BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS!! (Part 1)
Ever since mentioning the idea of doing this blog back in early November I've been looking forward to writing this post. I'm currently reading two books and had hoped to finish them before the New Year but they'll end up on the 2018 list.
The final count for 2017 is 34 books. My list is almost evenly split between fiction and nonfiction but a little bit heavier on the nonfiction side with 19 books.
It's probably not surprising that before moving halfway across the world, to another country, that I was reading books like Finding My Balance by Mariel Hemingway and Shonda Rhimes' Year of Yes. 2017 was a year I needed to be encouraged with both concepts.
A treasure in 2017 was Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, which I picked up and read in about two days while visiting my mom in Michigan for a winter adventure, cross-country skiing trip. When you live in southern Arizona, you've got to travel north if you want any shot at enjoying some snow and cold weather that necessitates wearing a sweater and coat all day.
I was familiar with the book but had never read it. I copied something Morrie said into my journal on 16 February, "The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." Great life wisdom there. May we all dedicate ourselves to doing more of that in 2018!
Then there's Benjamin Mee's We Bought a Zoo, which I finished on 19 March. It became a bit of a mantra for me as we were in the final three months of the move prep. When talking to loved ones about our decision to move overseas, I'd often say, "I want to be willing to 'buy' the zoo, if that is what God is leading us to do." I was really focused on the willingness to take chances, staying open to God's will for my life, and dreaming big.
Around this time I also read W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe, the inspiration for the movie Field of Dreams. One of my favorite movies but a book I'd never read. While a fiction book, it is centered on the theme of taking a risk to follow a dream, regardless of how crazy it might seem. Opening up oneself to fate and destiny and maybe a little bit of magic in Ray Kinsella's case.
The James Earl Jones character in the book is a fictionalized version of real-life author J.D. Salinger. In the book the character says, "If I had my life to live over again, I'd take more chances. I'd want more passion in my life. Less fear and more passion, more risks. Even if you fail, you've still taken a risk."
Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist was next. Another book I'd always known of but never read. A line I liked early in the book was "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." Also of encouragement before the move: "...making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."
A few other books I read before the move included Karen Abbott's Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War; and Paula McLain's The Paris Wife, which I LOVED.
Both books feature real-life women, who took risks and chances. Abbott's is a heavily researched non-fiction book that provides a whole new perspective on the Civil War and the roles of women, and McLain's is a heavily researched fiction book that brings Ernest Hemingway's first wife Hadley Richardson to vibrant life.
There was another VERY prevalent theme in my 2017 reading and it's all about the DOGS. It's feeling like the eleven books that filled most of my mid-year reading deserve a post all their own. I think it's a story worth sharing and I want to give some special attention to the book that inspired it all and the one I think all dog lovers should own.
So stay tuned to learn how two author sessions at the 2017 Tucson Festival of Books led to some inspirational reading and some light, entertaining reading when I needed it most. This blog is going to the dogs next!
The final count for 2017 is 34 books. My list is almost evenly split between fiction and nonfiction but a little bit heavier on the nonfiction side with 19 books.
It's probably not surprising that before moving halfway across the world, to another country, that I was reading books like Finding My Balance by Mariel Hemingway and Shonda Rhimes' Year of Yes. 2017 was a year I needed to be encouraged with both concepts.
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| Trying to Stay Balanced and Saying "Yes" to Opportunities in 2017 |
I was familiar with the book but had never read it. I copied something Morrie said into my journal on 16 February, "The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." Great life wisdom there. May we all dedicate ourselves to doing more of that in 2018!
Then there's Benjamin Mee's We Bought a Zoo, which I finished on 19 March. It became a bit of a mantra for me as we were in the final three months of the move prep. When talking to loved ones about our decision to move overseas, I'd often say, "I want to be willing to 'buy' the zoo, if that is what God is leading us to do." I was really focused on the willingness to take chances, staying open to God's will for my life, and dreaming big.
Around this time I also read W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe, the inspiration for the movie Field of Dreams. One of my favorite movies but a book I'd never read. While a fiction book, it is centered on the theme of taking a risk to follow a dream, regardless of how crazy it might seem. Opening up oneself to fate and destiny and maybe a little bit of magic in Ray Kinsella's case.
The James Earl Jones character in the book is a fictionalized version of real-life author J.D. Salinger. In the book the character says, "If I had my life to live over again, I'd take more chances. I'd want more passion in my life. Less fear and more passion, more risks. Even if you fail, you've still taken a risk."
Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist was next. Another book I'd always known of but never read. A line I liked early in the book was "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." Also of encouragement before the move: "...making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."
Both books feature real-life women, who took risks and chances. Abbott's is a heavily researched non-fiction book that provides a whole new perspective on the Civil War and the roles of women, and McLain's is a heavily researched fiction book that brings Ernest Hemingway's first wife Hadley Richardson to vibrant life.
So stay tuned to learn how two author sessions at the 2017 Tucson Festival of Books led to some inspirational reading and some light, entertaining reading when I needed it most. This blog is going to the dogs next!
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