My Reading Journal for September

Dear Friend,
It has been a long time since I last posted. Shame on me. Everything I have to say is so important and I am really distressed that I haven't said it. That said, I haven't had much to say other than I'm scared to death about our government, our food supply and it's sources and that I am truly grateful for a new techy discover - My Zune MP3 player.

Instead of listening to radio (classic or talk), I have found out how to download audible books and can now listen where-ever I am. Since the drive to and from work takes a minimum of 45 mnutes and most of the time 60 to 75, I now get to "read" even more.

Yes I know, I have a CD player and have listened to book CD's, but this is better. I can even take my book into the office, put my earplugs in and tell everyone I am listening to Andrew Bocelli. They will believe anything. (As long as I answer the phones once in a while.) I can listen to a book in bed (no matter where I am sleeping) or while I sew and don't have to hassle with discs or cumbersome cd players. Yes, I'm sold of these babies!!!!



So what have I been listening to - you ask? Well here is a list and a little synopsis of each:
The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin. Shirley put me on to this one. This is about the Supreme Court, the workings of and the current Justices (the past 15 - 20 years). The book talks about the political culture of the appointments and the decisions that have been handed down by the highest court and their impact on our laws and lives. This one is definitely on my list of "read agains".



The next book I listened to was one that Nikki has been telling me to read for a couple of years and for one reason or another, I kept putting it off. The Red Tent by Anita Diament is a fictional history of Deanne, the only daughter of Jacob and Leah of the Old Testament. What a story!

The Red Tent is the tent set aside for the women of the herding tribes of the deserts to go to during their monthly cycle. The women bond and share, plot and plan and enjoy a brief respite from the daily sun-up to sun-down arduous living of the camp.

There are 2 things I came away with from this book. One is a much greater appreciation of the advances we have made and the other was a desire to read another set of books, also recommended by same person.



Orson Scott Card, a noted LDS author, was asked to write historical fiction about three women of the Old Testament- Sarah, Rebecah, and Rachel and Leah. I found an audio down load of the first book Sarah and enjoyed every minute of it. Since Card is writing about these women from a male point of view and he doesn't get as detailed or as graphic as Diament, he creates a wonderful story of Sarah and Abraham's love for each other, Sarah's conversion to Abraham's "God" and does a very good job of recreating Sarah's post menopausal pregnancy and delivery of Isaac.

Now my challenge to myself is to reread the Book of Genesis. Card's post script talks about the problems of the translations, the time lapses of the events and the liberties he took in the name of fiction, so I feel the need to re-ground myself so to speak.

Much to do, later,
Love Jan

Summer Reading List

Dear Friend,
When I was not this old, I would find a good book and read all night and still make it through the next day. I could read a book and remember the characters and the story. I could take a book with me and read at stop lights. I read anytime, anywhere. All of this seems so long ago. I miss those days.

Now when I try to read, in bed-I have to fight my glasses (now a necessity to read anything), my aches and pains and the inability say awake more than 10 minutes. That and the fact that the computer has taken over my life and sometimes can't remember what I read 10 minutes ago, means I am reading less and it has become a challenge.

The good thing about driving almost 70 miles a day all by myself, I am enjoying audio books. I found a couple of good ones for my summer reading list and keep looking for more.

I just finished Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas. In fact, I enjoyed this story so much, I immediately started listening to it a second time. Her stories of fictional history usually connect to one of my passions, quilts and the women who made them. One of the things I like about her books is the dialogs, the way she has her characters speak in the vernacular of the place and time. In fact, I just learned that she reads a lot of womens diary's and journals as research, using these to build her own library of phrases and terms that she keeps on her computer for her writing.

Prayers for Sale is a story about a very young Civil War widow that goes to a gold mining town in Colorado to start a new life. She is the narrator of her own stories and the people in and around her life. As she tells her stories, she has to let go of her "blue devil" that haunts her for more than 70 years before she can move to the next stage of her life's journey.

I admit, I have read several of Sandra Dallas's books and have enjoyed almost everyone of them. Her last book, Tallgrass, was a story about a terrible time in America's history as we forced the American Japanese into prison camps during WWII.

Another audio book, one of my all-time favorites that I will always reread, To Kill A Mockingbird, narrated by Sissy Spacek. She does such a wonderful "Scout", I felt like I was right there with Jem and Scout Finch as they tumbled through their youth and experiences in Maycomb County during the early years of the 20th century. I will never, though, be able to hear or picture Atticus Finch as anyone other than Gregory Peck, whether I read the book or listen to the narration. There are some great actors that were born for certain roles. this was his and that might be a topic for another post.

I just picked up an audio copy of Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, because I really want to reread some of the classics that influenced me when I was younger. Since I will be working for at another 2 years or more, I will be listening to a lot of books. I will keep you updated.

I do still read and recently read a wonderful historical novel called 1000 White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, by Jim Fergus. The book begins just before the US Army rounds up all the Indians in the Rockies and Plains so the White immigration could take over their lands. The Chief of one of the Cherokee tribes supposedly proposes that the Great White Father send them 1000 white brides to help "civilize" and bear "white" children. This is a fictionalized but riveting account of one woman that volunteered as a way to escape the the insane asylum she was being held in after her wealthy family disowned her. As I understand the truth of the situation, the request was made but never really happened.

I'll keep you updated on my reading list and I would love to have you share yours with me.
Love, Jan