What Are We Doing Here? by Marilynne RobinsonI have long been in love with Marilynne Robinson’s fiction, but for one reason or another I had yet to read a collection of her essays, though I oena few of them. Fortunately that all changed when I requested a copy of What Are We Doing Here? I always knew Marilynne Robinson was impressively brilliant, but I never knew to what extent her brilliance would impress and overwhelm me. I have not read this level of academic writing since I left graduate school, and I was delighted to encounter the challenge of her essay collection. It was a challenge to read late at night after my brain was dead, but I overall enjoyed the mental effort I put forth to genuinely appreciate her work. Her essays are well thought out and planned, and Robinson never failed to make me think and question my presuppositions. One of my favorite of her chapters was “The American Scholar Now” in which she evokes Emerson’s speech about the status of education. As a fellow teacher, though not at such a prestigious school as Robinson, I connected with her reflections and saw them in my own work in school as a teacher and as a graduate student in the humanities. Another beautiful entry was “The Divine” in which she discusses the creation, uses, and evolution of words. As a former English major this brought back many memories of studying the English language, especially when looking into postmodernism in Dr. Bressler’s wondeful course. (No, I don’t think he is reading this, for the record.) I recall loving to learn about this sort of topic, so I was captivated by Robinson’s take on something I used to know more about. Overall, I highly recommend Robinson’s work to readers. Her writing is precise, her topics are interesting, and her love of what she is passionate about is compelling. If you are up for a read that will make you think and consider so much of what you believe, you should check out What Are We Doing Here? by Marilynne Robinson, which came out today! Educated by Tara WestoverMy strongest memory is not a memory. It’s something I imagined, then came to remember as if it had happened. When I first began hearing about this book I knew I desperately wanted to read it. I love reading memoirs about people who come from seemingly impossible circumstances, and Educated seemed to fit the bill perfectly. In this memoir Tara Westover shares the story of her life growing up in an extreme Mormon home where her parents strictly adhere to the doctrine. Tara suffers under much abuse growing up from both her parents as well as one of her older brothers, and in her memoir she grapples with how this affects her and how she has grown through the struggles life threw her way. I found her stories engaging, honest, and often sad, though she does a good job of not trying to conjure pity from the reader. I highly recommend this book to you as a fantastic memoir and a book that will teach you a lot about one person’s life experience. I received advance copies of both of these books from their publishers in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
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