Wow! Just discovered this Bulletin Board feature. Must be new. Think I'll use it to post thoughts on the book I'm currently reading. Right now, it's "The Journeyor" by Gary Jennings. Great read so far! I love Jennings! His "Aztec" is one of my all-time faves!" "The Journeyer" seems to focus a LOT on sex, but I can live with that. Jennings also throws in a lot of interesting things about the people and places Marco visits, as well as plenty of history, and some social/religious thoughts/commentary. Definitely one to keep going with! Everyone have a happy day!!

I really liked this book! Just a good, plain ol' fun read. The book kept me engrossed. I finished it in a weekend - granted I was traveling and spent several hours reading in the car, but I was so happy I had this book to keep me entertained those long hours on the road. I highly recommend this book.

I just finished this wonderful book last night. It reminded me a bit of Eat, Pray, Love (a book I also loved) in that the writers' styles are similar and they had similar spiritual experiences and major life/lifestyle changes.

Part of what spoke to me about this book is, of course, that I too am the mother of a child with Down syndrome and although our pregnancies were very different, I experienced many of the same emotions as the author - although I never confirmed a possible Down's diagnosis through amnio. Also, because my own pregnancy came almost 15 years after the author's, I was fortunate in that our changing society had become more accepting of people with disabilities. I cried for her experiences in telling her parents, in-laws, Harvard crowd, doctors, etc. that her baby had Down's - the horrible reactions she received must have been incredibly hard to bear.

I wish I could say that I had the supernatural/spiritual/whatever experiences that the author did during my pregnancy or that I felt that my 5-year-old daughter with Down's is an angel (some days I think she's the opposite, LOL!), but that doesn't make my experience with my Down's child any more or less than the author's. It just gives me something to identify with her; some common ground. Although my own "spiritual awakening" occurred differently, without the "experiences" or drama of the author's and well after my daughter was born, I find it interesting that she and I arrived at very close to the same place and that our attitudes and beliefs on religion/spirituality are very much the same. I think Martha Beck is very much someone I would love to sit down and talk with over a nice cup of tea.

I appreciated the author's honesty even when it cast her or her loved ones in a not-so-flattering light. It takes a strong person to admit feelings of revulsion, fear, loathing, etc. towards their unborn child, but it would not be human not to have those feelings. I commend Martha Beck for writing this book which so obviously exposed her.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, not just parents of Down's children (although I think it would be an especially poignant book for them)!

I'm a litlte over halfway through this one. Up until recently, I did not like the main character, Catalina at all! It surprised me because in The Other Boleyn Girl, I had some like for Katherine (Catalina). (It should be noted that I like Catalina's mother, Isabella, even less. What a self-righteous woman!) Catalina in The Constant Princess just seems arrogant, vain, petty, ambitious and very self-serving. She is not, IMO, a likeable person. I can see where she's coming from and what influences and drives her, but that doesn't make me like her - sympathize a bit, but not like. She has been brought up as a princess and to think her mother is the favorite of God. She has also been anticipating since her betrothal to Prince Arthur at age 3 to be the Princess of Wales and eventual Queen of England. I can understand that living with that expectation her whole life, it is hard to give it up. She has also been lead to believe that these plans for her life are crucial for her family and country - and have been explicitly dictated as God's wish. So, I can see how she came to be what she is.

However, I am now at the part where Catalina has been languishing in limbo in England for what? Seven years? Without support of a confessor, an ambassador or even her own family, who it seems, have abandoned her. I certainly now feel sympathy for her and respect for what she has endured - and endured with grace. By the end of the book, I may actually like her!

I just finished this book last weekend - yeah, stayed up until 2:00 A.M. one night just to finish it up! Great book! Something that is definitely going to stay with me. I liked how it didn't have some sort of totally cliched ending where Amir, his wife and Hassan's son turned into a totally close family and lived happily ever after. At the end of the book, it looks like they might be on their way, but we'll never know.

Wow! Such a powerful book. Incredibly depressing. I spent many hours brooding over this book and worrying about and crying over Mariam and Laila. I'd tell myself not to be silly, that it was just a book! However, although the book is fiction, it is most certainly based on the lives of thousands of Afghanistan women. I'm glad I read this book. It gave me a bit of an insight into the Afghan people and culture.

I just finished this book. Another excellent book of wisdom from one of my favorite spiritual gurus, Paramahansa Yogananda. This book was really insightful to me and provided me with some encouragement at a time when I am working on deepening my meditation practice. I've copied several pages from the book to insert in my journal. I read the library's copy, but I'd definitely like to get my own.

I finished this book a couple of days ago. Awesome! Definitely my favorite book ever (except for The Witching Hour, by Anne Rice, which I will always love for pure entertainment value)! There wasn't one part of this book I disliked. A strange thing (well, maybe not so strange) is that this book gave me encouragement and hope to continue on with my own meditation practice with diligence and joy. I want to add "with a sense of anticipation," but truly with meditation, one cannot expect "something" in return - at least not something always immediately tangible. Anyway, it was nice to read that a woman I can so closely identify with also struggled in her meditation practice, though I'm sure everyone does. I'm so happy to have read it - and I plan to read it again.

I'm still working my way through The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita (which is a huge book and not one to be read quickly), and I also started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns a couple of days ago. So far, I like it!

The more I read of this book, the more I appreciate it. The author shares so many of my same beliefs, opinions, etc. She just puts them into words so much more eloquently than I do. I suppose that's why she's the author, and I'm the paralegal. [wink, smile]

Example: I just read the part where she talks about her beliefs on destiny - is ours pre-ordained or do we make our own? As I read her questioning of this, I called to mind my own thoughts on this subject. In essence, it's about 50/50. The trick is figuring out what you can only surrender to and what you can control. Bam! Just as I thought it, I read further and discovered she shares the same view. It's those things I come across constantly in this book that make it such a page-turner. It's not that I wonder what she's going to do next, what's going to happen next or where she's going to go next. It's wondering which thoughts/opinions/beliefs she's going to spoon feed back to me in a way I can totally and easily digest and when I'm done say, "Ummm, YES, that's exactly what I feel/think/believe!"

This is the book I'm currently reading. All I can say is that I love this book!! I can identify with the author in so many ways. I can't reasonably see "chucking it all" and spending a year abroad, although there are days . . . The mundaneness and responsibilities of life eventually bear down on us all.

I think we all feel dissatisfactions in our lives, we all wonder why we're here, we all wonder what would make us really, truly, deeply happy. As for me, in addition, I want to find JOY! Pure, sweet joy! I want this joy, I want it whether I'm standing in line at the grocery store, going through a trying time with my children, arguing with my husband, working in the garden, or simply just sitting still.

I especially identify with the author's spiritual quest. Recently my religious beliefs have undergone tremendous transformation. My yoga practice has led me to studies of meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism; and finally - finally - things are making sense to me! There is something about my Christian upbringing that never "spoke" to me. I never "got" it. I never truly felt "spiritual" until the Eastern dharmas opened my eyes and penetrated my heart. I'm currently in the section of the book where the author is in India, and I am utterly absorbed!

It is truly phenomenal to read a book you can so clearly relate to!

I just discovered this site recently. Wow! I love it! Now I'm really wishing I wouldn't have gotten rid of so many books over the past few years through garage sales, donating, etc. Aaarrrghh! Oh, well, I'm on a mission to collect unwanted books from my friends and relatives and post them here! I've also invited several others to join this great place, but so far, no takers. I'll keep trying!

After having somewhat of a sabbatical from reading for pleasure (other things took over my life for the past few years) I have dedicated this spring/summer as my "Spring/Summer of Reading!" So many books, so little time! I'm going to keep track of all the books I've read here! It'll be my own "reading blog!"

Here's to a wonderful season of reading!