A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband “Master” by Rachel Held Evans (Thomas Nelson, October 2012), 352 pages

My first inclination is to say I learned stuff from reading this book. Valuable stuff, even. But after that first inclination is past — when you ask what I learned — I can’t come up with much I actually learned from the book itself.

I learned the labels for things. Complementarian vs. egalitarian, for example. I came to more deeply understand how flawed the idea that biblical womanhood = June Cleaver really is. June Cleaver wasn’t in the Bible, folks. Polygamy was, though.

Reminded again (Hello, philosophy minor!) how vital it is to recognize the bias and assumptions we bring to the table when we approach a text like the Bible. Pulling single verses to make our point(s) is rarely advisable. (context, context, context)

How liberating is it to learn that Proverbs 31, in Jewish homes, is memorized by the men as a way to honor and esteem, praise, their wives, rather than by women as a to-do list! I don’t need to live up to an unattainable, theoretical ideal of a poem; rather, I want to, along with so many others, begin to reclaim this idea and honor women when I see them persevering and doing hard things — “Woman of valor!”

I didn’t actually enjoy the author’s approach. She uses humor, which in theory is good, but which in practice fell flat and/or felt awkward to me at several points. She downplays the work she did and the points she’s trying to make with it, which bothered me. I could never figure out if she assigned herself certain tasks to make a flippant point or to sincerely explore/learn. The brief profiles of women from the Bible felt a little unconnected to the rest of the text. I liked them, and all the other parts, too, but the text overall felt disjointed.

Maybe the biggest thing I gained from reading this book — and it’s pretty big — is some encouragement to keep pursuing the idea that I am an empath/prophet and what that looks like. That my voice is valuable and should be heard. That I can and should speak for the marginalized and wounded. Now if only I could someday figure out what acting on this actually entails …

And now some quotes (without page numbers because I read the book digitally).

“I think this is one of the reasons why, despite the fact that I vote for Democrats, believe in evolution, and am no longer convinced that everyone different from me goes to hell, I don’t mind being identified as an evangelical Christian.

Evangelicalism is like my religious mother tongue. I revert to it whenever I’m angry or excited or surrounded by other people who understand what I’m saying. And it’s the language in which I most often hear God’s voice on the rare occasion that it rises above the noise.”

and

“We cause serious collateral damage to the advancement of our sex each time we perpetuate the stereotype that women can’t get along.”

I liked that she learned (and documented that she learned) things mostly not related to her quest. As she focused on gentleness and silence, contemplative prayer became attractive to her, for example.

A prayer from Teresa of Avila that Evans used:

“Let nothing upset you,
Let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins all it seeks.
Whoever has God lacks nothing.
God alone is enough.”

More quotes:

“Jesus once said that his mission was not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. And in this instance, fulfilling the law meant letting it go. It may serve as little comfort to those who have suffered abuse at the hand of Bible-wielding literalists, but the disturbing laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy lose just a bit of their potency when God himself breaks them.”

and

“As a Christian, my highest calling is not motherhood; my highest calling is to follow Christ. And following Christ is something a woman can do whether she is married, or single, rich or poor, sick or healthy, childless or Michelle Duggar.”

Rachel Held Evans is a blogger I’ve followed since roughly the start of this project (so, for several years now). She’s also the author of Evolving in Monkey Town. She lives in Dayton, Tennessee.

Other reviews:
Have you reviewed this book? Leave the link in the comments and I’ll add it here.

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I’ve been weeding the shelves again lately, but they’re still overburdened. I’m still weighted down by the wealth of unread tomes. Despite my most recent culling, I’ve still got too many books. (Not possible, you say? Well, space constraints and more importantly my well-being beg to differ.)

My idea, recently, to further lift this weight from my shoulders and shelves, has been to take, say, a month and devote all my reading time therein to either reading or starting and abandoning as many of the books that I don’t think I’ll love as I can.

Given: that I have much more trouble getting rid of books that I haven’t read (all the potential book love!) than I do books that I’ve read.

Potential hazard: Since I have such trouble abandoning books once I’ve started reading them, a month might only get me through a handful of titles (at best).

Potential pitfall: This is, essentially, a plan to spend a given duration of time NOT enjoying my reading, since the goal is to make decisions about the ones I don’t think I’ll love — or at least that there’s potential I’ll hate.

Is this crazy?

Have you ever done something similar or thought about it? Is there a better length of time for such a project, do you think?

1. This month is crazy busy — at least it feels that way to me right now. A’s birthday, two rounds of house guests so far and more to come, Paul‘s birthday, and my party coming up.
2. Argh, why can I not override that backwards apostrophe in the previous item?
3. I’m grateful for labels — like introvert — that I can wear unashamedly and that will hopefully help me communicate aspects of who I am with some new friends (who sound like they have no idea what introversion actually is); no, it doesn’t mean I hate people.
4. I’m grateful for the rain we’ve been getting this week because hopefully it means we’ll avoid the horrible drought we experienced last summer. My sunburn from Monday is even making me less annoyed at all the days of grey and low clouds.
5. I have books I want to review, but my thoughts are kind of muddy about them (yes, several of them), which is making it hard for me to sit down and actually write reviews. What to say? Do you experience this? How do you handle it?
6. A’s twelfth tooth has broken through, as of this morning; might this mark an end to the fussy/clinginess? Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to wait until these most recent two teeth are completely through, not just beginning to show themselves.
7. I’ve completed and posted about three Pins so far, for this month’s Pin It and Do It. Since I signed up for 4-7, I think I’ll likely complete it, yay! (I don’t want to think about when the last time was that I completed a challenge within its given timeframe.)
8. We (finally) watched Brave last night, and we were basically appalled. I know there’s some difference of opinion on this movie, but even going in with low expectations, I felt it wasn’t worthy of the name Pixar. No transcendence, no magic. Several counts against it, in my book. The best thing about it is Merida’s hair.
9. I’m kind of stuck on knitting projects. I have been knitting, but I haven’t found a project that pulls me in, that strikes me fancy, that … isn’t boring.
10. I learned something about myself this month that I probably should have already known. When my routine is disrupted and/or I have guests? I don’t get anything done. I love seeing people, but it takes me awhile to get back on an even keel afterward.
11. I think winter might finally be over here, finally! Time to switch out the short sleeves for the long sleeves, pack away the snow pants, and maybe — finally — get a garden put in.
12. I am continually drawn to nonfiction (to buy), but I rarely get around to reading it. Why is that? How do I fix it? Am I alone in this? Although I did just finish one nonfiction book, yay!
13. Mother’s Day is coming up, and my thoughts about that day, even now that I am a mom, are complicated. Here’s one post I ran across today.

Happy Thursday, friends!

The invitations: Hand-drawn and hand-cut (with details printed inside), each one unique.

The decorations: We got a huge pack of scrapbook paper (but 8.5×11, since we’re cutting it all), in all the colors of the rainbow, and a circle cutter. I started with the curtain. A had seen strings of circles sparkling as they swung and twirled on the air currents in one of our rare trips to the mall, and he’d been mesmerized. We cut 2-inch circles then spaced them about 1 or 1-1/2″ (I just eyeballed it) apart, applied rubber cement, placed sewing thread on the first circle, and pressed a matching circle into place, sandwiching the string between, then continuing up the thread.

Eleven circles got me about 3 feet in length. My strings are all between 3 and 4 feet long. When I finished constructing each thread of circles, I cut the end, leaving a tail of maybe 18 inches, which I used to tie it on to the curtain rod. It’s not the sturdiest decoration, but it worked for the party. All you sewists (is that the term we’re going with these days?) could also make it by stitching through a single circle, leaving space, then the next, etc.

Then we also cut circles of various sizes and used them to create both the birthday banner and various spots (heh) of interest throughout the house, including a “table runner” (tablecloths and 1 year olds don’t mix) and something on the front door to draw guests in.

The cake: Three layers of gluten-free chocolate cake (from the best cake mix ever), plus cupcakes. Frosted with 7-minute frosting. (I got pasteurized egg whites so I didn’t have to worry since this recipe doesn’t require the hand-held mixer over the double boiler bit, so the eggs are never on the stove. So much easier this way!)

And then the dots. Instead of starting with melted sugar syrup on the stove (or Instamelt, which I discovered too late since I can’t get it locally), I was inspired by stained-glass cookies to try just melting candy in the oven — stained-glass cookies without the cookie, essentially. I bought a mixed bag of Jolly Ranchers and one of LifeSavers. Between the two, I had a good range of colors (just no yellow). After some experimentation, I ended up melting the LifeSavers in my mini-muffin pan and the somewhat larger Jolly Ranchers in regular-sized silicone muffin cups.

With the oven at 350°, making sure each piece of candy was centered in its place, I let them melt and puddle. I started at 5-7 minutes, and then I was watching them very closely. If they go too long, they start bubbling and that’s kind of a mess to deal with. If you need to tip the tray a bit to get complete circles, do that as you remove them from the oven. Let them cool and them pop them out onto parchment, then apply to cake. The ones in silicone were a cinch to remove, compared to the ones in just the nonstick pan, but I couldn’t find silicone mini-muffin cups, so hey. [They get sticky relatively quickly, especially in high humidity. And they don't last forever.]

The fruit: I made a fruit salad to match the circular theme, using the melon baller on watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and papaya, and added pineapple chunks and halved grapes.

The event: He had a great time pulling on curly ribbons and letting them spring back. He liked unwrapping presents, until the pile of paper and tissue became more interesting than unwrapping for the moment. He quite enjoyed his first taste of refined sugar — he took teeny tiny pinches of frosting until he’d eaten nearly all of it — but he didn’t really care for the cake (I don’t think he even tried it, even when I placed a small bit in his mouth).

Happy birthday, baby!

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The Pin It and Do It challenge is open to everyone, so join in the fun!

I’m signing up at the Pinterested level, hoping to complete 4-7 pins.

I feel a little bit like I’m cheating, since this installment of the challenge runs for the month of May, and a couple pins I’ve already done (or at least started), but hey. She said it was OK, and she’s the host.

My first completed pin (for the challenge)

We (and by we I mean my husband, but I found the recipe) made these cookies last night. Chocolate chip cookies, but with browned butter, sea salt, and Nutella? How could they be bad, right?

And they’re not (bad). They’re actually really tasty. But they’re also complicated. And we’re not convinced that the Nutella actually adds to the experience, *gasp*! (We made some with and some without. They basically look the same, though, so you just get one one type pictured.)

I totally didn’t notice that Nutella seepage while taking the photos. Oops.

We did make a few modifications, of course. First, we subbed out the flour, to make them gluten free. I think that may be the cause of the giant-ness of them? They spread like crazy. And we didn’t have sea salt, we used kosher salt.

Pictured here on my relatively large hand for scale.

Now excuse me while I go pin some things I have planned to make/do for A’s birthday party. I also have some projects I pinned months ago for my own birthday party that I’m planning to accomplish this month, too. Lots of party-related pinning and doing planned for this month, over here!

But! Socks!

I made these quite awhile ago now, but I’m still smitten.

• Started and finished in December.
• Pattern: So Simple Silk Garden by Glenna C.
• Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock — apparently I didn’t jot down the colorway number.
• I worked the cables without a cable needle!
• (More details here.)
• I love Noro yarns. The long color changes, the single, everything. It reminds me of handspun, at least in some ways.

And these were made even longer ago, but I think I might love them more.

• Started and finished in November.
• Pattern: Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder
• Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks FX in Camelot Colors
• (More details here.)
• Yay, purple!
• I loved how not-just-a-plain-stockinette-sock this was, while still being very simple and straightforward. I will (and have) sought out more patterns like it.

Do you wear colorful socks?

Head over to FO Fridays and Fiber Arts Fridays to see what other people are up to in the fibery world today!

The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson, Ashtown Burials book 1 (Random House Children’s Books, 2011), 496 pages

Summary
Cyrus and his sister, Antigone, live at an old, rundown roadside motel with their college-aged brother. They have since their dad died and something happened to their mom (leaving her institutionalized). They practically live on waffles. And then an old man comes and insists on renting the specific room that is now Cyrus’s. When he shows up, things get interesting, to say the least.

Thoughts
I had heard good things about N.D. Wilson’s books from various trusted sources, but mostly I’d only picked up vague shadows. Most of what I’d heard, though, was about 100 Cupboards or at least that series. I am so very glad I read this one, though.

Wilson’s writing is superb. The prose thrilled me. Here’s the first two paragraphs:

“North of Mexico, south of Canada, and not too far west of the freshwater sea called Lake Michigan, in a place where cows polka-dot hills and men are serious about cheese, there is a lady on a pole.

“The Lady is an archer, pale and posing twenty feet in the air above a potholed parking lot. Her frozen bow is drawn with an arrow ready to fly, and her long, muscular legs glint in the late-afternoon sun. Behind her, dark clouds jostle on the horizon, and she quivers slightly in the warm breeze ahead of the coming storm. She has been hanging in the air with her bow drawn since the summer of 1962, when the parking lot was black and fresh, and the Archer Motel had guests. In those days, the Lady hadn’t been pale; she had been golden. And every night as the sun had set, her limbs had flickered and crackled with neon, and hundreds of slow cars and sputtering trucks had traveled her narrow road, passing beneath her glow. When young, she had aimed over the road, over the trees, toward Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Now, thanks to the nuzzling of a forgotten eighteen-wheeler, her glow has gone and she leans back, patiently cocking her arrow toward the sky, waiting to ambush the clouds.”

Isn’t that excellent? And the story’s pretty great, too. I don’t want to give spoilers, but aspects of this book reminded me of Diagon Alley — how right under the noses of the oblivious, magical things live and transpire. Not that this is any kind of a rip-off. The Dragon’s Tooth struck me as a wholly original story. Not that I’m well-versed enough in the genre to know such a thing. (Sheesh. Maybe it’s time for me to wrap this up and go do something else.)

Cyrus is a really great character in the ways that matter most. Intriguing, relatable, flawed. Actually, all the characters are pretty well drawn. Even the villains are nuanced and maybe even likable.

Isn’t it always thrilling to “discover” an author with a backlist? I’m excited to read the next one in this series, The Drowned Vault, and the third one (Empire of Bones) comes out this fall. (Besides reading his older books.)

… And I also feel the need, more strongly than ever now, to read Diana Wynne Jones. In fact, maybe I need to go on a long middle grade and YA fantasy reading tear?

Rating: 4.75 stars

Other reviews
Charlotte’s Library
Pages Unbound
Have you reviewed this book? Leave me a link and I’ll add it here.

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I spent the remainder of Monday writing lists of all the books I could read and all the things I could knit, now that I wasn’t reading from a set list. Not that I didn’t enjoy the INSPYs reading, but, you know. There’s still freedom in not being constrained. My lists were shockingly mundane. I couldn’t even bring my brain to brainstorm effectively, since I’d been seriously cramming for so very long. (All this before Boston (or even Pulitzer) news. Another day of tragedy. I have no words.)

And then, Tuesday, I had ideas. I even managed to get them jotted down before I forgot them, and I even more shockingly got one of them fleshed out!

Besides those two, I’ve started two other pieces. One is now finished and scheduled to publish. Another is still in progress, but I made significant headway.

And yes, I did pick up a book. I’m reading So Cold the River by Michael Koryta. Don’t expect me to push myself to finish it in a day or two, though. I like room to let my reads breathe.

This is basically completely opposite the way my mom reads to them. She loves the wordless books, and she kind of makes up her own narration as she goes, pointing at each picture, naming the animal/object, and explaining the sound it makes or the function it serves. She clears up any fallacies, too: If the book has bunnies with eggs, she’ll explain that bunnies don’t lay eggs, chickens lay eggs. Silly book.

Is there a right and a wrong way? Should I be spending more time on each page, pointing and naming, explaining? Even if there isn’t a right or wrong approach, how do you read to a little one?

(This blog post brought to you by rocking a fussy baby to sleep.)

He claps, he waves, he climbs stairs unaided. He’s very interested in being walked around (hanging on to your fingers). He dances (happy tummy dance, to music, to the music in his head). He initiates games (peek-a-boo, row your boat, a bouncing game). He’s started trying to play tug with Maisie (she’s still a bit strong for him).

He signed his first word yesterday: More. He says Mama and Dada, and a couple other words we haven’t figured out the meaning of yet. His babbling is starting to sound more and more like real words and even short sentences. He’s starting to communicate — to be understood, even, and that’s thrilling to me.

He has eight teeth and is very close to having two more.

He has a lot of hair. It’s not long, but it has definite volume.

He’s starting to transition (or maybe already has and I’m just still in denial) to only one nap each day. He often needs more, but sleep is hard for him.

He’s very adventurous, but he likes to know Mama is near, especially in new social situations. He only just started to cry when I leave him.

Note: I wrote the following two paragraphs when he was just over 8 months, intending to add to it, polish it, and post it at 9 months. Oops.

He’s always pushing the boundaries. I’m not talking about obedience. Before he could really stand, he was trying to pivot. Before he could solidly support himself, he was attempting to crouch down and pick something up off the floor, while standing. Before he could stand unsupported, he was placing one of his hands on a door knob and opening, closing, opening, while still trying to balance, with only support from the other hand.

And while it’s exasperating and sometimes scary to watch, at least for this parent, it’s also inspiring and thrilling. He’s constantly growing and pushing himself. Reaching new heights (literally and figuratively). Learning new skills and tackling challenging feats.