THE MILLIONTH CIRCLE

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. THE MILLIONTH CIRCLE: How to Change Ourselves and the World. Conari, 1999. 

As the cover blurb says, "The Essential Guide to Women's Circles." Positive thinking. Individual and group responsibility. 

p. 13 " ... the promise that when a critical number of people change their attitude or behavior, culture at large will change. " 

p. 40 co-dependency "If one fears to be truthful, lest feelings be hurt or punishment follows, there is codependency, Codependency and equality are incompatible."

p. 17 "Every important relationship is a universe of two. ... you are either in a circle or a hierarchy. If there is an unspoken assumption that you will defer or be subordinate and accept the other's judgment or choices in place of your own--you are living in a patriarchy of two."

p. 43 talking stick -- saying the truth with tact and kindness

p. 73 Rituals, altars, celebrations (risk of empty form) "It's not what is done, but the spirit in which it is done that makes all the difference."

p. 74 candles  "Each is a visible symbol of an invisible fire, that is spirit, soul, wisdom, illumination, heart. The fire around which we gather."

p. 88 Namaste - The divinity in me greets the divinity in thee.

CLOSE TO THE BONE

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. CLOSE TO THE BONE: Life-Threatening Illness and the Search for Meaning. Scribner. 1996.

I love this woman's writing. Jungian psychology, mythology, and how crises can help us transform. 

PAST TENSE

May 6, 2019

Lee Child. PAST TENSE. Delacorte, 2018.

Jack Reacher finds himself in New Hampshire and decides to do a little genealogical research on the town where his father was born. Someone with the same last name owns an old motel in Ryanstown. When Reacher investigates, he finds out that the programs -- Bow Hunting Men -- offered at this stop are not your usual game. 

THE MURDER STONE

Louise Penny. THE MURDER STONE. Sphere, 2008.

Hawthorne Book Club selection for May 2019. Vintage Louise Penny. Armand and Reine-Marie go to a lodge for their anniversary. A statue falls. Still not completely clear on the how nor the why. 

THE PERILS OF GEOGRAPHY

Helen Humphreys. The PERILS of GEOGRAPHY. Brick, 1995.

Wonderful poetry by a writer whose novels about wartime Britain I have enjoyed. Found the lines: 

The world curled into 
itself, like a dry leaf,
like a fist.

from "When You Weren't With Me," p. 54. 

RATHER BE THE DEVIL

Ian Rankin. RATHER BE THE DEVIL. Orion. 2016.

Really annoys me. Read this April 27-28. Some scenes seemed familiar. Only some. Now I see that I read it before. Rebus is retired. Fox was promoted. Shiv is annoyed. Big Ger is still around.