Wrapping my mind around the art of reading again

I just finished reading the book, “God Stories” by Courtney Dailey.

The book was a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law.

Dailey, a Christian author from far eastern Tennessee, wrote the book about rebuilding the homes of 16 families and helping them cope after Hurricane Helena struck Western North Carolina in September 2024.

It all started after Dailey and her 9-year-old daughter went to visit their friend, Jerry, who lived in the damaged area. Seeing Jerry and his badly damaged home led Daily, her husband and church to reach out and help those hit by the storm.

In her book, Daily shared about how God provided labor from around the country along with building supplies, appliances, campers for people to stay in while their homes were being repaired and newer vehicles to drive after the families lost theirs in the flooding.

I enjoyed it so much that I read the 240-page book in three days.

I admit, it is the first book that I have read since reading my wife’s first novel, “The Auctioneer,” during COVID. And probably the fourth book that I’ve read in the last 10 or so years including “Mercy Shot” a political thriller by Grinnell native and North Liberty realtor Steve Sherman.

Prior to that, I’ve read a couple books about the Oklahoma Girl Scout murders, regarding the deaths of three young girls killed at Camp Scout in June 1977. I went to Boy Scout Camp just down the road from where the girls were murdered.

The case was never solved and remains that way to this date.

I’ll share more on that topic in a future column.

Now that I am retired, my plan is to read more books.

First on the agenda is reading my wife’s other four novels.

I admit, I’ve been a bit lackadaisical in my reading efforts.

Another Iowa author that I’m interested in is Ruth Suckow, author of at least a dozen books, including “Country People,” her first book, published in 1924.

I first learned of Suckow in the fall of 2024 when writing a story about Drake Community Library Assistant, Veronica Ruse, who, at the time, worked in Local History Archives at Drake, a position she held since March 2022.

I became interested in Suckow after learning that Ruse garnered the top prize of a $1,000 scholarship for an essay she wrote entitled “August and Emma Kaetterhenry: A Farm Marriage Examined” based on the characters in Suckow’s first novel, “Country People.”

The novel “Country People,” follows the Kaetterhenrys, a German-American clan that works to build both a farm and family, while navigating the tensions between individual desires and community expectations.

It just happens that Suckow has a deep connection with Grinnell.

Suckow was born in 1892 in Hawarden, a small town in Sioux County on the Big Sioux River in far northwestern Iowa, where her father was the pastor of the Congregational Church.

After leaving Hawarden in early 1898, the Suckow family lived in a number of towns in northern Iowa before her father landed a position at Grinnell College in 1907.

Suckow graduated from Grinnell High School in 1910, and entered college that fall at Grinnell College.

Suckow left Grinnell College early to study at the Curry School of Expression in Bosto from 1913 to 1915. Her novel, “The Odyssey of a Nice Girl,” published in 1925 reflects that experience. She left Boston to join her mother and sister who were living in Colorado for health reasons and enrolled at the University of Denver. She earned a B.A. in 1917 and an M.A. in English in 1918.

In addition to “Country People” and “The Odyssey of a Nice Girl,” Suckow’s other titles include “Iowa Interiors,” published in 1926, “The Bonney Family,” published in 1928, “Cora,” published in 1929, “The Kramer Girls,” published in 1930, “Children and Older People,” published in 1931, “The Folks,” published in 1934, “Carry-Over,” published in 1936, “New Home,” published in 1936, “A Memoir,” published in 1952, “Some Others and Myself,” published in 1952, and “The John Wood Case,” published in 1959.

The Ruth Suckow Memorial Association, founded in 1966, is located in Earlville, Iowa where she and husband, Fenner Nunn, lived for a time. The RSMA sponsors the essay contest that Ruse won.

Suckow died Jan. 23, 1960.

There is so much more about Suckow and her contributions to the literary world that is worth mentioning, but time and space limits it in this column.

The important note is that reading can be fun, especially if it about subjects you enjoy. I’m somewhat fascinated with stories that take place around the early part of 1900s, especially about the Amish and farming with steam engines during the early days.

But first, I need to dig into my wife’s novels and reread the first one followed by the other four.

My advice this week is to turn off the daily news and pick up a book.

Have a great week, and always remember that “Good Things are Happening” every day.