Reading for Me

The Books I Have Read…..Just for Me

Jan 23

#3: The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

by kennithfreeman

This week’s prompt in the reading challenge was a book with a twist. That was proving to be a challenging thing to determine without getting too many spoilers, so I decided to use the mammoth novel that I began over Christmas break to fill the gap. Coming in at over 900 pages, The Pillars of the Earth certainly had more than a few plot twists that kept me coming back for more. I needed to read the last 250 pages or so this week to finish the novel, so it felt like a reasonable challenge despite the slow reading pace that the novel required. I got done just under the wire on Saturday evening!

I’ve been told for many years that I needed to read The Pillars of the Earth. I had enjoyed Follett’s Century Trilogy, but there was just something about the prospect of reading a massive novel about the construction of a cathedral in Medieval England that did not excite me. As Christmas break rolled around, I knew that I needed something to lose myself in and decided to give the work a long-overdue try. To put it simply, the novel is beautifully written with an exquisitely developed cast of characters.

The story really centers around three major characters. Tom Builder and his family find their way to Kingsbridge as they desperately search for work. Along the way, the family meets Alaina, a beautiful young duchess who has lost her fortune when her father is falsely arrested. The monastery at Kingsbridge is lead by Prior Phillip who is gentle, wise, and compassionate. However, any good story also must have people that we love to hate……and Follett fills the bill with Waleran Bigod, a nasty priest with a thirst for power and the bloodthirsty Earl-to-be, William Hamleigh.

It would be impossible to provide a plot summary in such a short space. While the cathedral is a character herself, the story centers around the people who are instrumental in the construction process. The cast is vast, but can easily be visualized through Follett’s excellent prose. Although set in the Middle Ages, many of the important themes traced throughout the book are extremely modern and relevant to the 21st century reader. Do yourself a favor and find the time to dive into the enthralling world of Kingsbridge. It’s a journey worth taking.

What’s ahead this week? I’ll continue my reading challenge. This week’s prompt is to read a book that is the source of a 2022 movie. I’ve decided to finally read Delia Owens’ Where The Crawdads Sing. I suppose it’s time to see what all of the hype has been about.

2022 Reading Challenge fiction

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Jan 19

#2: Malibu Rising (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

by kennithfreeman

At the beginning of the week, I finished my second novel of the year. I had heard great things about Malibu Rising. It should have been a great match for me. I was familiar with the geography of the city by the sea. I am always a big fan of family dramas. I absolutely HATED this book!

Malibu Rising tells the story of the dysfunctional Rivas family. In many ways, it is actually a blending of two intertwined stories. In the 1950s and 1960s, you have the tragic love story of Mick and June. They seemed to be a match made in the Heaven. Then, Mick finds success and realizes he was not “meant to be” in a monogamous relationship. In the 1980s, we follow the lives of Mick’s four children — now grown — as they figure out how to deal with their feelings about their parents and how to navigate the uncertain waters they now find themselves in. On paper, this should have been the perfect book for me. I found myself constantly frustrated with Reid’s writing and her attempts to be literary by constantly shifting between the major plots.

The novel was not a complete bust. I found myself rooting for the four Rivas children. Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit were beautifully rendered characters. If only the story had simply centered on their troubled relationships. However, the inclusion of so many minor characters as well as the previous generations of the Riva family made this book much weaker than it had to be.

I cannot tell you the number of times that I nearly put this book down, never to be finished. Somehow,I managed to plug away and make it to the end. When Mick meets his adult children and they are all forced to face their past failures, Reid’s skill as a writer finally came through. There might be hope for this author after all. I found a few paragraphs in the final few pages of the novel worthwhile and beautifully written.

June had given her children this box packed to the brim with her own experiences, her own treasures and heartbreaks. Her own guilts and pleasures, triumphs and losses, values and biases, duties and sorrows.

And Nina had been carrying around this box her whole life, feeling the full weight of it.

But it was not, Nina saw just then, her job to carry the full box. Her job was to sort through the box. To decide what to keep, and to put the rest down. She had to choose what, of the things she inherited from the people who came before her, she wanted to bring forward. And what, of the past, she wanted to leave behind.

Malibu Rising, 357.

For what it’s worth, I give this novel a hard pass. I don’t think it is worth the effort. Maybe it wouldn’t be bad as an audio book if you needed a simple diversion and there were no other options available. But there ARE outstanding family dramas to dive into and enjoy immensely. Skip this flippant journey through the hills of Malibu and go for another family saga instead. You’ll be much happier that you did!

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Jan 15

The View From My Reading Chair – January 15, 2022

by kennithfreeman

The second week of the year did not bring the finish that I had hoped to be able to report. The week was incredibly busy with the start of classes and lots of physical demands. Somehow, I managed to stay on track with reading at least one page of text for pleasure each day. (There were a couple of days where it almost didn’t happen, but having a goal and habit tracker definitely helped.)

Part of the problem this week was that I was also attempting to return to graduate work with a course on Shakespeare. While I enjoyed the topic and re-exploring the plays, it quickly became evident that the demands of the class and my personal teaching load were not going to be a healthy mix for my life. As I am writing this afternoon, I still feel very groggy after a hard 13-hour sleep last night and find myself anxious to crawl back in bed again in a few hours for more rest. Last week almost did me in!

The other issue that I am facing is the book I’m reading. I am working my way through Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, but the plot hasn’t grabbed hold of my heart yet. I’m only about 130 pages into the novel, so I’m hoping things improve as I move closer to the mid-point of the book. I’m too far into the read to desert it now if I want to stay on course with the goal of reading 40 books this year. I had hoped that I would make more progress today so I could potentially have a finish on Monday. Right now, I’m not incredibly hopeful for that.

Since there was limited reading happening here, I didn’t make any significant progress on The Pillars of the Earth or Going There. I think that I am going to use Pillars as my January book with a twist — because there have been a few — and hope to get back on track with the audio book as well. Both of those books are within the realm of having fairly quick finishes, so I don’t think I will be too far off the monthly goal if I can just manage to get my tail back in gear! Thankfully, tomorrow is the beginning of another week and a chance to make some improvements in my own reading life.

update

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Jan 1

The View From My Reading Chair – January 1, 2022

by kennithfreeman

Happy New Year! I hope each of you have a healthy and prosperous 2022 filled with love, laughter, and good reading! Even though today is a holiday, I thought a brief update on this week’s reading progress was appropriate on this Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, I have felt under the weather much of the week and reading goals took a backseat. (Congestion, cough, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches finally sent me to the doctor on Thursday. Although the rapid test came back negative for COVID-19, the doctor was not satisfied since the results did not match the symptoms. I anticipate getting the results from the lab test on Monday morning. The steroids prescribed at least having me feeling a little more like a human at the moment.)

I continued making my way through The Pillars of the Earth and have managed to get just over half of the novel read. I ended last night’s reading with the death of Tom Builder during the murderous attack on Kingsbridge by William and his men. I’m intrigued to return to the novel this evening to see the implications that this will have on the cathedral’s process as well as the lives of Alfred, Jack, and Phillip. Needless to say, I think Ken Follett is a master storyteller.

For the past several years, I have intentionally started reading a new book on January 1 of each year. In 2022, I am opting to participate in the reading challenge from Booklistqueen.com. I’ve never had great success with reading challenges, but this one looks like a lot of fun and I enjoy the way that she has broken down the list into monthly goals. The first goal for the month of January is to read a book by an author you love. So….that lead me to start Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. I’ve read about 50 pages of the novel so far and find it fascinating. Set in the early days of the COVID pandemic, the novel features on a young woman who goes on vacation in the Galápagos Islands while her boyfriend stays behind in NYC on the front lines of the pandemic in March 2020. It’s a fascinating look back at how all of the mess that we continue to live through all began in our nation. I’ll keep you posted on how the novel continues to hold up through the rest of the week.

Lastly, I set my reading goals for 2022 over on StoryGraph. I decided to repeat the same goal that I pushed for (and failed to meet) in 2021 of reading 40 books. I thought it would also be interesting to set a page number goal…….it seems realistic that I can read 10,000 pages in 2022. Here we go!

update

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Dec 25

The View From My Reading Chair – December 25, 2021

by kennithfreeman

Merry Christmas! I hope that those of you who celebrate the season have had a wonderful day and enjoyed time with family and loved ones. As I sat on the couch in my childhood home on this Saturday evening — finally getting to do a little reading — I realized that it was time to update you all on my progress this week and my reading experience.

All week, I have been working my way through Ken Follett’s massive The Pillars of the Earth. I’ve made my way to page 420 of the book and will pick up reading there tomorrow morning. Normally, that kind of progress would result in another completed read added to my yearly goal. At an expansive 973 pages in total, I definitely have my work cut out for me if I hope to finish reading The Pillars of the Earth in 2021. (For those of you who are nerds like me, that goal would require me to average around 92 pages per day over the next 6 days. It’s not an unheard of amount of reading, but I’ve been struggling to get through 50 pages of Follett’s prose in a single day. I’m not ready to throw in the towel quite yet though.)

I’ve found myself really enthralled with the story thus far. Thankfully, the plot is not dominated totally by the construction of the Kingsbridge Cathedral. Rather, the story centers on the people whose lives intersect with the construction project. It really is a fascinating cast of characters that you quickly grow to love or hate. Then there are those moments where Follett drops a few masterfully constructed sentences that simply demand you pause and consider the implications. For example, while reading tonight I came across this passage.

Having faith in God did not mean sitting back and doing nothing. It meant believing that you would find success if you did your best honestly and energetically.

The Pillars of the Earth, 417

As I read those words, I had to stop and relish the truth contained in them. The juxtaposition of faith and works has been a source of discussion for great thinkers since the earliest days of the Christian faith. While I do not assume that The Pillars of the Earth means to enter the realm of theological conversation – Follett actually takes a hard look at the Church as an establishment throughout the book and the observations are not terribly flattering – I do think that great writing addresses issues that have troubled society for a very long time. It’s small asides like the one above that is making this novel such a joy to read! I’m looking forward to seeing what the coming week holds in store as I continue this reading adventure.

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Dec 18

The View From My Reading Chair – December 18, 2021

by kennithfreeman

Greetings from the Geriatric Ward! This week, I was able to begin reading my “large” project for Christmas Break. Sadly, I am not as far into Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth as I had hoped. What happened? I’m not a reader who is able to get much reading done when there is lots of additional activity happening around me. As my Dad struggled with illness much of the week, I found much of the prized quiet times that I planned to read suddenly disrupted. I tried moving to another space in the house, but alas, it was not to be.

Based on what I have read thus far, I think I am going to enjoy this epic novel. The writing is very good (obviously!) and I am drawn into the characters’ lives. Truthfully, I was a little worried about reading a novel set in the Middle Ages that is largely about a cathedral.

I’m just over 150 pages into the novel, but I am especially enjoying Follett’s examination of church bureaucracy. With past experience serving in the modern church, I am always interested in stories that explored the impact of poor leadership, financial decisions, and politics on the church. I’m looking forward to seeing where the conversation goes next now that Brother Peter has been chosen as prior.

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Dec 13

#33: The Reading List (Sara Nisha Adams)

by kennithfreeman

Books lovers like me know that books are powerful. Books have the power to transport us to another place. Books have the power to heal broken hearts and minds. Books have the power to teach. Books have the power to create community among readers through the sharing of common experiences on the page. Sara Nisha Adams shares a beautiful story about the power of books in her novel, The Reading List.

Aleisha is a recent high school graduate who had hoped to have the summer job of her dreams before starting university in the fall. Instead, she is stuck at Harrow Road Library. While preparing to re-shelve a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, she discovered a handwritten list in the back pocket of the book. It simply said,

  • Just in case you need it…..
    • To Kill a Mockingbird
    • Rebecca
    • The Kite Runner
    • Life of Pi
    • Pride and Prejudice
    • Little Women
    • Beloved
    • A Suitable Boy

Aleisha is more than a little frustrated when Mukesh returns to the library with a long-overdue copy of The Time Traveler’s Wife. The book had actually been checked out by his wife who died several months ago. When Mukesh discovered the book, he decided to read it to see what his wife’s fascination with novels was all about. As he read, Mukesh felt that he understood more about his wife and felt much closer to her. Now that he is returning the book to the library, he feels compelled to ask the “librarian” for another recommendation. Aleisha is not a reader herself and has no idea what she should recommend…..so she decides to let the reading list serve as her guide. This begins Aleisha’s and Mukesh’s journey through the pages of the books on the reading list.

To add to the richness of this debut novel, Aleisha is not the only person who has discovered a copy of the reading list. Each individual faces unique challenges, but each one has “discovered” the same list. Was it simply fate that put this list of 8 novels in each of their hands, or had someone meticulously planned for this to happen? With a deftness for storytelling and an obvious love for the written word, Adams pulls together a novel that pays honor to the books included in the reading list while developing a well-crafted story populated by lovable characters facing real issues in a modern world.

I think The Reading List holds such a special place in my heart because two of the novels are personal favorites of mine (To Kill a Mockingbird and Beloved). Now I find myself drawn to the remaining six books on the list and plan to investigate them — though not right away. Regardless, The Reading List was one of my favorite reads of 2021. I highly recommend every bibliophile checking out this extraordinary novel.

So if I’m not going to begin working my way through the reading list contained in the novel, what’s up next for me? I decided that Christmas Break was the perfect time to dive into a massive book that has long been on my radar. For the next few weeks, I’ll be devoting my attention to The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I started reading it earlier today and must admit that I am enthralled with the opening of the saga…and a little overwhelmed by the massive tome. I’ll keep you posted on how things progress.

fiction

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Dec 13

#32: Atomic Habits (James Clear)

by kennithfreeman

Every major goal that we reach begins with a simple step. Typically, if we can just take that first step, the path to achieving our goals becomes much more certain and attainable. That’s my initial take-away from my first journey through Atomic Habits by James Clear while driving to my parents’ home for the Christmas holidays.

Audio books are not normally a good way for me to consume self-improvement books, but Clear’s reading drew me into the topic and his conversational prose held my attention. When listening to his Four Laws of Behavior Change, the power of the laws were obvious. I was struck by their simplicity and found myself thinking that there really had to be a little more to the power of “Atomic Habits” than just that. But when you get right down to it, the solution to achieving success as we attempt to complete daily tasks that will ultimately lead us to our goals is really as easy as 1) make it obvious; 2) make it attractive; 3) make it easy; and 4) make it satisfying.

When I reached my parents’ home, I immediately signed up for Clear’s weekly newsletter and plan to purchase a hard copy of the book so I can study the material further and make notes. I am interested in seeing how Clear’s Atomic Habits will combine with the concept of Grit that Angela Duckworth has presented so ably. I have a feeling that the two concepts combined will be extremely powerful.

So…..run to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Atomic Habits….or a few! They would make excellent gifts to the people in your life during this holiday season.

audio personal management self-help

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Dec 8

#31: Over the Edge (Mary Connealy)

by kennithfreeman

It has been far too long since I have finished reading a novel, but the dry spell finally ended today! As my students were turning in their exam, I was working through the final pages of the novel. Rather than returning to the office right away to get things graded, I sat quietly in the classroom to finally reach the series’ conclusion.

Over the Edge is the final volume of Mary Connealy’s Kincaid Brides trilogy. In this installment, our focus is on Seth, the brother who was horribly injured in a hiking accident as a child. Seth now finds himself reconnected with the wife he has forgotten and a child he never knew about. When danger threatens Callie, Seth faces his own demons and returns to the cavern where all of his torment began. Will he be able to overcome the darkness that has haunted him for so many years? Or will he finally discover the power of exposing our troublesome pasts to the light of truth?

Over the Edge finally answers questions that readers have searched for throughout the trilogy. The conclusion was satisfying, but I don’t know that I will say that everything is resolved. There were still loose ends that need to be tied up. I’m not sure if there are additional stories about the Kincaid family or not…..and I’m not sure that I am invested enough to continue reading them if there are.

Christian fiction My Library Shelf romance

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Dec 4

The View From My Reading Chair – December 4, 2021

by kennithfreeman

This has been another week of adding to my Did Not Finish pile and finally not feeling guilty about it. Why stop reading a book? I was no longer interested. I felt as though I was trying to read out of duty and necessity instead of desire. That’s not what I want for my reading life these days. The attitude that I could never put down a book unfinished is what led to many years of poor reading in my world.

What books did I put away this week? The biography of Disraeli and Great Pianists both had to go away. The biography is going back to the library after a tough realization that I did not want to spend eight weeks in the spring studying British history of the 19th century as my return to graduate work. The course syllabus did not suggest that the class design was realistic and I just didn’t need that level of stress in my world right away. The Schoenberg book will return to its place on my office shelf; it has been so long since I picked it up that I admitted that it is not where my interest currently lies.

So after a long, busy week, I headed to the bookstore on Friday evening to pick up some books for finals week as well as the holiday break. The plan is to finish reading the Kincaid Brides series before heading back to Arkansas next weekend. While this third volume in the series has not been outstanding, I think I can go ahead and make my way to the end of the story. Two new novels found their way into my home this week — one I was drawn to immediately when I saw it on the shelf and the other than I have had on my TBR list for several years. I have already begun reading The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams and am thoroughly enjoying this novel. Once I get settled in Arkansas, I plan to supplement my reading of a few Shakespearean plays in preparation for my spring class with Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth.

That’s the plan for the rest of 2021. I’m toying with the idea of a different type of reading challenge in 2022. I’ll keep you all posted and let you know what I decide in the weeks ahead.

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