Favorite Books in March: Thursday's Reflection

Just before the St Paul Public Libraries announced they were closing, my daughter Kate received a notice that Ann Patchett's The Dutch House was on hold for her after a long wait, but it was too late. How excited she was, therefore, when one day last week she got an email from her neighborhood library saying they would be open for a couple hours that day for patrons to pick up books they had waiting for them on hold. Yahoo! 

Even though I have plenty of books on my shelves to read for the first time or to re-read, I admit I miss my frequent trips to the library, and I know when restrictions are lifted, that will be one of my first joyous outings. 

Because of time spent with my father who is in decline and needs ongoing care,  I am not reading more than usual, and, in fact, for awhile I had a hard time settling into a book when I had the opportunity. I was a bit concerned when I discarded book after book, reading only a few pages. Recently, however, reading has reappeared as my solace and my delight. I usually read around ten books every month, and this month I read twelve. 

Here are my top four favorites for this month.
1.   Swede Hollow by Ola Larsmo. (Fiction) Although it is about Swedish immigration to St Paul, this fascinating historical novel is not for Minnesotans only. I was so struck by the steadiness, the stalwartness, the resilience of these immigrants, and I suspect that is true for those who have come to this country in more recent years. 
2.   Little Bee by Chris Cleeve. (Fiction) This is also an immigration story, but so different. Little Bee is from Nigeria who enters the UK illegally after a tragic incident on a beach in Nigeria involving a couple from England. One of the characters is the couple's young son who thinks he is Batman and wears the costume constantly. I have not read any other books by this author, but will in the future. 
3.   The Longing for Home, Recollections and Reflections by Frederick Buechner. (Nonfiction) An uneven collection, I would say, but the title essay and one called "The Journey to Wholeness" are stellar. I keep thinking about them. Here's one section from the title essay:
               "...what we furnished home with was ourselves, in
               other words. We furnished it with the best that we knew
               and the best that we were, and we furnished it also 
               with everything that we were not wise enough to
               know and the shadow side of who we were as well as
               the best side, because we were not self-aware enough
               to recognize those shadows and somehow both to
               learn from them and to disempower them." p. 15
4.   Fifty Days of Solitude by Doris Grumbach. (Nonfiction) This has been waiting for me on my "to be read" (TBR) shelves for a long time and now clearly was the right time to read it. This book is a recollection of novelist Grumbach's decision to live in her coastal Maine home for 50 days, rarely speaking to anyone. The result is a meditation about what it means to write, to be alone, and to come to terms with mortality. I love this prayer, an evening prayer, she quotes from The Book of Common Prayer:
                 "O Lord, support me all the day long, until the
                 shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the
                 busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, 
                 and my work is done. Then in thy mercy grant me 
                 a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last."

Bonus Titles from March
1.   Convictions, How I Learned What Matters To Me by Marcus Borg (Nonfiction)
2.   Writers and Lovers by Lily King (Fiction)
3.   Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner (Fiction)
4.   The Women in Black by Madeleine St John (Fiction)
5.   The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (Fiction)
6.   Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen (Fiction) Actually read this in February, but had already written my post on favorite February books. 

I hope during these days of social isolation you can find companionship in good books. 

An Invitation
What have you been reading? Are you spending more time reading now?