Sunday, January 29, 2023

Sunday Salon ~ what I'm reading now

So please be quiet.  Oh, wait!  I'm supposed to post what I'm reading now.

  • So You Want to Write: How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction and Memoir (2nd edition) ~ by Marge Piercy and Ira Wood, 2001, 2010, writing, 330 pages (info HERE).
  • A History of the World in 100 Objects ~ by Neil MacGregor, 2010, history, 736 pages (info HERE).
  • A Love Attempt ~ by Morhaf Al Achkar, 2021, self-help, 122 pages (info HERE).
  • The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times ~ by Michelle Obama, 2022, self-help, 336 pages (info HERE).
Here's one quote from The Light We Carry that I want to remember.  Michelle Obama had written that the difficult problems many of us work hard to solve will always be there
"So, in the meantime . . . Find one thing you can actively complete . . .  Maybe you spend an afternoon wallpapering your bathroom, or baking bread, or doing nail art, or making jewelry.  It could be two hours spent meticulously producing your mom's fried chicken recipe, or ten hours building a miniature replica of Notre Dame Cathedral in your basement.  Allow yourself the gift of absorption" (p. 38).

So what absorbs YOU?  Michelle Obama loves knitting (this photo is from page 32 of her book).  I enjoy getting lost in writing (notice the book pictured above).  I used to write book reviews for the Chattanooga Times newspaper, was published nationally in Baby Talk magazine in the 1960s, and now blog about books right here.  I'm a reader and a writer, even back when I wrote for the school paper and edited two in-house publications.

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

5 comments:

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I wondered if you are still working on your story, Bonnie. I set a goal of finishing something (a picture book? a memoir? some other format?) this year. I haven't gotten into a daily routine yet, though I've written a few times. I plan to create a routine tomorrow.

"Find one thing you can actively complete..." is a great idea.

Jinjer-The Intrepid Angeleno said...

Ooo that is very interesting what Michelle said about allowing yourself to become absorbed in something. I wondered if there's a psychological thing around that, so I Googled, and there is. It's called The State of Flow, which I'd heard of before, but never really thought about.

The only things I get absorbed / immersed in are reading, writing, blogging. I'm not really an artsy/craftsy/knitter/crocheter and I'm not into any sports, except hiking. I don't think I get into the Flow State during hiking because I always hike WITH people and those people are talking. lol I'll bet if I hiked alone, which I won't, because it's dangerous, I would get in a Flow state, but then I'd probably wander off trail and get lost or eaten by a bear, so no. Hiking and Flow State would not be good.

Cindy said...

Interesting selection of books. I hope you enjoy them all.

Helen's Book Blog said...

Like you I read and blog, but I also like doing jigsaw puzzles, especially ones where I get so absorbed that I don't notice the time.

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Residents here have two jigsaw puzzles going all the time, one in the lobby of my building and one in the little library on the ground floor of the other building. When I did puzzles, I usually timed myself and completed the 500 piece (or was it the 300 piece?) puzzle in a couple of hours. Two residents are usually working on the ones here, so I leave those alone. My problem now is that I have Clawdia, who would likely walk all over a jigsaw puzzle in progress. I occasionally do word search and crossword puzzles, which are in booklet format or single sheets. I haven't seen the cat holding a pencil yet. :D