Photo by Gallebee

Well, thanks to a kind, patient tech at Go Daddy, my technical difficulties have been resolved…  Whew!  I guess one benefit to having technological issues is how great I feel once they are fixed!  And this helpful soul has kept me with my current host, at least for the time being – I now know to request a “domain tech” (regardless of the specific problem…).

Anyway…  here’s an overview of what I’ve been reading this week… 

My consumption was down a little due to the good fortune of having family visit and the misfortune of weathering a nasty head cold, but I did manage to finish a number of books, including two works by Andrea Boeshaar:  Always a Bridesmaid and The Long Ride Home.  The novels were two of a three-in-one work entitled Wisconsin Weddings, and were a Christmas gift from my father-in-law to my mother-in-law.  My in-laws grew up in Port Washington, just outside Milwaukee, but moved to Florida when my father-in-law retired from teaching.  My husband and I will be visiting them when we attend the Daytona 500, so I wanted to be sure to finish the borrowed book before then and moved it to the top of my reading list.  

Since Wisconsin is a favorite state of mine, I did enjoy the many references to Milwaukee and thereabouts.  However, when I began the series I didn’t realize they were of the “Inspirational Fiction” genre so I was a little surprised by the references to Jesus, but quickly became accustomed.  They were quite nice to read before bed and would also fill a flight nicely.

The third novel I read this week was To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.  I am finishing up my series of custom kits on Mendelson’s The Things That Matter for a book club in Michigan and To the Lighthouse is the novel Mendelson chose to represent “parenthood.”  I had read Lighthouse in college and loved getting reacquainted.  I was a little surprised he chose this novel to represent parenthood, however, since “marriage” would have worked even better, (although his choice of Middlemarch to represent marriage can’t be criticized). 

One of Mendelson’s observations:  “Among the technical triumphs of To the Lighthouse is its rendering of the emotions in any marriage that change from hour to hour or minute to minute… Virginia Woolf portrays the ebb and flow of love over the course of a few minutes or hours.”(215)  And I thought that only happened when both you and your husband work from home!  Seriously, though, she represents the emotional intimacy of marriage beautifully.  I was also struck by how artfully she addresses “identity” — and our inability to truly know one’s friends and acquaintances (although the characters all believe they know one another intimately, of course).  I love Virginia Woolf, so the opportunity to help others appreciate her magic and mystery has been a joy the past week.

Last, but truly not least, my husband and I finished Moneyball by Michael Lewis (on tape).  We had read his latest, Blindside, about how the game of football has changed, and Moneyball (on baseball) was just as readable and interesting.  I recommend them if you enjoy either sport (beyond simply following your favorite team — both books get pretty technical at times).

 Well, there’s my report for this week!  So, what are YOU reading?

(By the way, I realized the first two Wednesday postings really do not reflect my usual reading selections, since romances are too well-represented! But it is a genre that I do enjoy from time to time…  In the spirit of diversifying my genre intake…  Here’s a nice little post on that topic from Life Optimizer.  Looks like he will be enjoying Moneyball soon, too!)