Not exactly what I wanted

I went into Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons From a Small-Town Obituary Writer by Heather Lende with a lot of perhaps too many expectations. I anticipated (and hoped for) humor of the macabre variety. Find the Good is a book of anecdotal advice from someone who regular faces death head on...or at least experiences it alongside those left behind. From the book's blurb, I thought that this was going to be a look at death with a light touch because how else can one continually run up against death and retain their positive outlook on life? I guess in a way Lende does explore the way she has had to structure her life so that she can continue to be a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen when the grief overflows. As an obituary writer in a small town, most of the notices that she has had to write were about people that she knew if not intimately then by sight. That takes a toll on a person and also fosters an environment for emotional and spiritual growth.  There are some good, positive points made but in my opinion not enough to warrant an entire book. It would have made a good article or think piece. There's very little I can say about this one other than it didn't really live up to my expectations or blow me away. It would probably work well on a short train ride or as a beach read. It's a 3/10 for me, guys.

Source: NY Daily News

What's Up Next: Thornhill by Pam Smy

What I'm Currently Reading: still reading Scythe and Mine Own Executioner

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I feel smarter already!!

Not only was Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter  a fantastic read, it has inspired me to learn more about Honest Abe.  That guy had a lot of personal tragedy in his life and yet he was steadfast in his beliefs about a united country free from tyranny and slavery.  This book definitely covered that topic but it wasn't just slavery that the President was fighting against but vampires and their eternal hunger for blood.  I think that anyone could enjoy this book because it covers history (there is a plentiful supply of accurate historical accounts), drama (hello, there's a horde of vampires attacking the human race!), and fantasy (did I mention the vampires?).  I definitely recommend it.

Okay, if you've been following this blog then you have to have figured out by now that I'm a huge nerd and I am on a quest for knowledge.  This quest has led me to Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time.  I've only just cracked it open and I'm already learning!  It's a nerd's paradise inside of these pages!!  Did you know that our Sun is 8 light-minutes away from the earth?  This means that if the Sun were to suddenly go out then we wouldn't know it for 8 minutes because that is how long it takes the Sun's light to reach us.  Take a moment to think about that.  I can't wait to uncover more facts about our universe and the concept of "time" as I read the first work by a first-rate genius, Stephen Hawking.

Stay tuned and KEEP READING!