Reading [is] my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author's words reverberating in your head. Paul Auster
A truly good book is something as natural, and as unexpectedly and unaccountably fair and perfect, as a wild-flower discovered on the prairies of the West or in the jungles of the East, Henry David Thoreau, "The Wild Mallard Thought"
I fell in love--that is the only expression I can think of--at once, and am still at the mercy of words...There they were seemingly lifeless, made only of black and white, but out of them, out of their own being, came love and terror and pity and pain and wonder and all the vague abstractions that make our ephemeral lives dangerous, great and bearable., Dylan Thomas, "On the Words in Poetry"
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. George Eliot
There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient. Marilynne Robinson,
GileadI am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul... Walt Whitman, from
Song of Myself My talisman for my daughter, Breanne.
A minute lived attentively can contain a milllennium; an adequate step can span the planet. Chet Raymo,
The Path, A One-Mile Walk Through the UniverseSome books I am reading or have just finished that I highly recommend.Kim Barnes:
A Country Called Home, 5*
Robert Bly, James Hillman & Michael Meade, editors:
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, Poems for MenWilliam Kent Krueger:
Blood Hollow, 4th in series
Conrad Aiken:
Thee, drawings by Leonard Baskin, 5*
Galway Kinnell:
A New Selected Poems, 5*
Helen Ward:
Unwitting Wisdom, An Anthology of Aesop's Fables, Children's, illustrations by Helen Ward, 5*
Josephine Dickinson:
Silence Fell, PoemsPer Petterson:
Out Stealing Horses, 5*
As a woman with a deep love (alas, obsession!) for books and words, I spend hours each day in the peace and contentment of my first
passion...reading. I am surrounded by thousands of books that I have collected over the years: NW literature, specific authors that I love, mysteries, books about books, reading and literary criticism, lots of poetry, fiction, memoirs, and romantic suspense, just to name a few. Children's books, with wonderful stories and illustrations, also represent a significant part of my collection. I use the library extensively, often to try books out before I indulge. Haunting the many used and new bookstores in my area is a frequent indulgence, yielding current publications and outstanding missed books for a fraction of their initial cost. Hence, my library grows steadily.
I connect frequently with many beloved friends that may or may not share my reading/book passion. While I spend significant time with others, enjoying good food, art, stimulating conversation, playing competitive Scrabble, and games in general, I crave
solitude. I'm addicted to gardening, and prefer the Oregon beach for a vacation (where I can read and search for agates). I love to cook, especially ethnic food. I love putting fine jigsaw puzzles together. I love music, particularly classical (Mozart's
Requiem and Bruch's
Violin Concerto feed my soul.), Leonard Cohen, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Michael Buble', Tony Bennett and k. d. lang, with
Les Miserables my favorite musical, to name just a few. I enjoy watching British mysteries; my favorites, Midsomer Murders (to remind me of the three marvelous years I lived on the edge of the Cotswolds, near Oxford), P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh series and Rosemary and Thyme. Throughout the day I am entertained by the birds that visit and squabble over more than fifteen feeders I keep full. The squirrels and other wildlife also raid the seed and the plentiful water containers.
My exceptional daughter,
Breanne, just graduated from Northwestern Medical School in Chicago, May 16, 2008, and got her Masters in Public Health, as well. The twelve of us who travelled to the windy city, watched emotionally, as she was hooded and got her diploma, then we spent days celebrating. She will be staying there for her first three years of residency, moving from Northwestern to the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital. She plans on a specialty in pediatrics; perhaps emergency medicine. Her young Yorkshire terrier, Humphrey, has grown and I got to spend plenty of time with him, while Breanne partied with fellow graduates. We capped off our visit when the two of us were bowled over with the energy and music of
Jersey Boys which will now rate up there as a favorite musical. Since then she has been home for a couple of too short visits, along with the mutt. We had a glorious time at the beach. This Christmas will be the first without her, as she is working and on call. Her January ten-day visit is anticipated with excitement. I miss her dreadfully, wish she were closer to home, and will have to visit more often. She continues to teach me and fill my life with abundance and joy.
Here are some personality descriptives enthusiastically contributed by friends and family: eccentric, passionate, weird (my daughter's favorite), flamboyant, curious, outrageous, intense, emotional (translate moody), fun, quiet (paradox), enthusiastic, and, best of all, I laugh loudly (
Mom, they can hear you clear down the street.).
"My Shelf" contains both books I own and those I have read from the library, friends, or have traded. "My Reading List" contains those books that I am reading or will be soon. If I have rated a book 5*, it is without regard to genre, and which I have, or will, read again.
Here is my favorite poem:Question
Body my house
my horse my hound
what will I do
when you are fallen
Where will I sleep
How will I ride
What will I hunt
Where can I go
without my mount
all eager and quick
How will I know
in thicket ahead
is danger or treasure
when Body my good
bright dog is dead
How will it be
to lie in the sky
without roof or door
and wind for an eye
With cloud for shift
how will I hide?May Swenson
PLEASE NOTE: I want my Shelfari friendships to have meaning, based on shared interests or experiences, and some similar book areas. I am interested in a friend having a bookshelf that stimulates my curiosity, to which I want to return. I appreciate someone who is active on the site, and will communicate with me about books, life and, perhaps, world issues. If you have
shared your profile, shelved books (enough that I can determine your areas of passion),
and you send me a
note telling me what motivated you to request a friendship, I will
consider accepting your request. I WILL NOT ACCEPT A FRIENDSHIP WITHOUT ANY INFORMATION.
I will not respond to any "Community Query" on whether or not you should read a book. I have no idea what you like to read, and there are plenty of places for one to go to see my review and those of others. You get to do the work, not me. Why one would rely on a yes/no answer to this kind of question is ludicrous to me.
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