I Got Books...Lots of Books

Hello again...

Thanks for stopping in...hope you had an Okie Dokie day!

Thought that I'd pick up where I left off from last weekend.....

So in my quest to find some answers to unspoken questions, I have been on a literary holiday and am slowly but surely finding my way back.  Back to what??? that I am still not sure of, I am struggling to process my emotions so that my head can figure out what it is exactly that is going on in my heart.  

I should insert just a little bit about me here...I studied Astrology (independently) for quite awhile in my early 20's, more for my own amusement, but in the process of not 'cheating myself' I took a pretty long head dive in and surfaced with a greater understanding of me and of those around me....in this particular situation I find that this is where my  natal chart identifies the problem; with my Sun in a Water sign and my Moon in a Fire sign - it is often times that I feel torn in two completely opposite directions, which is exactly the case in point.  So that is what I have been trying *without a whole lot of effort from me* to figure out - a happy medium, some sort of balance.  I read recently from Ali Edwards that her mom passed on a tried & true method of figuring things out and that is 'to sit with it for a while' - so essentially that is what has been happening...I've been sitting with this for a few months now, pondering lots of different avenues and I believe that I am really close to uncovering my answer or answers - whatever they may be.

Let's hope so anyways....I'd really like to get back to scrappin'!

In the meantime though, I do have several more books in 'waiting' and unlike the others that I shared over the weekend, these are non-fiction mostly, with only two being an exception.  I picked up most of these as a recommendation from someone and I am eager to read them but unfortunately non-fiction is not as entertaining (normally) for me and so it will most likely be me having to tell myself that I *need* to read them for my own good...something like that anyways.
So I am by no means making any promises that these will ever get read.

So up first is Seth Godin's 'Linchpin' and this was a recommendation that I heard from Stacy Julian when she was a guest on the Roundtable over a year ago.  Honestly I have no idea what it's about, in Stacy's words 'if you are a mother and care about the future of your family-this is a must read' and so I took that quite literally, I have long admired Stacy within the Scrap book industry and so I took a chance on something outside that realm.  I believe her to be a very family oriented person who cares deeply about those closest to her and if she found something worthwhile in reading this, then that was good enough for me.

Next up is 'The Gifts of Imperfection' by Brene Brown.  This will be the next book I pick up I have decided.  I happened to find this remarkable lady through Ali Edward's blog, I think that these two ladies are really good friends (with good reason) or so I've gathered from reading Ali's blog for a number of years.  Brene has studied lots of personalities and personality traits and types and the reasons we as a culture are are own hindrance; she has touched on a number of issues that I have at one point or another in my own life, struggled with and I find her to be very insightful and inspiring.  When I came across this book I knew deep down somehow she had written it maybe not only for herself but for me as well or rather people like me; this is probably one of the things I struggle with daily, is my need for perfectionism and boy oh boy is that a definite hindrance, within my personal relationships as well as with my creative outlet.  

At some point I NEED to LEARN that just as I am...

I'm enough! 

Next up is 'Imagine' by Jonah Lehrer, also a recommendation from the roundtable.  In this book Jonah reveals a lot about how creativity works from within and then in turn how our minds process that into some form of art.  

As for 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel, it was honestly an impulse buy when I was at Barnes & Noble one afternoon, I'm still not sure what possessed me to buy it but I did and alas, I am now bound by my conscious to read it @ some point or another.

These last two are the only two in this group that are fiction, and well I've started them both and then quit both.  In the one above, 'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen, I was more taken with the movie version, but then a co-worker mentioned that the book was wonderful, so back to my original thought...the book is always better, so I opted to go that route first.  So far, for the few pages I have read, I really am going to enjoy it but other things got in the way @ that time and so I lost interest, but eventually I'll pick it back up and start over.  By the way the movie is actually not too bad, we'll see what I think of it once I read the actual book though.

Alright last one & the most peculiar recommendation-if you even want to call it that.  Oh Boy - now you all are really going to know how bizarre my brain works, I got the notion to read this classic, 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte, from Bella Swan - YEAH - the main character from the novel, 'Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer.  There are so many references to this novel within 'Twilight' that I had to read the book.  One problem...I find that it's a pretty hard read @ least for me (which might also be saying even more about me than I care to admit) BUT it is difficult.  Sounds odd even though it is written in English but it's not an easy English to understand; first of all it was written in Yorkshire England and second of all it was first published over 150 years ago, so unfortunately until I find a lot more patience this one is going to have to wait.

So there you have it again... where I am thinking about hiding out for a little while longer.  My thoughts are swirling and twirling and here soon I'm gonna be ready for whatever comes my way, be it mentally or emotionally or spiritually or physically....you get the idea!

hOpe all of you are having a gr8 weekend and I thank you all for stoppin' in and takin' a peek, I plan to have some more for you all soon so certainly check back whenever you feel and leave me a comment anytime...please and thanks again!

just B!