Book Review: The Zookeeper’s Wife

The Zookeeper’s Wife
Diane Ackerman
Version: Kindle, borrowed through Overdrive/Maryland Digital Library Consortium
Biography, History, Non-Fiction
You might like it if you enjoy stories of ordinary people doing their part to help others, stories about World War 2, or stories about interesting, strong women.

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When was the last time you were clumsy?

(c)AdobeStockImages

Okay...I’m upset enough to write about a current event. There’s a story gone viral that characterizes so many of my concerns about the larger world that I want to dissect it a bit.

It’s the one about the Women in Math club at BYU. My concerns are simple. Why did this become a publicly humiliating situation for the individuals involved? Why did it have to escalate from an awkward, unfortunate mistake by one person to a big deal? The attention this story has focused on the math club and the BYU math department in general has, I’m sure, caused much more harm than good. What is the value in that? Why is this okay? I truly don’t understand.

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Book Review: The Pillars of the Earth

Whoa! I went to do that thing I've done nearly every day for weeks and...it..was...finished! I feel a little bit of that sensation of "Now what?"

Yes, I just finished listening to just over 40 hours of The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and I'm a little bereft. It's a lifestyle. And yes, I had a lot of pauses because Goodreads says I started it in November, but I actually started in earnest around Christmas. I chose this book on the recommendation of a trusted friend and the fact that I love cathedrals and their stories.

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Serously?

A somewhat recent photo of Eric and I. You can't
tell so much because of my beanie, but I've cut off
my hair. So far, it hasn't caused me to lose any of
my super-powers. 

Ugh, I was really hoping it had been less time than this since I wrote here, but it hasn't. Nothing since last August. My grandmother's funeral. Nothing about all the major events since that time.

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My Grandma Joy

Here are some thoughts about my Grandma.

On August 12, My paternal grandmother, Joy Bateman Wixom Samson, died. She was 95 and had lived a full life of family, work, travel and love. She was an important and positive influence in my life, and while I am sad I won't see her again in this life, it's hard to be TOO sad when a tired 95-year old woman who has done all the things and is suffering from pain and sickness dies. I am honestly more happy for her than I am sad for myself. Truly. Her life is a great example of what I believe life is all about--learning, experiencing, helping others, trying, making mistakes, having messy problems, doing fun things, loving people, never giving up, etc. I don't romanticize her as a perfect person, but instead I love her for her example of a real woman in action. She showed me that it's possible to keep on going in the face of hard things, and to laugh and sing along the way. That is invaluable to me. I am grateful you are my Grandma.

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