2025 Reading List

January to May, with the 2nd grade class

Capyboppy, by Peet 

The Minstel in the Tower, by Skurzynski 

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, by Dalgliesh 

The Big Father and His Little Boy, by Schuermann 

The Moffats, by Estes 

Mrs Piggle-Wiggle, by MacDonald

Life of Fred (Apples), by Stanley Schmidt

February 

Eleven Numbers: A Short Story, by Child 

JRR Tolkien: A Life Inspired, by North 

Martin Luther on Mental Health, by Saunders 

March 

Orthodoxy, by Chesterton 

The Problem of Suffering, by Greg Schulz 

Take Courage, by Matt Harrison 

April 

The Best Yes, by TerKeurst 

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way, by TerKeurst 

Forgiving What You Can't Forget, by TerKeurst 

May 

Good Boundaries and Goodbyes, by TerKeurst 

June 

I Want to Trust You, But I Don't, by TerKeurst 

Growing Old with B.C., by Hart 

Irregular People, by Landorf

Old Testament Canticles, by Andrew Gerike

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Richardson

The Ardent Swarm, by Manai

July

Alexander the Great, by Gunther (Landmark book)

Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo, by Winmar (Landmark book)

Red Dog, by Wallace

Above All Things: The Tale of the King, by Rivers

August

Kids in the Divine Service, by Thoma

October

Faith Formation in Families, by the LCMS Children in Worship Initiative

November

Captain Cook Explores the South Seas, by Sperry (Landmark book)

June to December

Without the Shedding of Blood, by Scaer

Started but ditched pretty quickly

There's Something About Mira, by Dev

The Lending Library, by Fogelson

Movie: Green and Gold

 We had heard about the movie "Green and Gold," it sounded interesting, and we finally watched it.

On the plus side, this is the most Wisconsin thing I've ever seen.  I was initially delighted with the whole thing.  Culver's.  Cows.  Barns.  Near the shore of Lake Michigan.  Rural life.  Small towns.  Packers mania.  Target practice with guns.  Deer, a bear, migrating geese, and other wildlife.  Charlie Behrens on the radio.  Tractors.  The value of family farms versus industrial farming.  The crazy squiggly road up in Door County.

But the movie began frustrating us with the quality of the audio.  Of the two main characters, one was pretty easy to understand.  But the other had a "fuzzy" voice, very hard to catch her words.  And there was no captioning available.  We missed a lot of dialogue, as only a few of the characters had clear voices whose words we could understand.  And the visuals were dark enough that there was no chance of lip-reading to pick up words we missed.

There was also the ubiquitous problem of the pastor and the congregation (neither of which was tremendously integral to the story) having terrible theology and not knowing what the church is for.  But that part is no surprise.  

The movie wasn't a complete waste of time.  But boy, I'm glad we opted to watch it with commercials for free instead of renting the show.

My conclusion at the end of the evening: I think I'm no longer an Illinois girl.  I really have become a Wisconsinite.

Just Do the Dishes

 A friend was feeling swamped at work, not an unusual situation with what we do.  One day, she was feeling particularly overwhelmed and asked, "What do you do when there's so much to do that you don't have any idea where to even start?"

I said, "Wash the dishes."

She looked at me like I was nuts, as there are no dishes to wash at work.  We do a lot of office work.  There are piles of papers and lots of computer stuff to do, along with handling the interruptions that are often the essential nature of our job.  What does dishes have to do with anything??

I tried to explain how things are at home.  When there's so much to do that you don't know where to start, "just wash the dishes" is a good first step.
a) You know it needs to be done, and sooner is better than later.
b) It's quick.  Probably ten minutes or less.
c) It doesn't take any thinking or decision-making.  It's easy on the brain.
d) It provides obvious results in a short amount of time: the counter is cleared off.
e) It provides space to do another task.  Can't make supper if there's no counter space, so washing the dishes and thus clearing the counter makes it possible to tackle another job.
f) It gets you over the hurdle of NotDoing, from which you can (perhaps) build on the momentum and do the NextThing.

But when you think about this, doesn't the concept apply to many situations?  

If you have so much to do that you don't have a clue where to start, pick a quick little job that takes no decision-making and which will provide obvious improvement with little effort.  Then maybe you'll be able to attack a slightly bigger job, and keep progressing from there.

About Good Stories

Katie Schuermann led a session at the CCLE conference where we looked at stories.  I need a handy place to keep my notes from the session.  What follows is not a cohesive piece, but just my notes from the lovely things she talked about.  If you disagree with something below, it's probably my fault as I reflect on what I heard that day, and no fault of Katie's.  

A good story is simply putting the truth into the shape of a plot.

A good story takes the characters from life to death and back to life.

In a good story, the hero/protagonist is a savior.

Suffering in a story should be seen to bear fruit in sanctification.

A story's plot should reach its climax according to God's form and God's truth.

Poor writing is seen when the author doesn't answer his own foreshadowing.
 ~~ Such as when Alcott sets you up to expect Jo and Laurie to be a couple, and they marry others.
 ~~ Such as when Huck Finn longs for a mother and needs a mother, but rejects the offer to settle down with a good [surrogate] mother.

Poor writing is seen when the author turns God's good order on its head.
 ~~ Such as when Ingalls Wilder shows good family life throughout the series, with a wise and loving father, and then in the final book shows that Laura doesn't embrace the headship of Almonzo.

There are objective standards of what is true and beautiful and good, and these are found in God's word.  It is a problem when we read books that speak against these standards.

If we feel unsettled or unsatisfied at the end of a story, it could be 
~~ because the author intended to us to be unsettled or uncomfortable,
~~ because the author broke form with his own story-form, or
~~ because the author's story goes against the One True Story.

Book Review -- TerKeurst

"It's Not Supposed To Be This Way: finding unexpected strength when disappointments leave you shattered" is another book by Lysa TerKeurst, written a few years after "The Best Yes."  The big disappointments she was facing at the time of the book were a cancer diagnosis, a wayward child, and marriage problems resulting in a separation.  That's a lot of pain all at once.

There were so many parts of this book I liked.  This is not your typical Christian "self-help" book.  This is a book about how we can't help ourselves.  This is a book about the Lord alone being our strength, and not we ourselves.  

This is a book so honest that, at one point, while she was saying the exact same things that have been coming out of my pastor's mouth during sermons and Bible classes, she then admitted that the readers probably want to throw the book across the room in anger or frustration ... because that's her reaction too to what she wrote.  Even though she absolutely, 100%, knows that what she wrote is the God-honest truth.  [Can you say "old Adam" and "new man"?]

Page 130: "I had forgiven this person for the facts of what they'd done.  I had said the words.  But I had refused to let go of the labels I put on this person.  Uncaring.  Irresponsible.  Cold-hearted.
Sometimes these labels protect us from toxic people.  But sometimes they prevent us from truly forgiving and moving forward with even our healthy relationships.  There's wisdom in knowing the difference."

Yes.  "Toxic relationships" are over-diagnosed and too-much-talked-about these days.  But sometimes we do need protection.  And that can be hard to recognize and even harder to admit to ourselves.

Pages 131-132: She speaks of holding herself accountable for something she didn't do, and beating herself up for a choice that wasn't her own.  

This feeds into something I have learned: It's easier to forgive someone for sinning against you than it is to try to convince yourself that the person who did damage to you didn't really do it.  Gaslighting yourself isn't the same as forgiveness.  

Forgiveness is better than pretending that forgiveness isn't needed.

Pages 178-179: We don't know yet how things will turn out.  The difficult situations hurt.  You can't change the situation.  You can't see where it's going.  But you have to keep living in that life steeped in "I don't know."  She gives examples:

• You're unsettled at work, but you don't know what's next, so you keep going to work each day, even though it's awkward.
• Your child and his teacher are not a good fit.  You've tried to solve it; after talking to the teacher you've worked through channels.  But you're weary and stuck.
• Your friends are getting married [or having babies] and you aren't.  The loneliness hurts.

It is exhausting, wearying, draining, to live in that constant state of "I don't know what's happening here."  But the comfort and strength in facing this is not to get a tidy answer to what's coming.  The real comfort is in Christ's peace, in the forgiveness of sins for us and for those who hurt us.

And that's where I come to the one big thing about the book that made me uneasy.  The author follows up the discussion just addressed above.  She wants to equip us with powerful Bible verses.  While some of them are good [Lamentations 3: "His compassions fail not"] too many of these Bible verses are about me and what I do.  "Pay attention to My wisdom" or "Be alert and of sober mind" or "Focus on the goal" or "If anything is worthy, think on these things."  Those statements are indeed from God's word, and they are good.  But they are commands.  Not promises.  To be sure, these are good commands.  But strength and comfort are found in the promises of the Lord to us even when we are unworthy.  

And the nice thing is, the predominant message in the book IS the comfort of Christ's blood shed and His mercy poured out on us.

Book Review -- TerKeurst

"The Best Yes: Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands" was not an impressive book, but it was okay.  Lysa TerKeurst's books are not deep theology.  They're more like having a cup of tea with a girlfriend, chatting, supporting each other, crying on each other's shoulder or giving each other something to laugh about.

"The Best Yes" seemed to be primarily encouragement that we need to say no sometimes.  We can't always be people-pleasers and say yes to anything and everything.  

The best nuggests from the book were things I already knew, but it's good to be reminded.

• Any time you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to something/someone else.  Whenever you say yes, then something else has to make way for the new commitment.
• We are wearied by overcommitment.
• It's better to say no from the start rather than get involved and have to admit later that you can't carry through on what you promised.

I think the thing that surprised me the most about the book was that the theology was pretty decent.  Yes, she uses some evie-lingo.  And the book would probably not pass doctrinal review for my Lutheran synod.  But it's not offensive in the way that many books of this genre are.  And that made me feel comfortable enough to pick up another of her books.

The Law of God Is Good and Wise

I've been reading a book by a non-Lutheran writer, who quoted a non-Lutheran preacher (Levi Lusko):

When God says "don't,"

we should read it as "Don't hurt yourself."

That sounds a lot like a certain Matthias Loy hymn.

Ain't it great?

God's don'ts are not constraints intended to ruin our fun, but are rather protections for us.

Don't hurt yourself.

The Nice People Here

My daughter works at a restaurant.  As far as the employees knew, a new guy became general manager last fall.  Well, it turned out that, a couple of months later, he bought the restaurant from the long-time owners.  One of James's observations was that the people around here are NICE.  Really nice.  Patient.  Kind.  The employees are (overall) more agreeable to work with, and they have a better-than-average work ethic, as well as respect for their co-workers.  The customers, too, are a whole different level of nice from the customers he worked with in other cities.

Fast-forward a few months.  Now it's Lent.  This restaurant traditionally sees a sizable increase in business during Lent, largely due to sales of cod, shrimp, and walleye.  

The new owner and new managers were surprised by the sales of fish dinners.  They hadn't seen anything like this in the other locales where they'd worked.

Just a thought ...

Are the type of people who keep the Lenten fast also the type of people who take their Christianity seriously ... and are thus nicer people overall?

Not saying that those of us who eat burgers and chicken during Lent are lesser Christians.  Also not saying that those of us who are strict with our no-meat-Lent are necessarily more patient or kind than others.  

But it is interesting that there were two separate observations of the culture of our area.  And maybe there's a correlation that's not readily obvious to the casual observer.

2024 Reading List

January
The Saints of Whistle Grove, by Schuermann

Feb/March
Seasons of My Life, by Hannah Hauxwell

April
Silver Linings, by Macomber
Sweet Tomorrows, by Macomber
The Moffats, by Estes (with Martin)

May
The Warner Boys: Our Family's Story of Autism and Hope, by the Warners
The Middle Moffat, by Estes (with Martin)
Rufus M, by Estes (with Martin)
Warrior Monk, by Ray Keating

June
The Root of All Evil? by Keating
An Advent for Religious Liberty, by Keating
The River, by Keating

July
Murderer's Row, by Keating
Wine into Water, by Keating

August
A Bride Most Begrudging, by Gist

Sept-October
Behind Palace Doors: My Service as the Queen Mother's Equerry, by Burgess

November
There's a Hole in My Bucket: A Journey of Two Brothers, by R. Tolkien
Hope When Your Heart Breaks: Navigating Grief and Loss, by Newman
The Answer Is NO, by F. Backman

December
Holly Banks Full of Angst, by J. Valerie
When We Were Widows, by A. C. Macias

Best book of the year was "Saints of Whistle Grove" -- hands down.  I'm kind of amazed that I haven't already read it another time or two.

Keating murder mysteries were very enjoyable even though that's not normally a genre I read.  The Lutheran setting and the theological/moral perspective was great (without being at all preachy).  I'm looking forward to continuing the series.  I did need a little break, though, from all the BadGuyStuff.

The Aug-Sept books were pretty good.  The Kindle freebies (Nov-Dec) weren't bad.

2023 Reading List

January
Mrs Entwhistle: Once You're Over the Hill, You Pick Up Speed, by Reidy
Miss Budge in Love, by Simpkins

February
How Green Was My Valley, by Llewellyn

April
What Do You Think of Jesus? by Scaer 

May 
Mrs Miracle, by Macomber
Susannah’s Garden, by Macomber
A Martyr's Faith in a Faithless World, by Wolfmueller

June
When First They Met by Macomber
The Inn at Rose Harbor, by Macomber
Lost and Found in Cedar Cove, by Macmber
Rose Harbon in Bloom, by Macomber
Love Letters, by Macomber
Falling for Her, by Macomber

July-October
The Mission of Mildred Budge, by Simpkins
Belle, by Simpkins

November
Miss Budge Goes to Fountain City, by Simpkins
Kingdom Come, by Simpkins
Christmas in Fountain City, by Simpkins

December
Has American Christianity Failed? by Wolfmueller