This book is yet another one sent to me by my lovely friend Lisa in Seattle. It's not a book (or an author) I had heard of, and those are usually the best kind that she sends me.
In Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, Heather Lende is an author living in small town Alaska, basking in the glow of her upcoming book tour when she is run over by a truck while riding her bike. In telling the story of her accident and her recovery, the reader is introduced to her faith, her family, and her community of Haines, Alaska.
We get to know the different personalities that make up the town of Haines and how they all pulled together to help Heather and her family as she healed. We see all the intimate connections between the residents and how their lives intertwine with Heather's.
Heather also gives us some great examples of positive energy and faith, and how they can make a difference when things are not going well. It seems to be a choice that she makes in life-to be strong, to make the best of her situation, and to be grateful for what she has.
There are descriptions of the natural beauty of her town and the surrounding area. If you are a fan of the wilderness, that alone is a reason to read the book. I connected with the author just by the fact that we are both animal lovers and the experience I had with a community coming together to help me when things were at their worst.
The book shows that there really are good, caring people everywhere.
"Ballistics" by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins was sent to me by my wonderful friend Lisa in Seattle. She sends me the best books and takes the time to check my Goodreads shelves to see what I'm interested in. She saw that I had "Ballistics" listed as to-read and sent it to me.
"Ballistics" is a book of poetry, many times the poems touching on dark elements of life. All of them are straight-forward, not a confusing mass of words. My favorite in the book is titled "The Four-Moon Planet", and not just because it mentions tequila!
After I finished each poem, I couldn't wait to start the next one. I read the entire book in one sitting and have read a few of the poems over again. They made me see things in life from a different perspective.
It was nice to read something a bit different and I'm very glad I came across it.
One of the first books that I bought after the fire was "Stories of Cats We Love", a collection of 17 short stories about cats. I had only read one of the stories included in the book: "Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe. I was hopeful that the other stories were just as good and would keep my mind off of what we were going through.
I was disappointed. There were a couple of stories in the book that I enjoyed, but the rest I just muddled through. In fact, I began the last three stories in the book, but didn't finish any of them.
I think the best part of this book was the cute little kitten on the cover. Unfortunately, that's the best thing I can say about it.
