Book Reports

I remember when...

I had to write book reports in school. I wasn't particularly fond of them at the time, although I did OK with them. But now, I find that writing a little about a book I've read really helps to condense my thoughts about that book and to remember what I might have learned and/or felt as I read it. Funny how some of those school things turn out to actually be useful!

One thing that my mother started with me when I was very young was keeping a reading record in a notebook; and from the time I first learned to read, I wrote down a list of books I finished. I haven't kept a perfect, uninterrupted record through the years; but I do have quite an extensive list from my at-home years. And when we moved to Israel, I revived that tradition and have continued faithfully with it ever since. One aspect of that reading record that makes it especially meaningful to me is that after most books, I jot down a sentence or two about it; and as I look back through my record, I can get a lot more info than simply the fact that I read a certain book.

In any case, I've finished reading a few books recently, and I want to write a bit about them here.

First, Centennial by James Michener. I'm incredibly fond of Michener's books; he is a master at blending educational history and entertaining stories. I have to be careful about when I start reading one of his books because I know that as soon as I pick up his book, I'll have a very hard time putting it down again! Reading Michener always reminds me of the time when David was born. I was reading his book Poland which is a very long book, and I would read that at night while I was nursing David. I'm convinced it kept me sane during those first groggy weeks of night-nursings and sleep deprivation. It certainly made me a much happier camper as I awoke during the night to attend to David's needs!

His book Centennial which I finished recently was about the history of Colorado, particularly a fictional town named Centennial. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot from it which didn't surprise me at all. The thing that did surprise me was how emotional I felt as he described the treatment of Native Americans throughout their history of interaction with whites. I'm usually a fairly matter-of-fact person, content to let history that is several centuries old stay in the dust, not usually consumed with passion over the treatment of certain people groups in the past. That's not to imply in the least that I deny the horrific behavior demonstrated towards certain groups--not at all. I acknowledge it--and mourn it--but am usually never shaken to my core by it because, let's face it, it seems like almost every group in the history of the world can, at one time or another, claim abuse. Even white Europeans were persecuted in various ways--Catholics v. Protestants in the history of England springs to mind.

However, while reading certain parts of Centennial, I wanted to rush out and find some Native Americans and apologize with ashes on my head for the indescribably unfair way they were treated. Of course, during the settling of the west, there were terrible crimes done by both sides; but without a doubt, the deck was stacked against the Indians--and the U.S. government shamefully broke promise after promise to the Native Americans--and traders shamefully used alcohol to subdue the natives--and an entire way of life was demolished. Progress marches on, I know; but what a sad way to do it.

On a much lighter note, I also recently finished reading a book called Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman--and I LOVED it. Any readers of Catherine's long-standing weekly column on BabyCenter.com are already familiar with her style of seeing the world--and capturing it in writing. One of the things I've learned from Catherine is that even though she and I have completely opposite opinions about many things in life, we also share a huge amount of common emotions/desires/experiences as mothers. When she writes about certain things, I think, "Yes, that is EXACTLY how I feel--but I could never put it in words like she just did!" When I was reading Waiting for Birdy, I literally laughed out loud...and cried sometimes...and occasionally laughed out loud until I cried. It was great reading, with the only problem being that the book was too short!

That book, by the way, was a special gift from Jeff to me. He had actually gotten it for me last year when I was pregnant and was planning to give it to me for Christmas. But after the miscarriage, he decided it wouldn't be the best time for that! He hung on to it until now, and just recently pulled it out and surprised me with it. I adore surprise gifts!!!

Another book that I'm still reading--and am thrilled about--is Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna, a research-based book about producing spiritual champions. I've only read two chapters, but I'm already inspired and convicted by what I've read. One interesting thing that Barna writes is that firstborns are actually the most likely to become spiritual champions. This is not to say that other children can't or won't do the same, simply an observation based on statistics and probability. I was actually very relieved to read this because of all my angst over my own firstborn, as well as other situations I've seen where the firstborn actually turned away from a relationship with God even though the parents were devout Christians. That's one of my greatest fears, as other posts in this blog have described; and I've often thought that perhaps the firstborn is the child most likely to NOT become a spiritual champion. Yet Barna's words helped me to relax and realize, once again, that we do the best we can, faithfully following God's instructions as we parent, and then we leave the outcome to Him.

Oh, I love reading! I'm looking forward to doing more of it during this upcoming get-away! :)