Beginning ~ with a paradox

Beginning

"The paradox of a crucified savior lies at the heart of the Christian story.  That paradox was particularly evident in the first century when crucifixion was recognized as the particular form of execution reserved by the Roman Empire for insurrectionists and rebels.  It was a public spectacle accompanied by torture and shame — one of the most humiliating and painful deaths ever devised by human beings" (p. 1).

The Cross and the Lynching Tree ~ by James H. Cone, 2011, theology, 224 pages

The cross and the lynching tree are separated by nearly 2,000 years.  One symbolizes Christian faith; the other is the perfect symbol of black oppression in America.  Though both represent death, one denotes hope, while the other signifies the negation of that message by white supremacy.

Theologian James H. Cone (1938-2018) explores these two emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community and their interconnection in the history of black folk.  Both represent the worst in human beings and at the same time a thirst for life that refuses to let the worst determine our final meaning.

My church book club is reading this for their meeting in August.  I have not attended book club meetings in a long time, partly because of the pandemic.  This time, they are reading a book I checked out of my library a few years ago and never found time to read before it was due.  I'll try again.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

TWOsday ~ my new book club and the weather

Book club

Last night, I met for the first time with the Nextdoor Book Club.  During our discussion of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020, fiction, 343 pages), I was juggling the Zoom grid, trying to look at all of the new people I was meeting for the first time.  The group did an excellent job of covering all aspects of the book.  I'll be back next month when we talk about The One by John Marrs, a 2018 thriller about a simple DNA test to be matched with your perfect partner — the one you’re genetically made for.  That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA.  But "happily ever after" isn’t guaranteed for everyone, because even soul mates have secrets.  And some are more shocking than others.

Another record low in St. Louis

At 7:50 a.m. today in St. Louis, the temperature was -3°F and felt like -22°F, according to the weather app.  The record low here for February 16th was 2°F in 2007, which means we broke another day's record, as we did yesterday.  I've had enough of this cold weather!  I'd hate for this to be a regular daily feature of this blog.  The not-so-good news:  someone on Nextdoor named her neighborhood and wrote:  I don’t have any running water this morning.  I’m assuming it’s a frozen/burst pipe somewhere outside.  Is anyone else nearby having the same issue?"  The good news:  the sun is shining today.

Then and now ~ in the hills and in an apartment

My latest library books were delivered this afternoon.   Here they are, with the bag they came in and with a free resource guide included.  I finished The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (fiction about Kentucky published in 2019) and planned to write about it this week.  Today's delivery made something click in my thoughts.  I suddenly realized how similar my "home delivery service" (see on the bag) is to what the Book Woman was doing in Kentucky.

• The people in the Kentucky hills were isolated from the rest of the world, and I'm isolated from folks because of a pandemic with suggestions that people my age (80) should avoid going anywhere that's not essential.
• Book Woman rode into the hills to bring reading materials so folks would could "escape" into books or learn something new, and my escape into novels about other people's lives is absolutely similar.
• She brought them old newspapers, which rarely got returned because the patrons used them to paper their walls; though I am connected to friends by phone and internet, they've sent me that 234-page resource for seniors to keep me informed.

I wrote about Hands Up, Don't Shoot a few days ago, but my new book club won't discuss The One by John Marrs until mid-March.  I'll tell you more about that book closer to that date.

Now back to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.  I rated the book 9.5 of 10 because it held my attention and kept pulling me in, but I didn't give it a ten because I didn't expect so much violence.  I'm warning you that parts of it are hard to read.  But there are also heart-warming stories, too, like taking time from her deliveries to read to those who didn't know how.  As I was looking for online photos, I found this one with an article The Pack Horse Librarians of Eastern Kentucky, which gives a good history of the WPA program.  I also found some children's books and put two on hold at my library.

That Book Woman ~ by Heather Hensen, illustrated by David Small, 2008, children's fiction (ages 4-8).  This book is read in its entirety by different people on several YouTube videos.  Listen to one here and another here.  They are only 6-7 minutes long.

Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky ~ by Kathi Appelt and Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer, 2001, children's history (ages 8-12).  Here's a book trailer on YouTube that shows a lot of black-and-white photos.  If you were a child in the 1930s in the rugged mountains of eastern Kentucky, you would recognize the pack horse librarian immediately as she came up the trail.  Her saddlebags would be filled with books, one of which might be for you.  Your heart would race, and you'd be so happy that you'd shout, "The book woman's comin'!  She's coming down the creek!"

Book we'll discuss next week

The Vanishing Half ~ by Brit Bennett, 2020, fiction

A story about the bonds of sisterhood and just how strong they are, even at their weakest.  The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical.  But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything:  their families, their communities, their racial identities.  Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape.  The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past.  Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined.  What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?

Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing.  Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

I was 88 of 101 on the waiting list at my library for this book, which I wanted to read so I could join an online book club discussion coming up a week from today.  I joined this book club a couple of weeks ago and don't know any of the people in it, but they sent me the list of members and books chosen for the next few months.  I had resigned myself to listening to others discuss this book until an email to all the members (including newbies) arrived yesterday:

"Anyone needing this book?  I am done with my library copy.  Let me know if you want to borrow."

Yay!  I wrote back that I'd like to have it, and now the book is in my hands!  I'll start as soon as I post this.  Thank you so very much, new friend!

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena ~ by Anthony Marra

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena ~ by Anthony Marra, 2013, fiction (Chechnya), 6/10

In a small rural village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa watches from the woods as Russian soldiers abduct her father in the middle of the night and then set fire to her home.  When their lifelong neighbor Akhmed (a failed doctor) finds Havaa hiding in the forest with a strange blue suitcase, he makes a decision that will forever change their lives.  He will seek refuge at the abandoned hospital where the sole remaining doctor, Sonja Rabina, treats the wounded.  For Sonja, the arrival of Akhmed and Havaa is an unwelcome surprise.  Weary and overburdened, she has no desire to take on additional risk and responsibility.  But over the course of five extraordinary days, Sonja’s world will shift on its axis and reveal the intricate pattern of connections that weaves together the pasts of these three unlikely companions and unexpectedly decides their fate.

A blogger gives a recipe for beef manti (dumplings) in her review because it's mentioned in the book.  I want to try those dumplings, which are "a hearty classic of Caucasian cuisine."  That's plain yogurt added in the middle.  Here's the link to the recipe, which also has a video on how to make it.

http://www.paperplatesblog.com/blog/a-constellation-of-vital-phenomena-by-anthony-marra-beef-manti-dumplings