Reading Books For Pleasure

[FurryFury]

This was posted in my Fet group. It actually made me LOL several times.

Better Book Titles

http://betterbooktitles.com/archive

Hope you enjoy!

 

[Etoile]

Hahaha! I just spewed water. I'm teaching this to incoming freshmen this summer.
http://betterbooktitles.com/post/8179619289/middlesex

 

[FurryFury]

Hahaha! I just spewed water. I'm teaching this to incoming freshmen this summer.
http://betterbooktitles.com/post/8179619289/middlesex

LOL! I loved the book btw.

FF

 

[Kurokami]

Hahaha! I just spewed water. I'm teaching this to incoming freshmen this summer.
http://betterbooktitles.com/post/8179619289/middlesex

Now, see, that's the kind of book where, if I went into a brick and mortar bookstore (I know, a laughable idea) I would not be able to purchase it, merely because of the title. Such is my crushing social anxiety.

As it stands, I did go into a brick and mortar bookstore recently, so you better believe I'm now reading Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight. What the fuck took me so long?

 

[FurryFury]

62.) Ghost Story by Jim Butcher 5/5

Okay, get this, they KILLED Dresden last book. My mind just didn't believe it. Nooooo I must have misunderstood. There has to be an explanation or a way he can not be dead, he is the lead of the series for heavens sake. Yet, he IS dead and the book series goes on . . . kind of awesome.

63.) The Restorer by Amanda Stevens 4/5

Read a few books with the same general premise lately but they are all different enough to be interesting and not too creepy. Cool!

64.) Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux 4.5/5

First zombie book I've been able to finish and enjoy! Yay!

65.) River Marked by Patricia Briggs 5/5

I love this series and author. I want more.

66.) Unbearable Lightness by Portia De Rossi 4/5

Somehow I left this one off my reading list. I guess it just blew my mind that someone so beautiful and talented could be so profoundly fucked up and self hateful. Hopefully the negatives are long past her and Ellen now.

This book truly made me grateful that I did not become a model or actress or have anorexia or bulimic.

It also etched out for me, in bold relief how close to being that depty self loathing I might have once been. I have to say I feel really happy to be where I am now.

Additionally it reinforced my belief that reaching out to a young or troubled person WITHOUT ENDANGERING YOUR OWN EMOTIONAL SELF can make all the difference even when it doesn't seem to.

67.) How To Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal 5/5

For me, this was a very light and soothing book. I love the idea that some activities like baking bread or planting flowers can allow us to release repetitive negative thoughts, stress and so on. Neither of those two things is MY thing and I'm not sure I ever let go to that lovely degree. However, I am feeling very peaceful and mellow after reading it.

FF

 

[FurryFury]

Anybody read Turn of Mind yet?

I'm waiting to get it from my library. It has a lot of holds on it but I'm on the list.

FF

 

[FurryFury]

~ Walter Mosley from his novel, When The Thrill Is Gone

"There is a small bar with a really good pianist and sometimes a singer, Yolanda Craze, who could bring tears to the eyes of the dead.

That night Yolanda had off and so the music was just deeply moving, somewhere just outside the heart of desolation."

 

[FurryFury]

~ Walter Mosley from his novel, When The Thrill Is Gone

"A feeling of filial ardor came over me. I heard my father's voice again and loved him the way I had as a child. This feeling was like a parasite moving under the skin, that at first fascinates -- before the terror sets in . . ."

 

[FurryFury]

"There are moments when the emotional red tape between strangers gets cut -- immediately. Usually it takes many hours, lots and of of conversation, and the presentation of indisputable proofs before people, intelligent ones at any rare, can even begin to trust each other. After all, most of what people say is lies; in church, in court, even under the treat of death. People like when they think they're telling the truth. It's on of the most universal human traits. But every once in a while the need to trust causes us to ignore the implacable crush of lies." ~ Walter Mosley from his novel, When The Thrill Is Gone.

 

[FurryFury]

Etoile!

I started Turn of Mind this week. I'm also reading four other books but I'm liking it so far. Thanks for recommending it! As you know dementia is something close to me so I'm finding it really interesting.

FF

 

[Etoile]

Glad to hear that!

 

[FurryFury]

I finished the book today. Glad I read it. The central mystery turned out somewhat as I'd hoped.

The following was a fav passage for me on page 10.

Today we discuss attitude. This is what the leader calls it. You've all received this extraordinary distressing diagnosis, he says. You are all intelligent educated people. You know you are running out of time. What you do with it is up to you. Be positive! Having Alzheimer's can be like going to a party where you don't happen to know anyone. Think of it! Every movie the most enthralling that you've ever seen! Have a sense of humor, he says. You are a visitor to another planet and you are observing the local customs.

And now back to my and my thoughts: Interestingly enough, I thought about this the other day from another perspective. When dealing with someone who, for hours, only talked about the same four things over and over again. I thought, "These are groundhog moments (as in the movie Groundhog Day). I can give a different response and see what this person reacts to the best."

FF

 

[FurryFury]

Another quote I enjoyed from, Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante:

I watched David Letterman last night. So, in homage:

Top 10 Signs You Have Alzheimer's

10. Your husband starts introducing himself as your "caregiver."

9. You find an hourly activity schedule taped up on your refrigerator that includes, "walks, "crocheting," and "yoga."

8. Everyone starts giving you crossword puzzle books.

7. Strangers are suddenly very affectionate.

6. The doors are all looked from the outside.

5. You ask your grandson to take you to the junior prom.

4. Your right hand doesn't know what your left hand has done.

3. Girl Scouts come over and force you to decorate flower pots with them.

2. You keep discovering new rooms in your house.

And the No. 1 sign you have Alzheimer's is . . . It's somehow slipped your mind.

 

[FurryFury]

Another quote:

Page 95

Paragraph 3

Sentence 4 - 8

The room is full of faces I recognize, and if I don't love them, at least I know their names, and that is more than enough. Perhaps this is my revelation? Perhaps this is heaven? To wonder among a multitude and have a name for each.

 

[seela]

Another quote I enjoyed from, Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante:

I watched David Letterman last night. So, in homage:

Top 10 Signs You Have Alzheimer's

10. Your husband starts introducing himself as your "caregiver."

9. You find an hourly activity schedule taped up on your refrigerator that includes, "walks, "crocheting," and "yoga."

8. Everyone starts giving you crossword puzzle books.

7. Strangers are suddenly very affectionate.

6. The doors are all looked from the outside.

5. You ask your grandson to take you to the junior prom.

4. Your right hand doesn't know what your left hand has done.

3. Girl Scouts come over and force you to decorate flower pots with them.

2. You keep discovering new rooms in your house.

And the No. 1 sign you have Alzheimer's is . . . It's somehow slipped your mind.

I was just given, not one, not two, but THREE crossword puzzle books over the weekend!

 

[FurryFury]

Perhaps you are already a known lover of such books? It which case, the significance of such gifts would be simply that you are known and loved.

I was just given, not one, not two, but THREE crossword puzzle books over the weekend!

 

[FurryFury]

From page100

Paragraph 3-5

Well, not deathbed? But do you think you'll stay as practical as time progresses? Or will you be tempted to ask for the impossible?

Part of my condition is that the line between those two things is increasingly blurred. I am looking through my notebook this morning and apparently some days I have my parents with me. Magdalena has recorded some long talks I have with them. I don't remember any of this, of course. But I like the idea very much.

So maybe impossible requests are being granted.

--------------------------------------------------------

Ah, now this is one of my personal favorite ideas in the book. That you can visit with your lost loved ones in a good way.

Personally I plan to take myself out with dignity, my own way and time. I find that far better than letting a dementia disease take me out slowly unlearning every single thing. Still, but the concept of that sort of magic is very appealing to me as well. Just not appealing enough to become an old cantankerous infant.

 

[seela]

Perhaps you are already a known lover of such books? It which case, the significance of such gifts would be simply that you are known and loved.

Yep, that's pretty much the case.

Or it's not really a question of loving the crossword puzzles, but it's a joke about me forgotting how to speak Finnish now that I'm moving to another country. So my friends all seem to give me crossword puzzles so that I can flex my brain in the wonderful world of words.

 

[FurryFury]

See. There is a great non dementia explanation. Whew!

Yep, that's pretty much the case.

Or it's not really a question of loving the crossword puzzles, but it's a joke about me forgotting how to speak Finnish now that I'm moving to another country. So my friends all seem to give me crossword puzzles so that I can flex my brain in the wonderful world of words.

 

[FurryFury]

Another quote that resonated with me from Turn of Mind.

Page 132
Paragraph 7

And then, after a month or so, the trouble passed. As it always did between James and me. You learn, you grieve, you forgive, or at least you accept. That's why we've lasted. That's how we've endured. The secret of a happy marriage: not honesty, not forgiveness but acceptance that is a kind of respect for the others right to make mistakes. Or rather to make choices.



( I personally agree that acceptance is key in a loving relationship. )

 

[FurryFury]

Page 133

First paragraph

Sentences 1-16

Mark and Fiona felt it, of course. As children do, they acted out. Marke was sullen and rude to James. Me he treated with distance. But Fiona -- it was hardest on her. She would sit on the couch between James and me as we watched a move, place her hand on each of our arms, as if she could be a conduit. Of what? Affection was still there. Delight in each other's company, if slightly dampened. But respect -- yes, that was the problem There was now the taint of disdain when James talked to me, a roughness in his embraces. In bed he was insistent and aggressive. Not necessarily a bad thing, for me. But Fiona took the chance in our household very hard. She swung wildly between attempts at reconciliation and fits of rage.

(This makes me think of the new rules in our household from another book I read. A book that I mostly don't agree with but I liked this rules. I will put them below.)

New Family Rules for “Familingly” 01-2011 from The Last Self-Help Book You’ll Ever Need by Paul Pearsall.

1.) No family will be happier than or more loving than the relationship of the adults within it.

2.) Everyone in the family must care for each other and show that caring no matter what.

3.) Connection is not condoning. No matter what a family member does they are family forever.

4.) Children have as much responsibility to the parents as parents do the children.

5.) All families are dysfunctional. That is what they are there for to serve as asylums where the weird, stressed, frightened, insecure and occasionally obnoxious (which is all of us) can go at night without fear of being kicked out onto the streets.

6.) All family members owe their allegiance not to their self potential but to the potential of the family to thrive through crisis and savor the good times as a loving group made strong by their shared pain.

( Now the author is dismissive and arrogant about the self help industry. He has some points but mostly he is wrong. Yet his rules struck me as right. Still, I would like to slap the arrogance out of him. )

 

[FurryFury]

Page 145 from Turn of Mind by Alica La Plante Paragraph five

Not milk. Coffee, I say, but no one is listening. That's the way it is here. People will say anything, promise anything. You can ignore the words, even on the days when you can retain them, because you need to keep your eyes on their bodies. Their hands most of all. The hands don't like You watch what they are holding. What they are reaching for. If you can not see the hands, that is the time to be concerned. The time to begin screaming.

Same page, paragraph seven, sentences 6-11

Because her hands are perfect. Large and capable. Not gentle. But this is not a place where gentleness thrives. Natural selection takes care of that, both for the caring and cared for.

 

[FurryFury]

Last one from me on Turn of Mind by Alica La Plante.

Page 148 Paragraph 2

There is a woman here who is always surrounded by people. Visitors, night and day. Beloved by all. She is one of the lucky ones. She doesn't know where she is, she doesn't always recognize her husband or children, she wears diapers and she's lost many of her words, but she is sweet and serene. She is descending with dignity.

(I hope that if I get some form of dementia and fail to bail out of life my own way I will be able to descend with dignity, sweet and serene. I think most of us are not given or do not create such a gift. One of the things that often happens with dementia is a period of anger even rage and just meanness. Maybe that's just not in me. Pretty to think that's possible.)

 

[FurryFury]

68.) Th1teen R3sons Why by Jay Asher 4.5/5

69.) Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich 5/5

70.) Miss Julia's School of Beauty by Ann B. Ross 5/5

71.) John Dies @ the End by David Wong 2/5

72.) The Reluctant Dom and Domme by Default by Tymber Dalton 3.5/5

September

71.) Turn of Mind by Alica La Plante 4.5/5

72.) The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald 4/5

73.) Beach Girls by Luanne Rice 3/5

 

[FurryFury]

~ Walter Mosley from his novel, When The Thrill Is Gone

Dream is the true genius of man, my father told me one night after one motherfucker of a nightmare. I was six years old and the previous evening I'd seen the fifties science - fiction classic, The Fifty-Foot Woman. She was chasing me down Broadway. The streets were deserted and my breath was ragged enough that my lungs felt like tattered paper.

When my father picked me up I was still screaming. I held on to him so tight that my arms and fingers ached. But I wouldn't let go. Old Tolstoy carried me to his favorite chair and cradled me, waiting for the sobs and shaking to subside.

When I was a little calmer he told me about dreams and genius. He didn't try to lessen the effect of the dreams itself. No. He accepted the fear, and so I did too. He hailed my shouldering experience as brilliance.