Epic failure. I'd say that's a pretty apt description of my
effort to keep up this blog the past few months. I won’t even try to go into
reasons why. There are reasons, but excuses all of them, and all ones I’ve used
countless times before. I will only say now that I vow to do better and hopefully
this time will follow through. Lack of blog posts aside, I can happily report
that I have not let any/all writing fall by the wayside. In fact, these last two
months in particular I have found a renewed focus to write and have done so most
every day. It’s all been journal writing, sometimes on the events of a day,
others on an issue I’m struggling with. I’ve also been working on a 30 Day
Writing Challenge, although I’ll openly admit it’s taken me longer than 30
days. I might end up sharing some Challenge outcomes in future posts. There
has also been a bit of change/newness that I’ll update this blog
world on soon…ish. Today though I’m easing back in
with something short, sweet and – for me – me fairly easy: books.
Since the start of a new year I’ve read a great many books. Some I’ve found deeply moving and/or delightfully enjoyable. This
list here is a sample of my favorites and if you’ve not read them I highly hope
you will.
East of Eden (John
Steinbeck) – This book was placed (literally) into my hands by one of the
teachers at Benchmark and for that I owe him great thanks. Thoughtful,
profound this epic moves softly through decades, winding in and out
of hopeful dreams and sad truths, much like the slow moving river that runs
through the Salinas Valley. The splendor of the writing pulled me inside the
lives of each character effortlessly, such that by books the end I felt that I had gained a dozen close personal friends. This is one that I will
look at with fondness for many years to come.
Fahrenheit 451(Ray Bradbury) – This is the first of the many dystopian books I have on this year’s reading list (I’m halfway through
1984 now). It is also the first time I’ve been introduced to the works of Ray
Bradbury (which I now know is a negative on my part). It is a brilliantly written promise of how bad things will become if society insists on sitting idly by in ignorance.
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Emma Magdalena Rosalia Maria Josefa Barbara Orczy) – While
the scenes of this quiet little classic take place among some truly horrific
facts of the 1792 French Revolution, I quite enjoyed this book. There was lightness
to the writing, an impossibility of the story, which allows the reader a separate themselves from the harsh reality of history. At least that was my perception; perhaps though it's just my affinity for the macabre speaking.
The Poet of Loch Ness (Brian Jay Corrigan) – Beautiful
story, breathtaking writing. Entirely entranced throughout this too short book
, I was left dreaming for the wilds of Scotland long after I closed it's cover.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) – This book technically
shouldn’t be on this list since I read it last November. However, it has left such an impact on my heart and spirit that I feel bound to spread its greatness to
as many people as I possibly can. This isn’t a happy book; in fact it’s often
quite sad or disheartening. But it is a book that from its first page made me
question how the hell I’d managed to live the first 29 years of my life without
it. Nothing I write could possibly capture how magnificent it is, bely how richly
Smith has written each and every moment, or accurately describe the feeling one
gets as they connect with the characters in a way that is not often felt with their closest friends, much less characters in a book. It will forever be one of the favorite books of my life. Read it.
