Person and Eros by Christos Yannaras
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An abstract and challenging read, yet a beautiful in its celebration of that the fullness, freedom, and truth of the human person is in mutual love as self-giving.  Which made it a fitting read the week before St. Valentine's Day.

View all my reviews

Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey by Florence Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After hearing a promo for Florence Williams's appearance on Fresh Air, I ordered this book, then listened to the interview. This was just the right book at just the right time. I'm almost 15 months since the end of my marriage, and I often feel stuck with emotions that I think I've processed through and yet remain. The book was quite helpful in discussing the physical, mental, and emotional effects of heartbreak. I realized my experiences were not unusual and some of them really out of my control. She also suggests various practices to help ease the heartbreak and maybe speed up the process, while making it clear that it is just a process that takes time. After reading it I feel I better understand what I'm going through.

View all my reviews

Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

"I will none the less continue faithfully to set forth what Jean Jacques Rousseau was, did, and thought, without either explaining or justifying the singularity of his sentiments and ideas."

Well, after working slowly through the two volumes of Rousseau's Confessions in the last year, my main takeaway is that he was a reprehensible human being.

View all my reviews

An interesting essay encouraging more reading of Puritan poetry.  I read the poems of Edward Taylor last year, after first encountering them in an anthology of American religious poetry (edited by Harold Bloom for the Library of America) and being astounded at his metaphors and similes.