Life On A B-I7

“Beartown” by Fredrik Backman, Translated by Neil Smith

The author does a clever job of setting up the reader to expect the book to end with a murder. The balance of the story presents the evidence why we should or should not accept that conclusion as postulated. The book ends dramatically and has a satisfying conclusion. Well written and entertaining but a bit long.

If you are honest, people may deceive you.
Be honest anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfishness.
Be kind anyway.
All the good you do today will be forgotten by others tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

This strikes me as beautiful.

A simple truth, repeated as often as it is ignored, is that if you tell a child it can do absolutely anything, or it can’t do anything at all, you will in all likelihood be proven right.

So true.

The only thing the sport gives us is moments. But what the he’ll is life, Peter, apart from moments?

That’s not just true of sports, it’s true of all life’s events.

The first thing that happens in a conflict is that we choose a side, because that’ easier than trying to hold two thoughts in our heads at the same time. The second thing is that we seek out facts that confirm what we want to believe.

That’s where intellectual debate enters, or should enter. We have too little of that don’t we?

Who would you pull out of the freezing water first if the lifeboat only had a limited number of places?

Your family.

What is community? It is the sum total of our choices.

What is friendship, family, community, country? Same as above.

One day very soon everyone around them will simply pretend that this has never happened. Because the family does not lose.

The quote is about a rich influential family. This is the problem with money, it can find more ways to prevent losing than those without money can.

“Beartown” by Fredrik Backman, Translated by Neil Smith

The author does a clever job of setting up the reader to expect the book to end with a murder. The balance of the story presents the evidence why we should or should not accept that conclusion as postulated. The book ends dramatically and has a satisfying conclusion. Well written and entertaining but a bit long.

If you are honest, people may deceive you.
Be honest anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfishness.
Be kind anyway.
All the good you do today will be forgotten by others tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

This strikes me as beautiful.

A simple truth, repeated as often as it is ignored, is that if you tell a child it can do absolutely anything, or it can’t do anything at all, you will in all likelihood be proven right.

So true.

The only thing the sport gives us is moments. But what the he’ll is life, Peter, apart from moments?

That’s not just true of sports, it’s true of all life’s events.

The first thing that happens in a conflict is that we choose a side, because that’ easier than trying to hold two thoughts in our heads at the same time. The second thing is that we seek out facts that confirm what we want to believe.

That’s where intellectual debate enters, or should enter. We have too little of that don’t we?

Who would you pull out of the freezing water first if the lifeboat only had a limited number of places?

Your family.

What is community? It is the sum total of our choices.

What is friendship, family, community, country? Same as above.

One day very soon everyone around them will simply pretend that this has never happened. Because the family does not lose.

The quote is about a rich influential family. This is the problem with money, it can find more ways to prevent losing than those without money can.

Reading Goal

My reading goal for 2025 is to read 3 books a month. A lot of people think I’m a big reader, I’m really not. Three books a month will be a challenge for me, akin to riding a bicycle across the country…

This is a good time to take on a goal that will demand a healthy time commitment. Reading is an excellent form of escape. Perhaps you are assuming I’m looking for escape from current events, I am. I’m going to stay engaged in current events, but this goal will provide some much needed relief from the noise going on around all of us.

It will also be fun and satisfying to meet this goal. I don’t think it will be easy. I don’t set goals for myself that are easy. I like a challenge. I think this will be challenging, fun, and healthy.

See you in April 2026.

“The Paris Library” by Janet Skeslien Charles

Odile’s sister Lily. p. 40

I tried to say I would, but fear stole my voice. After a long moment, she pushed my body from hers and looked at me. Trapped in Mom’s mournful stare, I remembered things she’d said: Babies sleep through the love. A gaggle of geese, a murder of crows. People are awkward, they don’t know what to do or say. Don’t hold it against them; we never know what’s in their hearts.

Odile. p. 71

I had learned that love was not patient, love was not kind. Love was conditional. The people closest to you could turn their backs on you, saying goodbye for something that seemed like nothing. You could only depend on yourself.

Odile reflecting on Lawrence and Margaret. p. 80

There was a peculiar current in the air. He’d gone from charming to condescending; she’d become wooden. I remembered Maman’s advice to cousin Clotilde: Make the courtship last as long as you can. Once you marry everything changes. Was this what Maman had meant?

Odile decides to stay in Paris after the Nazis occupy the city. p. 144

Remaining had bee the right choice. If her parents had taught her one thing, it was to stand her ground, whether dealing with a malicious schoolmate or the domineering cataloger act the Library of Congress. You’re nothing without principles. Nowhere without ideals. No one without courage.

Odile talking to Lily. p. 205.

Well, ma grande, that was the first lesson I learned as a young wife. Sometimes, when you win, you lose. I got rid of the stuffed head—the garbage man picked it up when Buck was at work. But he was angry for a good long while.

Professor Cohen to Odile. Odile is upset with her father. p. 232

Your father’s old, he won’t change. And dogs don’t have kittens, so you’re as stubborn as he. The only thing you can change is the way you see him.

A passage for its sheer beauty, Boris is the reference librarian at The Paris Library. He is shot in his home by Gestapo. I read it three times. p. 256

He didn’t remember falling, didn’t feel his head hit the floor. He sensed Anna beside him, saw the red run down his shirt over her ashen hands. He heard the Nazis shout. It was all too much. Boris longed to slip up the spiral staircase, to walk along secluded rows of books, to lose himself in the sweet quiet of the Afterlife.

The novel has a beautiful ending. The story movingly describes the true nature of friendship, how easily it can be lost, how important it is to cherish it and how important it is to hold on to it. p. 339.

Don’t listen when someone tells you not to bother a person—reach out to make a friend. People don’t always know what to do or say. Try not to hold that against them; you never know what’s in their heart. Don’t be afraid to be different. Stand your ground. During bad times, remember that nothing lasts forever. Accept people for who they are, not for who you want them to be.

“Joy Ride” by Kristen Jokinen

“A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina”

Having done a couple of tours myself, I was interested in reading this book to see if our experiences were similar. To put it simply, the answer is yes.

The book has its faults when compared to other Travelogues, It can’t hold a candle to “Shantaram.” That’s not a problem. Kristen is not a writer by trade but still did a marvelous job telling her story.

My favorite lines from the book were these. They really resonated with me.

“Life on a bicycle, free from the constraints of our former lives, made the world feel both bigger and smaller. When we had been riding the Dalton Highway, a single mile had sometimes felt insurmountable, and now after two months we had completed almost 3,000 of them. At the start of the ride, a day in the seat felt like an eternity. I don’t remember the moment I stopped counting the miles, but I know I noticed them less. My internal voice had been silenced. I was able to still my mind. Thoughts would come and go as I passed through ever-changing landscapes. I felt more peaceful, quiet, and calm. The chaos that had existed in my life before the ride felt far away.”

The question that everyone faces after completing an epic journey is how to hang on to the experience once you’ve returned to everyday life. How do you retain the hard earned state of mind won during the long days and nights of the journey. Holding on to some of that serenity is the point of the journey. If you can do that, you will have made yourself a better person.