A Post for February

I’m averaging one post a month this year. Pitiful, I know.

Since I can’t wrap my brain around my own writing, I’ve decided to recommend a few good books others have written and I’ve been fortunate enough to read lately.

Wicked River, The Mississippi When it Last Ran Wild. By: Lee Sandlin

Excellent book and I’ve only read through the first section. If you’ve ever been interested in the true story of life on the Mississippi before the tall tales of Mark Twain were written, this is your book. Life on this mighty river mirrors the creation and growth of the country as the population ventured west; survival was only found by those willing to endure extremely difficult conditions. Read about the river pirates, the New Madrid earthquake, early St. Louis and New Orleans in their prime, the winding and unpredictable journey south from Minnesota to the Gulf, the stories of hardy people and the river they called home.

Women, Food and God. By: Geneen Roth

I got this book once and had to check it back out from the library again. The author presents her theory that your relationship with food reflects your feelings about love, fear, anger, and, yes – God. However, your relationship with food can be a ‘doorway to freedom,’ meaning that you do not have to continue the same cycles of denial or overindulgence to dull the internal pain you feel. This book requires an open mind and putting aside personal judgments until she makes her point, but well worth considering the connections she describes. Fascinating.

Cleopatra: A Life. By: Stacy Schiff

Did you know that Cleopatra was not an Egyptian? Her family descended from the Macedonian Greeks and began their rule over Egypt after the conquests of Alexander the Great (also Greek) over the known western world. This book will challenge everything you previously learned about this ancient ruler and the environment she inhabited. Put aside the epic fantasy starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Instead, allow this book to paint a picture of the real Cleopatra’s background, her relationships with Caesar and Mark Antony, possible reasons for the decisions she made - a queen walking the balance between destruction and creation that existed in Roman-occupied Egypt before the common era.

Lives Like Loaded Guns; Emily Dickinson and Her Family’s Feuds. By: Lyndall Gordon

The poetry of Emily Dickinson is as shrouded in mystery as her life was while she lived it, peeking from behind doorways, coded in symbolic language, inexplicably secluded from outsiders. This author explores the enigma of Dickinson’s creative genius along with the scandal that surrounded her brother’s extramarital affair in puritanical Massachusetts of the mid-1800’s. If you’ve read her poetry and find yourself at a loss trying to understand the meaning (and madness) behind the simple words on a page, this book also weaves together verse along with biography, providing clues as you step back into time, into Emily’s world. Not a quick read, but worth the effort.

Louisa May Alcott. By: Susan Cheever

On my journey to Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, I still remember the disappointment that welled up inside of me when I found out that Little Women, the novel loved and cherished throughout my childhood, was not a biographical account of the author’s life. In fact, Louisa May Alcott had struggled through extreme poverty and deprivation. She had transcribed into Little Women her life as she had dreamed it was instead of the reality she faced. This book is a remarkable account of Alcott’s life – a life as rich and real as anything she wrote – without the curtains drawn. She was a writer and an activist, a caregiver and a Civil War nurse, a surrogate mother to her niece, and a notorious tomboy, all of these facets reflect the complex character of Louisa. No, she wasn’t Jo March, but the struggles and success Alcott found accidentally through her writing, (she hadn’t intended to write Little Women after all) have transcended time, connecting her to generations of little women that followed her.

It’s a Boy! Understanding Your Son’s Development from Birth to Age 18. –and–
The Pressured Child: Helping Your Child Find Success in School and Life. By: Michael Thompson, PhD

I first discovered this author through his book and the DVD series (brought to PBS) titled Raising Cain. It was a glimpse of the inner world of boys that helped me as a mother raising my son. Granted, a boy’s world is still foreign to me in many ways, but at least I know a common language to begin the connection. The above two books continue this quest to discover the differences between boys and girls. These books also provide valuable advice to parents facing the challenges of raising children in the modern world. Thompson is a psychologist that has spent years counseling boys. He dives into the shadow side they tend to retreat to when confronted with difficult emotional situations. Must-read, highly recommended books written by a down-to-earth author with important advice for parents and educators.

Well, now you know what I’ve been doing with my ‘free’ time. If you have any questions on any of the above recommendations, please contact me.

Happy reading!