Dearest, Friend (1000 Books to Read)

My review: I am going to see if I can do this in two columns because the Mustich reason why it is in the 1000 Books to Read before You Die List copy and pasted to a right column. 

I read John Adams and 1776 by David McCullough. So, I was pretty familiar with the history behind the story. Consequently, much of this was repetitive for me, but it was nice to dive more deeply into her life. She sounds like a very strong woman who loved her husband and her children (though she tended to mettle too much in their lives when they became adults). 

One thing that was curious was that she didn't address Thomas Jefferson's passive-aggressive acts toward John Adams while he was Adams' Vice President. That is a big emphasis in the McCullough books. 

James Mustich

Dearest Friend (1981) is an authoritative biography of the resourceful person who would become our second First Lady when her husband, John, succeeded George Washington as president. Before she assumed that role, she stayed at home to manage the family farm and raise four children while John was off fomenting revolution and imagining independence for the new nation. The letters that make up her half of their remarkable correspondence during this period express the hopes and anxieties she shared with other ordinary citizens, revealing Abigail to be a figure of forceful character and quick wit—qualities Withey’s book brings to memorable life. 

The Loved One (1000 Books to Read)

This is a fun and easy read. I agree with everything Mustich says below! I do have to say that the ending is creepy, or, as Mustich says, "Macabre." 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

Waugh’s comic novels are generally distinguished by their combination of hilarity and craftsmanship: They are savagely funny, impeccably well written, and flawlessly plotted. One of the best examples of his artistry is The Loved One, a perfect little macabre concoction that lampoons what was once famously called “the American way of death.” Waugh’s black comedy received a notable rave from Wolcott Gibbs, who wrote in The New Yorker, “Never before that I can remember has a talent of such austere and classic design been applied to such monstrous vulgarities. . . . It is certainly a work of art, as rich and subtle and unnerving as anything its author has ever done.”

Well, that was FUN! 750 Words Website

Analysis of 750 Words

I have been typing my Morning Pages at Penzu, and I really love it (technically you should be handwriting them, but I don't want all the pages - but then I read on a website that you are supposed to read after eight weeks of writing and then throw the pages away from then on). 

Why did I miss all of this when I wrote the Morning Pages the first time!? 

Anywho, I had been writing 1000 words on Penzu, and then after I did the search about how many words three handwritten A4 (Letter size) paper is, I saw someone on Reddit wrote about this cool website:

750Words (bummer - I just saw that it is only a 30 day free trial. Then you have to pay $5 a month. I'll see if it is worth it.) 

You write your 750 words and then confetti comes down. Then you get this cool analysis of what you wrote! Here is mine: 

https://750words.com/stats/Carolfoasia/WYRqorLXxgjcWuqpRFUj

See picture above. 

So, I am going to try that for a while. 

But now, I am going to go and sit out on my deck and watch the full moon. It will set at 6:20 am. So I need to enjoy it while it lasts. 

TTFN. 

P.S. This is the website that had good information about the Morning Pages:

"How to Do the Morning Pages (Fully Explained)"

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1000 Books to Read)

I would put this in the "life's too short" to read this book. Unless you are dying to know about light and photons and electrons, etc. I would say this shouldn't be on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die. (I will say my husband was super impressed when he picked up my hold from the library. So, I did score points with him, but he is a math nerd. I am not.) It did stretch my mind. I will give it that. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

In this brilliant, breezy explanation of quantum electrodynamics (QED), theoretical physicist Richard Feynman treats the layperson to a tour of the curious world of light and matter. It’s an ideal introduction to ideas that have taken science far beyond the realm of common sense into new regions of natural wonder. Like all of Feynman’s books, it is enlivened by the incisive, irreverent, and frequently very funny voice of a legendary scientist happy to entertain his readers at the same time as he is stretching their minds. 

Freewrite Sixteen on a Saturday

I have not been doing Freewrites here. As I said in the previous post on July ? that I was writing on Penzu. I have loved it. I write 1000 words a day which is about what it is to do the "Three Pages" that Julia Cameron recommends in her book. I have been ultra-transparent in these writings. 

As a Type Two on the Enneagram, I tend to "edit" my emotions to the positive side without fully dealing with what I am feeling. That is part of my maturing as a person, to not edit but be honest with myself about things. 

So, I had a situation last week that I journaled about, and it was so helpful. It goes back to college days. I could never put my finger on why I reacted to things, but I had a situation where I was able to put my finger right on it, and it was so great to work through that. 

As a side note, I would not have been able to do that writing out my feelings here. So, it is good that I am doing this privately. 

I already wrote my 1000 words at Penzu this morning, but I felt like writing more here, just to touch base. 

So, there are so many things going on that my head is spinning. I have to say that this promise I got in March of 2023 is coming to fruition:

I love how it is worded in The Message version:

"Yes indeed, it won't be long now," God's Decree.

"Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won't be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once--and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills."  Amos 9:13

I had the vision of a "wine waterfall" 7-10 days (my journal says two different things) before this verse came. I feel so blessed.

I had hoped to start the Body and Soul Companion School of Spiritual Direction in the fall. I finished my "shadowing" of my wonderful trainers, Marty and Sandy, on May 13th. I also had hoped to start another 19th Annotation group of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. Within two weeks of putting both out there at the end of June, I was inundated with 18 people wanting to do the Exercises!

I had already been praying about this, and I had to tell God that I was more passionate about facilitating people through the Exercises, and there you go! It happened. 

So, I postponed the dream of training spiritual directors through Body and Soul Companion, (the vision is still for the appointed time - just not this year), and I pivoted toward training directors with Deepen Sent-Well (five of the people doing the Exercises are a direct result of me supervising Deepen spiritual directors). I had already said, "No," to them, but I felt a freedom to say, "Yes," when I was approached a second time to reconsider. I think the connections and relationships I have formed there will be so great. I read through all the bios of the people applying to be in their school, and I got very excited. 

So, back to the Exercises, I had a flurry of activity from July 8-August 1 as I suggested to some to wait a year and to others that I would have to limit the number of people, and two dropped out. 

(Sixteen - but I am going on a second Sixteen because it is Saturday, and I have nothing on my calendar.)

Well, now I have just three groups - Two with four people, and one with three people. The one with three people has the person who gathered a lot of people going on to lead a second group of two people. 

Today, I will send them my manual and links to get them prepping for the Exercises. :)

I am thankful that God gave me clarity on the Exercises and BOOM, there was a big response. 

What is so weird is that I thought for sure that one of the groups would be people from the 2nd Half Collaborative, and NO ONE bit. I thought that was so interesting. 

So, thirteen people will take the Exercises from three different groups. I made logos for each group, and that was very fun to do. 

That will be my main emphasis next year. Dropping the 2nd Half Collaborative and the Renovare Book Club (not dropping that entirely - I would love to participate, but I won't be able to lead it anymore. I figured I put so many hours into reading the books and preparing the questions and then leading the group that I want to pass that on to someone else. I am certainly willing to lead ONE of the books, but I cannot host and coordinate it anymore. Ten years is a good amount of time - No one has said they will take it over though. So, it may die. :()

I am also not "shadowing" Marty and Sandy - something that was a tremendous amount of time from September 2023-May 2025, but it was SO worth it! I made so many great relationships out of that time and five (maybe four) of the people continue to be one-on-one directees today. 

So, today, I hope to walk and pray. Then listen to my book about Caitlyn Clark. Then, I need to read The Tartar Steppe, QED, and Dearest Friend, then I will be done with the 1000 Books to Read. My goal was to make it to 500 by the end of the year, and I have exceeded 500, but I had some books on hold that finally came in. So, it will be more like 510 by the end of the year, but I want to read pleasure and edifying books from now on. Some of the books on this list are not very edifying, and I was tired for that. The ones I have left are innocuous regarding edification. 

Some of them are hard to get through! 

SO, I have five more minutes from this second round of 16. I fell yesterday. Sun in my eyes, and I missed the curb. I was walking fast trying to get back in time to meet with C about her interest in doing Spiritual Direction with children while she is doing her training with Sustainable Faith Europe. She would be great. I didn't know she was trained as a teacher and has had counseling classes in play therapy. She would be so great with kids! So, you go girl.

I think I broke a rib or two and scrapped up my knees and palms. I am still going to try to walk this morning. Maybe not as long. I hope I am healed by the time I go river rafting. 

Now, I am off to meditate in Scripture. I am on "The Word-Centered Life" in The Reservoir devotional. I decided to do it all on my computer instead of journaling on my Scribe because my notes on the Scribe do not transfer over to the Kindle in other versions (web, Fire, IOS)! I don't know why that is so, but I didn't discover that until I was about 68% of the way through the book! I am bummed about that. 

I have 30 seconds. Ta Ta for Now. Thank God for this new day. Sabbath begins. YAY!

A Note on My Freewrites

Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash

I had intentions of writing more freewrites on here this year, but I found that if I do private "Morning Pages" a la The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, I can be totally transparent about what is going on. Most of the time, I have NOTHING to hide, and for the most part, I am pretty transparent, but I sometimes want to mention people in my writing, and I always feel like I have to edit for THEIR privacy. So, it is easier for me to write out in a private format. 

I have been writing about 1000 words a day this July, and it has been really healthy for me! 

I will still write Freewrites here occasionally (how long have I done these - 25 years?), but I am writing most of the time privately. 

The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1000 Brooks to Read)

Here is my comment about Jane Jacobs in my review of The Power Broker: Volume 2 & 3. I didn't realize there was a book by her in my list! I would have read them concurrently and not four years apart! 

She was the mover and shaker behind Robert Moses' development in New York. She was a hero. I was excited, but this book is REALLY TEDIOUS to get through. The initial excitement and insight into community at the beginning was quelled by too many details and outdated data toward the end. Life's too short. I would not recommend it. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Jul 28, 2018

Published in 1961, The Death and Life of Great American Cities would prove to be one of the most influential books on urban planning and policy ever written. Just as important for readers, its author’s powers of perception are allied to considerable literary gifts, and so its pages are animated with descriptions of city life as vivid as any ever penned. Moreover, the book’s influence has extended far beyond the strictly urban beat, for Jacobs’s insights into the way cities work—from the uses of sidewalks to the nature and nurture of neighborhoods—have much to tell us about the way we live networked lives.

April 1865 (1000 Books to Read)

This was riveting! I loved how he wove history with biographies of the major players in the Civil War. Highly recommend! 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Aug 2, 2018

As Jay Winik sees it (and as you are likely to see it, too, once you’ve reached the end of his gripping narrative history), April 1865 was “a month that could have unraveled the American nation. Instead, it saved it.” The darkest moment in its calendar of crises was the death of Abraham Lincoln. Since no president had ever been assassinated, there had never been a transfer of presidential power under such precarious circumstances. Further complicating the situation was the fact that the new chief executive, former Vice President Andrew Johnson, had a reputation as a drunkard; he had been so little regarded by Lincoln that the two had met only once since their inaugurations nearly six weeks earlier. There was also General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox to Union General Ulysses S. Grant as well as Grant’s remarkably generous treatment of the defeated foe. In short, these thirty days—“marked by tumult and bloodshed, heroism and desperation, freedom and defeat, military prowess and diplomatic magnanimity, jubilation and sorrow, and, finally, by individual and national agony and joy”—provide material as weighty as any writer could wish, and Winik does it justice in his engrossing and richly detailed work.

What I am Called to Be in 150 Words: How did Copilot know?

Yesterday, I typed into Copilot (Microsoft's version of ChatGPT):  a 150-word statement of what I am called to be, and this was the result:

I am called to be a vessel of God’s presence—anchored in love, shaped by grace, and led by the quiet voice of the Spirit. I am called to live with intention and depth, cultivating a life that listens more than it speaks, that seeks communion over control. My calling is to embody the contemplative path: to be still enough to hear God’s heartbeat and bold enough to act from that sacred center. I am called to create spaces where others feel seen, known, and invited into deeper relationship—with God, with themselves, and with one another. Through leadership rooted in vulnerability and faithfulness, I am called to nurture spiritual community, to walk alongside others as they awaken to their belovedness and purpose. I am called to be a bridge between silence and service, prayer and presence—leaving behind not just accomplishments, but a legacy of love that echoes into generations.

How did it know to type that without me putting in clues of what I feel called to? Does it know what I have typed in my Word Processor? Does it find my blog and scan it instantly? Does it listen in on my conversations?

That's freaky to me, but those 150 words are spot on? I am shocked!

Little, Big (1000 Books to Read)

This book was so confusing, going back and forth between characters at different times. I found it really hard to follow and had to look on Wikipedia to follow the characters. Not a fan of this book. It seems like a fairy tale, but it is an ADULT one! 

Also, the narrator would mispronounce the simplest of words. "Grimaced" and "panting" were two words he had no idea how to pronounce!

By the way, for those who read this and think that listening to audiobooks is not "really" reading. My husband sent this interview to me yesterday. I have had more than one person tell me I wasn't really a reader because I walk and listen to books. So here is the proof that you are incorrect:

 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Aug 11, 2018

In its purest form, storytelling is a means of enchanting experience. Under a story’s spell, the ineffable emanations of life—the secrets we carry within us but that are never quite revealed to the world in the comings and goings of everyday reality—are summoned into an almost palpable existence. Rare is the novel that taps this clear spring of imagination, but John Crowley’s 1981 fantasy, Little, Big, is one that does. A willing suspension of disbelief and the author’s winsome gifts for words and wonder will soon have you spellbound (Carol's note: NOPE. Soon had me confused). Playful and capacious, Little, Big is a fey and fateful fable of what it means for an individual to find a place in the larger world.

Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit

This is a beautiful book. Like Spiritual Direction, it is a compilation of different articles and talks he gave on the title subject and put together by Christensen and Laird. 

I listened to the audiobook, but the print book has color inserts of the art he describes for Visio Divina! I love this book because it has so many hands-on formation practices following each writing. 

Wide Sargasso Sea (1000 Books to Read)

I read Jane Eyre maybe 20 years ago (#2 of my favorite books). Don't read this review if you have never read it and were planning on it. It will spoil Jane Eyre for you!

I have always wanted to read this "prequel" by another author at a much later time in history. Unlike the book written as a sequel to Les Misérables (#1 of my favorite books, and I wanted to throw it across the room), this was a satisfying read that gives background to the major plot twist in Jane Eyre. Again, don't read anymore if you ever want to read Bronte's classic.

It was well-written, I did wonder why Mr. Rochester wanted to call her Bertha. Yes, I can understand for continuity with Jane Eyre, but why not call her that from the start.

Madness - mental illness - is it nature or nurture? That is the question in this story. This woman experienced a lot of trauma. Some may go mad from this. 

This would make such a great movie, but I don't think one has ever been made because you wouldn't want to have people watch it before they watched Jane Eyre! 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Jul 30, 2018

In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the revelation of the existence of Bertha Mason, the first wife of Edward Rochester (the man Jane is about to marry), exposes Rochester’s duplicity, disrupting his bigamous wedding to Brontë’s heroine. The madwoman in the attic plays a larger role in the novel’s plot—but that’s another story. This story, Wide Sargasso Sea, imagines the early life of Brontë’s strange, benighted character, detailing her childhood and adolescence in the West Indies and tracing her tragic progress to her ultimate confinement in Rochester’s Thornfield Hall. Far from the monster Rochester loathes and Jane describes with fascinated horror, Rhys’s Bertha (known as Antoinette Crossway for most of Wide Sargasso Sea) is a sympathetic, tender, poignant figure. There but for the grace of God, the reader can’t help but think, goes Jane. If Jane Eyre is the most brooding and beautiful of romantic ballads, lushly orchestrated and achingly sung, Rhys’s compact and haunting tale is like a jazz improvisation on the same melody and themes: edgy, exploratory, startling, and unforgettable.

Freewrite Forty

I'm breaking all sorts of "Morning Pages" rules. 

1. It isn't the morning. It is 1:32 pm
2. I am not writing but typing
3. I am writing on a public blog
4. I am not doing three notebook size pages, but I am doing it by time (in the past 3 pages took about forty minutes)

But I am making the rules today. I might even freewrite every day this July. It is hard to believe that a year ago, I was leaving for the Great Lakes in four days. I was finishing up the 2HC and then hustling to get ready for that adventure.

So, there is no adventure around the corner for me (oh, and I was desperately trying to get a back doctor's appointment to straighten out my back before I went on the trip - it weirdly went out during the last retreat with the 2HC, and I had had NO problems for 10 months - sadly, it didn't straighten out, and I had to be careful the whole trip, but I still managed to hike and kayak.)

I decided that TODAY, I would REST. I had a big day e-Mountain biking Saturday. Monday was all day kayaking, and yesterday, I made the dumb decision to bike all the way to Crystal Lake in the HOT sun without water. Then, I got off my bike and met with G, but I had forgotten my keys to lock my bike, so I walked with her for another 4 miles with the bike until we got the bright idea to leave my bike at her house, get some water, and walk back to her car. She rode me back to my bike, and then, it was REALLY hot! I had to stop four or five times under the shade of a tree. Thankfully, G loaned me a water bottle and water, but I finished my water by the third time, and I had the last 1 or 1 1/2 miles to get home. I rest under shade and trudged home. Note to self: if it is going to be the middle of the day and above 85 degrees, don't ride your bike, and especially do not ride your bike and forget a big water bottle AND a back up bottle! My goodness.

So, needless to say, I am resting today. Yes, I did walk twice and enough for 7,000+ steps, but that was in the earlier morning. Since then, I have been in my Deck Sanctuary reading four different books (oh, maybe five - lol!) 

Sometimes, I get bored with the book I am reading, and I like switching to another one. This is my stack.

And then two audiobook. One is about Boris Pasternak and the real life Lara from the book Doctor Zhivago, that I read last week. The other is SO DEAR: Spiritual Formation by Henri Nouwen. I am eating it up. I just love what he says. I am glad I have his Spiritual Direction book in the spiritual direction training I will be doing. 

Oh, speaking of spiritual direction training. I don't even know if anyone reads this blog anymore (I don't write these book reviews and freewrites for any particular audience), but I might put all the things I am offering in the fall, and then I will see who bites. :) Next post, I promise.

Another little delightful thing is that this woman from my church that I have heard so many great things about reached out to me, and she has heard great things about me. So, she wants to "get my perspective on some things and share some of her own."  It should be fun and INDIAN food to boot. Win-Win.

I am looking forward to my "real" break from July 11-31. I am going to try to stick to it as best I can. Part of that will be Heba and her family here at the beginning, and Debbie here at the end. In between will be a family getaway to the coast, our 35th wedding anniversary (still on the honeymoon!), and my 66th birthday (Addendum after publishing: I forgot that in between will also be M & B visiting from the Middle East and N visiting from Central Asia). I am looking forward to the break in many ways. I will be done with this reading from 1000 Books to Read Before You Die list, and then I am going to just read as the Spirit leads me. I might read books from the list, but I am at 500+ books, and I will just read if I want to. 

Oh, and another great thing that happened yesterday. The Indian Fever BEAT the Minnesota Lynx for the Commissioner's Cup Championship. No one saw that one coming. And they did it without Caitlyn Clark. Amazing. 

I am getting a bit hot out on the deck now, and someone just started using a power tool. It has been an amazingly quiet day so far, and that is very unusual for my neighborhood! 

I think I will end a bit early and go inside and read some more in there. 

Ta Ta for now. 

Freewrite Fifteen: Circling the Eddy

I am going for a walk with Gretchen at 11:40 and just finished up a spiritual direction appointment with someone a few minutes ago. I think I will ride my bike to our meeting place. I can do this freewrite in 15 and get dressed and bike over there in time to be there by 11:40.

Yesterday, N and I went kayaking down the Santiam. I have always wanted to go on that river, and it was fun, except that I got caught up in an eddy, and it dumped me over. In 20 years of kayaking, I've never even come close to dumping! So weird. I approached it correctly (I just watched a YouTube video that tells me the angle), but it quickly turned my boat sideways and dumped me over. It was comical how N had to come and wrap her leg around my paddle and we floated down until I could reach the bottom of the river with my feet and could walk my upside down boat to the sandbar on the other side. I think I should have just gone on the shallow side of the river near the sandbar instead of approaching the eddy. I am thankful that I was wearing my life jacket. It would have been OK without one because I am a strong swimmer (Southern California beach girl here - been pulled under the water and waves too many times to count.), but I'm glad I did regardless. 

All that to say is that I told my directee what happened, and God used it a a metaphor for when we are in a shame "eddy" circle and we get pulled under. God's question for my directee was "What is your process for connecting with God rather than getting pulled under and into the shame eddy?" What is your life jacket? 

We talked about speaking up and not feeling shame for doing that too. I always learn so much from interaction with my directees.

The only loss in getting dump out of my kayak was one of my Hawaiian sandals was dumped into the river. It made it hard to stand on the rocks on the sandbar and dump out the water and such, but N helped, and we were on our way. That was the only loss other than my sunscreen lip protector (almost empty anyway). What was so cool was I was going on about 1/4 mile and went right by a brown thing in the water. I looked down and thought, "What is that?" It was my other SANDAL!!!! It was caught in a small eddy downriver! How cool is that?

We also went up the Lukiamute River against the current, but it was so calm compared to the Santiam. I realized I have only kayaked the Willamette, and it is so safe and easy to navigate comparatively. 

We were trying to get to the red pin on
the map as we went up the Lukiamute,
but we realized it would be too far to go.
We were due at the Buena Vista Ferry dock at 3 pm,
and it was already 2:10. So, we turned back
around at the blue dot. 

So that was two adventures with N - e-Mountain biking in the Paul Dunn on Saturday and down the Santiam on Monday. I loved it, and it was nice to spend time with N after six months of not even seeing each other face to face. 

Ta Ta for Now. Off to walk with G by the Willamette. 

The John Cheever Audio Collection (1000 Books to Read)

Oh dear, I had so much adrenaline still in my system (see "circling the eddy" post) that I was up until 1 am this morning listening to this audio collection by John Cheever. I must have pressed the send button without writing what I thought. 

He is an amazing writer and writes about people and their problems in such a beautiful way. I especially loved this because of all the narrators: Streep, Plimpton, Herrmann (RIP), Blythe Danner, and the actual author. I love it. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

The sixty-one stories (I read a shorter version than Mustich recommends) gathered here were written in the three decades after the end of World War II; most were originally published in The New Yorker, then collected in slim volumes that had been largely forgotten by the time this fat, retrospective tome was issued to popular success and critical acclaim in 1978. While the nearly seven-hundred-page Stories of John Cheever delivers much more than the sum of its parts, it must also be proclaimed—with pleasure and admiration—that those parts remain more gloriously particular than its author’s enduring reputation as the “Chekhov of suburbia” implies. And although Cheever’s people seldom prove themselves up to the task of redemption, they seldom lose hope of its embrace; like nymphs pursued by insatiable divinities, these recognizable modern Americans survive—and perhaps even triumph—through their transformation by Cheever’s hands into figures of warning, yearning, and human imperfection.

True History of the Kelly Gang (1000 Books to Read)

The story of a reluctant outlaw! I want to know how much of this is true about this story. It sounds like the law was pretty corrupt in the wilds of Australia. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Jul 30, 2018

The son of an Irish convict father, Ned Kelly stole horses as a child, murdered policemen, robbed banks, and took up as a “bushranger”—the Australian term for runaway convicts who evaded British authorities in the open continent. His notoriety grew until Kelly became a Robin Hood–like symbol of Irish-Australian opposition to the young country’s Anglo elite. Today he’s seen as an icon of the Australian psyche—untamed, independent, and a little crazy. A tour de force of authorial invention and tonal control, Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang tells the outlaw’s story in his own voice, with the protagonist frantically scribbling down his story as he flees the police. Working from a long letter Kelly wrote in 1879, Carey invents an entire vocabulary and syntax of Kelly English: muscular, vernacular, and totally profane. Although the unforgettable voice of Kelly, which makes a century-old outlaw’s tale breathtakingly immediate, may be the most memorable achievement of True History of the Kelly Gang, this book is also a rock ’em, sock ’em true crime tale of page-turning intensity.

The Tin Drum (1000 Books to Read)

This is a very strange book. It is about a man guy who stays at three years old even though he is 30. 

It says a lot about Germany during the rise of the Nazis.

I found this explanation helpful.

https://allegoryexplained.com/the-tin-drum/

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Narrated from an insane asylum by Oskar Matzerath, a thirty-year-old who has not grown an inch since the age of three, when—in possession of a tin drum his mother had given him and all the faculties of an adult, or so he claims—he determined not to grow beyond the three feet he then stood. Anything but innocent, this childlike figure who can, and frequently does, shatter glass with his voice, is the most unreliable of narrators, rendering the experience of Germans before, during, and after the Second World War as a kind of Brothers Grimm story in which both “once upon a time” and “happily ever after” have disappeared; what’s left is an intimate pageant of primal emotions, grotesque characters, and bizarre incidents that enchant the reader’s imagination with a kind of wicked glee. Like the most indelible fairy tale, Grass’s masterpiece leaves images rooting around in our minds that are ominous and enduring, fraught with a meaning we can neither evade nor explain.

Sunday Morning Freewrite Fifteen

I am going to stick to a true 15 minute freewrite today. Lately, I have been doing longer ones to match the "Morning Pages" of Julia Cameron, but that takes about 35-40 minutes, and I want to get on with my day.

I have done it. The end of an era. I have finished my 2HC journey. I am so glad I did it, and I am sure that I made a good decision to end it. I will have a lot more freedom and flexibility now. It was such a sweet send off and probably the nicest send off I have ever had. They sent me flowers and read blessings from each of the leaders. It was wonderful. 

To celebrate, I went out to Elmer's with George and went up into the Paul Dunn Forest with Nancy riding their e-mountain bikes. How fun. We went really far. I have 13 miles on my watch, but we had already done a loop to Moss Rock and back and then were half way up the hill before I turned my watch on. I wasn't sure how to count it as I am not peddling like I would on a normal bike, but I am putting some effort into it. We probably went closer to 20 miles when all was said and done. We climbed high up on a ridge overlooking the valley. It was a perfect day, not too hot and not too cold. Lovely. Then she made me a wonderful lunch and we sat out on her deck with Kevin for half the time and the rest of the time, Nancy and I talked about abiding in Christ and deeper things of the soul. I was there from 11-5:30! Yikes. I didn't mean to stay so long, but we had not seen each other since December 17th. So there was a lot to catch up on.

So, here I sit before church. We are going to the later service today because there is a meeting after church that George is helping lead up, and I will go to as support. 

Sad thing was that I stayed so long at Nancy's that I didn't get to go to the potluck for the P's. George went without me and a funny picture of me from 1997 was laying on my computer this morning (I was fast asleep when George returned). I have no idea where it is at and who I am with in the picture. I have known Gayle P since she was in 7th grade in 1981. I am assuming that it who gave the picture to George to take home from the potluck. 

It was such a perfect day. It is going to be hotter today. I will walk now so that I can get my exercise out of the way before church (or maybe I should walk there). I am not sure.

I tried to finish my book before I went to Nancy's, but going out to breakfast with George made that impossible. It was due at 1:17 yesterday, and they automatically take it off your phone. I only had about 13 pages left in the audiobook. Thankfully, I have the print version of the book, and I found the place in the print version so I can finish it today. I also have The John Cheever Audio Collection. It doesn't have all of his stories, but it has a good six hour version, and that will have to do! Maybe I will listen to that if I walk to church. 

So, I think my time is almost out. I am back to writing freewrites and have a little more wiggle-room now that I am not doing 2HC. I HIGHLY recommend it though. For most people, it has been life-changing. So, I will always promote it with high praise. 

I will post the funny picture from 1997 and from our bike ride in the Paul Dunn. Ta Ta for Now!!! 

Doctor Zhivago (1000 Books to Read)

So good! What is it about me and Russian authors? The writing is so beautiful. I have always wanted to read this book, having seen the Omar Sharif/Julie Christie version when I was a kid (and didn't understand it) and later as an adult. I also watched the Kiera Knightley series. Both are excellent, and the book is even better. 

I cried at the end. Russia has been through so much. This is a sweeping epic from 1902 to World War II. I highly recommend it. When I found out that Pasternak was also a poet, it made sense! His prose is written almost like poetry! 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Jul 30, 2018

Even though its artistic achievement was hailed upon its original publication in Italy in 1957, and its author was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in the subsequent year, the true grandeur of Doctor Zhivago remains hidden for many by two factors: the shadow of Cold War politics surrounding its publication and the glamorous glow that still emanates from David Lean’s 1965 film. You should make no mistake about the rare reading experience Boris Pasternak’s novel offers: To get lost in its pages is to go beyond politics and glamour and encounter life itself in all its chaos and commotion, love and sorrow. On every page, Doctor Zhivago embraces the heedless rush of existence with an abandon at odds with the carefully calibrated artifice and ironic detachment of most modern fiction.

Dawn of Art: The Chauvet Cave (1000 Books to Read)

This was so interesting! I would have never picked this book up, but it was exciting to read the story of the three people who discovered the oldest art in the world!

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Dawn of Art chronicles—in text and scholarship, appreciation and analysis, and, most importantly, in astonishing, detailed color photographs—the discovery made in the Ardèche Valley of France in December 1994 of a cave, untouched for thousands of years, filled with Stone Age bear skeletons, the remains of fires, and, staggeringly, more than three hundred paintings and engravings of animals. Radiocarbon dating has established these images to be more than thirty thousand years old; they are the oldest known paintings in the world. With nearly one hundred large color photographs, Dawn of Art is a stunning volume, documenting a thrilling discovery as it provokes both thought and awe.

An Infamous Army (1000 Books to Read)

It took me forever to get into this book, but I liked it about half way through. The activity is around all the Brits in Belgium before Waterloo. So, I kept waiting for that action to happen. It is a bit "sappy" on the romantic fiction end, and she has compared to Jane Austen. NO!!!! She does not reach Jane Austen's insight into people, dynamics, and masterful dialogue! 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Georgette Heyer may fairly be said to have found, nurtured, and raised to adulthood that flourishing foster child of Jane Austen, the Regency romance. Through dozens of novels, beginning with The Black Moth, composed when the author was seventeen to amuse her sickly brother, Heyer deployed wit, invention, research, and an astute sense of human nature (and the way desire shifts and shapes it) to construct confections of plot and character distinguished by both satisfying storytelling and authentic historical flavor. An Infamous Army shows how, as in the novels of Patrick O’Brian and Bernard Cornwell, a gift for narrative entertainment can be enriched by the tang as well as the trappings of history. Beginning in Brussels in the weeks leading up to Waterloo, the story is choreographed—with a willful and flirtatious widow and an adjutant of the Duke of Wellington at the center—as a swirl of affections, scandalous behaviors, and secret assignations.

Mumbo Jumbo (1000 Books to Read)

It think it is cool that I would read four books set in New York (Ragtime, A Rage in Harlem, and The Portable Dorothy Parker). This is a weird book. I think it was my least favorite of the four (although Dorothy Parker's was incredibly depressing - like her life!). 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

Mumbo Jumbo may be the most rambunctious novel you’ll ever read, a noir mystery steeped in the lore of African American HooDoo, the social tumult and political corruption of the 1920s, Egyptian mythology, and the deep wells of Ishmael Reed’s idiosyncratic imagination. Shrewdly synthetic in its creative logic, Mumbo Jumbo is simultaneously fierce and funny, jubilant and angry. Exploding across its own pages like illicit fireworks, the book is a startling and colorful illumination of the tangled history of black-white relations.