Forging Ahead

I'm not sure why these two books seem like natural partners to me, but they were both published in early 2022, and they both address some essential questions of identity. Most of us do not get very far through life without having to reinvent ourselves at least a bit. And sometimes, there are circumstances that require a wholesale makeover whether we like it or not. Both of these authors tackle some Big Questions surrounding growth and development in adult life.

Susan Cain has written a well-researched book explaining things like why sad music makes us feel better, why some of us like rainy days, and why withdrawal and introspection are necessary parts of thriving and growing. Most people recognize intuitively that sad movies and tragic stories play an important part in our lives. Her work validates and expands on our intuition. 

Both Eastern and Western traditions teach us that joy and sorrow are intertwined. Cain makes some inroads in helping us understand how that relationship works. 

Arthur Brooks also draws on both Eastern and Western philosophy to explain some of our most crucial stumbling blocks to satisfaction and contentment. Brooks’ analysis illuminates why strategies that work in one phase of our life do not necessarily serve us well as time goes by. The success that we enjoy during our career days is not "bankable." There are some skills that are needed during the last half of our lives that we may have neglected to hone during the heyday of climbing the career ladder.

Oprah Winfrey interviewed Brooks on her Super Soul Conversations podcast, and Brene Brown did a two-part interview with Susan Cain on her podcast, Unlocking Us. The interviews are a great way to learn more about the books and the authors. 

These are two authors who address tough subjects and give us hope and encouragement. As we come to the end of our pandemic life, those are good avenues on which to be traveling.

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Although I personally love this book, I would not recommend it for people who do not like their reality served without sweetener. This is an author who takes a position that truth is going to save you some time in the long run. Additionally, the long run isn't all that long.

A healthy, lucky human residing in a safe locale can expect to live about 80 years or approximately 4000 weeks. A few folks get more, and a few get less. The shocking business is in following Burkeman's logic and doing the simple calculation that tells you how many of your 4000 weeks you have already spent.

We have many linguistic and a few emotional tricks that prevent us from facing how fleeting our time really is. One of these tricks is referring to people in their fifties and sixties as "middle aged." It may seem like the charitable thing to say, but it skews our calculators pretty substantially. Burkeman thinks that if you don't turn away from the facts, you will end up making more sensible choices, and consequently will enjoy and appreciate your life a little more.

He points out some things that most of us conveniently ignore, such as: We are not going to be able to read all the books we would like to read; we are not going to be able to travel to all the places we would like to see, and we are not going to accomplish everything that we have dreamed of doing. These hard facts should inform the choices we make about how we spend our energy and our days and weeks.

This is a brilliant book. I think bluntness sometimes saves time and energy and brings peace of mind a little more reliably than myths like: If we plan and organize well, we can do absolutely everything we want to do. Burkeman points out that there is such a thing as being too efficient, and didn't we really suspect that?

And one more thing: it's a short book. You won't spend several of your precious weeks getting through it!

Philip Gulley

Sometimes I look on my reading blog for a book or a series of books that I am sure I have reviewed, and am astonished to find that they are not there. I have enjoyed Philip Gulley's books for many years and maybe even a couple of decades now, but  neglected somehow to record this fact on my reading blog. Time to correct this.

Gulley has written collections of essays called the Porch Talk books, and a fictional series called the Home to Harmony books. He set that fiction series aside a few years ago to write religious nonfiction, but readers apparently clamored for more of his fiction and he has revived and updated the Harmony series. I don't want to spill any plot details, but the book cover below is the beginning of his new story.

Gulley is funny; he is thoughtful; and he has a talent for capturing the foibles of human nature in a way that helps us take ourselves less seriously. Who doesn't need a lesson or two in that? In his Harmony/Hope series, he is a small town preacher in a Quaker church in rural Indiana. If you have had the pleasure of reading the Thrush Green books set in rural England and featuring a small town vicar (Miss Read), or the All Things books by Herriot you will be happily entertained by this American version of village life. 

"I don’t want to spend this last half [of my life] trying to recapture the first half. I want to stretch and grow and do bold things, question what I’ve been taught and generally alarm people with my broad-mindedness." This is the sort of optimistic self-reflection that Gulley gives his fictional character; his lighthearted ruminations are deep enough to stimulate some thought without getting too lost in it. 

Winter is around the corner; the days are already shorter. Either the Gulley essays or the fiction will provide amusement and add a little light to a long winter evening. You can find a comprehensive list of his work here.

 

Jon Hassler

One day many years ago, I was walking into a used book store and I paused at one of those carts placed outside the store with bargain books. The name, Jon Hassler, jumped out at me from the cover of a book titled: North of Hope. I noticed the name because Jon Hassler had been the name of my freshman English teacher at Brainerd State Junior College in 1969-70; now Central Lakes College.

I picked up the book and looked for the author photo. It was most definitely the same person! He was a very handsome fellow, but I think what enhanced his good looks was his extreme kindness. When all of the assignment details have faded from the courses we take, we are left with some foundational ideas and the essence of the person who made the assignments. All I remembered from freshman English was the respect and kindness that Jon Hassler showed every student regardless of their performance or ability.

I had no idea that he had been or had become a writer, and I was curious. North of Hope did not disappoint. Subsequently, I looked him up and read a few more of his works. They are easier to find in Minnesota bookstores than they are here on the West Coast, so when I go back there, I usually find a few more. I have read nearly everything he has written and passed the books along to friends.

If you don't live in the Midwest, used books are pretty easy to find on line. The following link gives the names of his works. They are, in my opinion, pretty timeless stories. The plots are good, the characters are unforgettable, and the themes are the stuff that make readers everywhere grateful for the gift of language.

Especially fun for me in this journey of discovery was an anecdote in the forward of the book Rufus at the Door and other Stories about how and when he began to write. He recounts leaving one of his classes at the Brainerd college, going to the library during his free period, and sitting down to begin writing for the first time. It was 1970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Hassler

The Paul Stuart Stories

Treat Yourself!

There are authors and there are authors. Alexander McCall Smith is the best of the lot for several reasons. The first is that he is amazingly prolific, and not because he is farming out the writing to interns who follow a formula and crank out a book that has some vague resemblance to literature. I have honestly lost count of all the series that he writes, and they're all first rate.

Additionally,  McCall Smith's characters are so likable that I am convinced he must love people generally. If ever anyone succeeded in seeing the good in everyone, it is this author. His writing can be trusted to entertain and to provide interesting ideas and musings. Every series, every character, and every plot is pure artistry.

McCall Smith has led an interesting life and his writing is chock full of thought provoking ideas and questions. He has lived and traveled in more places than most of can name, and his writing reflects a kind of world view that is very charitable. 

This new series with Paul Stuart is infused with unparalleled whimsy with a capital W.  There are times when reading is an almost necessary escape, and these two stories will take you away from whatever you're trying to avoid. And sometimes, that's a real necessity!

Elderhood by Louise Aronson

One of the best things about Elderhood is that Aronson pushes back against all of the '70 is the new 50' rhetoric. She points out that as long as we assume 50 is somehow better than 70, we are not being fair or kind to ourselves about aging.

Elderhood is an amazingly engaging book. Aronson has skillfully woven anecdotes, research, and personal experience into a book that reads like a novel. It reminds me a little of reading Omnivore's Dilemma, another nonfiction book that qualifies as a page turner.

This is not an overtly political book, but it does challenge the profit motives of our currently constructed health care system. She says bluntly, "Families often assume doctors know best. But medical professionals are the products and purveyors of a system that pays for only certain sorts of care, even when it's more likely to prolong suffering than to restore health and even when, in report after report, most state that they would not choose that care for themselves or their loved ones."

There is ample evidence that Aronson has bucked the system, and that she has experienced both successes and disappointments, as those who take on the status quo so often do. I have every confidence that this will be a widely popular book, and that it will empower legions of people to speak up, question more, and ultimately to change the way we all interact with our various health care machinery. Changing something with so much power takes pressure from every angle. Consumers will need to do their part.

There is a universal aspect to growing older. Even if every individual does not get that chance him or herself, odds are there are older friends or family members who will require us to interact with the elderly and the systems we have to care for them. But aging is not only about health care, Aronson gives us a new way of regarding age in general, and some ways to counter longstanding and harmful stereotypes.

Readers already in the Elderhood zone will almost certainly find this book compelling, but anyone who has a reason to interact with older folks or the systems that older folks depend upon will also find this a fascinating and thought provoking book.

Save the Males:A Kitchen Survival Cookbook

I have posted about this book on my personal Facebook page a couple of times, but I have not yet included it on my Reading List blog. Full Disclosure: Chef Gordon is a long time friend of ours and we have known him since the very early 80's when he first began talking and joking about his Save the Males campaign. He explains this bit of fun in the opening pages.

Save the Males is decidedly geared toward the single male audience, but there is no doubt that many married men who would like to do a bit more of the food prep than throwing burgers on the grill would find this guide highly readable and tremendously informative. It is a nicely designed, no nonsense cookbook with a good balance of basic information, recipes, and advice. Most of the advice is technical and food related, but Chef Gordon sees the culinary arts as closely related to the art of romance, so there is a bit of advice along that line as well.

There are several charts and graphs and tables contained in this cookbook that a cooking novice, as well as seasoned cooks will find useful. Young men are, for the most part, much more likely than their baby boomer fathers to participate in food preparation in a very meaningful way. This would be a great read for any of them, no matter how far along they are in developing their chef skills, and who can't use a little advice about romance?

The book is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can also search for "Save the Males Cookbook" on Facebook and you will get a page that allows you to buy the book, as well as see a few cooking videos and recipes. It's important to add "kitchen" or "cookbook" to your search because there is also another Save the Males book out there, and I can't vouch for that one.