ANA Book Club?

[Brewers7]

Kaybo,
I really enjoyed the book, perhaps because I identified with so much of it.  I laughed and cried.  As for your second question, I think my treatment of other handicapped individuals has changed, but probably more because of my experience than because of the book.  People often ask if I have had a stroke.  Also, some assume that I am mentally retarded, which drives me crazy.  My very best (and well-meaning)  friend still tells me to "step up" and step down" as though I am blind.  I hope that I will be more attentive to needs of others and not make erroneous assumptions.

[CHD63]

If I am being totally honest here, I enjoyed reading the book, but I had such a hard time with the type A personality ..... thinking to myself, "Girl, you were on a collision (no pun intended) course from the beginning."  She wore me out.  I consider myself as having been a type A person when I was working, but when my three children were small, I chose to be a stay-at-home mom.  I know not everyone has that choice ..... but I feel like Sarah in LN made the choice to try to have it all.

Now, that being said, her very drive of a type A personality is what ultimately led to the remarkable recovery she had.

The book certainly is valuable as a reordering of priorities in anyone's life.

Clarice

[Kaybo]

I had a very dear friend in Amarillo that had an aneurysm & stroke when she was 55 - in my book, a very young person. I realized then that there are 2 basic types of people those that are intrinsically motivated & those that aren't. I tried over & over to help her but in the end, I had to cut bait & let her go...it was very sad (Dave reassured me over & over that I'd done all I could). We were just 2 very different people. I equate this often to athletes (& I can use examples from my family)...you  have the naturally talented (Addi) who does ok because it comes easily to her but really doesn't want to work at it and then you have the ones that aren't that great but work their butts off (me) - I was the kid out shooting free throws in the dark.  When you have BOTH those factors, you have your collegiate & pro athletes (hopefully Kendie - shows DEF signs). I realized that Donna & I were COMPLETELY different in what we were made of - she even uses a wheelchair at church, even though she can walk - my Gran didn't even do that after her stroke!!

I'm certainly not saying I'm some super woman - I know I'm about the laziest girl around BUT I come from a long line of "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" - I believe w/ 100% of my being that if Sarah would not have had that drive, she would not have gotten better.

Let's talk about the whole "mothering" issue later...

K 

[Soundy]

the book kind of scared me ... I run head long at the world and could see myself in her behavior in many ways ...the book was kinda a wake up call  for me

as far as the way I treat handicapped people , I have always tried to treat them as just people that were a bit different than I am , but the same as me too ... I am more aware of handicap convenience at public places ... on bad days when my legs hurt I am glad to see a ramp and if I have to use a public bathroom a handicap toilet that is higher than a standard one makes it alot easier for me ... and I have complained when a stall marked Handicap was just a stall with the sign on the door but no pull bar or raised toilet ... have also reported when the stall was not big enough to accommodate a walked or wheel chair

I guess the answer is that I have already started adjusting to my response to people with disabilities and the book will nudge me to do more in recognizing where I could help with a need someone has ...

I think I type that right ... have had a killer head ache and it has taken me about 15 minutes to get this response typed

[saralynn143]

I just put the book about Gabrielle Giffords on hold at the library. I watched the 20/20 special online today. I know she has to be frustrated with her limited speech, but wow, what a phenomenal recovery.

[Soundy]

Had two books given to me by a teacher and were told they are good reads ...

We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates and

The Coming Of Rain by Richard Marius

Probably read Coming of Rain first ...set in post Civil War Tennessee ...

it has been cold the past few weeks and cold evenings make me want to curl up and read ...
but then again so do the hot lazy days of summer ... 

[msmaggie]

I read the one about the Mulvaneys.  It was good, but her books are rarely the uplifting, feel-good kind of stories. Just saying.....

[Soundy]

can't get into The Coming Of Rain and plan on switching to Mulvanneys ... read a fluff book yesterday that I picked up at school Monday ... got ready to go and seeing that it was only 45 minutes til school got out I picked up a book from exchange shelf and started reading it ... may start Mulvanneys tonight ... I always read but sometimes ( like right now) it is almost like I don't have a choice ... I have to be reading something

[Soundy]

Santa wants me to read ... and to get rid of a bunch of books off my shelf 

he brought me a Nook Color and now Bo thinks I need to get rid of the books I have on my shelf ... thank goodness he doesn't realize that in my storage building outback there are tubs of books ... I rotate what is on the shelf    ... I have books that I keep and won't get rid of ... and I get rid of other books as I read them ...either to goodwill or the trade shelf at school ...he thinks magically I can just empty my shelf ...

I started buying him books when Hannah was a baby because he would sit her in his lap and read the paper or farm magazines ... she would at a year old sit in his lap and stare at tractor manuals if that is what he was looking at ... he has a whole collection of books with the girls little hand prints in them that we have got him for Christmas , birthdays , easter ect... I told him they could go too and he said they were different ... I had no intention of him getting rid of any of them ... and we even added 5 to his collection for Christmas and his birthday which was the 14th ... it is cool to look back at baby hand prints and watch them grow ...the girls sat down around him and he read the Night Before Christmas(Jan Brett illustrated version) to them Christmas Eve and each night he has read another of the ones we got him to them... you would think they were toddlers instead of 12 and 14 ... he is gonna be sad when they outgrow this completely ... I see an ongoing battle over the book situation ... I can reduce but on my terms

we sat outside of the library after church Sunday and I downloaded a free book ... finished reading it last night ... I didn't intend to download it just look at description... but my fat fingers slipped ... it was The Keeping ...werewolf story with too much hanky panky in it for my taste ... girls have dentist visit Thursday and I plan on going to library and getting a couple books I do want ...

[Keri]

Hi everyone,
I haven't been on here for a long while... just crazy busy with life.
I did read The Help!! Guess I'm a little late for that one!
I'd like to read the one Kay suggested. I have an autistic daughter. She talks a lot, but much is rote.. asking the same types of questions. It's like she can't really express what is going on with her. There is much more going on than we realize, I know that.

Just becoming sensitive to what others are going through and have gone through makes reading and talking about this worthwhile as well.

Keri

[saralynn143]

I saw the movie of The Help on the airplane. It seemed to be a fairly close adaptation.

[Brewers7]

Sara,
     I loved the book and the movie.  I am reading "Gabby" now.  I have been a little disappointed in it because it seems to be more about her astronaut husband,who is telling the story.  I guess that I am just more interested in her progress.

[cindyj]

Yes, I agree w/ Jim on Anna Karenina - it's worth the effort.  Never did get through War and Peace, though...perhaps I'll give it another go some time ...Jim, do I assume correctly that you have read it?

Cindy

Hey, all!  Was flipping through old posts trying to find the name of the author you like, Jan...the mystery/detective writer.  Never can remember his name - wanted to recommend him to a friend of mine.  Couldn't find a post with it, but did come across the one above that I wrote a few years ago...forgot that we had discussed Tolstoy here briefly.  I did actually open my copy of War and Peace recently and am now almost finished with it.  Very good read!  But, know it's not for everyone

Anyway, Jan, if you see this, can you let me/us know that author?  He's one of your favorites and he's written a bunch of books...Thanks!

What's everyone reading? 

cindy

[Kaybo]

Cindy~
Hey, I'm not Jan but is it Harlan Coben?  I just read the latest one of his Myron Bolitar books and loved it...I have read most of his other stuff too...

K   

[Soundy]

I have read several books on the Nook just getting the feel of it before going on a wild spending spree and buying books I just have to have ... a teacher at school said to read CL Bevill books that they were good and she had a bunch that were free ...I have read two and not sure I want to read a  third ... they just aren't my kind of books

did download 3 different Bible versions ... use my good old Bible in class but when following along in services I use th nook and can keep up better

wasn't sure I would like nook or kindle but do ...