I'm currently reading a few books. Among them are: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown and Plastic Ocean by Capt. Charles Moore. I will be posting more about these soon.
My main reason for posting today is to give you all the chance to read my short story, Fire, being published in the Spring 2013 issue of Forum magazine. This morning, they posted it on their blog and you can access it here.
I hope you all give it a read and let me know what you think!
- Sarah
Monday, May 6, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl
Oh my. I walked out of the library--the sun setting in the direction of the beach, the sky a light blue, and for once, little to NO WIND. If you don't live here, you probably don't get how amazing that is... cause it's constantly, annoyingly, windy here. But anyway, I walked out, and immediately the old song, 'America the Beautiful' started playing in my head. I know that songs pop out of nowhere to fill the silence (is there ever really silence?) in our brains, but I think the fact that this particular song started playing itself was significant. I think it sprung out of the gratitude coupled with gratification that I was experiencing right then, walking down the steps to the street, watching the birds fly and the people walking away from the train station, or to the coffee shop, or with their Indian take out; seeing that homeless lady who carries two shopping carts of stuff with her everywhere she goes. I was grateful, I am grateful, for being here, for being in the USA (that's how the name of this country was spray painted on the sidewalk in front of me as I was walking) where there's a wonderful library system that I can get endless amounts (fifty items at a time... I checked) of reading material from for free; where I can have a 'job' that lets me be friends with a five year old who loves to play teacher and one in which a sweet (loud, boisterous, opinionated) almost three year old often looks at me and says, "I love you." A job in which every day really can be so much more than pleasant.
The gratification stemmed from the completion of Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl'. It. Was. So. Good. Really. I know I say that many books are good, and they are, and I learn from them and am so impacted by them. But this book was so good because it entertained me, made me laugh, made me want to write. It was the perfect pick me up after a few months spent embroiled within the Pat Tillman story. Which I will always hold with me. But it is important to laugh.
So tonight, I hope you laugh. I hope you read/watch/feel/eat/drink/have something good. Find a small thing. Anything. Life is so good.
The gratification stemmed from the completion of Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl'. It. Was. So. Good. Really. I know I say that many books are good, and they are, and I learn from them and am so impacted by them. But this book was so good because it entertained me, made me laugh, made me want to write. It was the perfect pick me up after a few months spent embroiled within the Pat Tillman story. Which I will always hold with me. But it is important to laugh.
So tonight, I hope you laugh. I hope you read/watch/feel/eat/drink/have something good. Find a small thing. Anything. Life is so good.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Pat Tillman & A New Life
Today is the ninth anniversary of Corporal Patrick D. Tillman's death. For those of you who've been following my blog for a while, you know that I recently read 'Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman' by Jon Krakauer, and also 'The Letter' by Marie Tillman, Pat's wife. Today I finished 'Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman' by Pat's mother, Mary Tillman. All books were well written and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to read about an American hero and a man whose life has made me question my own in many ways.
Reading Mary Tillman's account of the events surrounding her son's death, of the person he was, and of the corruption in our government was really difficult. It is hard to have so many things that I've put trust in shown to be faulted, crooked. This book raised many questions for me. Things that I have already wondered about, things that have already come up, and things of which I've never thought. I want to read further about the Bush administration, about what took place during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about the culpability of the higher ups who call for war.
On a lighter note, the family that I nanny for welcomed their fourth baby (a girl, named Clara) into the world today! She is healthy and so is her momma.
For those of you who want to read more about Pat Tillman, see any of the books listed above. Also, his brother Kevin wrote this article: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/
There was a series of articles that came out in the Washington Post written by Steve Coll. The first of the two-part series can be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35717-2004Dec4.html
Reading Mary Tillman's account of the events surrounding her son's death, of the person he was, and of the corruption in our government was really difficult. It is hard to have so many things that I've put trust in shown to be faulted, crooked. This book raised many questions for me. Things that I have already wondered about, things that have already come up, and things of which I've never thought. I want to read further about the Bush administration, about what took place during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about the culpability of the higher ups who call for war.
On a lighter note, the family that I nanny for welcomed their fourth baby (a girl, named Clara) into the world today! She is healthy and so is her momma.
For those of you who want to read more about Pat Tillman, see any of the books listed above. Also, his brother Kevin wrote this article: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/
There was a series of articles that came out in the Washington Post written by Steve Coll. The first of the two-part series can be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35717-2004Dec4.html
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Books That Moved Me
This week I finished 'The Letter' by Marie Tillman, 'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much' by Allison Hoover Bartlett, and 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak.
'The Letter', I read because I read 'Where Men Win Glory' by Jon Krakauer. Both books are about Pat Tillman, the NFL football player turned army ranger. You're going to think I'm obsessed. I just got the book about him by his mother as well, and I'm going to start reading it tomorrow. It's called 'Boots on the Ground by Dusk.' What can I say? It's a very inspiring, heartbreaking story.
'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much' was a random pick at the library, and I loved it! [Of course... it's a book about loving books!] It's a relatively short, well written story about a rare book thief. The whole thing takes place mostly in San Francisco, and it was fun to read about all these places that I see/visit at least weekly. If you like books, you'll enjoy this tale.
And, lastly, 'The Book Thief.' This book is one that I've been told about by at least three people. Markus Zusak crafted this story with such mastery. It's breathtaking. If you don't have time to read it, get it as a free audiobook through the library system. Get your hands on it. The prose, the story, the history, the love, the characters... they will change you. Or at least make you feel.
'The Letter', I read because I read 'Where Men Win Glory' by Jon Krakauer. Both books are about Pat Tillman, the NFL football player turned army ranger. You're going to think I'm obsessed. I just got the book about him by his mother as well, and I'm going to start reading it tomorrow. It's called 'Boots on the Ground by Dusk.' What can I say? It's a very inspiring, heartbreaking story.
'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much' was a random pick at the library, and I loved it! [Of course... it's a book about loving books!] It's a relatively short, well written story about a rare book thief. The whole thing takes place mostly in San Francisco, and it was fun to read about all these places that I see/visit at least weekly. If you like books, you'll enjoy this tale.
And, lastly, 'The Book Thief.' This book is one that I've been told about by at least three people. Markus Zusak crafted this story with such mastery. It's breathtaking. If you don't have time to read it, get it as a free audiobook through the library system. Get your hands on it. The prose, the story, the history, the love, the characters... they will change you. Or at least make you feel.
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