Book Review: Platform

"Of making many books there is no end." (Ecclesiastes 12:12 KJV)

Sadly, you cannot write a good book and expect publishers to thank you. Sure, they care about the quality of what we associate with their name, but it always seems to come down to this loaded word platform. How many follow you? How big is your tribe? What level of influence do you have? Most of all, how much money can you make for us?

Do I buck against this because I have few followers, a tiny tribe, and cannot promise to garner great riches? Perhaps, but I read Michael Hyatt's book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, to learn more about this necessary evil (my opinion). Hyatt lays out all the things that one should do to amass a following. First and foremost, provide desirable quality content. But of course. Then engage, engage, engage. Bring people into your sphere any way you can and attempt to keep them there. 

Book Review: Twilight at the World of Tomorrow

When I think of the world's fair, I think of Judy Garland and "Meet Me in St. Louis." Or I think of Chicago - the White City. I was unaware of the 1939 NY World's Fair. In Twilight at the World of Tomorrow, James Mauro highlights the fair as a symbol of the "transformation from acute optimism to fear and dread." While this narrative nonfiction treats an interesting topic, mixing true crime with stories of grandiose dreams, the book didn't suck me in as much as, say, Candice Millard's nonfiction. I was interested to learn that they built the fair in the cleaned up area The Great Gatsby mentions (the giant ash heaps under Dr. E's vigilant eyes). But I grew tired of hearing constant emphasis on the monetary failures of the fair.

It took half the CDs to understand what the subtitle referenced. This subtitle: Genius, Madness, Murder, at the 1939 World's Fair on the Brink of War sounds exciting. It details Einstein, foreign dictators, and terrorist bombing. I guess I was never fully drawn into affection or even concern for any of the individuals mentioned. Grover Whalen, the vain driving force behind the fair. The cops who attempted to disarm the bombs. Even Einstein. Never felt invested in any of them. So, while the book adequately covered a specific moment in time, my interest remained moderate.

I wonder if my mother-in-law would find the tale more interesting. She was alive then. Somehow I doubt her family made the trek from Indiana to NY to attend this world's fair. Indeed, not enough people did - the main thrust of the book.

Book Review: The River of Doubt

After so enjoying Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic, I was thrilled to discover another audio book written by her available at my library. Once again, she thrusts the reader back in time, painting vivid settings and peopling them with outstanding individuals. In this book, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, Millard chronicles Roosevelt's dangerous trek to map the "River of Doubt" in Brazil. The former president's bold determination and keen spirit of adventure shine through. Roosevelt and his fellow explorers face many obstacles, from infiltrating the territory of hostile Indians, losing canoes and provisions, to murder and threats of suicide. 

A captivating journey of a great man, and the epilogue proved just as fascinating as the quest. In contemplating Roosevelt's son, how can such an intrepid individual sink into alcoholism? His path seemed similar to my husband's younger brother. Wasted potential, disastrous descent. Like The Midnight Library, this reminds me again that every little choice can lead to an unexpected trajectory in our lives.

Book Review: On Living

We can learn much about living from those who are dying. Hospice chaplain Kerry Egan compiles stories of her patients and lessons learned in caring for them. Although interesting, those stories didn't capture me as much as the author's own story. She experienced post-partum psychosis after her anesthesia went wrong during her epidural. I was pierced by one episode in particular. Egan talks about how she could not move well and, while shopping for some shoes, her mother walked away, leaving her with the crying baby that Egan could not tend. A woman standing nearby began to talk to her friend about what a horrible mother Egan must be to ignore the baby's cries. She insisted such a woman didn't deserve to be a mother. Egan responded in anger. She struggled her way over to the women and retorted, "Babies cry.... If you can't stand the sound of a baby crying, then it's a good thing you don't have one.... Let's hope some baby never has to suffer with you as his mother." The woman burst into tears and only much later did Egan think about what hurt deep inside may have prompted those sobs. Such a powerful story about how we must remember there are things about others that we cannot see on the outside, hidden hurts and needs that we know nothing about. It is so important to be kind to others, as kind as we would have them be to us.

2021 Prom Photos

My oldest son attended 3 proms - his junior and senior years and then a return trip his freshman year at Purdue because his then girlfriend was a year younger. I was only requisitioned to take photos once (he is fully aware of my abysmal track record in photography). Trevor is only a sophomore, but his girlfriend is a year older. Her school originally cancelled their prom, but a group of students and parents rented out a wedding barn to hold their own prom last Saturday (thus, the early date). Perhaps Trev will be a three-prommer, as well.

I struggle with lighting issues, wobbly hands, and more, but these were the best of the photos from my camera:

Don't care for this pose (cannot see their faces), but it shows the sparkles of Kylie's dress. Then, they requested photos with us (never done that before):

So thankful, too, that the employees at the Men's Wearhouse were honest! Trevor accidentally left $40 in his tux pocket and I returned it on Sunday. He realized this on Monday morning, and I immediately called. They found the money in the pocket and we picked it up that afternoon. Sigh of relief!

For a then/now perspective, view Trevor as my "funny fellow" in a recent post - ha!

Book Review: Prayer in the Night

Tish Harrison Warren is a new author to me. My guess was that her book, Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep, was about facing a "dark night of the soul." While it addresses spiritual despair, it is actually a more focused treatise. Warren is an Anglican priest. This book breaks down the liturgical last prayer of the day, known in Anglican and Catholic churches as Compline. Even though I don't have a liturgical background, I can appreciate the benefit of praying scripted prayers from the Bible or The Book of Common Prayer. (She calls them "other people's prayers," as opposed to personally driven ones.)

Warren is an outstanding writer and excellent storyteller. She sweeps you into the book with her introductory story of her sudden desire to pray Compline while she was in the midst of a miscarriage. I could fully relate. When I had my miscarriage, I felt an urgency to sing Amy Grant's song, "The Lord Has a Will." (The Lord has a will, and I have a need, to follow that will, to humbly be still, to nest in it, rest in it, fully be blessed in it, following my Father's will.) There is a strange comfort that can come over you when you focus your mind away from your difficulties and onto a pattern of words that bring you into God's presence and remind you of His sovereignty and care.

Each section of the book breaks down a part of the Compline prayer (those who weep, watch, work, sleep, are sick, weary, dying, suffering, afflicted, joyous). I finished with multiple Post-It flag markers peeking out from the side of the book. So many articulations of things I want to remember. Her words about Christ weeping over Jerusalem especially resonated: "Any mother who has had to sit and watch her child destroy himself, watch her beloved walk into destruction, abuse, or addiction, watch as the one she sang over disappears into someone she cannot recognize, knows something about how Jesus wept over Jerusalem."

I loved the pastor's words after her best friend confessed his "most secret sin:" - "We need you in our church, not in spite of your struggle, but because of it." Powerful, redemptive words - our vulnerabilities and brokenness allow the light of God to shine through. Those failings "can be the raw material God uses to bring us to the truth about who we are and who he is." In the section on dying, she acknowledges such an important truth: "There is no darkness into which he has not descended. He knows the texture and taste of everything I most fear."

As if reiterating the idea of the "upside-down kingdom," she writes: "We are topsy-turvy. We don't know what's best for us. The things I'm most afraid of are often the very things that will set me free. The desolate places in my life that I most want to avoid are the very places God wants to meet me.... The way to save my life is to lose it." I loved the way she phrased it: "Suffering gives us new eyes; it teaches us to see in the dark." When we desperately want to run from the dark, we should run toward it, knowing it will teach us things we could learn in no other way.

I'm so glad I discovered this book on my library's recent acquisitions list. Besides the benefit of many highlighted passages (perhaps I should buy the book), I also enjoyed the section of discussion questions and practices to accompany each chapter. I'm always looking for things to prompt contemplation in my morning writing. These questions bring the reader closer to the material. If you are experiencing a dark patch in your life, you might benefit from reading Warren's book about this Compline prayer.

Book Review: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

What a long time it has been since I first read this book, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. 17 or 18 years! I relish listening to this series because the chosen narrator for Recorded Books is Lisette Lecat. She brings Botswana to life for me. I remembered the characters and the delightful names, but had forgotten much of the initial storyline in this first installment. You cannot go wrong with this series! You will fall in love with Mma Ramotswe as she sets up her detective agency. Indeed, you may fall in love with the descriptions of the country and its people, too. Alexander McCall Smith throws in some delightful humor (I chuckled at her rambling thoughts about a political party for those who suffer from constipation but cannot seem to pass legislation - ha!). I'm so glad I decided to re-start at the beginning, since I was too out of touch with the series to pick up where I left off at book 13. It will be fun to listen again to the first dozen books. I think I can get most of them in audio form (perhaps missing only one).