Sometimes my reading recommendations are a little more “do as I say and not as I do”. If you asked me what you should read right now, I would totally tell you to re-read something you love or try a new book in a genre that you know brings you comfort and a sense of peace. Nevertheless, I was chatting with a friend the other day and when we discussed what we were each reading, we were decidedly NOT following these recommendations. I was halfway through this book, which offers the biographies of the five women of the Whitechapel murders in the late 1800s, and she was reading this novel, which reflects on the lives of some notable people after the Russian Revolution.
While we both finished our books, we have enough sense to know that not only did we not want to read each other’s books, but that others might not want to read either.
Yesterday, soaking up some Vitamin D in my hammock, I read and mulled over the very popular The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. (The title doesn’t have an Oxford comma, sigh.) The book has lovely, wistful illustrations and each page contains a little snippet of interaction between the characters, mean to give you something to reflect on and roll around in your mind. It’s the perfect hammock book or fireside book, depending on your season.
I refer to this as a squishy book. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have value. I use that term to mean something I can read or look at when my brain really can’t process new information. A squishy book gives me the pleasure of reading without pressure. If you need that kind of thing right now, I highly recommend this sweet book.
My family has been plowing through everything Star Wars-related, but I can’t handle that for myself right now. I’m not too much of a television person, but I am knitting to an occasional episode of The Golden Girls right now. The majority of the episodes are very light and I know the characters well enough by now to be surprised. So, for me, it’s a squishy show. (I’m a Dorothy.)
This week, I also learned how to play Ticket to Ride online. A game about making train routes around a map is definitely working for me right now. It requires some thinking, but not so much that I can’t listen to a light-hearted podcast in the background. We don’t have any kind of gaming console at my house, so our curiosity about Animal Crossing remains exactly that.
What’s helping you right now? Games, music, movies, television, books, magazines, podcasts, YouTube Channels- it’s all fair in love and pandemic if it’s helping you get through and not hurting anyone else. Please share in the comments. One woman’s catnip can usually attract a friend who shares her interests.
The Reverend Julia Seymour serves Big Timber Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Big Timber, MT. She blogs at lutheranjulia.blogspot.com and readsallthethings.com. She contributed to There’s A Woman in the Pulpit and is President of the board of RevGalBlogPals, Inc.
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I’ve lived in northern Virginia for decades but grew up in western Washington, and we’ve had a week of Pacific Northwest weather. Others are complaining but I’m absolutely loving it. Gray, rainy days in the high 50s-low 60s and I love sitting in front of my big windows, wrapped in a cozy prayer shawl, listening to the rain, and occasionally havin my big cat curl up beside me. Now if I could get my sermon written in time to mail to my unconnected folks.
And my husband and I joined a virtual choir, sponsored by a small church in the presbytery that has a tech-gifted music director. We still won’t be able to sing with a group, but it’s better than silence.
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Zoom Happy Hour with rev gal friends is therapy for this self-confessed recovering over achiever. The tiredness and intermittent motivation isn’t just me! Coved brain is a real thing😅 I work at least one Sudoku puzzle most days and if I mess up, I scratch it and move on without feeling less than good about it. My husband and I started watching This Is Us on Hulu. We’re in season 2 and there is so much real life drama, the emotional toll is relegated to early evening. We’ve started Star Trek Picard ~ sci fi is always a good get away from reality here. Lately it’s The Neighborhood while enjoying a night cap. Hopefully The Good Fight will air a new episode tonight🤞🏻 Of course, there’s good old Jeopardy❤️
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Just got this today from our minister. So happy to know this is here.
I am a high school librarian and I do a lot of reading. However, I have found it hard to get into my normal reading zone. Instead I have been reading magazines that I managed to get from the public library before we went into lockdown – my favourite is Country Life – a UK magazine,
I have found I can disappear into the articles about the countryside, beautiful photos of flowers and trees. I have found these really peaceful and settling in this difficult time of isolation.
One book I have read is American dirt- it is about a woman and child who have to escape from Mexico into America. Sad but good read.
Stay safe and well, gals.
Ethel
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