Lynness: What have I missed?....

Well, we've been having phone problems- a buzz in the line that not
only makes it hard to hear talking, but evidently produces too much
interference to allow my caller ID to work, or to check voice mail, or
to connect to the internet. I've felt very deprived. The phone company
came out and fixed it today - yippee! I logged on, wondering what I've
missed. Turns out, not much. Oh, there were a few things I didn't hear
about that I might have if I had been online (since I rarely listen to
the radio, only watch PBS once a week - and that only recently because
of Jane Austen, and we don't get the paper). Anyway- I felt very
isolated between the lack of connection and the flu that we had a couple
of weeks ago. All in all, what would I do without my books? (Maybe I'd
clean my kitchen or work on some of my unfinished sewing/crafting
projects. Or maybe I'd finish the bathroom we started painting before
we got sick.) Isn't it nice to have a place to escape to, or a place
where you're not responsible, or a place to make contact with other
adults (even if they are fictional)!! No, really I do get out, but not
so much when it's cold and dreary and I'm sick. But that's finally
passing...and spring is nearly here.
This month I read "Mansfield Park" (Jane Austen) and "New Moon"
(Stephenie Meyer) for my romantic fiction picks. I thoroughly enjoyed
New Moon. Mansfield Park not so much. I thought I had at least started
it before, but nothing was familiar except in that I had just seen the
PBS movie before I read it, so maybe not. I felt like I was slogging
through it, waiting to get to the good part. I never really got there.
Even when the girl gets the guy, my main feeling was relief that I was
almost done with the book. It's just not as engaging a story as Emma or
S&S or P&P (my fav.). A few weeks later I read New Moon and did it in
about half a day- I just wanted to keep going. I love P&P- but it still
requires effort to read it. This requires no effort. Obviously, the
two are not even on the same plane, but sometimes a fun read is all you
want, and it satisfied me well.
If anyone is still looking for a "loverly" read that won't take too
much time, I have enjoyed Madeleine Brent's "Tregaron's Daughter" and
"Moonraker's Bride." My 8th grade English teacher recommended them
(starting with "Stranger at Wildings" which I enjoyed but not as much as
the previous 2). There are others by her- some ok, some I didn't like
at all. The best part is that these 2 are all clean- no "bodice
rippers" as I heard somebody call the men in romance novels once upon a
time.
As for my other reading, I read "Magical Moments," by Dr. somebody??
Terr, about psychotherapy changing children's lives. I don't know what
I thought (or think, still) about psychotherapy. I'd have to think
about it a lot and be sure that the therapist concurs with my beliefs
before I'd send my kid or go myself, for that matter, but there were
some pretty amazing changes made in the vignettes that the book
presented. It was interesting. In a good way.
I also browsed here and there in a book about how prosperity has
changed America and its politics (still trying to find stuff for
January!). All I could think of was the pride cycle in the Book of
Mormon and Brigham Young's quote about how he was afraid it wasn't
persecution and trials that was going to get to the Saints- it was
prosperity and how he was afraid we'd all kick ourselves out of the
Church and down to hell because of it.
Finally, I've been reading the scriptures. The Old Testament-
faster than I ever have before. I'm trying to keep ahead of what I'm
teaching every morning. So far I'm still ahead, but just barely, and
the pace is only going to get faster (until we get to Isaiah, and I
think I have 3 weeks for the whole book!) I think we have 2 days for
1st and 2nd Chronicles, a couple of days for Psalms and Proverbs (yeah,
they're short, but there's a lot of them!). Anyway...hopefully the fact
that nobody's posted much on February books means we're all enjoying a
good romance! Love, Lynness