May Summary

Can you believe it is June already?

I completed two books this month. Yes, two. I have struggled with finding time to read this month. But that isn't the only problem. I have also had trouble focusing on the books I have chosen to read. First, I was trying to finish my Lenten reading. I know, it is past Pentecost and I should be done with that sort of thing by now. But, I am having trouble reading All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible by Dr. Herbert Lockyer. I am not enjoying the book and not because the content is bad. In my opinion the book is formatted poorly. Similar to a dictionary, it is formatted in two columns. There are only slim margins along the page edge and between the columns. I find it visually unattractive and, even with my old-lady reading glasses, I am having trouble zeroing in on a line of text. The words seem to all blur. It slows me down tremendously. I am more aware of the fact that I am annoyed than what I happen to be reading.

I have found that this book challenges the "grading system" I have for books. Here is how I evaluate books:

1 star ~ Printing this book wasted perfectly good trees. Purchasing the book wasted my hard earned money. And, reading this book wasted precious time with my family and friends. Why would anyone publish such drivel? Someone else might be able to find something redeeming about this book, but it was not my cup of tea.

2 stars ~ After shifting through the chafe, I found nuggets of gold, real wisdom. However, the book is unnecessarily wordy or presents ideas which are poorly argued. A book that could have been great but, in my opinion is poorly written.

3 stars ~ A book I would recommend you bring to read while you lie in the sun, wait for your car to be repaired, recover from surgery or escape from the stressors of your real life. It is entirely delightful but not life changing, brain candy really.

4 stars ~ The epitome of excellence. Far from brain candy, there is something about the story that is scholarly, revolutionary or captivating that draws the reader into the pages and makes the book difficult to put down.

5 stars ~ I am glad I didn’t die without reading this book

This book is scholarly (4 stars). There are some real nuggets of wisdom and I hate it (1 star). Anyway, I can only read a couple of pages at a time and then I put it down.

Then I tried to read The Histories by Tacitus. This wasn't a good choice for me this month either. It started strong:

After the conflict at Actium, and when it became essential to peace, that all power should be centered in one man, these great intellects passed away. Then too the truthfulness of history was impaired in many ways; at first, through men's ignorance of public affairs, which were now wholly strange to them, then, through their passion for flattery, or, on the other hand, their hatred of their masters. And so between the enmity of the one and the servility of the other, neither had any regard for posterity.

I thought, this could be talking about America today. By in large we have centralized power, twisted histories, a citizenry ignorant of the political process and history. And, no one seems to care. But then, as the title implies, Tacitus began to tell the history of Ancient Rome. I usually like that kind of thing, but I found myself unable to focus.

Well, so much for the books I didn't finish reading. The two books I did finish were The Whitest Wall – Book One Bootleg Brother’s Trilogy by Jodee Kulp. I had hoped to write a review of this book on my personal blog and for Shelfari, but I haven't done that yet. I also read The Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America by W.E.B. DuBois. There is an African proverb that says, "Only when lions have historians will hunters cease being heroes." Dubois is an excellent historian! I really enjoyed reading this history book from the perspective of a black American. History in high school didn't tell the story from the same perspective.

I must have had my own personal Black History month. I had asked for several movies from Netflix for our home school for February. But, I apparently wasn't the only one who thought to do this. The movies were on back order and they finally trickled to my home this month. We watched, We Shall Not Be Moved and When We Were Kings. I am embarrassed to admit that I really like When We Were Kings. Last, Marissa was studying World War 1 in home school. To introduce the topic we watched World War 1: American Legacy which talked about the Harlem Hellfighters.

Finally, for those reading The Chronicle of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen, I would like to draw your attention to a comment the author made on this blog. An exerpt:

Believe me, I haven't ignored or disregarded these very important matters - I just can't do it all in one or two books!

Related: My thoughts on The Whitest Wall