Welcome!

Welcome to One Good Book Blog! One good book deserves another, so I'll share with you my journey through the great reads that I've enjoyed during my childhood and in the past 24 years. I've kept a careful account of everything that I've read since I became an adult, the titles are recorded and I'm ready to embark on this exciting new endeavor that I trust will enrich all of our lives. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!


The purpose of my blog is to recommend books to you and to review them so that you will be inspired to read more. My hope is that you will want to journey through many of the great reads that have enriched my own life, books that satisfy my own curiosity on topics such as history, human nature, travel, and spirituality. And the list goes on. So many books and so little time...


Books provide a sense of escape. When I enter the world of a novel, I am in a different place and time where anything can happen. And it often does! Texts give me a new perspective on life and add meaning to my life. They help me realize that I'm not alone in my struggles, that I'm not the only new "empty nester" in the world, and that there are many tools available to me when facing the hurdles of la vida. Books are the imaginations of others as seen in novels. They are the recounting of people's lives as seen in memoirs such as Little Heathens and My Life in Green. They are the observations of faraway places as seen in travel books. Books are puzzles to be solved. They are word plays as seen in poetry. They tell us how to do something that we have never done before such as the time I read about how to remove a toilet safely. They give us expert advice when we can't actually talk to the expert in person.


Books bring people together. We go to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, restaurants, and book clubs so that we can be with other people who share our passion for the written word. How many times have you said to a friend, "Guess what I'm reading?" Or how many times did you jump at the chance to tell your friends about your most recent great read? Explaining why you loved the book was the best part! This is when you see people who otherwise may be quiet introverts come out of their shell because they are so excited about a great book. What fun!


Books help us relax. We have to be still to read unless we are on the treadmill or listening to a book recording. Abraham Lincoln loved to relax with a good book. He read just about anywhere he could fit his tall frame, even in the window seat at Mary Todd Lincoln's home in Lexington, Kentucky. Since my tour there a few years ago, I've wondered how Lincoln squeezed himself into that small space, but apparently he did! And we all know the story that has been told about how much Lincoln loved books when he was younger. He would walk many miles to borrow a book. Today we complain about walking just about anywhere, and we don't have to leave our home to find a zillion things in print via our own unread books, the internet, the newspaper, etc. But what if there were no words in print, what would life be like? Thomas Jefferson said, "I cannot live without books." I genuinely understand his sentiment here. What a thrill it was for me to visit the Library of Congress this past March and see many of the books from Jefferson's personal library, books that survived fires, moves, and the passage of time. To see these original books is to realize that Jefferson was a true Renaissance man who loved knowledge and put into practice many of the things that he read about. He was curious about many, many topics. Jefferson , Lincoln, and many other people throughout history were curious about life. Readers like us are also curious and find that curling up with a good book is just about the perfect thing that we want to do on our day off because its relaxing and invigorating at the same time. Reading is my favorite way to recharge, to fill my spirit with beautiful words and ideas.


To love books is to go where other seekers hang out. To love books is to feel that you are in good company at libraries, bookstores, art museums, historical sites, yard sales, book clubs, lectures, and book signings. To love books is to get it when a fellow reader practically jumps out of his or her seat while describing a recently read mystery or autobiography. To love books is to laugh at the Berenstain Bears or the memoir of Doris Roberts from the sitcom, "Everybody Loves Raymond." Roberts' book, Are You Hungry, Dear? will give just about every personality a good laugh!


Ive been fortunate to be able to attend several book signings during the past 15 years. I greatly enjoyed the appearance of Jimmy Carter here in Durham, NC soon after he published his book, The Hornet's Nest. I also saw Rabbi Harold Kushner when he came out with his book, The Lord is My Shepherd. I can't forget to mention Frank McCourt and his visit here as well. After he published Angela's Ashes and 'Tis he spoke here at a local public school. Incidentally, one member of the audience asked him if the feature film, Angela's Ashes was similar to his real life experience. He answered by saying that for the most part, it was accurate, except for the scene where the children run through the first floor of his Ireland home as if they were enjoying the high water! McCourt added that they never would have splashed through the house like that because they rarely were dry and warm in their poverty stricken life.