Friday Fixes

"I was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1936. By the time I was twenty, I had lived through a Hungarian Fascist dictatorship, German military occupation, the Nazis' 'Final Solution,' the siege of Budapest by the Soviet Red Army, a period of chaotic democracy in the years immediately after the war, a variety of repressive Communist regimes, and a popular uprising that was put down at gunpoint." -Andrew S. Grove, Swimming Across: A Memoir (2001)



On this hot, humid North Carolina morning I'm sitting in a small service station that does not have air conditioning waiting for my car to get an oil change. The truth is, I had an appointment for 9 a.m., but it's now 9:34 and the car has not been moved. Such is life, I guess, but I rarely have to wait at this place. I feel like granting them a little bit of mercy today, since so much mercy has been given to me over the years of my life. However, I do have to be home by 11 a.m. to meet the plumber so that he can fix two of our plumbing problems that have been ignored for too long. I guess I should call this day "FRIDAY FIXES" and be satisfied when the two big fixes get taken care of by the end of the morning. Today there's a little girl in here with her mother, and the four-year-old is getting a little bit restless. She quickly tired of her computerized toy, so then she started talking to herself and moving from chair to chair. As the minutes passed, her little voice got louder and louder, which prompted her mom to tell her to CALM DOWN! She's just being a typical preschoolers whose mom didn't bring enough toys or art supplies to keep her busy. I'd like to tell her mom, "Let her be a kid, but next time pack a bag of books, coloring books, and crayons for the child so that she won't be bored." I guess I should mind my own business though.

Last weekend I read a very good memoir that I borrowed from my parents. The book is Swimming Across by Andrew S. Grove. Grove, whose Hungarian name was Andris Grof, grew up in Budapest as an only child. His family was Jewish, although they weren't active participators in the Jewish faith. This memoir was published in 2001 and it chronicles Grove's life from the time that he was about two years old until he became a well-known business leader in the U.S. Grove's parents were in the dairy business in Budapest, and this sustained them through many difficult times. At the age of four, Grove almost died of Scarlet Fever, but after a long bout with the illness, he finally recovered. He was left with partial deafness that affected his life from then on. In every school where he studied he sat on the front roll so that he could hear, and he was afraid to get water in his ears when he learned how to swim. When Grove was five years old, his father and other Jewish men were sent to serve in "labor battalions" clearing roads and the like, and Grove did not see his father for several years after that. Then one day his dad reappeared in their apartment, but Grove didn't really recognize or know him any longer. His dad was emaciated and weak, but he eventually built up his strength. Grove's life was constantly changing as his family moved from place to place looking for safety. He was able to attend school off and on throughout the time of the war and occupations, and eventually he became very well-educated in America. We can't imagine what he went through, particularly during the years that his father was gone. His life was filled with sirens, fear, worry, and the unknown. His dream was always to be with his parents, to be safe, and to get an education. He loved to learn, especially in the area of Science, and he was notorious as a young many for doing experiments with chemicals which sometimes got him into trouble.

With the help of relief organizations and the support of his parents, Grove was able to immigrate to America when he was a young man. He lived with an aunt and uncle in New York City during his first years and was able to complete his education with the help of scholarships and hard work. He went on to become the found of the well-known company, Intel, and he became TIME magazine's Man of the Year in 1997. He has also become a well-known author of business texts, Only the Paranoid Survive and High Output Management. The title, Swimming Across, is an analogy of the effort that it took for Grove to reach his dreams. He feared for his life so many times, and faced so many obstacles, dangers, and setbacks, that he could have just given up. But he kept hitting the waves of life and never gave up. He eventually settled in California and brought his parents over from Hungary. Today he is an American citizen and has a family of his own. He has never returned to Hungary because he sees that as a completely different chapter in his early life. He started his life all over again when he came to America. If you like "the good guy wins" stories, you will enjoy this book. We all like a good success-story, and this definitely is one. Stories like this make us want to become better people. They make us realize that our lives are way too easy and that we don't appreciate what we have because we have never really had to work to get what we need. You can read this book in one weekend, and I don't think you'll want to put it down.

Here are the next ten books from my list of reading since 1984:

1. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
2. The Greater Journey, Americans in Paris by David McCullough
3. John Adams by David McCullough
4. Lessons From the Mountain by Mary McDonough and Beverly Nault
5. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (a great book!)
6. Suffering: A Test of Theological Method by Arthur C. McGill
7. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
8. Love Me. Never Leave Me by Marilyn Meberg
9. The Zippered Heart by Marilyn Meberg
10. Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

Have you read any of the books that I've discussed during the past year? Which book did you enjoy the most? Is there a book that you would SCREAM to me, "READ IT!"? I'd love to get your input so please feel free to share.

Have a great day,

Melissa
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

One Hundred Years of Reading

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." -One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1970.





I finally did it...I finished reading One Hundred Years of Solitude! I'm not sure how much time I spent on the book because I took a detour for three days and read We Will Always Have Paris by Jennifer Coburn. Reading this book was somewhat like taking cough medicine: I didn't like the taste but in the end, reading this epic novel will be good for me. It will help me on Jeopardy, it will assist me in having meaningful conversations with my friends, and the vocabulary will help me become more intelligent. But to me, it didn't really "taste good." I'm glad that I read it though, because I have heard this book mentioned many times, but I had no idea what it was about. So, now I know. One Hundred Years of Solitude was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1965, and in 1970 it was translated into English. Garcia Marquez is a native of Colombia and wrote several books. In 1982 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, so this man can definitely write. But this book just didn't fit my personality. The paragraphs are very long, and there isn't as much dialogue as I normally see in a novel. I felt almost as if someone was narrating a play for me. Also, since this book is a translation, the syntax and language don't flow easily for me. Still, I do appreciate this book and the time that the Columbian spent on it.

One Hundred Years of Solitude covers the time between the invention of ice and the invention of airplanes. It chronicles the lives of Jose Arcadio Buendia and his family. He and his wife, Ursula, had three children: Colonel Aureliano Buendia, Jose Arcadio, and Amaranta. The story begins here with tales of war, revenge, lunacy, love, lust, and gypsies. There are so many characters who have similar names, that it's often difficult to keep the characters straight.  I admit that I didn't always know which character was doing what, because the names are so similar. Yet I persevered and was able to get an overall picture of what happened during the 100 years. At times I felt like it would take me 100 years to complete the book but I'm glad that I persevered until the end so that I could appreciate this great classic novel.

Last week I wrote a post called "We'll Always Have Paris Too" in which I discussed Coburn's book, We'll Always Have Paris. I enjoyed the book so much, especially because my daughter and I have also taken a magical trip to Paris, the City of Lights. Not only is the book sentimental, but it's humorous, so it was great fun to read. When you travel abroad, you HAVE TO keep a sense of humor, because things don't always go as planned. I sent Coburn an email to tell her how much I enjoyed her book, and she quickly responded. It was so nice to hear back from her and to know that she was going to read my blog! It's nice to know that someone in California is interested in my thoughts about a book that I sort of found by accident at Barnes & Noble. Incidentally, some of my greatest book treasures have been found by "accident."

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

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin
3. Feather Crowns by Bobbie Ann Mason
4. God Answers Prayers by Anna Hill Matthews
5. The Color of Water by James McBride (it was once a Durham Reads book;I attended his reading)
6. The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
8. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (we attended his book signing here in Durham)
9. Teacher Man by McCourt
10. 'Tis by McCourt

Tonight I'm going to look through the bag of books that I got from my parents in Kentucky. I'm sure that there's a good book in there somewhere, so I look forward to sharing that with you later on. Meanwhile, what would you like me to read next? Have you read One Hundred Years of Solitude? What did you think of it? Leave me your comments, and thank you for reading!

-Melissa

We'll Always Have Paris Too

"A trip to Paris had sounded so adventurous when I was first talking about it a year earlier. People spoke about the city with dreamy longing, as though Paris possessed a magic that could not be found elsewhere. I'd never heard anyone talk about Paris without sighing. The city was a Promised Land that held appeal for most everyone: artists, lovers, even people who just liked cheese."

-Jennifer Coburn, We'll Always Have Paris (2014)

Last Saturday night as I was browsing through Barnes & Noble, a special book caught my attention. As I skimmed through We'll Always Have Paris, I realized that I just had to buy this book even though I wasn't in need of something to read. The author and her daughter had some adventures while traveling in Europe, and I could relate to this because I also had a trip to Paris and the Netherlands with my daughter, Lydia. I read the book in three days and enjoyed it very much. It was just the break that I needed from reading One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Jennifer Coburn, the author of We'll Always Have Paris, always had a feeling that she would die young. It wasn't so much a "feeling" as it was a "fear," a fear that she didn't have much time to make amazing memories with her only child, Katie. So, when Katie was just 8 years old, she and her daughter made their first trip to Europe, a trip to Paris and London. The second trip was three   years later, a trip to Italy. The third trip was another three years later, a trip to Spain, and by this time, Katie was 14 years old. One common thread that runs through Coburn's account is that every single trip had some bumps and bruises, some times when everything was not perfect. They prepared very well for their trips, but unexpected things always happened. For example, Katie got sick or they had to change their plans because the lines were too long to see a much-anticipated icon of the country. At times they even felt that people were taking advantage of them, i.e. trying to cheat them out of money. Katie was much calmer than her mother when these types of things happened, and she seemed to just go with the flow. She taught her mother some valuable lessons about patience, flexibility, love, and being spontaneous. She taught her mother how to enjoy the present and how to have a great adventure instead of worrying about something that probably won't happen.

My daughter and I also went to Europe together, and I give her a lot of the credit for making the trip so memorable. Lydia, now 21 years old, is an adventurous young lady who really knows how to enjoy life. Coburn dedicated her book to her daughter, Katie, and writes "For Katie Who makes every day a wonderful adventure." I could say the same about our Lydia, a rising Senior in college. Lydia has had many adventures in the past few years, and I've enjoyed being a small part of them. When Lydia graduated from high school in 2012, she and I made our first trip to Europe. We went to Paris and the Netherlands for a 10-day trip. We spent the prior six months planning the trip. We googled, read, and took advice from other travelers as we planned our itinerary and made reservations. Everything did not always go exactly as planned but I wouldn't change anything because I learned something every single day. We got to see everything on our list plus some other things that we had not planned on, so I would call the trip a great success. Some of the "bumps" along the way included getting lost, getting on the wrong train in Paris, arriving in Haarlem, Netherlands to find that our hotel was actually too far to walk to, and so on. But I would not change anything. Because of the glitch in my plans in Haarlem, we got to chat with a nice Dutch bus driver who politely answered my request regarding a ride to our hotel. I found that the Dutch are very nice people, and I would love to go back and just travel all over the small country. Perhaps next time I will get to ride a boat in a canal, visit the Van Gogh Museum, and see the tulips. My most memorable experience in the Netherlands was visiting the Corrie ten Boom home in Haarlem. The ten Booms saved many Jews during the reign of the Nazis, and you can visit their home and see the hidden closet where people hid. The woman who gave us our tour of the small house was an American Jew, and she said that if anyone wanted to know how they could have the same hope in God as the ten Boom family had, they could stay after the tour and she would talk to them. Wow - what a witness to the hope found in living a life with purpose in Christ! I will never forget the impact that this had on my life.

You may wonder what motivated Coburn to travel with her daughter. Well, she believed that if she died prematurely as she feared, at least her daughter would have the great memories of their three trips to Europe together. This fear of an early death was often in the forefront of her mind, so she wanted to fully enjoy her daughter. My daughter and I also have great memories, and we will always have them. I treasure them. Lydia and I will always have Paris too. Lydia got to return to Paris in 2014 with a college group, and she made even more memories. My husband and I were able to go to the UK for the first time in 2014, and we had a great time as well. Our son, Benjamin, is yet to have a great trip adventure, but he is looking forward to it in the future. So, while a fear of my premature death doesn't motivate me to travel, my desire to make memories with my family does.

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

1. My Father's House by Anne Graham Lotz

2. Traveling Light by Max Lucado

3. The Circle by Dave Eggers

4. Pastel Orphans by Gemma Liviero

5. The Sigma Protocol by Robert Ludlum

6. Martin Luther: The Best From All His Works by Luther

7. The Big Little School by Robert Lynn & E. Wright

8. Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

9. The Bridge by Doug Marlette

10. Christy by Catherine Marshall

Have a wonderful day! And have a great adventure!

-Melissa

Run for the Roses 2015

This weekend many of you will be celebrating a wonderful tradition in my home state of Kentucky, THE KENTUCKY DERBY. You feel the excitement throughout the state, but especially in Louisville and Lexington. I remember a fun time that I had back in the mid-1980s when I enjoyed some of the Derby festivities. I have never attended the Derby, or any horse race for that matter, but that didn't keep me from participating in some of the hooplah. You may not be aware that there is a Derby parade, a Derby breakfast at the governor's mansion in Frankfort, and much more. One Saturday one of my roommates in Louisville had complimentary tickets to the governor's Derby breakfast, so Patti, Paula, and I dressed up and set out for Frankfort where we enjoyed a delicious traditional Kentucky breakfast under a huge tent. We also took our pictures in front of the governor's desk and actually saw her walking the grounds. Yes - that's right - Martha Layne Collins was the 56th governor of Kentucky at the time, and I was so proud that we had a woman as governor. My friends and I saw Collins and her husband walking along, and they were in the company of the well-known celebrity, Gary Collins, and his wife, Mary Ann Mobley. It was a beautiful day and a memory that I treasure. So, although I have never attended a derby, I have celebrated the occasion. I still try to watch the race on tv as often as possible.

If you love Kentucky as I do, or if you enjoy beautiful writing, I recommend that you read some of the books by Jesse Stuart,  the poet laureate of Kentucky in 1954. Born in Greenup County, Ky, Stuart was well-known for his short stories, novels, and poetry about Southern Appalachia. I read several of his books when I was a teenager. I have lived in several towns in Kentucky, but my favorite parts are the rural areas and the state parks. I've lived in Munfordville, Georgetown, Madisonville, Louisville, Shepherdsville, and Falmouth. I played basketball at Berea, Cumberland Univ., Campbellsville, and Kentucky State. So, ask me about Kentucky - I might surprise you with too many details. I can recommend a state park, waterfalls, and more.

I'm still working my way through One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez. It's a classic that I've wanted to read for a long time, and since it was in a bag from my recent Kentucky visit, I felt that I should dig in. It's an interesting novel with a lot of strange happenings, wars, deaths, etc. but its hard for me to focus on who is who. The names of the characters are difficult for me to remember because some of them are so similar. For example, there is a Colonel Aureliano Buendia and a Jose Arcadio Buendia.  There are Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo, also very similar names. It's very confusing to me, but since I'm halfway finished with the book, I'll continue pushing through it. It does have some great quotes. For example, in my last post I discussed great beginnings in literature, and 100 Years has a notable beginning as well. It begins, "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." I can't say that my parents ever took me to discover something as vital as ice.

The next ten books in my card catalog to be noted this week are:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Coffee Rings by Yvonne Lehman
3. If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name by Heather Lende (a memoir about life in Alaska)
4. Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
5. Mendel's Daughter by Martin Lemelman
6. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
7. Gift From the Sea by Anne M. Lindbergh
8. Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner
9. Mary Slessor by W.P. Livingstone
10. Jewel by Brett Lott

To all of my faithful readers, thank you so much for taking the time to read my thoughts today. I check the traffic on my blog periodically, so I am aware of how many people are reading my thoughts about books and other topics. Keep on reading!

-Melissa

Great Beginnings in Literature

We are beginning a new week on this beautiful Carolina-blue Monday morning. After a weekend of cool, rainy weather, I am ready to clear the slate and start over, all the while wishing for a dryer, sunnier week. These thoughts led me to think about the beginning lines of works of literature that I can easily recall, and I thought of several. These lines are easily recognized by students of great literature because they are at times poetic, meaningful, and easy to recite.


The first famous beginning quote that came to my mind was the opening line of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. This lengthy novel begins with the famous words, "Call me Ishmael." Whenever I hear this line, I immediately know that it is a reference to the great novel about a fierce whale and Captain Ahab's quest to capture it. Interestingly, during Melville's lifetime, Moby-Dick was not well-known, but today it is considered to be a great work. I think this beginning line is well-known because it's so short and easy to remember - sometimes less is more. Another memorable beginning in literature is the first sentence of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,..."Whereas the opening line of Moby-Dick is very brief, the opening line of Dickens' novel is very, very lengthy, so lengthy that I don't want to copy it all here. As I examine the line, however, I see what Dickens is trying to achieve in his great work. He seems to be setting the atmosphere for his 1859 novel about the French Revolution by using poetic phrases that are opposites. For example, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times," "...the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness,..." it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness." When I read these poetic phrases it causes me to wonder how any society can be so wonderful and yet so terrible at the same time. And when I wonder about such things, I may just want to keep reading to find out how this can be. Clearly, in the novel we find out that yes, societies have very good people AND very bad people, and people who are a mixture of both. The final great beginning that I'd like to discuss isn't really the beginning of a book, but it's the beginning of a great statement of faith and a prayer, the Shema of the Jewish faith. These beginning words of the Shema came to my mind immediately this morning when I began to think of famous beginnings:  "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One," Deuteronomy 6:4. These words begin a great affirmation of faith for the Jews and a declaration of their belief in only one God ("Adonai eloheinu Adonai ehad"). This declaration may be obvious to some of us, yet in Old Testament times the Hebrew people lived among people who worshiped idols and multiple gods. The Hebrew people felt the need to distinguish themselves from all of the other religions. As an editorial note, this isn't any different than the religious atmosphere of our world today. There are still many people who worship idols, the dead, nature, and religious leaders. Of course, there are also many who do not belong to any faith. I, myself,  strongly uphold the belief in the one true God, the God of Israel, the One who made Himself known through the gifts of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. There are many, many other great beginnings in literature that are memorable for various reasons, many which capture our attention and "hook the reader," but these are the beginnings that came to my mind today.

I'm still working my way through One Hundred Years of Solitude so I'll keep you posted on my progress through my reading. Meanwhile, here are the next ten books in my card catalog:

1. The Lord is My Shepherd by Harold Kushner (I heard him speak in 2003 and got autographs)
2. When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Kushner
3. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
4. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
5. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
6. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
7. Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
8. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
10. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

What great beginnings in literature are you thinking about today? Can you quote some that immediately come to mind? I would love to get your comments below.

 Happy reading,

Melissa

Reflections on a Rainy Day

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
-Robert Frost, Goodreads




Once we reach a certain age, many of us have a few sayings that we claim in order to express our views of life. We might say things such as "It's not a bed of roses," or "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," and so on.  Frost's words here remind me of Ben Franklin's quote about the only two things that we can be certain of in this life, death and taxes. We see that sometimes something thought-provoking can be expressed in just two or three words. So, as Frost puts it, life definitely goes on, and it seems to be able to go on without our help. Think about that on this stormy Monday night. And hopefully you thought about taxes in a timely manner last week and met the April 15th deadline!

Have you read the little book by Maya Angelou that was published last year,  Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou?  I recommend this book for those times when you are meditating or when you have a specific topic for a group discussion. I especially like Angelou's chapter on Art and Literature. In this chapter, the author comments on many topics that affect life, art, and writing. I like what she says about the interpretation of poetry:

I've had people explain to me what one of my poems meant, and I've been surprised that it meant that to them. If a person can use a poem of mind to interpret her life or his life, good. I can't control that . Nor would I want to.

This quote by Angelou reminds me of one of my beloved college English professors at Georgetown College, Dr. Gwen Curry. I had Dr. Curry for an upper level English course, 20th Century Poetry, and I enjoyed it very much, even though much of the poetry was very depressing.  There were only about seven students in the class, so there was no way that I could just be a listener and "slide by" in this class. Participation was required, of course, so I chimed in even if I wasn't sure if my interpretation of a poem was correct. Yet Dr. Curry affirmed and applauded every single comment that was made about a poem. In other words, there was no wrong answer in her class, and whatever you said was greatly valued. This speaks to the kind of person and professor that Dr. Curry was, an educator who led us to learn but didn't close the doors on what we wanted to learn. I think that Angelou and Curry were on the right road to true learning.

As you read the list of the next ten books that I've read since 1984, you will note that I've read eight hilarious books by Sophie Kinsella, the British humorist. The eighth book was listed in last week's post.

1. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Kinsella
2. I've Got Your Number by Kinsella
3. Shopaholic and Baby by Kinsella
4. Shopaholic and Sister by Kinsella
5. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Kinsella
6. Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Kinsella
7. The Undomestic Goddess by Kinsella
8. Communication Theory for Christian Witness by Charles H. Kraft
9. Into the Wild by Jan Krakeuer
10. Salt by Mark Kurlansky

I'd love to hear your thoughts about short quotes that are meaningful, Maya Angelou, or a favorite professor that you remember. What's your favorite quote about the meaning of life? Do you agree/disagree that there is no wrong way to interpret a poem? Have you read any of the books on today's list, and if so, did you like or dislike them?

"A penny for your thoughts" today!

-Melissa

National Poetry Month and More

The beautiful village of Grasmere, Scotland

In honor of National Poetry Month, I begin today's post with a poem by William Wordsworth of Scotland, "Composed by The Side of Grasmere Lake, 1806."


CLOUDS, lingering yet, extend in solid bars
Through the grey west; and lo! these waters,
steeled
By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield
A vivid repetition of the stars;
Jove, Venus, and the ruddy crest of Mars
Amid his fellows beauteously revealed
At happy distance from earth's groaning field,
Where ruthless mortals wage incessant wars,
Is it a mirror? --or the nether Sphere
Opening to view the abyss in which she feeds
Her own calm fires?--But list! a voice is near;
Great Pan himself low-whispering through the
reeds.
'Be thankful, thou, for, if unholy deeds
Rave the world, tranquility is here!"



We had the opportunity to visit Grasmere, a village in the Lake District of Scotland, last summer, the year that we took our survey tour of the United Kingdom. Although we didn't get to spend much time in the Grasmere area, we did get to see the graves of the Wordsworth family and heard many stories about them. We learned that Wordsworth became the poet laureate of Britain in 1843, but he did not write any more poetry after the death of his beloved daughter, Dora, in 1847. Wordsworth only lived three more years after the death of Dora. Incidentally, Beatrix Potter, the beloved children's author, was also from the Lake District area.

The past week has been full of memorable events for us, one a happy event, and one a difficult event. Our daughter became engaged on April 11, and my husband was in a wreck when a teenager pulled out in front of him. Fortunately, no one was injured but the incident totaled our 1997 Toyota Corolla, a reliable car that we've had for over 15 years. Now we have to figure out what we are going to do about getting another car. It's all going to work out. I'm trying to focus on the happy event and not the frustrating one.

A few days ago I finished reading the national bestseller, The Winter People, by Jennifer McMahon. This book was written last year, 2014, so it may be new to you. It was in one of the bags of books that I brought home from my parents' collection in Georgetown, Ky recently. I read the back of the book as I always do to get an idea of what the book was about, and I decided to read it based on what I read. Who wouldn't want to read a book set in Vermont with stories of "strange disappearances and old legends?" Who wouldn't want to read a good ghost story that will leave you feeling somewhat nervous and uncomfortable? This book is smoothly written and hooks the reader from the very beginning. It's a ghost story about people who come back alive after their deaths. I don' want to give too much away, but McMahon wisely crafts her characters as she tells various parts of the story that take place in 1908 and in the present time. In the present time you will meet Ruthie, Fawn, Alice, and Candace. In 1908 you will meet Sara Harrison Shea, Martin, and Gertie. As you read you will see how all of these characters are connected.

The book that I'm going to stat this weekend is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Somewhere along the way I missed the memo on this classic, so I look forward to giving it some attention. This book was also in one of the bags from Kentucky, so again, I didn't spend any money on a book. My goal is to try to read a book that is free to me whenever possible.

I will now list the next ten books that I've read since 1984. You'll note that I've read quite a few of Barbara Kingsolver's books and I've enjoyed every one of these by this author from Kentucky. Kingsolver is one of the few authors that I've ever written a letter to, and I did get a response. It was a form letter stating that she didn't have time to respond to all of her mail, but her signature is her very own!

1. On Writing by Stephen King
2. Between Sundays by Karen Kingsburg
3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
4. The Bean Trees by B. Kingsolver
5. Flight Behavior by B. Kingsolver
6. Pigs in Heaven by B. Kingsolver
7. Prodigal Summer by B. Kingsolver
8. The Poisonwood Bible by B. Kingsolver (on my top-ten list of novel)
9. The Lacuna by B. Kingsolver
10. Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella


I would love to get your feedback on today's post. Have you read any of the books that I've listed or discussed? If so, what did you think of them?

Happy Reading,
Melissa