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pickThis was a lovely meditation on memory, aging, and grief. My April #BookSpin pick, it was timely as my mom passed away at the beginning of April. I found so much that was relatable as L‘Engle reflected on her mother‘s decline and eventual passing. The family memories she narrates are lovely—some sweet, some impressive, and some hilarious—something I found true of my own mother as family & friends shared memories of her over the past couple months.
“One morning at breakfast Ida and Edna had a quarrel [that]…grew so heated that Ida threw a glass of water across the table at Edna. Edna rose, dripping, stalked into the music room, sat down at the piano and played and sang, loudly and nasally, “_Jesus_ loves me, this I know…”
This scene delights me so much that I‘ve put versions of it into almost every book I‘ve written, and have had, with reluctance, to delete it.”
“But God, if he is God, if he is worth believing in, is a loving God who will not abandon or forget the smallest atom of his creation. And that includes… everybody, everybody without exception.”
“I‘m much more use to family and friends when I‘m not physically and spiritually depleted than when I spend my energies as though they were unlimited. They are not. The time at the typewriter and the time at the brook refresh me and put me into a much more workable perspective.”
Sometimes unintentional trends emerge in my reading. In February, I read Crying in H Mart (a #NewYearWhoDis pick) and Kitchen, both focused on the loss of a mother. In early March, I read Wintering (my January #BookSpin and a #NYWD pick), on weathering times of difficulty & grief. In late March, my mother was placed on hospice, and she passed away two weeks ago. This trio of timely books so recently read has been an odd preparation & a comfort.⤵️
panThis book, my first by Madeleine L‘Engle, purchased because it was on sale, proves true the adage that you get what you pay for. Racist, ridiculous, and really not worth my time, or yours.
