There are eight books I started or still am reading from last month.

I am almost finished with The Tao of Womanhood by Diane Dreher.  It is such a powerful read that it’s taking me a while to absorb it and I need to be in the mood for serious non-fiction.  The other book I am still digesting is The Law of Divine Compensation by Marianne Williams.  It is profound and spiritual.   A little at a time and properly doled out is best.  Still listening to Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss, but almost done.

A book I dropped entirely after getting to page 95 is Dorothy L. Sayer’s mystery, Strong Poison, from last month.  I was turned off by the font and size of the type and it was just not my cup of tea. It was droll and not a page turner.

I also bought and am I am immediately returning to Barnes and Nobles, Tragiani’s series with her character, Valentine called Very Valentine and Brava, Valentine.  Awful, just awful.  Trash.  I have no idea how the same person who wrote Rococo (which my  BFF gave me many moons ago and I enjoyed at the time) wrote this garbage or I grew up literately. I am dumfounded.  I have way too much I WANT to read and not enough time left in my life to waste on books that don’t fill me up with something, even if it’s just amusement, written at least half decently.  Tragiani’s book is chock full of similes.  Every paragraph! I couldn’t get past it.

Books I loved and read are The Lavender Cookbook by Sharon Shipley and My Ideal Bookshelf edited by Thessaly La Force and art by Jane Mount.  Thank you, BFF.  I want to dedicate a whole blog day or two for the Ideal Bookshelf.

Haven’t started but will soon… Tangerine Tango edited by Lisa K Winkler on kindle.  It’s a collection of essays, stories and articles by women writers who blog and put together and self published an e-book.  Interesting.

Started Flannery O’Connor’s collection of short stories from 1955 and Nine Stories by J.D.Salinger from 1948.  I am digging the short story format and I can easily read a piece at bedtime, although most of what I read was jarring.    Nonetheless, they are both brilliant studies in the art and craft of word smithing.  I look forward to my night time tales.

I started This Year I Will… by M.J.Ryan, an author I have read and enjoyed before.  She wrote Attitude of Gratitude and Generosity.  I am hoping it will incite me to buckle down and commit to writing a focused something but I keep placing it at the bottom of my pile.

Lastly, I am reading The Slow Down Diet by Marc David.  I listened to his cd collection on Mind, Body and Nutrition and this book recaps his philosophy on the psychology of eating.   He believes we need to focus on having a new relationship with food, eating for pleasure and energy.  He espouses dining with attention to quality and examining how, when and why we eat.

Great month to read something new or on your bookshelf.