5 Books That Remind​ Me to Be Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

In honor of the holiday, I was thinking about books that remind me to be thankful. Here are the few I picked out.

Pollyanna, by Eleanor M. Porter

This book is a classic! It might be silly, but I think it teaches us an important lesson… there’s always a reason to be glad (and grateful).

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl

This is such an important book that I absolutely think every person should read. It’s about Viktor Frankl’s time in a concentration camp, and also how he survived. It’s bleak at times, but it’s also inspiring, encouraging, and reminds me to be grateful for all the wonderful possibilities in my life.

The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

This was my first time reading this book, and it was moving. Anne was in a horrible situation, but she tried to keep her spirits up and constantly reminded herself to be grateful for what she had. If she can do it, any of us can.

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

The idea of living in a world without books terrifies me. Zombies and ghosts and the bird flu make me shrug. But no books? Shudder. We live in a world where we can get just about any book we might want and that’s a beautiful thing. I’m so grateful.

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

We live in a world of lots of freedoms. Sure, freedom is always a moving target, and there’s always going to be some inequality and some injustice, but overall, it could be far worse. For some women, in some parts of the world, The Handmaid’s Tale has more fact than fiction. I’m grateful for the freedoms I’m privileged to enjoy.

My friend Ramona over at While I Was Reading did a similar post, about books to inspire your gratitude practice. If you’re interested in that kind of thing, it’s worth a read.

W is for (Books About) Women #atozchallenge

For A to Z 2018, my theme is Books About ____. If you’re stopping by from your own A to Z blog, feel free to leave a link. If you need help with how to do that, you can look here.

If you’re someone looking to read a lot of great blogs, here’s the link for the A to Z challenge.

There are so many amazing books I could have written about that it was hard to narrow it down to only a few. But I managed. (Aren’t you impressed?)

Moxie, by Jennifer Matthieu (YA): When Vivian gets fed up with the boys at her school, she looks to her mother’s old punk rock ‘zines to inspire her to connect with the other girls at her school. I loved this book because it was girls at their best, supporting one another. It showed girls standing up for themselves in a strong and non-violent way. Plus, it was just a lot of fun.

The Female of the Species, by Mindy McGinnis (YA): When a man killed Alex’s older sister, Alex killed that man, and she doesn’t feel bad about it. She does, however, think she’s too dangerous to be around other people. When she befriends Peekay (the preacher’s kid), and Jack (the star athlete), the three of them end up in a situation that means different things to each of them. This book took me on a roller coaster ride, and I’m still thinking about it. Though I don’t advocate vigilante justice, Alex is an amazing heroine.

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (classic): Offread is a handmaid in a dystopian future where women have no rights and are merely baby-making vessels. Offread was once an independent woman with a husband and child, but she’s not that person anymore. Her voice shines through. Even in this terrible situation, she’s still an individual who wants more. So when she’s offered a chance to rebel, she takes it. The book is full of terrifying ideas.

What are your favorite books about women?

G is for Guy Montag

Hello, and welcome to Blogging A to Z 2017.

My theme this month is 26 of the Best Characters in Fiction.

I’m ashamed to admit that I only recently read Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. Guy Montag is a fireman. But in this universe, firemen don’t put out fires; they burn books. A chance encounter with a strange young girl makes Guy question why they must burn books.

The world depicted in Fahrenheit 451 is superficial and frightening, with people mindlessly consuming media. They don’t have TV; they have walls of media. Shows take up whole walls in the house, and it’s an immersive experience that blurs the lines between fiction and reality.

Guy starts to question this reality, and steals a book to see what’s the big deal. Why would anyone risk their lives for what’s in the pages?

He’s not a comfortable character to visit. He goes a little crazy at one point, and makes bad decisions. But I can’t imagine what it would be like to start off believing that books are okay to burn (the thought makes my heart hurt) and then to begin questioning everything you know.

Imagine all the ideas destroyed! Imagine every copy of Harry Potter being wiped out, every copy of The Handmaid’s Tale, or All The Ugly and Wonderful Things.

Would I burn a book if I’d been taught my whole life that they were dangerous things that needed to be eradicated? Would I ever crack one open and discover magic inside?

I’m not sure I like Guy. I’m not sure I can forgive him for some of the decisions he makes. But he’s interesting, a product of his universe.

To one extent or another… aren’t we all?

How I Decide When to Abandon a Book

Readers can pretty much fall into two categories: those who will abandon a book, and those who won’t.

I’m not a terribly picky reader.  I like books my friends don’t.  In the last month, I’ve completed the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riorden and finally read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.  I’ve read a few books I loved (A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven), one I hated, new books, and rereads (There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake).

Even though I read about 90-100 books a year, I abandon only about 2 a year.  Even though I don’t do it often, when I do, I don’t feel the least bit bad about it.  I decide based on a few things.

1.  The book doesn’t speak to me. Everyone’s tastes are different, and I’ve abandoned “good” books which simply didn’t interest me.  The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt was one of those.  My friends read it and liked it, it was reviewed well, and I could even tell it was an interesting book.  But for some reason, it didn’t speak to me, so I put it down. By this, I mean that I couldn’t relate, and I sometimes read paragraphs but didn’t remember what I’d just read.  When I find myself doing this with a book, I know it’s time to abandon.
2. I keep finding reasons to put it down.  When I really like a book, it’s hard for me to do anything else until I’ve finished it.  I carry it around the house with me.  I stay up late reading it.  I’m late to appointments.  If I pull out of the driveway and have left it inside, I’ll go back in to retrieve it, just in case I have two minutes while waiting somewhere.  When I’m not into a book, it’s easy for me to become a responsible adult.
3. I can’t figure out the point of the book.  I like plot.  I like to understand the point, the message, the happenings in the book.  If it’s just a random collection of stuff on the page, it loses my interest.  I’ve known way too many people who think they’re interesting (but aren’t) to spend time with a book that doesn’t go anywhere.
4. It’s forgettable.  If I have trouble remembering what’s going on in the book when I pick it back up to read, that’s a good sign that it’s either not a good book, or just not a good fit for me.
5. I hate the characters.  I’m fine with characters not being likable, but they should be interesting.  I love a good anti-hero, and I have no problem rooting for the bad guy.  I’m not a snob, and enjoy books that are widely hated (like Twilight).  But sometimes, I hate the characters, find them dull and boorish.  And then I know it’s time to go.  I stayed with the Casual Vacancy longer than I would have if it were any author other than JK Rowling, but after awhile, I couldn’t stand those characters one more moment, and I quit reading in the middle of a sentence in the middle of a paragraph.  And I never regretted it.

I read for entertainment, and if I’m not entertained, then I let go.

“One can never read too little of bad, or too much of good books: bad books are intellectual poison; they destroy the mind.

In order to read what is good one must make it a condition never to read what is bad; for life is short, and both time and strength limited.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer