Out of the Silent Planet

By: C.S. Lewis

Libby audiobook 5 hours

Read by: Geoffrey Howard

Published: 1938 (this version 2005)

Genre: Science Fiction

I never knew Lewis wrote SciFi! This is actually the first book in the "Cosmic Trilogy" series. From Libby's description: 

"A planetary romance with elements of medieval mythology, the trilogy concerns Dr. Elwin Ransom, a professor of philology who, like Christ, is offered as a ransom for mankind. On a walking tour of the English countryside, Ransom falls in with some slightly shady characters from his old university and wakes up to find himself naked in a metal ball in the middle of the light-filled heavens. He learns that he is on his way to a world called Malacandra by its natives, who call our world Thulcandra, the silent planet. The Malacandrans see planets as having tutelary spirits; those of the other planets are good and accessible, but Earth's is fallen and twisted."

 

Malacandra turns out to be Mars and it is populated by at least three distinct sentient species who coexist peacefully. Devine (the former college "friend") only wants to get the "sun's blood" (gold) on the planet and Weston, the evil scientist who built the rocket,wants power and to take over Malacandra for humanity once they can no longer live on Earth. Both are morally bankrupt.

Some of the words and phrases would have made more sense to me if I had been reading the text rather than listening to it. (Though reader Howard does an exceptional job.) The "bent ones" seem to be people with evil intent, whichever planet they're on. I have had to go to the Wikipedia page to read up on the book I just read! The main creatures we meet on Malacandra are sorns, hross, pfifltriggi, and eldils. The Oyarsa is like a god, but in this book, Earth's god is "bent." 

It was fascinating and a bit confusing. I don't think I'll read the other books in the series right now, but I may read all three in print form at some point in the future. I generally really like Lewis' writing and I wonder about the point he was making with this. We know so much more about other planets now than he did in the 1930s, but this is still a very interesting foray into SciFi.

Oh! I had to stop and rewind to get back to a quotation I liked (while parked):

"The love of knowledge is a kind of madness."

When Ransom says this, he is trying to figure out the hross language. He is curious about their words (and wants to communicate his needs). On a strange planet and fighting for his very life, he wonders about their language and syntax!

 

 

A Pirate Looks at Fifty

By: Jimmy Buffett

Hennepin County Library hardcover 458pages

Published: 1998

Genre: Memoir, travelogue

I heard about this book when we were traveling through the Florida Keys in January. I'm not a big Jimmy Buffett fan (a "Parrothead"), but I was curious. I'm not sure I should have spent the time reading this . . . 

This would be perfect for:

• Parrot Heads
• pilots / people who love planes
• people who have wanderlust
• people who know the Caribbean really well
• fishing fanatics
  

 

I don't fit any of those categories and thought several times about just returning it to the library. I soldiered on and just finished it.

 

It didn't really resonate for me. I anticipated some wisdom or insight on aging. Below are the spots I noted, but nothing really stands out for me.

 

Page xvi (preface): "You can't force characters into unnatural stories or situations any more than you can force-feed canned peas and carrots to disinterested children. Unsavory legumes and watery fiction are both offensive to the palate."

 

This is one of those places where his way with words appealed to me.

 

Page 5: "That to me is the way any good romantic would look at his life: Live it first, then write it down before you go."

 

After another 451 pages, I'd say he was still focused on living life . . . and writing everything down. The book dragged.

 

Page  37: "There were also enough car wrecks, fights, carnival-ride accidents, and gypsy trickery to make Mardi Gras the world's biggest excuse for bad behavior."

I have long disliked that the day before Lent begins is seen as a legitimate excuse to be as sinful and selfish as possible. You're missing the point of the Holy Season here!

Page 45: "If you caught a fish every time you put your line in the water, they would call it catching, not fishing."

Buffett is sharing his dad's gem of wisdom about the draw and challenges of going fishing.

 

Page 67: "When you spend a lot of time on the water, you lose touch with what's happening on the land."

I love that sense of drifting away mentally (along with physically) when you go out on a boat!

Page 98: "I pray to God, Buddha, Saint Christopher, Saint Jude, and my loyal guardian angels to watch over my family and me."

This makes me wonder if Buffett ever figured out what he believed about eternal matters. He died in 2023 at age 76 . . . 

Page 111: "We started out being the people our parents warned us about, but we turned into them, or close facsimiles, anyway, because we shared the common burden of rearing children, and children change your entire life."

I can agree with that! Children do change your entire life. I was just talking with a teacher today and we acknowledged that our profession affected our parenting and our parenting affected our teaching.

Page 122: "I have been involved in the fight to preserve the quality of life in the area that I call home, where greed is a worse epidemic than any disease transmitted by Florida's mosquito population."

I wonder what he thought about Donald Trump and Mar-a-lago. I agree that greed is a horrible disease.

Page 164: "'It's getting worse, Jim,' he said flatly. 'It's the scariest thing I have ever been through in my life.' I didn't know what to say. I was in tears but couldn't speak. Saying I was sorry just didn't feel like enough."

When Buffett and his dad are talking about his dad's memory loss, I teared up too. It's so very hard to see someone you love start to lose themselves.

Page 180: "The best way for an American to get around in the world is to not act like you saved it or own it. . . . Hollywood has more clout worldwide than the U.S. State Department. Very few people in the street know who Madeleine Albright or Warren Christopher are, but everybody knows Harrison Ford and Jack Nicholson."

Wow. This is an interesting observation. I've heard stories about how much people in other countries (especially European countries) dislike the "ugly American" behavior. And I'm not shocked that celebrities are better known than policy people.

Page 200: "There's plenty of time for my kids to adapt to whatever school situation they'll eventually find themselves in. But by the time they get there, they will have ridden elephants in Thailand, experienced G-forces in an airplane, learned to bait a hook and release a fish. And they will have swum neckie in a waterfall by the sea."

Instead of finding this an endearing parenting perspective, I was turned off. He could afford to give his kids all those opportunities. Most children don't get to travel to a foreign country, much less jet set all over the world, experiencing life. He had resources at his disposal that most people can't even dream of having.

Page 224: "New Orleans is a whole other book that I'll write one day, but I need to try to get back to the beach in Costa Rica and end this damn chapter."

His digressions and love of telling stories that led to other stories are part of what made this book so long and slow. At times, it felt a bit like Alan Rickman's published journals and at other times, it felt more like a senile old uncle rambling on endlessly.

Page 389: "Life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party."

His analogy of searching being worth the fun more than the finding made sense but there are easier ways to say that! (The journey is better than the destination.)

Page 420: "Unfortunately, the sportfishing boat in the harbor too often means that marinas and condos are not far behind. V.S. Naipaul once wrote that tourism is the 'slavery of the twentieth century.' On too many islands, a few profit-driven individuals can erode an entire culture.Carriacou has somehow avoided the attack so far, but there is always the threat of the wolf in sheep's clothing, scavengers from the corporate world."

This made me wonder if he considered his own role in this situation. He and his family flew all over the Caribbean, stayed in hotels and houses, rented cars and boats, . . . but other people aren't supposed to do that? All of these beautiful places should be undeveloped except for people like him? I agree that overdevelopment (and greed) are awful and can ruin natural beauty, but he just seems a bit myopic on this issue.

Page 425: "Politicians can make all the speeches they want and governments can do all the public-service ads money can buy, but in the islands the reality is this: If you want people to stop selling dope, they have to be able to make a living doing something else."

That observation is one of the wisest things he says in this book. All the "war on drugs" talk won't have as much impact as helping people find other ways to make a good living. Money talks.

Page 456: He closes with a poem called "The Double Life" by Don Blanding. I like the message of "A Restless Me" and "A Quiet Me." I also like to travel / explore AND stay home!

I'm glad I'm done with this book. I'm ready to return it to the library!

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

By: Rhoda Janzen

Libby audiobook 8 hours

Read by: Hillary Huber

Published: 2009

Genre: Memoir

Janzen is a talented writer, no question. She is intelligent and has an impressive vocabulary (words are her thing!) Parts of this were funny, while other parts were intensely sad. It's her personal story, so who am I to critique?

I strongly disliked how dismissive she was about Jesus and Christianity. Her experiences growing up as a Mennonite are her own experiences, but it was hard to hear her rejection of faith in Jesus.

When she talked about her fifteen year marriage to Nick, I was horrified that she put up with him for so long and in so many ways. Him overspending on frivolities as an undergrad while she worked to support him. His verbal abuse and belittling. She acknowledges that it's different to be on the outside looking in - "Why doesn't she leave him?" - but then she goes on to be critical of others' life choices. 

The "wounding words" that her niece learned about in school came up in subsequent sections. It was wonderful how the author wove certain themes and phrases throughout the book.

When she talks about "what if" in regards to going back into the past, she acknowledges that she probably would still have ended up with Nick. Ugh. She also admits that she can be stupid. Can't we all?

I absolutely loved the relationship she had with her sister Hannah! It made me think of my sisters. 

There is much to like about this book, but if you love Jesus you may be sad about her perspective on religion. The Mennonite-specific content (about food, not being Amish, etc.) was interesting and entertaining. Her dismissal of Christianity was just sad.

While reading this, I wondered what her parents, siblings, and childhood friends thought of it. I'm not curious enough to go digging, but I wonder what their reactions were. Her mom is portrayed alternately as funny, clueless, sweet, and confining. Overall, I enjoyed reading this because the author wrote well and the reader did a great job.

I had originally read about this book in a 2010 Costco review . . . so many books, less and less time. Perhaps I need to be more selective. Right now, I'm forcing myself to finish a 450 page book that (like this one) has things I like and things I just don't care for . . . why do I do this to myself?!

The Surgeon's Daughter

By: Jaima Fixsen and Regina Sirois (united pen name: Audrey Blake)

Libby eBook  45 chapters plus historical note (plus first three chapters of The Woman with No Name)

Published: 2022

Genre: historical fiction

We continue the story of Nora (in Bolgna, Italy to become a doctor) and Daniel (in London, trying to help Horace Croft build his practice. Practicing medicine in the 1840s was not for the feint of heart - male or female. This book was less gory but still had interesting details. I like that one of the things Nora learned about medicine was the non-medical aspects of life and death.

The first half was kind of ho-hum and I thought about not finishing it. I'm glad I stuck with it.

My favorite parts were Nora finally being mentored and befriended by Magdalena, Harry and Julia joining the household, and two things that are spoiler alerts (So STOP now if you want to read it and be surprised).

I was confident that Lady Woodbine and her baby would survive, but the authors left enough couching and hedging room that it was suspenseful and satisfying.

I was so glad that Dr. Vickery was thwarted!

I was sad when Pozzi died. He was such a sweetheart and one of Nora's true friends in Italy.

Grandma Ruth Doesn't Go to Funerals

By: Sharon J. Mondragón

Jean's copy, paperback, 247 pages (including acknowledgements and a recipe)

Published: 2025

Genre: Christian realistic fiction

I was so ready for a "lighter" book and this one fit the bill! I've been on library waiting lists for a month, but I did find a pdf of the first few chapters online. Thankfully, a book club friend finished early enough to give me her copy in church yesterday. I purposely didn't take a sub job so I could finish it before book club tonight!

Grandma Ruth's health doesn't allow her to attend funerals any more, so she sends her granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth in her stead. The Southern charm is strong in this book and I loved the mystery of what exactly P.B. Harrington meant on his death bed. (We get the answer on the second to last page of the story!)

I'm surprised I stuck so many post-its in, since it's a pretty lightweight book. I think I just enjoyed it so darn much!

Page 27: "The macaroni and cheese casserole had been polished off long ago, but I didn't swing by the kitchen to take the dish home. Under Patti Sue's supervision, it was undoubtedly already washed, dried, and sitting on a counter, but I was under strict instructions from Grandma Ruth to retrieve the casserole dish one week after the reception, so as to visit with (read that check on) the bereaved."

Grandma Ruth was a wise old gal. She had Sarah trained well!

Page 31: "Grandma Ruth fixed me with a stare that told me I was indulging in wild speculation that bordered on disrespect. It was just a look, but it had all those words in it."

I love when people have a "look" that communicates so much more than words!

Page 47: "But as I looked into those kind eyes, something stirred, as if hope had caught its breath. I took a moment to clear the lump of gratitude from my throat before I went back into the parlor."

This is one of my favorite parts of the book! Doc Milford's words of encouragement were what she needed after having had such a bad experience with Jake. (I groaned when she was tempted by Jake coming back into her life and trying to sweet talk her back.) The image of "as if hope had caught its breath" really struck me. Hope is powerful!

Page 48: "I know most people my age keep their lives on their phones, but I like paper, section tabs, and fancy writing implements."

Me, too! I love office supplies.

Page 55: "She's been nitpicky about everything to do with words since high school, which explains why she has taken so well to working in a law office. I'm a numbers girl and could care less. Or is it couldn't care less? Never mind - you know what I mean."

This just made me giggle. I'm more of a words person than a number person, but I love this little aside.

Page 99: "During our final confrontation, the one in which I threw the engagement ring at him across the room, he told me that the situation was all my fault. He would never have taken up with Buffy if I had just given in.

He said calling off the wedding was a lucky escape for him, as I was probably frigid, anyway. It was as if he never realized just how warm my heart and all the rest of me was toward him, how my blood roared in my ears when he touched me, or how many times the only thing that kept me from going over the brink was the mental image of Grandma Ruth's piercing blue eyes."

He was such an awful creep! I understand her desire and temptation, but am SO glad that it was drilled in to her to not have sex before marriage. She experienced heartache, but not to the degree she would have had she "given in" to him.

Page 122: "I hated having to read between the lines, with all the suspicion and second-guessing that went with it."

She goes on, but my patience ran out. Stop jumping to conclusions!

Page 127: "Then, I cried and cried and felt that God was too big. Too big to care about me. My broken heart was a mere drop in the bucket of the vast suffering in the world."

 

God being too big . . . her grandma means it in a way that was meant to encourage Sarah to trust Him, not to make her think He was too big to care about her.

 

Page 161: "'I do not gossip, Sarah Elizabeth, nor do I pass gossip,' Grandma Ruth said through tight lips.

'Of course not,' I said. 'You gather information.'

'That's right, young lady, and don't you forget it.'"

 

The whole focus on gossip / not gossiping got a little old . . . according to the Bible, gossip is sin. Period.

Page 174: "Remember, 'if your lips you would keep from slips, five things regard with care -'

"I know, I know. 'Of whom you speak, to whom you speak, and how and when and where.'"

 

When  Sarah's mom starts the saying and Sarah finishes it, I love that they have that common knowledge / teaching. That's a good way to raise kids - with sayings that help them learn the right way to live and speak.

Page 181: "It was bad enough that his credit cards were maxed out and it looked like I'd have to pick up the check. But he also didn't know which of his cards he'd maxed out. That says he doesn't pay attention to his money and probably lives beyond his means. So, it doesn't matter if he comes into an inheritance or not. It'll be gone in no time, and he'll have no idea where it went."

Ugh. People like this baffle me. Don't spend money you don't have. Don't live beyond your means. I love that Meredith saw this right away on a first date!

Page 226: "Yes, I know I told Miss Charlotte she looked lovely when she really looked like something the cat dragged in, but that's different. Completely, bless-your-heart different."

Lying is lying, Sarah. But the Southern "bless your heart" reference clarifies it.

I enjoyed the book and have even requested another title by this author. The recipe in the back was for the "famous" macaroni and cheese dish. I was kind of hoping it would be for the lemon bars . . . It will be fun to talk about this at book club tonight. I'm so glad I had the chance to finish it!

One Child: A teacher's struggle to save a gifted and troubled girl / Basic Needs: A year with street kids in a city school

One Child by Torey L. Hayden (publ. 1980)

Basic Needs by Julie Landsman (publ. 1993)

 

As I just added a "new" book to my collection (conversational French which belonged to my mother back when she was trying to learn - 1960s?), I knew I had to remove a book. I simply own too many things!

I know I have read both of these before, but I could not find them in either my blog or on my old Excel sheet. I kept them because they are very good and capture a time and an attitude about why I became a teacher. I care about students. I want them to succeed. These books are both inspiring and frustrating. 

But time is becoming more and more precious than money or things and so they need to go. (In a previous time, I would have re-read them and done thorough blog entries.) 

I'll probably drop them into a Little Free Library and hope a teacher gets them.

The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance

By: Rebecca Clarren

Libby audiobook 9 hours

Read by: the author

Published: 2023

Genre: non-fiction, history

 

This was recommended to me by a dear friend. It is an incredibly well researched and well written book. I'm so glad it was read by the author! What an experience to listen to this. Challenging in a lot of ways, but so worthwhile.

This summary (author unknown) is wonderful. I copied it from Birchbark Books because I thought that was a good option (and it's a wonderful store in the Twin Cities):

Growing up, Rebecca Clarren only knew the major plot points of her tenacious immigrant family’s origins. Her great-great-grandparents, the Sinykins, and their six children fled antisemitism in Russia and arrived in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, ultimately settling on a 160-acre homestead in South Dakota. Over the next few decades, despite tough years on a merciless prairie and multiple setbacks, the Sinykins became an American immigrant success story.

What none of Clarren’s ancestors ever mentioned was that their land, the foundation for much of their wealth, had been cruelly taken from the Lakota by the United States government. By the time the Sinykins moved to South Dakota, America had broken hundreds of treaties with hundreds of Indigenous nations across the continent, and the land that had once been reserved for the seven bands of the Lakota had been diminished, splintered, and handed for free, or practically free, to white settlers. In The Cost of Free Land, Clarren melds investigative reporting with personal family history to reveal the intertwined stories of her family and the Lakota, and the devastating cycle of loss of Indigenous land, culture, and resources that continues today.

 

Since I was listening instead of reading text, I have fewer notes. Here are some of my observations and take-aways:

•  The slaughter of buffalo with the goal of eradicating Indians (there are source writings that point to this "solution" to the "Indian problem") is even more horrific than killing the buffalo for sport!
• The lies and "promises made, promises broken" strategy of dealing with Native Americans is simply evil. Labeling them "savage" or in need of "culture" is so ignorant and twisted.
• I didn't really understand the Treaty of Fort Laramie (signed in 1868) and the link I've provided uses pretty mild language. The fact that we "gave" indigenous peoples "rights" to their own land . . . and then tried to take it back to find gold (and later, oil) is just another example of evil, greedy, selfish treatment. Ugh!
• Why did our government use coercion and outright fraud to steal from people? And reneg on promises and treaties? And then continue to steal and subjugate? Why do we continue to rationalize decisions which were clearly self-serving.
• I will need to wait a while, but I think I need to read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee . . . It's kind of painful to read these books, so I'll put that on a "later" list.
• Frank L. Baum . . . yuk. I used to think more highly of him. He was definitely part of the problem rather than a solution.
• The continuous use by white historians of the term "battle" for what was definitely a "massacre" by U.S. Soldiers of Indian encampments . . . words have power.
• One of the most interesting parts of her book is how she describes the treatment of her Jewish ancestors escaping ill treatment in Europe and their benefiting by "free land" in South Dakota. Hence the title of the book - there was a very high cost to this land!
• She says that Hitler was inspired by the U.S. government's treatment of American Indians and his concentration camps were modeled on Indian reservations. I think Hitler had his own level of evil going on, but for him to be inspired by some of our country's worst policies toward our neighbors is so sad.
• Forced lease, 1923 anthrax, cattle vs. buffalo, . . . this book is both interesting and informative. Clarren has done an amazing job and gave me lots of food for thought.
• I loved the epilogue and the ways we can all think about restitution and reparation. I may read this again in a few years (in print) and will definitely recommend it to others.
  

 

Night (With Connections)

By: Elie Wiesel

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston added a  plethora of other writings with various authors and publication dates

Published: 1956 (original by Wiesel) 

Borrowed from NPHS . . . and I wish I owned a copy

hardcover 193 pages

Genre: Holocaust memoir

 

I thought I owned a copy of this book, but I didn't find one after ransacking my shelves. I had started reading this when I was subbing one day at the high school. I asked if I could borrow it because I liked how there were so many other essays, short stories, etc. at the back of it.

 

Sadly, I finished reading this right after the Civil War quilts book and right before starting one on the treatment of Native Americans . . . I definitely need to find a "lighter" book to read soon!

 

This one was powerful and I have a LOT of post-it notes sticking out of it. I'm so glad Wiesel survived and has this experience to share with the rest of the world, but I'm horrified at man's inhumanity to man.

 

Page  25: "Time passed very quickly. It was already four o'clock in the morning. My father ran to right and left, exhausted, comforting friends, running to the Jewish Council to see if the edict had not been revoked in the meantime. To the very last moment, a germ of hope stayed alive in our hearts."

A germ of hope. Hope is so powerful and necessary. I don't think they could possibly have imagined what was truly coming at that point, but they had already been rounded up into the ghettos and were now being evicted for a worse fate.

Page 41: "A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load - little children. Babies! Yes, I saw it - saw it with my own eyes . . . those children in the flames. (Is it surprising that I could not sleep after that? Sleep had fled from my eyes.)

Seeing something horrific has a way of imprinting on our brains. I can't imagine the horror and grief of seeing Nazis killing and disposing of innocent children as though they were garbage.

Page 43: "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.

Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever."

 

He goes on with "Never shall I . . . " and it absolutely breaks my heart. I can't be pious and claim I'd retain my faith in God were I faced with this kind of nightmare. My worst struggles cannot hold even a tiny dim candle to what Wiesel and so many others experienced during WWII. There are so many, many things I'm curious to ask God about. The loss of life due to Hitler's Nazi Party isn't the only time in human history that people have acted like evil monsters, but it's certainly legendary. 

Page 47: "His face has stayed in my memory to this day. A tall man, about thirty, with crime inscribed upon his brow and in the pupils of his eyes. He looked us over as if we were a pack of leprous dogs hanging onto our lives."

This description of the SS officer who "welcomed" them to Auschwitz is chilling. How awful to have such sharp, awful mental images the rest of your life.

Page 66: "Within a few minutes, the camp looked like an abandoned ship. Not a living soul on the paths. Near the kitchen, two cauldrons of steaming hot soup had been left, half full. Two cauldrons of soup, right in the middle of the path, with no one guarding them! A feast for kings, abandoned, supreme temptation! Hundreds of eyes looked at them, sparkling with desire. Two lambs, with a hundred wolves lying in wait for them. Two lambs without a shepherd - a gift. But who would dare?"

His writing is so incredibly effective. He makes me feel the hunger and fear.

Page 74: "Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because He had had thousands of children burned in His pits? Because He kept six crematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days?"

He goes on in this strain, but doesn't get to the point that he recognizes that God gives us free will and some people choose evil. Why does God allow this evil is a separate question. Wiesel's anger and refusal to praise when the others are saying the Mourner's Kaddish is understandable, though. Again, I do not know how I would survive such an extremely horrific situation (and I genuinely hope I never have to find out).

Page 83: ". . . if he could have gone on believing in God, if he could have seen a proof of God in this Calvary, he would not have been taken by the selection. But as soon as he felt the first cracks forming in his faith, he had lost his reason for struggling and had begun to die."

Wiesel is talking about another prisoner, Akiba Drumer. Losing your "reason for struggling" can also be seen in hospitals and other places. If you have hope, a purpose, something to fight for, your chances are good. When you lose that, the end is already near.

Page 87: "'I've got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He's the only one who's kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.'"

Wiesel was in the camp hospital after an operation and the fellow in the bed next to him said that they would not get out alive. Their entire conversation is painful but illuminating.

Page 106: "When they withdrew, next to me were two corpses, side by side, the father and the son.

I was fifteen years old."

Ugh. The son had been so eager to eat both rations of bread (due to starvation and his father's frailty) but was killed by others who wanted the bread. And Wiesel was only fifteen years old watching this happen. Tragic.

Page 115: "Don't forget that you're in a concentration camp. Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father. Here, there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone. I'll give you a sound piece of advice - don't give your ration of bread and soup to your old father. There's nothing you can do for him. And you're killing yourself. Instead, you ought to be having his ration."

Eliezer (as his father called him) struggled with starvation and kindness, caring for his father and surviving. He wanted to eat more, of course! But he wanted his father to survive as well. Heart breaking.

A Spring Morning by Ida Fink (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 129: "'Are those trucks coming for us, Papa?' she asked, and he could no longer hold back his tears. The child knew! Five years old! The age for teddy bears and blocks. Why did we have her? She'll never go to school, she'll never love."

I cannot fathom the deep grief of parents who could not protect their children from the nightmare heading toward them. Just as I cannot fathom the parents of children in Gaza right now, having no safe place to live and raise a family without fear of bombs and death. My life is so safe and easy! The end of this short story left me in tears. It is beautifully written.

My Black Messiah part of Mauthausen May 1945 by Sonia Schreiber Weitz (one of the "Connections" pieces) page 149:

You can read it here.

 

This poem, especially the line "But deep within his gentle eyes . . . A flood of devastating pain, his innocence forever slain." This just gets me! I'd love to read some first person accounts from the American soldiers who liberated the camps.

The Yellow Star by S.B. Unsdorfer (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 153: "Hundreds of prisoners who in their wild hunger had rushed the kitchens and stormed the food stores, died the next day sitting on the toilets or lying on their beds. Long, long after the Nazi captors had deserted their prisoners, death raged throughout the camp and took its toll in thousands."

Unsdorfer wrote about his own experiences in Buchenwald. How awful to finally be liberated and then see so many die because of actually eating food after being nearly starved to death. 

The Yellow Star by S.B. Unsdorfer (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 155: "Who, I wondered, would again care to hear of God, of religion, of rituals, and of observances?

I knew that the Germans would now have to supply us with food, that the British would bring drugs and medical aid, that the Americans would flood us with cigarettes, chocolates, and vitamins. But who would provide the religious serum which was so necessary to instill some spirit of Godliness into a hopelessly crushed people?"

Oh! To meet physical needs is one thing, but it is much more vital and difficult to provide spiritual healing. Encouragement and hope have power.

The Yellow Star by S.B. Unsdorfer (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 158: "I Believe

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.

I believe in love even when feeling it not.

I believe in God even when He is silent.

Inscription on the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where Jews hid from Nazis.

 

This is a good poem. Faith is all about believing in things you cannot prove.

 

An Inner Freedom from Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 170: "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

I've been reading Frankl's book off and on (I really have too many books going on at a time!) and I love his look at humanity.

A Cambodian Nightmare by Alex Tizon (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 175: "'The best way to survive was to shut up,' says Lee Lim, a 31-year-old Cambodian who works as an Asian liaison for King County police."

 

Writing about the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities committed in Cambodia in the 1960s and 70s, Tizon acknowledges that most people victimized do not talk about their experiences. This is in part due to how people were tortured and killed for "dissatisfaction" and in part due to their cultural attitudes toward the following.

A Cambodian Nightmare by Alex Tizon (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 175: "Likewise, clinicians must work toward understanding the Cambodian world view, a largely pantheistic view that does not make easy separations between spirit, body and mind; natural and supernatural; past and present lives."

A Cambodian Nightmare by Alex Tizon (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 175: "It was the anger of Jewish survivors of the Nazi holocaust that fueled the telling and re-telling of their story to the rest of the world."

Here's to anger! Sometimes we need to get mad and speak up about injustice, evil, and wrong. No, not sometimes. All the time. I may need to go read some Bonhoffer . . . 

Why do They Visit? A Look at the Success of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by John Aloysius Farrell (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 182: "What is worse? Evil? Or vacillation in its presence, in the cause of comfort, by those who knew better?"

He's writing about Jesse Owens getting to run in the 1936 Olympics . . . "because the US Olympic Committee, in fear of further offending its Nazi hosts, forced two Jewish runners - Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller - off the team for the 400-meter relay." I didn't know about this! I've never been to the museum, but I would like to experience it someday. I need to be challenged out of my comfort zone.

Why do They Visit? A Look at the Success of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by John Aloysius Farrell (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 185: "Students are starved . . . for moral education and discourse, for arenas where they can think about talk about fundamental human behavior. . . . In an age of relativity, here is certainty. Here is Evil. . . . If there is indeed Evil, and not merely victimization, must there not be Good, not just conditioning? And if there is Good, may there not yet be God?"

 

Wow. This guy is mostly talking about the Holocaust museum, but he's also talking about young people's need for some moral truth. I kind of want my own copy of this book. The Connections are such good supplements to Wiesel's writing. (I do own copies of Maus and Maus II, by Art Spiegelman.) 

Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech December 10, 1986 by Elie Wiesel (one of the "Connections" pieces) Page 187: "And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

I had to look up info on Wiesel and found that he died in 2016 at age 87. I wonder what he would have had to say about the world today. His entire speech is simply amazing. This whole book was amazing. And painful.

 

The Civil War Diary Quilt: 121 Stories and the Quilt Blocks They Inspired

By: Rosemary Youngs

Borrowed from MQ (sort of) paperback 286 pages

Published: 2005

Genre: Non-fiction, history, quilting

I say "sort of" because this is technically "my" book. It was on the "Free" table at MQ and it looked interesting, so I grabbed it. Now that I've read it fully, I'll donate it to someone else (or just drop it back onto the Free table.

My biggest takeaways were:

• these women had an active faith in God. They prayed and praised regularly. Whether they were with the North or the South, they looked to God for deliverance.
• the Southern focus was hard for me to read. The women who wanted their "boys" to defeat the "intruders" and who saw their perspective as right and just . . . was hard for me to wrap my head around. And it made me wonder how many people down south still think they were just and right. 
• The quilt blocks were so fun to look at! Both the drawings and the fabric constructions the author and her friends made. I kept thinking, "Nope. Don't want to make these blocks." But when I got to page 176-7, I put a post-it note in. What a great use of scrappy fabric! I may make some of these, but I'm not sure what colors I'll use.
• War is ugly. Both sides - killing, pain, fear, atrocities. I'm so thankful I don't live in a war zone.
• I did like how the diary or letter matched with the name of the quilt block. Like the one I might make from the pages listed above. "Recovering Items" is about plunder and losing things.
  

 

 

 

I didn't think I would blog about specific parts of the book, but I ended up sticking post-its in various places.

Page  23 (Rachel Young King Anderson): ". . . we still have shelter and food and raiment for which we are indebted to the goodness of God alone and still look to Him and Him alone for deliverance from the horrors of war and sin, for protection and for safety. Oh that His mercies may continue with us to the end."

Rachel was one of my favorites, so I'm glad the book started with her.

Page 165 (Emma Florence LeConte Furman): "I ran upstairs to my bedroom windows just in time to see the U.S. flag run up over the State house. O what a horrid sight! What a degradation! After four long bitter years of bloodshed and hatred, now to float there at last! That hateful symbol of despotism!"

Yes, she was a teen when she wrote this. Yes, she was a passionate Southerner. But still . . . the sight of the U.S. flag to cause such a strong reaction. Wow.

Page 177 (Emma again): "How are we to get clothes? - when even calico is from $25 to $30 a yard - "

Woah! That is expensive fabric for 2025, let alone 1864! I don't buy much fabric (I get free stuff a lot), but I make very careful choices when I do purchase it. 

Page 181 (Emma): "Hurrah! Old Abe Lincoln has been assassinated! It may be abstractly wrong to be so jubilant, but I just can't help it."

Lincoln is one of my favorite presidents. He loved the Lord and tried to be a wise and just leader. He was such an incredible man. Her joy is my sorrow.

Page 205 (Rebecca Loraine Richmond): "The answer is in the power of Omniscience only, but the 'signs of the times' seem to indicate that the end is not far off."

She's actually talking about the future of the planet Earth! End times, Revelation, . . . it may sound silly, but I don't think about people in the 1860s thinking that way.

Page 212 (Susie King Taylor) Intro info: "She soon had to give up teaching and found work as a housewife or maid so she could support herself and her son. Although she worked in the Army as a nurse, black women were not allowed to work in a hospital after the war was over. . . . She was asked by many friends to write a book about her Army life, and therefore wrote 'Reminiscence of My Life in Camp' in 1902. It is a very important historical document - one of the few Civil War journals written by a black woman."

I want to read this!

Page 232 (Mary Austin Adelia Wallace) Intro info: "Mary not only attended to daily chores, but also spent time painting, putting up fences, selling livestock, lathing and delivering loads of sugarcane to the mill. Basically, Mary took over the duties of her husband. She became resourceful in finding ways to make money, taking care of the farm and finishing their new home. She spent her spare time sewing and knitting."

What a woman! Spare time? What spare time?

Page 273: "A China Doll for Abbie" by Larry Wakefield - I cried when I read the story of young soldier Billy Voice and the legacy of his promise to his little sister Abbie. When adult Abbie heard stories from Herman Dunkalow, a 90 year old man who was part of both the Civil War and WWI, I cried. Amazing.

I enjoyed this more than I expected! But I also saw a few other blocks I have made or will make . . . Snail's Trail (though they gave it a different name) for example.

The Goldfinch

By: Donna Tartt

Libby audiobook 32.5 hours (unabridged)

Published: 2013 

Read by: David Pittu

Genre: realistic fiction

This book had been recommended to me by Cina Chapman (a teacher I worked with in Chaska) on 11.18.2015 and by Walter Roers (a Minnesota author I met . . . and read his book Pathos Rising). I had been sorting through my scraps of paper with book recommendations. The Goldfinch won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2014.

Partial summary from Cliff's Notes: "Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch is a complex story about Theodore “Theo” Decker, a young boy who suffers the loss of his mother in a terrorist attack at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Disoriented during the attack, he takes the masterpiece The Goldfinch; this, along with the death of his mother, becomes the catalyst for a decade of adventure, sorrow, mystery, and redemption for Theo. "

 

Also from Cliff's Notes:

Main Characters: Theodore “Theo” Decker; Boris Pavlikovsky; James “Hobie” Hobart

Major Thematic Topics: Forced maturity; the value of art; love; the definition of family; self-awareness

 

The book is in five parts with twelve chapters and many sub-sections. The numbering got confusing and so I ignored it. I've been trying to find the names of the five sections online and I can't!

I kept waiting to like the book, but the further I got the more I disliked it.

Initially, the protagonist was 13 years old and a strange mix of mature and immature. I kept thinking, "Just tell!" When he didn't want to talk to the school counselor, psychologist, etc., it kind of made sense. But when he didn't even talk with Hobie about his experience in the museum . . . he was exacerbating his own agony.

 

At about six hours and 50 minutes was my favorite part of the book. Theo is learning about wood working and furniture repair from Hobie. I loved this part so much! 

The other part I enjoyed was Boris calling him "Potter" because of his glasses. The reader did excellent vocal work for all parts.

He and Boris shoplifting, smoking, drinking, and then Boris talking about not stealing from tourists. . . ugh! Their moral compass was seriously messed up!

When he was in Las Vegas, one comment by Boris stood out to me. "Anything is okay if Americans do it." Especially in our current political comment, this strikes hard. Most of the world has a perception of Americans that has been earned, but is painful to me.

The drugs and dishonesty continue . . . as he and Mitzi are picking out wedding china and he keeps saying he doesn't care, why doesn't he just say he'd prefer some antique store china?!?! Why get married to someone you can't talk honestly with about what you like and don't like? (Especially since she was looking at super expensive china - $800 per plate - and what he liked had more character and cost significantly less?)

Boris. I didn't see the next part with Boris coming. The scenes in Amsterdam were a bit surreal. More vodka, heroin, etc. I really didn't like Theo much. Boris' resolution was a good way for the story to go.

His unrequited love for Pippa and his fatalistic attitude . . . In a conversation with Pippa, he said, "Teaching is a shit job." How would he even know? He was so self-centered and self-absorbed.

The philosophizing toward the end of the book bugged me. Why would I listen to life advice from such an awful person? The only thing he said that I could relate to was, "Life is short." Amen to that. Probably too short to spend 32.5 hours listening to this book!

I did learn that Libby won't autoreturn a book while you're actually listening to it. I listened at faster speed, but knew I wouldn't finish before the autoreturn (3.18.25 @ 12:26pm), but I watched the clock go on to 1pm before I finished. As soon as I exited the book, it disappeared. Interesting to know! I had already placed a request for a print copy, thinking I'd have to finish it later. I'm done with it now!

I'm really curious why those two people highly recommended this book to me. . .

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

By: W. Phillip Keller

personal copy, paperback 173 pages

Published: 1970, reprint 2007

Genre: Christian devotional, theology

 

I heard several recommendations of this book. Initially, I requested it via Libby ebook and waited quite a while to get it. I started reading it in Libby but was too busy with other things and it autoreturned, so I purchased a copy for myself.

 

This little book has a LOT of post-it notes in it! Since it's my personal copy, I quickly switched to just underlining and writing in the actual book. I'm going to try to just hit a few of the high points here.

 

The author goes over Psalm 23 line by line, making the comparison between actual sheep farming and what Scripture has to say to us. I memorized Psalm 23 quite a few years ago. My mom teared up when I recited it for Ruth Nesbitt at the end of her life. It's good Scripture to know.

 

Page 30: "One of the fallacies that is common among Christians today is the assertion that if a man or woman is prospering materially it is a significant mark of the blessing of God upon his or her life. This simply is not so."

 

I love that in addition to going through the 23rd Psalm thoroughly, he refers to many other Scriptures to point the reader back to God's Word. Here he points out that Revelation 3:17 says, "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked." There is so much more - read the book!

 

Page 48: "One of the outstanding marks of a Christian should be a serene sense of gentle contentment."

 

This can be a struggle! Trust in the Lord can be my mantra, but if I don't actually LIVE that trust, I miss out on the peace that He intends for me.

 

Page  61: "The biographies of the great men and women of God repeatedly point out how the secret of the success in their spiritual life was attributed to the 'quiet time' of each morning."

This strikes me. My morning is prioritized by drinking coffee, playing my games (Wordle, etc.), and making my list for the day. Morning devotions are important, but I don't focus on them or the Lord as much as on my own "stuff." I think this needs to change!

Page 88: "Our behavior patterns and life habits are so much like that of sheep it is well nigh embarrassing."

As I read this, I thought of my daughter-in-law who raises sheep. I wonder if she would be willing to read this book. I love that the author has a faith-based perspective on both sheep and the Psalm.

Page 134: ". . . do I fully appreciate what it has cost Him to prepare this table for me?"

I too often take Jesus' sacrifice for granted. Time for contemplation and praise need to be a priority in my day.

There are so many other passages that I underlined or marked, but I want to have this book on hand to re-read and pray about. I don't often purchase books any more, but I'm glad I bought this one. After Libby auto-returned it last time, I requested it again. That was on January 6. Here I am on March 16th and Libby says I have an eight week wait! I'm going to cancel my hold. I can read my personal copy at my leisure!

The 4 Hour Workweek

By Tim Ferriss

Libby eBook

Published: 2007, with updates and offshoots

Genre: non-fiction

I only got through about 10% of this book before it auto-returned. I did not find it interesting or worthwhile. My pastor has mentioned it several times, which is why I checked it out at all. I'm a curious person! Typically, I would push through and finish a book to appease my curiosity but not this time. 

I don't think I'll get it again. I looked at some of the info he has online. I'm just at a different point in life and don't find value in this book. I'm curious to ask my pastor what about it appealed to him!

Patina

Track series Book 2

By: Jason Reynolds

paperback free shelf 233 pages

Published: 2017

Genre: YA realistic fiction

Reynolds is such a good author! I like book 1 Ghost better, but Patina's story was worth reading. She runs partly because her mother lost her feet, then legs due to diabetes. She and her sister Maddy live with their aunt ("Momly") and uncle Tony. She also starts learning to run relays in this book.

I like Reynolds' dedication "For those who've been passed the baton too young." 

 

I love that the story opened with what happened at Ghost's race! Now I want to read the rest of the series. 

Patina is such a loving big sister. She braids Maddy's hair every week.

 

Page 8:  "I picked up the can of beads and shook them in her ear like one of them Spanish shaker things."

The language choices are jarring at times, but seem authentic to the character. I love that she gets Maddy to sit still for their braiding sessions. And she uses ninety red beads, which fall out as the week goes on.

Page 22: "Lord, please bless them with some soap. Some perfume. Anything. Make a miracle happen, or What have I done to deserve this? Father, why hath thou forsaken me?"

This made me laugh. Her mom makes the girls attend church with her each week. Patina describes the Thomases, their pew mates, as "smelling like they just puked up mothballs" as she prays for them.

Page 30: "The other thing about these girls is that it seems like they ain't never been told they can't do nothing. Never. I mean, they be wearing full faces of makeup and everything. Do you know what my mother would do if she saw me with my whole face made up for school like I was about to go on some kinda fashion photo shoot or something? She'd probably try to run over me with that wheelchair."

Again, the language choices challenge this teacher. But the observation that some girls (and boys) act as though they can do whatever they want to do rings true.

Page 36: "After school I never waste time at my locker. I scurry down to the end of the main corridor, eyes darting from forward to floor, through the mess of hair flippers, the wrath-letes (kids who feel like it's a sport to make everyone's life miserable), the know-it-alls, the know-nothins, the hush-hushes (super quiet, super shy), the YMBCs (You Might be Cuckoo) . . . "

She goes on, but I found her description of the different cliques to be interesting. I did make a note on a later page though with "YMBC?" . . . because I had forgotten that it stood for goth-type kids.

Page 85: "Like his dramatic voice is gonna make the poem any less wack. But hot sauce on cardboard is still cardboard."

She's talking about her English teacher, Mr. Winston, reading "The Charge of the Light Brigade" in a theatrical manner. The last comment made me laugh.

Page 166: "These things that I hadn't really thought about because Momly always just . . . did them. Which I also never . . . really . . . thought about."

 

Patina's realization that her aunt had been doing so many things for everyone in the household shows how this already mature girl is still growing up. The car accident that kept Momly in hospital, then home, affected everyone.

 

Page 203: "Let them know that I ain't gonna be buffing the floor by myself anymore. That I ain't no junk. . . . Maybe math actually was good for something. Somehow convincing yourself to stand up to hair flippers . . . "

 

I like that Patina found an inner strength and rose above the pettiness of the other girls. This story ends with a question about the end of the race. On to book three!

The Greek Gods

By: Bernard Evslin, Dorothy Evslin, &  Ned Hoopes

Illustrated by William Hunter

NPMS discard paperback 116 pages

Published: 1966

Genre: Greek mythology

I've had this book for ages and finally decided to read it. I don't think I'll keep it in my collection, but it was interesting to remember some of the myths I had learned about long ago. I liked the info at the back (afterword and word origins) that made good connections between these stories and words in modern day usage.

I don't think I have favorite stories . . . or even characters. I just find it interesting how stories were created to explain natural phenomena.

All We Thought We Knew

By: Michelle Shocklee

Hennepin County Library hardcover 346 pages plus author's note, acknowledgements, and discussion questions

Published: 2024

Genre: Christian historical fiction

Our book club discussed this last Monday and I am far behind on blogging! I liked this book, but not nearly as much as the other Shocklee title we read and discussed in 2023 (Count the Night by Stars).

This story has Mattie Taylor in the 1960s, opposed to the Vietnam War and estranged from her family after her brother's death in that war. In the 1940s, we have Ava Delaney (it's quickly apparent that she is Mattie's mom) who is a young war widow after her husband Richard was killed at Pearl Harbor.

There were some mysteries, but the book was mostly clear about where the storylines were heading. Mattie (Martha) was pretty unsufferable in her know-it-all attitude and inflexibility to others' perspectives (not just about the war). Ultimately, though, there were enough interesting characters and details to make it a worthwhile read. We had a great discussion at book club.

Page 11: "The remembrance brought a soul-crushing hollowness with it. A deep void I'd endured since the day the telegram arrived, telling us my brother was never coming home. Nothing I'd tried the past year filled it. Drugs and free love masked it for a while. Yoga and Buddhist meditations hinted at peace, but the emptiness was always there. Dark. Dangerous. Pulling me toward a quick end to the pain."

So many people try to cover, hide, escape their emotional pain. Find Jesus! I think of the bumper sticker that says "No Jesus, No peace. Know Jesus, Know peace."

Page 17: "Most of the residents in the tenement were like him - foreigners hoping to improve their lot in life in America, the land of opportunity."

Gunther's story broke my heart. I think it hit me even harder seeing what is happening in America right now. Trump and his followers have that same "us vs. them" mentality about foreigners. I don't think our country is in a better place than in the 1940s regarding immigrants striving for a better life.

Page 22: "Any shred of hope Gunther had held on to since his arrest melted away as he looked across the dark water to the small patch of land where he'd taken his first steps onto American soil."

I cried here. He came to America to get away from the Nazi regime and to study to become a doctor. But because of his country of origin, he was arrested and punished.

 

Page 24: "The world continued to spin, and life went on, even if I wasn't ready to face it."

 

It's weird how during a trauma, you realize that other people are just going about their business and living their lives. You feel as though surely the world has stopped, but it's just your own situation.

 

Page 47: Despite the devastation in my life and in the world around me, I didn't want darkness and despair to win. Hope didn't make any promises, but it offered a glimpse of happiness, the kind I hadn't known in a very long time."

 

Ava is applying for a job at the base in Tennessee. Being a young widow was bad enough, but having a hostile mother-in-law was just too much. I liked her as a character.

 

Page  92: I'm not going to quote here. I was just so irritated by Mattie's selfish refusal to consider any opinion other than her own. Her insistence that if her dad really loved her mother, he would do anything and everything to fight the cancer is tone deaf. She wasn't considering what the challenges and pain would be for her mother; she just wanted to save the day and her mother's life. Although I can understand that desire, her selfish refusal to consider her parents' perspective was very immature.

Page 114: "If it were up to me, I'd keep the two of you right here on the farm with me and Dad forever, but I know I can't. That's where trust comes in. I've had to learn to trust that you're in God's hands, and that you'll make good choices according to the things we've taught you. I'll pray for Mark every single day, just as I'll be praying for you while you're in Nashville. But I have to let you both go."

Ava was a wise mom. Of course she wanted to protect Mark from the war and every other danger! She wanted to protect both her children. But she had to let them grow up and make their own decisions.

Page 135: "'Mattie, there comes a time when we have to accept that life and death are not in our hands. We in the medical profession do our best, but we aren't God. If I thought the doctors in Nashville could save your mom, I would've taken her there myself. The best thing you can do now is spend time with her and make her as comfortable as possible.'"

Dr. Monahan was wonderful. I'm glad Mattie finally started listening to someone instead of her own voice.

Page 161: "'You're not a horrible person.' His mouth quirked. 'A bit temperamental and overly sensitive, but not horrible.'" 

I loved Nash! He was my favorite character in the 1960s portion of the book. It was nice to have a little comic relief.

Page 185: When Mattie met Fred and started to show some compassion and awareness of other people's experiences and pain . . . it was a relief. I feel as though meeting the injured and depressed soldier was a turning point for her.

Page 227: "'I read an article in a medical journal not long ago about a doctor in Canada who started a therapeutic horseback riding program. If memory serves, his first patient was a woman who is quadriplegic.'"

Yay! I forget sometimes that things were quite different in the 1960s than they are now! This made me want to read about the history of these programs. It also made me think of Laurie Baer's His Haven Ranch. So cool!

Page 249: "Like many people in America, my mother-in-law and housemate passed judgement on thousands of people without knowing anything about them other than they were considered enemies of the United States."

Ugh. Again, just so sad. There are still many people like this.

Page 266: "I didn't know what just happened, but it felt monumental. Like a shift in the galaxy or something. Dad was a man of few words, so to hear him say he was proud of me - especially coming on the heels of his soul-wrenching reminder that I'd abandoned Mama when she needed me the most - completely caught me off guard."

I was so glad that Mattie and her dad were able to connect over the horses and helping wounded veterans.

Page 291: Ava finally confesses her big secret about who fathered Mattie and Mark. It was frustrating that it was such a huge, life-altering secret that was pretty apparent from early on in the book.

Page 292: "With nothing beyond dreary weather, barren landscape, and long boring hours to look forward to day after day, an escape through a good book was much appreciated."

I love that Gunther was able to read and appreciate books, and especially that Ava had given him her copy of a romance novel - I honestly don't remember if it was Pride and Prejudice or another similar title.

Page 306: "'You tried that once.' There was no judgement in his voice. Only compassion and honesty. 'Sometimes we can't run away from the hard things in life.'"

I loved Nash!

Page 316: I cried when Dr. Sonnenberg died. He had been such a wonderful mentor to Gunther. Lost dreams, lost lives.

Assistant to the Villain

By: Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Libby audiobook 14 hours

Read by: Em Eldridge

Published: 2023

Genre: Fantasy adventure romance

 

I found this book by looking for available audiobooks in Libby. Book #2 in this series was available, so I looked for book #1. I checked it out and listened. There were things that were intriguing and I was hooked before the book started driving me crazy. Sadly, I pushed through to the end of the book to find out what happened.

 

The reader didn't really do it for me. I sped it up to 1.25x, then 1.3x  because I couldn't stand listening to her. (A friend said she listens to books at 1.8x speed in Audible! I don't like listening to chipmunk-sounding voices, so 1.3 was fast enough.)

 

I liked the line ". . . tragedy did that to a family - isolated them." It seems like such a sad truth. Sometimes when tragedy visits a family or a person, we just don't know how to respond and so we say / do nothing.

 

The more the book went on, the more irritated I was by the overwrought language and emotions. It was a crummy romance novel with too many irritating plot points. "Just kiss and move on!" 

Evangeline (Evie) runs into the Villain (aka Trystan Maverine). Looking up the spelling of his name, I learned that this was a TikTok thing before becoming a book . . . ugh. Literature it is not.

Some of the fantasy elements of the story drew me in, but what good is magic if you can't really use it? Evie's dad's betrayal was the nail in the coffin for me . . . no way do I want to read book two to find out what happens.

Madly, Deeply: the Diaries of Alan Rickman

By: Alan Rickman

Foreward by: Emma Thompson

Libby audiobook 29:28 hours

Read by: Steven Crossley (foreward read by Bonnie Wright, editor's prologue by Alfred Enouch, afterword written and read by Rima Horton, Rickman's wife) 

Published: 2022

Genre: autobiography, memoir

From 1993 to 2016 (when he died), these diary entries are at times like a stream-of-consciousness to-do list and at other times, deeply moving. I wonder what he would think if he knew his private diaries would be published after his passing!

There were SO.many.names. Some of them I recognized; others were unfamiliar. He interacted with a lot of people and seemed to be most impressed with famous musicians. I wonder what it would be like to be written about in someone's diary and have it be published . . . I certainly hope Daniel Radcliffe has read this book!

What is "WAWA?" There were some names and details that flew right over my head. The narrator interjected at points to explain or clarify, but one of the hazards of listening to an audiobook vs. reading the print version is "missing" some of the text. I also want to get the print version to see photos! It must have photos.

Natasha who died in 2009 . . . who was she? Why was she important to Rickman? Ruby . . . just a friend? Seemed like a daughter or niece. 

It made me smile that after Harry Potter #2, he said, "No more Harry Potter!" and then went on to do all the rest that Snape was in.

Iraq War, Bush as "irrelevant," Rumsfeld and Cheney as the real power . . . his political observations for both the UK and the USA were interesting.

I want to watch so many things! Mesmer, Winter Guest, Die Hard 2 and 3 (how does he appear in movies after his character died in the first one?), . . . 

1994 Great Britain, John Smith, what was this about? I just went to Wikipedia to read up. Very interesting . . . and a tragic, untimely death.

He had so many issues with the places he lived - electrical, plumbing, etc. And he traveled SO MUCH! He was constantly flying to Toronto, LA, NYC, South Africa, Dublin, etc. and then back home again. 

<Above published 2.20.2025. Below added 3.02.2025.>

I got the print book from the Hennepin County Library (hardcover 441 pages plus appendix - diary entries from 1974-1982, afterword by his wife Rima Horton, and index).

I got this mainly to look at photographs. There were some and I enjoyed looking at them, but I wish there had been more!

I was stunned by the lovely illustrations in some of his journals! He was a very talented artist. 

I liked the look of his writing, but it's not the easiest to read. I'm glad someone took the time to type it up. Time to return this to the library and move on!

Ghost (Track book 1)

By: Jason Reynolds

Scott County Library hardcover 181 pages

Published: 2016

Genre: YA realistic fiction

My oh my! It's been too long since I read a book by Mr. Reynolds. He is an amazing author! I had gotten a free paperback copy of Patina last summer, but I knew it was book two in a series and I don't like to read books out of order. So I finally just requested this from the library so I could move on with the book sitting on my shelf!

Because this is written for middle school readers, has short chapters and can be considered a "quick read," it's easy to forget the power in his stories.

Castle "Ghost" Cranshaw vividly recalls the night his father pulled a gun on him and his mother. Since then, it has just been the two of them - mom works hard to keep them housed and fed. Ghost has more anger in him than he can deal with and always regrets causing his mom disappointment when the anger comes out.

I loved this book. I even cried!

Page 9: "But I always had this feeling that if I could just get on, I'd be the next LeBron. But I never wanted to be the next . . . whoever the most famous runner is. I never even thought about it."

This made me smile, but also think about how our culture creates heroes out of certain types of people. Nobody knows the name of the firefighter who has saved the most lives . . . but we all know who Kanye West is. (Ghost does go on to figure out that Usain Bolt is the fastest man alive.)

Page 31: "Then I was asleep for ten hours. I'm grumpy when I don't get at least eight. Some people would say I'm grumpy even when I do, but they don't know nothing . . . "

This also made me smile. Sleep is so valuable! I don't often get 8-10 hours of it, but I definitely suffer when I don't get enough.

Page 65: "I could feel the altercation-ness creeping up in my chest like a new kind of lightning. The black was turning red again, and I really wasn't trying to be a repeat offender of the bully beat-down."

Reading this helps me think about students who always seem to be in trouble . . . perhaps they're trying really hard to control their feelings and actions. Perhaps they're dealing with something that would tip me over the edge. How do we teach kids the best way to process deep feelings rather than resorting to violence? (I also like the inventiveness of words like "altercation-ness" - since Ghost has been warned to avoid any more altercations.)

Page 95: ". . . and cases of Worcestershire sauce (war-sess-ter-shyer . . . worst-tester-shier . . . gotta be a world record holder for hardest word) and moved them to the stockroom."

Ghost loves reading the Guinness Book of World Records, so that theme comes up a lot. I completely agree on how hard it is to properly say that word! I call it "W sauce" and Louie laughs at me.

Page 149: ". . . I'd planned on telling her that Coach got them for me, and then hope and pray that she never thanked him. When I think about it now, that was the stupidest idea ever."

I was thankful that Coach figured out what Ghost had done. I was so glad Ghost had not been able to compound the problem with more lying and hiding. The confession in the athletic store was hard, but so very necessary for him as a character. I did love that he was actually trying to protect his mom and not compound her stress - either in terms of financial or parenting. He did some wrong things for understandable reasons.

Page 179: "Sunny cheering, an orange slice in his mouth, the peel like a bright mouthpiece."

That brought back images from childhood! How fun to wear an orange peel as an artificial smile.

The book ended without us knowing the outcome of the race! I don't know if I like that or not. Did Ghost win? Lu? One of the other runners? It's a pretty brilliant way to close the story. This would be a wonderful book club book. I'm ready to read book two!

Heaven

By: Randy Alcorn

Libby audiobook 1 hour

Read by: Randy Alcorn

Published: 2004 (this version 2008)

Genre: Non-fiction, theology

I didn't realize when I requested this that it was a "short" version of a full length book. There was quite a long waiting list for it and I wanted to make sure I read it before I had to return it. In one hour, Alcorn does an overview of his longer complete title.Honestly? I don't plan to read the full book.

As a believer, I don't have some of the questions that he is trying to helpfully answer here. If anything, listening to this made me want to dig into Scripture and read more for myself. I don't especially enjoy (or fully understand) Revelations, but there is a lot there to indicate what our post-human on Earth life will look like. 

As a child, I remember thinking, "I don't want to sing praises to God for 10,000 years!" whenever we sang Amazing Grace. But I'm not a child any more. As much as I love this life I get to live, Heaven with God for eternity sounds much better. 

Good food for thought here.

The Girl in His Shadow

By: Jaima Fixsen and Regina Sirois (united pen name: Audrey Blake)

Libby ebook 35 chapters

Published: 2021

Genre: historical fiction, romance

Set in 1845 London, little Eleanor is the only survivor of the deadly cholera that took the rest of her family. Taken in (as an experiment - she survived cholera, so is she now immune?) by Dr. Horace Croft, she is raised in an unusual household where dead bodies are delivered by grave robbers during the night and scientific specimens litter the house.

Some of the details were fascinating and very evocative of the era. When Dr. Gibson and Miss Nora Beady started flirting over corpses, it just got weird. 

For her to absorb so much medical knowledge while not being allowed to actively participate outside the confines of Dr. Croft's space was frustrating for Nora. The opportunity to study in Italy opens the door to book two.

Chapter 6: "Women, as the morally superior gender, were made for "sweet ordering," for instilling Christian principles in children and comforting weary men after the trials of the day."

Nora was definitely not a typical woman of her time!

Chapter 13: "All men were destined to end up in the grave. It might be best if he waited here until his day came."

This is after Dr. Gibson (Daniel) went off on Dr. Vickery and got drunk at the club. I don't think most of us think about the fact that we're all destined to end up in the grave. . . . 

Chapter 18: "After that he maintained a steady flow of patients and distracted himself enough that he only felt the stab of remorse and humiliation slice through him once an hour or so."

Poor Daniel! It's awful to torment yourself. The distractions helped, but he was still feeling the sting of his demotion and embarrassment. 

Chapter 33: "Passing muster in French and Latin taxed her to her limit. Believing she could muddle through in Italian . . . but human bodies were the same everywhere, and other students would share notes."

I did like Nora's mental quickness and can do attitude. She is a wonderful protagonist. I can't imagine how hard it was for women to pioneer in traditionally male roles with so much criticism and censure.

Chapter 33: " . . . though his color told her he'd not been dead very long. How quickly they lose all trace of themselves."

Nora is looking at the body of Mr. Wilhems, a person she'd known and helped treat during his life. His dead body no longer looks like him. I think of the open casket funerals I've been to, where there is so much makeup slathered on that the person looks more like a dummy or a wax figurine. Death is not pretty.

Author's Note (Fixsen): "The heartbreaking truth is that thinking women were forced by convention to work anonymously or in the shadow of husbands, brothers, and fathers, and not merely in the field of medicine."

Sad truths about the past. And the present, a little bit?

 

Author's Note (Sirois): ". . . but never has one narrow field of study so seduced me. What pathos! What egos! What terrible courage and heartbreaking ignorance!"

 

I love when authors gush over their interests and that fascination leads to research that results in a book.

I'll probably go ahead and read book two. There were two chapters of it at the end of this book. Way to reel me in!

Although I didn't care for the weird romance scenes (over dead bodies - really?) I liked the compassion and curiosity both Nora and Daniel had toward medical science and helping people have better, healthier lives. I was disappointed in Harry but understood why he did what he did. Mrs. Phipps the housekeeper was a wonderful character. 

I also liked the Author's Notes (there were two people and neither was named Audrey!) and the Q&A with the authors. Very interesting.

Jane Eyre

By Charlotte Brönte

Libby ebook . . . 

Published: 1847 (this version 2012)

Genre: gothic fiction, romance (nowadays, we'd call it historical!)

 

I have read this book many, many times, but have not apparently ever blogged about it! I thought I would surely be adding to a previous entry. Alas, I highlighted many passages and words. I really love this book. I love that this version had the preface from "Currer Bell," Brönte's alias when the book was published. 

 

I'll dive right in with my "notes" and then try to figure out why I love this book so darn much!

 

Preface: "Men too often confound them: they should not be confounded: appearance should not be mistaken for truth; narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ."

 

Her excessive use of colons aside, I like the notion that human doctrines should not be substituted for Christ's redemption. I won't take the time now to dig in to what people in 1847 thought of "Currer Bell" or why Brönte chose this name, but I am a bit curious to know more.

 

Chapter 1:  Of these death-white realms I formed an idea of my own: shadowy, like all the half-comprehended notions that float dim through children's brains, but strangely impressive.

I love how she uses language so expressively and how she also captures the way a child's brain can work. In this scene, Jane is reading Bewick's History of British Birds and the description of the birds' habitat has struck such a powerful image in her mind. Right after this is when her cousin John Reed comes and harasses her.

Chapter 2: I was a precocious actress in her eyes; she sincerely looked on me as a compound of virulent passions, mean spirit, and dangerous duplicity.

It is so ironic to me that Mrs. Reed was incredibly vile to her niece while her own children were the really awful ones.

Chapter 4: ". . .. I doated on this little toy. . . "

I simply had to look it up. "Doat" is an archaic form of the word "dote." I love (and sometimes dislike) how language changes!

 

Incidental note: the Libby ebook had the chapter numbers in Roman numerals; my print book has the chapter numbers written out fully. I am simply choosing to write the numbers here.

 

Chapter 5: I was now nearly sick from inanition, having taken so little the day before.

I understood, of course, that she was faint from hunger, but I was curious about the word "inanition," especially since Blogger is giving it the little red squiggle line that means it is misspelled. The dictionary recognizes it as a legitimate word meaning "

exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment." Perhaps one reason I like this book so much is because I'm a word nerd and I love her use of the English language!

Chapter 5: " . . . it was "Rasselas;" a name that struck me as strange, and consequently attractive."

The semi-colon after the title . . . why, Charlotte? And now I'm curious to read The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (which is what turned up in a Google search).

Chapter 6: ". . . if I do anything worthy of praise, she gives me my meed liberally."

"Meed" instead of "Mead" caught my attention. Ah! I was in the wrong. "

1. a deserved share or reward.

   "he must extract from her some meed of approbation"

Tip

Similar-sounding words

meed is sometimes confused with mead and mede

Chapter 6: "Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs. We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain, . . . "

This is one of those places where I simply say "Yes!" Life is far too short to get bogged down in being upset.

Chapter 7: " . . . a double ration of bread - a whole, instead of a half, slice - with the delicious addition of a thin scrape of butter: it was the hebdomadal treat to which we all looked forward from Sabbath to Sabbath."

This reminds me so much of Dickens' poor orphans! To consider an entire slice of bread with a "scrape" of butter as a treat! Once a week! And "hebdomadal" simply means "weekly." I thought for sure it had a more significant meaning! But I needed to look it up, so go Charlotte!

Chapter 8: "Exhausted by emotion, my language was more subdued than it generally was when it developed that sad theme; and mindful of Helen's warnings against the indulgence of resentment, I infused into the narrative far less of gall and wormwood than ordinary. Thus restrained and simplified, it sounded more credible: I felt as I went on that Miss Temple fully believed me."

Oh, Jane. I, too, often fill my storytelling with too much drama and emotion. I'm glad she was exhausted enough to share her story well.

Chapter 8: "Then her soul sat on her lips, and language flowed, from what source I cannot tell."

Jane is listening to Helen Burns and Miss Temple and marveling at her friend's eloquence. I love that phrase "her soul sat on her lips."

Chapter 8: ". . . Cuyp-like groups of cattle . . . "

Again, I love being pushed in my understanding of the English language. "Cuyp" refers to a Dutch painter named Aelbert Cuyp who painted pastoral scenes in the 1600s. There are so many things I'm curious about and so many rabbit trails I can follow!

Chapter 9: "'My Maker and yours, who will never destroy what He created. I rely implicitly on His power, and confide wholly in His goodness: I count the hours till that eventful one arrives which shall restore me to Him, reveal Him to me.'"

Helen is answering Jane's question "Where is God? What is God?" I love Helen's response. She goes on to say:

"I am sure there is a future state; I believe God is good; I can resign my immortal part to Him without any misgiving. God is my father; God is my friend: I love Him; I believe He loves me."

This is a conversation the two girls have while Helen is on her deathbed. 

Chapter 10: "A new servitude! There is something in that," I soliloquised (sic) (mentally, be it understood; I did not talk aloud), "I knew there is, because it does not sound too sweet; it is not like such words as Liberty, Excitement, Enjoyment: delightful sounds truly; but no more than sounds for me; and so hollow and fleeting that it is mere waste of time to listen to them."

Her soliloquizing made me smile. I have so many internal conversations that I sometimes have to tell my brain to be quiet! Jane is contemplating leaving Lowood for a new situation.

Chapter 12: "This, par parenthese, will be thought cool language by persons who entertain solemn doctrines about the angelic nature of children, and the duty of those charged with their education to conceive for them an idolatrous devotion: but I am not writing to flatter parental egotism, to echo cant, or prop up humbug; I am merely telling the truth. I felt a conscientious solicitude for Adele's welfare and progress, and a quiet liking for her little self: just as I cherished towards Mrs. Fairfax a thankfulness for her kindness, and a pleasure in her society proportionate to the tranquil regard she had for me, and the moderation of her mind and character."

I just love the language she uses! The line just before "I am merely telling the truth" just rolls off the tongue. 

Chapter 13: "'Et cela doit signifier,' said she, 'qu'il y aura le dedans un cadeau pour moi, et peut-etre pour vous aussi, mademoiselle. Monsieur a parle de vois: il m'a demande le nom de ma gouvernante, et si elle n'etait pas une petite personne, assez mince et un peu pale. J'ai dit qu'oui: car c'est vrai, n'est-ce pas, mademoiselle?'"

I love that I know enough French to understand Adele's communication! Google translate has improved so much in recent years that I decided to see what nuance I may have missed. Translation: "And that must mean, "she said, 'that there will be a present inside for me, and perhaps for you too, mademoiselle. Monsieur spoke about you: he asked me the name of my governess, and if she was not a small person, quite thin and a little pale. I said yes: because it's true, isn't it, mademoiselle?" I don't know if I'm encouraged or disappointed that I didn't find any new meaning!

 

Chapter  13: "'Sir, you have now given me my 'cadeau;' I am obliged to you: it is the meed teachers most covet - praise of their pupils' progress.'"

 

I love this answer that Jane gives to Mr. Rochester's cross examination of her! Talk about calm under pressure. Adele's impulsiveness and emotion cannot take away from Jane's presence of mind and honest contemplation.

 

Chapter  17: The descriptions of the cleaning of Thornfield . . . I would love to have a team of servants to give my house a thorough cleaning of every bit of my house!

 

Chapter 17: ". . . in case of contumacy."

 

Again, the context clues helped me understand this. It is, however, a word I do not know well. "Stubborn refusal to obey or comply with authority" fits with how I understood it. (Mr. Rochester is talking about "fetching" Jane if she does not come to the drawing room after dinner.)

 

Chapter  17: "'As if loveliness were not the special prerogative of woman - her legitimate appanage and heritage.'"

 

Miss Blanche Ingram is waxing poetic about her thoughts on beauty and the sexes. "Appanage" means "a gift of land, an official position, or money given to the younger children of kings and princes to provide for their maintenance." (Historical) Basically, their inheritance. Whatever, lady.

 

Chapter  17: "'Here then is a Corsair-song. Know that I doat on Corsairs; and for that reason, sing it con spirito."

 

Again, the use of "doat" for "dote" and Blanche Ingram playing Queen Bee.

 

Chapter 18: " . . . pushing her away with some contumelious epithet if she happened to approach her . . . "

 

That Blanche again, being rude to Adele.  "Contumelious" is archaic according to dictionary.com It means "scornful and insulting; insolent."

 

Chapter 20: ". . . again, however, I head him call "Jane!" He had opened feel portal and stood at it, waiting for me." (Sic)

 

I re-read this several times and was confused. (Read it aloud and see what I mean.) In my paperback copy of the book, it reads ". . . again, however, I head him call "Jane!" He had opened the portal and stood at it, waiting for me."It's only one word - feel instead of the - but my distrust of relying on technology and especially AI sharpens in cases like this. That said, sometimes (too often!) I come across errors and typos when I re-read my blog entries. Human failure and tech failure . . . signs of imperfection everywhere.

Chapter 21: "Feeling without judgment is a washy draught indeed; but judgment untempered by feeling is too bitter and husky a morsel for human deglutition."

This reminded me so much of the teaching on God's love and God's truth. I'm not sure which quote I'm thinking of (Timothy Keller, John Bevere, . . . ) but here's one I found from Warren Wiersbe: "Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy. God doesn't bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to make us a blessing." Did I mention how much I like the way Brönte writes?

Chapter 22: "Then I thought of Eliza and Georgiana; I beheld one the cynosure of a ball-room, the other the inmate of a convent cell; and I dwelt on and analysed their separate peculiarities of person and character." 

I love words! "Cynosure" means "a person or thing that is the center of attention and admiration."

Chapter 22: ". . . not to send for a carriage, and come clattering over street and road like a common mortal, but to steal into the vicinage of your home along with twilight, just as if you were a dream or a shade."

"Vicinage" means just like it sounds - vicinity.

Chapter 22: " . . . stopped my cars . . . " (sic)

Of course it is "ears"! My brain really has issues with this.

Chapter 24: "I could not, in those days, see God for His creature: of whom I had made an idol."

Jane is nineteen years old and in love for the first time. She should cut herself some slack! It is too easy for us to idolize people who are most definitely not worth it! Only God deserves all glory and honor.

Chapter 27: ". . . his gripe (sic) was painful, and my overtaxed strength almost exhausted."

Checked the print book - yep. "grip" not "gripe." Where are the editors?! That said, it was nice to have a "print" book for our trip to Florida.

Chapter 28: "We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us; and it is in the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His omnipresence. I had risen to my knees to pray for Mr. Rochester. Looking up, I, with tear-dimmed eyes, saw the mighty Milky-way. Remembering what it was - what countless systems there swept space like a soft trace of light - I felt the might and strength of God. Sure was I of His efficiency to save what He had made: convinced I grew that neither earth should perish, nor one of the souls it treasured. I turned my prayer to thanksgiving: the Source of Lie was also the Saviour of spirits. Mr. Rochester was safe; he was God's, and by God would he be guarded. I again nestled to the breast of the hill; and ere long in sleep forgot sorrow."

Jane is homeless and penniless. She has left Thornfield and is searching for what she will do next.

Chapter 28: "I would fain at the moment have become bee or lizard, that I might have found fitting nutriment, permanent shelter here."

"Fain" is listed as archaic. It can be used as either an adverb or an adjective. Here it means with pleasure, gladly.

Chapter 28: "Life, however, was yet in my possession, with all its requirements, and pains, and responsibilities. The burden must be carried; the want provided for; the suffering endured; the responsibility fulfilled."

I love it when life triumphs over defeat!

Chapter 28: "Solitude would be no solitude - rest no rest - while the vulture, hunger, thus sank beak and talons in my side."

Hunger is simply not something that I experience often. And I have never been even remotely close to starvation. This description is powerful.

Chapter 29: "Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised (sic) by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones."

Here, the author is observing Jane's approach to Hannah and setting her straight about some misconceptions she has. I can't help but think of modern day biases and prejudices, though.

Chapter 38: ". . . made fair progress in her studies. As she grew up, a sound English education corrected in a great measure her French defects . . . "

Jane is talking about Adele, but I can't help wonder how French readers view this perspective. It makes me giggle to think about cultural biases. One of the things I like about Jane Eyre is her mixture . . . 

Hmm. I posted this on 2.1.2025 and here I am on 2.12.2025 to add something. Apparently, I posted this before I finished writing it. Or I finished writing it but it didn't save? In any case, I have no idea how I was going to finish that sentence. I found a piece of paper with notes I wanted to record here.

Mr. Reed married the awful Miss Gibson and had John, Eliza, and Georgiana.

Mr. Reed had a sister, Miss Jane Reed. She married Mr. Eyre who was a poor clergyman and her family rejected her for it.

They had little Jane and then died.

Mr. Reed the clergyman had two siblings - a brother and a sister. The brother was John Eyre, a wine merchant in Madeira. The sister married Mr. Rivers and had three children - St. John, Diana, and Mary.

I'm too lazy to make a graphic here, but I found this online:

 Much thanks to the folks at https://jane-eyre.guidesite.co.uk/jane-genealogy for creating this!