Year of Yes

A little over ten years ago, I interviewed for the position of Skating Director at the same rink I'd been coaching at and had recently "retired."  The sport had exhausted me, and quite honestly, the rink was starting to feel like a black hole.  A place where happiness went to get it's ass kicked.

Not a good feeling if you've been around it before.

So back to the interview... I remember making a comment that I wanted to change the feeling and attitude around the rink.  "I want people to leave this place happier than when they come in," I had said.  Not only did I want to save the skating program, I wanted to do it by filtering it through a more positive outlook.

And I did it.

It became a game for me to see how many people I could help and uplift along the way, and I guess I became pretty good it since my boss would refer to me as Dr. Phil.  Just this past week I had a request from someone to write a self-help book from one of my coaches.

Pretty sure it was a joke... sort of.

So why am I telling you all of this?

I've been reading Year of Yes, by Shonda Rhimes, and it might be one of the most refreshing and real books I've read in a long time.  Her honesty is alarmingly funny, and I literally want to be her in my next life.  Like, for real.

But what about the rest of this life?  She talks about creating Shondaland from writing and practically owning Thursday nights.  None of this is done in a braggy I'm-better-than-you way either.  You're amazed that someone who is so normal and real could have created TGIT.  When she talks about it, you wonder what your Shondaland is and how you can create a world like that.

At least that's what I did.

That's why I was thinking back to a time when I wanted to make the rink a better place.  And what if it wasn't just the rink but my little piece of the world?  What if my writing could be the thing that could change someone's life.  What if I just stopped dreaming of making a difference by writing, and I just made a difference by writing.

Stop thinking about writing.
Stop dreaming about getting published.
Stop reading books about plotting-writing-publishing.
Stop doing anything that isn't writing.

Just say yes.
Just write and figure it out along the way.  Yes.
Every single day, just do what you say you're gonna do.  Yes.
What you want to do.  Yes.
What you said you wanted to do January 1, 2015.  Yes.
Write it out.  Yes.
Make it happen for your self.  YES!!

Being the Master-Procrastinator that I am, I have found 1001 ways to avoid writing.  I have more books on writing than I could read in a year.  And not one of them made me think of creating my own Shondaland.

Come to think of it, not one of them really made me want to write.

Until now.

That's what a good book can do for me.  This is why I read.

And this is why I want to write.

So yes.  Say yes to reading this book.  And say yes to things that might scare you.  Things you might normally say no to.

Say yes to living.

Happy reading...

Throwback Thursday

The absolute best thing about having your own blog is you get to write about anything you want.

Well, within reason.

So, on this 31st day of July, I can take the time to celebrate Harry Potter's birthday.  No, I am not obsessed enough to know how hold he actually is (okay, he's 34, but I totally had to google that.), but since it's a #tbt, I will simply shout

Happy Birthday Harry,

and leave you with my favorite quote in all 7 books (and 4,195 pages).  Okay, I might have googled that too for you :)

Very rarely do I dog-ear anything.  This must be love :)

And perhaps this quote from Snape himself sums it up best for me.

Always...

Till next time.

One Plus One

Some books come to you by word of mouth.  "You HAVE to read this book."

Some books by an online 'Top Ten' or 'The Best Summer Books' kind of thing.

And then some books you just read because the author had written something incredible before, and you want to capture that feeling again.

This is that book.

One Plus One, by Jojo Moyes seemed to capture the same magic for me that Me Before You did.  Once I started, I couldn't put it down... and when I did my makeup was ruined.  The story is written from four perspectives - Ed, Jess, Tanzie, and Nicky - and the majority of the story takes place in Ed's car on a cross country trip.  Everyone in the car is broken in someway and looking for the answer to a better life.

It is honest, funny, wise, and leaves you wanting more.  Its a book that gives you hope and also reminds you that your life is pretty damn good just the way it is.
Of course I am already onto the next book, but these characters will sit with me for a while.

I hope you get to read it soon~

Books on deck:
Seating Arrangements, by Maggie Shipstead
This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper

Till next time...

Flashback Friday

I actually intended this to be a Throwback Thursday section, but yeah, that didn't happen.  What I'd like to do is highlight a book or series that still resonate with me.  I could call them my top 10 or whatever, but I have a feeling that once I start digging, I'll find more than what I bargained for.

So the first Flashback Friday Pick is Everyone is Beautiful by the lovely Katherine Center.  This

quote by Maya Angelou sums up this book for me.

"At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel."

It's been years since I've read this, and I remember some of the story, but more than anything I remember feeling like I was reading something life-changing near the end of the book with this passage:

“And here, after all that, is what I have come to believe about beauty: Laughter is beautiful. Kindness is beautiful. Cellulite is beautiful. Softness and plumpness and roundness are beautiful. It's more important to be interesting, to be vivid, and to be adventurous, than to sit pretty for pictures. A woman's soft tummy is a miracle of nature. Beauty comes from tenderness. Beauty comes from variety, from specificity, from the fact that no person in the world looks exactly like anyone else. Beauty comes from the tragedy that each person's life is destined to be lost to time. I believe women are too hard on themselves. I believe that when you love someone, she becomes beautiful to you. I believe the eyes see everything through the heart - and nothing in the world feels as good as resting them on someone you love. I have trained my eyes to look for beauty, and I've gotten very good at finding it. You can argue and tell me it's not true, but I really don't care what anyone says. I have come, at last, to believe in the title I came up with for the book: Everyone Is Beautiful.” 

I have read this paragraph so many times, I have it memorized.  Her book is funny, real, honest, and makes you feel like everything is going to be okay.

How many books give you that feeling?

It's why I write.  It's why I try to give you something that might inspire you ... or at least make you feel like you're not alone in what you're going through in life.

Again, these books on Fridays (or Thursdays :)) are books you should absolutely read if you haven't yet.  So many people ask me what I'm reading, and sometimes I'm not reading anything worth talking about.

It's sad, really.

So I wanted to have a list that are my "go-to" books that should be read.  Perhaps with a nice glass of wine...

Till next time...

The Theory of Opposites

I'm not going to lie... I love Allison Winn Scotch.

She had me at Time of My Life.

And then The One That I Want, The Song Remains the Same, and The Department of Lost and Found.

Her latest on, The Theory of Opposites is no different.

More than anything, I loved the idea of this book, and actually found it similar to the one I'm writing. However, her main character Willa, is being dared to do the opposite of what her dad's wisdom has always said after her life begins to fall apart.

Much like this Seinfeld episode...

"If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right." ~ Jerry Seinfeld

This is one of those books that makes you think about your own choices and life in a way that you want to do better.... and choose better.  And it's completely true that if something isn't working, then the opposite might give you the outcome you want.

It's just hard to make that choice after years of settling.

So long story short, if you haven't read AWS yet, then start with Time of My Life.  

And then the rest of them.

You won't be sorry :)

Until next time...

Welcome!

So, it's come to this:  A new blog.

A book blog.

Those of you who know me from Words To Live By will hopefully follow me over here as well, especially since this is going to be my primary focus for the time being.  I've been needing a new direction and feeling like my other blog is running the same content over and over again.

I simply need a new perspective.

When nothing goes right, turn left.

This is my left turn.  I'm even trying to snag a few others to help me on here with content, so hopefully we will have other voices on here too.

My goal for this blog is to recommend books and to let you know what looks good to me.  I am no expert, but I do have an eye for books that will move you, make you think, and hopefully there will be some laughter and tears.  

Just the kind of book I like to write too.

I will not do detailed reviews... I'll leave that for the people on Goodreads.  I will just let you know what I ether loved (or didn't on occasion) about what I've read.  

Please come back and share what you're reading too with all of us.  I would love to see this grow into something big...

Until next time.... thanks for reading :)