Books I Read in 2024, Vol. X

 

WAIT FOR SIGNS: Twelve Longmire Stories
Craig Johnson

Craig Johnson's straight-talking lawman, Sheriff Walt Longmire, first knocked readers dead in the award-winning short story "Old Indian Trick." Since then, the sheriff has captured the hearts of mystery lovers with ten bestselling Longmire novels and the hit A&E series LONGMIRE. Now, for the first time, 12 short stories featuring an off-duty Longmire are collected in a single volume. With a glimpse into Walt's past, these stories are by turns hilarious and suspenseful. The sheriff finds himself mistaken for a deity, then elbowed into putting on a show as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and then trapped in a Porta Potty. Wait for Signs is a welcome addition to any Longmire fan's shelf and a wonderful way to introduce new readers to the fictional world of Absaroka County, Wyoming.

I normally wouldn't read two Longmire books in a row without tossing in some Rat Pack Mystery or Brit in the FBI between them, but this collection of short stories perfectly fit with a flight to Michigan for a weekend conference and the drive back with Beloved. By now, it is clear that I am a fan of Johnson's Longmire output, and this collection does not tarnish that in the least. There was even the added bonus of learning the real legend behind the naming of Wyoming's Crazy Woman Creek, which I have driven by countless times in my journeys to and fro involving visiting my in-laws.

First Line: It's hard to argue with an old Indian or his tricks.

Page 56 / Line 5: "Maybe."

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: The prison psychologist intimated that it was all a question of comparison, but that if you sat a bag of groceries next to Travis, the groceries would get into Stanford before he would.

Last Line: I drove the entire forty miles without cracking a smile -- a personal best.

Books I Read in 2024, Vol. IX

 

AS A WOMAN: What I Learned About Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy After I Transitioned
Paula Stone Williams

Dr. Paula Stone Williams was a married father of three who held several prominent jobs within the Christian community. Then, she made a life-changing decision: she would physically transition from a male to a female at the age of sixty. Feeling utterly alone after being expelled from the evangelical churches she had once spearheaded, Paula struggled to create a new safe space for herself where she could reconcile her faith, identity, and desire to be a leader.

In [this book], Paula pulls back the curtain on her transition journey and sheds light on the gendered landscape that impacts many in the LGBTQ+ community. She urges men to recognize the ways in which the world is tilted in their favor and validates the experiences of women who have been disregarded based solely on their gender, while also acknowledging how she was once like those men who are blind to their privilege.

I read this book in an attempt to better understand the world of transgenderism. It certainly told the tale of the author's personal journey and feelings, but in terms of understanding "why," it never went beyond "I've always felt like I was in the wrong body; that I should have been born female." And maybe that's really the only explanation for gender dysphoria. As for insights into "the patriarchy," I think Dr. Williams was confusing the shocked reactions of the evangelical ministries he led as a cultural sense of male privilege. But to be fair, the final third of the book DOES point out several instances of being treated differently, i.e., less respectfully, merely because of being a woman, and that is something to be ashamed of and to work on changing.

First Line: I had a big dream but could not hold on to the details, except some vague sense that I'd been immersed in water.

Page 56 / Line 5: Since the subject had been so much on the back burner during my college years, I was confident it was going to go away once I got married.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: Bible college is kind of like being at your aunt's house.

Last Line: To all who believe the call toward authenticity is sacred and holy and for the greater good, there are no guarantees you will find happiness, but you will know joy.