Tag Archives: book reviews

Goodbye Bookshelf Books! NO I Can’t Do It!

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bookshelfRecently a friend of mine started packing her books for a move. There seemed to be many books left on the bookshelf. She explained, “These are the books I can’t bear to pack away yet, and be without them for even a little while.”

I love to read. I have managed to manage my book obsession and get the books down to one book shelf, only because I read more Kindle books these days. I still love the smell of bookstores and have to glue my credit cards to the bottom of my purse so they can’t come unstuck when I want to make huge purchases in the bookstores. I still finger with reverence the cover of books and close my eyes in pleasure at the feel of them in my hand.

Having said that, the Kindle makes my life easier when I travel. I only have one bag now instead of two extra to carry my books and magazines. I can have a new book at the touch of my finger to my Kindle screen. I fear that my Kindle is becoming my bookshelf because I have hundreds of books on my Kindle.

After viewing my friends bookshelf and wanting to simplify my life some more I thought perhaps I could empty my bookshelves.

The top shelf is lined with books by Catherine Coulter, http://www.catherinecoulter.com/, Kristin Hannah, http://kristinhannah.com/content/index.php, and Max Lucado,  http://maxlucado.com/ . The rest of the shelves are a mixture of books my friends and my daughter  have given me that are quirky and fun and speak to the creative person inside of me. There is also a shelf of bible studies that I have never done, most are by Women of Faith, http://www.womenoffaith.com/.

I positioned my chair to climb on so I could reach the top shelf and start purging the rest of my books. As I touched each book by Catherine Coulter I could not bear to move it off the shelf. I moved on to my Kristin Hannah books. I touched the first one to move it to a box. My hand would not move. I could not take a book by Kristin Hannah down either. Nor could I move the Max Lucado books to a box for good will. I arranged them neatly by author on the shelf.

I moved down to the Bible Study books by the Women of Faith and the books I have by Patsy Clairmont, http://patsyclairmont.com/, and Barbara Johnson. I reminded myself that I should start a Bible Study books so the books stayed on the shelf too along with Patsy and Barbara.

Next were all the filled journals, empty journals, and quirky books my friends and my daughter had given me. It was a funny things but those books seemed glued to the shelf.

I now understood what my friend meant by not being able to part with her books yet for the move. I could not part with the books on my shelf. My favorite authors, my quirky sense of humor books especially those by SARK, http://planetsark.com/ had to stay. Looking at the books alone without reading them gives me hope for the future that perhaps someday my writing will be cherished by someone the same way I cherish the books on my bookshelf. I did not find one book that gave me a ho hum feeling. These books were all on this certain bookshelf because they speak to my heart.

If you are feeling guilty about those books collecting dust, ask yourself what part of your heart they move. Keep the ones that do because they are not dust catchers, they are heart catchers.

 

Remembering how Past Wars Shape Our Lives!

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Something About Nothing Column published in the Albert Lea Tribune on May 26, 2014

Every year I rack my brain when it comes to holiday columns. I always wonder what I could possibly say that I haven’t said before. Memorial Day weekend is here. Take time to remember those who fought to protect America, remember their families, etc., etc., etc. How many ways can I spin this and still be sincere?

The other evening I was watching the unveiling of the new 9/11 Memorial Museum. Firefighters, members of the military and public citizens marched into the museum carrying the giant American flag, which had been flying from a building beside the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. It had been damaged and found in the debris at Ground Zero. This flag was transferred into the museum to be part of a permanent collection in the museum. american-flag-2a

World War II took place before I was born. The Korean War took place when I was a toddler. The Vietnam War took place during my teen and young adult years. The Persian Gulf War took place as I was raising my children.

I remember the exact place I was in the grocery store when it was announced over the speaker that we were at war. It was a scary feeling. I remember the basketball game during the few days and the patriotism that people felt at what was happening. As I age we are fighting a war in Afghanistan.

Those are listings of the wars that get the most press. According to Wikipedia, between 1900 and the present the United States has been involved in some way or another in 42 wars.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the world as we knew it changed again. Watching the museum ceremony on television and the interviews with the people who actually lived 9/11 in person brought tears to my eyes. I remembered the way the world stopped for America that day.

I have to imagine that is the way my ancestors felt at the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their world, too, changed that day.

The world we live in has to adjust to the changes that war brings to our lives, whether the war is on our soil. We have had to adjust to husbands, fathers, wives, mothers and sons and daughters leaving home to fight for our freedoms. We have had to adjust to a more restrictive way of life. I would imagine our ancestors had to do the same. Little by little the world has changed to what we now know after 9/11.

I am 64 years old, and I realize there has been a war going on for most of my life. Hearing the casualties and the news about attacks and bombings has become a way of life that gets lost in our news because we are used to it. Soldiers’ injuries and mental health problems from long tours overseas is talked about and has become a daily conversation. Post-traumatic stress disorder has become a common term in our world. We go on with our lives, walk the streets with our neighbors and settle in to accept these things as an everyday way of life passing the issues off as normal news.

For those who live with injuries, death of loved ones and instability because of emotional issues, the normal news is their fact of life. They aren’t a passing story; they can’t take their issues for granted because they must live them day in and day out.

It’s Memorial Day. Take some time to reflect on what the conflicts of the past and the conflicts of the future have cost us as a country. Consider what the conflicts have cost the veterans of yesterday and the soldiers and their families of today. Take some time to reflect on how your life has been changed because of these conflicts.

And then say thank you to a veteran. Say thank you because even in the country where we complain about our politicians, the cost of living, the job market, our churches, our police force, health care and our president we still are free to verbalize our thoughts. We still are free to worship in our religion of choice. We still are free to complain or shout with joy. We still live in the greatest country, the home of the brave and the land of the free.

And we still are free to thank those who keep us free.

Thank you.

When I Give A Book A Look!

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Cozy Cat AuthorsReviewing books that I have read is occasionally hard work. I know what it is to get a good review on a book you have written and I know what it is to get a bad review on a book you have written. There are times when someone reviews my books and offers a critical review that the review makes me a better writer and then are times when I read a review of my book that I wonder what they are talking about. I always look at the other books the person reviews. A few times I found that every book the reviewer reviewed got a bad or lukewarm review.

I felt honored at one review early on for my Granny Hooks A Crook on Goodreads. The reader gave me a four because she had just read The Help and gave The Help a five star rating. I felt honored for the four star rating she had given me.

I have given a lot of thought to what I say and how I say it when I review a book. I don’t ever want to skewer an author’s works because I know what it takes to get from start to finish, putting your heart into those words that are written for all to see in a book.

I did learn something from that reader that gave me a four because she had read The Help first. I think of that when I am clicking on those stars. A five blows me away. A four keeps me turning the pages, investing part of myself in the book by laughing, crying and feeling connected to the characters. A three has me leaving a little advice, gentle advice as to what could make it a little more to my taste. I never leave a 1 or 2.

Having said that I must also keep in mind when reading, whether the genre of the book is for me. I could easily give a one star to a history book no matter how well written and how fascinating the story was. I am not a history buff nor am I a historical romance buff so those books would get low stars from me. Is it the books fault that I didn’t like it? Is it the authors fault I didn’t like it? It merely would mean that I had no business thinking I should read the book because everyone else was gaga over it. And I’m not talking about Lady Gaga.

I try to read books occasionally that are out of my comfort zone and interest. Occasionally I am surprised and keep on reading. When I find a book that I start, and am yawning by the second or third chapter, I know it is out of my interest zone. I usually forgo leaving a comment or rating it. I do the same if there is a book that I start and absolutely do not like because of the writing. I do not rate it or leave a comment unless I am absolutely committed to leaving a review. Then I gently word what I have to say.

That is the way I rate books. I do not need to destroy a writer’s confidence or character. I do not need to attack their writing if the book is not what I feel is worth reading. Writers put their sweat, tears, heart and soul into a book and most of the time is for the sheer joy of writing.

If you are writer reading this, don’t let anyone destroy your love of writing. If you are a reader, think about your reviews. Are they accurate for what you are reviewing? And remember, be gentle with your criticism, there is a real person behind those words.

Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.

 Steven King