A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler has done it again for me. "A Patchwork Planet" is a heart-warming, "slice of life" story that draws you into the world of 30 year old Barnaby Gaitlin. Gaitlin is a young man who has struggled all his life because he marches to the beat of a different drummer than those around him. In his youth he was in trouble with the law and his mother especially has never let him forget it. As readers we share his most intimate thoughts about his family and friend relationships and happily see him mature and start to realize his true worth.

Barnaby works for a company called "Rent-a-back" that caters to senior citizens by doing odd jobs, running errands etc. He quite enjoys his job and is loved by all the clients. It was interesting to get into the minds of some of these elderly people and see life through their eyes. The compassion and friendship that Barnaby extended to his clients is an example to us all.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

There are two ways to study history. You can get the encyclopedia out and learn a list of names and dates. Or you can read novels about the time period and really get a sense of people and relationships and why things happened the way that they did. A more meaningful way to learn in my opinion. For history to have any meaning, for events to have an impact on how you live in the here and now, you need to get into the skin of the people living in the past. A novel serves the purpose well. "The Postmistress" is set in one of the most interesting-to-me times - World War 2. We see the early war years through the lives of three very different women who eventually come together in a heart-rending conclusion. I had a bit of a time getting into the first chapter, but then I was hooked and continued to read at every opportunity. The cover illustration of the version I read was lovely too, but if anyone can tell me what significance the dried flower has, I'd love to hear it. Take away question - is it sometimes right to do the wrong thing?

The 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno

I've read dozens of books on decluttering over the last 30 years or so. Being "organizationally challenged", I've needed all the help I could get. So I expected this book to be just one more "how to get rid of stuff in your life" that I might glean at least one tip from. Such was not the case. Yes, I did get some pointers, or at least refreshers, on only keeping the important things around you. But this was a more introspective book than that. And it was funny to boot. The journaling of Dave Bruno's personal, year-long goal to rid himself of consumerism was interesting to read and raised all sorts of questions about why we buy and is it important to keep doing so. He chose to limit himself to 100 items for the year, but suggests that that number might be different for others. His conclusions resonated with me and have reinforced my desire to simplify my life and think more about my purchases. Thank you, Dave, for the lessons. Thanks, too, for the blog to keep the conversation going.

and I shall have some peace there by Margaret Roach

The cover of this book requires that you pick it up it's so beautiful and peaceful. The subtitle "trading in the fast lane for my own dirt road" was intriguing enough to cause me to toss it into my library bag and take it home. I love to read about people who have changed course dramatically in their lives, based on changing life values or re-evaluation of their lives or perhaps just finally getting to what they've always wanted to do in the first place.

This is a non-fiction book. So Margaret's introspective journey to finally leaving a well-paying, prestigious career working under Martha Stewart is particularly meaningful. And Margaret is touchingly honest. We hear the good and the bad. Warts and all, she doesn't hold anything back. It's like she took her journal and fleshed it out.

I enjoyed being alongside as she made the important decisions; I enjoyed her descriptions of the plant and animal life in her new habitat. I'm encouraged that she made this big step and is being successful at it. In fact, you can read an ongoing discussion at her blog "A way to garden".

A favourite quote from the book is Martha Stewart's motto "learn something new every day". Easy to do when you read a lot. :)