I need a reading intervention

I need a reading intervention - HELP!

Okay, let's say I haven't read a book in ten years... Yeah, yeah, don't everyone fall of your chair at once (I have read a few books in the past ten years, but I can pretty much guarantee they weren't on the best sellers list, or even in the "aspiring to be a best seller" list, or even novels for that matter)...

Where do I start?

What's good?

What's hot?

What's cool?

What has rocked your world lately???

I need suggestions, STAT!

I don't read horror or sci-fi (I read about 500 sci-fi books in the 80s, and kind of overdosed on them)...

Where, in the great wide word of all things bookish, do I start?

Please help - in fact, feel free to send all your mates over to help, too - I'm really desperate and at sea, and totally pathetic, you'll be doing your humanitarian deed for the month!

Comments

Leah - Bogue Living said…

Love how you don't count twilight as books - neither do i!!

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is a good one, shot to fame by Oprah. It's not a very gripping blurb but it's very engaging.

I will say, perusing the Oprah lists is really not a bad place to start. She mostly picks winners. I kind of ignored her book shows until she picked up She's come undone, a book and author I love. They are usually readily available to borrow, buy second hand or at Kmart etc because of her recs as well.

A Map of the World, White Oleander, Poisonwood bible, all great books.

9:01 am

Sif said…

Thanks for the tip, Leah, and LOL at the Twilight series - had totally forgotten I read that! Obviously made a huge impression...

9:14 am

Mer said…

Jasper Jones, When God Was a Rabbit, Past the Shallows, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore.

4:44 pm

Sugar Pop Cafe said…

The Element by Ken Robinson. Hope you find something you enjoy!

6:16 pm

12 Things Happy People Do Differently - a self-reflection...

A few days ago a Facebook friend posted the above poster on her wall. I believe she got these points from this blog which she enjoys reading, and the bloggers on the Marc and Angel Hack Life blog derived their discussion of these points from this book, available on Amazon - you're welcome! I have to admit, I haven't read the blog or the book I've just mentioned but wanted my readers to have access to the sources of the poster for their own reflective purposes.
The New Year will be upon us in but a few days and I thought this a great opportunity to do a little personal assessment on how I'm playing the happy game. I'm often not very happy at all - I don't need to be happy all the time, let me just say that up front - I personally believe that life is a balancing act and those who seek euphoria often will also often feel desolation because in all things there must be balance. The great riches of the few on this planet come at the personal cost of the many as is …

The symbolism of elephants...

Just recently I've been seeing and noticing elephants everywhere!

A few weeks ago I saw the Samsung Elephant Ad, and watching that led me to watching a video with an elephant painting (seriously, you have to watch it to believe it!).

Then last night the boys told me they were having a free dress day at school to raise money for 'Mali the Elephant' - who turned out to be a paper maché statue which the children will paint and then show around the council before it comes back to the school to stand outside the performing arts room.

Then this morning I followed a link from Twitter to Toushka Lee's blog and read this post about an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka.

This morning the Grumpy Old Man did another driving test and unfortunately didn't pass. We've booked his next test and are looking forward to that now. About ten minutes before he walked in the door I saw this poster on Facebook...

At the time, I didn't know if the Grumpy Old Man had been successful or …

Do you have low self-esteem?

I don't.

I used to think I did, but having met several people who really do have low self-esteem, I've now come to realise I actually have low confidence (and note I don't say low self-confidence, but more on that later), and that is a different breed of animal all together.

I was having a chat with a friend the other day about people who constantly put themselves down. If you are a participant in social media you might be aware of this kind of person. Everyone is smarter than them, prettier than them, more motivated, better organised, or has greater talent than them. It goes further, some of these people are not at all opposed to running themselves down to others with comments like, 'I'm so fat' (and not in a proud, fat acceptance way, but in a negative, self-loathing kind of way), or 'I'm stupid' or 'I'm ugly'.

Some people are just fishing for compliments, of course, but the ones who persist; the ones who simply cannot take a complimen…

At the bottom of the Garden

Search This Blog