"Librarians are generals in the war on ignorance." Grammarly.com

Last week I started my post by talking about coffee, a topic that is always fun for me to talk about. Since my post, however, I've decided that I need to cut back on the amount of caffeine that I ingest. So, since I had a new bag of Kirkland brand coffee beans from Costco (Kirkland Guatemalan), I decided to buy some good decaffeinated coffee and add it to my own coffee mixture to make my own "half-caf". I'm also drinking just one cup of this each morning, and no more caffeine for the rest of the day. Is it hard? YES. But I think it's going to be helpful for my overall good health. The taste of my half-caf is about a 6 on a scale from 1-10, but it's not half-bad (no pun intended).

Today I'll begin by listing the next five books in my index catalog:

1. This Time Together by Carol Burnett

2. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo (I enjoyed the movie too - adorable little boy!)

3. Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

4. Decision Points by George W. Bush

5. A Dog's Journey by W. Bruce Cameron

By now you know that "a few of my favorite things" are books, coffee, and traveling. I also like libraries, walking, listening to contemporary Christian music, and spending time with my family. It's the little things that make life fun. I also like to bake, especially for other people. I'm already looking forward to our Christmas baking day when my daughter and I bake cookies, pumpkin logs, and peanut butter balls for neighbors, friends, and our own family. No one seems to bake anymore, so I think people appreciate a sampling of delicious holiday treats baked with love. I keep holiday bags, holiday tins, etc. so that I'm always ready to give someone our treats. This is something that I look forward to very much, and if I could not do it for some reason, I'd be sad. I know that baking Christmas cookies is not the true meaning of Christmas, but it's a way that I show people that I care about them. It also helps to have treats ready in the freezer for holiday parties, church events, and for Christmas day itself.

Last week I wrote about the book, The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street. It is the story of an immigrant named "Malka" who left Russia with her family and came to New York. Life was very difficult, of course, and they soon fell into a life of extreme poverty. Eventually Malka lost all contact with her family and often wondered if she'd ever see them again. Eventually the family who adopted Malka gave her a new name, "Lillian," and she became a Catholic. She helped the family with their home business, making and selling frozen treats. She became quite good at making new flavors and marketing their product. She was able to get some formal education and this led to her relationships with Albert Dunkle, the handsome illiterate man that she ended up marrying. Lillian had been Bert's tutor, so this is how they got to know each other. Later on, the Dunkles start their own business, "Dunkle's Ice Cream." They eventually get to hang out with the rich and famous as their brand is sold across the U.S. Lillian is not honest in her business dealings, and others aren't honest with her. Lillian met her father who had abandoned the family many years earlier, and she desperately hopes that he has changed and that he really wants to have a relationship with her. However, he is dishonest and selfish, and he steals from her. Later when he is dying, he sends someone to ask Lillian for money. Lillian is outraged by this and she turns the messenger away. At the end of her life she is a bitter, angry old woman who has no friends. I conclude that she was never really happy because she used deceit to put her company at the top of the ice cream world. She may have been the ice cream queen, but she was miserable for most of her adult life. I would have liked there to be a happy ending to the story, but it's not the case. I guess we all like to read about an immigrant who came to our country with nothing and yet became very successful. But money and fame do not make a person successful, and things are not always as they seem.

What am I reading now? I'm reading War Brides on my kindle, a book that I've seen as a bestseller. So far I'm enjoying it. It's a book with stories about various women who lived during war times. Their lives are interesting and typical of the times in which they lived. Hopefully I'll have time today to read more so that I can share more about it next time. Looks like I chose another historical novel!









Have a great week and read on...
Melissa