Thursday, October 4, 2018

Books and towel animals April-June 2018

Books and towel animals  April-June 2018

You know towel animals?  The ones that they put on your bed during a cruise?  These are from our Montreal to Boston trip.  They were all new to me and Super Cute :)

-by Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Now:  Gave this on a try because it is a pretty big influence on a bunch of folks I know.  I understand him to be saying-don't waste time thinking about the past or the future in ways that don't help.  Be present for what is right in front of you.  Fits in well with some meditation ideas.  But it can be a hard read-repetitive and not straightforward.  If you understand him, you will love it, if you read a page and can't explain it you might just hate this book a lot.

-by Antoine de Saint-Exuprey
The Little Prince:  It had just been too long since the last read.



-by Gretchen Rubin
The Four Tendencies:  OMG  This book has been a revelation.   It addresses a single aspect of your personality-How do you get stuff done based on internal and external expectations?  I kind of knew I had my tendency, but now I see how it affects more of my life than I thought.  Even better, I know know why some stuff doesn't get done and what to change/tools to use.  I'm putting it into practice now.

-by Brene Brown
The Gifts of Imperfection:  Picked this one up on a whim because I like her message.  A little redundant if you have read her other stuff.  Best feature is the list which allows me to focus on an area.  I feel like this and the Power of Now guy are working towards the same goal, just from opposite poles.



-by Jack London
The Iron Heel:  I will read anything that Chris H. recommends, which is how this unlikely book made it to my hands.  It turns out to be politically timely and therefore sad.  Only quibble is how every group has bright lines around it-pure good vs. evil.  Turns out that is currently less interesting to me, but a worthy read.

-by Anne Lamott
Blue Shoe:  Good antidote to the Jack London book.  This is all about messiness and people you can imagine being friends with.  Super timely after having read Being Mortal.  I picked this up off the sale rack because I remember liking her writing-big success, will do again.

Small Victories: Non-fiction snipets.  Some bits repeat from her fiction writing, might as well just read the fiction.



-Welcome to Night Vale: A rarity-a book I quit a quarter of the way through. I started reading the book because it was kind of a big deal a bit ago.  But it felt just too gimicky and like the pay off wasn't going to be worth it.  I have so many books on my list to read why bother.

-Edited by Laurie King and Leslie Klinger
Echos of Sherlock Holmes:  Short stories somehow inspired by Holmes.  Love these, especially the ones that are adjacent, like by being set modern day.



-by Tiffany Dufu
Drop the Ball:  A recommendation from Gretchin Rubin.  Great book/website for women who expect perfection from themselves-must do all the things and they WILL be perfect.  I got over most of that a while ago but still found some helpful tips here.

-by P.L. Travers
Mary Poppins:  Have you read the book?  This is NOT the Mary of the movies (note to self, watch Saving Mr. Banks).  Sure, the kids get all of the magical Mary but she is not really nurturing or kind.  In fact she is vain.  Not sure I need to read all the follow on books since I did that once back in the day.

-by Ellen Raskin
The Westing Game:  On a bit of a nostalgia kick-was reminded of this by the neighbor boy.  Luckily I had forgotten most of it so I got to solve it fresh.



-by Charles Portis
True Grit:  Before the Cohen brothers film was the John Wayne film and before that was the book-fancy that!  I loved the Cohen film and probably the reason it is so good is that it sticks to the book.  Mattie is the best.

-by Christopher Golden
Runaways:  A novel, associated with the tv show, based on the comics.  I loved season 1 of the tv show and so when I saw this at Target just had to give it a try.  Big fun! The book is ahead of the tv show-definite spoilers.  Would read another.



-by Amanda Lovelace
the witch doesn't burn in this one:  I am not too much into poetry, but I found this at Target and it was just so interesting looking.  I wasn't wrong, it has pretty adult #metoo content.  I like the unusual formatting and it kept me engaged.

-by Kathy Oppegard
Fool Willing; The Secret Power of Play to Engage Communities in Your Green Organization:  Spot on for a very specific audience-you have an environmental non-profit and want to get a wider community involved.  Great reading for that purpose, but I took away generally the idea to put more play into life.  It is good for you, for your relationships and for the world.  Plus an old high school friend wrote it :)



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