Reading and Stuff

NO TIME FOR for a long cozy chat today..... I am taking these days between Christmas and New Year's to crack open my new books and disappear between their inviting covers for a while.  In the middle of that, I also have to finish up an article due on the editor's desk next week (I did try to get it done before, but alas...)

Christmas was wonderful... and in the mix of some fun family times, I also had a beautiful opportunity to meet a blogging friend in person for the very first time. Of which I will write about more later (I have something beautiful to share with you that she custom-created just for me).

No sign of snow... it's been well above freezing all week..... nice for driving and getting around in, but one doesn't feel quite the same push for hot cocoa or mulled cider when the nip of frost isn't biting toes and noses. Now the Scottish breakfast tea (found in someone's stocking) sipped with ripening fruit cake seems more in keeping.... fits perfectly with the book reading!

Okay, okay... I hear you wondering about my new books..... which makes me ask first....Do you ever end up buying yourself Christmas presents -- things you just happen upon when you are out shopping?  That's exactly what happened to me... honest, I wasn't even looking (hehe)... 

Here's a quick peek, nothing fancy: 

The Writing Diet, Write Yourself Right-Size by Julia Cameron.  I had it in the back of my mind ever since Lin mentioned she was reading it and enjoying it way back when.

"Over the course of the past twenty-five years, Julia Cameron has taught thousands of artists and aspiring artists how to unblock wellsprings of creativity. And time and again she has noticed an interesting thing: Often, in uncovering their creative selves her students also undergo a surprising physical transformation-invigorated by their work, they slim down. In The Writing Diet, Cameron illuminates the relationship between creativity and eating to reveal a crucial equation: creativity can block overeating."  excerpt from Amazon.com

The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge (novel). Originally published in 1963, this book has been re-released by Hendrickson Publishers just this year!  I was first introduced to Elizabeth Goudge by another Brenda, a beautiful blogger who shares with her readers her own love of books, God and kitty cats.

Brenda recently also introduced her readers to Surprised by Oxford (2011) by Carolyn Weber, a Canadian who went to Oxford to study.... (makes me think C.S. Lewis and Narnia and such)....

"Surprised by Oxford is the memoir of a skeptical agnostic on a surprising journey toward a dynamic personal faith in God. When Carolyn Weber arrived at Oxford for her graduate studies in Romantic literature, she felt no need for God. Her childhood in a broken but loving family taught her to rely on reason and intellect—not faith—for survival. What she didn’t know was that she was about to embark on a love story of her own—one much deeper, more colorful, and more surprisingly God-shaped than any she’d read before." excerpt of book synopsis

And the other week when I was shopping online at Amazon, I found a reasonably-priced copy of Diane Ackerman's One Hundred Names for Love, a beautiful memoir about 'a stroke, a marriage, and the language of healing'.  I read the library's copy a couple of months ago and knew I wanted to read it again as she shared so many interesting things about how the brain works, how she and her husband are recovering from his stroke... all in such a beautiful way.

Although this was not my Christmas present (even from myself), Hubby discovered this one in his bag of goodies.  And we are (notice the 'we') enjoying the informative and humourous cookbook by Canadian authors, Greta and Janet Podleski, Eat, Shrink and Be Merry.  Seems their recipes are going to be fabulous... we sampled our first last night.... broiled salmon with a cream dill sauce... yummy!  Tonight we're trying the grilled pork tenderloin with a tangy apple jelly and Dijon mustard sauce.  (Maybe we'll end up cooking our way through this book the way Julie did through Julia's?)


Mmmmm.... so much for the 'short' posting.......


I'm off now for sure.  Enjoy your day. Remember to watch for glimpses of heaven in unexpected places..............they come with songs for the heart!

Hugs,