Carolina Musings: January 2012

Welcome

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year and Best Wishes to Each of You

You have probably noticed that I haven't posted to this blog in QUITE a while--between moving, hand surgery, illness and a mother who has declined in mental and physical capacity I just haven't felt lilke it. But it has been a time of reflection and looking forward to the coming months and, because of that, I have decided to end this Blog. The need to post has flown away--I don't know why but perhaps it's just time to proceed on to a different season of my life. I can't tell you just how much it has meant to me when people have told me how much they have enjoyed reading the things I've written and I appreciate the comments that many of you have left on my blog. I don't know what the coming year will bring into my life but I do know that each step in our lives is a preparation for the next one and I thank each of you for that part you have played in the process. Happy New Year and many blessings for each of you in the current life path that you are following.

Books I've REALLY Enjoyed Lately

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

I like everything I've read by Wally Lamb. This book concerns the aftermath of the shooting at Columbine High School. The characters come alive as you read and you get a pretty good picture of what it must have be like to experience such a catastrophe.

City of Women by David Gillham

This story takes place in WWII Nazi Germany. The main character is a young woman whose husband serves in the German Army while she lives in a small apartment with her mother-in-law. Through a series of events, she becomes involved with helping Jews escape from being sent to concentration camps. It is a story of her journey from ignoring the heinous crimes of the Nazis towards the Jewish population to committing her life to something she knows is worth the cost of her own personal safety. The question for each of us is whether we would be as brave in the same circumstances.

The Racketeer by John Grisham

I haven't particularly card about John Grisham's book lately but this one stands out for me. It is about a lawyer who, through no fault of his own, gets charged with racketeering and is sent to Federal Prison for several years. You cheer for him as he devises a way to be released legally and the aftermath. It will keep up up at night waiting to see what will happen next.

Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

A VERY good read.

Home Front by Kristan Hannah

I think that Kristan Hannah is more or less a romance author and I suppose this book would come under that category. But it is much more. It explores what happens with our service men and women when they are sent to the mid-East and are daily exposed to horrors and danger beyond their ability to endure without mental damage and, thus, come home a far different person than when they went. The main character in this book in a wife and mother who is a helicopter pilot in the Reserves. It is indeed a tear jerker but a necessary read.

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

I like anything by Barbara Kingsolver (particularly her autobiographical book about her family's year of only eating food in season and within her region). This novel centers around a massive immigration of monarch butterflies to a mountain community and how it affects the people of the region. There is much talk about ecology, what we are doing to the environment and the effect of our actions BUT there is a great storyline to keep you engaged.