I would smile and let you in but right now my body is telling me “Oh no you did not!”
Well…. check off another new adventure from the to try list.
Yesterday morning I took my first ever Yoga class. I figured how hard could it be right? It’s just a lot of sitting around and stretching a little bit right?
Well let’s just say I feel it. Ow!
Are my bones suppose to make a creaking noise when I move? 😯
For giggles…. I looked up Yoga this morning to see what the history is.
Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योगyóga) refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines that originated in India.[1] The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.[2][3][4] Within Hinduism, it refers to one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the goal towards which that school directs its practices.[5][6] In Jainism, yoga is the sum total of all activities — mental, verbal and physical.
The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings,[11] and is derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj,” meaning “to control,” “to yoke” or “to unite.”[12] Translations include “joining,” “uniting,” “union,” “conjunction,” and “means.”[13][14][15] It is also possible that the word yoga derives from “yujir samadhau,” which means “contemplation” or “absorption.”[16] This translation fits better with the dualist Raja Yoga because it is through contemplation that discrimination between prakrti (nature) and purusha (pure consciousness) occurs.
Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy to a high level of attainment is called a yogi or yogini
~Wikipedia
Ok then.
Let’s just say that I not going to be a Yogi. 😛
Statue of Lord Shiva in Bangalore, India, performing yogic meditation in the Padmasana posture. Let's me clear... no meditation was going on in class, I was too busy watching the instructor for the next directions. 😀
Overall thoughts: It was interesting and I was better at all the bendy stuff then I thought I would be for a first timer. My balance is pretty good and I think I would do it again. Friends tell me that while it seems to be very slow and paced (so not me….) it is surprisingly a good toning workout.
Did you try anything new this week?
Oh and if you have a moment, Sweet Cheryl over at CMash Loves To Read featured me today on her Sunday’s Shining Star.
In this fourth memoir by Pulitzer Prize-nominated Frederich Buechner, we as readers are led through the authors library that he refers to as the “Magic Kingdom.” This library serves as the gateway to Buechner’s mind and heart as he recaps how his life was shaped by those within it – family, friends, mentors… from the moments of great joy, to the depths of the events that still seem to reach out and grab a part of him such as the suicide of his father.
I had mentioned earlier this year that I used to read a lot more Christian fiction and Christian genre reads. Last year when I was looking through my books that I had read in 2010 I seen a noticeable decline in this type of read from previous years. I had decided to make it a point in 2011 to actively seek out Christian authors I had not read and work at finding my niche for this genre once again. This is what brought me to this book.
When Amy from My Friend Amy wrote a post about doing a read a long for The Eyes Of The Heart, I jumped at the chance to experience this author who has written many incredible books, none of which I have read.
Thus begins my journey into Buechner…
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.”
Ephesians 1:18
For a person who enjoys seeing beyond the cover of my books that I store in my own library, this book was a visual treat fro the mind. I love how the book opens with Frederick Buechner describing this library saying that when people enter this room he expects them to tremble with excitement, but few of them do as they do not know or care enough about books to have any idea as to what they are seeing. Buechner then goes on to describe the collections he holds within this room from his early childhood reads, to many first publishing’s such as A Christmas Carol from 1843. (I mention this one as I am a collector of the different writings/editions of A Christmas Carol and this book alone would have caused me to tremble with excitement.)
I thought the book to be a brilliant look into this authors deepest soul from where he wavers, to where he is strong. I like the thought of pulling up the people from our past, those who have passed on, and asking them the questions that lay on many of our hearts…. what is out there? Who is waiting?
I wish I could do this book justice when I describe it as breathtaking… when Buechner speaks of his grandson coming into the world, and grasping on how soon he feels he himself will leave it – I was teary eyed. I admit I have never really been moved by poetry, but to me this book read in parts like a poem that I much savored and took my time reading through passages again.
My only wish is that I had read some of his earlier works so as to have a better picture of who this man was before he became who he is in this book. Beautifully written, deeply detailed, this is a book I will keep in my “Magic Kingdom” for years to come. This will not be my last adventure in reading with Frederick Buechner.
It is normally a no- work zone, a free pass, a WHATEVER day.
Man… I do like whatever days!
Here is this whatever days plan:
Currently coffee. Big cups and straight black just the way I like it… but later… I will be trying the Singapore recipe from Cheryl (see recipe at the end of this post)
Next up: Book review for this afternoon and a bit o’ blog hopping…. still so behind….
Get ready for YMCA – Zumba class at 10 am followed by 30 minutes of Yoga sounds like a good way to kick off the day
Brainerd Library…. think I am going to go and sit in it. I know, right? I never do that… but thought Laptop and I might go in and see what happens in the library (I bet there is reading!)
Stopping at store for dinner items for Al and I tonight and for the makings of the above mentioned Singapore Coffee for the below recipe of Singapore Coffee. 😛
Home until 4:30 when I do the pick up for the homeless program and then after orientation with my new overnighters I am home for dinner prep while listening to audio because honestly… I have to get the audio back to the library 😀
I am lovin’ this Saturday! And because I love love love seeing the yummy foody connections over at Beth Fish Reads for Weekend Cooking, I had to include the coffee recipe that I am so excited to try!
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar • 1.5 tablespoons condensed milk • 1.5 tablespoons evaporated milk • 1.5 tablespoons ground coffee • 3/4 cup hot water
Place sugar, condensed milk, and evaporated milk in a coffee cup, and the ground coffee in a cloth sock. Run hot water through the sock and into the cup. Serve immediately.
Hmmm….. I think I am going to have to buy a sock too….. 😛
Oh and one last thing… I love Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot and mostly enjoy plucking through old pictures that seem to speak to me….. well, you know I am sooooooo tired of winter so had to go this way today:
This is the Spring 2010 group that participated in the MS Allianz Ride... how nice we look...
Of course.... once on the ride where we feel there are no witnesses... that's another story 🙂
Stop by and see Alyce At Home With Books and add your own Saturday Snapshot! I can’t wait to start riding again! 😀
Betta Nolan, 55, has been a widow now in Boston for several months after her beloved husband John died of liver cancer. Per his wishes, she moves out to the Midwest to fulfill their dream and start a new life. Betta who is an author of children’s book, sells the home she and John had lived together in and moves into an oversized Victorian home in Stewart Illinois.
While trying to piece together this new life for herself, Betta tracks down her three college roommates, Lorraine, Maddy, and Susanna. When they hear of the loss of Betta’s husband they are all very sympathetic and agree to come to her home for a weekend and rekindle their friendship of all those years ago.
As Betta starts to mold into this new life she meets a few people in town, a handyman names Matthew, his horrific girlfriend, and Matt’s roommate Giovanni. She also meets an interesting older man, closer to her age named Tom Bartlett. While all these changes in her life seem good and positive, Betta questions her move and wonders if perhaps she shouldn’t go back to Boston and try to recapture her old life.
Betta's Brownstone style home in Boston
Betta's Victorian style home in Illinois
Sound a little familiar? I recently listened to and reviewed Elizabeth Berg’s Home Safe... about a widow, who was an author, who had an opportunity to move… listening to these so close together… was at times confusing as I would mix them in my head.
Beyond that, the storyline is quite different. For one, Betta is a strong woman unlike Home Safe’s Helen. Betta also has friends where Helen seemed to lean almost completely on her 27-year-old daughter.
Oh but here is another thing that the two main characters had in common for me…. Betta, bugged me.
I know, I know… I should be tarred and feathered! I really have enjoyed Elizabeth Berg’s books for the most part and fully plan to continue reading her works through 2011, but these widowed women characters…. GAH! Not that this storyline isn’t a wonderful one to work with, it’s just that Helen was too unsure of herself… and Betta…. Betta moved to fast into the “relationship” department for my liking.
There I said it. I mean… she had not even been a widow for that long….. and the book gave every impression that the marriage was a good one. And I know… that is just my opinion.
Moving on… I think my favorite part of the book was Betta reconnecting with her College friends. I wish that storyline would have been larger. While their friendship does become a big part of the book, I did not find these characters to be developed enough for me to really know who they were that leads to what happens in the end of the book.
As long as I seem to be dishing out opinions here: I loved the character of Giovanni, found Matthew to be wishy-washy, Tom was … well Tom, and just because I feel like saying it, I think the mailman’s shorts were too tight. (Ok… ok, I made that up…. I do not even recall meeting a mailman in this book…. :razz:)
Seriously though, again this did not fall into a favorite of mine for Berg but I am glad I had the opportunity to listen to it. Elizabeth works with a great array of characters that I have enjoyed meeting along the way, if I befriend them or not.
I am heading to the gym this morning and happy about it. (Surely that must be a sign of Spring?) Then I am hanging out with my friend Wendy for catching up and girl time. In girl code that is manicures and pedicures and maybe we will grab a salad after that…. this is something I rarely do so it just sounds fun 😀
I may then take a walk through Best Buy and look at my options on laptops for when the day comes that I need to make that purchase. Yes, I am still on my original one… odd but it is working just fine now.
Later tonight hubby is talking me out for seafood buffet and I am super excited – we both love seafood and while it is about a 30 minute drive to get there – it is worth it.
I have a lot of reading to catch up on this weekend… I need to finish Wench for Tuesdays book club, and I really want to finish The Eyes Of The Heart today or tomorrow…. I was hoping to have it done by now but this week I feel like I have been tired…. and I don’t know why… I just have been and going to bed early which is usually prime time reading for me.
Ok – I am out… hope to get some “blog reading” time this weekend too… I am so behind. 😀
A few weeks back I had a wonderful experience reading the book A Tiger In The Kitchen. I loved the book, I loved the imagery, and oh yeah.… I loved the food.
After reading the book I made quick time of contacting author Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan to tell her how amazing I thought her book was and if she would like to stop by Book Journey and share with my readers a little about herself, the book, and what may be next.
I was thrilled when she said yes.
Please welcome author, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan!
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Cheryl, as a coffee lover, I have to know how you take yours?
Cheryl: My favorite coffee is Singapore-style coffee — in old-school kopitiams (or coffeeshops) there, the beans are wok-fried with lard or butter and corn kernels to give it a buttery, nutty flavor. The coffee “uncle” will then add condensed milk and sugar to the brew — it’s incredibly delicious. I also like “yin yang,” which is a cup of coffee and tea combined in equal amounts with condensed milk and sugar added to the concoction. I’m a big tea lover, too, so yin yang is the ultimate morning beverage for me.
Now I want to try that coffee! 😛 Growing up in Singapore, were you a reader? (If so I would love to hear what books captured your attention!)
Cheryl: I read voraciously as a child — I remember my mother taking me to Singapore’s national library every Saturday to check out nine books a week. I could have read more but that was the maximum number of books we could take out, even after combining my family members’ library cards! Enid Blyton was the author who first captured my imagination as a child — she was a very prolific British children’s author who wrote several series involving plucky children going on all sorts of adventures. I adored the Secret Seven, Famous Five and Malory Towers, about a girls’ boarding school, series. Most of all, I loved The Faraway Tree, which was about a group of city kids who move to the English countryside and are totally unhappy and bored until they discover an enchanted tree inhabited by fairies and other magical creatures. I later moved on to Judy Blume, Anne Tyler, Ernest Hemingway and more but the creativity in Enid Blyton’s books were truly an early inspiration.
When did your interest in journalism start?
Cheryl: I knew as a child that I wanted to write for a living and when it came time to apply to colleges, journalism seemed like a way to be able to make a living doing it so I interned at The Straits Times, Singapore’s national newspaper, right after high school. During my internship, I wrote an expose of an illegal dog farm in which these poor dogs were kept in deplorable conditions — tiny, dirty cages etc. — that resulted in the Singaporean officials immediately swooping in and fining the owners. After seeing the power of the press and its ability to right wrongs, I was hooked.
Oh that is amazing! I have always loved the power of words! Your move from Singapore to Illinois had to be one of excitement and a little fear too…. can you share a little bit what that was like?
Cheryl: I moved from Singapore to Evanston, Illinois, to study journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. It was a terribly exciting time but also terrifying, naturally. I’d traveled widely before but moving all by myself halfway across the world at age 18 was something else entirely. I loved learning about American culture (Friends! Seinfeld!) through my new friends and dorm-mates but it was also trying sometimes — Singapore is near the equator so it’s sweltering hot all year round. The first winter I was at Northwestern, which is on a lakefront, there was a day when the windchill was minus 70. That was dismal. I also missed Singaporean food desperately — back then it was impossible to find good versions of the curries and fried noodles I grew up eating anywhere near me.
How long a flight is that from New York to Singapore?
Cheryl: There is a direct flight from the New York area to Singapore that takes 18 hours but usually, most flights (with connections and all) will take you close to 24 hours.
Oh wow! 24 hours! You mention the fried noodles and the curry that you miss and even thinking about it makes my mouth water. I still can picture that scene of the pineapple tarts, when you walked into the kitchen to discover that you were about to make 3,000 tarts. How long did it take the 5 of you to complete that project?
Cheryl: That was quite a scene! It was a two-day process to make all those tarts — but along the way we made a variety of other cookies, as well. On the first day, we prepped the pineapples — skinning them, gouging out the eyes, chopping them up into small chunks, running them through a juicer — and made the jam. The jam then has to cool overnight before we make the butter cookie base the next day, brush those cookies with beaten egg, top them with jam and then bake them. It sounds like a lot of work but it’s so very worth it. Pineapple tarts are out of this world.
The bonding of family cooking together puts an amazing picture in my head. Can you describe what that was like with your family? When you talk about missing out on that time with your Grandmother and learning her secrets and talents in the kitchen, do you feel that you accomplished that goal through the family members who did teach you?
Cheryl: I had never cooked with my family before so throughout the year, I felt like I was connecting with them in a way that I never had before. When you’re in the kitchen with your family for hours, that’s when old stories and jokes are going to be shared. I learned a lot about various family members and my ancestors and that was a very special experience. It was also lovely to see the younger generation getting curious about the process as well — my 10-year-old cousin Matthew, for example, even set aside his iPhone games when he saw us cooking sometimes and joined in with the assembling of rolls. I’m a big proponent of passing down the recipes and stories of families so it was touching to see Matthew joining in. I feel fortunate to have had this experience — you do often take your family members for granted and it can be too late to ask them to teach you. My maternal grandmother was already starting to lose her memory when I was back for that year — if I had waited any longer, I’m not sure she would have remembered all the recipes that she was sharing with us.
This book came about as the result of being laid off from your job. That devastating event freed you up to be able to travel and spend the time with your family and learn the traditions. Do you look at that time now as a blessing?
Cheryl: I definitely do — after I’d gone back to learn how to make my late grandmother’s pineapple tarts, I wanted to take a year off and travel back to Singapore to learn more recipes but there was just no way that I could have asked for the time off to do it. Right when I was rather despondent about that, the Wall Street Journal decided to eliminate its fashion bureau. I was in shock at first but literally, by the time I got back to my desk from the meeting where they laid us all off, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I don’t think I would have had the courage to request a sabbatical to go on this journey if that hadn’t happened. I’m very thankful for that.
Do you have a favorite recipe either from the book, or personally that you enjoy making?
Cheryl: I have so many recipes I adore — it’s like asking a mother to pick her favorite child! One of my favorite dishes is this dish called tau yew bak, which basically means soy sauce meat. My late grandmother used to make this with pork belly or duck and it’s basically meat braised for hours in a stew of dark soy sauce (which has the consistency of molasses and is rather sweet), cinnamon sticks, star anise, sugar and garlic. (I have a recipe for the duck version of this in the book.) My family also adds cubed tofu and hard-boiled eggs to this stew — you want to cook it long enough so that the tofu cubes are saturated with the gravy and the eggs are the color of milk chocolate. Now that I know how to make it, it is part of my regular rotation in New York — I don’t often make it with duck, though. (Putting my hand in the cavity of a duck is still not one of my favorite things.) I’ll do it with cubed pork loin, ground beef or pork and cubed tofu. People often think Southeast Asian cooking is daunting because the recipes sometimes have many steps and ingredients — I like to look at the recipe, try to understand the flavors of the dish, why they work together and figure out how I can simplify it for an easy weeknight meal. That’s what I’ve done with my grandmother’s tau yew bak.
Tau Yew Bak
What next for you? Another book? *fingers crossed*
Cheryl: I’ve started on my second book, which is about women in their thirties. I can’t say more about it right now — but I hope you enjoy it as much as you liked A Tiger in the Kitchen!
It is a tradition around here for me to ask each author I interview to share a little known fact about themselves. (Ie. a hobby, a funny or embarrassing memory), an unusual talent, a trip you have taken, an instrument you played in school, an award you once won…)
Cheryl: I once drove four hours across Sicily (and four hours back) just to have lunch at a restaurant. It was a place that I’d heard of and was terribly curious about but where we were staying (Palermo) was nowhere near it. It didn’t deter me, however — the group of us just piled into two cars and went on this zany, hours-long road trip across the island just to lunch at Ristorante Duomo in Ragusa. It felt a little like we were in The Cannonball Run — but with lunch as the reward. We got very lost on the way back and I remember it being incredibly late at night by the time we made it back to Palermo. But the lunch — so fresh, so inventive — was worth the crazy, exhausting road trip. A good meal, to me, is always worth the extra mile — or, hundreds of miles.
Oh that is a wonderful fact! Thanks so much Cheryl for joining me today! I am so excited about your next book too!
Readers: Please take time to check out Cheryl at her website. Her book A Tiger In The Kitchen was a delight to read and you can see the link to my review below.
It was nice sleeping at home last night – in my own bed. When I serve for our week with the homeless we stay overnight in a church. The Sunday school rooms are converted to bedrooms for the families, and for the host overnighters. On Tuesday night I was the host overnighter. Usually there are always two of us that stay overnight as hosts, which is fun as that becomes catch up times with friends while we hang out before we sleep. This time however, there is one lady in the program with her 4 month old baby girl and I stayed alone.
I would have never dreamed that I would sleep in a church and now it has become this inside joke as that is the taboo thing to do, fall asleep in church. I can tell people proudly – I have never slept in my own church( due to our buildings layout we are not able to host there) …. however there are four others in our area that I can say that I have. 😛
We sleep on cots that travel in a trailer from church to church. It isn’t that bad other than the fact they are super narrow and when guys stay over night I can imagine they must be really uncomfortable. One couple that serves brings their own air mattress when they stay overnight. Probably not a bad idea…
Anyway…
that is where I was on Tuesday and then in the morning I drove the guests to the day center where they go seven days a week from 8 am – 4:30 to do laundry, shower, and work on finding affordable housing and jobs if they are not currently working. It really is an amazing program and has a 92% success rate in our community that once people are back on their feet and in homes with jobs that they remain that way and do not fall back into homelessness.
Our group serves once a quarter and after this week I think our next time is in July.
Today will be nice, I have work and then a workout and then HOME. Yes…. that’s it… no meetings tonight… and that feels good 😀
I will leave you this morning with this discovery I found at Barnes and Noble on-line… Rachel Ray reading Green Eggs and Ham:
Helen Ames was a beloved wife and a prolific author.
Was.
Since her husband Dan died she no longer feels that she is either. Unable to move on from his death, Helen is not sure how to do life without him. Her writing is non existent and a particularity disastrous speaking engagement leaves her wondering what purpose she serves without the titles “wife” and “author”.
Meanwhile, Helen’s 27 year old daughter Tessa is losing patience with her now seemingly helpless and smothering mother. Tessa longs for branching out into her own life but feels anchored down by her mom’s overbearing neediness. Tessa is constantly being called upon by Helen to help with the household tasks that used to belong to Dan.
Then Helen discovers that the finances that she never paid much attention too as Dan told her never to worry as there was plenty for her to live on and then some…. these very finances have had a significant withdrawal, made by Dan before he died. Suddenly Helen has a new set of worries…. what did Dan do with all that money? How will she now provide for herself when her accountant tells her she needs to be careful financially but seems to have no skills or ambition to learn anything new?
My adventures with Berg continue. 😀
Out of everything I have read/listened to by Elizabeth Berg this one may have been the biggest stretch for me. And the reason for that is silly. It’s Helen.
Helen has qualities I just don’t like. She is co dependent. Needy and unsure of herself in every way and for some reason these characteristics…..
bug me.
I know that is ridiculous and I wonder what I find in myself that makes me want women, fiction and not, to be strong, independent, and able to stand on their own two feet.
Ok… that said, I did enjoy listening to this on audio and applaud Elizabeth Berg for not only being an amazing prolific writer, but also reader. I have really come to enjoy her audios and when she reads them herself – even better. I can not say that about every author I have listened to on audio that has read their own work.
While Helen is this character that is not sure which way to turn – I am quite sure she is exactly the character that Elizabeth Berg meant her to be. You can hear it is Elizabeth’s (as the narrator) voice and I wish I had a couple examples in my head right now of that dialogue that Helen would have as she pretty much questioned every step she took. Unfortunately, one of the down falls of audio is that I do not have the pages to flip back through to make that perfect quote so you can go “oh yeah…. I see what you mean.”
As the story line continues you see that Helen does start to find her own way and her relationship with Tessa is very realistic as Tessa tries hard to be patient with her mom while at the same time trying to get her mom to be responsible for her own life and making things happen. One of the things I really enjoyed in this audio was how often Tessa came to this point:
“Mom. Mom. Mom. MOM.”
I think I may have loved this even more because it is said in a dead pan voice.
Final thoughts: I did enjoy this audio. It was not a favorite from this author mainly because some of the plot created many unanswered questions… I did however still appreciate the diversity in writing that I have come to enjoy in Elizabeth Berg’s work.
I had a whole weekend of leisurely writing and yes don’t tell my husband who believes I worked like a fiend writing all weekend, but I napped too! SO why on this Wednesday morning am I feeling like I am coming off a 20 hour work shift?
Last night I stayed in town as it is our serving week to stay with the homeless. There is no reason why I should not have had some good quality reading of blog time as from 8 pm on I was alone, just me and Laptop (yes – LAPTOP, I will get to that in a minute…. ) but when I tried to read through some of the Monday Meme posts…. I was just ….
tired.
As for Laptop…. if you have been around this weekend you know he died on Sunday afternoon. Yup. Would not turn on. I have had some opportunities the last couple weeks with Laptop and I think I know his issue…. even took pictures of the broken wires (very CSI of me!) to show how he died. I even… and this is harsh so be warned…
I even pulled his plug.
Then…
Tuesday evening as I was preparing dinner I sat at the table and pushed his power button, just like old times… and
a message came on the previously blank screen:
Plug In – Your Battery Is Dangerously Low
So – well…. wow! I ran for the plug-in and when hubby and Chance got to the table I told them do not look directly at it…. but look…. Laptop is BREATHING!
It’s a March Miracle!
I realize I am still probably on borrowed time so my plans to invest in a new one are still in place and I have now emailed myself all important documents off this one so I can no longer say “yup…. there went my book.”
I have another busy evening tonight but Thursday is looking promisingly uneventful and I do plan to read the Monday posts as I am in need of my book fix. 🙂
Marlo is normally a quiet, peaceful town. Yet recently a website has popped up called Listentoyourself and it contains residents of Marlo’s most private conversations… conversations that were held in the privacy of their homes with people they trusted. Soon accusations are flying and the local police force has its hands full trying to sort it all out.
Damien Underwood has been a journalist most of his life. He has been the creator of the Marlo Sentinal’s crossword puzzle until as of recent he has been offered a chance to do a bit of reporting as well. Damien along with his best friend Police Officer Frank Merrit are surprised by the sudden popularity of this website that is ripping the town apart.
And Damien has his own home to be concerned with as well, his wife Kay is struggling to fit in with the Cheer Mom’s, his daughter Jenna, normally sweet and easy-going has become sullen and in trouble at school for hitting another girl, his son Hunter is spending too much time in his room on the computer and Damien is concerned with what he may be looking at.
What is happening in Marlo?
This is the first Rene Gutteridge book I have experienced. A few weeks back, Hannah at Wordlily celebrated a whole week of Rene Gutteridge and I was curious….
As “the power of words” is the theme of this post, Hannah used the power of her words to influence me to give this author that I honestly do not think I have ever heard of, a try. I am so glad that I did. And now I am going to use the power of my words to tell you why. 😀
LISTEN is a book surrounded all around the one question. How responsible are we for our words when we think no one is listening? What author Rene Gutteridge shows through this book is something I have always believed, words are powerful tools. Words can lift someone up and they can tear someone down.
In Marlo, neighbor literally turns against neighbor. While the website Listentoyourself does not mention names – the conversations written out for all to see is word for word of what was said. People are hurt, in some cases they wrongfully believe some of the writing is about them, even more so, they decide who said it and react to it.
I really enjoyed that while the website is much of this book, it is not the only storyline that Rene Gutteridge has weaved within the pages regarding the power of words. While Damien is working the website angle, his wife Kay is involved in the words that people say about each other – gossip. As she tries to fit in with the Cheer Moms and they point the finger at one mom in particular Kay becomes part of the vicious circle of spreading words that hurt. And a third story line comes in with Jenna and the mean girls (oh wow – they are MEAN) at school.
Every Monday evening I am in a small group that meets and discusses a study that we are doing and last night we touched on the subject of the power of words. I smiled as it reminded me of this book.
While the book is not without flaws, there were a couple unresolved items and I was left with a few questions, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a book I did not want to put down and enjoyed the reminder of the power of words, as well as the power of truly listening. I will most definitely read more of Rene Gutterridge.
Book Journey 