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Monday, June 18, 2018

Reading Genius

A few weeks ago, my almost six year old niece was having a conversation with Himself.  She told him, "Mommy said that you and Aunt Donna are reading geniuses."  I stopped listening there.  I have never been called a genius at anything.  My sister thinks that?

I have always loved to read.  Growing up, I was the kid in class that got in trouble for reading too much.  Is there such a thing?  My family made bi-weekly trips to the library and when I finished reading the books I picked out I would start in on what my dad had chosen.  I think I read Surgeon Under the Knife and books by Dorothy Fuldheim when I was in Junior High.

I remember hiding my books between the mattresses.  After I got tucked-in for the night, I would slip them out and read by flashlight under the covers.

I track my books on GoodReads and set a goal for the year of forty books.  As we near the halfway point of the year, I am closing in on that goal.  I have read mostly fiction with just a couple of biographies thrown in for good measure.

At the beginning of the year I created a list on GoodReads, 2018-to-read, of a dozen books that I own that I have been wanting to read and haven't.  I think it is about time to get started on them.





There has been a lot of discussion of this book on Leila's FB book club.  I think it will be an enlightening read as one who grew up in an intact family.  I have a feeling, too, that will also be a bit depressing.

It's GKC.  What more needs to be said?

When I was young, the Little House books were my favorite.  So much so, I tried to convince my parents to plan one of our vacations around visiting the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum in Mansfield, MO.  That didn't happen, but I still have those books and look forward to passing them on to my niece.  I won this book on GoodReads and really need to get to reading and reviewing it.

I have see some of St. Catherine's quote, but I know nothing of her life.  I want to learn more.

It is reported that on several occasions GKC sent a telegram to his wife Frances from some distant (and incorrect) location, writing such things as "Am in Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?"  A woman married to such an eccentric and a genius has to be some sort of special herself.  I want to know more.

I read the first two books in this series and they were terrific.  I started on this one a while back and, while the writing is still excellent, I found it much darker than the first two.  I think it's one of those books that I will just have to be in the mood to read.

St. Therese is my confirmation saint and I have read her autobiography and her letter.  I would still like to know more about her.

Himself thoroughly enjoyed these stories and they come highly recommended. 

I have been lucky enough, albeit briefly, to meet and speak with Mr. Pearce.  I am awed by his life story and his brilliance.  One of the best books I ever read was his biography of GKC, Wisdom and Innocence.  If this biography of Hillaire Belloc is half has good, I am in for a real treat.

I have had my copy of this book since shortly after it came out and well before he became a Bishop. 

When we still had cable, this show was one of my favorites to watch on the Food Network.  I like learning the science behind cooking different foods.  I can see why technique makes such a big difference for some items.

We were going to read this for a book club that I was in.  But life got busy and I had to drop out of the group.  It's been sitting on the shelf for many years just waiting to be read, club or no club.


AMDG

2 comments:

  1. I also got in trouble for reading too much! Always! Guernsey Literary Society is so good. There's a movie that will be on Netflix in August and I am anticipating it being pretty good.

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  2. Have you read "Prairie Fires: The Life and Times of Laura Ingalls Wilder"? It's a great book - goes into a lot of the stuff in Laura's life that was left out of the books, and it has a great deal of info abut Laura's daughter, Rose, and what she did with the books after Laura died.

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