Books for March

I read 14 books in March but the following are the significant ones:

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You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train—A Personal History of Our Times by Howard Zinn. This is the very top of the list for March. I recommend it to everyone. I think it speaks to our responsibilities to the world and gives hope that individuals can and do make a difference.

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A Thorn in My Pocket—Temple Grandin’s Mother Tells the Family Story by Eustacis Cutler. This is one of those books that will lead me to read Temple Grandin’s story herself and to find and watch the video on her life. She is a person with autism who has succeeded in many ways and her mother resisted the advice that was given her in Temple’s childhood.

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Savor—Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung. This is full of some solid nutritional information but what I really got out of it was the Thich Naht Hanh’s mindfulness reminders. I have slowed down my eating; I think about what I am doing; and I am ending up eating less.

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People of a Compassionate God—Creating Welcoming Congregations by Janet F. Fishburn. This was interesting just in terms of reading the stories of five United Methodist congregations who developed a process for becoming Reconciling Congregations. Four of the five did become Reconciling; one did not.

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I’ll ask you three times, are you o.k.? by Naomi Shihab Nye. This book was very short and at the same time interesting—little vignettes she has had as she travels and takes taxis. One of the taxi drivers said that he would ask her three times if she was o.k. He did that—and it became the title of her book.

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101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 3 by David Riklan. My daughter, Donna, has a chapter in this book. I read through it as a day book each morning with breakfast, and got some good ideas.

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Unexpectedly Eighty—and other adaptations by Judith Viorst. Pretty pointed poems on aging. Sometimes sharp, sometimes poignant, but right on the money.

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The Fiddler in the Subway by Gene Weingarten. I’m not much of a reader of essays but I enjoyed this book, especially the Fiddler in the Subway, and Doonesbury’s War and Fatal Distraction.

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I read fiction too—and sometimes light fiction. One of the authors I have been re-visiting is Kristin Hannah. I cry at the end of her books usually. The only mystery writer I read is Robert Parker—I just love the sharp dialogue.

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