March 2024 Top Ten

We read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson for book club. I enjoyed it. Her prose is wonderful.

I found this piano playlist called “a quiet midnight playlist” and have been listening to it quite a bit while I work. Here it is on Spotify without ads.

I read Raising Emotionally Strong Boys by David Thomas and really appreciated it. I used one of the practices with my five year old son and he opened up about something that upset him that another kid said to him. Definitely recommend.

I submitted a poetry chapbook to Rattle, and a subscription is included in the submission fee. So, I recieved last year’s winning poetry chapbook from Rattle, Cheap Motels of My Youth by George Bilgere and really enjoyed it. So many poems reminded me of my favorite living poet, Billy Collins.

Youtube recommended this video of a cowboy (rancher? wrangler?) named Dewayne Noel who runs Dry Creek Wrangler School. It’s just a 14-minute unedited video of an old man sharing some wisdom. Nothing groundbreaking, but refreshing nonetheless.

I read Rembrandt Is In the Wind by Russ Ramsey and loved it. A mix of art history and art criticism in a devotional way. Very good.

I found a little poetry book on a free table called Practicing Silence by Bonnie Thurston and ended up loving it. It is structured using “Monastic time” and the Rule of St. Benedict. Here’s a line I underlined when I read it during Holy Week:

“When the culture has gone mad as a March Hare, the steady sanity of quiet people who want to live alone with God appears crazy as crocus poking up through snow, Lenten purple, but promising Easter.”

Found this podcast/video about prayer that features some Bible teachers I respect and really enjoyed it. If you can get past what seems like pretentiousness (I don’t think it actually is, I think they’re all genuine, but sometimes they come across that way), there’s some really good stuff in it.

I read MonoThreeism by J.D. Lyonhart and thought it was pretty good. Quite a bit went over my head, but it gave me a new appreciation for the trinity. The first part is long, but there’s a ton of pay off in the second half. Will definitely be reading more books on the trinity because of it.

10.

Maggie Rogers is great. This new song is great. Been listening to it on repeat. Genuinely thought about doing a cover of it. That’d be something, huh?