Papa's Daughter

Papa's Daughter by Thyra Ferre Bjorn


I'm not sure about this one. I think it's supposed to be a heartwarming semi-autobiographical story. Here's me reading in bed, with nut thins, cheese, and hot chocolate. Yum! It was a nice break from the heavier stuff I'm reading right now, but the snack was more satisfying than the book.

Apparently it picks up where "Papa's Wife" ends, in a parsonage in early 20th century Lapland. Button is the oldest daughter, and her high-spirited personality leads her to believe that nobody in her family understands her, and her true calling is to be a famous author. The family emigrates to America, she gets married, has two daughters, reaches middle age, and then goes through depression. After years of both her and her family suffering, she stumbles across her true calling: to be a writer. She begins by writing letters, then short stories, becomes a traveling lecturer, and eventually publishes a book about her parents to much acclaim. She is happy again, her husband opens his own shop, and everyone lives happily ever after.

I'm all for finding a creative outlet--obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this right now. (And I wouldn't have three different fabrics on my ironing board, either.) But I guess I had a problem with this woman making her family so unhappy. I'm no expert, but it seems like depression can have so many causes (spiritual, emotional, physical) but it wasn't fair to her family, or herself, really, to indulge in depression for a selfish desire. It seemed like writing helped her regain her cheerful personality again, but she wasn't fulfilled until she received public acclaim. Her dream was not just to write, but to be a published author. Is that right? To tell your family "I'm not happy unless other people like me"?

Despite all of the above, I think I want to read the first book, "Papa's Wife." It seems this woman's parents had a genuine faith that she tried very hard to imitate (something else that made me sad about the book).

Here's an excerpt, something I haven't done in a while. From page 145:

Button remembered how secure they all felt when Papa and Mama went calling and left them alone because the last thing Mama would say was "You be good children now. Know that God is watching here with you while we're away. He will watch over you carefully, but remember, you can't put anything over on Him. If you're good, we might bring something nice home with us. Who knows?"
After Mama and Papa had left, Button recalled, they had wondered where God was sitting.
... (page 146)
Yes, although in the parsonage God had been very strict and despised sin, He had also been very good and watchful; it was comforting to have a God such as that. Now she had almost completely lost Him. But she must and she would hold on to herself so she would overcome her inner disturbances and once more be well again. She recalled a story from the Bible of Jacob's wrestling with God; maybe she, too, would have to wrestle with God before she could again find peace and be cured of every ill.

The Man who was Thursday

The Man who was Thursday, by GK Chesterton

This has been on my list of books to read for a while. I read the blog Between Two Worlds, which links to Christian Audio's free download of the month, which is where I got this book. Thanks, Christian Audio!

I've started reading GK Chesterton's Orthodoxy, but it's so rich I had a hard time getting into it. Especially considering that when I read it, I was nursing a newborn--not the best time for meaty arguments about the robustness of the Christian faith. My first thought when reading (okay, listening) to this book was Chesterton's fiction was more accessible than "Orthodoxy," but now that I finished it, I'm not so sure.

*Spoilers ahead* Initially, I thought the ominous threat of anarchy wasn't very threatening, but credited it to my jaded 21st century perspective. It turns out that the whole thing was created for.... what? I don't know if there are plot holes, or I just missed the point. I think I understand that the whole shebang was for the benefit of the participants, to show both sides of Sunday. But if Sunday is supposed to represent God in the parable, he's not playing a very just God, or loving for that manner. I do like how Chesterton showed that Sunday was both wise and terrible and uncontrollable, things we moderns don't like to ascribe to God.

It was a good book and a fast read, but I have a nagging feeling like I'm missing something.

Mrs. Polifax Unveiled

Mrs. Polifax Unveiled, by Dorothy Gilman

My mother-in-law loaned me this book, and I read it while on a road trip. It was a good book for the car--it went quickly, and I was able to block out my honey's random radio-channel surfing.

Mrs. Polifax is a retired woman who is a secret CIA operative. Of course, she's been on adventures all over the world. This series has a different flavor than other CIA mysteries, like The Bourne Identity. There was no swearing, the US government doesn't have a malevolent omnipresence, and there was speculation of a wedding at the end. I liked reading it, but I don't think I'll pick up another one.

I was feeling a little bad that I didn't love it, but the book I recommended to my mother-in-law in return wasn't a hit either. So, I guess we're even!

Living the Cross Centered Life

Living the Cross Centered Life, by CJ Mahaney



What a great book. I've be a Christian for as long as I can remember, so living a cross-centered life should be instinctive. "Oh wretched sinner that I am! Who will save me from this body of death?"

This book was a great accompaniment to Mark Driscoll's sermon on the day of Atonement. The cross was horrible. It's hard to see that our sin was so awful that Jesus had to suffer such a brutal death to restore us to fellowship with God. Religion likes to get distracted with arguments and rules, but Christianity is all about the cross. I also appreciated Tim Keller's articles regarding the same. Martin Luther said that the cross was so real to him, that it seemed like it happened yesterday. This book reminded me of what Jesus did. It's all about Jesus.

Free Gift with Purchase

Free Gift with Purchase: My Improbable Career in Magazines and Makeup by Jean Godfrey-June

This book renewed my commitment to retinoids and self-tanner. It's been a dark winter (well, a dark early spring) marked by pale, acne-prone skin. Time to break out the big guns, and not take any of it too seriously.

This was a fun, quick book, but not great. The author's writing was like her articles in Lucky Magazine: sometimes funny, informative, and/or choppy. I reread several paragraphs, trying to figure out what her point was. Still, it was a nice diversion.

Stops and Starts

It's been a frustrating time here in Rachel-land. I had my cast finally removed, only to have another one put on a few days later. Apparently my wrist was not ready to come out yet. Everyday actions are either difficult or slightly painful, and typing with one hand is wearing on what little patience I have. I did finish reading a couple books since all this happened, but I have several uncompleted books, which is unusual for me. Here's the run-down:

Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present by Peter Hessler
Beautifully written observations by a WSJ reporter, but it wasn't compelling enough for me to finish it despite renewing the book twice from the library. The author wrote somewhat distant observations about various people representing the diversity of modern China. I would have liked to finish it--maybe if the author made it more personal, or much shorter, the story would have moved faster.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I got this audiobook for my ill-fated drive. I've tried to read this book before but gave up. I like getting audiobooks of more difficult literature, because having it narrated usually adds enough that I not only finish it, but enjoy it (my strategy for Anna Karenina). At disc 4 of 8, the author stopped his contrarian platitudes long enough for the plot to finally kick into gear. Then I fell and broke my wrist and haven't done much driving since then. Just when it got interesting, too. Someday, I will finish this book.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency) by Alexander Mccall Smith
This was also an audiobook for the above-mentioned drive. I put this one in when I couldn't reach the CD case for Dorian Gray and I didn't want to pull over. This series is reliably good. I love the characters. Coincidentally, I only got to disc 4 of 8 in this series, too.

The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys: Great Writers on Great Places
I saw this book advertised and put it on my 'must read' list right away. It turned out to be surprisingly boring. I read about Bath, England; Prague; and Ethiopia before completely losing interest. These beautiful locations surely deserve better writing than these essays. Meh.

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
While I was visiting family (and while I was not reading "The Oracle Bones") I reread several titles in this series: The Magician's Nephew, Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and the Silver Chair. What can I say? They are rightly classics. I have sweet memories of my dad reading these to us kids at bedtime, and I enjoyed reading them with the perspective of an adult this time. I think some Christians tend to canonize Narnia, but CS Lewis didn't intend for them to be the only allowable fiction for the Sunday school set (I'm looking at you, Harry Potter haters). They are primarily very good stories, and intended to be enjoyed as such. But what is a good story? These books echo the Greatest Story, the narrative of the gospel, and reflects a comprehensive worldview of the same which are marks of any good story (good versus evil, the lone hero, fall and redemption, and persevering to the end of the battle). So of course they're good!

In this rereading, I was struck by how thoroughly English this series is. (After all, CS Lewis was an English professor at Oxford. Doesn't get much more English than that.) I read the boxed set with the original illustrations and it added even more. Her artwork seemed to pay homage to old tapestries and woodcuts, but with the 1930's reinterpretation. Her illustrations seemed to honor the English roots of the story just as much as the author did. I really enjoyed seeing most of the illustrations for the first time. I was saving my favorite book for last (The Horse and His Boy). Next time I visit, it's the first thing I'm doing!

Non-bookish fun

My honey brought a Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine for me to read, brought back from his latest trip. I got hooked with a puzzle called "Shinro," which reminds me of Sudoku, but more obscure and confusing. You can see the original puzzle here. Tricky, isn't it? I became obsessed with solving it. (Sadly, "obsessed" is not too strong of a word.)

At first I googled the puzzle, trying to find the methodology for solving it, but there was nothing out there. We were beginning to think it was another prank by Southwest, until I found posts like this, asking where to find more puzzles. So once I solved it, I decided to post how I got there, to help other obsessive puzzlers like myself. Enjoy! (And if you used this and found it helpful, please leave a comment.)

First, I redrew the grid larger, using a pencil with a eraser.

Then, add tick marks to show every square an arrow is pointing to. Some squares have more than one tick mark.

Here's where the fun begins. Remember, holes don't necessarily have an arrow pointing to them. So looking at the last column on the right, there are two tick marks in that column, and there are two holes in that column, but that doesn't mean that those squares are where the holes are.

Here is an example of the logic I used to solve this one. Looking at the row the pencil is pointing to, the row has only 1 hole, and it must be to the right of the arrow. Therefore the circled tick marks aren't for that hole, so I erased them.


Looking to the arrow above, that particular arrow is only pointing to one square. Therefore there that's where the hole is.

After an arrow can point to no other holes, X through it. When a column or row is complete, I check it. I erase the tic marks when they no longer indicate a hole.

Continue until the arrows can point to no other squares (Eight holes so far.) You still have unmarked holes somewhere in the puzzle. At this point, I decided to put a line through finished columns and rows to make it easier to see where the holes are.

From here, you can see there is only one spot in the top row where the third hole can be.

Keep going, and you solved the puzzle! Isn't that fun?

PS: Thanks for the math and logic classes, Mom and Dad! Education is never wasted, even if (or maybe especially if) it's used just for fun.