Summer Reading

I think you can probably tell a lot about a person by looking at their bedside table. If you looked at mine, you'd see (besides dust) a lamp, an Ipod Clock/Radio, an angel my friend Patti gave to me before my surgery, a picture of my mom and me when I was one and books. Lots and lots of books. See I have this thing about books. I have passed this on to my daughter who literally consumes a book a day. But back to my obsession. I cannot go near a bookstore without going in. And forget me passing up books at thrift stores and yard sales. I mean what kind of entertainment can you get for less than a dollar?

Lately I have taken to reading nonfiction books. I could name a dozen that I have read within the past several months. Some good, some not so. But I think it gives me some insight into other people's worlds and some insight into my own. So here are the books that currently occupy the space on my table:
"The Measure of a Man" by Sidney Poiter details his life and tells of the incredible journey of a poor boy who became a very powerful, influential man.

I haven't yet started the lastest book "Name All the Animals" but it sounded like an interesting read and I couldn't pass it up on my last visit to Barnes and Noble (where my husband says they know me by name). I don't know why they had to tempt me by having an entire table of memoirs in the center of the aisle. Really all I wanted was to get Holden a new Magic Treehouse book.

Of course I really need to finish reading "The Dog Whisperer". It's pretty bad when your vet suggests that getting the dog neutered might be a good thing since it would probably calm him down. Maybe I just need to pay a dog trainer to come and help.

My attempt at figuring out how to liberate myself from the age old motherhood guilt has been to read "Motherhood: The Guilt that Keeps On Giving". I am on the last chapter but it's about learning to let go and I am having a hard time doing that. You know we all have that woulda, shoulda, coulda kind of guilt. Well, it's hard to define whether that guilt is a real guilt or a self-imposed guilt. I mean is it REALLY something I should feel guilty about or is it something I could have controlled? So in combination with this book, I am attempting to do a daily devotional with the book "Discovering God's Will for Your Life" published by the Women of Faith.

And last on my bedside table, where it stays, is a great book for helping to discover and nurture your creative self: "Living Artfully:Create the Life You Imagine". The author, Sandra Magsamen, has some great ideas for discovering the creativity within you. She sums up her book by saying:

"There is a purpose and beauty in each thought, action, choice, and gesture you make. Play, laugh, dance, care, understand, have patience, try, imagine, create, invent, dream, and love - for these are the tools that you paint your life with. Every moment is an opportunity to live fully, openly, and with heart. If you follow your heart, and act on the desire to connect, to belong, and to love, you will make a meaningful difference in the world, and your world will be filled with happiness and meaning."

What more could we want?