It’s been a slow year for reading, moving fogs the brain, stress makes my brain hop from scrolling to more scrolling rather than intentional focus,  and keeping small children alive also robs from gazing at a page for any length of time. But I have read some books in the last few months. So here they are, with my random thoughts on them. 

Upstream- Mary Oliver

To be honest it was way back in April that I read this, I can’t remember much other than obviously it was wonderful because it was something Mary Oliver wrote. It should need no more recommendation. I wish I could remember more, but maybe that delicious feeling of reading wonderful words about nature is enough to recall. 

The Walkers Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs- Tristan Gooley

I feel like I should have liked this more. I enjoyed a few chapters but it felt like a lot to learn and lots of facts about stuff that I didn’t really engage with. Sorry Tristan, and the others I know who loved this. I think it made me look around a bit more. 

Sensible Shoes, Two Steps Forward, Barefoot, An Extra Mile- Sharon Garlough Brown

A wonderful friend sent me Sensible Shoes, but I didn’t know who until a few weeks ago. I spent lots of time trying to analyse my response to it based on who might have sent it. I wondered if I should like it, if I should hate it and in the end sat down and read all 4 books in the space of a couple of weeks. It’s a tale of four women in America all going through some form of Spiritual Direction. Some of the language is a bit triggering if you’ve been hurt by church stuff. Some of it feels a bit trite. But overwhelmingly I was left wanting to know God in the midst of my daily life and I think that’s a Good Thing. I related to some of the women, got annoyed by some and then laughed and cried with them.They felt like nourishment to my soul at a pretty bleak time and I am SO grateful to my lovely friend who sent me the first one. 

The Book of Form and Emptiness- Ruth Ozeki

The front cover of this book promised to reignite my love of reading novels, and it delivered. This is a beautiful tale of a boy and his Mum trying to navigate life, it’s the story of a story writing a story, it plays with narration, who is in control of the telling of the story and it’s twisty and gorgeous and a little bit traumatic all thrown together. It’s hard to describe as you can tell but I really recommend it. I read it on a weekend in London and found it very hard to put down. 

A Line Above the Sky (a story of mountains and motherhood) – Helen Mort

I really enjoyed Helen’s beautiful writing, the descriptions of climbing and the profound exploration of what becoming a mother can do to you. I was in tears through lots of it as I found it so resonant at times to my experience. I think I was most moved by the descriptions of her post natal group, the collecting together of random strangers who became deep friends through this experience of entering into life with a baby. I ached for my old NCT group and delighted again at the shared experience we had before school started. I loved this book, it was such a treat of a read. 

Minecraft The Island – Max Brooks

This was not my choice. Son1 thrust it into my hands and insisted that I read it before I continued with my birthday stack. Max Brooks can write, I really enjoyed World War Z a few years ago and if you are interested in understanding the Minecraft world then I kind of do recommend you start here. It’s a helpful intro via a novel. You follow someone as they discover themselves in Minecraft and see what life is like for them as they try and understand how to survive and create stuff to survive with. Worth reading if you have a child in your life obsessed with Minecraft. For everyone else I’d skip on by with joy and go read A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe or really any other book on this list… 

Everything is Beautiful- Eleanor Ray

One of those easy to read life transformational novels. Follows a lady who we learn hoards on a huge scale, we get to find out why, see the journey from her current state back into some form of being able to relate to people again. It was a fairly ok read. That feels like damning with faint praise but it’s the perfect book for a rainy afternoon which doesn’t demand too much but isn’t awful. I think there is a very helpful space for those kind of books in the world. 

The Raptures- Jan Carson

Another one in my cannon of read this book if you want to understand more of Northern Ireland. I found so much to laugh with in this book from our short months over here. I love Jan’s writing, I really enjoyed the portrait of a Protestant village in Norn Iron. I also loved that it was set at a similar time to my growing up. At times it felt a bit like a companion to Derry Girls and then it got super dark and fairly intense. It’s not for the faint hearted, lots of children die, but it is a fascinating read and one of my favourites this year. 

A Terrible Kindness- Jo Browning Wroe

I think this might be one of the best books I’ve read this year, Jo writes so so well. I could have read for so much longer. It’s a book which follows a man from his brief day and night embalming bodies at Aberfan back in the 60s and looks at the events which lead up to and on from that moment. It’s about depth of friendship, learning and growing in yourself and is deeply rich in tone and meaning. Like drinking a full bodied red wine. Nourishing and good for the soul. 

How to Belong- Sarah Franklin

Another great book, (my friends did well in recommending good books for my birthday. This is all about someone moving back to their home village in the Forest of Dean and working out where they fit and if they fit. It’s also about courage in friendship and finding a place in the world. As someone who has moved this year to a whole new place I found it really comforting and helpful in reflecting on our journey to belonging over here. 

Learning to Walk in the Dark- Barbara Brown Taylor

Oh I love BBT, I love how she writes and I loved this book. It’s an invitation to not fear the dark but to listen to the dark. She highlights the strangeness of using the dark and the colour black as symbols of fear and calls us to a new understanding of the dark. She says “new life begins in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.” As we journey through a lot of unknowns this year I found it so helpful to be reminded not to fear the dark but to ask what it might have for me. This book contains so many helpful reflections on the dark and what might emerge from it.