It is finally March--and Lent! I'm linking up with An Open Book to chat about the books that took me through the wild month of February (what is it about that month???). I didn't read many books, but some of them were pretty big and I really enjoyed all of them. Let's dive in!
The new year is quickly slipping by and it has been pretty intense so far-so I'm doing some rapid-fire reviews from January's books (let's see how long my baby stays happy so I can type haha!). I think the coherent theme of January's books is "Books I'd Been Meaning to Read for A While." I'm linking up with An Open Book; let's dive in!
When I first moved to Kansas, people told me: “If you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes, and it will change.” I’ve heard this same sentiment in Oklahoma, too. The weather is unpredictable and constantly in flux. It can be cold and snowy one day—to the extent that the public library system closes down—and just a few days later, we stand outside in t-shirts, watching snowmen melt in sixty-degree weather.
The changeability of the weather makes me think of hope—because if you truly don’t like the weather you’re currently experiencing, it’ll change in a minute or two. The cold won’t last forever; it won’t even last long. The short month of February always seems to contain both an ice storm and a seventy-degree day or two. Overcast, drizzly days don’t come often, and I know that after a few days of grey skies, the fierce sunshine will be back in full force. It's like life with small children. It's like life in general. There's darkness and light, gloom and joy, all smashed together in a wild jumble.
My children and I were in the living room at a local home for the dying recently; it seemed like a fairly normal weekday. Letter flashcards were strewn across the floor, one child worked through a math book, other children chatted with volunteers in the kitchen. I held my baby up to one resident as we enjoyed watching the baby’s smiles and coos. Everything was peaceful, all was serene.
All at once, everything shifted. One child got scared of a (very gentle) service dog that entered the building. Another child made a mess and needed assistance in cleaning it up. The peaceful air was suddenly tinged with frenzy as multiple children needed me at once.
A nurse dashed up to me. “How can I help?”
I thrust the baby in her arms and turned to the other children. Soon, everyone was taken care of and all was peaceful once again. A different caregiver walked up, holding my baby. I thanked her and remarked that everything always seems to happen at once.
“When things get crazy, I usually don’t even have time to stress-text my husband,” I said, mentioning that things seem to quickly bounce back and forth between chaos and calm. Little did I know that within the next week, I would see this reality play out in a dramatic way.
It was late in the evening the next day when I received the message:
A flight from Wichita crashed.
Once again, it's that wonderful time of the year when people share their yearly reading lists. So, before we get too far in 2025, I want to take a moment to share some reading highlights from 2024. As usual, I don't pick the "best" or "favorite" book each month, but I want to highlight a notable one (and sometimes it is my favorite book from that month). Looking at my reading recap of books read in 2023, I'm struck by how much less fiction I am highlighting this time around. I guess I tend to read more fiction in some years than others?
Anyways, moving on. I read 92 books in 2024, and they were a fun mix of fiction and non-fiction, books geared towards children and books aimed at adults. From werewolves to economics to mathematics to Amelia Peabody's adventures in Egypt (such good comfort reads!), I dove into a variety of fascinating topics. It was a really fun reading year. Here's one book highlight from each month, followed by a short writing recap :)
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! It's time share my reading stack that closed out the year 2024. I didn't get many books finished in December--I started one slow-going book and, a fourth of the way through it, finally put it down--but the ones that I did finish were fantastic! It was a good reading month. I'm linking up with An Open Book; let's dive in!
I was driving my kids across town to meet friends a few days ago, and we became stuck in a colossal traffic jam. It was midmorning—definitely not “rush hour traffic”—and I didn’t see any signs of a car accident. Yet, we were inching along the highway at a snail’s pace. I started to see signs stating, “road work ahead,” but we were still a couple miles away from the work zone. What was wrong?
If I knew that I eventually needed to change lanes because they were merging, I would do it right now—even if it meant sitting in a traffic jam while cars soared through the near-empty lane next to me. I wanted to make sure that I was taking care of things immediately and that I wouldn’t get stuck later on. In my mind, merging very early made sense—and I brought this approach into the rest of my life, too.
I hope you all are having a peaceful Advent so far! With another month here, it's time to link up with An Open Book to share about my reading stack in November. It was a fun mix of comforting fiction and some fascinating nonfiction. Let's dive in!
Last February at the online Catholic Writer’s Conference, I gave a talk about the importance of rest. One of the elements of rest that I discussed was “unproductive leisure" that does not prioritize productivity but instead focuses on resting and letting ourselves be rejuvenated in God. Unproductive leisure invites us to fully live in the present moment, to simply be.
As I spend day after day curled up on the couch with my newborn baby, my thoughts drift back to this concept. In our current American culture, this unproductive leisure can be difficult to pursue. Whether explicitly or implicitly, we often receive pressure to be productive and “get stuff done.” Yet, we are not robots with the sole purpose of creating products or performing certain functions; we are human beings, made in God’s image and likeness. When we rest and engage in unproductive leisure, we can remember our intrinsic worth and dignity. We also can remember that God invites us to rest in him.
Not only does this unproductive leisure benefit us, but it’s a witness to others; an encouragement that they, too, can rest. As much as I believe in the importance of rest, it can be hard to prioritize it at times. I’m grateful that some women I know have outright encouraged me to rest and really take it easy after having a baby. This precious postpartum time is an invitation into rest, and with each child that I birth, I plunge deeper into unproductive leisure.
Another month has begun, so it's time to link up with An Open Book to chat about what's crossed my bookshelf! In October, I read a delightful mix of fiction and non-fiction as I walked through the final weeks of pregnancy, and I enjoyed a lot of what I read. Let's dive in!
My husband navigated our minivan down the long winding road that led away from the monastery. Our hearts and souls were filled with joyful peace from our time of prayer, and our shopping bag was filled with delicious treats that we purchased from the monks.
Suddenly, as we drove into town, our gaze was hit by the chaos of culture: noisy cars, marijuana dispensaries, and billboards that cluttered the wide Oklahoma sky.
"The monks aren't really missing much," I mused.
Earlier that day, we had knelt in the dark immensity of the abbey's upper church. Amidst the flickers of candlelight, monks in flowing robes had filed into the church. I was filled with an overwhelming sense that I had stepped back in time. The monks soon filled the air with chanting, and as I joined my own silent prayers to the Latin chants of the monks, I thought about how small my problems really were. Yes, whatever problems and challenges I was undergoing were valid, but in the grand scheme of things, were they really that big of a deal? The cares and concerns of my daily life melted into the great stillness and peace of this monastery.
That day at the monastery offered a chance for prayer and relaxation as a family as we hiked across the grounds, prayed in the church, and looked at the sheep and cows that grazed nearby. Yet, while our monastic outing was a good opportunity for prayer and contemplation, it also provided a good way to gain perspective. All of the stresses in my life and the culture seemed so small when I thought about them from the distance of the monastery. The choir stalls were filled with young monks, old monks, and young men who are discerning vocations to monastic life. These men spend their lives in contemplative prayer and work, offering life-giving hospitality to all who approach. Their lives are centered wholly and completely on God as they actively prepare for eternal life.
As I pray for world peace and for all those suffering due to natural disasters, I'm grateful that we've reached the lovely month of October. With the start of this month, it's time to link up with An Open Book to chat about the books that took me through the hot September days. Since I read a lot of nonfiction in August, I tried to focus on fiction in September (though I naturally got some nonfiction in because I couldn't resist haha!). It was a fun reading month, so let's dive in!
