The Ancient Allure of The Dovekeepers

This has been a heavy week around here. With some hard truths about the trickiness of trying to balance it all to an honest confession about my son’s education, I so appreciate you letting me share my heart with you. I love being real about this life, about all the things that grip and stretch us–you know, the kind of things we ponder while washing the ginormous pile of dirty dishes at our kitchen sink since that’s when we parents enjoy mental downtime.

And right now, on the optimistic brink of a weekend, there is nothing more real to me than the fact that I need a break. Badly. And the best way for me to do this? READ.

When I first had children, a friend told me she actually read more now that she was a mom, and I laughed, thinking she was crazy. Not the case. My friend nailed it. You see, books allow me to escape and enter another world by myself. With kids, there is always someone hanging on my arm or begging a pressing need for help finding Cinderella’s missing sparkle crown. When I read, I can be alone, totally absorbed by something that involves very few stray teeny plastic accessories.

Reading is my perfect escape. And this weekend, I am heavily fantasizing about snagging a book and holing away for a bit. I hope that whatever your escape is, you meet up with it this weekend too. If it happens to be books, read with us! Carrie of Normal Level of Crazy and I LOVE sharing titles with you and hearing your thoughts on our monthly picks. As always, make sure to leave a comment at the end of the post to be entered in the random drawing for a free copy of next month’s read! As long as you are 18 or older and live in the continental U.S., you are eligible.

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Snatch up this fascinating read now!

For April, we read The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. I loved reading this book. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the best gift a book can give me is to transport me to another time or place. The Dovekeepers did this tremendously well. It is based on a the true story of two women and five children who survived the months-long attack of the Roman army on the nine hundred Jews on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert.

Through Hoffman’s account, events I’ve studied for years in the Bible became incredibly vivid and real. No longer just words on page, the plight of these Jews, with all their individual strengths and pain, tore at my heartstrings. I thought of the women and children, the warriors, the persecuted, and I was wowed by the power of their story.

Which characters did you most relate to in the book? Had you ever heard their story before?

While understanding that Hoffman’s book is fictional, it was heavily research-based. I was fascinated to learn the ways of this ancient life. The day-to-day tasks for survival and continuance of their society were so wildly different than our lives today. I had no idea what dovekeepers did, much less why their task was so quintessential in their society.

Which parts of this ancient lifestyle were interesting to you? What is one historical fact you will remember from this book?

Most surprisingly for me, The Dovekeepers grew my faith. Reading about this culture’s extreme dependency on the weather for survival left me feel very blessed for our modern conveniences. Reading about their dedication to endless prayers for provision of their needs, left me humbled. How often in this life do I feel a need for something but forget to ask God for it? These people didn’t forget; in fact, they structured their entire day around prayers and rituals pursuing benevolence and favor. Their faith wasn’t something preciously pulled out upon convenience, it was a living, breathing necessity to their existence. It was real.

I was inspired. I was strengthened. I was awed.

Was your own spiritual life or faith affected by this novel? Belief in curses, legacies and spells thrived during this time. Do you see evidence of this in our modern culture? How so?

I was fascinated by this and found myself flying through the pages. I’m so grateful to Carrie for suggesting it and strongly recommend picking up a copy if you haven’t yet. It’s chock full of discussion fodder!

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Can’t wait to check out this fun, light & quirky read. Read with us!

Next month we are taking a lighter turn with The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. I can’t wait to dive into this book!

As described on Amazon:

“Funny, tender, and moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry reminds us all exactly why we read and why we love.”*

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears at the bookstore, its unexpected arrival gives Fikry the chance to make his life over–and see everything anew.

Doesn’t it sound fun? Dig in with us! And don’t forget to leave a comment on this post, sharing your thoughts about The Dovekeepers or telling us you’d like to receive a copy of The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry and you’ll be entered to win the free copy.

Happy weekend and happy reading!

5/9/15 UPDATE: Congrats to Julia S. for winning a copy of The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry! Happy reading!

*****Thank you to Algonquin Books for providing a free copy of The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry to one of our readers! Our enthusiasm to feature this book is entirely our own.*****

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.

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