Quote for the Week

Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.

Winner of America's Favorite Novel Announced

After all the votes were counted, the 100 favorite books in order from 100 to #1 were announced Tuesday night and Yay! My favorite came in #1.  Here, in order are the top 10:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird

2. Outlander (Wasn't sure how this was one of the top 5, but apparently there are Outlander fan clubs who are devoted to this book and probably voted every day.  Now I'll have to read it.

3. Harry Potter (I expected this to be #1 but it came close.)

4. Pride and Prejudice 

5. Lord of the Rings

6. Gone with the Wind

7. Charlotte's Web

8. Little Women (Hasn't every girl in America read it?)

9. Chronicles of Narnia

10. Jane Eyre

My predictions last week were pretty close!

Check out the entire list at the PBS website.  Happy reading!

Best American Read: My Guess for Favorite American Novel

I have been following the Best American Read all summer.  The finale is Tuesday night at 7:00 on PBS.  Here are my comments on some of the novels, my guess for the top choices and my prediction for #1.

The OMG, NO! book
Fifty Shades of Gray--my choice for the #1 worst book

Some that I Guess Won't be in the Top 10
Crime and Punishment--too Russian
War and Peace--too long
Moby Dick--too dense
Pilgrim's Progress--too old
Twilight--who wants to fall in love with a vampire?

Some that Should Make the Top 10 but Probably Won't
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hunger Games
1984
The Martian

My Guesses for the Top 10
Catcher in the Rye
Game of Thrones
Gone with the Wind
The Great Gatsby
The Handmaid's Tale
Little Women
Lord of the Rings
Pride and Prejudice
To Kill a Mockingbird (my favorite)
Don Quixote

My Guess for #1
Harry Potter

I'd love to hear your comments.

13 Years

Ralph, my husband, died on October 16, 2005--13 years ago.
Sometimes it seems like forever since we were together, laughing and loving and arguing and forgiving.  We made a home for our children, supported each other in our individual endeavors, traveled to far away places or spent time at home.
Sometimes it seems like only yesterday when leukemia invaded his bloodstream and conquered it in just one year.  Either way, we had a good marriage, and I still miss him every day.

Books of September

Speaking American.  What do you call a meal you order and bring home from a restaurant?  In some parts of the country it's "take out" and in other parts "carry out."  This book covers all kinds of words and phrases that differ in various parts of the U.S.  It's a book for a language aficinado like me.

Nightingale.  The story of two French sisters during World War II and how they coped with their situations in very different way.  It was on the best seller list for quite some time.

Educated.  My favorite non-fiction book of the year, it's the memoir of a young woman who grew up in Idaho in a survivalist family--no birth certificate, no vaccinations, no doctor visits ever, no schooling except at home.  Unbelievably, she takes the ACT and gets accepted to Brigham Young University, where she is totally out of her depth.  But she persists and eventually earns a PhD. from Cambridge.  Fascinating story and, despite what some Amazon reviewers say, it's true, and isn't truth stranger than fiction?

Shriners Burn Hospital for Children

I am a burn survivor.
When I was 19, my dress caught fire from a gas heater and I nearly burned to death.  Recovery was a long, painful process, but obviously I d.id recover and go on with my life.
A few weeks ago I was delighted to be invited to tour Shriners Burn Hospital for Children in Galveston.  Galveston .has been one of premier center for treatment of burns ever since I can remember.  I was there for three months.  At that time there was no specific hospital for burned children.  The girl in the bed next to me was only 12.
In 1963 the hospital focused on children with burns and other serious skin diseases was founded.  Now it is #1 in the nation in treating such injuries and diseases.  It is a beautiful building and what impressed me most was that it treats, not just the underlying problem, but the whole child. There is counseling for children and families, a play area, even a school so children who are school-aged can keep up with their studies.  It is a warm and welcoming child centered place.  I hope to drive down to Galveston once or twice a month to do volunteer work there.  As a previous burn patient as well as the daughter of a Shriner, I feel this is the place for me to give back.