The Spring Thing Challenge Completed!

The Spring Reading Thing has been hosted by Katrina at Callipiddar Days. I chose to read 6 books between the deadline dates of March 21 and June 21. Here's my list, all of which I enjoyed immensely. Clicking on the title will take you to my review of that book.

1. My Grandfather's Blessings
2. The Princess Bride
3. Flowers for Algernon
4. The Pea Blossom
5. The Shop on Blossom Street
6. A Bride Most Begrudging

Thanks Katrina for doing this fun challenge.

A Bride Most Begrudging

by Deeanne Gist
I don't usually read Christian literature or romances. (I may have to quit saying that about romances, because it seems like I've read quite a few over the past year. What's happening to me?) Anyway A Bride Most Begrudging is a Christian romance which means it doesn't go into details. I appreciate that. Even without the details there was a lot of sexual tension and misunderstanding between the two lead characters.

From the back cover: "Any ship arriving from England means good news for Virginia colony farmers. The 'tobacco brides' would be on board. Drew O'Connor isn't stirred by news of a ship full of brides. Still broken-hearted from the loss of his beloved, he only wants a maid to tend his house and care for his young sister.

What he ends up with is a wife - a feisty redhead who claims she is Lady Constance Morrow, daughter of an Earl, brought to America against her will. And she wants to go straight back to England as soon as she can. She hasn't the foggiest notion how to cook, dares to argue with her poor husband, and spends more time working on mathematical equations than housework. What kind of wife is that? Drew's Christian forbearance is in for some testing."

It's a well-written and captivating story with equal amounts of heartache and joy. I enjoyed this book.

My Grandfather's Blessings

by Rachel Naomi Remen
I started this book many months ago, but didn't get far. My husband lent the book to his sister, who read it and then her husband read it. I finally got it back and finished reading it. It's a great book to pass around and share with friends and family.

This is the perfect 'bathroom' book. Short sections of 2 or more pages provide meaty kernels of wisdom. It's the type of book you'll want to own because you'll want to highlight many passages. My husband read this book first and highlighted in yellow. I loved pausing and considering the parts he marked. I used a soft lavender crayon-type marking tool to differentiate mine from his. Of course, there was lots of overlapping. I could fill pages with the quotes, but I will choose just a few for this review.

A blessing is not something that one person gives another. A blessing is a moment of meeting, a certain kind of relationship in which both people involved remember and acknowledge their true nature and worth, and stengthen what is whole in one another.

Many times when we help we do not really serve. When we help we become aware of our strenght because we are using it. Others become aware of our strength as well and may feel diminished by it. Service is a relationship between equals. A helping relationship may incur a sense of debt, but service is mutual. Serving is also different from fixing. When we fix others, we may not see their hidden wholeness or trust the integrity of the life in them. Fixers trust their own expertise. When we serve we see the unborn wholenss in others; we collaborate with it and strengthen it. (italics are my own)

Whenever someone has found the courage to live more deeply, more courageously than before, no matterhow short a time it may be, theyhold open that door for anyone who tries to follow.

Life wastes nothing. Over and over again every molecule that has ever been is gathered up by the hand of life to be reshaped into yet another form. The molecules in you and me and indeed in everyone are secondhand, borrowed for the occasion and returned when outgrown. How strange to think that great pain may be impermanent. Something in us all seems to want to carve it in granite, as if only this would do full honor to its terrible significance. But even pain is blessed with impermanence; slowly, drop by drop, it may be worn away until even the most devoted searchers cannot find it unless they look for compassion or some other form of wisdom.

Meaning is dynamic. Over time, new meanings may evolve that are far less universal and more our own. It is important to revisit our woulds to see what new meanings may have grown there. If we become frozen in anger and pain, it may be many years before we recognize what these are.

Spiritual awakening does not change life; it changes suffering.

The Buddhists say that one of the signs of true enlightenment is the experience of a vast, immutable joy that underlies the personal joys and sorrows of this life. The Cosmic Giggle suggest that for those in the know, the essential nature of life is such goodness that the only possible response is joy.

The Shop of Blossom Street

by Debbie Macomber
I have read several reviews of Macomber's books and they were always positive, so I bookmooched the first in The Knitting Books series. I'm sure that I would not have picked this book off the shelves - knitting?! no mystery? It's not the type of book that calls out to me, but I was game to give it a try.

I thought it was wonderful. It's an engrossing read of 4 disparate women who join a beginning knitting class. Lydia, the owner of A Good Yarn is the teacher. She has survived 2 bouts with cancer and is taking the first steps to reclaim her life. Alix has black hair with purple spikes and some dreams that seem impossible to attain. Jacqueline's son is married to a woman that jars on her nerves and is carrying her grandchild. Carol is in her late 30's and is hoping desperately that the last attempt at in vitro fertilization will be successful.

At first I thought the whole book would take place during the knitting lessons, but that's not the case. The chapters rotate between each woman, focusing on their lives away from the shop. I came to care about each character and was sad or happy with them. It was nice to see the friendship that grew over time and how they helped each other. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series, A Good Yarn, which I've already mooched.

The chapters about Lydia, the shop owner, start with a quote about knitting. Even though I don't knit I have been involved over the years in various crafty pursuits, such as crocheting, tole painting, quilting, cross-stitching, scrapbooking, doll making, etc. So the truth of this quote resounded with me. "If you can count the number of projects you have going, you need to begin another, so you have a varied range of complexity, from the very simple 'mindless' ones to those that demand undivided attention." -Laura Early, lifetime knitter

I did some research on the author and discovered that she is a prolific writer. A list of all her series and books can be found at her website. I've already mooched the first book in her Cedar Cove series because I thought the title idea was so clever: The address in the title tells the order of the series, i.e. 16 Lighthouse Road starts with a 1, 204 Rosewood Lane starts with a 2, etc. Isn't that smart! She also has a couple of series that sound western in nature. I may be able to read one of those for my western category for my library's summer reading program - that's always a tough genre for me.

A Pea Blossom

retold by Amy Lowry Poole
This is a children's book based on an Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Poole takes the story of five peas in a pod and sets in China where she lived for several years.

The peas in the pod share with each other what they want to do when the pod pops opens and releases them. One wants to fly to the sun, another to the moon, two want to dine with the emperor. The littlest pea wanted to go wherever it is that he was meant to go.

The littlest pea ends up on a windowsill with some mold and dry leaf rot. This is where he spends the winter. (I'd be thinking -So this is what was meant to be with my life?! Actually, that thought sounds resounds in my heart at times.)

Of course, that is not the end. As you can guess the end is lovely and the pea did have a purpose. You'll need to check this out from your library or you can read the Hans Christian Anderson's version here. The ending is similar.

Flowers for Algernon

by Daniel Keyes
This is my 1960's Decade Challenge book. I've wanted to read it ever since 1968 when I saw the movie Charly that was based on this book. The movie starred Cliff Robertson in the starring role as Charly Gordon, a mentally retarded man in his 30's. I thought Robertson did an awesome job. Now that I've read the book, my next movie from Netflix is Charly. It will be interesting to see how the movie and book compare. My gosh, the movie was nearly 40 years ago (and I'm only 28. How does that happen?!)

Charly has an IQ of 70, but he is anxious to learn and works very hard in his classes for the mentally retarded. He has a job at a bakery running errands and cleaning. It's a job he loves and there are people there who are his friends. All this is about to change when Charly is selected for an experimental operation that may raise his intelligence. The same procedure has been very successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

The book is written as a series of Project Reports by Charly himself, starting before the operation and continuing for 7-8 months afterwards. The first entries capture Charly's innocence and fear and his desire to be smart. The entries are fraught with misspelled words and reveal Charly's low intellect. As the operation proves to be a success we follow Charly's rapid rise in intelligence. He peaks with an IQ of 185, above that of the scientists behind the experiment.

Charly's emotional growth does not keep pace with his intellectual development. Memories from his childhood were now accessible to him in vivid detail and he has to try to deal with them. There are other things he's not emotionally ready to handle, such as relationships, especially those with women.

I'm glad I read Flowers for Algernon and highly recommend it. If you're looking for a mild science fiction that's interesting and quick to read, with emotional charge, this is a perfect choice.

In addition tocounting for the By the Decades Challenge, Flowers for Algernon also counts for the Banned Books and the TBR challenge.

Spring Reading Thing

Lest you think I can't resist a challenge, let me reassure you that I can stop at any time. I'm not addicted. I choose to join just about every challenge I come across. Besides, they're reading challenges. They're good for me. Besides, look at this cute button and tell me how anyone could resist?

The Spring Reading Thing is hosted by Katrina at Callipiddar Days, a delightful blog. You need to check it out if you haven't already. I appreciated her explanation for "Why Callipidder Days" for her blog title, especially the last paragraph.

The Challenge is not about pressure, but about goals. Each participant decides how many books to read between March 21 and June 21. The reward is the satisfaction of completing some of those delicious, enticing books from our lists/stacks. (Plus, their are prizes!)

My lists consists of a few books I'm reading for other challenges. I'm finding the joy of reading one book and crossing it off 2 or more challenge lists is just too exhilarating for words. I've chosen books from my TBR list and my stacks and books that reflect the feel and idea of spring: light, flowers, brides.

1. And There Was Light: Autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran, Blind Hero of the French Resistance by, who else, Jacques Lusseyran

2. Slowing Down to the Speed of Light by Richard Carlson & Joseph Bailey (One of those dreaded self-help books - but this one sounds pretty good.)

3. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (Loved the movie and Cliff Robertson, who played Charlie.)

4. The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (1st in a series for which I've read many rave reviews)

5. The Pea Blossom by Amy Lowry Poole (A children's book based on Hans Christian Andersen's "Five Peas from One Pod."

6. A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist (The setting is the Virginia colonies in1643 and it has one of those covers that I talked about in a previous post.)

7. Princess Bride by William Goldman (I've heard it's even better than the movie!)

Thanks, Katrina, for the inspiration for this challenge. I'm looking forward to it with gusto.