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With more time on my hands during the pandemic, you'd think I've had a lot more time to read books. I suppose I have, but it doesn't feel like I've made a dent in the books on my list! I've been reading a lot more nonfiction than fiction these days. One reason is that it's easier for me to stop reading nonfiction and pick it up later, while fiction is often hard to put down. But I manage to squeeze a novel in now and then. I've been trying to read more memoir in the past year, since I'm writing one. The advice is to read what you're writing, and I've gone full-tilt. I think I've read about a dozen in the last six months. Among my favorites are Wild by Cheryl Strayed and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Other good ones: The Glass Castle by Mira Bartok, The Center Will Not Hold by Elyn R. Saks and No One Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers. Joan Didion's two memoirs about the death of her husband one year (Year of Magical Thinking) and her daughter the next (Blue Nights) are not really ones I'd recommend, but I was fascinated with how she processed her grief--unemotionally. I think I've only read a couple of notable novels in this same time: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. I thought the former was overrated but good, and enjoyed the second more. I need to create a longer list of novels, though. I like to slip one in from time to time, in between nonfiction. I've also been reading books related to systemic racism lately and can recommend White Like Me by Tim Wise. I'm just beginning Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, which I'll be reading with a small group from our church for weekly discussion. I'm also planning to read How to Be an Anti-racist by Ibram X. Kendi. This list is long, and I'm sure I'll add to it. I've got stacks of titles on my nightstand or dresser about spiritual journaling, composting, Feminine wisdom, a women's Bible study book called Inspired by Rachel Held Evans, and several more, which I'm not sure how I'll ever finish. I have nightmares sometimes of being buried alive by a huge stack of books. I just can't read them fast enough! --Janice
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January 2022
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