You are reading: Bookworm

Anne Lamott Love

Anne Lamott Love

May 9, 2012

I have a crush on Anne Lamott. A serious crush. She had me at Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. She has a (relatively) new book out that I’m super excited to get my hands (and heart) on. It is the story of how her 19 year-old son Sam and his girlfriend Amy blindside their families with the news that Amy is going to have a baby. Lamott chronicles her rather unenthusiastic reaction to this news honestly and goes on to describe the turmoil and struggles these two young people face as they negotiate a relationship with frequent rocky patches and the added responsibility of an infant. Not my usual genre, but if Anne Lamott wrote it, then sign me up! I’m hardly the only person who has a major crush on Anne Lamott. Recently I came across  a super blog called Gypsy Ink written by Leeana Tankersley. Leena …

Continue reading →
 

SL Book: Voluntary Simplicity

Recently, I came across a majorly Silver Lined book called Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin. If you saw my Clown Car post last week, you know that I’m in search of some…ahem…simplicity. Lo and behold, this book presented itself when I needed it the most (as so many things have done post-FBC). One of the ways to eliminate the frenetic clutter associated with my current Clown Car living is to simplify. What I like so much about this book is that it provides a rational voice that identifies ways of living to build a sustainable and meaningful future (Silver Lining). To portray the richness of simplicity, Duane Elgin provides ten different flowerings of expression that he sees growing in the “garden of simplicity.” (I love this Silver Lined image!) Although there is overlap among them, each expression of simplicity seems sufficiently distinct to warrant a separate category.  So that there would be no …

Continue reading →
 

SL Book: The Secret Garden

As you may recall, when I was sick, Sweetly Six and I watched a lot of Silver Lined movies, usually snuggle-buggled in bed. They were a way for us to spend time together during my treatments when my get-up-and-go got up and left. Instead of watching movies these days, we are embarking on reading classic books aloud to each other. The idea stemmed from my Fancy Nancy fatigue. Don’t get me wrong, the Fancy Nancy books are amazing and (for years!) have been an inspirational source of stupendous vocabulary words. Sweetly Six has loved books from the time she was an infant and the HOTY and I would toss 10-15 books in her crib in the morning to buy us time for a shower. These days, she walks down the hall reading books (and yes, often runs into walls in the process). So, I thought that it was time to step …

Continue reading →
 

SL Book: Not the Last Goodbye

  I’ve just finished the most amazing book, Not the Last Goodbye. I picked it up because I saw that it was written by David Servan-Schreiber (not because I knew what it was about!). Shortly after my diagnosis, I devoured his first book, Anticancer: A New Way of Life (a must read, by the way, whether or not you have or have had cancer). What I didn’t know until I started reading it was that this is the story of the last year of his life. In June 2010, the author received the news that a “gigantic, vein-filled mass” had taken over his frontal lobe, the region that had been operated on twice nearly 20 years before. Though he acknowledged the fact that the survival rate of this type of cancer recurrence is zero, his “desire to live was very much intact.” Rather than falling into despair, Servan-Schreiber faced his many rounds …

Continue reading →
 

SL Book: The Four Agreements

After dusting off my copy of The Seat of the Soul, I thought about other books that have been transformative in my life. The first one that came to mind – IMMEDIATELY – is The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. I read this book probably 10 years ago for the first time and couldn’t put it down. Reading it produced a beautiful symphony of alarms that signaled the opportunity for personal and spiritual growth. Seriously. It really did. Fundamentally, The Four Agreements is a Toltec Wisdom Book about letting go of false identification. Don Miguel Ruiz uses the wisdom of his ancestors to help us understand how each and every one of us has the power within ourselves to take control of life and experience the happiness we all possess within ourselves. He explains how to rewire our belief system so that we can create a new world …

Continue reading →
 

Spring’s Bounty

Spring’s Bounty

March 26, 2012

In perusing the internet this weekend, I was giddy to find Vogue.com’s feature on six new (and very special!) cookbooks for the Spring season. Though most of them are way too fancy schmancy for me (i.e., I don’t understand 1/2 of the terms in most of the recipes!), I have joined the club of people who like to read cookbooks. I never in a million years would have imagined myself saying that…which, I guess is a Silver Lining! Be sure to check out the feature to learn more!  Bon Appétit this Spring. Photos by Marko MacPherson for Vogue.com

Continue reading →
 

Six Tips on Writing

Six Tips on Writing

March 21, 2012

Who knew after a diagnosis of FBC (f-bomb breast cancer for new readers) that I would find a new passion and profession in writing. It’s pretty exciting, inspiring and, truth be told, nerve-wracking.  At the end of the day, though, writing always brings Silver Linings into my life, for which I am extraordinarily grateful! Recently, I’ve been doing A LOT of writing outside of The Silver Pen (more on that later).  Writing for The Silver Pen is like chatting with friends and comes naturally and easily. Other types of writing are more challenging. I happen to be a person who loves a good challenge, though (Silver Lining). The other day, I was in a particular pickle, having a challenging time getting my motors revved which meant that I was procrastinating in a big way. As a consequence, I now have extraordinarily clean drawers, closets, and cupboards (does anyone still use the …

Continue reading →
 

SL Book: American Beauty

Happy International Woman’s Day! In thinking about this special day, honoring and celebrating all things womanly, I find myself excited about the new book, American Beauty by Claiborne Swanson Frank.  Mine just arrived and I’m super excited about it! The book is a collection of 110 portraits of American women, documented from Southampton to the Napa Valley. “The central question of my work,” says Swanson Frank, “was ‘How can I capture these women in their greatest beauty and truth?’ and also ‘Who are you? What moves you? What’s your style? Where in the world do you feel most at home?’” Further, Swanson Frank believes that “each woman in this book possesses an original blend of grit, grace, glamour, and gravitas.” Claiborne Swanson Frank in Elle Decor Swanson Frank was formerly Anna Wintour’s assistant at Vogue, and from the images in the book, some of which are below, I sure can see the magazine’s …

Continue reading →
 

SL Book: Tender at the Bone

Last spring I had the great Silver Lining opportunity to hear Ruth Reichl speak as part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures Program. She is a beloved authority on foodie culture, the former Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine and recipient of six James Beard Awards for food writing. And she is cool. This year, our book club is reading her book, Tender at the Bone. This book is the first of Ruth Reichl’s autobiographical presentations. Ohhhh, is it ever great! Some people remember what they were wearing on important days of their lives, others remember the music or sounds in the background.  Ruth Reichl is a gifted story teller who remembers what she was eating – in vivid detail.  Reichl describes food in a way that makes you salivate – even when she is describing a dish that she ate over 3o years ago. She is only about 10 or 11 when the story starts and right away we …

Continue reading →
 

SL Book: Paris versus New York

I’m so crazy about the (relatively) new book by Vahram Muratyan, Paris versus New York: A tally of two cities. The book is a chic and humorous visual homage to the two cities that the author loves. The vision came about while strolling the streets of Manhattan, when Muratyan, a Paris-based graphic designer, wondered why it was that being in New York made him miss Paris, and being in Paris made him long for New York. To try to pinpoint his pining, he kept track of the differences and similarities between Paris and New York. Rather than photograph the objects that define each metropolis, Muratyan started a sketch a day for family and friends back home, and the inevitable “Paris versus New York” blog was born which evolved into a beautiful book. Oh my gosh, it’s so much fun, probably because Paris and New York happen to be two of my …

Continue reading →