Book Review: Cloud Cuckoo Land

The framework of Doerr's newest opus is a newly discovered work by Diogenes, a story called "Cloud Cuckoo Land." The account shows Aethon's transformations as he seeks utopia but encounters struggle after struggle.

The setup alternates from a siege in 1450s Constantinople, a tense scene in present-day Idaho, and a futuristic ship bound for a new land. Each learns of Aethon's story, and their journeys mirror stories of perseverance, even when discouraged or hopeless, as they find purpose and reason and connection through language, through stories, through books. This is a beautiful epic that doesn't turn away from legitimate concerns like climate change, war, identity, and acceptance, but even in these realistic treatments, offers hope, a way forward.

Doerr dedicates this work to the librarians across time, and Cloud Cuckoo Land is a fitting tribute to the role librarians play in societies. The interconnected stories represent the ties we have to each other, even if they can be tenuous and lost in a moment. But there is hope that, things thought lost forever, might just be hidden for a time.

Doerr asks us to reflect on what it is that binds us, what motivates us. How we can be contributing to the problem, but that we also are necessary, a part of the solution. How a timeless tale continues to deliver purpose and insight and offers new relevance.

This scope was dazzling. An author takes a risk at portraying such diverse characters in varied times and places, as the true test is where readers find their allegiances, whether they are unmoved by characters that feel like diversions taking away from the true storyline. I was highly invested in each character, so while I mourned the pause in one's storyline, once I turned the page I also delighted in getting to pick up the threads of another as Doerr cast a vision for what we each seek and long for.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Book Review: No Cure for Being Human

After a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer, Kate Bowler reflects on what it means to live with uncertainty, when her length of life was no longer assured. She examines questions of whether it's possible to be content when one's days are numbered, and how that feeling of finitude, of having all things in perspective, is fleeting. When she discusses the birthday script she and her son act out, it nearly brings me to tears, and she is willing to let us in on her intimate conversations with her family, with her close friends, and with her medical professionals, even when it isn't always flattering.

These insights, while gained through a diagnosis not all will face, have a feeling of universality. What is the purpose of our professional selves when our final days are upon us, for instance? She wrestled with whether or not to work on her academic book, knowing it would take time from her family when that itself was uncertain (a colleague wisely said, "If the worst happens and this book is the last thing you ever do, Zach can still find you there").

Bowler writes with heart and with vulnerability, sharing her thoughts and words from that immediate time as well as how the pandemic impacted everything after: "The truth of the pandemic is the truth of all suffering: that it is unjustly distributed."

Through my own experiences, I have wondered how to come to terms that certain tragedies have so viscerally impacted and changed me, that while I hate that they happened, I just couldn't quite get to the point to wish them away because of how they transformed me. Bowler also has that epiphany: "...we fully agree that we stumbled into the heart of a mystery -- that there were moments of suffering that felt unmistakably like gifts."

Even with a serious subject matter, Bowler's humor is present; this book exudes hope and joy and it was a gift to read.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Book Review: Somebody's Daughter

Ashley Ford's memoir Somebody's Daughter is a tour de force as she reckons with the complicated realities of life and the nuance found in relationships.

There is her incarcerated father, one whom she loves unconditionally and yet later has to come to terms with the crimes that led to his imprisonment; a mother who provides but struggles to show affection and support, and an early relationship that left her vulnerable.

While not everyone may have firsthand experience of the accounts Ford vividly relays, she writes in such a way that I couldn't help drawing parallels to my own family. Themes of separation, hardship, and yet finding hope and perseverance shine through the pages. One can't help but be heartbroken when Ford is wronged by the teacher, for instance, or cheer when she finds acceptance and success. Somebody's Daughter is relatable for its transparency and the truth within the pages, as Ford succinctly shares a nugget like, "Kids can always tell the difference between adults who want to empower them and adults who want to overpower them."

The audiobook, read by the author, is expertly done. We fully understand that "moving forward required going back," and we are grateful that Ford was willing to share her journey with us.

Somebody's Daughter releases June 1.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)   

Book Review: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer is a rich guide, filled with personality and humor. Instead of feeling like Comer is condemning me for not being there yet, it read as an encouragement, an invitation to join him in these practices, as Comer once was stretched and stressed and overwhelmed and has now found a welcome balance.

Whether influenced by my time of life or the pandemic, this book resonated with me. Comer offers recommendations for how to resist the culture's pull for more, for busyness. Through discussing four practices (silence and solitude; sabbath; simplicity; slowing), Comer offers a rich read that had me marking up the pages. Practical suggestions that challenge and convict me had me pausing and reflecting.

One intentional act I instituted recently was to give up showers as much as possible, replacing them with bathing. I draw a piping hot bath, disconnect from doom scrolling, temporarily withdraw from my family, and take a book or magazine with me. I have determined this is a valuable, worthy indulgence, meaningful for my mental health. With the summer ahead, I have intentionally orchestrated a light work schedule, so as to allow wide swaths of time that have not yet been earmarked. I see value in the opportunity to slow down, to be more present in the moment, to delight in time outdoors. While I didn't necessarily take those steps as a direct correlation to this book, this book helps provide support for the pause, for the quieting from the daily rush, for allowing me to acknowledge how this has been a taxing season and how such a practice, of living an unhurried life, can reap dividends. I highly recommend this book for those who are feeling like it's all too much and are seeking ways to be revived and restored.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Book Review: A Burning in My Bones

My earliest introduction to Eugene Peterson was through references to The Message. Admittedly, my initial impressions were mixed; I was both intrigued by the project, but I also absorbed potentially dismissive opinions of the translation. However, I couldn't remain aloof, as friends I respected and admired spoke to the ways The Message caused them to approach the Bible with a new ear, hearing familiar words in a way that challenged and awoke them to see the words as fresh and new, revelatory and radical. I couldn't discredit the impact it was having.

Over the years, I learned more snippets about this man that intrigued me, so when I learned of the forthcoming book A Burning in My Bones, a biography of Eugene Peterson by Winn Collier (another author I admire), I couldn't resist learning more.

Eugene was influenced by nature, by the strong faith of his mother, by the vibrancy of his father's butcher shop. Collier thoroughly and deftly relays the transitions in Peterson's life, from his initial aspirations to teach to what led him to become a pastor, and his writing throughout. 

Collier frankly addresses Peterson's relationship with his father, the strained seasons of his own parenting journey, the hardships of being a pastor, and times he and Jan struggled in their marriage. All serve to create a picture of a flawed but earnest individual, one who worked to be faithful and who intentionally strived to avoid the pitfalls that he saw from others who chased celebrity.

Just as we see lessons in the examples of individuals who have sought the pedestal and have spectacularly failed, so too we can find truths to be gained in Peterson's life. His practice of seeking silence, of being known and accessible to so many, of shirking elitism and preferring the quiet, of modeling a humble, generous, hospitable life can all cause us to reflect on what the life of a modern-day saint can look like. We see steadfast practices, of how our faith and our lives are naturally intertwined.

There is also humor to be found within these pages; I took special enjoyment in reading about the license Peterson took in drafting his monthly reports about his new church, first suspecting and then confirming that nothing beyond the first page was ever reviewed. And it should be no surprise to read about the various authors and poets who impacted Peterson.

Winn Collier first approached Peterson as a fellow pastor seeking advice, and this evolved to become a friendship. Collier was given widespread access to write this extensive biography of Eugene Peterson. His admiration is clear, but he conveys Peterson's whole person, touching on moments in his life where Peterson struggled and had regrets as well as pointing to the notable impacts. The volume is replete with extracts from journals and letters and it inspires me all the more to become more familiar with Peterson's books.

Collier's biography is a gift, and readers will be moved by the humble life of Eugene Peterson.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)