February Books

what about those random assigned chapters?

I’m aware there are these popular apps for tracking what you want to read and what you have read. Goodreads, for sure. Somewhere I read about another one that was “better," but I don’t remember by what criteria. I downloaded Goodreads once. I opened it once, maybe twice. I then decided that I didn’t want another app and I went back to tracking what I read in a Word doc. I love it. Here’s my problem: I don’t do a good job tracking my half-reads for school.

I typically share my DNFs. But I don’t ever track the three chapters of that book and the five chapters of that one that are assigned for class. It won’t matter in a few months, but it does this month because I read the chapters of Martin & Malcolm & America that were about Malcolm X.¹

Outside of Jasmine Holmes briefly talking about him, I didn’t know much at all about Malcolm X.² If I’m going to read some introductory work about him, James Cones is who I want to write it. Cone started with a brief bio of Malcolm X’s childhood and his story is a great example of how context matters. Often he is pitted against MLK Jr, which doesn’t seem like the best approach, but much of their disagreements are explained by their stories. I wish we had gotten the chance to see if they could have worked together.

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

Four Thousand Weeks has the subtitle “time management for mortals” but I think it could also be “how to understand time.” Burkeman tackled the myth that anyone can do it all, that getting to the bottom of our inbox leads to a better life, or that time is something to be managed at all. Many of the themes reminded me of Essentialism: you have to pick the stuff that matters most and say “no” to everything else. 

Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Earthsea novels have gotten deeper and more complex as I’ve traveled through them. It’s been really fun to watch Le Guin grow as a writer and develop her own understanding of this other world. There are author’s notes after each novel and she’s shared how she thought multiple times that she was finished writing about Earthsea only to come back to it later. Tehanu circles back to the later lives of earlier protagonists, introduces a new character, and predominately features females. Instead of an epic outward journey, in this story the heroines move inward.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel 

A friend sent this novel for my birthday and I slipped it into my bag when I flew to Atlanta because my 996 page Earthsea tome felt like a bad choice. This was my second Mandel novel so I was waiting on the twist that came at the end.³ Sea of Tranquility involved moon colonies, time travel, and, like Station Eleven, a pandemic. (Do all of her novels feature a pandemic as part of the plot?) I enjoyed this one. I read it entirely on the flights. 

Unmasking the Male Soul by Wilmer G. Villacorta

One of my seminary professors wrote this book that focuses on male power and how men can learn to share authority with women. I found the formatting made it difficult to follow at points, but it is full of thought-provoking evaluations of how patriarchy harms men as well as women and how we can all learn a better way. 

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Clearly

I read this book to my kindergartener and he loved it. He giggled and giggled when Ramona chased Davy around the playground at recess trying to kiss him. Don’t worry; we talked about not kissing people at school. 

The Words of César Chávez, edited by Richard J. Jensen and John C. Hammerback 

This book was an alternate reading in my MLK Jr. class. This collection of speeches is divided into five parts, each introduced by a short recap of what was happening in Chávez’ world when the speeches were given. I did not know much about Chávez before and now I would like to read a biography of his life.

Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 

This collection of short stories is part of the lore of the world of Earthsea. Most of them were in the past and I could make connections to the other novels. The last one was set real time and the next novel picked up shortly after it ended. 

Together in Ministry by Rob Dixon

This is the book that I’ve been looking for for a few years. It’s been wasting away on my wishlist that whole time! Dixon outlines his research on how to have flourishing mixed-gender partnerships, naming ten attributes of those partnerships and devoting time to each to them. He referenced Ruth Haley Barton’s book Equal to the Task which I ordered and discovered was written in 1998. I’m curious if Barton would say that she’s seen a real shift since she wrote that one. 

What have you been reading?

1. Hurray! Hurray! Hallelujah! I’m down to double digits in the countdown to graduation!

2. If you are on Instagram, you should be following Jasmine.

3. It was there. The woman across the aisle asked about the book just in time for me to share it.