Tag Books

New Puzzle -> New Audio Book

brilliantviewpoint 9 Comments

In December, after a snow storm, longing for the beach, I decided it was time for a new puzzle. A purchase that should have taken 15-20 minutes turned into 2 hours of searches. As I wasn’t sure what type of puzzle I wanted, my search took me in all sorts of directions.

Did I want to spend time making a puzzle of Italy, cupcakes, stamps, Ireland, doors, dogs, Spain, so many choices. Nothing seemed appealing, until I came upon this simple beach scene that reminded me of my childhood days on Lake Michigan. BINGO! I smiled and made my purchase.

I enjoy doing puzzles while listening to an audio book. When my puzzle FINALLY arrived, it was not in stock, so a 2 day delivery turned into a 4 week wait, I headed to the online library. I like books by Jeffrey Archer; unfortunately, so do other people, wait times were way too long.

As I searched for alternative books, I came across this book, by Phaedra Patrick, “The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper.” I liked the cover and the title made me smile. I decided to give the book a try. So far, so good. It’s an interesting story about a man whose wife died and he finds a charm bracelet she had which he had never seen before. Wthout spoiling the story, I think you can tell where this tale is headed — YES?!

The key to any great audio book is the narrator. A good narrator can give a book a 5 Star rating. This narrator, James Langton, doesn’t disappoint. He uses such funny voices for the different characters, it’s a joy to listen to him.

I just started. On the puzzle, I always start with the border first, then I try to find something easy to make, like the pink surf board, so I feel a sense of accomplishment at the “get go.” Next the umbrella AND then to find out WHERE Arthur goes in discovering the story behind his late wife’s charm bracelet.

Clever story idea. Don’t they say everyone has a secret even long term marriages, 50+ years, where life seemed rather dull and routine, suddenly a secret is revealed. The other amusing part of this book is how children are used to their parents being a certain boring way and when something changes, and they see their parent with energy or enjoying life — they don’t like it! The children suddenly become suspicious of their parent and their new life motives! LOL

Let’s see where this story goes… Personally, I want to see Arthur start enjoying life!

Weekend reading – What mountain are you on?

brilliantviewpoint 1 Comment

I wanted to share a book with you by David Brooks, “The Second Mountain: A Quest for a Moral Life.” I came across this book by accident, so glad I did. It’s very interesting, because it talks about life. How we climb one mountain for certain reasons, then life throws us a curve ball, we sink down into the valley, must recover and then start to climb the second mountain.

COVID has made us all sink into the valley. We need to climb a NEW mountain, forge a new path.

I’m not done with the book yet, but so far, I give it a thumbs up!

I am READY for that second mountain!

Toy Collection — Do you remember Raggedy Ann?

brilliantviewpoint 10 Comments

Dolls, how many people are familiar with “Raggedy Ann?” When my mother grew up as a child in Italy, she didn’t have a doll. She must have longed for one, because when we were young she was ALWAYS looking for Raggedy Ann dolls.

When we walked through antique shops, she always found one. There were different sizes and styles as the doll kept evolving over the years. You can see in the YouTube video, this woman has quite a collection. I noticed the original dolls had orangey hair, not bright red and the doll is known for her triangular nose.

As I researched, I found that Johnny Gruelle (illustrator from Illinois) was the creator of Raggedy Ann. His daughter Marcella brought him a old rag doll, he drew a face on the doll and named it Raggedy Ann. His daughter loved her doll, so he created a book/doll combo (got a patent in 1915) and started selling in 1918. First dolls were delivered to Chicago! Many books followed.

Finally, Chicago is known for more than Al Capone / gangsters. I had no idea!

This is interesting, 75,000 handmade dolls were made between 1918-1926 by a toy company in Michigan called, “Unbreakabale Toy Company.” In 2018, the town of Muskegon celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Raggedy Ann and Andy. Yes, Raggedy Ann eventually had a brother, Raggedy Andy.

In 2002 Raggedy Ann was voted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. In 2007, Raggedy Andy, her brother, joined her.

My Mom will be so surprised to hear that her beloved Raggedy Ann was the creation of a man from Chicago.

And as Paul Harvey would say, “And now you now… the rest of the story.”

Great show… Oprah’s, “SuperSoul Sunday”

brilliantviewpoint Leave a comment

Have you ever watched, “SuperSoul Sunday?” Oprah Winfrey created this show, it is meant to touch the soul, make us think about life, how we treat others, encourage us to make a difference in this world of ours.

118952A6-80E2-4B7B-BA6F-73109584A9F5This Sunday she interviewed Bryan Stevenson. He’s a public interest lawyer dedicated to helping the poor, the condemned and incarcerated. He’s especially focused on saving the lives of children who are convicted.

He’s written a book called, “Just Mercy: The Story of Justice and Redemption,” which was turned into a film (2019). It’s a true story, I can’t tell you much about it, because I haven’t read it yet, but I just requested it from the library.

 

1ECDE91A-4FFF-4031-A7B1-8A3482760EFC

Every Sunday, Oprah interviews someone for about 30-40 minutes. Last Sunday (5/31/20), Shaka Senghor was her guest.

Shaka Senghor spoke to us about his life in prison (19 years), his road to redemption and how reading books and writing helped him through solitary confinement. He’s an incredible motivational speaker, very well spoken and well read. It’s hard not to feel sad and think, if his childhood had been different, his path in life would have been different.

So, if you feel a bit low and need some inspiration, visit Oprah’s SuperSoul Facebook page, I promise — you won’t be disappointed. Every Sunday a new thought provoking interview.

Puzzle time… I found a table.

brilliantviewpoint Leave a comment

Remember, I told you, I wanted to make a puzzle, but I didn’t have a table BIG ENOUGH? For weeks now, I kept putting out to the Universe the table I wanted. I thought about the size, the cost (very little) and envisioned my puzzle on the table.

Well, a MIRACLE HAPPENED! My neighbor next door was moving, she had a small kitchen table that she was giving away. A little old, looks like something I might find in my grandmother’s house, but I LOVE IT. Perfect size.

So, I started my puzzle. Gee, it’s a big puzzle — a lot of fun.

While I was working away, I turned on this audio book, “Women of the Silk,” by Gail Tsukiyama. Really good book, so I am enriching my brain in two ways – wonderful!

Happy Thanksgiving! Catching up on reading…

brilliantviewpoint 5 Comments

FAADC7DA-F0F6-434F-9DE9-D2E7D97045C4Hello, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I am in Munich, Germany. Before I left, I downloaded some books for the trip. I’m in the HERO mood lately. Actually, I’m in the process of trying to find an athletic challenge for next year. My daughter is going to train for a marathon. I am not a runner, I prefer hiking, so I am investigating those kinds of challenges.

In my research, I came across this GREAT book that I started reading last night, “Natural Born Heroes,” by Christopher McDougall. It’s really good, if you like learning about heroes. The author has a fast paced, high energy, writing style — not boring at all. For sure, you won’t put it down, you’ll feel like you are running right beside him on his quest to find out “what makes a Hero.”

AB8DC2B2-B67C-4F23-9CE7-49F57417FFF0

He says a Hero is not about strength and force, but about compassion, because hero’s are known as the protectors. He’s got all sorts of stories and analogies. I like it!

Oh, he has a chapter on Greek Mythology.  This brought back memories of my Italian mother. While we were eating dinner, she would read to us from this  Greek Myths book. Growing up in Italy, when she was in school, they were taught about Greek Mythology, so she would say it was her “DUTY” to teach us as well. And guess what, this book is a bit “old looking now,” but my Mom pulls it out to read to the grandchildren. YES, they must learn about Greek Mythology too! I smile when I see this book.

Ok, I’m off to explore Munich, one of my favorite cities.

It’s raining… Again, I think of my mother. When there was lightning she would say, “Zeus is mad at us! You see how he is throwing thunder bolts from the sky.”

Summer reading -> new books, put away winter books that failed me…

brilliantviewpoint 8 Comments

Books on NightstandI have had three books on my nightstand, none of them held my attention. Every night I picked one up, read a few sentences, closed the book, sighed and turned off the light.

I like variety. I can have a few books going at a time. These were all good choices, the issue with each book was a slow writing style. Right now, my mind is on overload, so if I have 15 minutes to read before I go to sleep, I need a faster paced writing style. A story that keeps my interest.

I felt like Marie Kondo (the Japanese expert on tidying up your house). Talk to each book, wish them well and give them away.

That was very liberating!

With a cup of Tazo – Zen tea in hand, I got comfortable at my desk and began my book search. I logged into Facebook to review the “Historical Fiction Book Lovers” site.

SUCCESS – I found an interesting book by Amy Tan, “Saving Fish from Drowning.” The book had mixed reviews, because it was quite different from her previous books, i.e. The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife.

For me, I liked it immediately. Tan starts the story with news clippings of 11 Americans who disappeared while traveling the Burma Road from China to Myanmar. It appears to be a true story, so I searched Google to find out what happened to these 11 Americans. Turns out, Tan made this story up, this left me curious.

I found a second book by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books). His books take place in Barcelona. First time I’ve heard of him. This book seemed very interesting with action, intrigue, rare book dealers – not boring.

Now, I might complain of too much reading and lack of sleep!

What’s on your nightstand?

Book Review: Big Miracles by Joanna Garzilli… jewelry in Florence, Italy

brilliantviewpoint 4 Comments

78369de7-95b5-49a6-b8e6-ddbc79271ef3A few days ago I was at the bookstore. It’s my favorite place to be besides browsing jewelry shop windows in Italy. When my children were young, if we were in Florence, of course, I would have to look at the jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio. My younger daughter would tell me, “Mama, promise, no looking in the windows, we are going for gelato.”

This is funny, because if any of you have been to Florence and have walked across the Ponte Vecchio, you KNOW it is IMPOSSIBLE to walk across the bridge and not look at jewelry. All the shops sell jewelry. The bridge is glittering in white, yellow and rose gold!

I would kid her that she was half Italian, jewelry was in her DNA. One day, I might be telling her not to look in the windows. As she gave me a scowl, I would give a grin and say, “I promise, I will do my BEST to walk in the middle of the road.” See photo, I did a zig zagging walk across the bridge. Can you picture it?  Look in one window to the right, have her pull me to the center, then go to the left, look in one window, have her pull me to the center! It was most amusing.

43a807e3-0894-4785-9fce-bc9248d95e75Guess what – NOW, she is at the age where she sends me photos of jewelry she likes. I KNEW this would happen!

Back to the bookstore. As it is a new year, there was a table full of motivational / spiritual types of books. Browsing through them, I found this book about “Big Miracles,” by Joanna Garzilli.

It’s a book about connecting with your Spirit. One thing she brought up, which I had never heard of, was experiencing the “dark night of the soul.” She talks about when she experienced this period and soon after met her husband. She explains that “the dark night of the soul,” is when we are going through a period of hopelessness/despair, it’s not depression, we are low, but somehow we know we must rid ourselves of negativity, so we can move toward happiness. She spoke about uncontrollable crying and illness that wouldn’t go away. She realized later that her soul was releasing the part of her that felt unlovable, because shortly after this she met her future husband.

She has some interesting insights. I think with each book we read, we gain a little more knowledge that helps us in self discovery, focusing on our vision and destiny in life. Some years we are right on target, other years it is slow moving and then suddenly it seems our hard work pays off and we are catapulted into the happiness and success we have been focusing on.

Life, it’s not easy, but if we focus on the goal — WE GET THERE!

Books: Do you have one that really made you “think?”

brilliantviewpoint 2 Comments

9F251DD9-289A-465B-912A-71DCC1758A83Someone asked me if I read a book that really made me “think” about life and moved me. I said, “YES,” immediately, because I came across Anita Moorjani’s book, “Dying to Be Me,” a few years ago and I still think about different parts of her book.

One day, I was watching Dr. Wayne W. Dyer on television, he was giving one of his inspirational talks. In the middle of the show, he said he wanted to introduce us to a woman he had met who had an interesting story. In walked, Anita Moorjani.

Moorjani began to share her story of having cancer and how she was in the hospital, went out of her body, was able to see her very sick self and reflect on “how” she could have ended up that way. As she says on the cover of the book, she decided that she wanted to live and once she re-entered her body in the hospital, she knew she was going to be CANCER FREE.

After watching Dyer’s show, I was curious to read Moorjani’s book. What I liked about her book is that she starts from her childhood to tell the story of her life and how she feels she got cancer. It’s a very interesting book.

If you are pressed for reading time, you can view her TEDx Bay Area.

Sometimes a book like this crosses our path, which makes us “think” about life.

Bologna Children’s Book Fair

brilliantviewpoint 4 Comments

20F7A794-B126-42B9-8F49-3A441FBF6155Today was the first day of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. I got there by fast train from Florence. Then it was an easy 10 minute bus ride from train station to the conference center.

Upon entering the hall, it was exciting to see all the books as you can imagine. I was amazed at how International this Fair was. Countries from all over the world had booths. Some booths were big, some small, it didn’t matter, they were ALL showing off their best selling books.

This fair is mainly used for the buying and selling of rights to books. So, in ALL the booths you could see “major” meetings going on and orders being taken.

China was the Guest of Honor. They gave different speeches with the Mayor of Bologna. Their booth showcased their Chinese authors and illustrators. They also had a specific booth displaying the work of their BEST illustrators.

I went to check out the Literary Agents Center. There was a strong buzz in the air. This is where authors and illustrators, who have set up appointments, meet with agents to pitch their books!

8A26E60E-A794-41C9-8FDB-2F554A80CB9AThis is what the board looked like, I don’t know what those numbers next to their names were. It was too busy for me to ask someone, people didn’t want to miss their appointments by answering my questions.

I finally made it to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair! So glad I went.

Oh, I could tell I was a book fair beginner, because I forgot to bring a BIG bag to put all the pamphlets that I would gather in. The book show veterans had roller bags!