Reading Pleasures

Its quickly approaching that time of year when we have many many days that are just MADE for curling up in your favorite chair with a cup of hot chocolate or hot tea and a great book. I generally have to settle for rolling up the curtains in the sleeper and curling up with my girls, but since some of you can and do enjoy an afternoon of reading at home, I've got a couple of good reads for you.

I know a number of you already read this during the summer. However, maybe a few of you didn't see it on my sister's blog, and I really enjoyed this book, so I decided to go ahead and give it a second push. I just read it last week. I really enjoyed it, and was surprised to get so caught up with the characters. Its not what the title implies...well not really. Basic plot line...Cannie is a plus size journalist who, after breaking up with her three year boyfriend, discovers that he, also a journalist, has written about their sex life in a national publication, stating that loving a larger woman is an act of courage in our times...or something like that. I'd give you a direct quote, but the books at my house on the counter, waiting to be returned my mom-in-law. (one of the few things occupying my house I might add...isn't it lucky!) So the books about her journey of becoming secure and proud of who she is. This book made me laugh out loud and cry real tears a few times, which to me means it's "worth reading," (or possibly that my hormones were out of whack). But regardless of which, I enjoyed it. So if you get tired and want something light to read...try this. Angela, you'd like it, not that Rachel gives you lots of reading time, but at least add it to your stack of "after Rachel starts kindergarten" books, even if that is 6 years distant...thats going to be a huge stack of books if I have anything to do with it.

Speaking of Miss Rachel, she's officially over a month old. I missed announcing her one month birthday. These cows seem to be taking over a lot of my time. But here she is...growing so much!

Back to books.

My second recommendation:

Don't you just love it when you pick a random book off the shelf and it turns out to be GREAT! Here's the deal. I was looking for books at the store on training colts. Randomly pawing my way through the "horse" section of the Barnes and Noble, I ran across this and bought it on a whim.

I just finished it Wednesday night. I've not heard or read any work from this author before, but she has others, one of which I'm about to order because I loved her writing style so much. Even if you are not a horse enthusiast, I still recommend this book. Truly, I can't exactly describe what I felt while reading this...but I just loved it. Every character was real and I found myself feeling personally involved with each of them. Set in eastern Oregon at the beginning of WWI, Martha Lesson is a 19 year old drifter. Shy and extremly self-concious, she makes her way from town to town looking for work breaking horses. Her way of breaking them is unsettling to the locals who are used to seeing horses bucked out till they give up. Martha, socially withdrawn, is a genius with horses, healing their internal hurts and turning them into well mannered and skilled ranch horses. During the winter months, as she works the horses of the community, she is healed herself through her relationships with those around her. You will not only follow Martha's story, but those of the horses she works with as well as the people who employ her. I'm not good with words today and I feel like I'm doing this book an injustice in my discription...but seriously, its a very good book, even if you don't go crazy over horses or western lifestyles. Its not a long book if you are short on time, and its very easy to read. It's a very warming story, and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm going ahead and posting this today, even though I just posted the entry below. If you havn't read it yet, then do so knowing that its long and includes a lot of detail, but I like to think that I share all aspects of trucking...and unfortunatly....the events that occured yesterday are an inevitable part of what we do, that we had avoided up to this point, but apparently it was our turn. (no we didnt wreck...just broke down and feel broke ourselves now)