Life is So Good

I am currently reading, Life is So Good.  I found out about this book from one of Oprah's last shows about some of the most amazing people she has met.  I don't think I saw the full story on this man but I remembered I really wanted to know his story.  This book is about a man named George Dawson who was 98 years old when he learned how to read. 

I have frequently mentioned how I'm a slower reader and its sometimes frustrating.  However, I could not imagine going almost a hundred years not knowing how to read in a world full of words.  He was born in 1898 and went through basically all of the 20th century not reading.  Its a foreign concept to me to see words and not know what they are.  I get stumped on words but I do know the basics of sounding things out and knowing that certain placements of vowels generally tell you what sound it should make and the such.  To not know how to read and still be able to get through life and be able to say it was good is something amazing to read.

I'm almost finished with this book and I am inspired.  I'm encouraged to read more, but I am also encouraged to take in life and see it as good.  Even when things around me are bad life is still good because God has blessed me with so many wonderful gifts. 

I have 40 pages left and then I'll be moving on to The Hunger Games.  I'm only reading that one because the movie is coming out and some students may go on a field trip to see the movie after they finish the book.  I'll be back with an update on Hunger Games in a bit.  Happy New Year folks...get to reading :).

Have a little faith

Mitch Albom may be my favorite author who has consistently put books out.  I have a few favorites in the one hit wonder arena too.  There is only one book of his I never finished because it wasn't interesting like the others.  Anyway, I finished Have A Little Faith back in November.  It was a great book.  I read that one pretty quickly, one because it was a shorter easy read like most of his books, and two the movie was airing the weekend after Thanksgiving. 

What I took from this book was, we all have a journey when it comes to what we believe.  Sometimes we have to cross paths with others on a journey to find what we truly believe.  I struggled with the book at certain points because I'm always looking for that profound answer or idea that will change my life.  I really don't know why I do that but I do.  In the book there were great messages of how we should treat and love each other. We can learn from each other too.  That's what I desire to do as I live...learn!!!  As Maya Angelou said to me, okay she said it to a few hundred people, I was in the room.  She said, when you learn don't keep it to yourself.  You learn to teach others as you go. 

So have a little faith my friends. Ps...I don't know what's up with Mitch but all of his books are about people who died.  I always cry by the end.  Its never a downer just touching.

Reading doesn't end in the summer

So I have decided to continue to read throughout the year since I know I can and if it interest me I actually enjoy it.  We should share what we are reading through out the year not just during the summer together. 

I read Heaven is For Real, a few weeks ago.  It literally took me four days to finish it.  It was an easy read and very compelling.  I guess we can discuss and debate whether the child actually went to Heaven or a special holding place or something we don't know about since we've never died.  However, I believe this young child had a real supernatural experience.  In reading this book I found a renewed hope in Christ and my faith.  I want to one day experience a place that is far beyond my dreams and even expectations of life after death.  I recommend taking a chance on this book and maybe you'll get something good out of it.

The book I'm currently reading is the Mitch Album book called Have a Little Faith.  I'll be back with more about that later.  Happy reading.

Finished!!!

So I finished the book this weekend.  Actually at 7am Sunday morning.  I was so excited to finish because the book was that good and powerful and because I read it in record Cecily time.  17 days that is.  I deserve ice cream for that accomplishment.  Patting myself on the back right now!

I know a few people are still working on it or have just started because of the word on the street or on Twitter which is virtually the street now right?  I won't go into book details because I want them to have as pure a reading experience as possible and make their own decisions.  Last week I was talking to some friends and I was very close to finishing the book at the time.  We were discussing how the book made us feel etc.  One of my friends pointed out how hard it was for people with a different opinion to speak up.  White or black, having another opinion was not okay.  Standing up for what you believe in could get you killed. 

We don't struggle in the same way in 2011 for the most part but we still struggle with this in our daily lives.  One friend mentioned how in small ways its hard, such as the lunch table at work.  Everybody is hating on one person and although you don't get involved you never step in and say things like "well I've never had a problem with her" or "maybe we should be careful of what we say about them".  Its hard even thinking about how many conversations I could have stepped up and didn't and allowed others to believe they were right or even worse, that I agreed. 

I have many other thoughts about this book because I loved it so much.  I can't wait to have conversations with more people about it.  I'd love to hear other people's responses to the book as you finish.  It seems everyone takes away something different and that's what I love about life, we experience the same things but we interpret it differently based on other experiences and its okay.  If you hated the book, I'd like to know why, not to throw you under the bus but to understand another view point. 

Good day folks!

Emotions

I just tweeted about how this book is ripping my emotions apart.  I'm about to read chapter 19 and so far from 1-18 I have laughed out loud literally, cried, been pissed off, disappointed, frustrated, wanted to throw up (not an emotion but you know), and sad. Really you're going to do this to me? 

I'm so into this book that when certain events have happened I felt like it was happening in my own community and responded in a similar way.  I'm not going to lie, I wish I could go back to the 60s just to punch Hilly's lights out, be a supportive community member, and show support to friends or even my boss in times of personal tragedy. 

One great thing is that I can have all of these emotions and reactions in the privacy of my own home or car.  I will say you may not want to read it in the car when you're waiting on people depending on the chapter you're on.  You may just go ahead and smack somebody in the face or have to explain why your eyes are watery.   Anyway, I'm trucking along and getting a little nervous because the end of the book is coming.  What will I do when I'm finished?  Oh and I think the movie will be great in August but I'm already claiming the book is better.  Hmmm I like reading? 

Good day folks!

No tv

So I am amazed at how much teevee I have not watched since I started reading this book.  I haven't wanted to watch really.  In some ways its really good, I haven't been sucked into stupid nonsense of Ashley from the Bachelorette. I don't know what's going on in the world today, but I'd assume its still the same with a few random things that are no longer surprising like murder, embezzlement, war, and the such.  I feel free reading this book.  I am not as far as many, as I have stated before I am a slower reader.  However, I am truckin along and slightly surprised at how fast I am going.

Some people can read anything.  I can only read what is interesting to me.  Maybe I'm just not disciplined enough to sit through boring stuff.  The Help is very interesting to me.  Oh Skeeter and her somewhat naive personality is very interesting to me.  I love Aibileen's nurturing sense.  And Minny, oh Minny is just a character.  She says or thinks things I wish I could say and get away with.  Yup, I'm into this book and the world and teevee as they call it, can wait.  I have to find out how this all works out I'm so eager. 

Connections

So I’ve been thinking about what Cecily wrote, about connecting with the characters.  I thought about how I connect to Skeeter in finding stories and how much I love Aibileen.  I couldn’t really think of how I related to a smart mouth, tough yet abused, maid.  And then today I “burned my damn caramel” just like Minnie.  I was making Millionaire’s Shortbread and had to start over on the caramel layer.  I sure felt connected with her then.  I appreciate how much she loves food and talks about it.  Skeeter even makes the comment that a lot of Minnie’s contributions to the interview book include descriptions of food.  At one point, Minnie says, "Frying chicken always makes me feel a little better about life."  Frying meat stresses me out because I never cook it enough, but I have felt that way when cooking other things.  Minnie’s life is a mess in a lot of ways and I like that she can find moments of peace and solitude through food.

I can relate to Skeeter in her desire to dig for stories.  Like her, I love to hear stories from the past.  I love asking old people about their childhood or youth.  My grandma grew up on a farm way out in the country and she always has interesting stories to tell about her childhood.  With my grandma, I can usually think of things to ask, but with other people, I get stumped, much like Skeeter feels when she begins her interview with Aibileen.  I wanted to hear stories from someone recently, but couldn’t think of how to get them talking.  I too didn’t have the right questions.  This book has also made me realize that I never ask about life during the civil rights movement, and that I don’t know anyone who was directly affected by it.  At least if they were, that’s a story that has remained unearthed.

The first connection I made was with Aibileen.  Her relationship with Mae Mobley is what drew me into the book.  It warms and breaks my heart that she loves her more than her own mother but knows the day is coming when “Mae Mo” will become like her mother and she can’t stop it, just prolong it.  I have picked up on some parenting tips from Aibileen, and although I want to raise my own children, if Aibileen knocked on my front door, I would be more than happy for her to raise my child.  She is a carefully crafted character who draws you in with her compassion, wisdom, and love.

Initially, I thought I wouldn’t connect with all these characters, but I guess I have.  Kathryn Stockett has created some great characters that are typical southern women, yet not stereotypes, so it is no wonder I found I related to each one in some way.