Tag: books

Celebrating 2023: A Month of Gratitude – Day 5

Seasons, reasons and lifetimes. I’m sure we have all heard the saying that some people come into your life for a season, a reason or a lifetime. Of course we only know which it is in hindsight so the only thing that is within our control is to enjoy and appreciate them while they are in your life.

Today I want to take a moment to say thank you to the people who have remained in my life this year, the new friends that have entered into my life and to those who have or are moving on. Each one of you has either helped make me stronger, kept me sane, brought a little or a lot of sunshine in my life, sprinkled some fairy dust, or held my hand when it needed to be held. These are just a few of the ways that you have helped me through this year and I hope I have done the same for you.

I don’t think I have ever believed in God answering prayers almost immediately until the end of July this year. I was dealing with an issue that had left me feeling overwhelmed. I was sitting in the bath in tears because I was at my whits end. I said a prayer to ask for help through my tears. As soon as I hopped out the bath, a new friend that I had recently made messaged me and I mentioned how upset I was and why. They immediately recommended a book that would help. I smiled because God knows that books are my favourite tools for everything. I felt better immediately just knowing that a solution existed. This friend also called me a few days later to talk me through a few techniques I could also use to change the situation when it arose again and, ultimately, overcome it. I am so grateful for this person and for the impact they have had on my life in a very short space of time.. They are literally God sent.

Until tomorrow…

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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:

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  • 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.