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Katharine's February books
Mar. 6th, 2018 08:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katharhinoI didn't read as much as usual in February. Distracted by the Olympics and my crossword app and just life and feelings and stuff. I started several books so hopefully my March tally will be quite a bit higher.
H is for Hawk, Helen MacDonald - I started this book last year, but it's taken me months to finish. I had to renew at the library, ran out of renewals, and finally I saw a copy at a used bookstore and just bought it. This is a beautifully written book, combination personal memoir about the author's journey to grieve her father's unexpected death, interspersed with biographical tidbits about T. H. White, author of The Sword in the Stone, and then with lyrical descriptions of the process of taming and training a goshawk to hunt. It's hard to explain the reason it took me so long to finish. I got kind of stuck halfway. Despite the undeniably beautiful writing, the book just seemed to be going nowhere and the constant interruptions to talk about White were dilatory and somewhat depressing. It all started to make sense in the last third of the book, though, as Macdonald realizes she had been sort of projecting on her hawk as a way to withdraw from human compassion and her own emotions. Ultimately a really worthy book, but a difficult one. Brilliant but a little uneasy. [4/5]
The Unhurried Homeschooler, by Durenda Wilson - I saw a recommendation for this book somewhere when I was researching homeschooling methods and put it on my Amazon list. I got it for Christmas and it turned out to be little more than a self-published pamphlet or an expanded blog post. It was encouraging to me although a little heavy on the Christian jargon, and reinforced what I already believe about letting homeschooling be a gradual process. I'd guess experienced homeschoolers might find it a disappointing purchase, however, as there isn't much more to it than that. [2.5/5]
The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron (DID NOT FINISH) - Since I've been purposely reading books to inspire me with my art, I thought I might as well try the grandmother of all creativity self-help books, which I have seen recommended many times but never read. I tend to be very turned off by books which begin by preaching for chapters about how brilliant their own methods are, and how if you follow their programs to the letter you will be sure to achieve your dreams in a few months. I am also exceedingly turned off by any talk about "my muse" or "my inner artist" to the point that it's become one of my pet peeves. "Othering" my creativity seems so patronizing and unproductive to me. I don't have an inner artist who is like a child and needs to be coddled. I AM an artist. It is my vocation. It's something I do, that can be learned and disciplined and pursued. Yes, being an artist causes a lot of fear because it comes from such a deep place sometimes. But it is not an activity which involves splitting yourself in two. Hopefully it's the opposite. Anyway, I just skimmed the rest of the book. There are a lot of good nuggets of wisdom here. I think some self-investigation is important to artists, especially. And I also think that figuring the reasons for fear can be helpful to push through blocks. I also really like the idea of doing some on-paper journaling to get my thoughts processing, and I may try that. I will not, however, be following the entire 12-week program. [3/5]
February books: 2 (1 DNF)
2018 total: 8 (1 DNF)
H is for Hawk, Helen MacDonald - I started this book last year, but it's taken me months to finish. I had to renew at the library, ran out of renewals, and finally I saw a copy at a used bookstore and just bought it. This is a beautifully written book, combination personal memoir about the author's journey to grieve her father's unexpected death, interspersed with biographical tidbits about T. H. White, author of The Sword in the Stone, and then with lyrical descriptions of the process of taming and training a goshawk to hunt. It's hard to explain the reason it took me so long to finish. I got kind of stuck halfway. Despite the undeniably beautiful writing, the book just seemed to be going nowhere and the constant interruptions to talk about White were dilatory and somewhat depressing. It all started to make sense in the last third of the book, though, as Macdonald realizes she had been sort of projecting on her hawk as a way to withdraw from human compassion and her own emotions. Ultimately a really worthy book, but a difficult one. Brilliant but a little uneasy. [4/5]
The Unhurried Homeschooler, by Durenda Wilson - I saw a recommendation for this book somewhere when I was researching homeschooling methods and put it on my Amazon list. I got it for Christmas and it turned out to be little more than a self-published pamphlet or an expanded blog post. It was encouraging to me although a little heavy on the Christian jargon, and reinforced what I already believe about letting homeschooling be a gradual process. I'd guess experienced homeschoolers might find it a disappointing purchase, however, as there isn't much more to it than that. [2.5/5]
The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron (DID NOT FINISH) - Since I've been purposely reading books to inspire me with my art, I thought I might as well try the grandmother of all creativity self-help books, which I have seen recommended many times but never read. I tend to be very turned off by books which begin by preaching for chapters about how brilliant their own methods are, and how if you follow their programs to the letter you will be sure to achieve your dreams in a few months. I am also exceedingly turned off by any talk about "my muse" or "my inner artist" to the point that it's become one of my pet peeves. "Othering" my creativity seems so patronizing and unproductive to me. I don't have an inner artist who is like a child and needs to be coddled. I AM an artist. It is my vocation. It's something I do, that can be learned and disciplined and pursued. Yes, being an artist causes a lot of fear because it comes from such a deep place sometimes. But it is not an activity which involves splitting yourself in two. Hopefully it's the opposite. Anyway, I just skimmed the rest of the book. There are a lot of good nuggets of wisdom here. I think some self-investigation is important to artists, especially. And I also think that figuring the reasons for fear can be helpful to push through blocks. I also really like the idea of doing some on-paper journaling to get my thoughts processing, and I may try that. I will not, however, be following the entire 12-week program. [3/5]
February books: 2 (1 DNF)
2018 total: 8 (1 DNF)
