Tuesday, November 23, 2010 — Best books yet

Thoughtful people continue to give, loan and recommend books to me that they feel might help me through these times. There is almost always a little something here and there that is worth notice. More time alone, the acquisition of a Kindle this year and a lust for escape keep me digging into these offerings. The Book of Us is one that ended up surprising me. I thought the main characters, a couple, were terribly self-absorbed in the first half of the book. But in the second half, even the mediocre writing didn't keep me from hanging in there. It deals with channeling the recently expired woman from the first half of the book. I've become fascinated by the number of expressions and words that books dealing with "the other side" seem to have in common. And even though Skip and I would both have rolled our eyes at much that is being said in these books, I now take considerable comfort in hearing what they have to say. Kathy has a channeling friend who speaks with Skip and as I've told you earlier, says that where he is is "amazing." I like that. And for now I choose to sort of believe it. Actually, I have to admit that I don't come into it completely biased because I have known all my life that powers of thinking and undeniable ESP have been part of my make-up. I have simply chosen to keep very quiet about it and I vowed at an early age that I would only use these "powers" for good and not for evil. No doubt a carmic attitude stemming from my pre-twenties life as a born Catholic. I once heard the British white witch, Cybel Leek, speak on the radio. I was so impressed with her positive and creative persona that I developed a genuine respect for her art. She is the one who talked about each human's vibrations regarding color choice. She gave me a strong confidence in the color choices I have made throughout my adult life. She also became a model for being positive about life in general. I told Kathy about the Book of Us and felt compelled to repeat several times that it is worth slogging through to get to the meat of it even though it lacks the kind of writing style and skill that appeal to me. Thank you, Susan, for your always provocative book suggestions and also for your, comforting words and insights from Mexico.

I also just read a book about women in Afghanistan called Kabul Beauty Salon. Another good one from Susan L. Very snappy writing and startlingly honest. A real page turner. And an eye opener about differences in what it means to be married! Having read all the Greg Mortenson books about his school building efforts in that area, I was fascinated and horrified.

My good friend Rennie, who was also one of Skip's dear friends, loaned me two books several weeks ago. After finishing the Kabul Beauty Salon on my Kindle, I opened Rennie's careful plastic bag wrapping of her two books. The first book is a slender volume titled The End of the Alphabet. I read the jacket and decided to begin with it. It is a tender, though biting love story, filled with metaphor, irony and lovely writing. Maybe because the author is a designer. I related to his economy of words from the first sentence. It is a book about love, anger, loss, despair, creativity and courage.

The second book from Rennie is titled The Giver. I'm two thirds of the way through it and during it's early pages I was at a loss over why Rennie had chosen to recommend this book to me. You can easily guess that I'm no longer puzzled. It is spot on by multiple standards. This book is actually for young adults, written by a Newberry Medal winner. It was published in 1993 and I haven't yet looked into its availability. Rennie, you were right. It resonates with the times and with my own personal circumstances regarding my attitude about memories and awareness of reality and choice. That's something I'm definitely wrestling with these days. Memories, their cherished value and their flip side occupy a good deal of my ever wandering thoughts.