Saturday, January 31, 2015



                  Wish You Were Here



Don Blanding: "Florida skies are vast and wide, and never two days the same. A panorama that shifts and blends with colors that have no name. Is there a name for the mystic blue that comes at the twilight's close?"  from Floridays, 1941, 1956.



No surprise - it's been bitterly cold with the ground buried beneath snow. Relief arrived along with a late January thaw and a string of sunny days. But winter's cold air is returning soon with predictions of snow this weekend. And that's when the mind starts wandering...south. 

To Florida. The Sunshine State. **Population 19,552,860 and ranked the fourth most populated state. Tourism is the state's number one industry. And why not?? Florida has beaches, Walt Disney World, Kennedy Space Center, and the oldest permanent European settlement in the U.S. - St. Augustine. You can explore history, enjoy a famous sunset (Key West), people watch in South Beach, and eat fresh fish while delighting in the balmy breeze. And temperatures will certainly be above freezing. 

Those of us with no Florida travel plans can listen to a Jimmy Buffett tune or two, turn up the heat to around 85 degrees while wearing a T-shirt and shorts (no coat, hat or gloves) and read a book that's based in Florida. A lot of us may be stuck in the cold and snow, but so many fictional characters are living a warm life.  



   
Just add a book and a cool drink.




  











                                
                                 Warm Reading


Revenge of the Radioactive Lady - Stuckey-French, Elizabeth. What a great and creative story! The title says it all - this is a story of revenge. Also a story of family and friendship.

Swamplandia! - Russell, Karen. Maybe it's the heat or the salty air, Florida just becomes another character in so many books. If you're a fan of Carl Hiaasen, you'll enjoy the story of the Bigtree family in "Swamplandia!."

The Deep Blue Good-By (Travis McGee series)  - MacDonald, John. Vintage mystery series. Get to know Travis McGee and his beloved south Florida.

Alas, Babylon - Frank, Pat. What if a nuclear catastrophe happened and all that was left was a small Florida town?

Stiltsville - Daniel, Susanna. Great novel about the quirky community living in homes on stilts in the Miami area. Daniel is a wonderful story teller. 

The Yearling - Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan. A classic story of a young boy and an orphaned fawn. Rawlings won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for this poignant story.  

Skinny Dip - Hiaasen, Carl. Along with the aforementioned heat and salty air are some of the zaniest and yet, somehow believable characters. Also - Double Whammy and Tourist Season.

Black and Blue - Quindlen, Anna. Running away from an abusive husband, Fran Benedetto tries to start a new life in Florida.

Duma Key - King, Stephen. The story of Edgar Freemantle is keeping me up late as I try to figure out the power of Duma Key. 

The Orchid Thief - Orlean, Susan (nonfiction). Reads like a novel. This is the story of a man who poaches orchids from the Everglades.

The Corpse Had a Familiar Face - Buchanan, Edna (nonfiction). Award winning reporter brings readers along on some very strange, intriguing stories.

And three more classics: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God; Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not; Thomas McGuane's Ninety-two in the Shade.  





**Thanks to The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2015 for the Florida information. 


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Sunday, January 11, 2015

                          Inspired by...

Edith Wharton: "There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it."


Unless you've sequestered yourself in a cave for the past year, you know there's been a lot of sadness and anger in the news. Just when it all feels demoralizing or too daunting, there can be a brief spot of joy, humor, or reflection. On a gloomy evening in December, NBC Nightly News broadcast a story regarding the power of prayer in "healing the body and soul" according to Brian Williams. It was reported that, within the medical community, there are doctors who believe in prayer playing an important role in a patient's recovery. An accompanying story, shown the next evening, gave air time to doctors who clearly do not share the same belief. It's an interesting debate. 

If you're curious about prayer or looking for inspiration in 2015, here are some suggestions:


Anne Lamott - Help, Thanks, Wow-The Three Essential Prayers; Stitches - A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair;  Small Victories - Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace. Lamott isn't afraid to ask tough questions as she searches for guidance, and shares ideas through her lyrical writing.   

Jane Pauley - Your Life Calling-Reimagining the Rest of Your Life. The first wave of baby boomers are now in their 60s. Retirement and second chances beckon.   

Flannery O'Connor - A Prayer Journal. As a young student at University of Iowa, O'Connor began writing prayers, asking for guidance and grace.

Jimmy Carter - A Call to Action-Women, Religion, Violence and Power. President Carter educates readers of the inequalities and violence faced by women around the world.

Gail Caldwell - New Life, No Instructions. Life has no road map, and Caldwell reveals her struggle with both physical and emotional changes in middle age.  

Ann Patchett - What Now? Originally a commencement speech, Patchett reaches out to anyone at any age who asks "what now?" 

Suzanne Strempek Shea - Sundays in America. Shea brings us along on her extended road trip to explore Christian faith in America.  

Gretchen Rubin -  Happier at Home. Rubin walks the reader through a monthly guide meant to energize and change life at home

John Kralik - A Simple Act of Gratitude-How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life. Kralik's life didn't become perfect but the changes were dramatic after he began a letter writing campaign. His message? A simple "thank you."  

Anna Quindlen - A Short Guide to a Happy Life. A guide on enjoying the simple moments in life which Quindlen calls "small pieces of silver."

Diane Muldrow - Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book. The advice is simple yet meaningful: make a friend, use your imagination and be a hugger, among other ideas.

Jon Kabat-Zinn - Mindfulness for Beginners. A subject of a Time magazine cover story, mindfulness is a meditation technique designed to create a new way of thinking and understanding. 

Anne Morrow Lindbergh - Gift From the Sea. Contemplative essays compare shells washing ashore with the phases of a woman's life.

Caroline Myss - Invisible Acts of Power.  Myss asks her readers how their own daily actions will change the world, and will it be change for the better. Also explored - western and eastern religions.

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet. A Lebanese poet and philosopher, Gibran wrote essays and prayers regarding marriage, friendship, beauty and religion.


                                                         *****


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Thursday, January 1, 2015

                      Brrr, or, it's January


Susan Orlean: "A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder."  Orlean is the author of "The Orchid Thief"



Is it cold enough for you? If you enjoy skiing, ice skating or even ice fishing, this is the perfect weather. As for the rest of us, we're happy to watch the snow fall from indoors, curled up in a comfortable chair with a hot cup of tea. And a good book, of course.


January is Book Blitz Month, National Hot Tea Month, and National Soup Month. Enjoy!


1 -      Happy 2015 

3 -      J. R. R. Tolkien Day. Love a hobbit today.

4 -      Trivia Day. 1) What was the best selling fiction trade paperback in 2013? 
                               2) What was the best selling fiction mass market paperback in 2013? Answers below*.

4 -       Birth of Doris Kearns Goodwin, 1943 (Team of Rivals)

6 -       Birth of Kahlil Gibran, 1883 (The Prophet)

8-14 -  Universal Letter Writing Week. Send someone a lovely surprise...a letter in the mail.

12  -    Death of Agatha Christie, 1976 (Murder on the Orient Express)

13 -      National Poetry at Work Day. See blog post January 13, 2014.

14 -      International Kite Day. It's an interesting choice of month for those of us in the northern hemisphere who may be knee deep in snow, but try it anyway. Or sing the song from Mary Poppins, "Let's Go Fly a Kite."

18 -     Thesaurus Day. Thesaurus is another word for treasure.

18  -     Birth of A.A. Milne, 1882 (Winnie-the-Pooh)

19 -      Birth of Edgar Allen Poe, 1809 (Murder in Rue Morgue)

20  -     Birth of Tami Hoag, 1959 (Kill the Messenger) 

25 -      A Room of One's Own Day. Enjoy an essay or novel by Virginia Woolf.

25 -     Robert Burns Day, Scottish poet (My Heart's in the Highlands)

30  -    Birth of Barbara Tuchman, 1912 (The Guns of August)

30 -     Death of Wendy Wasserstein, 2006 (The Sisters Rosensweig) 



*According to Publishers Weekly, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" was the best selling trade paperback in 2013. George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones" was the mass market best seller.


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