Family | Book Chatter

Sunday Matters, a latte on a wooden tray against greenery.

Well, it’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it? I’ve been good but work, work has not been the greatest. Lots of challenges as higher ed runs full speed ahead towards AI without any concern for its use cases, environmental impact or the like. In the world of Academia there is a lot to consider and frankly it’s taking up all of my time and my bandwidth is at capacity.

That negative vibe sucks up all my good energy but I am still pushing ahead and surrounding myself with good books and when I can, a nice meal. Plus, my fitness efforts have really paid off. Rage walking/running is highly recommended for health. All that rage provides endless fuel.

Right Now:

Still a coach for student ministry so I am about to hang with my students over three services! Takes up most of my Sunday but the students make it worth it. Coffee, a quick bite, I am out the door.

This Week:

Next week I leave for summer camp so this week will be work as usual and then picking up any last minute items for camp. We have themed days so I need to pick up some things for them. I REALLY wish one of those themes was not USA. Groan.

I plan to post a couple of reviews this week and pick my big summer read. I am not doing a summer list this year. I just want to pick a big, chunkster classic to spend my summer with.

Reading:

Watching:

I never have anything to contribute here but I found some stuff to watch. That new Netflix show, I Will Find You by Harlan Coben. Only eight episodes. Pretty good.

Also watching Curb Your Enthusiasm. I am a huge Seinfeld fan so anything Larry David does I am interested in. I don’t know why I never watched his show before but now I am fully invested. I will say, he is absolutely nuts and very ADHD in my opinion so I can only watch an episode now and then. It’s impossible to binge.

Family updates:

My daughter Emma is still doing well and loving New York. She is going to auditions regularly. I feel like she’s very close to hitting something. She performs at a local theatre and attends classes when she can. Her cat Jinx loves the NY street views from her apartment.

My son Evan ramped up his non-profit efforts as well as his city beautification projects for the city of Bellevue. His cat Root Beer is thriving and continues to be the most docile feral rescue known to man.

My little Otter Pup is still here. She will be 16 on July 4th, the bday we gave her based on her adoption age. She struggles a lot but still gets around, eats like a horse and is full of sass.

That’s all I have. Hope you are all doing well. Let me know!

Yesteryear
By Caro Claire Burke
Knopf, April 2026, 400pp.

The Short of It:

Innocently lures you in and then drops some very big ideas.

The Rest of It:

Natalie has created a perfect life for herself. She lives in a rustic farmhouse with her ever-growing family and stands up on Christian values, a TRADitional marriage, and prides herself on living simply. Her followers agree. She’s the real deal.

Does it matter that she doesn’t do it all on her own as her social media platforms suggest? Is it really so wrong to have producers and content managers and professional photogs at the ready to capture every splendid, clickable moment on the farm?

Something happens in Natalie’s world to make her question everything. She wakes up one day and doesn’t recognize her own children and her husband has grown…hostile. Spending her days doing laundry that only repeats its dirt cycle over and over again makes her want to lose her mind.

Who are these people? Always trying to guide her and tell her what to do. Who is this man who claims to be her husband? And goodness, she never has a moment to come to her senses because she’s either getting pregnant or having a baby. All those babies along with kids she doesn’t recognize.

Let me tell you how this book make me feel.

Enraged. Actual RAGE.

Besides the actual drama of it all, there is a lot to peel back here and I found myself getting quite worked up.

The world we live in is often created and curated for clicks. What we see is intentionally misleading and opens the door for comparison where we are often left wanting.
The conservative push to expand families without support for said families doesn’t make sense. Increasing the population when there are school children without lunch? Makes no sense whatsoever.
What makes a good marriage? Should give and take not be a part of it? Women are being encouraged to return to TRAD wife lifestyles. Stay at home. Have babies. Take care of your husband. But what do you do when your husband is as useless as Caleb is? Well, Natalie is not only expected to stand by him but she is expected to support him to boost his ego.
I could not help but question the role of children. Yes, living on a prairie long ago probably warranted a lot of children because work on a farm is never done but are they supposed to do the work of adults? Do they have a voice when they see it all going sideways? No.

I understand that Yesteryear has gotten a lot of attention. Anne Hathaway has already optioned it for a movie that she will star in. And it’s been said, that the book took its inspiration from a well known influencer who is currently battling a raw milk fiasco. All this aside, it definitely makes you feel things. It’s a book that needs to be discussed.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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