What I Read: February 2020 Edition
I am moving the What I'm Reading posts to monthly editions. My goal here is to post monthly recaps of what I've read. I am hoping that this will still provide value to all my reader friends while making room for me to post other content.
February was a light reading month for me. It was one of those months where I felt like I just couldn't get one foot in front of the other. Sickness plagued our house, the kids were out of school for weeks, and my husband wrapped up a hectic time at work.
I also was hit with an old-fashioned bout of laziness. I watched episodes of Seinfeld instead of reading as clothes sat unfolded next to me on my bed.
Oy vey! Onward!
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Verdict: Recommend
Little Women is the last of the books I received for Christmas. My parents bought me a collectors edition, which also included Little Men and Jo's Boys. I hadn't read Little Women since I was in the eighth grade and am pleased to report that I like it much better than I did during my first read.
On the first read, I was utterly crushed that Jo didn't end up with Laurie (spoiler-alert), that I discounted the whole book. Now reading it a couple of decades later, I realize that I only liked Laurie better because I had all the heart eyes for Christian Bale, who played Laurie in the 1994 Little Women. But the Laurie as Alcott wrote him, hard pass. He was so immature!
I also appreciated Meg and John's romance more. Alcott wrote such transparent descriptions of their marriage, something that my 13-year-old self completely missed.
Little Men, Louisa May Alcott
Verdict: Recommend
I had never read Little Men before and honestly had no intention of ever reading it if my parents hadn't given it to me for Christmas. However, I am so glad I read it.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Little Men is the continuation of Little Women. The story is mainly focused on the attendants of Jo and Mr. Bhaer's school, which they opened after Jo inherited Plumfield from her aunt.
Plumfield is an all-boys' school and hosts a range of poor orphaned boys to sons of wealthy businessmen. In the book, you are introduced to these sweet and rowdy boys and come to love them as much as you do any of the members of the March household.
I didn't plan on reading Little Men, but after doing so, I expect this is one novel I will return to again.
Jo's Boys, Louisa May Alcott
Verdict: Recommend
Jo's Boys is the final book of the March family trilogy. Once again, Alcott focuses her vision on the schoolboys of Plumfield. However, in this telling, we track the lives of the Plumfield alumni.
Mrs. Bhaer is now a famous author and is buried continuously with the "guests" at Plumfield, who are just fans and critics who attempt to invade her life as much as possible.
While I enjoyed catching up on the Plumfield alumni, my favorite part of the book was the focus on Jo's career.
I think what I loved most is the description of her "day in the life." I always hear people complain that "never in the history of the world have we been so busy." Au contraire monsieur. Every time I read an objective book on time studies, I find that first of all, we are not as busy as we make ourselves believe (read I Know How She Does It, for more information). And second, we have romanized the schedules of the past. People have always been as busy as they make up their minds to be.
And what's more, people have always been bombarded with the opinions of others. I think that we think in today's social media world that people share their ideas more than they used to. No. A short reading of C.S. Lewis' letters (or any other famous author) will show that people of fame have always been subject to the oversharing of opinions.
People have always been rude and kind; opinionated and not; busy and slothful; educated and uneducated. And every stinking generation seems to think that they are unique in their business and social demands.
I think my favorite paragraph of the book is as reads below:
Strangers demanded to look at her, question, advise, warn, congratulate, and drive her out of her wits by well-meant but very wearisome attentions. If she declined to open her heart to them, sympathize with every ill and trial known to humanity, she was called hard-hearted, selfish- and haughty; if she found it impossible to answer the piles of letters sent her, she was neglectful of her duty to the admiring public, and if she preferred the privacy of home to the pedestal upon which she was requested to pose, "the airs of literary people" were freely criticized (647).
Hmm. Sounds oddly familiar.
I'll step down from my soapbox just to tell you to read this darling book. Or at least read chapter three and experience the camaraderie of the pressures on the "working woman" across the span of two centuries.
You are not alone, my friend.
Stop Calling Me Beautiful: Finding Soul-deep Strength in a Skin-deep World, Phylicia Masonheimer
Verdict: Recommend
I found Phylicia Masonheimer on Instagram. I can't remember how I came across her profile, but do remember that one of my first thoughts of her was that she gave me hope that there were other like-minded women out there for me.
I don't necessarily agree with everything Masonheimer believes, however, there is kinship in the way she processes information, how she submits her life to God, and especially in her desire to discipline women to know their bibles.
And that is what Stop Calling Me Beautiful is all about. It is a call for women to experience Jesus for themselves. So often, women experience Jesus second-hand. They experience him at a women's ministry conference, in reading a book by a Christian author, or by being mentored by a woman who spends time with Jesus every day. And yet, they don't spend time with Jesus themselves and wonder why they can't seem to find the contentment and joy they seek.
Friends, if you are a Christian, fulfillment is not in the next book, conference, or coffee date. Those a great, but they will never replace having a one-on-one relationship with Christ.
Masonheimer beautifully calls women to deep spirituality and then does the work of paving the way for others to see how to have a relationship with Christ.
If you are a woman who calls yourself a Christian, I highly, highly, highly recommend this book.
Troubling a Star, Madeleine L'Engle
Verdict: 'eh
I think this is the first book I read in February. It is about a young woman, Vicky, who gets the opportunity to travel to Antarctica only to discover that there is a killer in her midst. Dun, dun, dun.
I grabbed this book off my dad's bookshelf several years ago. Then on one rainy weekend, I grabbed it off my shelf to read. (One of my goals for this year is to read all of the books I currently own, which out buying too many new ones.)
I believe that this is a YAF book, and I am sure that I really would have enjoyed it when I was in middle school. This book was a quick read, entertaining enough, but didn't earn a spot on my bookshelf.
Prison to Praise, Chaplain Merlin R. Carothers
Verdict: Highly recommend
OKAY… this book was life-changing. It is short (only 86 pages), but I think this book has changed my life.
Prison to Praise is Chaplain Merlin R. Carothers' testimony. The book opens with him getting arrested for going AWOL and then walks you through how he met Christ in church and then joined the army as a chaplain where he served in Vietnam.
What makes this book different is Carothers' revelation about what it means to praise God in our suffering. Carothers explains that we are not just called to praise God in our sufferings, but FOR our sufferings. He then describes a series of incredible situations where people's lives were changed because they learned to praise God FOR their trials.
I don't know about you, but this is not my heart. Just as loving my actual enemy is SO HARD. Praising God for hard things? Whoa. Too much.
I thought about the years that I prayed for Lincoln to speak or the months that the family lived with us. Those were desperate, ugly cries for God to fix the situation. I prayed, but I didn't offer up any praises.
I think about how my life would have been transformed if I had learned to see that everything sent from the Lord is a blessing. In retrospect, I sit in awe of what God has done in stressful situations. However, I didn't have that perspective in the storms. I wish I would have — and that is something that living a life of praise brings — Devine perspective.
Read this book.
The Five Choices: The Path to Extraordinary Productivity, Kerry Kogon, Adam Merrill, and Leena Rinne
Verdict: Recommend
I have a special heart of time management/productivity books. Whenever I am feeling bogged down or overworked, I pick on of these up, start reading/listening, and I am almost instantly motivated. Magic.
The Five Choices is a great back to basics approach to productivity. It is a short read or listen, but will give you tangible steps to get on track and be productive.
What book are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments below.