Month in Review: September 2022

~ Lory

Literature

One thing leads to another in my reading life … Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin, read in the course of looking for answers to my health issues, led me to Rankin’s website and online courses, and thus to a quote from Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen, which I immediately sought out, and which turned out to one of the most beautiful and consoling books about healing I have ever read. I’m so glad I found it, or it found me.

Writing poems based on the healings in the Gospels generated an interest in how the Jewish faith has evolved, which led me to a couple of nonfiction books about Judaism and to the novel Davita’s Harp, another touching story from Chaim Potok, whose Asher Lev books I read recently.

In the course of a discussion of Black Water Sister last month (in preparation for the upcoming Witch Week), I learned of the children’s book The Girl and the Ghost, which covers similar territory in terms of Malaysian spirit lore, but for a younger audience. And then there are the books I picked up because I enjoyed the author’s previous release: The Twyford Code and The House with the Golden Door…along with other books that caught my eye at some point, and the more predictable monthly installment of the Dark Is Rising readalong series.

Meanwhile, I came across a Top Ten Tuesday post that inspired me to make my own on the topic Top Ten Typographic Covers. I was surprised how many of these came up in my recently-read or want-to-read list.

And so it goes. I make plans, but then something always comes up to lead me down a slightly different path, and often to wonderful discoveries. What trails have you followed during your reading month?

Books read in September:

Language

I posted a poem I translated from German this month, something I enjoy doing from time to time. The author, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, is well known in his native Switzerland, but not so much elsewhere. If I keep working on them I might have a little collection someday.

Golden stone under gray skies: Romainmoitier

Life

My son returned from a three-week farm practicum in Germany this month. It was the first time he’d been so far from home by himself, and thankfully all the travel went smoothly. We’re glad to have him back!

As for our own travel, I posted pictures from two magical and sacred sites that we visited recently, San Romedio in Italy and Romainmoitier in Switzerland. It’s always a pleasure to get to share these journeys with you.

I’m not sure where to post this news — it could go under any category — but I had a poem published in the Perspectives newsletter of the Christian Community. It’s one of the aforementioned Gospel healing poems, and I it posted here on the blog earlier: Talitha Koum. This is the first time I’ve had a poem appear in an actual print publication, so I feel it’s a sort of a life milestone. I’d really like to do more writing and submitting for publication; that is one of my goals for the near future.

I hope you’ll share your monthly milestones too. Do you link up at one of the memes below, or elsewhere?

Linked at The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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23 thoughts on “Month in Review: September 2022”

  1. It’s nice to write poetry and even more challenging to translate from another language. I read some French but mostly novels.

    1. i know it can be hard to resist those new releases, but I find wandering through the backlist (with an occasional exception) works best for me.

    1. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, and I really hope the third book comes soon. Vesuvius is looming in the background!

  6. My book trails are often random but I love that. Most often one book leads me to another which leads me to another. Glad you have your son back from his farm practicum. What an experience he must have had! Congratulations on having one of your poems published. You have a beautiful way with words, so I hope the world gets to read more and more of your words.

  7. That’s exactly how I like to read. I like to read a great book, follow up with a related book, then move to a book the related book inspired, and so on.

    A farm practicum sounds like something all of us should do in our youth.

    How wonderful to have a poem published!

    1. The farm practicum was fun, but hard work! Fortunately my son likes that. Not sure how I would have felt about it at age 16.

  9. Well, you reminded me that I’ve had Davita’s Harp on my TBR list for about…ten years? I don’t even know! I love Potok’s work and My Name Is Asher Lev in particular, so it’s always fun when another blogger writes about his works!

    1. I want to read more by him now. Davita’s Harp was his only book with a female protagonist, I understand. I found it very moving and thought-provoking.

  10. Well done on your publication, that’s wonderful!

    We had a local milestone when our first independent bookshop opened on my high street – very exciting but not good for the TBR or bank balance …

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