Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” —Groucho Marx

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

January Reads


Within the last week of January, I have completed two books that I thought would be so boring. I love books; there is always a surprise between the covers. I was not disappointed with either.

The first book was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. I couldn't remember if I read this in high school, but thought I should reread it now as I have matured with age. It may have taken the first hundred pages or so to find the hook, but find it I did. Once hooked, I didn’t want to put it down. It was Mrs. Bennett’s fondest desire to see her girls married and married well. With five young daughters, it was a lot to wish for. And the novel reeks of pride and prejudices, assumptions and sensibilities….and so many characters to bring to life and what they will and will not settle for! Each character had their individual imperfections, and redeeming qualities as well. Oh Mr Darcy, so glad you perservered! This is how a romance novel should be written!

The second book finished just today was the Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill. Not the kind of book I normally read, although the temptation to read it was the lure of finding out what really happened to little Charlotte. Charlotte is a spirited four year old whose mother did not come by the motherliness of her own mother and who found the job of mothering quite overwhelming. She adopted a harsh manner in disciplining her 9 children. Charlotte was difficult to potty train and at four, she still had not mastered the concept. Her punishment that awful day was to be tied to a ring in the wardrobe room; unfortunately she remained in the room, alone for three hours, her bindings slipped, and she asphyxiated. The story of the family and this tragic occurrence was told by a ninety yr old servant speaking to the granddaughter of the mistress who lost her baby Charlotte, and by the Mistresses’ prison diary. This was a very sad and frustrating tale, and I am glad I read it, but I could not do with a steady diet of this. There just weren't any winners.

Friday, January 20, 2012

2012 How Times Have Changed

I checked in during 2011 and apparently died, so I will try and catch everyone up. My children's book is complete except for the art work. I guess I will try to do it myself, but I am no artist. Once I complete the artwork, then I will submit it hopefully to be published in time for Easter 2012. Say a prayer my friends. I need a miracle if the artwork is to pass the mustard!!

No further work on a work of fiction. I had a first draft of a first chapter looking promising when my computer crashed and I lost it all, so it is back to square one. Maybe tomorrow....

I read Debbie Macomber's non fiction work
Knit Together: Discover God's Pattern for Your Life.
One of the goals I set for myself was to read two books that I normally would not read between
060211-060112. I have accomplished those readings. One was Zig Ziglar's

Better Than Good: Creating a Life You Can't Wait to Live and the other was Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking.


Each have taught me valuable lessons in goal setting and the power my thoughts have over the outcome of my actions and activities. My blog will now be used to reflect my thoughts on books that I am reading or have read and thoughts concerning my own writings. There are days I know without a doubt what I am supposed to write about and days I am totally lost. But I am determined to perservere.....Time, Patience and Perserverance...I will overcome!