books – Grounded African

A room without books is like a body without a soul. – Cicero

Bloganuary Day 21

Today’s Prompt: Who is your favorite author and why?

Now there is a question that I don’t really have an answer to. I enjoy reading. Ever since I was a kid, I had to read something every day. To this day, no day is complete without me reading something even if it is an article or two on Medium or a blog post on WordPress. I have have shelves and shelves of both fiction and non-fiction books. I don’t know if I will ever get to read all of them but I live in hope.🤭 I do have some favourites though. Let’s start with the fiction:

Lee Childs – I loooove Jack Reacher! He is such a unique character. I was horrified when they made Tom Cruise play him so I didn’t bother watching him. I must say that the Amazon Prime series actor is a lot closer to the picture I had of Reacher so I enjoyed season 1 and look forward to season 2 although I still prefer to read the books.
Jeffery Deaver – The master of deception. He keeps me guessing
James Patterson – I love that his chapters are so short. It results in the books having a good pace.
Ken Follet – I love the stories and how he weaves his love of cathedral architecture into his stories.
Michael Connelly – Both the Bosch and Mickey Haller series. I have also enjoyed how the stories have been brought to life in the TV series created for both characters.
George R.R. Martin – I have just started reading A song of Ice and Fire series and I just love his style.
J.K Rowling – I love the level of detail she adds to her stories. I marvelled as I read the Harry Potter series. I recently bought “The Cuckoo is Calling” which is written under her pseudonym, Robert Galbraith. I look forward to reading this series as well.

I used to enjoy Stephen King, Sydney Sheldon and Dean Koontz when I was at school. I read Stephen King’s “On Writing” a few years ago. It’s a must for aspiring writers.

Non fiction writers that I enjoy include

Malcoln Gladwell – Outliers made me think long and hard about the opportunities I wanted to give my son in order for him to make well informed choices later on in his life.
Walter Isaacson – I have yet to finish one of his biographies. They are so long but very enjoyable to read when I can fit them in. I have started Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein.
Gabby Bernstein – I love her take on spirituality. She really helped me find my way to God in recent years. This is also true of Florence Scovel Shinn’s books.

Let me also not forget the poetry of Billy Chapata.

As you can see, I could go on forever about the books that I read. A lot of the non-fiction books that I have read and are still to be read are probably easier to group together by topic rather than author as I am drawn to books on spirituality, psychology, finance (Mine needs serious help!), economics and business.

I have a list of new authors that I will be keeping an eye out for based on the recommendations of my fellow bloganuary participants. Just follow the hashtag #bloganuary to find a few that might interest you.

I’m off. I’ll leave you this beautiful quote about books and reading.

“As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence, of the music. And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.”
Ursula K. Le Guin

If you wish to renew your mind, read.– Lailah Gifty Akita

Bloganuary Day 10

Today’s Prompt: Has a book changed your life?

Those that follow my blog and those that know me, know that books are one of the great loves of my life. Every book that I read impacts my life in one way or another. It doesn’t matter if it is fiction or non-fiction. Every book counts.

If I have to choose 4 that stand out for me it would be:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho- It was the first time I had read about the Universe conspiring to help me achieve my dreams. It is also my favourite quote from the book. It planted the seed that I was still allowed to dream (I was in my early thirties when I read it) and that it’s okay if I have to go on a journey to achieve it. In a nutshell, it gave me hope when I didn’t realise I needed it.
The Jewel of Abundance by Ellen Grace O’Brian – I read this book not long after my mum died. I was searching for meaning for my life and I also wanted to activate abundance in all its forms. I was in such a bad space by the end of 2018. It was a year of many losses. This book was recommended by Paulo Coelho on Twitter so I hoped onto amazon and bought the kindle version. It helped me understand what abundance is and it helped me bring spirituality into my life. I found a level of peace through this book. I think I need to go back to it because I need some guidance again.
The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn – This book is a metaphysical book but it made me look at the bible differently and help me understand it and grow my faith in God. I am not very good at reading the bible and there were certain perceptions that I had about it. I had many, sometimes heated, discussions with our priest when I was a teen and in my 20’s, about my perceptions. This book helped me see what he had been trying to tell me all along.
The Surrender Experiment – Micheal Singer. This book helped me trust my instincts more and follow the path that it leads me on as well as to let go of the outcome. I have since figured out at that I still have a lot to learn about surrendering but this book opened my eyes to what it is and that it is ok if things don’t work out as I had planned them.

Have you read any of these books? Did you have similar takealots? Let me know in the comments.

31 Days of Gratitude – Day 27

6 more sleeps until the New Year and 2 more sleeps until my son comes home! I have lots to be excited about! My little desk also arrived today. This one will be dedicated to my writing. I am so gratefil that I will have a little writing spot which I am hoping will help me create, and firmly entrench, a daily writing habit. I am counting on Bloganuary to really kick start the habit again as well. I had so much fun with it this past Jan.

I also spent some time this morning listing all the things I did this year. I have made so many changes and pushed so many boundaries. I am very proud of myself and very grateful for the opportunities and the means to do it all. I had also promised myself that I would be intentional about certain things this year. One of which was to stop absorbing knowledge and spend more time putting what I do know into practice and sharing it where I can. I’ve done it but there is so much more to share so I will definitely keep this on my list for years to come.

Another item on that list was to learn to love myself a whole lot more and I am glad to say that I have definitely made progress on this one. These days my first reaction when I look in the mirror is to smile at myself rather than look for faults. I have changed the way I dress and I have discovered the impact and power of lipstick ! Phew! I have a whole blog post planned on the power of lipstick alone. Who knew!😜 All in all I must say that it feels good to like what I see in the mirror and I am grateful that I am able to make that switch and start appreciating and valuing myself more.🙏

That’s it for today. I have finally started the Fire & Ice series of books by George RR Martin. I bought them in 2018 but only feel like I am ready to commit to them as of today. I am only 2 chapters in and I am enjoying his writing already. Ooh and my favorite part was officially opening the boxset and having the smell of a brand new book hit me. The highlight of my day 😁.

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