february reads

oh my goodness. there are just so many great books in the world (note that i didn't say too many ... that could never be true!). i truly enjoyed all of the books i read in February, and for the first time ever, i read everything listed "on my bookshelf" from the January post, plus some!

1) Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, by Pope Benedict XVI {#cathLIT2019: A Book By A Pope}. i placed a hold on this e-book through our library system in December, not paying any attention to the subtitle and thinking that i was ordering his book on Jesus' birth. despite my mistake, i thoroughly enjoyed Pope Benedict's writing: clear, direct, full of theological insight but devoid of pretension or highbrow language. just chew on this for a while:

"Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind's guilt upon his shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. His inaugural gesture is an anticipation of the Cross. He is, as it were, the true Jonah who said to the crew of the ship, "Take me and throw me into the sea' (Jonah 1:12). The whole significance of Jesus' Baptism, the fact that he bears "all righteousness," first comes to light on the Cross: The Baptism is an acceptance of death for the sins of humanity, and the voice that calls out "This is my beloved Son" over the baptismal waters is an anticipatory reference to the Resurrection. This also explains why, in his own discourses, Jesus uses the word baptism to refer to his death (cf. Mark 10:38; Luke 12:50)."

2) The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. oh. my. goodness. i'm already looking forward to re-reading this book. Tartt has a gift for creating such vivid settings with no detail overlooked -- a feat even more amazing considering that the story moves from New York City to Las Vegas to Amsterdam. i discovered after finishing the book that Tartt is Catholic, and everything clicked. there is nothing overtly religious in the book (in fact, there's lots of explicit language, violence, and decidedly un-churchy stuff), but the themes of fate, personal responsibility, love, and a dark sense of justice remind me so much of Flannery O'Conner. 

3) History of Wolves, by Emily Fridlund. somehow i happened to read four books this month that had something to do with adolescent girls being raised by extremist parents of some type or another. in this story, the main character Linda develops a relationship with yet another set of parents who appear fairly normal at the outset. as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that a horrible tragedy has occurred, but Fridlund keeps you guessing as to exactly what and how the death occurs. dark, but very well written. 

4) In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden {#cathLIT2019: A LONG Catholic Book}. i have a hard copy of this book back in Pittsburgh, and i picked it up once in an early postpartum haze and only made it through the first chapter. well, the second time around, i could not get enough! the story follows Philippa Talbot, a successful business woman, from the time she decides to join a Benedictine abbey through the next forty years of her life. Godden's depiction of the community life at Brede is rich, poignant, genuine and at times, hilarious. the book is just as soothing and its characters just as human as my all-time favourite Anne of Green Gables. yes, it's long, but by the time i reached the second half, i couldn't put it down. here are a few of the best bits:

" 'We don't put much faith in ecstasies here,' Dame [Sister] Ursula had told them. 'The nun you see rapt away in church isn't likely to be the holiest. The holiest one is probably the one you would never notice because she is simply doing her duty.' "

and, when Philippa has finally presented herself at the abbey after a fortifying drink at the local bar:

"In the chapter house the novice mistress took charge of the postulant [Philippa], presenting her to the nuns in turn, to be given the Pax, the Kiss of Peace. 'Kiss the community!' Philippa had shrunk in dismay when Dame Ursula had told her about the Pax. 'Kiss them all! But, Mother, I smell of whisky.'

'Postulants smell of all kinds of things,' said Dame Ursula placidly. 'Living as we do, in such pure air and almost without smoke or fumes, our sense of smell is keen. They smell to us of railway carriages, of cars, oil and petrol: of face powder and scent. Whisky is a good strong smell but cheap scent, for instance, is very disagreeable. You won't smell of that.' " 

i actually laughed out loud at that second part ... whoever thought a book about cloistered nuns would be so hysterical? and i just know i'll come back to read it again year after year.

5) Love and Ruin, by Paula McLain. anyone who has read and loved McLain's novel The Paris Wife, about Ernest Hemingway's first wife Hadley, will also devour this book about his third wife, Martha Gellhorn. more than her  relationship with Hemingway, however, the book paints a vivid picture of Gellhorn as a dedicated journalist, fearless traveler, and a talented novelist in her own right. 

6) Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church, by Lauren Drain. an absolutely fascinating account from a woman whose family joined the Westboro Baptist Church when she was a young teen. it's heartbreaking, of course, both to think of the hatred she was taught as a member of the church, and of the broken relationships she had to accept when she left the church in her early twenties. at the time of her writing, she was still estranged from some of her family members. 

7) Circe, by Madeline Miller. this book was so unlike any fiction i've ever read, outside of the original Greek myths! i didn't even remember the name of Circe, a daughter of Helios (the sun god), but her story is fascinating and ties into many other more famous characters in Greek mythology, including Jason, Odysseus, Theseus, Ariadne, and Daedalus. for someone who studied the classics in more depth than my eighth-grade self did, this book would be even more fascinating. highly recommend!

8) The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah. i'm late to the Geiger family party on this one, as apparently Mom, Kira, and Kelli all read this around the same time last year. but it was worth the wait! another hair-raising tale of a teen girl being raised by a father with clear PTSD and a mother who can't seem to envision a life away from emotional and physical abuse. Hannah describes life in Alaska as both scintillating and pulsing with danger. five stars from me, but it does have strong adult themes. 

9) Educated, by Tara Westover. i waited on hold for this e-book for months! (it still kind of seems silly to wait for an e-book, but i understand the library has a finite number of digital copies!) it is so, so good -- the true story of a girl growing up in rural Idaho in a family who is determined to live off the grid, so much so that she doesn't have a birth certificate, never goes to the doctor even for serious injuries, and doesn't go to school or complete any actual homeschooling. one of the most jaw-dropping moments in her story is when she finally makes it to college (after teaching herself algebra to pass the ACT!) and asks somebody what the Holocaust is, because she's never heard of it. truly a phenomenal story of a woman who grapples with how to synthesize her past and her family with her educated future.


on deck for next month:

The Long Loneliness, by Dorothy Day
Marilla of Green Gables, by Sarah McCoy
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton
The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress, by Ariel Lawhon