My twin DOES love to be in control, so I'll let her have little fun until D WIGHT steps in. But, Dwight often carries his desk around in the back of a pickup and it may be a bit chilly for him to work on this problem today. Yesterday and today I've done nothing but snuggle in these dreary February days with a plethora of books since this is my off weekend. I read a memoir that I picked up at the ABA conference that disappointed me (mental note to toss), began The Expected One, The Big Box Swindle, and Undiscovered Country. I perked up when reading Diane Ackerman's Cultivating Delight. If you haven't read Diane Ackerman rush to FoxTale's online store and buy one. Anything. Her writing is as juicy as the first Georgia peach in June. Savor every morsel. Here's an example:
"Wonder is a bulky emotion; when it fills the heart and mind there's little room for anything else."
Ponder on that for awhile.
Her descriptions of nature are vivid and velvety.
dazzling yellow forsythia startle in spring by bringing clouds of gold to an overcast world.
pandemonium of green
moments sealed in a glass paperweight
evening drops a grey screen over the air
thick green veil
countless birds audition for the jobs
the lavender garden is a den of thieves
a curvaceous moon
I could go on and on breathing sighs of delight... gourmet food for the soul.
Instead, I'll amuse myself with naming the titles of the books strewn around like promises.
Storycatcher by Christina Baldwin
Simple Days: A Journal of What Really Matters by Marlene Schiwy
Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee
All Over but the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg because I always keep it close at hand
Girls In Trucks by Katie Crouch
The Year the Lights Came On by Terry Kay
The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris (sequel to Chocolat)
If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland (THE classic writing book)
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (enthusiastically recommended by two of our customers)
Ten Discoveries that Rewrote History by Patrick Hunt
Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinola Estes (another if you're female and don't have that, don't even wait!)
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos (she wrote the wonderful novel Love Walked In)
The Feminine Face of God by Sherry Anderson
Balzac and Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (the cover is one of my all time favorites)
Notes from Myself by Anne Hazard
Roseflower Creek by JL Miles (she'll be in the shoppe next Saturday!)
Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingways' Key West by Shannon Schmidt and Joni Rendon. (coming out in May, I love this one. The Jane Austen info is worth the price of the book. period.)
I could go on but you get the general idea now of what my little reading kingdom looks like along with a variety of journals, Lamy fountain pens with purple ink, cups of tea, chocolates, and a calico cat. A gorgeous fat calico cat, my faithful companion and friend named Lexi.
Just listing all these books makes me hungry again. So off to peruse, learn, lose myself and swoon.
karen
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