Sunday Selection

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Wendell Berry, from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998.

Sunday Selection

A friend shared this on facebook after the election, and said it was a quote that has served her well throughout her life, during all the challenging times we all inevitably face. Eleanor Roosevelt's words speak to me also, certainly about the horror that was the election and other more personal things that I may think I cannot do. Fear is what I am feeling and I must face that fear. Eleanor was an extraordinarily strong woman and a knitter, so I've got this on my refrigerator and will try to take it to heart often. 

Sunday Selection

Sundays during November will be for my Sunday Selection - a recipe that sounds good, a book that I love, a quote, poem, or photo that speaks to me ... whatever strikes my fancy!

Today it's The Nix.

I read this book back in September and predicted that it would most likely be the best book I read this year. I feel even more sure about this in mid-November, so I want to spread the word in case it sounds like it might be a book for you. I know several of you have already read this, and I'm friends with quite a few of you on goodreads, so my apologies if you've heard this all before. 

My goodreads review:

In an interview about The Nix, Nathan Hill said, "I stuffed it full of every idea I had. It became a repository of things in the world I was mad about, concerned and confused about." Luckily for me as a reader, he was mad, concerned, and confused about college professors and students they have to deal with, plagiarism, MMORPGs, politics, media, mother-son relationships, past deeds that haunt us, and choose-your-own adventure books. At 620 pages it's a big repository, and even though there were times I wished it had been edited down, there were more times that I wished the stories would go on and on. I started listening to The Nix as an audiobook, but know that the hardcover version weighs in at 620 pages because I bought it when I came to the embedded choose-your-own-adventure book. While You Can Get The Girl! is not strictly based upon the readers' choices, I loved this, as I have often longed for this format written for adults. 

Reviewers that were not as enthralled with this book as I was seemed to think that Nathan Hill was trying to say something about America and how it has evolved/devolved since the sixties, and that may well have been his intention. Rather than look for a message, I simply enjoyed the multiple story lines, full of humor, sadness, satire, details, and thoughts that point out how funny, terrible, and ludicrous life can be (with all them often occurring simultaneously), like this one from Walter Cronkite's mind:

It's a chilling thought, that politicians have learned to manipulate the television medium better than the television professionals themselves. When old Cronkite first realized this was happening he imagined the kinds of people who would become politicians in the future. And he shuddered with fear.

It's only September, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that The Nix is most likely the best book I'll read this year. Nathan Hill is a damn fine storyteller. 

I have a hardcover copy of the book that I'd like to pass along if you are interested in reading it. Please leave a comment below and I will randomly choose a winner next Wednesday and send it off to the lucky person as soon as I can get to the post office.

Happy Reading!

Sunday Selection

Sundays during November will be for my Sunday Selection - a recipe that sounds good, a book that I love, a quote, poem, or photo that speaks to me ... whatever strikes my fancy!

Today it's roses in November.

These are at my father's facility, and I admire them every time I'm there. Some of the blossoms have succumbed to frost, but there are plenty of stunning ones remaining, along with hips and still-to-bloom buds on the same bush. They may be blooming in November because of global warming, and I don't know how long they'll last, but these lovely roses certainly started my November beautifully.