Finding Something New in Something Old

Every once in a while I get the urge to read something "comfortable," and a cozy mystery classic fits the bill. I came across a 1955 Cock Robin Mystery (an imprint of The Macmillan Company) Three by Tey on the shelf of my local library. I had read Josephine Tey's A Daughter of Time and  The Man in the Queue, but this collection includes three novels that I have not read. I am currently in the middle of Miss Pym Disposes and find the writing charming. It is a soothing story so far, such a strange thing to say of a story that involves a murder even if I haven't come across the corpse yet. I'm coming to like Lucy Pym the narrator of the story and her outlook on the women's college that she is visiting that is run by an old school chum (faint memories of Agatha Christie's A Cat Among the Pigeons or Dorothy L. Sayers's Gaudy Night ).

Reading a "cozy" is just the thing for when the rest of life is absolutely crazy. I need reading in my life even when it seems I have no spare time, it is what is helping to keep me sane right now when all the rest of the world seems out of my control. The English countryside of the late forties (no influence of the war is mentioned) is the something old that is new to me.

"Reader Heal Thyself"

A while back I had this brain wave of writing a book about all the different self-help books I had on the shelves of my home. I collected many of them up to review and glean the precious lessons that the authors had offered to me their reader.
One of the oldest books in my collection is Marsha Sinetar's Do What You Love The Money Will Follow. I've held onto this one for a long time because each time I see the title I am reminded that I'm still searching for the work that I love. Words, I love words. I once thought I might work with words. No let's face it, I was afraid of working with words. As a teenager I thought it was not the job my father would approve of. Today, I still wonder what it is I want to do when I "grow up." I face the struggle as to whether or not my choices today are still colored by the thoughts of "what will others think of this choice of mine and will they approve?" What I really need to do is get past those old thought patterns and realize the only one who needs to approve of the work I do, is me.
Sinetar closes her third chapter with four very classic questions and I paraphrase here:

1. What is it I'm supposed to do with my life?
2. What habits must I develop to help me achieve my purpose?
3. What choices must I make to live out my purpose?
4. What would my life look like if I carried out this plan to live out my life's purpose? (p.52-53)

One thing is I would need to make writing a daily habit beyond the journaling I do every morning. That habit was also encouraged by a self help book (The Artist's Way- the author suggested 3 "morning pages" to be written everyday to get it all out of the head and prevent the blocks to creativity). This post for example was started several days ago and I have finally found ten minutes to sit down and work on completing it. One other habit that I will need to learn is to say no to others and protect my time so that I can write.

"Lite" Reading

There are times in life when all you want is something fun to read. I'm on vacation this week and found that deep, profound literature, or technical work related tomes were just out of the question as reading material. I discovered a light diverting "read" (on audio tape) to accompany me on my tasks this week - the Sookie Stackhouse stories of Charlaine Harris. I am by no means a devotee of vampires or other mythical creatures, but I have to admit I'm liking Sookie a human telepath and her unique set of friends, family, and enemies. I started with a set of short stories on a playaway book device, (These books only require a pair of earphones plugged in and you are all set and good to go. Great for walking, or keeping you company while doing housework, gardening, or my favorite needlepoint) and have moved on to another,  Dead and Gone. One other factor to liking this book series may be the performance given by the narrator, Johanna Parker. She has a gentle Southern accent for Sookie, and "voices" for the other characters.

My plan for the day includes work in the yard (thank God it is finally sunny and warm) and following Sookie on her journey of battling evil vampires out for her blood, the love interest (also a vamp) who is after her blood and more, and the evil fairies who want to punish her for being who she is. What fun!

Asimov Write's Mysteries?

In keeping with my resolution not to buy books this year, I've been spending more time amid the stacks of my local library. Lo and behold there I discovered something I did not know - Isaac Asimov wrote mystery stories! I was first introduced to Asimov by a friend during my freshman year of high school when she encouraged me to read his Foundation series. I continued to read several other sci-fi novels and short stories by Asimov, therefore, it was a pleasant surprise to discover his "Black Widowers" mysteries. Many of the stories in his Puzzles of the Black Widowers originally appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

I'm currently on vacation this week and enjoyed reading this collection of stories over the past two days. I needed a break from "serious" literature or work related reading matter.

Still Reading

I started this blog around the New Year with every intention that it was to become a resolution of sorts. As with all resolutions or goals, life takes over and they are thrust onto the back burner. The urge to write has come upon me today. I've already completed a quick post to my "gardening blog." I find myself with the time to write today as I enjoyed yesterday's snow day from work getting caught up with household and work related chores. Finding myself with time today, I don't know what to do. Can't work in the yard because I must wait for the new snow to melt and the mud to firm up again. The house doesn't need as much attention because I cleaned yesterday. I have time to spend with my books and my writing.

Speaking of reading, I find myself drawn lately to light material. Fun things to read. Nothing too challenging. Perhaps I want the escape from my world into a different life. Jasper Fforde's new Thursday Next book was a fun read (actually a fun listen as I took it out of the library as an audio book). I just finished Alexander McCall Smith's The World According to Bertie  a continuation of his 44 Scotland Street series. I had started reading it a while back and found the character of Irene, Bertie's mother, so exasperating that I had to put the book down. Perhaps it is because I have met some of those mothers in the real world. Talk about your helicopter parent. This woman is a Black Hawk. I am sticking to my resolution of not buying any new books and I am continuing to make it through the collection of books that I have here so I sat down to finish this one in spite of Irene and her shenanigans. Makes you sympathize with the children of these types of parents. Just when I start to worry I don't work hard enough at being a parent I read an example of over the top parenting and realize I am doing a damn fine job with my children.

Reading of Art

I finished reading Susan Vreeland's Luncheon of the Boating Party this morning. In the vein of other recent novels, Vreeland has taken a famous painting and given us a back story about its creation and insight into the subject of the painting. Auguste Renoir is on the cusp of a turning point in his career. He has been challenged by Emile Zola's words about Impressionism being dead. Renoir decides to take on painting a large work that will depict la vie moderne. A painting of fourteen figures grouped around dining tables enjoying the well deserved break of a summer Sunday afternoon. 

As Vreeland describe the setting, the models, and their placement I would constantly flip from the text to look at the cover of the book. I matched the story's depiction to the painting itself. I was engrossed in watching the painting develop as the story unfolded.

To be very honest, I had bought this book some time ago, and began reading it but could only get one chapter in when the story lost my attention. I picked it up a second time, but only made it one chapter further. Perhaps a third times a charm, or the right book comes along at the right time for the reader. This story was the one I needed at this moment. I lost myself in the history of Montmarte and the artists and people who inhabited that world. I enjoyed the beauty of the Seine's riverside in late August and early September. I needed that in the dead of a snowy, cold New England winter.

 The painting is now housed at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Book lists

While reading, I'm always interested to see what books authors recommend or refer to in their work. I've begun a reading list of titles or authors that I see repeatedly mentioned. For example, how often do you see a "classical" work refered to and think "I really should read that one day." There are only so many hours in a day so one way I get more "reading" in is to listen to books on tape. I still call them that because when I first discovered them they came on cassette tapes, now they are on CD or these little things call play-aways. I can even down load titles from the library website to my iPod. Isn't technology wonderful?

Anyways to get back to my point. When I read The Happiness Project at the beginning of the month, Rubin had a section on spiritual development and had asked readers of her blog to suggest books of inspirational quality. One such reader suggested Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones as a Zen approach to writing and life. Now I had seen that title mentioned in many other texts recommending it as a good choice for help with learning to improve one's writing. I promptly requested it from the interlibrary loan service (see I am sticking to my resolution about buying books) and it arrived this past Saturday.

Where's this going? In the car I am listening to Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, a memoir of his time in Paris. Always meant to read more Hemingway and finally getting to it. Then I start reading Goldberg's book and she quotes Hemingway from this very piece of work. Serendipity is what I call it. Is it merely by chance that right now I am focused on writing and developing the art myself that I am drawn to these titles? The Hemingway book I picked because the library had two titles on the audiobook shelf and the other I've read before, the Goldberg book because I keep seeing the title everywhere. Again perhaps it is simply serendipty, the phenomenon of finding something agreeable when you least seek to.