Books I Read February 16th, 2026

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood – An embittered atheist flees her bourgeois existence for the shelter of an order of nuns in the distant outback, survives a mouse plague, considers the enormous guilt incumbent in human existence. Shades of Marilynne Robinson in this somber examination of Christian morality, albeit of a less enthusiastic hue. But it was thoughtful and kind and I enjoyed it.

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa – The childhood, adolescence and early manhood of a precocious rebel in post-independence Uganda, surviving the despotic violence of his parents, school officials, and the actual governmental despots installed in Uganda during that period. Excellent. A deeply considered, wide-ranging bildungsroman, full of humor and vital insight. I was surprised and a little saddened to see that Isegawa doesn't seem to have written much besides this.

The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua Sutherland – A wily everyman cons several local chiefs into getting engaged to his daughter. Lyrical and entertaining.

West by Carys Davies – A late 18th century farmer travels west of the Mississippi to look for dinosaurs, leaves his daughter back East.