The Five People You Meet in Heaven

"All the people you meet here have one thing to teach you." Eddie was skeptical. His fists stayed clenched. "What?" he said. "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."

I read Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven right at a pivotal point in my life, and can't imagine that a better book could have landed in my hands right when I needed it. Wiki actually has a content rich summary and analysis of the book, and I really don't think I could produce anything better then what is produced HERE. Browse the site for more details on themes, characters and interpretations.

I am thankful that I read this book as explores how our stories and lives are interwoven, and each of us imperfect beings may experience and give a legacy of forgiveness to each other. I read this book shortly after my father died, and though I loved him dearly and deeply I had a few unresolved feelings to work through. Well, mainly being the out-there daughter of a very religious, quiet and reserved person can lend itself to a few communication issues. Albom's book landed in my hands and it really and truly was a book that enabled me to become a "better" person if you want to call it that. One that could look at issues at a deeper level and look at the human heart in all of its glory and weaknesses. Ah, oh so thankful.

This book isn't really about dying, but more about the living and what we give each other. A Six Degrees in a way, showing both the good and bad of our human experience, and the ability to reconcile with each other and with our emotions.

I finished this book curled up in a ball and crying my eyes out, and I'd firmly rate it as a five-tissue read out of five. But it is one of those books that you read and walk around absorbing for days, the thoughts and characters now entrenched in your own mind. I'm happy to say I feel I was all the better for it. I don't know if books can make us "badder" or "gooder" people, but I found that I was deeply moved by the content in this book in my own life.

So I'm thankful for Five People, and thankful that I read it. I find that though it isn't a "Green" read, it is one that Greener readers may surely enjoy.

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.

I Am Grateful For . . .

November is the month of Thanksgiving. A month when we look around us and feel grateful for all that we have. In keeping with that sentiment and in participating in tallgrassworship's November challenge, we Wormers thought we would share our gratitude with fellow bookworms both in word (each of us will write a post on books for which we are grateful) and in deed (look out for several book giveaways every remaining Sunday this month).

Here's mine:

I am grateful for books.

All books. I've devoured more than my share since I was a fourth grader busted for staying up all night reading Little Women. I've since moved on to other categories of books, including the ecologically relevant ones littering our side bar, but I find myself particularly grateful these days to a different sort of book. Ones that help teach my children a new, better way of life. That demonstrate clearly the path. And that reconnect them with the cycle of life.

Here are a couple of my favorites for the fall:

Red Are the Apples by Marc Harshman is a beautifully illustrated book that explores the seasonal harvest on a farm, complete with free ranging chickens and a frisky cat. The book takes the fruits and vegetables from plant to bottle (cider) and even has a page about canning. What's not to love?

Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell cleverly illustrates the life cycle of a pumpkin - from Jack O Lantern, to a composted pumpkin with a few extra seeds, to plant, to pumpkin, to, well, Jack again. This is a favorite of my boys took a page from the book and, this year, put their Jack O Lanterns under the orange tree and check on them daily for signs of change.

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey is a fun book about children who visit turkeys at the farm and then spirit them away for a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone is thankful - "the turkeys the most." Recommended for vegetarians as this one drives my carnivorous husband nuts. ;-)


That's my list. What are you grateful for? Check back each week to see what books other Wormers hold near and dear to their hearts.