Category: relationships

Culture, Family, love, Personal Growth, reading, Redemption, relationships

Anxious People asks, “What’s worse than being an Idiot?”

“This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots. So, it needs saying from the outset that it’s always very easy to declare that other people are idiots, but only if you forget how idiotically difficult being human is.” Anxious People is a 2019 novel by Fredrik Backman. It was originally published in Swedish and translated and released in English in 2020. … Continue reading Anxious People asks, “What’s worse than being an Idiot?”

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Culture, History, love, relationships, romance, Uncategorized

Labors of Love and the Nine Lives of Dating

“There is no better life than a life spent laboring at love—exerting effort not because we have to, but because we believe that what we are bringing into being is valuable and we want it to exist. Yet because our culture tends to misunderstand the nature of labor and of love, we undervalue both.” “Heart Month” continues, though leftover Russell Stover’s has been relegated to … Continue reading Labors of Love and the Nine Lives of Dating

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Culture, Family, fiction, friendship, reading, relationships, Uncategorized, Women's Issues

Necessary People… Love Gone Bad

Opposites attract. We naturally seek out people with qualities we admire, but feel we lack. The morose individual seeks the eternal optimist. The die-hard conservative pursues the bleeding-heart liberal and introverts are consistently drawn to more out-going personalities. This is one theme running through Necessary People, a 2019 novel by Anna Pitoniak. “Stella was the vine wrapped around the limbs of my tree, and even … Continue reading Necessary People… Love Gone Bad

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Culture, Family, fiction, Mothers, relationships, Uncategorized

The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Long-Term Relationship in 550 pages

All four of the girls watched their parents from disparate vantage points across the lawn, each alerted initially to their absence from the reception by that pull, a vestigial holdover from childhood, seeking the cognitive comfort that came from the knowing, the geolocation, the proximity of those who’d created you, those who would always feel beholden to you, no matter what; each of their four … Continue reading The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Long-Term Relationship in 550 pages

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Culture, Family, fiction, Mothers, reading, Reading by the States, relationships, romance

Lies and Other Acts of Love… Telling Fibs in North Carolina

My momma always told me that honesty was the most important thing in life. But I’ve never understood why people are so hell-bent on honesty. It’s not the truth that sets you free. The truth is the thing that destroys lives, that shatters the mirror. The truth is selfish and shameful, and better kept to oneself.” Like most of my human brethren, I lie about … Continue reading Lies and Other Acts of Love… Telling Fibs in North Carolina

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Family, Fathers, Identity, reading, relationships

Girl Unknown… It’s the Journey and not the Destination

I think you might be my father. Set in Dublin, this 2016 novel by Karen Perry (pseudonym for Irish writers, Paul Perry and Karen Gillece) is a psychological thriller. Sort of. Told in alternating first-person, we begin as David Connolly, a middle-aged college professor is confronted with a student, Zoë, who claims to be his daughter. Caroline, David’s wife is suspicious from the beginning. So … Continue reading Girl Unknown… It’s the Journey and not the Destination

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Culture, Family, Gratitude, Personal Growth, reading, relationships, social psychology

Devil in a Red Dress: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for. Words have power. For me, the “f” word has always felt like the outfit you pull out on specific occasions. Where nothing else you own is wholly appropriate. It’s not subtle. F*ck is the short red dress of the English language. She grabs and keeps our attention. For as long as it takes to figure … Continue reading Devil in a Red Dress: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

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Culture, Family, Identity, Mothers, reading, relationships, Women's Issues

Going Home Again: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

When she reaches the ground, she looks from the old woman to me. A moment of confusion. Then recognition. I know her too, because I’ve seen traces of her in my face in the mirror. My mother. My a-ma. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a 2017 novel by Lisa See that explores and contrasts the lives of the Akha people in China with … Continue reading Going Home Again: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

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