kapachino

Category: books & reading

  • Want To Join Our Book Club?

    I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m in a book club with a few of my friends. There are three of us that founded it over three years ago, and we’ve had members come and go but currently there are five. I like the small group because it allows for good discussion and flexibility, but we’re always open to new members. This book club is something I’m extremely proud of and it makes me very happy.

    We meet approximately once a month. At each meeting we usually have a meal, catch up about life, chat about the book, then pick a new book for the next month and set a meeting date. It’s great.

    I would like to extend the conversation to you all out there. After each meeting I have in real life, I’ll post some thoughts about the book, possibly pose some questions, and let you know what the book is for next month. You can read along with me and post your thoughts in the comments.

    If you’re curious about what kinds of books we read, be my friend on Goodreads and view my category “bookclub”. I have them all listed. In general, it’s mostly historical and contemporary fiction along with some classics.

    Is anyone interested in this kind of thing? Obviously, you won’t have to read every book if you don’t have time. There might be some months when no one reads along with me, and I’ll be okay with that. I just want to share the love. Our next meeting is next Tuesday and we’ll be discussing the book America America by Ethan Canin. It’s a good one, so if you think you can finish it in a week, go for it. :)

    Please, please, please let me know your thoughts, and share this with anyone you think might be interested!

  • Just Enjoying Life, Is All

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    This picture makes me happy. I took it this afternoon.

    I’ve been enjoying the time I’ve created for myself since I last wrote. For example, I finished the book I was reading for book club, read a short story, and got through a couple of chapters of another book I’m working on. I cooked dinner for David and my parents, and it was good. While my mom and I walked the dogs, the men did some maintenance on my car. That was good too. I went to my cousin’s son’s first birthday party, watched a little TV with David, saw Harry Potter, cleaned the house. Worked some long and tough hours, then ate a huge brownie. Not all in one day.

    I haven’t exercised much, but that’s okay.

    I feel obligated to mention the goals I’ve completed lately as well. The meal I cooked for my parents was the fourth meal in four weeks, goal #2. It was enchilada casserole. I’ll put up the recipe sometime. I wear a pedometer at work now, goal #11. Apparently I walk between 3-4 miles while there. And part of the above mentioned maintenance on my car was new windshield wipers, goal #98.

    I was going to run errands today, but I don’t feel up to it anymore. Instead I think I’ll cuddle up next to Cleo and read. Then when the sun starts to go down I’ll put on my running shoes and go for a jog. Shower, sleep. Wake up for another beautiful summer day tomorrow.

    Life is good, you know?

  • Reading and Reflection

    My brother-in-law Scott recently created his own book database which I have had the pleasure of reading. I, too, keep a record of all the books I’ve read, but I do it at Goodreads because I’m not as smart as he is; I can’t create a website on my own. But he WAS  the valedictorian of our high school class, so I don’t expect anything less.

    Anyway, Scott’s database is much more thorough than mine is, and he writes a synopsis and critique of each book whereas I just give a rating and occasionally write a short review. One of the books Scott has written about is Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. This is the first of a sci-fi trilogy which I read and enjoyed. It is sort of an allegory about a man, Ransom, who visits other planets. Scott writes about one encounter Ransom has with the species on this new planet. Allow me to quote him:

    “Ransom has an interesting conversation with Hyoi at one point about memory in regards to sexual experience. The hrossa only have sex for procreation, so Ransom asks if they miss the fact that it happens so infrequently. Hyoi, however, claims that it is only by remembering something for years that the experience of that thing truly becomes complete. Clearly this is a very Catholic idea, but at heart it is very appealing. After all, I often find myself jumping from one new experience to the next (be it books, games, or life in general) rather than reflecting and contemplating what I have experienced in the past. In fact, this book database effort is an example of me realizing that and attempting in some way to deal with it. My hope is that, in time, my past experience with a book will become richer as I reflect upon it with greater wisdom and maturity.”

    When I read that, I realized that I am the exact same way, especially with books. There are so many I want to read, so the very minute I finish one I pick up the next. Immediately, the impact of the last book is lost. Only a very few books do I re-read. The book club I’ve been in for over three years is helpful in that it gives me a chance to discuss the books we’ve chosen, but by the time we have our meetings it’s usually been weeks since I’ve read the book and have forgotten a lot of it.

    I would love to write about books the way Scott is attempting to. I just don’t know if I can commit that amount of time to it. And what about the rest of my life? Do I ever take time to reflect? Well, sometimes. In the morning when I’m driving to work I make it a point not to listen to music, and I talk to myself instead. This blog forces me to think about my life in order to write about it coherently.

    For Lent, which I never wrote about because my website was down when it started, I decided to slow down. I wouldn’t take on any new commitments, I would spend more time with my husband and my family, I would drive the speed limit, and every morning I would write in a prayer journal. For the most part I’ve done these things, and although I want them to be part of my lifestyle from now on, I’m not sure if they’re going to stick – except for the spending time with family part. That one’s easy, although my parents may protest otherwise.

    I guess I’m just thinking about thinking. I want all my experiences to be full and complete. I’d love to hear your thoughts. How do you read books? Do you take any intentional time to reflect on your life?

  • It’s Not Just For Looking Pretty

    Oh right, I have a blog, and it’s something I’m supposed to WRITE in. I guess I’ve given myself kind of a break, because of the whole my-husband-had-surgery-right-before-we-moved-into-our-new-house business. We are having a lot of fun being there, but it sure is a lot of work. We still have a lot of walls to paint, fixtures, furniture, and other necessities to buy, as well as unpacking and organizing to do. There are times when it’s overwhelming, because I simply don’t have the time or energy to get it all done anytime soon, which is what my personality dictates. David told me the other day, “You know how I can tell that you’ve been really tired lately? I can leave a mess in the living room and you don’t even say anything.”

    Anyway, my sister-in-law gave me a hard time about neglecting this thing yesterday, so please accept my apologies. I will try to do better. SO…here are some things that have happened:

    >My husband had surgery for a condition he has in his hips. It’s going to be a long, difficult process to fix, and please pray for him because he’s in a lot of pain all the time.

    >One of our dogs, Eddy, probably tore her ACL. The vet said it could just be sprained, but after two weeks of rest and a week of anti-inflammatories, she’s still not putting any pressure on it. Poor girl wants to be just like her dad.

    >I was the matron of honor in a wedding, and I gave my first toast. I was really nervous, but it went well. David danced with me on his crutches, and it was cute.

    >Christmas came and went. I worked on the 25th, and it was the busiest day I’d had in weeks. Only the sickest of the sick don’t get to go home for Christmas. No fun.

    >BUT, we celebrated the night before with David’s family, and the day after with my family. It was all very merry. I don’t have any pictures because my camera is dead, I lost the charger somewhere along the way of the 5 houses we stayed in, and the new one I ordered doesn’t work.

    >The book we’re reading now for book club, The Pillars of the Earth, is excellent.

    One more thing: If you are a friend of mine, and you are a female, and you live somewhere in my vicinity, and you are interested in being my bike riding buddy, please let me know! This year I am resolving to use the nice road bike I have, and enter a race at some point. But I won’t ride alone, so that makes it difficult.

    Alright, that’s what I’ve got for now. Happy Sunday!

  • Catching Up

    Hey friends! I’ve been AWOL for awhile again, so since I have the day off I figured it was a good time to let you know what’s been going on.

    David and I are still looking for a house to buy. I really want one in an established neighborhood with trees and an either side-entry or detached garage. And we’re looking in a certain area of town, in a certain price range, so it is proving to be a little difficult. We’re trying to be patient though, because we want to buy one we really love!

    In the meantime, we have moved in with a friend of the family who goes to our church. Her children are just a little bit younger than us, and are both moved out. She has graciously offered us her large upstairs bedroom with its HUGE closet! We have a lot of space and privacy here, and it’s a great location. We have been so blessed by this, and it is allowing us to save up a lot of money to put towards the house and moving costs.

    Work has been kind of rough this week. After a relaxing weekend off, I came back Monday and had the absolute worst day of my short career. I had very needy patients, tons of medications to give, two discharges, an admission, not to mention all the regular charting and routine care. All of that was bad enough, but because I was worn so thin and ragged, I ended up making a couple of mistakes. The first one wasn’t too big of a deal, but I still had to write myself up. The second one happened right at the end of my shift, caused me to stay late, and someone else caught it and wrote me up, all the while speaking to me in a very patronizing manner. I felt completely incompetent. I had to work so hard not to cry until I got home. It’s hard to recover from a day like that, but I’m doing my best.

    I finished reading the whole Twilight saga, and then I read Midnight Sun, the unfinished online novel which is Twilight from Edward’s perspective. I wanted to immediately start re-reading Twilight, but I let a friend borrow it. What to do until the movie comes out next week? Watch trailers, read articles, and listen to the soundtrack, I suppose.

    I recently read an interview with Anne Rice, the writer of (among other things) Interview With a Vampire. She now writes about her newfound Christian faith, but she doesn’t repudiate any of her previous works. When she was asked about this she replied, “The supernatural world has always been more real to me than the real world. I feel a great surge of energy when I acknowledge that there is a world beyond this one…. My old novels and characters were sincerely created and deeply felt, and also I think these novels and characters are complex and these novels mirror a pathway to Christ. I think they retain tremendous value for readers, especially young readers who may not be willing to pick up a book about Christianity. There is a moral compass in these novels, and the grief for a lost faith, and the search for redemption — these are the main themes. I remain a believer in them, though they are partial and flawed.”

    I really like the way she put that. Sometimes I feel that I need to defend my love for fantasy and the supernatural, as if I’m not satisfied with reality and my own life. I love my life, though. I just feel a deep yearning for more, which I believe I was created for.