I'd never head of this author before my friend Deb insisted on loaning me the book. I swear despite being several states away I could see her bouncing around the computer when she asked "Have you read it yet?" I opened the book expecting to read a few pages or a chapter as a break from The Secret of Quantum Living and then to go right back to it. Some break! Found myself quickly engrossed in the characters and action of the book. Forty-eight hours later I reached the last page and am dismayed that I made my friend swear not to loan me the next book until after I finish my current "To Read" pile and get the reviews written.
My thanks to TC Southwell, I am about to plunge in with extra gusto just so I can get back to Blade and see what happens in the next book!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Distracted
The past few days I've not been disciplined about my reading. After having loaned out my nook back in October so that a friend could read "Touch Me There!" by Yvonne Fulbright (I'm still astounded by how much I learned from this book myself.) it finally came back home. Found myself electronically thumbing through some of my favorite reads and enjoying favorite passages from books like Elizabeth Lowell's "To the Ends of the Earth." Add that to the usual holiday time crunch and the result is not much forward progress in any of the books I'm currently reading. I still have a big Christmas sewing project to finish but hope to get in at least an hour of reading before I head off to see Miss MeMe's Christmas Gospel Show.
On another note, was torture to sit wrapping gifts in Barnes and Noble yesterday positioned directly across from the nook displays. I want them all! (Thanks Renee for telling me about all the special promotions...) I even contemplated ways to snatch the t-shirt one staffer was wearing which read "I'm nook smart" on the front. It was entirely too cute. Then I thought, "That would sure put me on Santa's naughty list!" so I resisted.
Definitely squeezing in my annual holiday reads this week:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Suess
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies (Yes, there is an actual book!)
Wishing everyone a peaceful week and books for Christmas.
On another note, was torture to sit wrapping gifts in Barnes and Noble yesterday positioned directly across from the nook displays. I want them all! (Thanks Renee for telling me about all the special promotions...) I even contemplated ways to snatch the t-shirt one staffer was wearing which read "I'm nook smart" on the front. It was entirely too cute. Then I thought, "That would sure put me on Santa's naughty list!" so I resisted.
Definitely squeezing in my annual holiday reads this week:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Suess
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies (Yes, there is an actual book!)
Wishing everyone a peaceful week and books for Christmas.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The Secret of Quantum Living by Frank J Kinslow
Generally I avoid talking about books I'm reading until I finish them because so often how I feel about them changes as I read. I can't do that with this book so I'm going to put my thoughts here and update as I go. Who knows how I'll feel at the end but I'm losing track of the book when the desire to discuss what I'm reading gets the best of me. Instead of reading I find myself imaging sitting with Mr Kinslow over coffee, or curled up on my couch with Vladimir going over the passages in the book.
Here we go:
First I have to say I requested a review copy of this book simply because the word quantum in the title caught my eye. Quantum theory is ...well beautiful...and yes, I do know that I'm a nerd. The theory touches me deeply enough that the first charm on my charm bracelet was a tiny silver disk engraved with a Q to remind of it at all times. The first chapter of The Secret of Quantum living has a quote by Edwin Louis Cole, "Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles." That alone is great food for thought. If we lived in a state of expectancy, open always to the enormous realm of possibilities in life wouldn't we see ourselves surrounded by miracles?
Throughout Bill's cancer journey people asked how I could be so strong, calm, loyal, etc. I found the question puzzling each time, I certainly had my meltdown moments. Then I came across a passage in this book that really gave me perspective on both the question and my ability to cope in a long term crisis situation."Peace doesn't push out fear and suffering; it just won't allow them to exist in that nurturing atmosphere." Read that again...it doesn't push it out...it just doesn't allow it to exist. That has to be one of the most meaningful sentences I've ever read. I'd like to stand up at church and preach about that!
15.Dec.11 - The line sticking with me this morning is "It is only the thought that we are not whole that makes us feel that we are not." How many things in life trigger the thought that we are not whole? Countless! Single people often feel they must be married to be whole. Childless people think wholeness comes with children. The list could go on and on. Why is it such a struggle to simply see ourselves as the miracles that we are and accept that anything more is a bonus rather than a necessity?
2. Jan. 12 - The more I read this book the more I am coming to understand myself...to see what other people have so often commented on about me. It's simply fascinating.
Here we go:
First I have to say I requested a review copy of this book simply because the word quantum in the title caught my eye. Quantum theory is ...well beautiful...and yes, I do know that I'm a nerd. The theory touches me deeply enough that the first charm on my charm bracelet was a tiny silver disk engraved with a Q to remind of it at all times. The first chapter of The Secret of Quantum living has a quote by Edwin Louis Cole, "Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles." That alone is great food for thought. If we lived in a state of expectancy, open always to the enormous realm of possibilities in life wouldn't we see ourselves surrounded by miracles?
Throughout Bill's cancer journey people asked how I could be so strong, calm, loyal, etc. I found the question puzzling each time, I certainly had my meltdown moments. Then I came across a passage in this book that really gave me perspective on both the question and my ability to cope in a long term crisis situation."Peace doesn't push out fear and suffering; it just won't allow them to exist in that nurturing atmosphere." Read that again...it doesn't push it out...it just doesn't allow it to exist. That has to be one of the most meaningful sentences I've ever read. I'd like to stand up at church and preach about that!
15.Dec.11 - The line sticking with me this morning is "It is only the thought that we are not whole that makes us feel that we are not." How many things in life trigger the thought that we are not whole? Countless! Single people often feel they must be married to be whole. Childless people think wholeness comes with children. The list could go on and on. Why is it such a struggle to simply see ourselves as the miracles that we are and accept that anything more is a bonus rather than a necessity?
2. Jan. 12 - The more I read this book the more I am coming to understand myself...to see what other people have so often commented on about me. It's simply fascinating.
The Return
It's been so long since I'd posted here that I'd actually forgotten I even had this blog. My last entry here was in September of 2009. That month saw the advent of sheer medical chaos as my husband Bill entered the last months of his life. He was in the hospital in September, October, November, December, February, then a final time in May. During those months my reading habits shifted to primarily short, light, funny reads and I am deeply grateful to authors like Cindy Miles, Allie MacKay, and Katie MacAllister (to name just a few) who through their books held my hand in many a dark hospital room and reminded me daily that life continues. In the months following Bill's death I didn't read at all, though I often found myself sitting and holding books numbly and wondering what I was doing.
These days I'm back to reading all kinds of things. My current reads are: Susan Cain's "Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking", Frank Kinslow's "The Secret of Quantum Living", Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe" (book club read), and David Tripp's "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands." Now I'm off to do a little reading so I'll have something to write about!
Almost forgot...
The challenge that originally inspired this blog deserve a status update. Here is what I planned to read during 2010.
2010 10/10 Challenge
* Book not yet owned
1) Series/ favorite authors (reread many!)
2) Travel Essays
Round Ireland With A Fridge (Read it, loved it, loaned it...and it hasn't come home!)
My Mercedes is Not for Sale (Have started and stopped twice, but WILL finish it.)
A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveler
A Walk in the Woods (Laughed til I cried...loaned it to a friend who laughed so hard had the whole gym staring. Do not read while on the treadmill!)
* The Great Railway Bazaar – Paul Theroux
What Am I Doing Here? – Chatwin
Tales of a Female Nomad: Living At Large in The World - Gelman
An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan – Elliot
Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World - Iyer (Much of this book made me sad.)
3) Classics (previously unread)
Remembrance of Things Past
The Canterbury Tales (original language)
Giovanni’s Room
The Decameron
The Tenant of Windfell Hall – A. Bronte
4) Poets (previously unread)
Charles Kingsley
Rainer Maria Rilke
* Coney Island of the Mind – Ferlinghetti
20 Love Poems & a Song of Despair – Neruda (These were a nice surprise.)
* Complete Poems 1927-1979 – Bishop
If Not, Winter: Fragments - Sappho (I adored the bits and pieces and crave more.)
* The Dream Songs – Berryman
* Love is a Dog from Hell – Bukowski
* Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
* Maya Angelou: Poems
5) History
The Histories - Herodotus
Almost History: Close Calls, Plan B’s, and Twists of Fate in Americas History
The Gifts of the Jews
Great Feuds in History Ten Struggles that Shaped the World
Every Man a Speculator: A History of Wall Street in American Life
A Crack in Edge of the World: America & the Great California Quake of 1906
The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of its Greatest Inventors
Salt: A World history
Voyage of the Damned
Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different
6) Book Club Books (Drawing a blank on what they were...I'll get back to you.)
7) Random Books from my Unread Shelf
Beasts of No Nation
8) Authors from other countries
The Song of the World
Kaddish for a Child Not Born
The Space Between Us
9) Christian/Religion
Pilgrim’s Progress
Where God Was Born: A Journey By Land to the Roots of Religion
When God Was a Woman
Eternity in Their Hearts
Toward Old Testament Ethics
10) Children/Young Adult
13 Little Blue Envelopes – M. Johnson (Absolutely loved this book!)
All in all not a great job with the challenge though despite everything I ready roughly 100 books during 2010. I can live with that. I've done much better this year though many of my reads have been return visits to much loved books as I sought the comfort of familiar words.
These days I'm back to reading all kinds of things. My current reads are: Susan Cain's "Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking", Frank Kinslow's "The Secret of Quantum Living", Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe" (book club read), and David Tripp's "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands." Now I'm off to do a little reading so I'll have something to write about!
Almost forgot...
The challenge that originally inspired this blog deserve a status update. Here is what I planned to read during 2010.
2010 10/10 Challenge
* Book not yet owned
1) Series/ favorite authors (reread many!)
2) Travel Essays
Round Ireland With A Fridge (Read it, loved it, loaned it...and it hasn't come home!)
My Mercedes is Not for Sale (Have started and stopped twice, but WILL finish it.)
A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveler
A Walk in the Woods (Laughed til I cried...loaned it to a friend who laughed so hard had the whole gym staring. Do not read while on the treadmill!)
* The Great Railway Bazaar – Paul Theroux
What Am I Doing Here? – Chatwin
Tales of a Female Nomad: Living At Large in The World - Gelman
An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan – Elliot
Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World - Iyer (Much of this book made me sad.)
3) Classics (previously unread)
Remembrance of Things Past
The Canterbury Tales (original language)
Giovanni’s Room
The Decameron
The Tenant of Windfell Hall – A. Bronte
4) Poets (previously unread)
Charles Kingsley
Rainer Maria Rilke
* Coney Island of the Mind – Ferlinghetti
20 Love Poems & a Song of Despair – Neruda (These were a nice surprise.)
* Complete Poems 1927-1979 – Bishop
If Not, Winter: Fragments - Sappho (I adored the bits and pieces and crave more.)
* The Dream Songs – Berryman
* Love is a Dog from Hell – Bukowski
* Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
* Maya Angelou: Poems
5) History
The Histories - Herodotus
Almost History: Close Calls, Plan B’s, and Twists of Fate in Americas History
The Gifts of the Jews
Great Feuds in History Ten Struggles that Shaped the World
Every Man a Speculator: A History of Wall Street in American Life
A Crack in Edge of the World: America & the Great California Quake of 1906
The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of its Greatest Inventors
Salt: A World history
Voyage of the Damned
Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different
6) Book Club Books (Drawing a blank on what they were...I'll get back to you.)
7) Random Books from my Unread Shelf
Beasts of No Nation
8) Authors from other countries
The Song of the World
Kaddish for a Child Not Born
The Space Between Us
9) Christian/Religion
Pilgrim’s Progress
Where God Was Born: A Journey By Land to the Roots of Religion
When God Was a Woman
Eternity in Their Hearts
Toward Old Testament Ethics
10) Children/Young Adult
13 Little Blue Envelopes – M. Johnson (Absolutely loved this book!)
All in all not a great job with the challenge though despite everything I ready roughly 100 books during 2010. I can live with that. I've done much better this year though many of my reads have been return visits to much loved books as I sought the comfort of familiar words.
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