Gone With the Wind

Most of my close friends and family know that I love Gone With the Wind. It is a book that I come back to year after year. In fact, I just finished reading it for the second time this year. I find that I see the book differently each time that I read it. I continue to re-experience some of my past insights, while also gaining new ones.

My opinion of Scarlett is complicated. I admire her brash ability to take on the world, even while I think she is being an idiot about the people around her. I have the same mixed opinions of Melanie. She is also naive about people, but in a completely opposite way from Scarlett. She is also a strong woman taking on the world, but she manages to do it within the rules of society. Rhett and Ashley offer the same kind of counterpoint, although they both seem to see people much more clearly.

I highly recommend Gone With the Wind. If you have only seen the movie, you don't know what you are missing. The book gives you more insight into Scarlett's character, trials, and motivations. Every character is more developed in the book. Yes, it is a long book. But what is contained in all those pages has made it an enduring classic. Don't miss out on this book great book just because it is long!

Author Highlight: Lemony Snicket

My oldest daughter has been tearing through the Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. I had read most of the books years ago, but stopped before the final books were released. As my daughter read the last few books, I read them too. The series is filled with unfortunate events, but they are often told in a humorous way. I had forgotten how somewhat unusual words are peppered throughout the book, with definitions provided. As a person who loves to play with words and learn new words, I found this to be a delightful diversion throughout the stories.

All told, we enjoyed Lemony Snicket's books, his clever way with words, and the adventures of the Baudelaire children. It provided several exciting discussions about choices, parents and children, and what it means to be a bad person. The books are a fun easy, read for both adults and children.

A Year with Emily Dickinson

Poetry is such a different form of writing from prose, and there are often things that seem to be expressed more easily in poetry. Poetry does seem to take more effort on the part of the reader, and it often requires the reader to slow down enough to really take in the words.

Throughout 2010 I have read Emily Dickinson's poetry. My goal was to read at least 10 poems a month, as well as learn some things about her life. Most months I read many more than the 10 poems, and I have now finished reading my book of her poetry. It is titled The Collected Works of Emily Dickinson and in the front and back of the book it has essays about her poetry, a brief life sketch, and information about some of the other works that have been inspired by Emily Dickinson's work. For instance, Martha Graham choreographed a dance piece using one of Dickinson's poems as inspiration.

I have been inspired by some of Emily Dickinson's poetry, and I have enjoyed coming back to it each month. I think that next year I will do the same things with another poet or book of poetry, but I have not decided which one yet.

Minimalist Book Thoughts

A few days ago my husband sent me a link about minimalist living, which eventually led me to an article about Breaking the Sentimental Attachment to Books. I gave it a read because I have been thinking its time to weed out some of our books. It only took a few sentences before I was laughing. The author talks about the piles of books on every flat surface, which sounded quite familiar, but the mention of the two huge book shelves brought me up short. Two bookshelves? How huge? Did they span an entire wall? Or is she just talking about your average five shelf book shelf? Because this doesn't seem like that many books to me. The last time all my books fit on two tall five shelf book shelves was...never. When I took my books out of my parents house for the first time, they didn't fit on two bookshelves. And a lot of books have been added since then. Sometimes by the box.

After I calmed down a bit about the difference in scale between my book collection and the one mentioned in the article, I read the rest of the article. I did find it a helpful starting point for paring down the book collection. There are some good things to think about and ideas about evaluating what books to discard. But there is no way I am ever going to own only twenty books. I'm not even remotely interested in that.

Books Finished November 2010

Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
Parenting: A House United by Nicholeen Peck
Parents and Children by Charlotte M. Mason
Righteous Influence by Lee Tom Perry
Servant of a Dark God by John Brown
The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille
The Dark Devine by Bree Despain
The Element by Ken Robinson
The End by Lemony Snicket
The Great American Staycation by Matt Wixon
The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner
The Limit by Kristin Landon
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas
Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson


*These are books that I have finished reading. This list does not include books that I have skimmed. The list does not include picture books that I have read to my children, nor does it show all the other reading I have done. These books were finished in this month, but some may have taken considerable time to read, bit by bit.

Book Quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests: just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts."--Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sometimes I read simply for enjoyment or escape. But other times, I am touched by a book and the ideas it suggests to me. These experiences are what brings me back again and again. Classics tend to have the universal themes and broad ideas that inspire and enlighten me. I like to read them for more than just the enjoyment of the story. Classics broaden my horizons in a way that isn't possible with most current fiction. With a classic, I know that it has universal themes because it has stood the test of time.

National Novel Writing Month Finale

This will be my last post on my National Novel Writing Experience this year. I have learned a lot, even though I didn't officially complete the challenge. In fact, I came in quite far below the 50,000 word challenge.

Would I go for the challenge again? Probably. I can see that in the future I might actually be able to arrange things so that I could reach the final tally. I liked having a goal to shoot for, and I wrote a lot more than I would have if I hadn't been aiming high.

What are some things I learned? I reaffirmed how much I enjoy writing. By pushing myself harder than normal, I was able to discover a realistic expectation for daily writing. I also learned how much I really need to get some post pre-written for this blog. I have been writing posts as I go, but would like to have a few posts ready to go for busy days.

Overall, NaNoWriMo was a good experience for me. I learned a lot and accomplished more than I would have otherwise.