i dig this

Elizabeth Berg is my favorite modern-day novelist.  Put shortly, almost every sentence she writes I think, “I wish I wrote that.”  That, to me, is a sign of a pretty darn good writer.  Her books drip in character development, but she comes up with some pretty amusing plots, too.  I hope to eventually read all her books.

I put a dent in my checklist this weekend because I read TWO of her books in the past 72 hours.  It was really fun - it’s been awhile since I entrenched myself in a good ol’ work of fiction, not to mention two.  They were very different, but I recommend them both.

The Year of Pleasures is about a recent widow who, at her husband’s request, moves to a small town and starts her life over after he dies.  Sounds depressing, but it’s not.  It’s fun.  Here’s Berg’s summary from her own pen keyboard:

 ”This is a novel about starting life over, and purposely enriching that life with the many pleasures, especially the small and free ones, that are always available to us. It also challenges the notion that a widow must or should behave in a certain way; and it shows how love does not die, but rather changes form.”

The Art of Mending - well, you know what?  I’ll just paste her synopsis here directly:

“A woman’s grown sister makes allegations about abuse she claims to have suffered at the hands of their mother when they were growing up. The book is about the way that everyone in a family has a different experience of it. The narrator must decide if what her sister is saying is true, and what her obligations now are-to her family of origin as well as to the family she has with her husband. “

Sounds depressing, and well, it kind-of is.  But I couldn’t put it down.  I turned off my bedside light at about 11 p.m. (started the book at around 9), and I was wide awake at 5 in the morning, totally unable to sleep (I’m getting to that enjoyable “everything aches” stage of pregnancy).  So I went to the living room and finished the book, then went back to bed at 7.  Miraculously, Chickpea slept until 9 a.m.

So if you’re wont of good fiction, I highly recommend anything by her!  I really do love her stuff.

I’ve heard great things about this documentary - I doubt I’ll find it here, so you’re in the States, go see it and tell me what you think.

Here’s the trailer:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJJQiEn329Y]

And here are scenes from the film:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0w7SIUxiwE]

Go here for a few more scenes.

My apologies to my regular readers who just read this tip about a week ago. 

It’s been forever since I’ve contributed to Works for Me Wednesday, but I wanted to throw this out there, since it’s been so helpful for the past few weeks.

Groceries and household supplies are really expensive here, so I tried making my own dryer sheets (those are non-existent in this country). I read about this tip somewhere online, but I can’t find the link (so thanks, mystery person!). Pour equal parts fabric softener and water into a jar, shake, and add basic kitchen sponges cut in half. Squeeze out a sponge, throw it in the dryer, and walla - reusable dryer sheets. Just throw the sponges back in the jar when the load is done. Supposedly it takes forever to go through fabric softener this way.

I’ve been doing this for about two weeks now, and it’s worked beautifully!

“Try to give your agenda to God. Keep saying, ‘Your will be done, not mine.’ Give every part of your heart and your time to God and let God tell you what to do, where to go, when and how to respond. God does not want you to destroy yourself. Exhaustion, burnout, and depression are not signs that you are doing God’s will. God is gentle and loving. God desires to give you a deep sense of safety in God’s love. Once you have allowed yourself to experience that love fully, you will be better able to discern who you are being sent to in God’s name.”

- Henri J. M. Nouwen