Sunday, October 16, 2011

My Last 3 Books

I've read two fabulous books this past couple of weeks and just started a third.

First off, I read "Seabiscuit" by Laura Hillenbrand. I thought her book "Unbroken" was one of the best books I've read in years so thought I'd give this one a go too and I wasn't disappointed. It's fascinating stuff about the life of the jockeys and of course very heartwarming about Seabiscuit's challenges and rise to fame. It was also interesting to read about his link to thoroughbred greats like Man O' War and War Admiral. You don't have to be nuts about horses to read it but it certainly does make you have an enormous amount of respect for the horses & jockeys after you've read it.

Last Friday morning as I was leaving for Texas, I snatched a couple of books from the shelf, chose "Waiting to exhale" and was out the door when Linda suggested that I take "Labor Day" by Joyce Maynard instead as she had read both. By the time my shuttle dropped me at the Hyatt in San Antonio I could hardly say thank you to the driver I was so engrossed. By later that afternoon I'd read the whole thing. Unputdownable - if there is such a word! It's the bizarre but wonderful story from the perspective of a 13-year old boy over a Labor Day weekend. You really get to like the characters and it makes you feel like being a better person after you've read it. Highly recommended!

When I left San Antonio to come home today I had a conundrum. There's no way I could travel for 6 hours without a book but I hate to buy books from the airport. I like to get my books from thrift shops and the library (cheapskate I know). As I was browsing the books at the airport I couldn't find a single one - even the flimsy paperbacks - for less than $15! Scandalous I tell you. Still, I absolutely cannot travel without a book so I had to suck it up and bought "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. This is going to be an interesting book. It's a diary, or blog type book written by a woman who realises one day that she's not happy. Not depressed, but not happy. She then goes on a quest to look at happiness with a commitment to increasing her happiness and therefore the happiness of all around her (husband, kids, family, work colleagues). So far it's been very good - enlightening almost and makes me want to come up with my own happiness project. The stories she recounts of snapping at her kids and picking on her husband rings a bit too true for me not to at least try to soak as much of this book up as I can. It is not a self-help or preachy book at all - like I said, she writes it almost like a blog and it's witty and honest. I'm going to like it a lot and maybe I can take some things from it. I'm sure my husband and kids would very much appreciate it!

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