The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

In light of the recent racial murders in America, this was a timely book to read.  Sometimes it feels that nothing ever changes.  People fear those who are different.  First they attack with words....then violence feels justified.  It feels like it happens to minorities today even more than ever, although Will Smith says, "Racism is not getting worse, it's getting filmed."  And it happened in the Kentucky mountains to the blue skinned people in the 1930's.

Cussy Mary was determined to be a librarian with the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Service, started by President Franklin Roosevelt to create jobs for women and bring reading to the worst poverty areas of the Appalachians.  I appreciated this peek into our history of these brave women.  Even more interesting was the theme captured of the blue skinned people like Cussy Mary.  She not only endured harsh words and shunning from fellow librarians, but also from law enforcement and most of the little town she belonged to.  The local preacher believed she was from the devil and tried to kill her, firmly quoting Bible passages about "her kind".  Just like the black people, the blue skinned people were not allowed at social events, nor could they use the white restrooms.

In the end, I loved how Cussy Mary's library patrons stood up for her when the sheriff refused to allow her to marry a white.  Those mountain folks who had gotten to know and love her, spoke up.  What a great lesson...when we get to know those who are from a different culture or race, it gets more personal.  We understand more of their struggles.  We identify with them.  We love them.

May we stand up to the racism in our communities.  May we dare to speak up.  May God give us the eyes to see injustice.  May we NOT sit by silently.

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

A very quick read on Hoopla, this was a great choice for me.  Based on a true life photograph from 1948 of four children with a sign next to them reading "4 Children for Sale"; Kristina McMorris weaves an engaging tale of how reporter Ellis Reed misleads his readers about this family picture.  This has romance, suspense,  Mafia connections, foster care, and family issues; but the real story is  how two people relentlessly follow their hearts to bring a family back together.

I very much enjoyed this author's take on how the Depression era wreaked havoc on families across America, but also how it brought others together.  Because my mom lived through this time, she learned much about being frugal:  not wasting food, saving your best clothes for Sunday, using the "envelope" money method, paying cash for purchases, tucking money away (sometimes literally in various pockets of her clothing!), baking from scratch, using baggies repeatedly.  In the midst of all this, families also learned to depend on one another for fun and to take care of each other. 

This was a heartstring grabber....with a happy ending.

A Bigger Table by John Pavlovitz

On John Pavlovitz's blog, Stuff That Needs to be Said, he continually reminds us of what is important about being a believer.  Kindness, Patience, Authenticity, Diversity, Loving as Jesus did.  For those of us who were raised as conservative Christians, as he was, his comments and opinions are extremely challenging because John is not about the status quo or business as usual.  His journey has been scary, slow, emotionally difficult ...and freeing. 

In "A Bigger Table", John continues to risk the ire of conservatives by suggesting that our new media driven/ formulated churches have somehow missed the mark.  He wants to see us reach out wider to the broken people who think very differently than we do, and to set up church differently.  He reminds us that Jesus welcomed Matthew the tax collector, the centurion, Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman, a leper....all of the fringe people who had been discarded by both society and the religious order of the day.  And...he wants us not just to minister to them, but to embrace and love them IN OUR CHURCHES.  His book is full of the stories of these people who have been turned out by believers, from fellowships they had lovingly belonged to.

This book was so challenging for me, but so good.  It resonated with my growing conviction that meeting Jesus and walking with him, is not a one-time decision to be counted by evangelists...but a lifetime of processing, walking, submitting, growing.  And we need to be those who walk alongside with encouragement, and with no judgement for the broken who have made huge messes of their lives.  We need to love them right where they are, not demanding change, but offering grace.  I am ready to admit, after experiencing a church that is economically, racially and politically diverse; that my previous "know it all" hard stances were wrong.  I am not ready at my age to start a new kind of church like John is doing in Raleigh, NC.  I don't yet agree with all of his beliefs, but I am intrigued by the journey he has been on and am blessed by the way he powerfully uses his blog to initiate discussions about the wrongs that he sees.  He may be a modern day prophet.  I am trying to listen.

The Dutch House and The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett's writing style resonates with me.  She develops her characters well by telling their stories through the viewpoints of other people.  I especially enjoyed The Dutch House, her most recent novel. It centers around a large, uniquely built house in a small town outside of Philadelphia.  The house was purchased by Maeve and Danny's father as a special gift to their mother, but the house did not provide all the beautiful dreams that Mr. Conroy envisioned.  The fairytale he wanted unraveled when Elna came to despise the house and all that it stood for.  Mostly, this book is about the relationship between the two children: through the ups and downs of their father's death, the stepmother's wrath, the abandonment by their mom, and the loss of the house; these two weather it all and stay resiliently connected.  For most of her readers, I'm sure the cruel stepmother struck a nerve; but even more difficult for me was the way the mother walked away, not just from her husband and life--but from her two kids who were under ten years old....so disturbing.  She chose to travel the world and assist other needy people, not acknowledging the deep holes of need that would develop in Maeve and Danny.



The Patron Saint of Liars was a much earlier work.  In the 1940's, Rose is raised by her mother after the accidental death of her father at age 4.  When Rose tells her story, she makes it sound as if she and her mother enjoyed their life immensely, that they had many wonderful memories together; however as the story develops it appears to me that Rose must have had a dis-connect.  When she gets pregnant, she flees from California to Tennessee to a Catholic home for unwed mothers, leaving behind her life with husband Thomas and her mother.  Essentially disappearing.  Finally facing the fact that she could not give up her baby, she agrees to marry Son (although still married to Thomas, whom Son knows nothing about), an older handyman who is smitten with her.  She stays at the home as the volunteer cook.  Once again, the same thread runs throughout this book:  a mother who chooses to assist others in the home, to give advise and love....but who does not interact nor actually care about her own daughter.  Perhaps all of the secrets from her past make it impossible to move forward, so she can only concentrate on her day to day duties without sharing any part of herself with her husband nor Sissy.  It was a compelling read and I thought Rose would finally open up to those who loved her, but it did not happen.  The ending was disappointing for me.  Sister Evangeline and Son were the shining characters --they gave sacrificially both to Rose and to Sissy.  I may need to read one more book by Ann Patchett to see if the "less than stellar mothers" theme continues.  It makes me wonder if the author had a mother dis-connection!