Magical Books

There are so many books I could write about.   I have a passion for writing and reading and books that has had me enchanted for as long as I can remember.  In general, I think books are magical, period.  Sure there are some that are simply not my cup of tea but those books that are ...  oh, the ones that are for me, wow!  They can totally captivate me, bring me to a place I never knew existed, open my heart and my mind and affect me in a way that nothing else can.   


To discuss here all of the books that have meaning to me would take up far too much time; I honestly feel that our relationships with books are as personal and intricate as those relationships we have with people.  The book is the book and we bring our own meaning to it, develop our relationship with it, and though the words that we read may be the same, the book is a different experience for each individual reader.  


So given the history I have had with numerous, memorable and marvelous books, it may seem a little odd that I've decided to share here the part of the comments that I've just posted on Goodreads.com about a book I have not even finished reading yet, a book that is not is living up to the expectations some fans had of it, a book that might not seem to fit in so much with other content found in this blog so far.


The book I'm referring to is Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet.  I've been reading this book (aloud) most days with my son and having conversations about what we've been reading, what's happening to the characters and their world.  We are about half-way through this book; it has fairly short chapters and so we generally have been reading 2-4 chapters each day.  The very best part of this book for me is the reading experience I am sharing with my son which is why I decided to share part of those comments here:

At his age of 12 (grade 7), he is required to read particular novels for school and I've been so discouraged to find that this has been dulling his appreciation for reading in general. He's less inclined to read in general because with each new book he feels "forced" to read (but doesn't really enjoy) at school, he has been losing any sense of pleasure that reading had held. 

Enter, Witch & Wizard, an N.O. world that it seems he can really relate to, a world where everything resembles a New Order (our way or N.O.-way!) dictatorship. Everything under the control of "them" or in this case the head of the N.O., "The-One-Who-Is-The-One". To have any semblance of choice or of being authentic in this land, you must be willing to stand up and take action; push the boundaries, re-examine what you think you know, be willing to live on the edge of adventure and possibly lose your life trying to find a way live in a world that makes little sense. 

I don't believe I happened upon this book by accident, I really wanted a novel that would capture my son's interest and that is exactly what I found here... absolute magic! It's presented in a way that he (my son) could totally relate to, and I am honestly enjoying this N.O. adventure myself. I can only say "BRAVO" to the authors, a job well done!

Since my last post here I've been reading and writing every single day and exercising five days a week.  I've continued with each of my daily readings  and the course.  As noted above, I've been reading a book with Troy but we've also been playing games most evenings, usually cards or chess.  When I get in the way of his chess moves he says to me in fun, "Stop postponing my greatness!" and we both laugh knowing his greatness will come in due time.


Today I am grateful for my beautiful children, Letitia and Troy; I'm grateful for the ability to read and write, and I'm also grateful that both of my children have these same skills.