (I loved it.)
• A Rose in War part 1: Barbed Wire by Lorie H. Nicholes
• A Rose in War part 2: Rebirth of Hope by Lorie H Nicholes
• O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (I wish I had been warned how sad this story is. I really like the writing.)
• Miss Buncle’s Book by D. E. Stevenson (fun)
• Miss Buncle Married by D. E. Stevenson
• The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D. E. Stevenson
• Freely and Lightly by Emily Lex (second reading)
• One of Ours by Willa Cather (W.C. is my author of the year. This book wasn’t rosebuds and butterflies but it felt more real than most things in books.)
• Simple Justice: the History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality by Richard Kluger (This changed my thinking more than any book I have read this year, and maybe many years. The author chose to focus not just on the legal questions involved in school segregation, but the history and culture of our nation and the stories of the individuals involved. Some people were so inspiring. Some things were so revolting. It was a difficult book and a difficult topic, and I needed this education. The author forgot the people in his telling of the Supreme Court decision at the end, and I was left to wonder what happened to all those attorneys from the NAACP and the specific people they represented in their cases that were bundled and presented before the Supreme Court. I would like to read their biographies.)
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde  (Now it’s time to watch the 2002 film starring Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Judy Dench, and Reese Witherspoon.)
• A Common Life: The Wedding Story by Jan Karon (This book is like a comfy robe and slippers. Mitford book #6)
• An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde (Now it’s time to watch the 1999 film adaptation starring Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Jeremy North, and Minnie Driver.)
• In This Mountain by Jan Karon (Mitford #7)
• Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon (Mitford #8, I really love this one. It’s a Christmas story.)
• Light from Heaven by Jan Karon (This inspires me to be a better minister. Mitford #9)
• The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (I studied very slowly and deeply this time, looking for answers in several personal dilemmas. It works.)
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (It was fine. A quick read.)
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon (This was a heavier read than the usual Mitford fare by this author.)
• Seekers Wanted: The Skills You Need for the Faith You Want by Anthony Sweat (This was really good, especially for a young adult audience, but the chapter on sustaining the prophet is the best I have read anywhere on the topic.)
• In the Company of Others by Jan Karon
• Somewhere Safe With Someone Good by Jan Karon
• Come Rain or Come Shine by Jan Karon
• To Be Where You Are by Jan Karon
• The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (This is about grief, and her writing is beautiful.)