The Beauty of a Story

Hey, I am actually writing a blog post on time this week! Yay me! You can probably thank the weather. A cold wind, quite unseasonable for my corner of the world, has been whipping through for a whole week. It brings along with it rain and snow on the mountains. Not exactly gardening or mountain biking weather. Thus, I am inside, writing a blog post on time.

I feel like I read and read and read all month, and here I am with an astonishingly small number of books finished. Perhaps because the books I am reading are long, and haven’t been finished yet. Or perhaps because my memory does not accurately represent reality. Either is possible.

Anyway. On to the books.

Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

I read this book, and immediately changed the way I planned my days and made to do lists. The whole book is strategy after strategy to make time for what matters most to you. After all, we aren’t going to get more time, so we should carve out space in our busy lives to make room for the priorities in our lives. I will say, I feel more productive, but at the same time less stressed about my never ending to do list. Which is good, I think.

The Lost Spells by Macfarlane and Morris

I got this book because it was recommended by a youtuber I like. And because it is beautiful. The book is a synergy of poems and water color paintings which work together to open your eyes to the beautiful world around you. They are about the wild animals that live around us, some of which are fast disappearing. I came away with a greater appreciation of the wild beauty of the animals outside my window.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

I have already spoken about this book at length in another blog post, which you can find here. Suffice to say, I loved it.

Is God a Moral Monster? By Paul Copan

I finally finished my nonfiction book of the month, a month late… Oh well. At least it got finished. And I convinced my husband we should go through the unread books on our shelves, so now I have less to read! The book made a few good points, but mostly it was just okay. I wouldn’t read it again.

Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrik Backman

This book made me cry, repeatedly. Somehow it wrangled five stars out of me even so. It isn’t that this book is sad. Mostly, it is funny, mostly, it is heart warming. But it still made me sad, because of what it reminded me of. The book reminded me of my own losses, my own pain, and my own desperate attempts to cope with it all. And so, I cried. However, grief can be good for the soul. Perhaps in finally grieving my own loss, I could gently close the door on that part of my life, and step forward with courage. Much like the heroine does at the end of the book.

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That’s a wrap folks. I won’t promise anything amazing and wonderful for next month. But hopefully I will have read a few, just a few, more books. Or just finish the books that are haunting me from bookshelf and nightstand…

I hope your week is wonderful.

Shaina Merrick