I read to sleep.
Big Daddy says that is the only time I am actually still.
I find that reading a book relaxes me the quickest and most perfectly. Every night of my life I soak in a hot tub of water (RA is to thank for that need) and then slip on one of Big Daddy’s old T-shirts and climb in to bed with a book in my hand. I read actual books. I love the feel and the smell of them. I avoid electronic devices since they tend to wind me up, plus that proverbial Rabbit Hole I seem to get lost for hours down. Today I thought I would share the last three books that I have truly loved.
I have shared before that I have been a pretty much life long student of Native American studies . This began quite by accident when I was a little girl. Most of my studies have had the same effect on me in this arena. My Mama referred to the feeling I’m my gut as ashamed of my race. I felt this for the very first time when I was very small and stepped foot on the lands of the Cherokee near my childhood home. I didn’t understand the anxiety caused by that first trip there. I expressed that I didn’t feel good to my Mama and she ferreted it out of me. As an adult I have chosen to bare this guilt mindfully and with much respect. This masterful book sent me right back to that place. It is a brutally factual account of the Osage people and the power of money in the wrong hands. Author David Grann problable took years off his life with with the research alone for this book, and for that I truly thank him. Someone really needed to tell this story.
So I was in the long an ponderous checkout line at the biggest Goodwill I had ever seen in Greenville, SC when I glanced down and saw what appeared to be a copy of this book that had never been read. Now , also when I was small this was quite the controversial miniseries on TV that I was NOT ALLOWED to watch, adult content and all that. I snapped this up for maybe $3 and dove in head first. The trade addition was as thick as a NY phonebook so it took me a few month to read. It will stand as one of the best books I have every read. Ms. Mcullough tells the (love) story of a poor Irish Catholic family as they make their way to Australia to raise sheep. The book spans three generations, so pack a lunch for this one 🙂
Ya’ll I’m a Rocker Chick from way back. When the album Bella Donna first came out in July of 1981? I lost my little mind forever. I was 15 years old and I wore the album O.U.T. I was obsessed with Stevie Nicks. Her lyrics, her style, all of it. I wanted to be her….. or at least dress like her. In my very first blog post ever I detailed the timeline of my crazy little identity as a child and teenager and she was definitely an influence. The book starts when she is an little girl and ends in present day. My favorite parts are song related. It has much to say about her life as a song writer and the events in her life that became her lyrics. In a world for of men (rockers) she has always stood her ground musically. Several years ago we had the good fortune to seen some of her stage wardrobe at the Rock Hall in Cleveland, OH.
I will never forget it.
Here’s to your Summer reading!
Paige
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