In my last blog entry, I talked about our family Thanksgiving tradition. Today, for some reason (maybe because it is Thanksgiving week, maybe because of the sermon I heard in church yesterday, maybe because my aunt who has a terminal illness will most likely not be here next year at this time, maybe because of the 23-year old homeless mom I saw interviewed on the news this morning) my head has been swirling all day with thoughts of people I know and people I don’t know, that live around the corner or across the country who have what seem like insurmountable challenges in their lives.
So, do I go for hopeless or hopeful? Do I choose helpless or helpful? Do I accept powerless or powerful? I think the answer is obvious in theory but what does it look like practically?
The holiday season (beginning with Thanksgiving and ending around Christmas) brings forth goodwill. Food banks get fuller, pediatric wards in hospitals are filled to overflowing with stuffed animals, and nursing homes are visited by smiling faces…but what about the eleven months that follow? People are still hungry, still sick and still old and lonely but we have already spread our goodwill for the year and we have moved on. How about breaking that tradition?
I am pleading with those who read this to think of a way to make your charitable holiday heart a part of every month of the year. Use what God has given you to make a difference in someone’s life…some have been blessed with well-paying, stable jobs in a tough economy, others can sew, knit, quilt…some have time to volunteer and others have the ability to motivate others to participate…some are cooks and bakers and others are creative and crafty…we all have something that is valuable for people in need.
So, here are a few ideas: buy an extra bag of groceries (like canned goods) when you go grocery shopping and donate them to a food bank. Or, purchase a gift card, in any denomination, for a local grocery store and give it to your church or school to give to someone they know has the need. Do you sew? How about making a lap blanket (even a tie-blanket: no sewing required) for people at the nursing home. Are you a baker? Who doesn’t smile when someone cares enough to bring homemade cookies or something yummy? How about babysitting – for FREE? Give a stressed out single mom or a struggling young couple a chance to get away for a few hours. How about dinner at home and buying a restaurant gift card for someone else with the money you would have spent.
Think…think…think….we each have something to share with the world. No excuses, now is the time.
Let me know what you come up with, but just do something…and have the most amazing year!
Here are a few local (Glendale, CA) resources:
Because You Matter is a ministry to the homeless in Pasadena serving hundreds of people of all ages on the last Saturday of every month. Volunteers are needed at Central Park (Fair Oaks and Del Mar) from 1-3 p.m. Clothing donations are also accepted: cold weather clothes, adult sized shoes, jackets and especially sleeping bags are needed right now.
The Glendale Salvation Army (www.glendalecorps.org) has a food bank that services the Glendale, Montrose, and La Crescenta area. Donations can be dropped off at: 320 W. Windsor Road, Glendale. Baby formula is desperately at all times of the year. (Most major cities have a Salvation Army branch.)
I was just thinking about how fast the time is going…next week is Thanksgiving, which means that in the days that follow, it is time to put up Christmas decorations. Yay!!! But before I get ahead of myself, the intent of this blog is to share perhaps the most meaningful holiday tradition that we have. Many years ago we started “adopting” a family at Thanksgiving. We get up early in the morning and make a turkey dinner and deliver it to our “family” before returning home to do our dinner.
Over the years we have had the privilege of preparing and delivering food to families who have found themselves in dire circumstances due to job loss, death in the family and illness. Here are a few memories of the special people we have met along the way…
In 2002, we delivered a meal to the “village” at the City of Hope in Duarte, to a family whose 3 year old had just been diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Madison was an adorable little girl who captured our hearts immediately, even though she was obviously suffering from the effects of her treatment. That began a two year relationship with her and her sweet family as they battled a horribly unforgiving disease that eventually took her from her family.
We delivered meals to many at the village, to their homes where children were spending their last days with family members, to apartments where family members tried to maintain some “normalcy” for the rest of their children. Sad? Of course. Rewarding? Beyond words. I don’t think I could even do justice to the blessing we received from the families we met through the City of Hope, who were suffering tremendously. As we made our way back to our home for our Thanksgiving day, filled with food, family and good health, our perspective on life was changed.
One year, we delivered food to a family in a small apartment who had, in the year prior, lost their mother and wife to cancer. The father had recently lost his job. As we showed up with arms full of food, a neighbor greeted us and led us to the humble little “home” of the family. The dad tearfully received our food and again, we left with a fresh perspective on the blessings in our lives.
Over the past few years, we have delivered dinner to a large family living in a tiny one bedroom near our church on several occassions. We were first struck by how many people were living in this immaculate apartment filled with furniture and even a bed in the living room, and then we saw the beautiful smiles on the faces of the young boys living there. In our view, they had very little but we were so struck by the satisfaction on the faces of the kids and the gratitude of the parents.
There have been so many families that have touched our lives and inspired us over the past 18 years as we have celebrated this tradition. I remember many faces but not as many names; I remember many smiles but not any tears of sadness; and most of all, I remember the anticipation of my daughters as they thoughtfully prepared meals and small gifts for families they had never met and may never see again.
For anyone reading this who is feeling a little tug of the heart strings, wondering how to implement this tradition into your family, trying to figure out how to find a family in need…I encourage you to just do it and be prepared to be blessed in ways that you cannot imagine and may not even be able to put into words.
Here is a tip: contact your pastor, your local elementary school, boys & girls club or other organization to find families in need.
It is no secret that our dog “Buddy” is a highly-valued member of our family. This morning, I found myself kind of gloating to myself about his new-found obedience on daily walks. Well, within two blocks, I was brought back down to earth…first a little history.
We got Buddy just under four years ago from the Pasadena Humane Society where he had been since being separated from his family. While he was living at there, they did an assessment that gave him an A rating on behavior and on how well he gets along with other dogs. He was basically a house-trained, well-behaved dog but was not so good on a leash. So, we did what any good dog owner would do: we hired a “personal” trainer for him to come to our house and train him in his environment and most importantly, to train us! He did very well and I did OK, he continued walking me and not vice versa. Not to be deterred, I continued working at it.
Fast forward…Summer 2008…Richard and Buddy went out for an evening walk while Stephanie, Sean and I were at home. They were gone quite awhile and when they returned, Richard called us all into one room. “YOUR dog,” he began, “just attacked another dog!” The story goes, on their walk, they stopped at a friend’s house up the street to chat. While they were doing this, a neighbor came walking around the corner with their two dogs-a Cocker Spaniel and a Chihuahua. Buddy started backing up and before Richard realized it, he had backed right out of his collar and had the Chihuahua in his mouth! With the dog owner screaming, our friends looking on in horror and Richard frantically trying to pry Buddy’s jaw open, time stood still! Finally, Richard succeeded and the woman grabbed her dog, bleeding, and ran home-across the street from our friends house. My husband, still in shock and filled with adrenaline, waited in the driveway of our friends house until the family emerged with the dog, headed to the Vet. Of course, we took care of the bills for injuries that, fortunately, turned out to be just puncture wounds.
Even though I wasn’t there for that event, it took me awhile to start my dog-walking routine again and that is when I started playing “Dodge Dog”. I know where dogs will charge their fences. I know when and where the lady walks the little white puff ball that terrorizes Buddy. I know that he doesn’t like the Collins’ dog, Riley, so instead of stopping to chat, we just stop before we encounter them. I also know what time the Chihuahua and Cocker Spaniel take their walks (yes, I have run into them). So basically, I walk with my head on a swivel always alert and looking for a potential threat.
As I walked down Sparr Boulevard today, in the home stretch of our walk, gloating about my success as a dog walker, I let my guard down. Two blocks later, 50 feet from the entrance to my driveway, my confidence came undone. On the other side of the street was a lady walking, not one, but two dogs close to Buddy’s size. One of them decided to talk crap to Buddy-funny because that’s exactly what was in the bag I was holding in my hand putting me at a slight disadvantage when Buddy decided to use all of his 110 pounds-with me attached to the end of the leash-to dart out into the street to go after the “crap barker”! Fortunately, I was able to stay on my feet and not face plant in front of the truck waiting at the stop sign watching the activity.
Well, lesson learned: lady with the two big dogs is to be added to the “Dodge Dog” list. Honestly, it was the first time he pulled me off my feet making me realize how important it is to firmly plant both feet, which, in my complacency today, I did not do.
I realize that the Dog Whisperer would have plenty to say to me about my “techniques” regarding obedience but I am making progress.
Please allow me a little time to vent. I am trying to figure this out and appreciate any insight that might alleviate my frustrations or answer my questions. I realize that this is long and you may not really want to read and I will never know whether you do or not but it has allowed me to assemble some of my thoughts and get them out of my head…venting.
I am learning a lot about the California budget by way of my college education. Honestly, I feel a little bit stupid for not being better informed but I tend to tune out what seems to be political, bureaucratic and financial stuff because I am not fully convinced that what I think matters.
Getting into classes in my first quarter at Cal State Los Angeles has been difficult. I blamed my inability to get classes first on the advisor in the admissions office who told me that I need not attend New Student Orientation because as a transfer student, I had my stuff together (I could have registered in July had I attended). Next was the idea that my options had been limited because my course matriculation hadn’t yet been confirmed (it still might have some bearing) and then once classes actually got started came the realization that there are too many students for the number of classes offered! There are plenty of chairs in each class, plenty of instructors and plenty of classrooms but that matters very little I found out.
I was emailing with a professor last week to try to get on his “wait list” and his response was that he has never seen such a tight cap on the number of students per class in all his years of teaching but he kindly encouraged me to show up on the first day for a “lottery” for open spots. I soon found out that a.) there are no lotteries, b.) there are very few open spots, c.) there are as many people trying to add each class as a enrolled in the class, and d.) it is in every class, every department at Cal State Los Angeles (and my guess is at other Cal State campuses). I also learned that instructors have literally no control over who is chosen to add into those few spots…priority goes like this: 1. students who have already “walked”, 2. students graduating in December, 3. students graduating in June and it really doesn’t matter much after that since there are a minimal number of spots. Names (or ID numbers rather) are submitted to the department and an email is sent to the student to let them know they have been added.
So, the two classes that I was actually able to get into are part of my General Education Theme that I have to complete before graduating. The girl sitting next to me this morning, who was trying to add that class, is scheduled to graduate in December and was only able to register for one class-she is trying to crash three! Good Luck! At the Psychology Department Offices, I found out that CSULA is no longer requiring Psych Majors to have their 10 general electives taken from 4 different areas of emphasis now you just need any 10 electives so that students can just graduate. My instructor on Thursday said that not only were the number of classes he was teaching cut but so was his salary (9.23%) and he is (as are all instructors) required to take furlough days. All professors are encouraging students to sign petitions and join protests in the hopes of bringing about some changes…again, I am not convinced that it is possible.
Out of my own frustration (or selfishness, whatever) I decided to look further to figure out why any of this makes sense to someone. Here is what I found:
CSU’s are not accepting applications for the 2010 spring term (typical enrollment of new students is 35,000) and the cut off for the winter term was July 6, 2009 and those are only being approved if they are “fully eligible.” The CSU’s are attempting to “bring enrollment in line with available resources” because the enrollment over the past several years has exceeded the state funding received for each student with the goal being to reduce enrollment by 40,000 students system-wide by 2010-11 school year. The budget cuts for the CSU system has been cut by more than $550 million AND tuition went up this quarter and is scheduled to go up again in the next quarter.
While all of this is frustrating, I feel a great deal of sympathy for young people who are trying to get on with their lives. I also see the difference in the public and private institutions…Lizzy has no trouble whatsoever getting classes and PLNU has no trouble taking a lot of money from us for that privilege. Although I am happy that my daughter can get out of college in 3 1/2 years, I believe that the ability to pay for an education does not bring about the most qualified people for the job force (my daughter excluded of course). There are several CSU campuses that are especially geared for the education of low-income students, many who are the first in their families to ever attend college. CSULA is one of them. I find it very frustrating to have a higher education system that makes it more difficult for an individual to “rewrite” their own story and to set a new standard for the next generation. I can’t even begin to imagine what these cuts mean to the Class of 2010 at the high school level.
I am still trying to figure it all out but will admit that I am extremely grateful for my two classes this quarter and I am still grateful that I have the opportunity to pursue my education. Regardless of my belief in whether or not my voice really matters in the “system,” I am obligated to support those students working to have the collective voice heard to make changes now and in the future.
I believe that I have already learned something that won’t be covered in the syllabi of my two classes. Yay me!
There is something about football and the start of the new TV season that says fall to me. I took time on Monday to program my DVR. Sean and Steph were over and Sean laughed when he saw that I actually had a list of days, shows and times prepared. So here is what I have programmed for this season:
MONDAY:
For me, kind of a weak night but there is Monday Night Football. Castle at 10 p.m. I’m glad it’s back, I think it’s a cute show.
TUESDAY:
NCIS at 8 and NCIS:LA at 9. NCIS is one of my favorite shows (we spent the summer watching reruns on USA) and I was very pleased with the premier of NCIS:LA last night.
WEDNESDAY:
So excited for the new season of Criminal Minds (9 p.m.)-cliff hanger left me anxious for this season. And of course, Law & Order: SVU (also on at 9).
THURSDAY:
A big night!!!! My two absolute favorite shows: Bones (8 p.m.) and The Mentalist (10 p.m.). So excited for those to start-actually Bones started last week. I am anxious to check out Flash Forward (8 p.m.) after all of the hype advertising its premier. We’ll see if it’s “the best new show of the fall.”
FRIDAY:
Kind of a dud in my opinion…used to watch Numbers but I found that I fall asleep every week (a statement about my love of math). I watched a couple of episodes of Southland (9 p.m.) last year so the jury is still out (I think it is starting next week).
As I look at my list, I realize that “my shows” are all some sort of crime drama…you generally won’t find me watching comedies and, for sure, there is no reality TV (I HATE IT). And don’t forget, I have to allow time in the first few months for the final weeks of Major League Baseball, which is every night!
About five years ago, I started on a new journey….I started pursuing my college education. I had always wanted to go to college but when we got married Richard was only half way through and I needed to work while he did that. Then, of course, there were kids and still work. I did go to Glendale Community College for a semester and a half when Lizzy was 4, but quit when I had a new job opportunity. It always remained one of my life’s goals but the further I got away from it (ie, the older I got) the harder it was to do it. I thought I would be this OLD lady in the classroom and everyone would look at me and make fun of me (I know, completely realistic) but most of all I wasn’t sure how I would do, after all, my high school performance was less than stellar.
I started slowly and incognito: I took online classes, two a semester for two years. It was great, no one could see me so they didn’t know how old I was! I did well, all A’s…hmmmm, maybe I am not such a bad student. Then Lizzy graduated from high school, went away to college and I had no excuse not to get on campus and really go for it. Ugghhhh!
One of the most frustrating (and humiliating) things in the whole process was having to take the assessment tests. English-no problem, Math-problem. I hated math growing up, in fact, Mrs. Mathis, my Algebra II teacher at Chandler High School got so tired of trying to help me that she finally said, “I think it might be best if we transfer you to Consumer Math!” Now that was a confidence booster! So I did all I could in the 20+ years that followed to avoid doing math…good thing I married a finance guy. My math assessment determined that I needed to start with “Arithmetic Fundamentals”…great, that means I only needed to take 4 semesters of Math before taking the fifth math class that would transfer! Boy was I relieved when we started with the number line and whole numbers on my first day of class!!! Oh my gosh, I thought I would die-I even came home and asked my second grade friend, Matthew, what he was doing in his Math class-he had already mastered the number line! I made it through: Arithmetic, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Intermediate Algebra and finally Statistics, and only one B (the rest A’s-just to clarify).
I graduated from Citrus Community College with my AA (and a 3.78 GPA) and start at Cal State Los Angeles on Thursday. The first day I was at Citrus I was sooooo nervous. I didn’t realize just how nervous until I got home and fell asleep for 3 hours! So, here I am starting a new school and am finding myself a bit nervous again-I have to “crash” classes, which I have never done before-I hope nobody looks at me! At the same time, I am very excited. Did I mention that I LOVE school and I LOVE to study and I make “a million notecards” (as Lizzy says) and I actually read my books and underline and highlight! I am excited that I will finally be taking classes in my major (Psychology) and will actually be with students who really want to be there (I was getting a little tired of the community college attitude…did that sound like a mom? Oh well, it is truth).
So, what am I going to do when I grow up? Richard says I am going to be a Professional Student because I plan to go to Fuller Seminary to get my PhD when I graduate from CSULA. My answer is: whatever I want! There are so many things that I want to do and most have to do with teenagers. I need my “ticket” aka my degree to make it happen though. So for now, my “job” is going to school and keeping my eyes open to whatever I can discover about myself and the ways that I can make a difference in the world. Lofty expectations? It might sound like it but I am confident that there will be a lot for me to do when I am finished with school.
AND, fortunately, colleges don’t look at my high school report card or get references from my high school teachers, but it is precisely that experience in my life that has fueled my desire to be an advocate, a cheerleader and a friend to teenagers just like me.
I should probably go get my backpack ready now!!! Just kidding!
I am the oldest of four kids…my brother Jeff is 11 months younger than me (yep, my mom had two kids under the age of one when she was just 19), my sister Kelly is four years younger than Jeff and Jon is 18 months younger than Kelly. We were quite a crew. Obviously, Jeff and I were together all the time, often being asked if we were twins when we were young. He was by far my best friend growing up and even today ranks just behind my husband.
My earliest memories include Jeff. Army men, football, baseball, riding bikes and skateboards were some of the things we did together. One of the memories that makes me laugh every time I think of it is when we would play “Sue and Dave”…we have no idea where those names came from but they were our favorite make-believe characters. Most of the time Sue and Dave were driving in the car-you know, sitting on the back of the couch, going to the drive-in, “cruising Main Street” (that was what cool people did in Hays, Kansas). Fortunately, we were probably only about five or six years old during this phase.
I can’t really use age as an excuse for our “band” phase…we were at least 9 and 10 years old. Pots and pans made great drums, lids were great cymbals and we even made guitars out of cardboard. Sometimes, we would let Kelly and Jon be in the band but they weren’t very musically inclined. Favorite songs: “Billy Don’t Be A Hero” by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods and “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney. Good times.
When we went to register Jeff for his first year of Pop Warner Football, I actually thought I was going to play also…boy was I devastated-after all, who taught him all his moves? I was 11. He was very kind to me and taught me all of his team’s plays (he was the quarterback), which we practiced in the backyard all the time. We lined up hats, helmets, Jon’s Tonka trucks and anything we could find to be our offensive line…he was the quarterback and I was the center, the running back and the wide receiver…I was good. I still remember the “Melcher Pass”.
Remember newspaper routes? Remember those obnoxious newspaper carriers coming to the door during dinner…”collecting”? Yep, that was us. Jeff and I would ride our bikes, sometimes before the sun was even up, to the newspaper office where we folded, rubber banded and stuffed the Chandler Arizonan into our big white canvas bags and took off balancing the weight on our bikes. I still remember the smell of the ink that stained our hands and seemed like it would never wash off. I was the “Carrier of the Week” once…my picture was in the paper-I still have it: “Kim Zimmerman, 12 years old says ‘girls are better than boys when it comes to delivering newspapers!’” Oh goodness…feminist? No. Tomboy? For sure.
Junior High was not kind to my relationship with Jeff. I was less interested in playing football with Jeff and his friends and more interested in, well, “hanging out” with them. He was not thrilled. We did have the mumps at the same time (I was in 9th grade, Jeff in 8th) and got to be spoiled by Grama Gill, Aunt Cyndy and Uncle Rusty when we were serving out our quarantine days. The ship was righted in high school and we had some fun times. We had all the same friends and he finally realized that girls were pretty cool. Together we might have gotten caught throwing oranges at our cross-town rivals school bus after they beat us in basketball, we might have had a few parties when the parents were out of town, we might have covered for each other when we violated curfew and I might have let him drive my car when he didn’t have a driver’s license…the stories go on and on and on from our days at Chandler High School and we laugh hysterically today when we reminisce (Richard was a part of many of them).
I got married the year after Jeff graduated from high school. When the time for our wedding came, there was no one else that I wanted to walk me down the aisle…Jeff was giving me away to one of his very best friends. It was one of those special moments in life that defy words. Last May when Stephanie got married, she wanted Jeff to be my escort into the ceremony-her acknowledgement of his place in her life and in mine.
Today, Jeff and I have such a special relationship. We live 60 miles apart and don’t see each other as much as we would like but we can always catch up on the phone during a commute in So Cal traffic. In July, I met him at the Angels game where we sat and talked and talked and talked-we watched the game too because he also LOVES the Angels! We love to talk about the trades and acquisitions and the players that we love or hate. As long as I can remember he has been a sports fanatic and it is so fun to talk sports with him-it was him that “forced” me to also love sports.
Jeff is an amazing man-caring, compassionate, loyal and sensitive. He is a great dad and step-dad-he has always put his daughter ahead of himself and loves her beyond words. As a step-dad his is more committed and loyal than most biological dads, Garrett and Brooke are so fortunate. He is a very hard worker, has a magnetic personality and a very dry sense of humor. He is such a great uncle and he adores his nieces who love to hear his stories and laugh with him. He loves the Denver Broncos and has had an unnatural infatuation with John Elway for as long as I can remember. He loves Elmer’s Tacos and the Dave Matthews Band. He is not a fan of elevators or small airplanes.
I may not know who “Dave” is but I know my brother and he’s a pretty cool guy…everyone should be so lucky!
This is one of my favorite pictures ever…dated September 1966: I am 2 and Jeff is 1.
Yep, that’s us as Raggedy Ann and Andy…costumes courtesy of Grama Gill.
A picnic at Grama Gill’s house where we had many of our mischievous adventures…it was Grama Gill who washed Jeff’s mouth out with soap for saying a bad word!
So, as I have mentioned, I read a lot…the other day, I was reading something that talked about the beauty that we take for granted in the world around us and it really struck me. I decided that I would take some time this week to really look at what is in my own yard that I see every day but really don’t appreciate. So this morning, Buddy and I grabbed my Canon 50D and two lenses and did some exploring. I love my house and feel so fortunate that in a city as busy as ours I have this little refuge set back off the street that is not only filled with quiet but surrounded by vibrant green plants that flower in a variety of colors (and smell amazing in the springtime) and a view of mountains and hills under fluffy white clouds (finally the fire residue has cleared out). I wish that in these pictures you could hear birds that I hear but you will surely get the point.
Below is the view that I see when I sit on my porch to read as I love to do on cool So Cal mornings (which are many)…
…and the view to my right is my faithful companion. If we were all so lucky to have such a loyal friend 
A lot of people talk about memories of Sunday traditions as they grew up but that didn’t resonate with me until recently-now Sunday is definitely my favorite day of the week.
Most weekends, church on Sunday morning is followed by lunch at home-sometimes very elaborate other times leftovers from Saturdays feast. We realized on vacation this year that the topic of conversation at most meals eventually turns to what the next meal will be so it is obviously a focal point of the day. Sunday is a time when Richard LOVES to create some gourmet dinner, usually with his cooking buddy Jim, so the smell of great food radiates throughout the house. But, before dinner, there are multiple football games to watch (I usually get my Angels baseball game in too during the fall), naps to be had, and homework to be done…it is not uncommon to walk in and find many extra “kids” (ok, young adults) lining the couches each with their laptop purring.
As I walked toward the family room this Sunday and heard the whistles of the football game and the laughter and chatter of the kids in the room, it brought such a warm feeling to me. While Sunday was not a special day to me as a child, I am glad that it holds tradition, warmth and the closeness of family for my kids and their friends.
Perhaps it has something to do with starting that day at a church where warmth and closeness of family are felt there…just a thought.
It’s hard to believe that I never really read for enjoyment until I was in my late twenties. Ok, well I went through a phase in high school where I read some Harlequin Romance books…but somehow I was never assigned a reading of any of the classics that my kids were required to read in high school. No “Great Gatsby”, no “Catcher in the Rye” (was that approved reading in my day?), no “Moby Dick” or “Jane Eyre”…seriously…or did I just miss that day(s) of class. I have often felt jipped to have missed those books-although I would have no doubt complained about it at the time-and also the discipline (and maybe even the enjoyment) of reading assignments.
When the girls were young (and so were we), Richard worked in Guam for a month and at the end of his trip, I joined him in Hawaii. On his trip, he “took up” reading, starting with an up and coming author named John Grisham who he encouraged me to read while in Hawaii. I have not stopped reading since. Most of the time, I have four or five books going: a murder mystery (usually Patterson, Connelly, Johansen, Flynn or Isles), something light-hearted (or just not scary so I can read before I go to sleep without nightmares), something religious or spiritual (just finished “Holy Discontent” by Bill Hybels and immediately started “Life of the Beloved” by Henri Nouwen for at least the sixth time) and a few days ago I finished reading “Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone”. Believe me, the last thing I ever expected was to enjoy Harry Potter (as you can tell, I put it off this long) but I LOVED it and am anxiously waiting to start the next one.
For Christmas this year, Richard got me the Sony Ebook Reader (similar to the Kindle) so I can carry all five of my latest reads in my purse…brilliant! So here are a few of my favs:
Vince Flynn, character Mitch Rapp…government, espionage, so good but start with the first one.
James Patterson…love all of his stuff because chapters are about 2-3 pages long-seriously-which makes it easy to pick it up and put it down. One of his series’ is the Women’s Murder Club with all the books having number in the titles…number 8 came out most recently and I am now waiting for 9.
Jodi Piccoult of “My Sister’s Keeper” the movie that came out this summer…is a great writer with each chapter written from a different characters perspective. Be warned, some of the time, tissues are required. Besides “My Sister’s Keeper” I liked “Keeping Faith” and “Nineteen Minutes”.
“Jesus Land” a memoir by Julia Scheeres was probably one of the most surprising books that I have ever read. She tells her story of growing up in a “Christian bootcamp” in the Midwest with two adopted black brothers at a time and place where segregation was alive and well.
“The Color of Water” by James McBride I think I have read at least six times as have both of my daughters. It is a black man’s tribute to his white mother…incredibly inspiring.
I enjoyed “The Shack” the second time I read it.
I had to read “The Awakening” in my English Comp class recently and really liked it and read “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in my Children’s Lit class and loved it.
So, on Friday, we are heading to the beach house in Newport Beach for a week…the books that are on my list are Harry Potter (2) of course, “The Swimsuit” (Patterson-I have been saving it), “The Devil’s Punch Bowl” (Iles) as well as “Life of the Beloved.”
I always like getting recommendations from other people…
