Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Winner of the YA drawing

Bookfool just tripped over to Random.org and Mr. Random pulled #2 out of the hat. The winner of three YA books is:


Debs (Debi in New Jersey)

Congratulations, Debi! I'll email you shortly.

In other news:

I haven't finished any books. I'm tired and sore from walking and doing those ucky squat things. The cat is sleeping on my bed (I'm pretty sure she has the right idea) and I'm sort of behind on a couple of tour books. But, I hope to finish them soon.

I'm halfway through Never Say Diet by Chantel Hobbs. It's part memoir, part "how-to" and I'm finding it a pretty quick, enjoyable read. I just need more reading time. I hope to finish Never Say Diet before the end of the week.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a First Wild free chapter day. The featured book is Grace for the Afflicted by Dr. Matthew S. Stanford. The moment it arrived, I sat down and read a portion of the book that I'd call the most relevant to me because of an acquaintance, and it was soooo good. Grace for the Afflicted describes different mental illnesses and what the Bible says about them. The section I read is absolutely perfect. The author outlines the symptoms of the condition and how it's treated, shares a couple of examples from his experience with patients who have that illness, and then tells the story of a character in the Bible who suffered from the condition. The chapter is written with compassion and is extremely encouraging. The author even tells you how best to behave around someone with that particular illness. Wow. Excellent, excellent book. I'll do a full review when I finish it.

Thursday, I'll review Recovering Me, Discovering Joy by Vivian Eisenecher, another book that has a bookmark sticking out of its mid-section, which just means I need to shut up and focus.

Oh, no. There's more! I am also still yearning to spend some time with The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter . . . thinking maybe I should work on writing shorter sentences if I want to hunker down with Charlie. Not to mention that awesome Canadian book, The Coasts of Canada by Lesley Choyce, which I haven't managed to touch since the day my son had his wisdom teeth extracted. I keep thinking, "I need a very long, very quiet stretch." Snort. Like that's going to ever happen.

I took a walk in our National Military Park after the Inauguration, today. The photo above was snapped in the park last year, but it seems apropos for Inauguration Day.

Since I'm rather booked, this week, my current plan is to post about my next 100,000-hit drawing on Friday.

All of this meticulous planning strikes me as somewhat surprising. If you'd told me a year ago that I would have my life so carefully scheduled in January of 2009, I'd have called you something akin to "nuts". I'm actually relishing the sensation of knowing what's coming up next. Weird. I mean, that is just so not me. I guess it just goes to show you that my college speech teacher was correct when she described Irrational Assumption #4: Things Don't Change.

Off to read because even scheduled reading has not dampened the joy of bibliophilia.

Bookfool with calendar and pen

9 comments:

  1. I LOVE ucky squats...if you can imagine. Of all the work out exercises, they are probably my favorite. Yup, you can hit me...I probably need it.

    Schedules are not such a bad thing. I get much more done with a schedule (or agenda). Enjoy your [scheduled] reading!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Trish,

    You can have those ucky squats. I love the feeling of strength in my legs (and the ease with which they help one get up off the floor), once I've done them for a while, but otherwise . . . argh.

    I'm finding I get more reading done on a schedule, but there are weeks I'm just contrary and don't want to read anything I have to. I've found that sneaking in a library book or one of my own from the shelves helps assuage that little bit of rebellion. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to say I'm really interested to hear your thoughts on GRACE FOR THE AFFLICTED. My father was mentally ill and became alienated from the church after being told that he could be cured if he just prayed enough and had enough faith. That experience destroyed him. This book sounds like it takes an interesting approach to the subject.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations, Debi!

    I wish I had more reading time too. I'm falling behind my own personal schedule, I'm afraid. I'm blaming it on work and house guests and sick relatives.

    I bought a calendar for myself so I could plan better on my blog and I have yet to use it. I'm so bad. LOL

    I hope you have a great rest of the week, Nancy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wendy,

    There's always something to get in the way of the reading, isn't there?

    You won't believe the terribly obsessive-compulsive way I'm organizing myself, this year. I bought not one but 3 calendars. That's in part because I didn't like the first one, but also because I lost a calendar, last year, and felt so utterly lost without it that I decided I needed at least one extra. Nutty, but true. I can't live without my calendars, but I've always been that way.

    Thanks. I hope you have a terrific week, too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amy,

    Did you read the excerpt in my other post? It begins by talking about a woman whose church rejected her request for prayer when she found out her daughter was mentally ill. I haven't finished reading that bit, but it appears that what he has to say is that the church often is totally wrong in its approach. We all know, now, that mental illness can be caused by chemical imbalances and he addresses the factors that can cause or contribute (if known). Grace for the Afflicted is by far the most compassionate book I've ever read about mental illness of *any* kind. I'll do a full review when I'm done, but I have a feeling I'll end up recommending it very highly.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Bookfool! I look forward to reading your review!!!! (as always)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amy,

    I read a chunk of it, this morning, and I'm still really enjoying it. I think you'll love it. He does a great job of explaining the body-mind-spirit connection, how Jesus handled "possession" and which diseases one could consider diseases of the spirit vs. those that are caused by brain malfunction. It's fascinating and well-written.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous8:46 PM

    Congratulations to Debi!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog! I use comment moderation because apparently my blog is a spam magnet. Don't worry. If you're not a robot, your comment will eventually show up and I will respond, with a few exceptions. If a comment smacks of advertising, contains a dubious link or is offensive, it will be deleted. I love to hear from real people! I'm a really chatty gal and I love your comments!