I thought I'd posted this the other day, but found it still in draft form.
Sam over at BookChase posted about an interesting and disconcerting new possibility: ad placement in books. Check it out. His latest post is about fake memoirs and those who create lies out of whole cloth and then are published, becoming best-selling authors.
My reading so far this year:
January
Consequences - 258
Death of the Fat Man- 404
Interred With Their Bones- 416
Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire - 285
Hunting Fear - 338
Outlander - 627
An Absolute Gentleman -288
Dedication - 278
Forgive Me - 234
The Winter Rose - 707
total pages Jan. - 3835
February
Immortal - 513 pages
Raven Black -376
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents - 241
Standing Still - 262 pages
War of Honor - 861
Why Mermaids Sing - 342
Silent in the Grave - 552
The Sonambulist - 353
Nameless Night - 338
total pages Feb. -3838
total pages read: 7, 673
female authors: 13
male authors: 6
fiction: 19
nonfiction: 0
mystery/suspense: 9
crime: 1
gen. fiction: 3
historical fiction 2
romance 1
YA: 1
sci. fic.: 1
fantasy:
horror: 1
March will be my first nonfiction, and I have several in the works, but January and February are all escape fiction.
Sometimes a series of events or coincidences coalesce and become an example of synchronicity. Les was interested in the Lee & Bob Woodruff memoir, In An Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing (genuine, by the way - unlike the recent incident Sam posted about). I decided to go ahead and read it so I could send it on to her (Les, I need your address).
Although initially, I planned to just switch back and forth among the other books that I have going, it pulled me in, and I finished it last night. Yesterday, I received another book, one that I had ordered for specific reasons: Letting Go of the Person You Used to Be: Lessons on Change, Loss, and Spiritual Transformation by Lama Surya Das. This one I ordered because of someone I know who is going through a period of serious change and because my brothers and I are slowly losing our father to Alzheimer's. I couldn't resist opening it and perusing a few pages, which turned into nearly 50 pages, before I could put it down.
There are several places already that I've added sticky notes because of how well the lines coincide with Lee Woodruff's account of her husband's traumatic injury and the effect it had on her family. I almost wonder if she read the book during her journey because the echoes are so strong. Letting Go is an excellent book for dealing with loss of all kinds and would have been an aid to Lee (just as I hope it will be for the person for whom I ordered it.)
I suppose in a way it is an inadvertent reading itinerary, closely connected to real life. I will send the Woodruff memoir to Les and pass on the Letting Go book to the person for whom I purchased it, order another book by Lama Surya Das, and see if I can locate the Woodruff documentary...
I will be drawing names tonight for the two books I'm giving away. If you are interested, go here and comment.
Hi Jenclair,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the book list. I'm always looking for a good read. I'm addicted :>)
I'm recommending a book that I just finished called Anchor in the Spirit as God Beings. It's by Phyllis Reid. I found that it removed the mystery of the terms spiritual enlightenment and transformation. It's written in a very practical and user-friendly way. I'm recommending it to all my friends who are addicted readers.
Again, thank you for the book list.
Mary :>)
Thank you so much for offering to pass this on to me! I'll send you my address via email.
ReplyDeleteHave you read A Three Dog Life? It deals with traumatic brain injury and I thought it was very good. You can read my review here, if you like.
Thanks again, Jenclair. I suspect I'll dive right into the book in spite of all the towering stacks that have been here for months!
I love that you read so much and I wish I could figure out why I don't read as much!
ReplyDeleteI thought I had the "Letting Go" title by Lama Surya Das. Turns out I didn't. Heh. Must have been a library copy that I read.
ReplyDeleteI read all the books by Lama Surya Das when I was just starting to explore the dharma. I like his books. He makes Buddhism and spirituality so approachable and down to earth. But there's no doubt he's a good dharma teacher.
When I was reading his books, a lot of what he wrote felt true to me. It's as though I was recognising some kind of intrinsic truth to what he's saying.
I have to re-read his books. Thank you for the timely reminder.
BTW, how's the yoga bag coming along?
Mary - Thanks for the recommendation! I will look for Anchor in the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteLes - Hope you enjoy it! No, I've not read A Three Dog Life and thanks for the link.
Heather - For some reason, reading as always been almost as necessary as breathing for me. Certainly, it has been a life-long habit, but it does go in cycles!
Orpheus - I like that he admits his attachment to things (his old baseball mitt, etc.)- He can make his point about attachment and letting go and still admit to his own attachment to several things.
The bag is almost finished...needs a bit of adjustment and the strap. There are pictures on here of the bag in progress.
Oh, thank you for reminding me how good Sam is with the latest in book news. I wrote my last article from two sources he highlighted on memoirs being produced from fiction. A disturbing trend; yet, I totally forgot to give credit to the source, Sam. I'm going to hop over there now and thank him. :)
ReplyDeleteMaggie -- Sam does keep us caught up on current book-related news, doesn't he? It is a disturbing trend and makes one wonder about what makes people attempt this kind of deception when often their own personal stories would have been quite absorbing.
ReplyDelete