Sunday Salon: What's on my nightstand

Happy Sunday! Our rain deluge has passed and once the morning fog burned away, we had a bright and glorious day Saturday.  I'm getting back into the swing of blogging and thanks to a timely mini quest from the Bloggiesta crew,  am taking the opportunity to spruce up the joint!   

Book wise, I've finally organized my reading plans, which are quite flexible, because I never quite know when the mood will strike to dive into a comfort read or challenge myself with something heavier.  Since it is a prime year, I decided to shoot for 107 books which encompasses the Birthstone Bookology reads as well as A to Z read by author and/or title.   Are you a monogamous reader or have multiple books going at once?  I used to read one book at a time, but no longer.  Half the time I'll start an ebook in the midst of reading a print book.  Then there's the bathroom book which right now is KonTiki by Thor Heyrdahl.  I'm working my way through my dusty shelves and my selections for Garnet are: 

• Spartacus: the Gladiator - Ben Kane (completed)
• Alexandria Link - Steve Berry  (completed)
• Russian Winter - Daphne Kalotay (currently in progress)
• Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami  (52 Books readalong)
• 6th Extinction - James Rollins
• The Translator - John Crowley 

I'm also working on reading more non fiction so my A by author book is Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams.  

I also have Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker and Cixin Lui's Three Body Problem on tap for the month. Yes, I'm being a bit ambitious so we'll see how far I get this month.  

Writing wise, I just downloaded Jennifer Blanchard's Align your Writing Habits to Success: From procrastinating writer to productive writer in 30 days  and K.M Weiland's Conquering Writer's Block and Summoning Inspiration.   I've been procrastinating big time, reading instead of writing, so giving myself a swift kick in the butt and diving in again.  I'm also taking wibbly wobbly  timey whimey (thanks Dr. Who) words out of my vocabulary such as I hope too or will try and replacing them with I will and I am doing such and such.  Positive, optimistic, forward thinking!  Woot Woot!  

Blogging wise, my intent is to post one short book review as well as one general post a week.  

~Cheers to a great week~ 

Toodles!

   

Spartacus: The Gladiator by Ben Kane

Ben Kane 

First sentence:  "When the village came into site, at the top of the distant hill, a surging joy filled him."

I don't read a lot of historical fiction so am very picky.  I'd never considered reading Spartacus's story.  However, after reading Kane's Forgotten Legion series, which are rich and detailed re-imaginings,  I decided to give it a try, though I knew it wouldn't be an easy read.  Kane does an excellent job making violent subjects of the past not only palatable but interesting.  Not an easy subject, nor for the faint hearted considering the violence of the times involving mass killings and rapes.  

Birthstone Bookology - G A R N E T 

Welcome to 2017: A prime new year

It's a bit dusty in here, so give me a moment to clean off the table, set the easy chairs upright and unpack the tea cups.  There, that's better.  Hello 2017!  I have high hopes for 2017 since it is a prime number.  I started blogging 10 years ago in 2007 which isn't prime, but a fine year all the same. When My Two Blessings began, I never stopped to consider how long I would continue or where it was going.  Sometimes in life, you just jump in with both feet and don't worry about where you are going. Much has happened over the years with a lot of ebbs and flows, talkative times along with long silences.  If you've been with me for most of the ride, I appreciate it.  

Once again I'm contemplating the one word thing to focus on for the year and all I hear in the background is me. Sounds a bit selfish and narcissistic in a way.  However....

Honesty is the best policy, right?  Then I'll be honest.  I've lost  my writing mojo.  Over the years, I got involved in Nanowrimo, fell in love with the joy of writing and have worked to learn as much as I can about the writing craft. The past couple years I've volunteered to help facilitate a private mfa certificate program and in the progress burned myself out while helping to  run courses, rather than working on my own writing.  My WIP's have been gathering dust in the drawer, my characters stopped talking to me and I basically quit writing.   I started regurgitating old essays to fill in holes for classes and for the blog and lost me in the process.  

So, I'm going to focus on me, however selfish it may sound and concentrate on writing again. Embrace my creative side, let it flow unhindered by classes or responsibilities and let life inspire me. 

I'm reminded of something I wrote a year or so ago and want to recover that passion

Why do I write aside from the fact that it’s a fantastic mind journey full of unpredictableness.  I write to open the door into my mind and have grand conversation with myself, with God, with my characters.  I  write to explore the who’s, what’s, where’s and why’s.     I write to free my mind of all the detritus that gathers throughout the day.    I write to understand that which I don’t understand. I write to heal the wounds of the soul.  I write to practice, I write to explore, I write to play. I write to create. I write for those Aha moments because I do so enjoy when my characters surprise me. Or when I even surprise myself with an epiphany about my life.  I write to let my soul sing. 

~cheers to a wonderful writing new year!

My Bookshelf Challenge for 2017

My personal goal in 2017 is to read my own books while working on the Birthstone Bookology challenge which may take more than the year to complete. We'll see how it goes.  In particular, my dusty print books that have been lingering on my shelves. They are all quite sad and have been loudly calling my name with each passing day. I also have a few ebooks that are aging away. However my goal is to read more print books this year.   Maybe this year I'll do a better job of keeping track of what I read and complete my own 52 Bingo challenge.  *grin*   



On the shelf 


Alexandria Link (#1) - Steve Berry 
Angelmaker - Nick Harkaway
Blinding - Mircea Cartarescu
Daughter of Time  - Josephine Tey
Devlin Diary -  Christie Phillips
From the Corner of His Eye - Dean Koontz
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  - Stieg Larson
Great Weaver of Kashmir - Halldor Laxness
Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Neffennegger 
In the Shadow of Young Girls - Marcel Proust 
Innocence - Dean Koontz 
Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman
Lord of Chaos (#6 WOT) - Robert Jordan
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Master and Commander - Patrick O'brien
Midwife of Venice - Roberta Rich
Murder One - Robert Dugoni 
Natural History of Dragons - Maria Brennan
Niccolo Rising - Dorothy Dunnett 
Night Film - Marisha Pessl
Norwegian Woods -  Haruki Murakami
Post Captain - Patrick O'brien
Remarkable Creatures -  Tracy Chevalier 
Russian Winter -  Daphne Kalotay 
Seventh Plague - James Rollins
Spartacus: The Gladiator - Ben Kane 
Skin Game -  Jim Butcher
Sunne in Splendor - Sharon Kay Penman
the Fountain of Saint James Court - Sena Jeter Naslund
the Revolt - Susan Wise Bauer
the Source - James Michener 
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
the Three Body Problem - Cixin Lui
The Translator - John Crowley
Thicker Than Blood - C.J. Darlington
Through the Darkness -  Susan Wise Bauer
Venetian Betrayal (#2) - Steve Berry 


E-Books

6th Extinction - James Rollins
11.22.63 - Stephen King 
13th Tribe - Robert Liparulo 
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Dawn - Octavia Butler 
Gifted Thief - Helen Harper 
Have Stakes  Will Travel - Faith Hunter
Ice Cutters Daughter - Tracie Peterson
Sweet Tomorrows - Debbie Macomber 
the Forest House - Marion Zimmer Bradley 
The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo 
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Thief with no Shadow - Emily Gee 
Thieves of Heaven- Richard Doetsch 
TimeKeeper - Tara Sim

2017 Birthstone Bookology Reading Adventure

Birthstone Bookology

Reading Adventure  

Inspiration struck me a few days ago while working on themes and authors flavors for the 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge.   Something that would spice up the old A to Z alphabet or spelling out the months.  The Birthstone Bookology Reading Adventure will take me around the world and through different time periods from the ancients to the present. Plus there are a variety of directions this challenge can go with exploring the myths and lore, different time periods and countries where the stones are found, as well as reading books spelling out the stones.  The possibilities are limitless and ripe with rabbit trails. 

I'm going to keep an open mind, use my imagination and see where it takes me.  Join me on Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks and have fun exploring the world.  

Possibilities

One book per letter in the birthstone of the month.

The birthstone name in the title.

The color of the stone in the title.

Set in the time period where the birthstone was discovered

The mythological figure or lore surrounding the stone

Set in the place where the birthstone is currently found

January -  Garnet 

February - Amethyst

March -  Aquamarine

April -  Diamond

May - Emerald

June - Pearl or Alexandrite 

July - Ruby 

August - Peridot, Sardonyx or Spinel 

September - Sapphire 

October - Opal or Tourmaline 

November - Topaz 

December -  Turquoise, Tanzanite, or Zircon   

2016 Reading Wrap Up

2016 Reading Wrap Up!

How many books did you read and did you meet or beat your own personal goal?  Or did you get caught up in reading and forget to keep?    

2016 turned out to be a stressful year for a variety of reasons which means my goals went out the window and I escaped into comfort reads, sticking with favorite authors.    So I ended up rereading quite a few and didn't keep track of how many.  However  after perusing my shelves, both physical and virtual, recreated my reading year and discovered I have read 101 books.  What fun! What memories!    I discovered a few books lost in the shelves to read for next year.  They keep having babies.  Derailed by rabbit trails!  Back to the subject at hand.

Statistics wise:

101 Books
49 authors
11 are new to me
34 female
36 whole series or part of series
49 paranormal and urban fantasy with a couple dystopian thrown in for good measure. The remainder are a mixture of mystery and suspense, psychological thrillers or mild horror, contemporary romance and historical.
43 print books
58 e-books
17 Chunky
6 nonfiction


What were your most favorite stories?   Any stories that stayed with you a long time,  left you wanting more or needed to digest for a while before starting another?  Did you read any books that touched you and made you laugh, cry, sing or dance. 

I fell in like with Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series this year and devoured all eight chunky books as well as binge watched the first two seasons of the TV series on Starz.  Once I finished the series, it took me a while to move on as my head was full of Claire, Jamie and company.  It made me laugh, sigh, yell in frustration at stupid choices, cringe during fight scenes and  saddened when a favored character died.

Robert McCammon's dystopian Swan Song captured my attention and left me wanting to know what happened to the characters after the end of the story.

T.M. Causey's Saints of the Lost and Found enthralled with the character who could read any person she came in contact with and know what they had lost - whether physically or emotionally or spiritually.   As soon as I finished it, I turned right around and read it again.

What is the one book or the one author you thought you'd never read and found yourself pleasantly surprised that you liked it?  Any that made you want to toss it across the room in disgust?

Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy both surprised and disgusted me.  It was a fascinating adventure into  India in the 1960's. A blend of culture and politics and how it plays a role in the life of both family and friends. Seth has a way of weaving a story and enmeshing the reader into the characters lives. So when the character didn't make what I considered the right choice, I wanted to throw the book across the room in disgust.  

What countries and time periods did you visit?  

I went from the bottom of the sea up to outer space.  Spent quite a bit of time visiting various countries in Europe including England, Scotland, France and Greece.  Traveled through the Middle East and settled down in India for a bit. Visited the past as well as the future and explored alternative worlds.  I traveled the Appalachian trail  with Bill Bryson and experienced the 60's through Joan Didion's eyes.


Plans for next year?  Attempt to stay on track and have fun with birthstone bookology. Read from my own stacks until... well, just until I give in and buy that next new book in the series I've been waiting for.   😎


Happy to say this year is ending on a very thrilling note as we just closed on a new business property. Let's just say after 6 months of hoops, I'm an expert hoop jumper now. A story for another day.   You might say the planning and renovating a new building, while sorting, throwing away and packing a business that's been in the same spot for 28 years will be equally stressful.  But in this case, the good kind, so onward and upward.

~cheers~

J.D. Robb - Diva of Death and Dialogue

J.D. Robb's Brotherhood in Death 

I am hooked on J.D. Robb  (aka Nora Roberts)and her In Death series.  She is the one author I pre-order all her books and read them over and over again.  Yes, I've read the whole In Death series three times, plus listened to the audiobooks once. I'm currently on a 2nd go round of listening to them in the car while going to and fro. I learn something new with each read or listen.    I still consider myself a newbie writer since I discovered the joy about 10 years ago.  Around the same time, a friend suggested I read one of Nora's books from her McGregor series and I've been hooked ever since.  I studied how she handled all the elements from the dialogue to point of view to description.   And that's how I feel in love with Eve and Roark and the whole cast of characters from In Death.   No she doesn't hit it out of the ballpark with every story, but that doesn't stop me from reading every single one.

Yes, she breaks some rules with point of view, sliding in a thought here and there from other characters, but it works very well.   Didn't realize it was 'against the rules' until  another writer friend provided me feedback on a couple chapters and took me to task for differing points of view.  Rules are made to be broken and according to Alice LaPlant in The Making of a Story, the rules are more guidelines than anything else. * grin *   I had more fun completing all the exercises in TMoaS when I did a study with a group at WVU, ..which is a story for another day.

She rarely uses dialogue tags choosing instead to  use movement beats and momentum of the scene so you always know who is speaking.  It's sort of rubbed off on my own writing as  you can tell from the last post with the discussion between Ashley and Greg.   I've listened to other authors who use a lot of he said, she said and when read aloud, becomes really distracting.  Robyn Carr's Virgin River for instance.  I love reading the series but couldn't stand listening to the first book.  Which is why I appreciate J.D. Robb's style so much.

Flash Friday - Z to A reverse alphabet story

Zanzibar 

Zanzibar hopped into the car and headed up the coast.  Yesterday he’d been fired, for nothing really, he told himself.  X’rays revealed a tumor so he used it as an excuse for his behavior.  Winding down the lonely road, he smiled and thought of Clover, the dunderheaded dog behind the factory.  Very stupid, but oh so brave.  Undoubtedly he should have taken the dog, but they kicked him out fast, only gave him time to clear his locker.  Trash talk, that was all.   Seriously, why had Blakely looked so appalled?  

Really, who takes jokes literately? Quite the moron and he hadn’t been the only one.  Proud of his little ditties and songs, Zan had made a poster and hung it in the break room.  Oops!  No way he could have known Blakely or Singleton had minorities in their families.  Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut, but he’d never been too good with that.  Lazy, his dad said, too lazy to think, to stop and think about other folks.  Kendall had torn down the poster, ripped it into tiny pieces and shoved it in his face.  Jackass! 

If they had only asked, he would have explained about the tumor and he wasn’t responsible.  He huffed  out a breath and  tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, thoughts all jumbled.  Granted, they were all a bunch of idiots and he’d hated the job, so why should he care.  Free now to roam, to drive and explore and be himself.  Even his dad was mad at him as well.  

Directly around the next bend, the ocean came into view, vast, blue and gorgeous. Craving fish now, he checked gps for the nearest sea food restaurant.  Battered fried shrimp and maybe some lobsters rolls would be good.  All thoughts ceased when he drove off the cliff, distracted by a bodacious babe in a bikini.  

Proust invokes the past

Proust invokes the Past 

“Taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remained poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.”  ~Marcel Proust 

It’s on the tip of my tongue, both physically, mentally and emotionally.  A taste, a scent, that takes me back. But back to where?  A fleeting memory of time past. So amazing how smells and flavors catch me unaware, make me stop and reflect.  There have been many times over the years, a scent wafts past my nose and I’m taken back to high school, or an old house, a day on the lake, or a moment of grief.

Honeysuckle takes me back to my first home in Texas and sipping on a honeysuckle bush outside a friend’s house.  I can see our block, our neighbors, all long forgotten, pushed a bit further into the background of my conscious with each move. My dad was in the military so there were many moves over the years.  Our house was the gathering spot and I remember long summer days and evenings playing hide-n-seek, doing heads stands on the front lawn and the boy next door teasing me.

Growing up and even up into my 20’s, I couldn’t understand my parents fixation with food when we traveled.  The concern of where and when we were going to stop and eat.  Do we eat to live or live to eat?  It wasn’t until later that I realized it wasn’t the food. It was the place.  Food takes on a different flavor when we equate it with a place, use it as a placeholder for our memories.  A favorite restaurant takes on a new meaning when it isn’t the food we are going for, but the camaraderie and a place to rest, think and talk.

When my mother died, dad insisted on going to one of their favorite restaurants. Little did I know they’d practically adopted the owner and the staff into the family.  Surrounded by love, familiar scents and comfort food, it helped him grieve. 

Favorite foods, recipes of the past, made by mom's or grandma’s, passed on not just because they may tasted good, but because they reminded us of them and of days cooking, puttering around the kitchen, eating and playing games.

I love how Proust poetically and philosophically leads us to the point of memory.  He could have very well said – It’s on the tip of my tongue.  Where’s the beauty in that.

Happy Mother's Day

Being Your Mother

By 

Barbara Cage 

Being your Mother

means that I have had the opportunity

to experience loving someone

more than I love myself.

I have learned what it's like

to experience joy and pain

through someone else's life.

It has brought me pride and joy;

your accomplishments touch me

and thrill me like no one else's can.

It has brought me

a few tears and heartaches at times,

but it has taught me hope and patience.

It has shown me the depth,

strength, and power of love.

Being your mother

hasn't always been easy,

and I'm sure

I've said or done things that have hurt or confused you.

But no one has ever made me as satisfied

as you do just by being happy.

No one has made me as proud as you do just by living up to your responsibilities.

No one's smile

has ever warmed my heart

like yours does;

no one's laughter

fills my heart with delight

as quickly as yours can.

No one's hugs feel as sweet,

and no one's dreams

mean as much to me as yours do.

No other memories of bad times have miraculously

turned into important lessons or humorous stories;

the good times have become precious treasures

to relive again and again.

You are a part of me,

and no matter what happened in the past

or what the future holds,

you are someone

I will always accept,

forgive, appreciate, adore,

and love unconditionally.

Being your mother

means that I've been given

one of life's greatest gifts: you.

Happy Mother's day to all my peeps!