Books

What I’ve Been Reading Lately

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Here’s a very short list of three books I finished reading in the past week. Enjoy!

No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the late teacher’s most-read books. When I was in my 200-hr yoga teacher training, our teacher had a shirt that said “Yes Mud, Yes Lotus”. It became something of a trend and other women in the training were seen wearing them soon after.

I started reading this book when I was feeling a particularly strong wave of grief this summer after my son moved out West. It had been sitting in the stack near my bed for a year or more and it called to me. If you’ve ever read a book by Thich Nhat Hanh, you know how gentle, direct, and simple yet deep his writings are. They are practical and get right to the heart of human suffering and he shows you how to access peace through the simple act of breathing, through slowing down and living with mindfulness. He encourages love, peacefulness, gratitude for what we have, paying attention to our lives, and not waiting to be happy while we go through suffering. And there are many practices to try, at the end of the book.

The night I opened No Mud, No Lotus, I felt soothed and was able to breathe easier. This book is one to read if you’re going through something difficult. I also recommend my favorite book of his (so far anyway), Peace Is Every Step as well as Peace of Mind: Becoming Fully Present. Next I’m going to read his book: The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation.

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves is the third mystery in the Two Rivers (Detective Matthew Venn series). It started out with a murder in a coastal town, a storm with lashing rain, impossible waves, a treacherous coastal path. I loved the feel for Fall reading. And it was good for about halfway through and then I began to lose interest. I think it’s that the people who were being killed off weren’t loathsome enough to be glad they got their just desserts and they weren’t innocent and nice enough to feel sorry for. I just didn’t care. I do recommend Ann Cleeves Vera Stanhope series (set in Northumberland, England) and her Shetland series (set in the–you guessed it–Shetland Islands in Scotland), so if you want great British mysteries definitely give either or both of those a read.

The Enchanted Life: Reclaiming the Magic and Wisdom of the Natural World by Sharon Blackie was one I started last year. Her books are dense with myth, fairytale, poetry, and many personal stories from many different creative people from around the world. She is such a richly storied author, and she’s lived all over the British Isles, so I thoroughly enjoy reading about her experiences. This book was no different. And she had reflection questions interspersed throughout to help the reader take what we were reading and make it part of us. Her chapters on “The Mythic Imagination”, “Coming Home to Ourselves”, and “An Ear to the Ground” were my favorites. She is an advocate for rooting in and learning to know the place we live, for however long we are there., and for living a slower, creative, and more imaginative life. If any of these themes spark something in you, you’ll enjoy this book.

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into my current reading life. If you enjoyed this post, you will also like reading my Substack. Here’s my latest post. You can subscribe for free to read one free post a week, or subscribe for $5 per month for access to all my posts, plus the archive. Why become a paid Substack subscriber? To support my writing on Substack plus this blog which is a gift to you: an ad-free, restful, and quiet place among increasingly busy, loud, and frenetic blogs and websites.

I’d love to know what you’re reading right now. Share in comments below!

Evening Poetry, October 16

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Autumn by Library of Congress is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

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The Autumn by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
    And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
    Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them —
    The summer flowers depart —
Sit still — as all transform'd to stone,
    Except your musing heart.

How there you sat in summer-time,
    May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods sing
    Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows around,
    You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the trees,
    Doth cause a leaf to fall.

Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth
    That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
    When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us smile,
    When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us smile,
    When Sorrow bids us weep!

The dearest hands that clasp our hands, —
    Their presence may be o'er;
The dearest voice that meets our ear,
    That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,
    Which once refresh'd our mind,
Shall come — as, on those sighing woods,
    The chilling autumn wind.

Hear not the wind — view not the woods;
    Look out o'er vale and hill-
In spring, the sky encircled them —
    The sky is round them still.
Come autumn's scathe — come winter's cold —
    Come change — and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
    Can ne'er be desolate.

You can find this poem in The Complete Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Evening Poetry, October 15

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October
BY ROBERT FROST

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

You can find this poem in The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged.

Evening Poetry, October 14

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What Trees Dream Of by Danusha Laméris

This one thinks, let me be the slender bow
of the violin. Another, the body of the instrument,
burnished, the color of amber.
One imagines life as a narrow boat
crossing water,
a light mist of salt on the prow.
And still another &emdash; planed down to planks,
then hammered into shelter
toices vibrating through the rafters.
We do not notice their pleasure,
the slight hum of the banister
beneath our palms,
The satisfaction of the desk
as we tap our pens, impatiently,
upon its weathered surface.
They have ferried us
across rough seas
to lands that smelled of cinnamon
housed our senators,
who pace the creaky floors, debating,
carried arrowheads to pierce our enemies.
We have boiled their pulp, pressed it
into thin, white sheets of paper
on which we describe all of the above in great detail.
And when we die
they hold our empty forms
in bare cedar
until the moment &emdash; and how they long for this,
when we meet again in the blackened soil
and they take us back
in their embrace, carry us
up the length of their bodies
into the glittery, trembling movement of the leaves.

You can find this poem in The Moons of August.

The Invisible Hour, a Book Review

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I loved this novel! Mia lives in a commune in rural Massachussetts and longs to leave. She’s strong, rebellious, and books are her secret passion. I really enjoyed how she was strong enough to leave everything she knew and ask for help to get to safety.


Of all the books Mia read on the sly while at the commune (outside books were prohibited), The Scarlet Letter was her favorite. She saw a similarity between how her mother was treated and how Hester Prynne, heroine of the Scarlet Letter, was treated. Or mistreated. Mia feels a strong connection to Nathaniel Hawthorne and dreams of somehow being able to meet him.


Will Mia be able to heal from the trauma inflicted at the commune? Will her love be enough to travel through time? Will she be able to accept and experience the friendship and love that is being offered to her in the here and now?


This novel also feature strong librarians and lots about libraries and books. And if that wasn’t fantastic enough, there is a real sense of seasons passing, of the flowers, herbs, fruits, vegetables, trees, and the rural New England landscape. That was a constant throughout that kept the idea of time travel rooted in the place. I highly recommend this novel.
Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review!

Evening Poetry, September 15, 2023

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Photo by Nikolaeva Nastia on Pexels.com

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Do you love Mary Oliver’s poetry as much as I do? I never tire of reading it. Each poem pulls me away from the hustle and invites me to get outside, to notice what’s happening within and around me, and appreciate and really live in the experience of “this NOW”, as she writes in this poem.

Fall Song 
by Mary Oliver

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time's measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay - how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

You can find this poem in the collection American Primitive by Mary Oliver.

The Unmaking of June Farrow, A Book Review

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The Unmaking of June Farrow is one of the most mind-bending and unexpected books I’ve ever read Adrienne Young takes us on a poignant, sensitive and soul-searching journey with the protagonist, June Farrow. This is a lovely tale of a woman discovering who she is, making sense of what is happening to her, deciding where to put down roots, and choosing who to give her heart to in the middle of impermanence.


June is from a family of women who are all expected to go mad at some point in their lives. It’s a curse passed down from mother to daughter. At the start of this story, June has just buried her grandmother who had been showing signs of insanity for many years. Her mother, acting erratically, disappeared years ago, leaving a baby behind. And at age 34, June is already having episodes of what she assumes is the family madness.


June lives in the mountains of North Carolina, where her family has always owned and run a flower farm. Like many other magical realism novels I’ve read in the past few years, this novel includes plants and caring for the land. The mention of various kinds of flowers and how to tend them is sprinkled throughout the book.

When she’s not working on the farm, June has a penchant for research. She has been trying to discover more about why her mother disappeared and where she went. She’s also working on uncovering the mysterious death of a local minister that looms over their small town. With a cryptic clue from her grandmother, and words on an old envelope, June sets off one morning, determined to find answers. Where the path leads her is beyond her wildest imaginings. She will need much courage to face the truth and she’ll discover a love she never thought was possible.


I highly recommend The Unmaking of June Farrow to fans of the magical realism and fantasy genres, as well as those who enjoy Adrienne Young’s writing. You will be captivated by June and her journey. This book will be released on October 17, 2023.

Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Solo Passage: a Memoir to Read this Fall

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In Solo Passage: 13 Quests, 13 Questions, author Glenda Goodrich takes us on her solo journeys into the wild to heal, to seek answers, to uncover truths, to let go, and to become more fully herself.

Going on quests like this isn’t a part of our modern culture, so it seems unusually brave for a woman to begin doing these yearly quests at age 50. And it is! Glenda is such a fantastic storyteller that you will be engrossed in this book from page one.

She takes the reader through the preparation part of each quest: deciding on a campsite, bringing in water and basic equipment on foot, describing the landscape at each site, and explaining how the quests were organized with guides who planned for support and safety and were stationed a mile or so away.

She also writes of the shyness she had in sharing her true self and also the sense of camaraderie she builds with the other women as they gather before to share why they’re going and again at the end of each quest to share their experiences.

During each four day quest, we get a glimpse into her colorful past as she brings a part of her lived experience to light and lets it heal. She faces some really difficult memories, asks questions, and processes her pain in a different way each quest. Sometimes she gets a clear sign; other times her answer comes more subtly. She also shares vivid stories of her interactions with trees, earth, sky, all kinds of animals and insects, and what she experiences while fasting and being exposed to the elements.

She takes the reader on these thirteen riveting adventures with her and with each one she grows wiser, forgives and accepts herself more and more, and becomes more rooted in who she is. Glenda’s writing is so warm, alive, and she’s so down-to-earth and relatable, she invites the reader in and captivates us with her stories.

Solo Passage is highly recommended for midlife and beyond women who are looking for insight into their own experiences, who want to heal and become wise women who can nurture and love themselves and others. If you enjoy memoir and stories about wild places, you will want to read this book.


Thank you to She Writes Press for the Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review!

Acorn and Button, a Children’s Book Recommendation

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When my friend, Laurie Petrisin, announced the release of her children’s book, Acorn and Button, I was so happy for her and couldn’t wait to read it.

A little backstory: Laurie taught my two kids art all the years I homeschooled them. I didn’t have money for private art lessons, so Laurie let me barter with her. I’d bring her gluten free treats, hummus, soup, and other homemade goodies, and she’d give them a generously long art lesson. I’m pretty sure we got the better end of the deal. My kids loved her and learned drawing, color, composition, watercolor, oil painting, and so much more.

So, about Acorn and Button:

This is a picture book about two very different personalities. Acorn is sweet, sensitive, creative, and carefree, while Button is more fastidious, uptight, proper, and careful. Think Frog and Toad, but different. No “I Can Read” stilted wording, for one. And much more colorful illustrations.

So Acorn and Button meet in the woods and become fast friends. They immediately begin having adventures together, make discoveries, and learn about life. Within each adventure is a little nugget of wisdom, even though it’s never preachy. This duo learn about bravery, kindness, creativity, the seasons/cycles of nature, helping each other, making the best of not-so-ideal situations, and more.

Illustrations abound on every page: they’re colorful, action-packed, and lively, so they’ll capture the attention of a range of ages. (I’m thinking ages 6–9, although perhaps a little younger or older.)

And while this is a picture book, it’s also a chapter book. Which means you’ll have a whole week of bedtime stories, although you know they’re going to beg for just one more chapter!

Acorn and Button by Laura Petrisin is full of heartwarming, appealing, relatable characters and stories that will hold your child’s attention and yours as well. I highly recommend this adorable picture book!

And congratulations to Laurie, for all the creative work, thought, energy, and love she put into bringing Acorn and Button to life.

Poem (Evening Poetry, April 5)

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From Rhythms and Roads by Victoria Erickson

To me, love isn't the opposite of hate.
It's the opposite of fear.
Maybe we can burn away fear
using love as the flame.
Maybe we can consciously hold that burn
any time fear attempts to return.
Maybe we can become 
the very fire itself.