SELF PORTRAIT

While this is a very rough photo it was fun to do and it gives me some ideas of things I might want to try in the future.

SO LONG AT THE FAIR

So Long at the Fair A Novel
By Christina Schwarz
Doubleday, Publisher
ISBN: 978-0-385-51029-5
I originally was interested in reading this book because of the title and the location. I was born and raised in North Eastern Ohio in 1962 so the life that the main characters of this book lived is very much like my memories of growing up.
On the first look this book is about adultery but it goes a lot deeper than that. There are two main time lines that take place and also an additional one thrown in just for some added flavor. Sometimes keeping these time lines clear can be difficult since a few of the characters show up in more than one time line but they have changed just enough that you need to double check often to see who it is that is being referred to. I found that the book grabbed me right away with just enough information to keep me reading to find out what happens. The main time frame of the book actually takes place over one morning and afternoon. This being said you realize that much of the book is filled with background information and time to get to know and understand the motivations behind the many characters.
There are two groups of characters in this book that you discover early on are two generations of several families in one small town. It seems that what happens to them is seemingly unrelated. The 1960’s time line has mystery and revenge. The later time line has adultery. Other than the fact that the people are related you find yourself wondering why they are important to each other. This I think is where a reader will benefit if they have a little bit of life behind them. The reason I say this is that while on the outside this is a book about all of the things listed above, on closer examination this is a book about life and how things can often go wrong. What is happening to the main characters Ginny and Jon is something that is not new. These are issues that many of us will face in some way in our lives whether or not we want to admit it or not. When we are younger we often think that our parents have no idea what the “real world” is like but as we get older we realize the valuable resource they are and often have overcome even greater self-imposed obstacles than we had. I liked the fact that this book shows the different paths that people can choose when hardship hits and how that will ultimately impact the rest of their lives.
The ending is not at all what I expected. I did not like it at first. I did however come to love the ending once I had some time to think about it. I found this book to be very thought provoking. The writing was well done and I don’t think William Faulkner could have done a better job with the time lines. If you are looking for a book to just be fluff about adultery you will find it in this book. But, it you want to look for something deeper you will also find it in this book. Open up to these characters all of whom are just trying to find their way through a difficult world. I think a reader who looks will find much deeper messages here than they would have realized on the first look. Recommended

TUESDAY THINGERS 8-12-08

Today from Boston Bibliophile:

Today's question: Favorite bookstores. What's your favorite bookstore? Is it an online store or a bricks-and-mortar store? How often do you go book shopping? Is your favorite bookstore (or bookstores) listed as a favorite in LT? Do you attend events at local bookstores? Do you use LT to find events?

I really don't think I can say that I have a favorite bookstore. Where I live there are Barnes and Nobles and Borders just about everywhere so If I am book shopping that is where I end up. I do most of my book shopping on line. Mostly with Amazon but also straight from the publishers web site as well. Since I became a Mom 4 years ago I seldom have the chance to just hang and browse at a bookstore like I used to. If I take my daughter into a bookstore it is only if I know exactly what I want in advance and go right for it. Oh, how I look forward to the future when I can browse again. As far as the events listing on LT I look at it from time to time but have not gone to any of the events. I want to soon and am waiting for just the right one to get me started.

ROUGH

Tuesday Thingers August 5

This week from the Boston Bibliophile:

Today's question is only marginally about LibraryThing but I thought it might be a fun question anyway. It's more about blogging. Everyone who participates in Tuesday Thingers has a blog- some have a book blog, some have several, some have blogs that are more personal, etc.- and we've all chosen to participate in this particular way of networking to build traffic, get to know each other, etc. So my question is: what other weekly memes or round robins do you participate in? Is this the only one? Why Tuesday Thingers and not some other weekly Tuesday meme? Or do you do more than one?Also, if you feel like you don't have enough memes, you can visit The Daily Meme for even more blogging options for different days of the week. I know- like you don't have enough to do! :-)

This is the only weekly meme that I participate in. I am intentionally not doing more at this time. I have a really bad habit of thinking too optimistically of my time so I have decided to only add one at a time until I am sure I can keep up. I am considering when the time comes to add to do Sunday Salon. For now however this is it for me.

FrameShifting

FrameShifting: A Path to Wholeness
By David K. Banner PhD
Loving Healing Press, Publisher
ISBN: 978-1-932690-55-2

In this book the author explores the world of the ego. He presents ideas as to what it is and how to recognize when our egos are running our life, which is most of the time. Throughout the book the author also presents many different ways to learn to move from a more egocentric frame to one that allows us to live in a more unified way with everything else.

In this book you will not find firm concrete answers to the question of the ego but you will discover tools that the author has used in his own process. Each of the tools are discussed enough to let the reader have an idea of what they are about but he does not go into detail about each one. They include such programs as The Course in Miracles, The Avatar Program, and the Enneagram to have a better understanding of our own Ego and how it presents itself in the world. What the author does in this work is show you how he has taken from many programs throughout his journey to arrive at the place he is at now. He describes in somewhat self-conscious detail his own journey. He also encourages the reader to explore and do the same. He never insists on a particular program but offers ideas to the reader on where they can look and what they may find when they get there.

I enjoyed this book and found more than anything that it was inspiring to me. I have already done a little work with Avatar and other similar programs and after reading this book I feel encouraged to explore a bit more and to find more time for meditation in my life. I think a key word here is that this book is in a self-help kind of category of work. It is not meant to do the work for you but it assists you in helping yourself. I recommend it to anyone wanting to examine the way they relate to the world and do something about it.

The Good Thief A Novel

The Good Thief A Novel
By Hannah Tinti
The Dial Press
ISBN: 978-0-385-33745-8
From the back of the book “Benjamin Nab appears one day at the orphanage where Ren has spent the eleven years of his young life. Convincing the monks he is Ren’s long-lost brother, Benjamin sweeps the boy away into a vibrant world of adventure, filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves. But is Benjamin Nab really who he claims to be? As Ren begins to find clues to his hidden parentage, he comes to suspect that Benjamin holds the key not only to his future but to his past as well.”
I completely enjoyed this book. I instantly became sympathetic to the plight of Ren and all of the situations that he found himself in. The writing of the book itself was great. There were many interesting characters within the pages and yet the author was able to make each and every one of them rich and full without excessively long descriptions. What I liked was that for some of them the description was enough to get you interested in the character but it was limited. Then later in the book that limited information would blossom into much more such as in the character of “Dolly”. The author never came right out with the medical diagnosis of his situation but it was alluded to. Other characters the author described using one word descriptions that pack enough punch that you understood much of the person’s situation and could move on. This style of working with characters really made me feel a part of the book as well. I felt like I was right along the journey with them.
In many places within the story I found myself laughing out loud over plot twists that I never saw coming. I would be reading along thinking “alright I got that, now what is next” then boom she would throw something new in the mix that would not only make me laugh out loud but forever would change the tapestry of the story.
I highly recommend this book. The story was interesting, eventful, funny, sad, and in the end satisfying.