Ahira's Hangar

I recently read another Georgette Heyer book, this one entitled The Corinthian. As with the other Heyer books I have read, it was charming and amusing. A beautiful young heiress is going to be married off to a loathsome man. So she decides to disguise herself as a boy and run away. A wealthy titled man is about to propose marriage to a demanding woman he has little liking and no love towards for the sake of both their families. On his way home from getting very drunk over this, he runs into a beautiful girl who is running away from home and he decides to help her. Things get very complicated from there, as the pair of runaways have one adventure after another. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I am reading a very cool little book--as part of my research for my own book--called The Four Agreements, if it sounds a little "Casteneda-ish" it should by Don Miguel Ruiz it explores a more real Toltec tradition-his grandfather was nagual (shaman) and his mother was a curandera (healer). It's a way of leading an "impeccable" warrior's life--but much more simplified than Cateneda's in that you can readily apply the basic principles it to your own life. *****
Before, you are wise; after, you are wise. In between you are otherwise.
Fravashi saying (from the formularies of Osho the Fool) <i></i>

Danlo, I just got done reading something that I think that your wife might like.

It is The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

It is spring in Lexington, Kentucky in 1964. A rare snowstorm results in Dr. David Henry delivering his own twins in his own clinic (as they cannot make it through the snow to the hospital), with only the help of his nurse (his partner cannot make it through the storm).

The first born, the son, is perfectly healthy.

The daughter has Down's Syndrome.

Dr. Henry, remembering the tragedy of his own childhood and the death of his sister (which nearly killed his mother in turn), decides to protect his wife and son from something similarly tragic.

He gives his daughter to the nurse and tells her to take the baby to an institution near Louisville. He then tells Norah, his wife, that the baby was born dead, the body already taken away.

So the life of Dr. Henry and his family becomes centered around a huge lie. He builds emotional walls which his loved ones cannot breach. The center of the family is not love, but secrets, coldness, guilt, grief, and lies.

Caroline Gill, the nurse, takes the baby to the institution - but finds it to be a terrible place. She cannot bring herself to leave an innocent baby there. So she leaves Kentucky, planning on raising the child as her own... ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Just finished reading Fire by Sebastian Junger (probably much better known as the author of Perfect Storm). It is a collection of magazine articles he wrote as a wandering reporter - many of them from spots of high danger such as a firestorm in the Rockies, Afghanistan in civil war, Sierra Leone in civil war, and Kosovo at the height of the genocide. Depressing but interesting. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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THE ROYAL GHOSTS by Samrat Upadhyay is a collection of short stories set in Nepal and written by a writer from Nepal. The stories are set in the recent past and current day. The stories tell of the lives of normal everyday people in Nepal and some of the challenges they face - whether the threat of Maoist insurgents or the breakdown of traditional castes or trying to find a spouse. Many of the stories end as a character faces a huge decision, which is haunting and makes you think for a long time, wondering what the person will choose to do. This is a beautiful collection of stories. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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FREDERICA by Georgette Heyer is a regency romance about a bored nobleman who falls in love not only with his distant cousin, but also with her rowdy and funny little brothers. A very charming story about how a spoiled and jaded man finds his heart - and finds that it is much larger than he ever thought possible.

PARADISE OF THE BLIND by Duong Thu Huong is a beautifully written novel filled with a gentle and hopeful spirit despite its disturbing subject matter. A young girl from Vietnam travels to Russia to work in a factory in the 1980's. Through current events in her life and through her flashbacks, we see how the country of Vietnam has been torn apart in decades of violence and turmoil. We see how venal and corrupt and ridiculous the Communist government was. We see how the ravages of the wars can affect one life, one family, one village. Yet despite evrything, the author ends the book on a note of grace and hope that things will someday be a lot better in that beautiful country. Also - the constant descriptions of delicious sounding food gave me cravings!
I must have Vietnamese food, and I must have it soon!!!!

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Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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VENETIA by Georgette Heyer is a Regency era romance. Beautiful Venetia Lanyon has put aside any hopes for herself, in caring for her lame younger brother and for the family's estate after the death of her father and her older brother's service in the army. Then one day she meets her neighbor, Lord Damerel, a notorious rake shunned by most of Polite Society. Needless to say, sparks soon fly as the two opposites attract. A sweet story with quite a few twists and surprises. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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The Yacoubian Building by Alaa al Aswany (from Egypt) - a novel which follows the lives of various inhabitants of an apartment building in Cairo. The author is a novelist, a dentist, and a world leading voice for moderate Muslims.
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Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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After reading a couple of rather lame mystery books, I decided to go with a classic I have not previously read - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Only a few chapters in, but so far I like Wharton's writing style.

The Age of Innocence was good, but depressing. It could be called the anti-Anna Karenina. Two sides of the same story, with that story leading to one degree or another of misery either way.

Now I have moved on to a reread of Jack London's Call of the Wild. An Adventure story to counteract a story about rich people without enough meaning or connection in their lives!

Have finished up with Call of the Wild and have continued on to White Fang. Another good adventure story I have not read since my childhood.

I'm about to start Catch-22 again. Saw the movie for the first time ever (great cast) last night, and now I feel like the real thing.

--A

That's a classic I have never read. Let me know how it goes!

Oh, I've read it a few times. Black comedy at its best. There's even a sequel, called Closing Time. Yossafarian at 60.

--A

Picked up Pratchett's Thud and Feists Krondor: The Assassins this weekend.

--A