"Lita"

by Jervey Tervalon, 2003, 211p, rating=2.5

I'm not sure how to describe this book.  It's a simple read and technically flowed but for some reason I found it fragmented... storyline-wise.  In general it was wacky!  According to the book's front flap, this is the eagerly awaited sequel to Dead Above Ground ... perhaps I should have read that first but I sincerely think it wouldn't have helped.  I think this sequel just didn't cut it! 

Book's synopsis:

"Ten years after Lita, her twin sisters, her husband Winston, and their two children, packed up and moved to Los Angeles, issues left behind in New Orleans come back to haunt her.  Lita is already at loose ends, trying to hold house and home together.  One younger sister rebels and both conspire to free themselves from her protective grip.  Lita herself can't decide whether to stay in a marriage that is dangerously weak at the seams.  Then, she receives an unwelcomed phone call from a trouble-making aunt, telling Lita that her father --with whom she has a strained relationship--is on his deathbed.  The aunt also says that she has seen Lita's beloved mother--never mind that the woman has been dead for a decade.  As Lita finds herself overwhelmed by a flood of long-suppressed memories, she grudgingly realizes that she must return to New Orleans and take the opportunity to make amends and come to terms with her family and her past.  As she makes the journey back, a growing sense of dread takes root in her soul.  She has the sense that her life will change again and there will be no simple turning back to the life she led in Los Angeles."

"In the Hold"

by Vladimir Arsenijevic, 1996, 128p, rating=2.5

Mr. Arsenijevic writes well.  A literary style that is poetic and so you know how I do with poetry ... I get lost!  It's sad but my brain isn't wired to decipher it just yet.  I should take a poetry class... hmmmm.

Well, what I did get I liked.  The main character, unnamed, narrated his life story.  His awakening as it came was honest.  He described his feelings such as anxiety to avoid getting drafted, his awe and insecurities being married to a bold woman, the joy of the pending arrival of his first child --a son, the perplexity of his lapse of judgment, and newly found and strengthened love for his dad and a veteran friend.  Also, I did get the feel of a sense of harshness that loomed in the air as would be during war years.  A few funny moments but also disturbing ones too.  Anyway, if you can get a hold of this book, go ahead and read it.  It's a quick read and then perhaps you can explain the foggy parts to me!  :D  ... Duh!  I own a copy of this book, so if you're local come over and borrow it.

Book's synopsis:

It is the autumn of 1991, the beginning of war in the former Yugoslavia.  As a mass exodus empties Belgrade of those trying to evade the conflict just beyond the border, a young couple await the birth of their first child.  This is the story of their family and those close to it--people desperately trying to carry on with their modern lives in a world increasingly ruled by primitive passions.  The expectant father--ironic and bemused, anxiously enervated but determined to keep peace at home--is scarcely a fair match for his fiery wife, Angela, particularly in her third trimester.  Once an enterprising black-market capitalist, she has put business aside for motherhood, "to become what she had in fact always wanted to be--a housewife."  But when her younger brother, a maddeningly enlightened though awkward Hare Krishna, unexpectedly answers the draft call--succumbing to the seductions of an even more incomprehensible dogma--the delicate fabric of their comforting routine begins to unravel.  Against the "Tehranesque panoramas...of the deceived capital, " everyday life soon takes the turbulent form of a soap opera--but one without the reassuring promise of conventional resolutions.  Arsenijevic's novel is a brutal story, by turns nightmarish and comical.  Like Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, it give us a generation caught in circumstances not of their making, but refusing nevertheless to share the visions of their country's rulers.  It is a haunting tale of family life in surreal disarray.  A singular literary debut.

Ch. 14: Priesthood Organization

I know, you may have noticed that I haven't been reading a chapter a week as planned.  You know how that goes, things don't necessarily work out as planned.  At least I haven't given it all up all together!

from Gospel Principles:

There are two types of priesthood, Melchizedek and Aaronic.  The Aaronic Priesthood is an appendage to the Melchizedek Priesthood.  Those holding the Melchizedek Priesthood have the power and authority to lead the Church and direct the preaching of the gospel in all parts of the world.

Offices and duties of the Aaronic Priesthood:

• Deacon:  ordained to a 12yo worthy young man.  Usually assigned to pass the sacrament, keep Church buildings and grounds in good order, act as messengers for priesthood leaders, and fulfill special assignments such as collecting fast offerings.
• Teacher:  ordained to a 14yo worthy young man.  Duties, rights, and powers of deacon plus additional ones.  They are to help Church members live the commandments ... they are assigned to serve as home teachers.  They also prepare the bread and water for the sacrament service.
• Priest:  ordained to a 16yo worthy young man.  Same as deacon and teacher plus additional.  They may baptize, administer the sacrament, ordain other priests, teachers, and deacons, may take charge of meetings when there is no Melchizedek Priesthood holder present.  He is to preach the gospel to those around him.
• Bishop:  is ordained and set apart to preside over the Aaronic Priesthood in a ward.  He is the president of the priests quorum.  Under Aaronic Priesthood, he deals primarily with temporal matters such as administering finances and records and directing care for the poor and needy.  He is also ordained a high priest so he can preside over all members in the ward.  He is a judge in Israel and interviews members for temple recommends, priesthood ordinations, and other needs.  It is his right to have the gift of discernment.

The offices and duties of the Melchizedek Priesthood:

• Elder quorum:  is instituted for standing ministers, but may travel.  Do most of their work near their homes.  Consist of up to 96 elders, presided over by a quorum presidency.
• High Priests quorum:  includes all high priests residing within the boundaries of a stake, including patriarchs and bishops.  The stake president and his counselors are the presidency of this quorum.  The high priests in each ward are organized into a group with a group leader.

Please see the Gospel Principles link at sidebar to read this chapter in full ... soooo much information.  Anyway, I am certainly at awe at the organization of the Church.  All priesthood, right up to the president of the Church, does not get paid to serve.  If one studies how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is organized, one could conclude that it is under the reign of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

"The Season of Second Chances"

by Diane Meier, 2010, 285p, rating=3.75

I thought I was going to continue to struggle to read this book.  It's summer break for my kids, just had a holiday, and lately I've been moody so whenever I get a chance to pick up the book I'd only get a couple of pages or so in and then life demands my time.  Anyway, this book is due tomorrow so I had to finish it (library says, "This book cannot be renewed") today and fortunately my kids played to themselves at home and I just read and read.  It's actually how I'd like to read a book ... somewhat all at once because as a forgetful person, reading choppily ... well you can imagine ... I might forget something important!  Ha ha!! 

Moving on, I liked this book.  It's charming, funny, and well written.  It was fascinating to see Joy's mid-life unfold.  In her late 40s, she made an offhand decision to take a job in a small college town in Massachussetts.  Quite a move from New York City.  Quite a fixer-upper of a house she purchased as well.  No worries, Ted to the rescue!  A well liked handyman.  And before she knows it, Joy befriends colleagues and people around her becomes important in her life and in turn she finally gets the second chance, or third, or fourth ... to make a meaningful life. 

Wonderful group of supporting/extra characters as well.  The bonding was moving and a nice reminder that friends are blessings in our lives.  The ending was not quite what I hoped but it was acceptable.  A solid good first novel for this author.

Now I leave you with just one my quoteable:  "My point is that others can open the door for you, others can even push you over the threshold, but only you can take up the challenge and commit yourself to doing something with all your heart." pg 167.

"Women Food and God"

by Geneen Roth, 2010, 211p, rating=3.5

In the last few months I've gained more weight than I care to say so when I came across this book I was eager to see what Ms Roth had to say and hoping that it would enlighten me.  OK, honestly I was hoping to lose weight just by reading it!  No luck!  Funny thing, I was thinking about digging into that double chocolate brownie ice cream in the freezer while I was reading the book!  Also the adobo and rice and basically all the food at home was eye candy!  Tells you how engrossing the book was.  But really, Ms Roth did have some very interesting and compelling things to say.  I was just waiting to finish the book before I started to diet ... quite similar to the I'll start my diet tomorrow excuse I tend to tell myself.  Well, I finished the book so what did I learn?  Would I apply them? 

The first thing that came to mind after finishing the book was that going to her retreats would be necessary to fully grasp her theories (personally, I'm having a hard time with what she calls "Inquiry").  I'm sure she summed it all the best she could but I would imagine being there in her twice a year retreats which some of her students seem to take for years goes to show that this would need continued work?  Yet, I'm not saying one wouldn't be able to be successful by reading the book alone.  I think it would depend on whether the reader believes her theories enough to give it a shot.  Or perhaps desperate enough (me!) to try anything, even this one, to lose the perpetual excess pounds!

There's really so much information and wonderful insights that it's too overwhelming for me to sum it up.  But will go directly to what I was hoping to get when I started this book... guidelines!  This of course needs to be in conjunction with "Inquiry" which basically (meditation) tells you to sense your body, ask certain questions, find associations with the sensation to a feeling, disengage from and dispel The Voice (negative thoughts), pay attention to censored thoughts or feelings, and don't try to direct the inquiry with your mind.  So without further ado, here's The Eating Guidelines:

• Eat when you are hungry.
• Eat sitting down in a calm environment.
• Eat without distractions.  Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or anxiety-producing conversations or music.
• Eat what your body wants.
• Eat until you are satisfied.
• Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others.
• Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.

So what does this mean for me?  I'd like to go back to that I'll start tomorrow excuse but why not eat when you're hungry and feel what you're feeling when you're not (can't find her actual phrase at the moment) give it a try now!  Here goes something!!

The following "my quotables" (word I made up, apparently) might give you a sense of some of the things in the book.

**My quotables:
"Yes something is wrong, but it will not be fixed through losing weight." pg 33
"Compulsive eating is a way we distance ourselves from the way things are when they are not how we want them to be.  I tell them that ending the obsession with food is all about the capacity to stay in the present moment." pg 37
"Change happens not by hatred but by love." pg 121
"It's an axiom in both love and food that getting what you want is worlds apart from wanting what you can't get." pg 162
"When a diabetic tells me that she can't eat what she wants because what she wants will kill her (and therefore she feels deprived), my response is that what will kill her is wanting another life than the one she has, another condition than the one that is hers." pg 184

"after the moment"

by Garret Freymann-Weyr, 2009, 328p, rating=1

This book didn't click for me.  I didn't really by into the teen love story ... perhaps it was missing vampires and wolves... haha!  It was basically missing everything.  Too many characters that didn't have substance.  The story line was too busy and slow.  I'm sorry but I just didn't like this one.  I don't know what else to say!  :(

Book's synopsis:

Maia Morland is pretty, only not pretty-pretty.  She's smart.  She's brave.  She's also a self-proclaimed train wreck.  Leigh Hunter is smart, popular, and extremely polite.  He's also completely and forever in love with Maia Morland.  Their young love starts off like a romance novel--full of hope, strength, and passion.  But life is not a romance novel and theirs will never become a true romance.  For when Maia needs him the most, Leigh betrays both her trust and her love.  Told with compassion and true understanding.  After the Moment is about what happens when a young man discovers that sometimes love fails us, and that, quite often, we fail love.

"The Quilter's Kitchen"

by Jennifer Chiaverini, 2008, 202p (large print), rating=3

A novel with recipes...genius!  Unfortunately, the novel part was not that great but the recipes sound divine so she scored an extra point for that.  I would consider this more of a cookbook than a novel ... nice try though Ms Chiaverini!  Anyway, there's really tons of cool recipes in this book.  To name a few...apple strudel, BBQ pork sandwich, biscuits, chocolate zucchini bread, Thai chicken peanut satay, sour cream cake, Jagerschnitzel, Moroccan vegetable stew, white chocolate mousse, panzanella, ratatouille, rosemary rolls, raspberry tart, shoofly pie, vermicelli salad, etc.  Getting hungry!!  I want to learn to make dough for bread and pie so I might start there but dessert sounds more tempting!!

Book's synopsis:

Anna Del Maso's twin passions have converged in her position as head chef at Elm Creek Manor.  A full renovation of the kitchen must be completed by the start of the new season, and she and Sylvia Bergstrom Compson begin to dismantle the old to make way for the new.  Sylvia's reminiscences remind them of how many of the manor's traditions have involved food and celebrations.  Just as there is recipe for every story, there is a story for every recipe.

I must admit I do like that this book reminded me that certain foods can bring back fond memories.  I love food!!  It's no wonder I've got extra jiggle to wiggle!!  :)