Friday, November 14, 2008

November Gratitude #2

When I saw the wormers were posting books we are grateful for this month I grimaced. Not at the concept but at the challenge of separating my favorite books from books I'm grateful for. But I did it.

The two authors I'm grateful for over the long run are Anne Lamott and Natalie Goldberg. I love them both.

Anne Lamott for her honesty, her humor. For her encouragement to be part of the solution. For her struggle and subsequent ability to include everyone. For her endearing and enduring humanness. I love her because she's crazy. But a really nice crazy.

And I'm grateful for Natalie Goldberg's books, Writing Down The Bones and Wild Mind because it was in those pages, in Natalie's wild mind committed to the page, that I found my way to pen and paper. Make positive effort for the good, Natalie instructs with her toothy grin and Zen minimalism. And keep your pen moving. Not always easy, but generally always a surprise.

What books are you grateful for in the long run? Or even in the short run? Let us know.

5 comments:

Joyce said...

Oh, I love Anne Lamotte too!

Theresa said...

I'm totally grateful for Thich Nhat Hanh's books, in particular "The World We Have" which I'm just in the middle of writing a review for on my blog. This book found me at just the right time, when I needed to shake of some of my despair.

Going Crunchy said...

I'm holding my cards to my chest until my week. I like your picks!
Shannon

Anonymous said...

I'm grateful for books you can reread or listen to and still appreciate. I'm grateful for well written children's books. I'm grateful for reference books that teach me something new or spark my creativity. I'm grateful for field guides that help me identify flowers, birds, fossils etc.

Now I suppose you an example. Well, on a road trip this summer with my husband and our nephew I got some books on DVD. One of our favorites was "The Wind in the Willows". It was touching and amusing and very well narrated. I could go on but I have bulbs that need planting, I'd better check one of my gardening books to see if the iris reticulata can stand the shade. ;o)

diana

Kale for Sale said...

Sorry for the late replies. I'm not sure what happened.

joyce - I'm glad there's another AL groupie in the bookworm world.

theresa - I enjoyed your initial post on the TNH book and look forward to your final review.

going crunchy - I understand and thanks.

diana - And I'm grateful for your comments. Bits of verse and landscape. Thank you.