Rainy Weekend - why not read a good book?

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austin


Who doesn't love Jane Austen? Her language is so lucid and beautiful, and in this quote she is a straight-shooter. I must agree with her, although I wouldn't actually call anyone "stupid." There are so many great novels to enjoy, and I've discussed many of them here. I've realized that the genres I enjoy have changed over the years, but I can't pass up a good novel that has been recommended to me. If the book is a historical novel, all the better. A good novel is enjoyed for the great story that it is, but it also is a beautiful work of art that has been very carefully crafted. Some of my all-time favorite novels are The Poisonwood Bible, Edgar Sawtelle, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Cutting for Stone, The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street, Huckleberry Finn, and Uncle Tom's Cabin. What is on your list of favorite novels?

During the past few weeks I've enjoyed writing about my grandparents on both sides of my family. I hope it has invoked memories of your own grandparents. My adult children don't have many memories of their great-grandparents, so I enjoy telling them about them. They might roll their eyes occasionally, but I think they need to know something about this part of their heritage. I have so many stories that I could share of my grandparents - too many stories and so little time. One thing that I remember about Grandmother Brame is that she was a great cook and liked to buy us clothes. She made the best milkshakes and bought potato chips in large cans. We spent a lot of time at her homes in Madisonville, Ky and Hopkinsville, Ky. I cherish every memory.

I want to share that one of my readers enjoyed a book that I recently read, Rising Strong. It's good to know that readers find this blog enjoyable and useful at the same time. If you are reading a good book, you can leave a comment below and I'll look at it to see if I want to read it. Some people keep a running list of books that they want to read, but I just look for one or two at a time. Right now I'm on a long waiting list at the library to get John McCullough's book about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. I might be a year older before I get it, but it gives me something to look forward to. I've read several of McCullough's books and I haven't been disappointed yet.

This morning I swam laps at a public indoor poor here in Durham, NC. I've been going there for several months. Although it seems difficult to get myself down there, once I get into the heated water, I feel great. Sure, the old shoulder bothered me, but it was very relaxing. I try to exercise several times per week, and now I've added swimming to my routine. I alternate it with brisk walking. All of my adult life I've been sort of "obsessed" with getting regular exercise. It's really the best medicine that there is.

Next time I think I'll write about some of the best autobiographies that I've read. Some of them are well-known, but over the years I've also found some lesser-known books that have been fun to read.

Here are the next ten books that I've read since 1984 (with a few brief comments):

1. Love is a Decision by Gary Smalley & John Trent
2. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidia Newton by Jane Smiley
3. Some Luck by Jane Smiley
4. The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander Smith
5. Love Over Scotland by Alexander Smith (Fun to listen to on CD after you've been to Scotland)
6. The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander Smith
7. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (I recommend this classic!)
8. The Lost Girls by Lee Smith
9. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor (a very interesting autobiography)
10. The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks (I can't believe that I read a book like this!)

Have a great weekend,

Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com
Used books on Amazon.com: mch seller

Grandmother said, "No wonder you're hungry all the time."

"How will I live without her?" I whispered. 
"I'll tell you. It's a game I know. It works for me. Just close your eyes and think of what you'd be willing to die for, and then...live for it..."
"The only rule of this game is that whatever you choose has to be alive." (Anne Rivers Siddons, Low Country, pg. 190)

***********************************************************************************

This sounds crazy. I know it does. But one of the things that I remember my Grandmother Cruse saying is that the reason that I'm always hungry is because I chew gum. Have you ever heard of that? It never really bothered me when she said it, but it stayed with me all these years. Even though I no longer chew gum, I still get hungry often, so go figure.

Last week I wrote about my maternal grandparents, primarily Grandad Brame. I'd like to continue this theme in honor of Grandparents' Day. Even though we never lived in the same town as any of our grandparents, we visited them often. Since my sister and I are the oldest grandchildren on both sides of the family, as I stated last week, we probably have the most memories of our grandparents. So, let me introduce you to my paternal grandparents, F.L. and Clara Thompson Cruse. My grandfather died when I was about 10 years old, and we had lived in Brazil for several of the years preceding that time, so I didn't really know him well. But I remember that he was tall and hard-of-hearing, and he drove a black car. I remember that he sometimes gave us Juicy Fruit chewing gum. He was much older than Grandmother, so she must have lived another 30 or 40 years after he died. I do know that Grandad was a hard-working farmer, and he didn't have indoor plumbing until they moved to Upton, Kentucky when I was around 9 years old. The years before that they had raised their five children on their farm near Sonora, Kentucky. Incidentally, Carl Brashear, the first African American to become a U.S. Navy Master Diver was also from Sonora, Kentucky. A movie was made about him starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Robert DeNiro called "Men of Honor." I highly recommend this movie.

So, I digressed...so what do I remember about visiting the Cruses' farm in Sonora? Well, it was hard to sleep because I wasn't used to the sound of the grandfather clock. There was no central heat or air conditioning, of course, so you just had to deal with it. And if you needed to go to the bathroom during the night, be very, very careful because this required a short walk downhill to the outhouse. I didn't enjoy that at all. But we did have good times there. I remember playing with my cousins, Todd and Andrea, when we were very young. They were close to my age so we had fun. I remember the honeysuckle that we used to suck on - that's actually the first time that I ever saw honeysuckle.

Clara Cruse, my grandmother, was a memorable person. Even when I was grown and on my own, I would visit her anytime that I could. I stopped by her small house many times unannounced, and she was always home. One time when I was in my 20s I came down from Louisville to take Grandmother out to lunch for her birthday. I told her that we could go anywhere that she wanted, and she requested "Po Folks" in Elizabethtown. I don't even know if that restaurant chain still exists, but Grandmother loved their beans and cornbread. Dad said that they grew up on this very meal, and so when there wasn't much else, there was usually beans and cornbread. Today my dad still loves beans and cornbread, and so do I. While Grandmother wasn't formally educated, she one taught school in a one-room schoolhouse. She liked to read, especially books by Jesse Stuart of Kentucky, and she knew all about her country music favorites. I think I have a Jesse Stuart book on my shelf that she gave me, and I believe it has a typed letter from Jesse Stuart inside of it. I read several of  his books when I was a teenager.

I pay tribute today to two very different sets of grandparents, Dan & Louise Brame, and F.L. and Clara Cruse. They were all exceptional people, and I am blessed to have been able to spend time with them. My grandparents wrote me many letters over the years, and I saved most of them, so that communication means a lot.

I'm currently reading a self-help book, Rising Strong, by Brene Brown. The author earned her PhD in Social Work. In this book she explores themes such as courage, vulnerability, and shame. I'm not quite finished with the book, but it has given me food for thought. One of the topics in her chapter entitled "Sewer Rats and Scofflaws" is that when people disappoint us, we should ask ourselves, "Do you think, in general, that people are doing the best they can?" Brown suggests that when we ask this we become more compassionate and understanding people.Instead of becoming angry and judging people as we often do, we need to ask ourselves if we think they are acting like this on purpose, or whether they are doing the best that they can. She suggests that when we look for the worst in people, that's all that we will be able to see. I think that this is a very good point. Another chapter is entitled "You Got to Dance With Them That Brung You." It's one of the many "colorful" chapter titles in the book that will hook you.

Here are the next ten books that I've read:

1. Low Country by Anne Rivers Siddons
2. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald J. Sider (very compelling book on ethics)
3. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijia
4. Issues in Christian Ethics by Paul Simmons
5. Anywhere But Here by Mona Simpson
6. New Life for Dying Churches! by Rose Sims
7. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (a classic that everyone should read)
8. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot (an amazing story that raises ethical questions that will make you stop and ask, "Where is the justice?")
9. The Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent
10. The Gift of the Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent

In honor of all of our grandparents, WE LOVE YOU ALL and we hold dear our time with you.
Blessings,

Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoobookblog.blogspot.com
Used books: MCH Seller

On the Road with Grandad

"I am more interested in suggesting ways to think about the park and its significance. I'm especially interested in the exhilaration anyone with a heart feels while walking Yellowstone Park." -Tim Cahill, Lost in My Own Backyard, 2004




Happy Friday everyone, and have a great holiday weekend. With an extra day off, perhaps you'll have time to do some reading. On Monday I was off work, so after I did some chores and took care of the pets, I spent the rainy afternoon reading a little book that I found in a stack that my parents gave me. I found a little treasure within the pages, and it brought back many memories of great times with Grandad Brame, my maternal grandfather, who lived in western Kentucky for most of his life.

The book that I read, Lost in My Backyard, is a brief memoir of only 138 pages. The book is not a guide book or a history of Yellowstone National Park, but it's a journal of some of the best times that the author, Tim Cahill, experienced while living very near the park. He describes beautiful trails, geysers, and animals that he's seen while living there. He provides some tips about trails that you should hike, and trails that you should avoid. In his introduction, Cahill says that Yellowstone and its vicinity is "the largest intact temperate-zone ecosystem in the northern hemisphere." He adds that the early settlers even called the area "Wonderland" because of all the natural riches that could be found in that remarkable terrain. His words about Mount Washburn, Old Faithful, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone make me want to revisit this beautiful area. I haven't been that far west in the continental U.S. in over 30 years, but I hope to do so one day in a dream road trip across America.

When I was 21 years old, I took a road trip out west with my grandfather, my cousin, and my cousin's friend. Grandad tried to take all seven of his grandchildren to a dude ranch near Pinedale, Wyoming where we road horses and slept in tents. I think my sister was the only one who didn't go. The trip that I went on was suppose to be a 10-day ride, but on the third day, the head rancher decided to take us back down the Tetons to the ranch. If I remember correctly, he said there was too much snow so there wasn't enough grass for the horses to eat. Keep in mind that it was July, but we were bundled up in layers of clothing because it can get very cold up in the mountains. I remember brushing my teeth in the icy water of a pond and huddling around the campfire at night. The best part about our brief trip was that the food was great! The ranch "hands" knew how to cook a hardy meal for hungry riders, so we definitely didn't go hungry. Breakfasts were the best, complete with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and coffee. When rain has been falling all night and you haven't felt warm in two days, a hot breakfast is just the thing. There aren't suitable words to describe the beauty of everything that we saw while riding our horses on the trail, going up the mountain and down again. The days were sunny yet cool, and the nights were cold. The trees, ponds, and flowers were breathtaking. Since we had to return to the ranch earlier than expected, we stayed there for a couple of days and slept in the bunkhouse. The rancher took us fishing and riding to occupy us during the day and we had a great time. I remember that I got sunburned while fishing - all around my flannel shirt and long johns.

After we left the ranch we drove through Jackson Hole. Then we spent a night in Yellowstone. We drove slowly through the park and stopped to take pictures of elk and buffalo. But the most special experience for me was that we got to see Old Faithful. That is one amazing sight when you think about how many years it has been erupting right on time. I'd like to go back and spend several days in Yellowstone, because it's a trip in and of itself. I appreciate everything that my grandparents did for us, and I will never forget this special trip. Other trips that I made with them was a trip to St. Simon's Island, Georgia, and a trip to Orlando. We had a lot of good times in Kentucky with our grandparents too, and I will treasure the horse rides, learning how to drive a tractor, working in the garden, shopping for clothes, and the wonderful meals that Grandmother cooked. There's much more that I could say about my grandparents, but I think you get the picture. One day soon I'd like to write about my paternal grandparents as well, because I have many good memories of them as well. My sister and I are the oldest grandchildren on both sides of the family, and this is the great thing because we have the most memories of them. It's neat to think that we were the ones who made them grandparents for the first time.

As you know, I rarely purchase a book, but I recently saw an author on the "Today" show discussing her new book about how to live life with confidence. It sounded kind of interesting, so much to my own amazement, I actually ordered a self-help book! I don't normally go for things like this, but I decided to read something outside of my comfort zone. In the next week or so I play to write about this book, so stay tuned if you are interested in ways to strengthen your confidence and positivity.

Here are the next ten books that I've read since 1984:

1. Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
2. It Was the Goodness of the Place by Lucinda Dixon Sullivan
3. Strengthening Your Grip by Charles R. Swindoll
4. Cane River by Lalita Tademy
5. The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
6. The Gates of Zion by Bodie Thoene
7. The Lies We Believe by Chris Thurman
8. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (be patient with this one!)
9. Christian Hope and the Future of Man by Stephen H. Travis
10. Always a Friend by Jan Turrentine

Have a great weekend, and I hope you find time to explore your own backyard soon.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com
Book seller: MCH Seller