I started blogging 15 (gasp!) years ago, back when the internet was just a baby. And Dooce was The Queen back then. She started a few years before me (before most of us, actually) and ruled The Mommy Blogger genre because of her raw transparency, her writing skills, her ability to tell a story (tell HER story) with humor and heart. And her story has been wild.
This is her second book, and it's about her ongoing struggle with crippling depression. It was so out-of-control that she was at the end, the absolute end of what she could handle. So she, her doctor, her mom and her psychiatrist, agreed that she was a good candidate for an experimental procedure where she would be clinically reduced to a state of being 'brain dead' (flat lined) ten times over the course of three weeks. (Like restarting your computer a few times to reboot all the factory settings.)
She outlines in detail, how desperate she was for help, how she felt during and after each procedure, and what life is like 18 months later. Fascinating.
This was our book selection for May: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.
I loved this book!
Reese describes it as 'incredibly funny', which it most definitely is NOT. It's got a few quirky light-hearted moments, but I cried more than I laughed. Cried because I identified with Eleanor on a few levels and ached for us both in certain parts. And the ending was perfectly satisfying. I love that in a book, a movie and a life.
As per usual, we had a great discussion about it at book club.
Can I say something? If you love reading, you should join/start a book club. I think we're in our tenth year, and it's just been getting better and better. So much stretching and growing and learning and enjoying. Members come and go over the years which keeps it interesting and grounded. And best of all, our original rules have relaxed and become suggestions. :)
Sheri read this at during our most recent read-a-thon weekend and loved it. (This will be a book that she reads out loud to her kids this fall. I will save this book so I can read it out loud to my not-yet-even-conceived grandchildren.)
It's a children's novel and it's lovely.
And I'm glad I read it. Sometimes a fairy tale is exactly the right thing to get lost in.
If murder mysteries are your fav genre, I'd recommend this book. Which is a story within a story. So, two books for the price of one, in essence. I read it in one day, (it was a sunny day at the lake over the long weekend in May). Sometimes I think that's the best way to read books. By binge-ing.
Every summer I attend a couple free public lectures Under The Green Roof at Regent College.
This year I'm going to hear NT Wright in July, and in May, Kim and I attended this:
YES. It was! (A totally inspiring evening.)
YES. Absolutely I'm going to read all Louise Penny's books this summer.
YES. I read the first one in one day.
YES. I can hardly wait to read the next one.
YES. I would love to visit Three Pines and have a meal or six in The Bistro.
And yes, last summer I attended a Louise Penny book reading and heard her speak. I admire her greatly.
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Three things I'm thankful for:
1. Writers
2. Publishers
3. Time to read
Shalom,
xo
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