February Musings

My reading habits have been a bit frenetic lately.  February this that kind of month.  A little of this, a little of that.  (I kind of remind myself of that talking dog from the movie Up who is constantly sidetracked by squirrels.)  The table beside my favorite reading chair has so many books on it I feel like I am trying to build a barricade between myself and the outside world!  It doesn't help that there is a bit of a breeze that comes through the window right there either.  (Probably should do something about that one of these days. "Squirrel!")

So what HAVE I been reading lately?  Here goes...

Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller
Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Olier Keene and Susan Zimmermann
        These are continuing on my "books about reading" kick.

Fiber Menace by Konstantin Monastyrsky
Lost Art of Real Cooking by Ken Albala and Rosanne Nafziger
        These fulfill my constant need to figure out how best to feed my family.

Emotions Revealed by Paul Ekman
Understanding Facial Recognition Difficulties in Children by Nancy Mindick
        Bought upon the discover that one of my children has something called Prosopagnosia.  Long       story I will save for a future post...

Laughter Is Sacred Space:  The not-so-typical Journey of a Mennonite Actor by Ted Swartz
        Ted is a friend who is both entertaining and inspirational.
The Answer to How is Yes: Acting on What Matters by Peter Block
         This author is going to be a guest speaker at an upcoming library conference and his theme is community.  I am fascinated by his ideas of the importance of connections between people and how important community is to our society.

And then there is an endless pile of fiction that follows me home from the library and that I have such good intentions to read in my "down-time".  That pile includes:

Several novels by Jim Butcher
Suzanne Brockmann's latest Born to Darkness
Beautiful Creatures (I fully admit to wanting to read this because the movie trailer looks good)
The Radleys by Matt Haig (A vampire book recommended to me by my parents!  No kidding!)

Also, because of some gift certificates from a recent birthday,  and soon to arrive in the mail:
Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind by Gene Logsdone
          Because it is February and I always think about gardening this time of year, and because I love the title.
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead by Brene Brown
           Recommended by one of my besties, I also heard this woman do a Ted Talk and thought she was fascinating.


So there you have it!  It makes me tired just looking at them all!  But, it also makes me happy.  There are still so many good books out there.  So many things to learn and enjoy.  I think I'll make some more coffee on this cold, rainy/icy Sunday afternoon, and go read for a while.  The big question?  Where to start?!?