Welcome to my reading log for February 2020. Each month I write about the books I’ve read in the previous month. Originally I was wanting to see how many books I read in a year. Now I’m just keeping a record of what I’ve read each month.
So here’s the books that I’ve read this month:
A Widow’s Story: A Memoir by Joyce Carol Oates
An open honest account from Joyce Carol Oates after becoming a widow quite unexpectedly. Her husband had been in hospital with pneumonia. He was expected to come home shortly but died suddenly after developing a new infection. This is Oates story of how she coped or didn’t in the first year or so after her husband’s unexpected death.
The Story of Australian English by Kel Richards
A fascinating read about how our particular dialect of English came to be. I not only learnt a lot about the history of some of the particular words we use but also learnt much about Australian history from the time of the first fleet to now. The English came to Australia with people from many regions and classes in England who spoke different dialects. In order to communicate they had to level out, sculpt and adapt the language. Apparently, around 50 years after colonisation, some of the arriving English claimed that Australians were speaking the “purest English on earth”! It was interesting to read about how different English dialect words, thieves or flash language, military terms, Indigenous language and more have all informed and shaped the vocabulary we still use today.
Prayers for Faithful Families: Everyday Prayers for Everyday Life by Traci Smith
I’ve been part of the launch team for this book which was released in early February. Unfortunately I only have a digital copy of the book at this stage, which meant it took me a little while to read it. I often promote her previous book Faithful Families: Creating Sacred Moments at Home.
The prayers have been divided up into a number of different sections. Sections including Prayers for Every Day, Celebrations, Difficult Times, Creative Prayers and more. There is also space at the back to include your own family’s prayers. While Prayers for Faithful Families is mainly aimed at younger children, it also has prayers for older children as well. Including prayers for graduation or prayers for a sporting event or before a test. I highly recommend Prayers for Faithful Families and will be promoting this at workshops and in other places.
Growing up Asian in Australia edited by Alice Pung
A selection of short stories from many individuals about, as the title suggests, growing up Asian in Australia. The stories span several generations and come from all over Australia. They are about people, originally from or descended from a number of different Asian countries. I was most touched by stories of people who were similar to my age but their experience of growing up was very different to mine. Several stories come to mind including being one of the few Asian families in a small country town and having your parents own the local Chinese restaurant. A couple of stories also referred to their mothers sewing long hours to earn very little per garment that they made, (the hidden side of the fashion industry in our own country).
I was attracted to this book as I’d really enjoyed and learnt a lot from reading Growing up Muslim in Australia. Again my eyes were opened to just how different everyone’s experience is and how you can’t group people according to race or religion.
The Last Maasai Warrior by Frank Coates
An older book that I bought at a second hand book shop that was closing down. A novel based on historical events. Set in East Africa in the early 1900’s when the British Government makes an “agreement” with the Maasai people to contain them to certain sections of the land, instead of the large area that these cattle people had roamed over for centuries. The story is told mainly from the perspective of two characters, Ole Sadera (a leader amongst the young Maasai warriors and George Coll (a British Administrator). The two meet and become friends helping with each other’s languages and customs. This was a great read.
Three of the books I read in February, I chose from the library by simply walking around and seeing what caught my eye, out of the books on display. Most of the biographies I’ve read have been chosen from the ones that have been displayed, rather than those cataloged on the shelves.
What books would be on your February reading log?
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.