Doing Small Things with Great Love by Sharon Eubank

 The subtitle is "How everyday humanitarians are changing the world"

I follow Sister Eubank on Instagram, and was intrigued by what she was saying in her video snippets. I've always admired her, and have great respect for her work. She's open and vulnerable and obviously works very hard. I expected this book to be good, but it's even better than I expected! It's not just a description of the best ways to help the world, it's a very compelling call to action, I feel its pull.

 I especially resonated with the part about cash being sometimes the best way to help. This is counterintuitive to me, because I've always assumed it would be misused or lost. It resonated with me, though, because I remember when I was working with Native American populations to help them in college, some of them didn't have gas money to get to campus, or menstral supplies to stay active during their periods! Sister Eubank also pointed to research that says cash is most often NOT misused as I had assumed. 

I also like her emphasis on working locally, right where we are. And doing small things, which lead to great things. It's encouragement to see that the small things really are and become big things. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

..."many of the issues development dollars are trying to address were caused or made worse by the incalculable amounts of money, resources, and human capital extracted from Africa over hundreds of years of colonizing forces. Money alone does not solve these problems. In the absence of ethical leadership, self-determination, and the protection of basic human rights, development aid has proved to do very little to change the reasons communities and countries are poor."

"One of the reasons religious communities and faith-based organizations can often act as powerful change agents is that they are inherently made up of overlapping trusted networks."

"Trusted networks are inclusive.

Trusted networks protect alternate views.

Trusted networks foster choices.

Trusted networks hold themselves and others accountable.

Trusted networks can form councils that act."

Then she lists (beginning on page 62) 10 best practices for councils, which is a fantastic list.

And I love this paragraph from page 70:

As Westerners, as people with resources, as graduates of higher education--we don't say it aloud but--our underlying attitude is so often that we know what is best for people, how to solve their problems--we will teach them. This never works. We have no idea what is best for people. We rarely know what is best for ourselves. We do not have the solution to their problems. 

Then she goes on to list five categories of questions to ask to get started... beginning on page 70.

All of these points are illustrated with interesting stories from Sister Eubank's world wide experiences, and they ALL resonate with me and my experiences on the reservation. 

Here are the questions...

1. What help do you want?

2. What are you able to do yourselves?

3. What help do you want from the community?

4. What will you do when the need comes up next time?

5. Is it a local solution?

The term "second disaster" (page 30) was new to me, but I wasn't unaware that it happens. It's the tragedy of help gone awry...examples of huge clothing donations rotting on the beach because there was no plan for distribution. And refrigerators sent to Haiti who had no electricity after their earthquake. 

At the end of each chapter, Sister Eubank offers thoughtful questions for reflection, and then my favorite chapters, 9 and 10, invite us to ACT in specific ways. 

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young - heard on Libby app - 12 hours

 I don't recall who recommended this book to me, but I had to wait months for it on Libby. At first it was intriguing, but I got tired of the constant hysterical stress that this woman was under. Practically the whole story is stress-ridden and frantic. The characters are interesting, but rather mysterious. I was hoping for a mystery, which it is, but it was a weird, thriller kind of mystery that had so many time travel complications that I couldn't really follow it that well. Still, I persevered, because the descriptions of the land and the flowers were beautiful, and I kept hoping it would all make sense. It kind of came together, but it was not particularly satisfying...

Still, it gave me an interesting diversion as I walked the miles around our neighborhood this beautiful fall. Once I'm into a story, it's hard for me to stop. I know I dislike sci-fi, and this is similar. I should have known better and given up sooner. Oh well...the reader had a lovely southern accent...

A Carol for Mrs. Dickens by Rebecca Connolly

 This little Christmas book was nestled next to The Mansion at the library, which was what I was looking for... But this one looked intriguing so I checked them both out. It is a sweet little story, based on the real Mrs. Charles Dickens and is set in their time period. Mrs. Dickens admires her husband's exuberance, but is worn out. This little story shares how she got her Christmas spirit back, and it's sweet and focused on the "real" meaning of Christmas. It's fun to read about the Victorian traditions and fun parties, but the spirit of the season is missing. How Mrs. Dickens brings it back, through dreamy memories, is good to read about. I was hoping it might help ME feel more of the Christmas spirit, and it did, even though it's not quite Thanksgiving. I want to start early and feel it longer! I was also hoping it might be a giftable book, but it's not quite at that level. Still, a fun and good little read. 

Summer of 69 by Elin Hilderbrand on Libby Audio; 14 hours

 I almost returned this early because it was so inane and shallow, but gradually got interested in the characters and finished it as I walked and cleaned house. This author has the annoying habit of overstating and listing and re-explaining things from different characters' points of view. It's constantly redundant. The other annoying thing was the purposeful name dropping of every street and business on the two islands, oh yes, and the beaches and the descriptions; it was almost to prove that she spent some time there. It was unnecessary and annoying. 

She also kept naming the music, the songs, and the bands that were popular in 69. Okay. You know some of the music. What she didn't capture was the mood or ambience. Parts were okay...like the excitement of the moon launch and the way people felt, but it really sort of missed for me. I was hoping for a nostalgic trip down memory lane and there were good parts where Jesse's thirteen year old feelings rang true, but otherwise it was kind of a waste. I believe I'm done with this author. There are so many more satisfying stories out there!

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

I don't think I would have read this book, from its description, if I hadn't wanted to be able to discuss it in our Monterey book club. I'm so glad I did! It's one of the best books I've read in a long time. Such good characters, such ethical and strong characters were what propelled this forward for me. Plus, the time period showing what every day life was like in the late 1700's was fascinating.

Martha Ballard is a real historical person, and so are most of the characters in this book. But the story is fictional, which the author clearly explains in the Author's note at the end. It also showed me a lot about the early judicial system of the Maine territory, the culture of that area, and the early upper crust of Boston and Harvard. 

The Ballard family was a happy one to learn about, despite the early deaths of three of their daughters. The rape of women and the powerlessness of women in general was treated with clarity and reality. Yet Martha Ballard was an extraordinary outlier who made a difference in her sphere. I loved being privy to her thinking. I enjoyed the clues that dropped like breadcrumbs along the way as to the murder of one of the two villains in the story. It also felt to me like divine justice was done when the "civilized" justice system failed. I had the sense all along that things would work out...

The difficult birth scenes and violence were not gratuitous and not hard for me as they propelled the story along. I liked the setting of the river and how it impacted life.  I enjoyed the humor as Martha fought her cantankerous horse....for a heavy topic, this story also felt light. I will definitely explore more from this author. 

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan - listened on Libby for almost ten hours

This audiobook started out delightfully and I appreciated the wonderful descriptive similes for the first several hours. The characters were interesting and the setting of the beautiful home and gardens was comforting. The story had several interweaving episodes that made following a little difficult at first, but I was able to keep them straight eventually.

I was quite captivated at first...but it soon became evident that these characters were one-dimensional and flat. I persevered to the end, though, because some of the magic or ghosts were slightly intriguing and I wondered how the author would pull them all together. They all came together, all neatly tied up.

I enjoyed the British accent, the very clever turns of phrases...but overall, too fluffy. And the occasional F-bombs were so needless. Too bad. 

I guess fluff just doesn't get it for me anymore! In between listens, I was studying Doctrine & Covenants 124 for teaching Gospel Doctrine, and listening to meaty podcasts about that. The contrast between fluff and meat became startling!

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross a Libby Audio loan - 19 hours

 This was a big, heavy commitment, but ultimately worth it. I would have never come across it, but it was chosen as a book club read by the new, unassociated with Relief Society book club in the Stonebridge Ward, which is now a group of friends, apparently. I think I missed the discussion because of my Indiana sojourn, but I'm still glad I read this story.

It's a controversial historical mystery, whether or not a female pope actually ascended to the papal seat. At the end of the audiobook, the author explores some of the historical arguments that have been made for and against her existence. It's tough to prove because this supposedly happened in the ninth century, so historical records are spotty.

I liked understanding better how every day life was lived during this time. It was certainly bleak for women! In fact, during the whole first part of the book, I almost quit multiple times because of the cruelty of the men in the story, particularly Joan's father. Still, I stuck with it, and I enjoyed learning some of the arguments that were probably discussed during this time; for example, can faith be based on reason? It was disheartening to read about the corruption of the religious leaders at that time. But it was also good to read that there were people with integrity as well, Joan first and foremost.

It spans her whole life, and includes a compelling love story between her and her adoptive guardian, Gerald. Over the years he is the one person she can trust and depend on. It was interesting to see how he would come back into the story. Overall, it was a good listen while I walked the streets of our neighborhood this fall. It also made me very grateful to live in our current era; they were often cold and starving. It's also interesting that there was very little religion or faith in the story... something I would have expected. It shows how far away from Christ and His teaching his church had become!