Reading for Me

The Books I Have Read…..Just for Me

Sep 30

A Shot in the Butt (September 30, 2024)

by kennithfreeman

The week has come to an end with another case of the crud. That’s right. College students somehow don’t understand that upper respiratory infections are contagious and not something that anyone else wants. If you are feeling under the weather, do not walk into a music studio and spread your gunk.

So, I’ve felt pretty crummy the end of the week. I played a service on Sunday morning wearing my COVID mask and went to work on Monday morning with the same mask. I was able to get in to see the doctor this afternoon who confirmed that I have acquired the viral infection that is going around. Since I’ve leaving on a jet plane on Thursday, he gave me a massive injection and I will start a Z-Pak tomorrow. What does that mean? At the moment, but butt is sore from the shot and I didn’t feel like doing a ton of reading this week. In fact, my reading streak came to an end on Saturday after 62 consecutive days of putting my nose in a book. Oh well, time to start a new streak!

What I’m Currently Reading

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors (p. 77 of 342). This is one of the September 2024 selections from the Book of the Month Club. As you can see, I’m not very far into it, but it is an interesting premise. Three sisters are dealing with the one year anniversary of the death of their fourth sister. In many ways, she was the glue that held them all together. Rather than dealing with the loss, the sisters have avoided their grief and left their childhood home as it has always been. Now that their parents are selling the space, the option of ignoring the memories and mementos they left behind is no more.

With a flight to the West Coast coming up this week, I hope to make some serious progress in this novel. I really need to get back into a reading routine now that the Cubs season has come to an end and I don’t have the distraction of baseball any more. Now I must choose to spend my time in the pages of a book or mindlessly watching television. Right now, I’m not certain that I will make the right decision because the lure of the boob tube is strong.

There you have it. I’m fighting for my reading life at the moment. Tune in next week to see how things turn out.

Until then, happy reading, y’all.

family saga fiction

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Sep 23

The One with an Eye Infection (September 23, 2024)

by kennithfreeman

Last week, the crud that kept on giving in the music department decided to throw me an additional curve. On Tuesday night, I began to feel a stye forming in my right eye. I’ve had them before and normally they can just be treated with warm compresses and a little TLC. Things felt different on Wednesday morning, so I headed straight to the local optometrist because I am not going to fool around with my eyes!

Long story short, somehow the respiratory infection found its way to my eye. I was prescribed a salve to apply to the lower eyelid — the INNER lid actually — as well as a Z-Pak. I would eventually figure out how to apply the salve effectively. The Z-Pak, however, made me so sick on the first day that I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. I cannot handle nausea at all!

Since my eye was infected, reading was not all that fun this week for several days. Thankfully, my eye was significantly better by Friday afternoon and I was able to get back to a reading routine that resulted in more than just my minimum daily goal. Despite all of the challenges, I had a finish this week!

What I Finished Reading

As Sure As the Dawn by Francine Rivers. This final volume of The Mark of the Lion trilogy was not what I expected. The now free gladiator Artestres returned to Germania with his Roman wife and a Roman centurion. As they desired to share the gospel with the village that Artestres called home, they were faced with pagan rituals. This volume was much darker and filled with the miraculous. The dead were raised, spiritual warfare was a central part of the story, the gift of tongues was used to share faith with non-Greek speakers. All in all, it was a fascinating story but certainly not what I was expecting from what I would consider mass market Christian fiction.

What I’m Currently Reading

Although I made no additional progress this week, I still have plans to read No Book Beginners by Tim Topham. Since I just finished the Francine Rivers book yesterday, I’m looking for a new start. I pulled a couple of things from my book shelf, but nothing struck my fancy. A package from the Book of the Month Club arrived this afternoon, so I think I’m going to start making my way through one of them. You’ll have to join me next Monday to see what I actually end up reading.

Happy reading, y’all!

~Kennith

Christian fiction historical

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Sep 16

Thankful for Cold Medicine (September 16, 2024)

by kennithfreeman

The title tells you everything you need to know. This week was all about trying to outrun the Typhoid Marys and Typhoid Charlies that roamed the halls of the music building this week. Everyone went on choir retreat together last weekend. Everyone came home with various types of crud. No one wanted to stay home and not spread their cooties! I managed to stay out of the grips of the plague until Friday afternoon. Of course, my students managed to ruin my weekend as well. I love them dearly! (The dripping sarcasm is completely intentional.)

As is normally the case, when I don’t feel well, my reading takes a hit. Thankfully, I was able to keep things under control with a few days of cold medicine and maintained my streak of consecutive days of reading. Nothing was finished this week, but I’ll take the small victory of reading through the congestion when what I really wanted to do was binge watch another episode of Scandal.

What I’m Currently Reading

As Sure as the Dawn by Francine Rivers (p. 220 of 473). Atretes and his child are now attempting to leave Rome, but their efforts may be thwarted by a manic Emperor who simply wants to show his power over the former Gladiator. Atretes is fueled by anger, but his heart is pierced as he hears the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans and the tenderness of Rizpah, the woman who has raised his child since birth. This final volume in the Mark of the Lion trilogy is definitely more character driven than the previous books. I’m not sure how I feel about Rivers’ portrayal of this man who has risked everything for his freedom. I’m finding myself almost making appointments with the novel rather than simply being drawn into its pages.

No Book Beginners: A Step-By-Step Framework for Creative Piano Teaching by Tim Topham (p. 80 of 194). This is proving to be a challenging, thought-provoking read for me. Topham essentially argues that the reason students do not excel in piano study and end up hating it is because we force them to read music before we allow them to fall in love with the language. The point has some validity and needs further study. However, I’m not sure that every teacher has the skills needed to incorporate the improvisation and composition required to follow Topham’s method. In all fairness, I am just getting into the portion of the conversation that truly lays out Topham’s plan in sequence, so I am making assumptions about what is required. I am being very methodical and taking copious notes as I read the work because I want to be able to recall the ideas and communicate them clearly to others when I’m done. With a very busy week ahead, I don’t know that I will have much time to devote to this more academic reading assignment this week, but I certainly plan to continue reading and considering the argument.

That’s what I’ve got this week. Now, back to the books!

~Kennith

Christian fiction music

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Sep 9

Fall Is Coming! (September 9, 2024)

by kennithfreeman

The weather is getting cooler. We experienced a few rain showers. I enjoyed a relaxing weekend at home after getting the first full week of playing up and running. No students or pianists were harmed in this endeavor. Of course, my annual friend chest congestion made an appearance. Fortunately, Mucinex seems to be doing the job of keeping things under control and not allowing this unwelcome friend to set up permanent residence.

There was also some reading that happened this week and some decisions made. Here’s the scoop….

What I Finished Reading

The Rookie by Jim Morris. I shouldn’t have been surprised that I enjoyed this memoir as much as I did. After all, it was a baseball book. But it was so much more. It was a story of fear, failure, family, and frustration. It was a story of dreams delayed and dreams fulfilled. It was encouraging and challenging. It was the perfect read for the beginning of a new semester and a new group of freshman students in my world.

What I Stopped Reading

The Artist as Citizen by Joseph Polizi. The more I read in this collection of speeches, the more I realized that the era that Polizi addressed was not the art world that I currently reside in. There were interesting points to consider, but the book was not speaking to me. Besides, there were other books sitting nearby in the office waiting for my attention. This volume had become a drudge and a duty. That’s not what I want my reading life to be about any more.

What I Am Currently Reading

No Book Beginners: A Step-By-Step Framework for Creative Piano Teaching by Tim Topham. (p. 18 of 194) One of the books that was calling from the corner of my desk was this one. A leader in modern music instruction, Topham is calling for a new approach to piano instruction. Following an approach more akin to language learning, Topham suggests that students first explore the language of music before the process of learning to read and write begins. This approach would pull teachers away from traditional piano methods and require more activity-driven instruction of students as they discover musical concepts. While the traditionalist in me is a little apprehensive of the prospect, the educator in me is intrigued. I’m not sure what I’ll find, but I’m looking forward to making my way through this book slowly in the weeks ahead.

As Sure As the Dawn by Francine Rivers. (p. 45 of 473) In this final novel in the Mark of the Lion trilogy, Rivers focuses on the story of Atretes. Atretes was a gladiator who purchased his freedom from the arena and has since discovered that his child lives. I’m still very early in the story, so I’m not entirely sure where we will be heading. I am excited to see how things will be tied up in this final episode of the saga and trust that I will enjoy this novel as much as I have the rest of the series.

There you have it. Happy reading, y’all!

~Kennith

fiction historical memoir music

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Sep 2

Happy Labor Day! (September 2, 2024)

by kennithfreeman

Ah….the joy of a long weekend at the very beginning of the semester. After getting things up and running and beginning to get into the groove of how things are going to go, I get a day off. That’s the perfect time for my allergies to begin causing problems and congestion to settle into my chest. Just what I had hoped for!

The week has been pretty good overall. Lots of things accomplished in the office, practicing again with some regularity as my arm continues to heal, and still managing to do some reading. At the moment, I’m fighting through a bit of a reading slump after powering through the final book of #BigBookSummer. Let me tell you what I’ve finished, what I thought, and what I’m reading now.

What I Finished

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult. I am conflicted about this book. It was an interesting premise — Did Shakespeare actually write all of those plays and poems or were they purchased from other individuals, including women? The plight of women to receive equal footing and respect in modern society is certainly an issue worthy of discussion. Sadly, this book did not arouse the type of response in this reader that I expect when I come to one of Picoult’s books. I expect to have to think critically about important issues from perspectives that may challenge me and make me uncomfortable. By Any Other Name felt like a history lesson about a little-known female author fighting against a system that simply wasn’t going to change. I get that Picoult was pointing out how women have been fighting the same battle for centuries, but the historical fiction almost made the plight seem hopeless. When reading about the modern playwright who was deceptive, manipulative, and dishonest in order to get her play read — and then pouted when her plot blew up in her face — I was not cheering for her. Honestly, I was rather pleased that she got what she deserved. Dishonesty is never the way to bring about societal change. So, I’ve put this book on a low shelf of my bookcase and don’t plan to recommend it to other readers. I’ll just pretend that Picoult didn’t write it and continue to enjoy most of her other works.

What I’m Currently Reading

Plans changed this week and I didn’t pick up the Sue Grafton novel I mentioned last week. I also didn’t finish reading my office book….because work was BUSY! Here’s where things stand at the moment.

The Artist as Citizen by Joseph Polizi (p. 54 of 178). I chose this book for my office read because it is a compilation of speeches given about the role of the arts in American society and the artist’s responsibility as a member of society. What I failed to realize is that the quickly changing conversations in these speeches left me not necessarily wanting to dive back into the reading. So I am not making much progress through it. I’m hoping that I can force myself to continue reading the speeches this week and get closer to a conclusion. That’s also why I didn’t choose to begin another novel this week.

The Rookie by Jim Morris and Joel Engel (p. 59 of 276). A baseball memoir should be an obvious choice for me. I am finding myself drawn into the story of a west Texas boy drafted into the Big Leagues despite the obstacles, but as I have struggled with my allergies at the end of the week and needed to take care of a few things around the apartment, I haven’t done as much reading as I had hoped. Thankfully, this is a really fast read and not requiring a ton of effort to make progress. After reading several dense, big books recently, this short memoir will be a nice change of pace.

There you have it! Happy reading this week, y’all.

~Kennith

baseball Big Book Summer fiction historical memoir music

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