HALFWAY THROUGH A YEAR OF READING DANGEROUSLY

Can it be possible? Have we really already given away six books in our Year of Reading Dangerously? If you have read them all, you cannot help but to have been affected by them. Perhaps it's time for a quick review:

Our first book was Nantucket Open-House Cookbook by Sarah Leah Chase. I chose it because it was one of the first books that really spoke to me of the sense of place, and of a person being so affected by a place that it altered the course of her life.

Second was A Reasonable Life, by Ferenc Mate. It was chosen because it offered common sense answers to so many of the questions I had been asking myself, about the way most of us were living our lives now, and why it wasn't making us happy. If only more people had read it way back when he wrote it, paid attention, and acted upon that advice, we might have avoided the plethora of crises that are facing us now.

Our third book was Simple Abundance, by Sarah ban Breathnach. It taught me what it meant to mine my authentic self -- a most vital step to undertake, before setting out upon the path to good living. It also introduced me to the myriad of wonderful books that existed outside of my narrow mystery/romance comfort zone, each of which has taught me something else about good-life-itude.

Fourth was a book about Tasha Tudor, because she was such a fine example of one who was living an authentic life. That lead us to a discussion of Mary Jane Butters -- another authentic woman -- and her magazine, Mary Jane's Farm.

Our fifth give-away was the wonderful little book A Year In Provence, by Peter Mayle. Not only did it explore a sense of place, it also opened me up to the belief that such a place could inspire those who live there to adopt a more reasonable lifestyle -- one that allows them to slow down, notice the seasons, and appreciate life's many little miracles.

Our most recent book to be explored was The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. It was a vital step along the path to good living, for it is impossible to fully appreciate all of those "little miracles", or to live a life filled with passion and color, unless one is open to the creativity that lies within us all.

Are you ready to continue along this path? Would you like a chance at winning our next wonderful book? This is one that was recently added to my list when I happened across it at Half Price Books. It was one of those head-slapping moments, when I asked myself "How could I have forgotten this one?" While many of our books have spoken of ideas and philosophy, this one is about practical steps you must take in order to "clear the pathway", so to speak, before you can continue any further along it. This will take our total number of books up to 13, and discovering that I almost skipped this important one, made me realize that there are probably many others out there I am forgetting, or haven't yet read. It got me to thinkin', maybe we need to continue this beyond just one year. At the very least, I should be compiling a good-life-reading-list in my side bar, don't you think?

What I need are suggestions from you, though. So, leave a comment here, or send an email to becky.lane(at)vownet(dot)net, between now and Friday morning, and your name will be entered into this months drawing. AND, if you give me the name of a book that you loved, and which was important to your progress towards living the good life, I will enter your name a second time. Good luck, and good reading!