Book 7 of 2020 The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle

 

150 poems.  150 reflections on life. 150 devotionals. All written by women of faith. That is what you find in this volume. I  picked it up because I have read, enjoyed, and valued Martha Spong's writing in one place or another since I first began this blog some 15 years ago. There are other writers in here whose writing I have also read in the blogosphere (do we still call it that?) over the years.

These reflections that jump off from the Psalms are deeply emotive, as the Psalms themselves are. They touch on issues personal and political, as the Scriptural Psalms do. Many a time I found myself wondering when I might use that poem in worship.

Book 6 of 2020 Nurture the Wow

 

No I didn't read this in the week. I had started it earlier this year and then paused while reading Paris over the summer. I have been following Danya Ruttenberg on Twitter and decided I would be interest in reading more of her work. So I took a look and this one intrigued me.

There is wisdom in here. Not only wisdom for parents but much wisdom for anyone who wants to be in helpful relationships with other people. The book speaks to relationships with children, relationships to the world, relationships with the Divine. It talks about these things in real, earthy, and spiritual terms.  A very good read -- even if your children are well past the toddler and preschool years.

Book 5 of 2020 -- Paris

 As vacation started this summer I wanted a different sort of read. I have read and enjoyed almost all of Rutherfurd's other novels (I enjoy historical fiction) so when I found this one I decided it was a good summer read. I forgot how large these novels were and how long they can take to read.

This is different from other epic historical novels. Often the novel starts in the past and follows forward in chronological fashion. This one spends much of it's time in the era fro 1870 onward with jumps back in time to earlier periods as we learn more of the back story of the families we are watching in the stories of the end of the 19th century to the 1960's.

I think I prefer the strictly chronological structure. It was a bit easier to follow who was who and the inter-relations that way. I also found it interesting that while there were many references to the Revolution and the Napoleonic era the novel itself spent very little time in the former and none in the latter. Still it was very enjoyable and a nice break from the complicated reality that has been 2020.