Off My Bookshelf: The Last Days of Cafe Leila by Donia Bijan

This week I finished, "The Last Days of Cafe Leila" by Donia Bijan.


I enjoyed this book immensely.
Noor is a wife, mother, daughter and sister, whose life has unraveled. She travels from California, back to her childhood home in Syria with her teenage daughter. From there she discovers her father is dying, and begins to see her purpose in life as something bigger and more selfless than she has ever realized. It is a story of how a family and its business became who they were and how societal violence ripped their world apart.


My favorite quotes:

"It seemed they had jumped the glass walls of the fish bowl to roam the room, while their mothers circled inside." 

"The floodgates opened then and they wailed openly and without restraint. It's not something they had planned, but that's how it is when you come to a clearing. How else to let go of all that was inside them?"

"Nothing between them now but a wound, not forgotten, not even forgiven, but accepted."

"Ferry came to lightly grasp her elbow propping her up, and she stood between her girls with a comforting arm around each, wondering how the story of her life would someday be etched into stone in the dash between two dates." 

"Maybe we don't really grow up until our parents die, she thought....Because if our parents didn't exalt us, we spend our adults lives blaming them - for not doing this and not doing that, not being "supportive," not making an appearance at our first recital, being overprotective or aloof, damaging our self-esteem. Yet at our best or worst, who sees everything? Who knows us best? Who waits and waits to see what we yet may be? Then one day they're gone and it's just you and there's nothing left to squeeze, no one to blame for the dismay over the course your life has taken. Once the tears have stopped, it's just the here and now and the desire to do better, to be closer to the person you want to be."

 "...I want to show you that our lives have meaning beyond the everyday things we dwell on. We play a part, however small, in the times in which we live - we are not here just for ourselves."

Off My Bookshelf: "Braving the Wilderness" by Brene Brown

I finished listening to Brene Brown’s newest book, “Braving the Wilderness,” while traveling this weekend. I think I need to read it about ten more times to really let it sink into my brain and heart.

It’s interesting that I have been thinking a lot about belonging lately, about how nice it is when I enter the local yarn shop, River Wools, and the owner looks up and says, “hey, Beth,” or when I go to Wise Pies and they know my usual order. There is something so good about feeling like you belong somewhere.

What I realize from reading Brown’s book is that because I️ feel that connection I am able to live in community with people who are very different than me in other areas. Because I have moved in, moved closer to people, I am known and they are known. Now their differences don’t make us enemies. They are my friends, and make me a better person.

I can brave the wilderness of not thinking exactly like others around me because now I can see them as a person. I know their children names, their dog's breed. I like the same books, movies, etc. We have the same hobbies. I don’t have to be exactly like a person to feel a sense of belonging and friendship. Its important, in our society, to move beyond those like us and get closer to those unlike us.

Brown writes:

“True belonging is a spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find a sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness.”

“True belonging doesn’t require that you change who you are. It requires you to be who you are.”

Off my Bookshelf: The Little French Bistro

This week's read was "The Little French Bistro" by Nina George. It is the story of Marianne Messman's  existential crisis that leads her to the tiny coastal town of Kerdruc, Brittany where she meets an unusual group of residents who help her to transform into her true identity because of the belief they have in her. Along the way, Marianne is transformed, as are the people of the town. Marianne learns that sometimes it takes suffering, rescue, and a different perspective to discover who we really are and that there are dreams we've either forgotten or given up on that are waiting to be revived. And sometimes it takes courage to believe we can be who we are in the depths of our souls.

Some books are so poetic that the words slow you down and whisper their way into your heart. Nina George's writing is exactly like that. Here are some of quotes that I highlighted:

"Didn't they say that beauty was a state of soul? And if her soul was loved, a woman would be transformed into a wondrous creature, however ordinary her looks. Love changed a woman's soul, and she became beautiful, for a few minutes or forever."

"A young woman's beauty makes up for her lack of intelligence; and old woman's intelligence makes up for her lack of beauty."

"Learn to love it, son. Learn to love what you do, whatever it is, and you won't have any problems. You'll suffer, but then you'll feel, and when you feel, you're alive. You need troubles to be alive - otherwise you're dead!"  

"As long as you can walk upright, you will find a walking stick. As long as you are brave, someone will help you."

"And it (life) began when you first took a risk, failed and realized that you'd survived the failure. With that knowledge, you could risk anything." 

 "One always has to consider the individual. For every person is an individual, and everyone has individual, unique reasons. And every individual counts."

 

Off My Bookshelf: Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is my latest read. The book is a Pulizer Prise in Letters: Fiction finalist, and rightly so because it is beautifully written.



Snow Child is the story of Jack and Mabel, a childless, middle-aged couple, who moved to the harsh 1920's Alaskan wilderness to farm, escape their sad past and begin anew. When a mysterious child, Faina, appears one winter, the couple creates a special bond with this strange child as she comes and goes from their life. The story is woven together with moments of joy, sadness, grief, and magic - a fairy tale for adults.







Here are three of my favorite quotes from the book:

"You did not have to understand miracles to believe in them, and in fact Mabel had come to suspect the opposite. To believe, perhaps you had to cease looking for explanations and instead hold the little thing in your hands as long as you were able before it slipped like water between your fingers." -page 204

"In my old age, I see that life itself is often more fantastic and terrible than the stories we believed as children, and that perhaps there is no harm in finding magic among the trees." -page 251

"We never know what is going to happen, do we? Life is always throwing us this way and that. That's where the adventure is. Not knowing where you'll end up or how you'l fare. It's all a mystery, and when we say any different, we're just lying to ourselves. Tell me, when have you felt most alive?" -page 258

Off my Bookshelf

Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson

This book will be one of my favorites, or better said, mind-changing books this year. It should be required reading for everyone, politicians, lawyers, policemen, judges, psychologists, college students, parents, black, and white. If more people read it, this county's citizens might become more empathetic; and, I hope, more would be done to make laws fair and just.


My favorite verse is:

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8 

How can I act justly if I am ignorant of the judicial system I live under? How can I show mercy without having empathy toward those in need of mercy? The older I get, the more I see that nothing in life is simply defined or simply solved. But solutions to our criminal system do need to be found.

Here are some convicting quotes from "Just Mercy":

"Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." page 26

"The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, the condemned." -page 26-27 

"The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving. It's when mercy is least expected that it's most potent - strong enough to break the cycle of victimization and victimhood, retribution and suffering. it has the power to heal the psychic harm and injuries that lead to aggression an violence, abuse of power, mass incarceration." page 384

"...mercy is just when it it rooted in hopefulness and freely given. Mercy is most empowering, liberating and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven't earned it, who haven't even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion." page 420

If you haven't heard of "Just Mercy," take my advice and buy it, check it out from the library or borrow it from a friend. You won't shut the book feeling warm and fuzzy, but you will definitely be challenged and more informed and possibly convicted to try to help find a solution.

Off My Bookshelf: January 2015 Books

Looking back over my book choices for January leaves me scratching my head. The three books have no connection: one fiction, one memoir and one self help. In regard to subject matter, they have nothing in common. So see if you can figure my brain out by what I read.

1. Us by David Nicholls  

(Fiction)

I heard about "Us" from a podcast, "The Readers," and found it irresistible. So I bought it....last year. This year my goal is to read off my bookcase instead of buying books on a whim...which is what I've always done. So I picked this as my first book off my bookshelf this year. It was a interesting read, but not one many of my friends would enjoy. There was alcohol use, drugs, premarital sex, family discord, just to name a few reasons for a mature audience. It's the story of a man's quest to save his family from breaking apart. And he's totally inadequate to the job. His wife tells him she's leaving him after their final family vacation. His son can't stand the sight of him. How can one win a family back in such circumstances? Vacations tend to place stress on family dynamics, at least that's been my experience. I can't say I would have handled the situation in the same way, but then I have different values. Values that involve being Christlike as much as possible in my flawed human body.

2. Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger 

(Memoir )

Jackie is a missionary to Hong Kong, inside the Walled City. She has done amazing work with the drug addicts. Actually, it was and is God doing the work. Jackie is the vessel. What an amazing story...God is still at work! I'd recommend this book to everyone with one caveat. It is written by Jackie; and that being said, it's not the best writing. Or the easiest to follow. Sometimes it's as if she wrote whatever came to mind without regard to structure or transition. You just have to follow her the best you can. But it's worth it. The biggest lesson I learned from Jackie is the value of commitment. She spent years loving and serving the unlovable and because of that commitment she was love back, protected and trusted. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

""...'What is sin?'...'That's simple. Sin is walking your own road.'"

"The disadvantage of short-term missions is a wrong perspective based on this generation's need for instant results."

"What is important is that we have loved in a real way - not preached in an impassioned way."

"Stay for the party. The fleeting volunteer sometimes catches a course - sweet and sour - but no one savers the whole menu like me."

"And so much of the rest of the Church was engaged in discovering their gifting a rather than giving."

3. Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life by George Brescia 

(Self help )

My Suggested Wardrobe Colors

So, then to some light reading....and I kind of skimmed it. But I found nuggets of advice here and there. One is that you should have a basic wardrobe, and many of the items I already own. Check. Also, everything you wear should be a "10". It should fit perfectly and make you feel great while wearing it. Check. Finally, Brescia listed colors that should be in your wardrobe based on hair color. And surprise...I'm wearing the right colors without even knowing it! Check. So I'm basically set, except that now I'm off to buy a trench coat for my basic wardrobe...and some hoop earring. Just kidding about the earrings. They're not my thing.

Off My Bookshelf: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Who is beautiful? Who is ugly? Is beauty found on the face or in the heart? What about ugliness? Isn't ugliness of the heart much worse than any physical deformity?

Wonder takes us through the fifth grade year of a severely deformed boy, August. It is his first year not being home-schooled, and the adjustment is torturous for him and those who love him. He encounters those who fear him and those who hate him simply because of how he looks. Yet August finds strength from within himself and from the friendships of others.

How do we relate to the unlovely? Reading Wonder caused me to take a hard, deep look into my own heart. What have been my reactions to those with special needs or those who are not "normal"? I have to say I have not been proud of what has been revealed to me about my heart and my behavior.

A few of my favorite quotes from Wonder:

"Jack, sometimes you don't have to mean to hurt someone to hurt someone." pg.137

"You don't need your eyes to love, right? You just feel it inside you. That's how it is in heaven. It's just love, and no one forgets who they love." pg.227

"And if you do this, if you act just a little kinder than is necessary, someone else, somewhere, someday, may recognize in you, in every single one of you, the face of God." pg.301

"'Greatness,' wrote Beecher, (Henry Ward Beecher), 'lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength... He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts...'" pg.304

Rain Equals Cat Brains

This week has rained and rained and rained. That means no work happened. For my husband, literally, works stops. You can't pick corn when it's raining. For me, it's all emotional. It's gloomy, wet, cold, wet, dreary, wet, wet, wet. Who can get motivated with weather that makes you want to crawl back under the sheets and turn on the heating pad?! 

So instead of doing my Bible study homework, writing, blogging, cleaning, cooking and all the 101 other things I needed to do.... I've knit and listened to podcasts, read and wrote down quotes that struck my fancy. I've been to the library twice and made three trips to local bookstores.

Good news though, I finished another Barley baby hat and made good progress on a sock.

Here's the best quote of the week,

"I'd rather do sit-ups for an hour than try to locate a string of words in my mind. I want to believe that our brains are machines you turn on and off like cars, but when it comes down to it, I think they're a lot more like cats or toddlers; you sometimes have to trick them or turn your back just for a second, allowing them to believe your not watching." -"Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist, pages 205-206

My brain has definitely been a cat this week. It's hidden under the bed most of the week and hissed when I tried to coax it out!

A Small Gift

I visited my Dad this week and he sent me home with two roses, one zucchini and four tomatoes. I love that man!

The roses smelled so sweet and filled my heart with feelings of being loved. It reminded me of a quote from a book I'm reading by Mark and Lisa Scandrette entitled, "Free: Spending Your Money and Time on What Matters Most."

"I've learned new ways to give, and that a small gift is often appreciated as much as a lavish one." -pg. 35