November 28, 2014 Currently Reading

Long Life: Essays and Other Writings
by Mary Oliver
Of all the books that I read and review, I approach Mary Oliver's with the most humility and respect.  I feel that there are no words to express the beauty and spirituality of her writing.  All of Oliver's books have the ability to transport and transform. Her intimate connection with the immediate natural world around her resonates strongly with me.  As I sat reading in my bed at night, Long Life: Essays and Other Writings took me back to a childhood of being outdoors on an island in Michigan.  Her words create universal images, whether in poetry or prose. Through her eyes, I reclaimed the visions of my childhood.  The turtles in Provincetown could be the turtles on the shore of a Michigan lake, some sixty years ago.  Both her poetry and essays open the part of my heart that loves and longs for wilderness... both within and without.  Although I always feel that Oliver's latest book is my favorite, Long Life: Essays and Other Writings is definitely one of her best.  

Currently Reading:

The Intellectual Devotional: Modern Culture

By David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim

It’s the end of November and we’ve just begun The Intellectual Devotional: Modern Culture.  Reading two entries a day, it should take us six to seven months to complete.  The books in this series are always a shared read that my husband and I do during mealtime, usually at breakfast or lunch.  It’s one way we try to grow together, rather than apart.  We’ve enjoyed two others in the series: The Intellectual Devotional (first book) and The Intellectual Devotional: Biographies.  More will follow as we get into the book…

Middlemarch (Audible Edition)

By George Eliot

I’m almost 10 hours into the 25-hour Audible version of Middlemarch by George Eliot.  It’s definitely not what I expected.  I assumed that it might be somewhat Avant-garde, and maybe it was at the time.  It was unusual for a woman to be an author at that time, hence the pen name George Eliot taken by Mary Ann Evans. 

In 2014, however, the book would not be considered eccentric or Avant-garde.  It reminds me a lot of books written by Louisa May Alcott, who was born about twenty years after Evans.  I just found a graduate paper titled: Louisa May Alcott and George Eliot on Class, Gender and Marriage written by Elizabeth Michelle Meyers in December 2010.  I’m going to read it on my iPad.  I think it will be an interesting read, and may help me better understand the works of both authors. 

I’ve also purchased the Audible version of My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead.  In this book, the author writes about the influence Middlemarch has had on her life.  Although I did not read Middlemarch as a child, which was Mead’s experience, I did read and reread all of Alcott’s books.  It will be interesting to learn how Middlemarch influenced her life, and perhaps, reflect upon my own experience with books written during that period of time.  More will follow…