Let's Talk About Books Baby!

December

Books Bought:

Paris in Love by Nichole Robertson
Chasers of the Light- poems from the typewriter series by Tyler Knott Gregson
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings & Queens who made England by Dan Jones

Books Read:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
Collected Poems by Jack Kerouac
City of Rivers by Zubair Ahmed
Emmaus by Alessandro Baricco
Imagined London: A Tour of the World's Greatest Fictional City by Anna Quindlen
The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Ok... so first let me explain two things here: 

1.  It looks like I spent all my money this month on books.  So not true.  I took it upon myself to return two volumes of the Complete Annotated Sherlock Holmes that had never been opened that I bought years ago.  I realized I was never going to read those books.  Luckily for me, they took them back.  So I had a massive in store credit, hence the last 4 books bought.  The first two were just me being selfish.  I found this guy on Instagram who bought a typewriter and fell in love with the idea that you couldn't edit yourself, he just started writing poems one day and there you have it, voila, he had a book on his hands.  Far be it from me to deny this young handsome gent my dollars in the name of poetry!  Who doesn't love a young handsome gent who types poems on a vintage typewriter?!?  Hubba hubba!

And while we are on that note, one can never go wrong with Nichole Robertson's Paris photography.  This book will be in heavy use on my coffee table leading up to Valentine's Day!  Yes, it's December and I'm already talking about the big V-Day.  And I'm single. Imagine that.

Now for books read... I know it looks like a lot, but it's really not.  A few of these books were quite thin, one I had been working on FOREVER, and one was a quick poetry book.

Let's start at the top.  Gone Girl... Goodness Gracious!  What a crazy read!  I'm like the last person on the earth to see the movie (as soon as it comes to Red Box)... but golly this book was nuts!  I liked it, it was entertaining, but it's not great literature... and by the end I felt like it went a bit too far.  I actually think I liked Dark Places a little more.  In that book there was more character development.  Not just, "hi, here are some crazies!  Have fun!"

I know I'm like a few years late in finally reading The Silver Linings Playbook, this is one of those rare occasions where I've actually seen the movie prior to reading the book and in this book's case I've seen the movie several times.  I love both.  I love how it shows that things can happen to us where our mind just literally breaks.  I love the way football is something that ties all these characters together.  Overall, entertaining.... not a favorite, but I liked it more than your average book.

Jack Kerouac... I have now read every word of poetry you have ever written... and I am so indifferent.  How can I love your stories so much and not really get your poetry?  I know, I know, it's supposed to be  like jazz.  All over the place.  Sporadic. Exciting.  I just couldn't follow most of it.  I know we're supposed to take our time with poetry.  And I'll let you decide whether a year was an appropriate amount of time for this behemoth of a collection.  I feel like to completely understand I'd have to give a lifetime, and I feel like I already wasted enough time with a year! 

City of Rivers... Here's what NPR had to say about you:

The knife-edge balance between suffering and song, and the figure of exile, drive Zubair Ahmed's dazzling book, "City of Rivers." Born in 1988, Ahmed was raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He finished high school in Duncanville, Texas, before attending Stanford. As it happens, Ahmed's visceral poems are themselves magnificently rigged machines that sharpen around one or two images, many of them from the homeland he left, some of them from life in Texas. His lines turn breathtaking corners. Here's the poem "Concession," in its entirety:

"I could sit here all night and chances are, I will. The moon lights the ocean on fire. I watch the waves repeat themselves until they become a house with soft lights and no furniture. I begin to sleep. My body is music. I will never have a home."

I remember thinking I was going to LOVE this poetry collection, turns out it was far better than Kerouac, but not something I would ever revisit again.  And that to me is what poetry should be... it should be lines you want to remember forever, words that inspire you, promises that you make to your most loved ones.  Maybe I'm just too dang romantic.  This must be a phase.  :-) 

Emmaus: I feel like all the things that I normally would love were just "eh" in this month!  McSweeney's as usual you kept my interest piqued, but again, I did not love this book. This story was about a group of boys and a girl that they are obsessed with.  In more ways than one their obsession leads them all to adulthood.  It's always fun to be exposed to different styles, and foreign authors, I'm glad McSweeney's does this so often.  But I guess I was just picking all wrong books for the mood I was in.

Imagined London- this book is about London (duh) and all the stories that are based there.  I thought I would curl up with a cup of tea and be swept away.  But this book was actually very boring and filled with loads of information which made it feel like more of a book for school.  Thankfully, it was short.

Lastly, every Christmas season I pack up my bags and head to my parents, and lately the tradition seems to be.... I bring some huge War of the Roses or Tudor historical fiction novel with me.  Why I think Christmas, and then think war and beheadings I have no idea.  But... I do like the romance of it all.  And these books always feel a little indulgent.  Sure they are based on real historical people and real historical events... but they are just a huge soap opera or romance novel in disguise.  I should probably hate them.  But they are a way for me to read something that has to do with powerful men ripping off bodices, and not feel too dumb downed!  Goodness... I can't believe I just admitted this.  Oh well, we all have our thing.  I just think I will never forget my sister walking into the bedroom and saying, "What are you reading?" In that judgmental tone as she looked at my library book, with an enchanting woman in a gown looking like she's coming up from some river! Oh well.  I can honestly say I learned a lot about the earlier years of The Cousins' War.

That's it.  Here's to another year of reading!  May we all find some books that shake us to our core (and maybe some men too)! :-)

Let's Talk About Books Baby!

November

Books Bought:

Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers

Merry Christmas: and other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott

Books Read:

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers
 Merry Christmas: and other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis

This was a most excellent month for reading!  Oh my goodness!  Let's just start at the top of books read and work down.

Freedom what a book!!!  I had heard that Jonathan Franzen would blow my mind, and boy did he!  First of all, this is absolutely without a doubt the book that I wanted to write in 2009.  This book combines all my favorite messed up things like: The Bush Administration and the War on Terror, Washington DC, an unhappy marriage, the realizations that nothing is how you thought it was going to be, the blissful youthful years, the boy you can't have, and how even though it is all painful it is all so achingly beautiful!  I love how you wonder the whole time why is the book called Freedom?  What is the author trying to say?  I will definitely be reading Franzen again, I've heard that The Corrections is a book I need to read, and I believe this so I will be doing this asap!

Now for my boy Eggers, I think it might be time for him to stop coming out with a book a year.  Don't get me wrong, I still liked this book and I still think he's extremely relevant but it's just starting to feel a bit forced.  This book was about a crazy guy kidnapping a bunch of people and asking them questions.  It's hinting at: how do we still go forward when there are so many road blocks to our dreams?  Is it ok for a bunch of police officers to shoot an unarmed teenager?  Do we blame the people from our past for how we've turned out?  It was very philosophical.  All dialogue.  A quick read.  

Louisa May!  Oh goodie!  Reading stories from this woman fills your heart up to the brim until it all runs over and you feel completely toasty, cozy and merry!  These stories remind you of the simple things in life and how delightfully wonderful they can be when we realize we've been taking them for granted.  It also just makes you want to throw open your heart to those less fortunate.  I devoured a story each night from this book for a week.  And everytime it felt like I was sitting by the coziest of fireplaces, by the prettiest of trees, in the cutest pj's possible.  But really it was nothing like that, it's just these stories give you such a warm feeling.  They are a bit elementary, but that's the beauty in them.

To balance out all the merriment I spent a night reading Night by Elie Wiesel.  I know, I know... I should have read this powerful memoir a million years ago.  I'm so very glad that I have now.  Nothing can be said here that hasn't already been said about the Holocaust, Night, or Elie Wiesel.  All I can say is: read it.  If you haven't read it yet, read it.  Here was one of my favorite quotes:

Next up was a book that I had heard about on NPR and that has been selected as the book of the month for this new online book club ran by my dear friend.  Let me just say, I felt like a complete fool, this book takes place in the Antebellum period which is what I spent most of my time studying in my Bachelor's degree in History.  I recognized that Denmark Vesey was a real person being drawn into this historical fiction, but it was only towards the last third of the book that I started thinking... were the Grimke sisters real people?  I googled them and sure enough, (here's where the fool part sets in), not only were they abolitionists but they were HUGE women's rights activists, notorious for their time and very influential on Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (who I remember from classes).  Goodness, I'm sure they must have went over this in the NPR story, but it must have been too long between the time I heard the story and the time that I actually read the book!  Either way, it was a treat to learn more about the sisters (even if their were fictitious elements).

And for my last pick for the month.... The Horse and His Boy.  Now apparently there are three ways in which to read The Chronicles of Narnia (in the order they were written, the order they were published, or the chronological order).  I've heard that my set goes in chronological order, but I am no expert, so I'm not going to confidently state that.  I do know that over a decade ago I read The Magician's Nephew and then The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to my sister.  We had started The Horse and His Boy but we lost interest... so needless to say I haven't been eager to delve back in.  But in my attempt to move more legitimate authors up my "most read" list on goodreads I figured now was the time to dip my toes back in the water.  It was cute, I can see why kids could get swept up in these books.  I'm not exactly sure how this book parallels or draws from stories from the Bible (aren't all of these supposed to)?  But I'm definitely not an expert on the Bible.  All I can say is, maybe it won't be another decade  before I read Prince Caspian.

That's it for November!  What have you been reading?  What books are you giving as gifts this season?  What books are on your wish list?

 

Let's Talk About Books Baby!

October

Books Bought:

The Shining by Stephen King

Between Two Worlds: by Zainab Salbi

Freedom from Fear: by Aung San Suu Kyi

Songs of Blood and Sword: by Fatima Bhutto

A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in my Farmhouse by Mimi Thorisson

Books Read:

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

Giving by Bill Clinton

The Shining by Stephen King

First off, let's just get The Shining out of the way since this is so far out of range from my usual taste.  Some friends came to town for a wedding in Estes Park, I kind of shuffled them around so they let me stay with them in the cabin they rented.  I had a lot of down time by myself so when I dropped them off at The Stanley Hotel for a rehearsal dinner I decided to walk around the property a bit since I've never done that before.  I found myself in the gift shop and so I thought, "why not?  It's October, it's chilly out, I'm in the mountains, and I may as well go back to the cabin and spook myself out!"  So, I cozied up on the sofa and got to reading, it wasn't really that scary, but just knowing it was going to get scary was what scared me the most!  When my phone buzzed I nearly had a heart attack!  It was my friends needing me to come back down the road and pick them up at The Stanley.  It was so scary outside, driving on the winding mountain roads, waiting for my heat to kick in and defrost the window from my breathing, not knowing the bends in the road and wondering what could be just around every corner.... so I pick them up, we headed back to the cabin and built a fire.  I realized I left my sleeping bag out in the car and when I went out to get it I stepped weirdly on a rock and I fell- twisting my ankle in the process!  Once I hobbled back inside and got an ice pack on my foot, the coziness just overflowed, I felt like I was in a cozy trance!  I felt so at peace.  I could just imagine a future of not having to take care of everything and myself all the time, a future in which you fall down but you have a person to sit by the fire with and who hoists your ankle up and makes sure you have fresh ice on it.  I want to pass the time with another quiet soul, someone who can stop and listen to the fire popping, and read a book.  Someone who can build a fire, and navigate snowy mountain roads.  Of course when I talk to my sister about these dreams, she just tells me I could learn how to build a fire myself.  She has a point.  But sometimes, just sometimes, I want to be taken care of; it would be nice to know that there is a man that cares when you fall.  Anyways... I digress, back to books.

Turns out that the suspicions I've always held turned out to be spot on... Stephen King, not for me!

I want to talk about Mimi Thorisson for a moment!  Her cookbook is insanely gorgeous!  Just like her instagram and blog!   Instagram had suggested I follow her, and I adore her account!  She has the best life, and I truly believe that one of my best dreams ever was inspired by her life.  Mimi lives in a tiny village in France and spends her days buying the freshest ingredients and making the most amazing meals to share with her family & friends!  Her life is amazing, her book is gorgeous!  This would be a fantastic holiday gift for any of your francophile or foodie friends!

To read more about Mimi, and experience the wonderfulness that is her blog, click here:  http://mimithorisson.com/ 

Now, as to the other three books that I bought this month I can tell you that they have a theme and are inspired by books I've read recently.  In Hillary Clinton's new book she talks extensively about Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi, which piqued my interest.  And, I'm currently reading Benazir Bhutto's book that came out right after her assassination which made me think that soon I would like to read one of her niece's writings.   And finally, this month I finished Giving by Bill Clinton and in it he mentions a women's organization called Women for Women International which I had heard about previously when Angelina Jolie's movie In the Land of Blood and Honey came out.  This organization is all about helping women in areas of conflict.  Sometimes I get this deep feeling that I'm supposed to be doing something political and geared towards the aid of women in humanitarian crises and this stuff always pulls me in.  For now, I would like to read more and then hopefully see where I feel comfortable volunteering or even just learn how I could volunteer. 

As for books read, I read my first book by Gillian Flynn (and no, it's not Gone Girl but I will hopefully be reading this one soon)!  It's not that I think she is extremely talented linguistically per se, but she is entertaining (somewhat in the nature or ballpark of a Dan Brown novel); it grips you right from the get go and you keep telling yourself, "just one more chapter"!  Plus, it was another good, "scary" read for October.

And, in an insane attempt to catch up with Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series I've read my second book of hers this year.  I hope, fingers crossed, that I will be able to read the third before it's due back at the library.  I have come to terms with the fact that despite all my best efforts this woman will remain as my most read author, seeing as how she comes out with a book (or two) every year, and I always want to read them!  Take it away, Philippa, climb the ladder past authors who deserve a better spotlight!!  It's fine, you can be my number 1!  *sigh*

That just about sums up October, here's hoping that I can post about November in a timely manner!  

Let's Talk About Books Baby!

September

Books Bought:

The Children Act- Ian McEwan

Adultery- Paulo Coelho

Wild- Cheryl Strayed

Tiny Beautiful Things- Cheryl Strayed

Torch- Cheryl Strayed

Books Read:

Cutting for Stone- Abraham Verghese

Adultery- Paulo Coelho

The Secret History- Donna Tartt

The Children Act- Ian McEwan

The Lovers- Vendela Vida

Wow!  September was a crazy good month for books!  First let me tell you about the Cheryl Strayed event I went to in Fort Collins.  For those of you who haven't heard of Cheryl Strayed you're about to!  Her book Wild about her life saving trek down on the Pacific Crest Trail has been turned into a movie, starring Reese Witherspoon, in theaters this December!  It's debuted at Telluride and there has been a lot of buzz around Miss Witherspoon's performance!  I had previously read Wild and Cheryl's book of essays called Tiny Beautiful Things and I love them both!  They are the kinds of books that when you finish you know they were good but then you even grow to love them more as you realize that it's been months and you've read lots of books since them, yet, they are the ones you are still thinking of.  Anyways, both of those books I had checked out from the library but since I was going to this event, I bought them to get them signed.  

Highlights of her talk in Fort Collins:  Cheryl talked a lot about her mom (understandably so since Cheryl just had a birthday where she has now passed how old her mom was when she died, plus the movie is coming out and Cheryl's real daughter plays the younger Cheryl in the movie which brought up weird motherly feelings and realizations, and her mom is a driving force in how Cheryl got to where she is).  One thing that really resonated with me is that when her mom died, Cheryl got really destructive and was doing really bad things to her body and one day it's like it clicked that even though she was trying to show the world how sad she was without her mom, in a way, she realized she was dishonoring her mother's work by destroying herself.  I liked this because sometimes I feel I do things to myself (overeat) because I'm sad and because some really shitty things happened or I'm stuck in a rut, but I never think about how this must make my mom feel.  I'm sure this isn't what she wanted for me, and I know she loves me no matter what, but I just like the way this made me feel that I should honor my body because it is my mom's work of art.  Weird, I know.  Anyways...

I also really loved when she was in this outdoorsy store to get a shovel to dig her car out of the snow, she saw this book for the Pacific Crest Trail at the counter and she thought, "wow, that's really something, maybe, if I can just attach myself to something this magnificent then I might become magnificent too."  I liked this because this is how I feel about yoga... like yoga is this most beautiful practice and if I can just implement it in my life (be brave enough too) and then live it then I might be beautiful too.

I like how when Cheryl was on the trail she said she didn't do nearly the amount of thinking and analyzing that she thought she was going to do, it was more how can I walk this many miles with no water and no toenails to make it to shelter for the night?  It was about survival.  She said, "physical suffering, deprivation, was what I actually needed".  I think about this all the time (the irony, I know).  If I could just stop sitting around thinking and get up and move... just walk, just learn to love walking.  I feel like I've been on the emotional journey, I've done the spiritual thing, now I need to work it all out physically.   

Anyways, if you haven't read Wild or Tiny Beautiful Things I HIGHLY recommend both!  I also picked up her other book Torch that I've never read before so hopefully I will get around to that one soon!

The other two books that I bought this month, I ended up reading (go me!) so let's start with those:

Ian McEwan, how I love thee. McEwan's books are always so beautifully twisted.  This one is about a judge in the UK who has to deal with cases involving children.  She often gets stuck making a decision for what's in the children's best interest when their parents or guardians can't agree.  We see a few of her interesting cases, but we also get to see her marriage and how it is unraveling.  I just love the way McEwan writes, definitely one of the better books that I've read that was released in 2014.

Paulo Coelho.  I'm new to reading his books, I've only ever previously read The Alchemist which I loved, so I was expecting to feel the same about this book.  I know that this book was making a lot of statements about how we've all grown bored and complacent, and how we feel entitled to give into our every little whim or indulgence, how we can justify things in our heads or place blame on others.  Bottom line, the main character in this book is a repulsive woman, which makes it very hard to love this book.  I think most of us can probably recognize some of her gross behaviors in ourselves, but this woman was unbearable. 

Now onto some of the other books....

Cutting for Stone had been on my list for a very long time and I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it!  I have to admit it took me a while to get through it... the first 100 pages lagged for me, but I stuck with it because when a book has a heavy religious story line, mixed with culture & history I just KNOW it's going to be good.  It did not disappoint.  Once I finally got going with it, it was hard to put down.  I see why it was such a successful novel and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

After reading and loving The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, I knew that it wouldn't be long before I would get my hands on her first book that many call a cult classic: The Secret History.  This lady is legit.  Girl can write.  And she keeps you captured from the get go!  I loved this book and all of its' super twisted characters, I loved the setting, I loved the descriptions.  Sooooo good!  I'm scared to read the book that she wrote between The Secret History and The Goldfinch because apparently it wasn't well received when it came out.  But seeing as how she took about 11 years between the second and her last, I'm sure I'll have to read it just to tide me over until she someday (hopefully) releases a fourth book. 

And lastly... I've had The Lovers by Vendela Vida on my shelf for a couple of years now.  I've been hesitant to read it because I wasn't a big fan of another book of hers that I read, but I've wanted to read it because I really want to like her because she's married to my love Dave Eggers.  So, I'm not sure what made me grab for this one at this particular time, but when I opened it I realized it takes place in Turkey (which seems to have a gravitational pull on my attention lately), so I curled up in my chair and I started to read.  I loved it.  It doesn't end in a way that I thought it would and maybe that's part of why I liked it so much.  But it was just a simple story of grieving and coming to terms with life's little abuses.  I think when/if Vendela ever puts another book out, I will look forward to reading it and I don't think it will sit on my shelves for years. 

Which brings me to the question... why do I buy books only to let them sit there for so long unopened?  I'm not sure, I've done this for as long as I can remember.  But I know that there are times when a book calls to me in the store, but by the time I've finished whatever book I may have already been reading at that time, then I'm no longer in the mood for the new book I bought.  But sometimes, I end up reading them exactly when I need to, which makes it feel like it's all pre-destined.  Or maybe I'm just an addict.  My eyes are bigger than the speed in which they actually can read.  Who knows?  But it's kind of like when you buy an album and for whatever reason it just doesn't get a lot of play only to years later suddenly become your favorite album.  Timing.  They say it's everything.

What books have you ever bought and let sit on your shelf for way too long before getting around to cracking the spine?

Let's Talk About Books Baby!

August

Books Bought:

Books Read:

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual: by Michael Pollan

Persuasion: by Jane Austen

Hard Choices (audio): by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Orange is the New Black: by Piper Kerman

Goodness, I'm behind!  Well... August was a pretty balanced reading month I'd say: a book that's good for me, a classic, a current event/relevant nonfiction book, and an entertaining non-fiction book also with it's own claim to relevancy.

Let's just start at the top... Food Rules... this was a super quick read!  While it didn't have anything earth shattering in it, it was still one of my favorite health books I've ever read.  It just laid out the rules we should try to follow and really it's all very do-able.  I don't own this book, but I can't imagine it would cost much, might be something that I pick up later just to use as a reference or a refresher.  Seriously, you can read it within an hour and then feel a sense of rejuvenation and re-commitment to the betterment of yourself.

Miss Austen, oh Jane, how you slay us!  I seriously don't know how people can claim that they read all of Austen in middle school and loved her!  What?!?!  They must be far superior readers than I!  I'm not trying to boast, but I do consider myself a fairly intelligent reader and I try to imagine myself drinking up Austen at an early age of 12 and I just can't picture it!  Yes, Austen's themes are immature in nature, but with a more serious look her books are actually quite complex,  Yes, there are the grand romantic gestures... but there are heavy topics too, like missed opportunities, regret, and there are definitely glimpses of the ugliness in some people.  Of course it's all made to be quite charming through stories filled with fiddling, neighborly gossip, and love unrequited.  What can I say?  I may be late to the game, but I am a fan of Austen!

Future President Clinton (fingers crossed), as I mentioned in a previous post I bought this book for a book signing with the one and the only Hillary Clinton.  Since my copy is signed, I did buy and audio book too so that I could take a break from NPR and listen to the book on my drives to and from work.  It was delightful!  I love this book for many reasons:  one, it is obviously the lead in to her announcing her run for President; two, she talked at length about the country Burma/Myanmar and the leader  Aung San Suu Kyi (who I had been wanting to learn more about); and three, her chapter on Libya was flawless.  Why people insist on beating that sad event to death is beyond me!?  I also loved her opening (which was read by Hillary herself), it started with the Democratic primaries and a strong candidate from New York pitted against a strong candidate from Illinois (a la Seward-Lincoln); the comparison between Obama and Lincoln in their selection of a "Team of Rivals" has been thrown around so much but I hadn't even thought of the comparison between Lincoln & Seward and that of Obama & Clinton.  So great, the way she weaved history and her momentous decision to accept the position of Secretary of State offered to her by her then political foe.  God!  This is the stuff Washington is made of!  History, Politics, Power!  I love it!

So, I love the show Orange is the new Black so I was hesitant to read the book.  But the opportunity to try out a new book club arised with this book and so I figured what the heck, two seasons in I figured the show has to be taking some civil liberties with the story and so I didn't think the book would ruin my viewer watching pleasure so I delved in.  The book came highly recommended on the cover by NPR, and two authors that I love: Dave Eggers and Elizabeth Gilbert.  I have to say, I like real life Piper a lot more than the TV version.  Also, it is nice to see what her experience was really like and to see that she was a person that made mistakes and that she learned from them and acknowledged how her role affected the bigger picture in society.  I also like that she is actively trying to make people aware of how desperately we need a criminal/justice reform in this country.  It's not a topic that I'm passionate about and so I do feel like I learned a lot and it gave me lots to think about.  I'm not sure where I stand on every issue when it comes to these matters but at least I feel a little more informed that there is a broader conversation that needs to be had.

So, that's August... now that September is practically over... I'll be writing again in just a few days!
Toodles!

Namaste!

Wow!  What an amazing morning I just had!  I can't believe that when I got home at 12:30 last night I contemplated skipping this event!  I laid there in my bed and decided that I in fact wanted to set that alarm and I wanted to get up and be the kind of person I want to be.  When the alarm went off at 5am, I didn't even fear for a second that I would turn it off and roll back over and go back to sleep.  I felt like a little kid!  I was so excited to get up and get on the road.  I put on some baggy clothes that I wouldn't feel self conscious in, threw my hair up in a messy knot, grabbed my ticket... and almost forgot my yoga mat!  It was rolled up in a corner of my room and I literally had to dust cobwebs off of it!  Got my keys, and I was on the road!  I decided to take the back roads so that I could see the beautiful sunrise, I quickly realized even with waking up at 5 I wasn't going to make it to the rocks on time for when those first little rays of light peek over the horizon to wake Colorado up.  (My darling nephew always has the cutest greeting when he wakes us in the morning, he says, "Wake up, the sun's up!")

I decided to stop in Boulder and get a latte, I was greeting the morning after only 4 hours of sleep after all.  :-)  Even though I wasn't going too far, I'd forgotten how good it can feel to be on the road with nothing but your coffee, your mellow tunes, and the sunrise.

I arrived in Morrison at the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater with only about 20 minutes to spare! Luckily there was still enough room on the upper parking lot so I only had to climb a few sets of stairs! I quickly decided that I wanted to be in the very back row, and there was one spot left in it.  The people around me said good morning.  The sun was shining down below over Denver and everyone looked so relaxed waiting for the class to start.

Once the class started, I instantly had feelings that I might be in over my head.  My arms were shaking so hard in that first downward dog.  But I told myself that I was going to stick with it and do what I could do even if that meant improvising or focusing on my breathing or not holding the poses for as long as everyone else.  I also started regretting being in the back row as directly behind the rail there were a lot of onlookers, people hiking through, taking pictures, and giving their running commentaries. I heard two men talking about how they would gladly be sex slaves.  They got quite a few nasty glances from some yogis and eventually they moved on.  I told myself that the onlookers didn't matter, I was here to do my thing and if people wanted to post a picture of me in some embarrassing pose or whatever then that is there business and I would never know anyway.  Mostly I focused on how everyone around me was friendly and into their own practice and their own thoughts, and that gave me the encouragement to do the same.

I loved the way the teacher would say things like, "And if you couldn't do that pose a moment ago just the way you would like to, that's ok, let it go, be in this pose right now."  It was a good reminder to be present and not to get up into the, "I'm not good at this, I'll never be able to do this" type of mentality and get into the, "I'm here, I showed up, I'm doing this, I'm being kind to myself" mentality.  There was a moment a little over half way through the hour when we were all in upward facing dog where the teacher said, "Give gratitude to all those around you and to all those people and circumstances in your life that brought you to this moment right now".  I swear I could feel the gratitude just emanating off of everyone.  I sent gratitude to people I love who've never hurt me.  My mind just felt so peaceful and for the first time in a long time I sent gratitude and love to my dad, and to Dave (my ex-husband), and just the power of stretching into this pose and feeling how good it felt to send love to the people who I've let hurt me the most and who I carry the most baggage around was so overwhelming!  Tears instantly began swelling in my eyes, I realized the extreme hurt I carry around with me and I felt so much love for myself, and compassion, and forgiveness.   Luckily, everyone was so into their own thoughts and breaths and poses that no one noticed and I could just easily grab my little hand towel and wipe away my tears.   It just felt so good to let go!

When the class ended, I felt so peaceful.   I took my time driving home, I didn't feel any road rage, I opened the windows and felt the fresh morning August air!  I am so incredibly grateful for this experience and definitely want to work to learn how to cultivate these kind of feelings in my life daily!

Namaste my friends!

Let's Talk About Books Baby!

JULY

Books Bought:

Orange is the New Black: My year in a Women's Prison- by Piper Kerman

Books Read:

The Goldfinch- by Donna Tartt

Orphan Train- by Christina Baker Kline

The Lowland- by Jhumpa Lahiri

Add More Ing to Your Life: A Hip Guide to Happiness- by Gabrielle Bernstein

How We Are Hungry- by Dave Eggers

Rosie Dunne- by Cecelia Ahern

Wow!  What a month!  The combination of it being too hot to move and being extremely broke led to some pretty intense reading sessions!  I'm not going to lie, I read some of the best books I've read in a long time this past month!

As for the one book I bought, I've been hesitating to read this one because I like the show so much... but I've joined a few book clubs in Boulder and one of them is doing this one so I figured I'll give it a go next month (as in August).

Books read, I won't go into detail here about The Goldfinch since I already had a post about it, but I'll just re-iterate that it is reminiscent of Salinger and I freaking love it.

Orphan Train was a quick read and I was exposed to a part of our history that I've never been aware of, that being that with orphan children in the big eastern cities in the early 20th century, the government decided to put them all on trains and send them out west.  Some children found good homes, but many children were adopted so that they could be used for labour.  The story itself is fictional, and flipped flopped between an older story of one girl, and then a girl in the modern day who is an acquaintance of an older woman (who coincidentally is the girl from the older story).  The writing is pretty elementary so the reading is quick, and the story is gripping enough that this makes for a book that can be easily finished in one sitting.

Jhumpa Lahiri, I have long wanted to read.  Why I started with her most recent book?  After reading Donna Tartt's masterpiece, I was craving another Pulitzer Prize winner and this one was sitting on the "Lucky Day" cart at the library!  How could I resist?  It did not disappoint!  The story takes place in India and Rhode Island pre-dominantly.  It is the story of two brothers, one obsessed with Revolution and Rebellion, and the other who goes off to America and dedicates his life to learning and later to the care of those his brother leaves behind.  It is a beautiful book, and I have a strong desire to learn more about the history of India than I ever have before.  I will DEFINITELY be reading more books written by this enchanting author!

Gabby Bernstein, the meditation guru for a new generation.  I'm not sure completely that I'm drinking the Kool-aid yet.  The jury's still out on this one.  But I definitely will listen to some more podcasts and read a couple more of her books.  Even if I'm not completely sold, it doesn't hurt to be reminded to move more, to sit in silence with myself, to practice breathing, and to be more mindful with my thoughts and my intentions.

Eggers, my boyfriend, the love affair continues.  I had been told by another Eggers fan that this is a MUST read, and so I FINALLY took it off my shelf, dusted it off and gave it a go!  Of course, it did not disappoint!  How can one man be so brilliant?!?!  This book is a bunch of short stories, some of course were way better than others.  I love this man's scope.  I love how in one second I'm with a woman who is climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and letting go of some pretty heavy shit, and the next moment I'm in Nicaragua with a girl scheming to sleep with one of her oldest friends.  Some stories I could do without, but the ones that I love more than make up for the others that were not my favorites.

Cecilia Ahern, I'm not going to lie, I loved the movie P.S. I Love You, but I'm not sure that I love the author as much.  Maybe it was just this book.  It's my first I've read by her, and it was very teenager-ish.  I already have Emily Giffin and Candace Bushnell to fill this void in my life, not sure I'm looking to add another author to this list, not when there are so many brilliant books out there to read before I die.  The nice thing about books like this is they take a day and a half or less to get through, so they don't waste too much time.

I'll ask, as I always do, what have you read lately?  Anything that you loved?