An Open Book: May 2021 Reads

A new month is here, so it's time to link up with Carolyn Astfalk to talk about the books that have occupied my time lately. As usual, it's a mix of fiction and nonfiction, spiritual and secular. Let's dive in! 

One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp.

These were beautiful poetic reflections on living a life of thanksgiving and choosing joy in the midst of sufferings and hardship. A lot of people love this book, but for some reason, it didn't resonate with me as deeply as I would have thought, and I couldn't put my finger on it. Perhaps it was her very flowery writing style? (I'll admit I like to write like that for blog posts and articles, at times, but when it's the substance of a 200+ page book, it got to be a little too much for me) Maybe it was her hyper-focus on thanksgiving and the fact that she barely touched on the topic of mental health and counseling? Also, interestingly the whole book focuses on eucharisteo (thanksgiving) and while she draws from some Catholic sources, she--as a non-Catholic--seems to place the Catholic Eucharist in the same plane as a Protestant Communion service. That's understandable, but coming at this from a Catholic perspective, it felt like the book just didn't go quite far enough. Overall, this is a lovely book that a lot of people can benefit from, but it just wasn't for me. 

No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram, by Sarah Frier.

A journalist, Frier sets out to give the story of Instagram-it's founders, it's failings, it's successes-and touch on the acquisition by Facebook. It was FASCINATING! From the discussion of startups to influencer culture, this book covers some really interesting topics. I don't have Instagram, and reading this book made me really want to avoid Instagram, and social media altogether (after finishing this, I promptly deactivated my Facebook account-which I may reactivate at some point, but so far I'm not missing it too much). Especially since Instagram is a huge part of our culture now, I am very grateful that I read this book, and I enjoyed it a lot! 

On Writing, by Ernest Hemingway (edited by Larry Phillips).

This book was a compilation of excerpts from Hemingway's work where he talked about writing. Organized by topic, the quotations pertained to characters, the writing process, and life as a writer. I thought a lot of his wisdom was very sound, and I was especially interested to read the bits about his views of living writers being psychoanalyzed and dissected by the public and/or critics. We live in an age where people don't really have any kind of privacy anymore (or so it seems at times), so I appreciated Hemingway's comments about the importance of allowing writers to have privacy. This was a fairly short book and quick read, and probably not something I'd necessarily read again, but it was enjoyable and provided a nice boost of inspiration for me. 

Exiles, by Ron Hansen.

This historical fiction novel intertwines the story of poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and the lives of five nuns who died in a shipwreck in the 19th century. As Gerard becomes fascinated with the shipwreck incident, he pens what would become his well-known poem, "Wreck of the Deutschland." The author's note mentions all the research he did for this book, which I think is neat. It was heavily fictionalized (not much is known about those nuns, from what I understand) and it was a cool way to learn more about this famous poet. It took a little while for me to get into the book--the writing style at first struck me as a bit "tell" instead of "show"--but once I became absorbed in the story (especially with the shipwreck scenes), I was hooked! 

As Bright as Heaven, by Susan Meissner.

This historical fiction novel is set in Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu of 1918. It follows a country family who moves to Philadelphia so that the husband can become his Uncle's heir and learn the business of being an undertaker (his uncle's line of work). Their three girls excitedly dive into city life, but then the pandemic begins and life goes crazy. It was really interesting to read this book; I knew very little about the 1918 Spanish Flu (at least, until the Covid-19 pandemic hit and everyone started talking about the Spanish Flu), and it was fascinating to read about it, and sobering to think about how destructive it was. I also really loved the setting of a funeral home; it was a neat perspective for the story. Aside from a really stupid and gross plot point for one character at the end of the novel, I really enjoyed this book! 

Thanks for joining me in this literary chat! If you have any recommendations, please drop them in the comments-I am always adding to my reading list :)