Category: Compendium

What I’ve Been Reading The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, Elisabeth Tova Bailey This wasn’t a life-changing read, but in a way I think that was the point of the book itself. When a woman is confined to bed with a chronic illness a friend brings her a plant and an inadvertent guest: a snail. With her world so greatly diminished, the snail becomes a primary point of interest in her daily life. The book celebrates the wonder of nature, how something as ordinary as a snail contains a universe of marvels.   Watership Down, Richard Adams I’ve been…

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What I’ve Been Reading Virgil Wander, Leif Enger This is one of my favorite novels of 2021 so far. The writing style is just delightful, it was a joy to meander through. Not heavy on action, it explores the quiet undercurrents of a small Midwestern town. When Virgil Wander is in a car accident and suffers some memory loss, it forces him to look at his town, and its inhabitants, from a new perspective. He was correct about the language, though. Within weeks certain prodigal words started filtering home. They came one at a time or in shy small groups….

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What I’ve Been Reading “No, Thank you!” – Cyrano de Bergerac In my online reading group last week we discussed the “No, thank you!” speech from the play, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. This was fun for me because I was completely unfamiliar with this play. If someone had said the name “Cyrano de Bergerac,” I would have responded with something like, “isn’t that a book about a guy with a big nose?” And that was the extend of my knowledge. I’ve really enjoyed our readings that are unfamiliar to me because it always opens up a whole new…

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What I’ve Been Reading The state of the world today has led us to confront themes such as loneliness, connection, and danger. This piece argues that while our society seems to applaud those who take daring risks, we’re all sheltered within a bubble of safety—reluctant to take any meaningful risks. Such extreme safety has no room for resilience. We find ourselves in a place of fragility, as demonstrated by the last few months. To be truly safe, we must be willing to accept stress, discomfort, and danger. “The health of the whole depends on the ability of the parts to…

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What I’ve Been Reading Inside Scientology, Janet Reitman This was a fascinating expose of a very mysterious organization. My full book review here.   Tribalism Comes for Pandemic Science This piece from The New Atlantis perfectly expresses how I feel about the state of affairs in regards to the pandemic. Our polarized political culture has reflexively approached the pandemic as just another culture-war drama of this sort — demanding that we each prove our loyalty to our team and express exasperated outrage at the other. Everyone wants to have a complete understanding of reality, we expect to know exactly how…

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What I’ve Been Reading The Poetics, Aristotle This was the selected text for one of the online reading groups I am a part of. I confess myself sorely lacking in familiarity with Aristotle, something that’s been on my mind for a while now. When I saw this was the upcoming reading, I realized it would be the perfect opportunity to become more acquainted with his works. As another member of the group commented, it was a refreshing piece to read in contrast to all the chaos and anger of society recently. Even from reading only a few pages, I was…

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What I’ve Been Reading The Winter Fortress, Neal Bascomb This is the story of the Allied efforts to stop the Germans from accessing the heavy water produced in Norway, to prevent them from creating a nuclear weapon. It was fascinating simply as an aspect of WWII that I knew nothing about. It made me realize that every war probably has hundreds or thousands of stories like this, obscured by the famous battles that make it to our history books. From a literary standpoint, the book was not the most interesting. I felt like the author’s attempt to make it a…

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What I’ve Been Reading Faithful Place, Tana FrenchFaithful Place is the third novel in Tana French’s “Dublin Murder Squad” series. I discovered this author when Brandon bought me her book, “The Witch Elm.” Although I will read anything in the crime/mystery genre, Tana French is a delight to read for her rich characterization and plot development. Although her stories center around some kind of murder, there is an impressive complexity to how the novel unfolds. Her stories are cerebral and nuanced, more like a piece of classic literature than a cheap paperback typical of the mystery genre. Rethinking FearThis is…

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What I’ve Been Reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert HeinleinI am actually working on a longer book review about this, so I won’t make any comments about it here. Empathy Starts With CuriosityI really liked this piece by Peter Bregman about the unique challenges we’re facing during this time. There is so much uncertainty and fear, how do you handle it? “There is a way in which this pandemic may be calling us to slow down and listen. What if we resist the urge to act — to just do something — and, instead, stop doing? Just be present. What…

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What I’ve Been Reading American Gods, Neil GaimanI first read this book several years ago and didn’t really get it. Although I couldn’t explain why, I liked it. So recently I saw it on my bookshelf and realized it was time to give it another try. My second read-through made way more sense. I could actually explain the plot of it, although I won’t here—no spoilers! It is a magnificently sprawling book, I think what I appreciate most is that I could keep rereading it and gain a deeper understanding. Also, Neil Gaiman has become one of my favorite modern…

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