Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 03-31-13

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

My husband and I share the household chores. We haven't written down an official list of "who-does-what," but through the years we've each adopted a few tasks as our own. I take care of our flower gardens, planning vacations, and out of necessity, washing and drying clothes--my husband tends to shrink clothing. My husband is in charge of taking out the garbage, cleaning the litter box, and mowing the lawn (no arguments from me). But sometimes, I shamefully confess, if the lawn looks like it needs mowing on Tuesday, but my husband's planning on getting the lawn mower out on Saturday, I've learned some magic words to get him to change his schedule. No, not the magic words our young grandson is learning: please, thank you and you're welcome. Instead, my magic words sound more like this: "Dear, I know you like to take care of the lawn, but I thought that since the lawn needs mowing and I really need the exercise anyway, how about letting me cut it this time?"

"How long have we been married?" is my husband's standard reply.

Which translated, means we've been married 36 years, long enough for me to know that my husband doesn't want me mowing the lawn, pumping gasoline or taking out the garbage, unless he's flat on his back in bed and has two broken legs! My husband isn't sexist, but in his mind, when he sees a married woman out mowing the lawn, he's wondering what the heck is wrong with her guy.

Amazingly, even after 36 years of marriage the magic words (used sparingly) still work every time, and continue to be my own little secret--or at least I thought so. But after last Tuesday's exchange, I'm not so sure anymore. (Remember, I'm in Florida where the grass grows all year long.)

"Dear, I know you like to take care of the lawn, but I thought that since the lawn needs mowing and I really need the exercise anyway, how about letting me cut it this time?"

"Sure, Suzanne, you mow the lawn today, and I'll get started on doing that big pile of laundry." (Wink-wink)

Okay, I think I've been had, I wasn't planning on doing the laundry until Saturday.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

AUTHORBUZZ: CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM (Fiction) by Vanessa Kelly

Are you ready for romance and adventure with a royal bad boy? Griffin Steele is the illegitimate son of a prince. He's also one of London's most powerful men. When a mysterious baby is deposited on his doorstep, Griffin wants answers. Spymaster's daughter Justine Brightmore helps him find those answers--and a criminal conspiracy that could destroy them.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM to read more and to email author Vanessa Kelly, you'll get a reply.

 

 

Dear Reader Column 03-28-14

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

Reading your emails is the best part of my day. Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to email.

Email from Readers:

"Hi Suzanne, I had to laugh when you wrote your column about 'taco tooting' during your yoga lesson...why is it the need or the inability to stifle it, comes at such inappropriate times? I have an older aunt who just shrugs it off and says 'I'm tooting' and we all just continue on our way. I should be as blase about it, but I die with embarrassment. Thanks for a lift and a chuckle on an otherwise dismal rainy day!"--Cam G.

"Suzanne, Seldom do I write a blogger, but your yoga story had me falling out of my chair laughing. Thanks for a very upbeat start to the day!"--Charlotte S.

"Thanks so much for the copy of the book I received from one of your drawings. My husband and I are in desperate need of a getaway weekend and this will be the first thing in my bag!

I enjoy your emails and have recommended the book club to friends. I love to get a heads up about a book. I am old fashioned and will not give up holding, smelling and enjoying going to the bookstore, so a heads up means I don't spend the money on an iffy book!"--Vicki S.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

AUTHORBUZZ: Meet authors, win free books and more at this week's Authorbuzz. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-27-14

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

I was in the middle of an important business telephone conversation and I knew that it was going to get out of control soon. I tried to "think" it away, but that wasn't working. "Tickle, tickle, cough, cough." I covered the microphone on my headset and grabbed the water bottle on my desk. But I was losing the battle and I knew I would soon be a goner.

The executive on the other end of the line was finishing up his sentence and he was going to expect me to respond. But I was afraid if I said anything, I'd start coughing and I wouldn't be able to stop.

In my mind, I was coaching myself, "Okay, maybe if I speak softly and quickly, I can get a sentence out before I lose control...Whew, it worked. Yes, I'm safe. Please, oh please, wrap up your conversation."

But nope, he pressed on telling me about yesterday's meeting and finally I couldn't hold it in any longer. Cough, COUGH, COUGH. Quickly, I hit the mute button on my headset--thank heavens for mute buttons--because I could still hear him, but he couldn't hear me coughing and sputtering on my end of the phone.

Cough, hack, hack, cough. I was expelling air with hurricane gusts at about 150 miles per hour. This mute feature was a life saver. How could this guy not hear me? I was dying here. As soon as I finish this coughing jag, I really need to write a thank you letter to the company that makes this headset. Why, this could be an entirely new product feature for them. I can see it now: "Tickle in your throat? Our Muted-Cough feature to the rescue. Cough up a lung while you're making a sale and your customer will never be the wiser." Well, they may need to work on that slogan a tiny bit.

Finally--things have quieted down. I think I'm all better now and just in time.

"Well, what do you think Suzanne?"

"I think your idea sounds great Bill. Believe me, I couldn't have said it better."

* Congratulations to the winners of Notorious by Guest Columnist Allison Brennan: Karen G., Betty R., Cynthia K., Barbara Z. and Marguerite B.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserve your attention:

(Fiction)
TAME ME by Julie Kenner

(Fiction)
THE COMFORT OF LIES by Randy Susan Meyers

(Thriller)
9 MORE KILLER THRILLERS by various authors

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

 

 

Dear Reader Column 03-26-14

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

A poet and historian, with advanced degrees in cultural history from UCLA and Oxford University, today's guest author Susan M. Wyler is a writer who's traveled the world, speaks four languages, is a teacher of yoga and meditation, a writing teacher and an editor of fiction.

I'm anxiously waiting to read Susan's upcoming novel, Solsbury Hill. If you'd like a copy, visit your library, or order a copy online, and be sure to enter today's drawing--you might win a copy of your own. Five copies are waiting for five lucky readers. Someone's going to win, give it a go. How to enter is at the end of today's guest column.

Welcome to the book club, author Susan M. Wyler...

On an ordinary day, I wake up and make a blue green shake rich with vegetable powders, probiotics, almond milk, maca, blueberries and more. I put the bialetti on the range and wait for my espresso, fill the cup with many shots and add some steamed milk. This combination seems to carry me through the day. If it's blue outside, the sky empty of clouds, I might sit on the porch to drink these; if it's early enough I'll watch the end of the sun's rise over the neighbor's rooftop. Then I move inside and begin writing. Often I'm writing to get cluttered, unformed thoughts and half-born stories out of my head, but if I'm in the midst of something as big as a novel, I can write for eight hours in a day.

Apart from being a mother and a friend, I've only ever done two things in my life. Since I was a little girl, I've been a writer and a yogi. Yoga I started at pre-school, where we were lucky to have an avant-garde curriculum that included asanas every day. Writing I began in earnest in second grade, when I wrote a six chapter novel about the rocket ship shaped climbing gym we had on our playground and my accidental adventures into space.

I tried other things through the years: gained my degrees in European cultural history, learned three languages, worked for art museums and galleries, trained in cranio-sacral therapy, but when I passed the real estate exam, (with four different business cards in hand) I took stock and realized that I should stick close to what had stuck close to me. Through everything, I had practiced yoga and writing, and I decided that there was no point in anything other than what I truly loved, so I began to teach yoga and spend every day writing.

And it was then, through writing diligently for thousands and thousands of hours in my journals, in my poems, that I found my voice, its internal rhythms and rhymes, and learned to relax into my writing. I learned to trust the unconscious to deliver the right images, threads of meaning, and the story.

Of course, the yoga and the writing went hand in hand. Without my many decades of yoga practice, I'm not sure I'd be able to sit still and write for as long as I do. I'm not sure I'd be able to go as deep as I am able to. In the middle of the day, at noon, I drive to my yoga studio and practice for two hours or more. I wrap my leg around the back of my head and try to stand up into a posture called Sayonara. I stand on my head, stretch every fiber of my body, and sweat a deep, drenching sweat. I think the writing and the yoga have been a lovely combination.

--Susan M. Wyler
[email protected]

To enter Susan's book drawing, please email Susan at: [email protected] and include two things in your life that you think go hand-in-hand. (Please include your mailing address in case you're a winner.)

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

AUTHORBUZZ: 9 MORE KILLER THRILLERS

9 Killer Thrillers for 99 cents? Impossible? No! For a limited time only you can buy this amazing ebook bundle of heart stopping, edge of your seat full length award winning novels. And its available everywhere ebooks are sold!

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on 9 MORE KILLER THRILLERS to read more about the 9 Killer Thrillers being offered.

Dear Reader Column 03-25-14

 

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

A friend of mine has been successfully practicing yoga to help quiet her anxieties, so she suggested I might give it a try, too. "Thank you very much," I told her, "but obviously I've never told you the story about my private yoga lessons."

I wasn't a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but for one year I lived in one of their sorority houses on campus. Okay, so I'm stretching the truth a bit. I didn't exactly live in the fancy historical house, but if you walked down a steep driveway winding down around the side of the house, my abode and another apartment were tucked away out of sight in the back. Nothing fancy, but nice and clean. I'm sure the girls living in the house would have considered them glorified storage facilities, but the tiny, one room apartment was "Home Sweet Home" for me--a husband and wife from India lived in the other.

My neighbors were grad students at the university and they practiced yoga every day. Since I was a stressed, single mother attending a technical school they offered to teach me yoga. But their private lessons have ruined me from ever doing yoga again. In fact just thinking about the word yoga today makes me cringe.

The husband and wife next door took turns giving me a daily lesson, depending on their schedules. Yoga was peaceful and very relaxing, but actually a little too relaxing one evening for this student. Did I mention how quiet our yoga sessions were? You could have heard a pin drop--or in my case, a built-up spicy taco leaving the nearest exit. What do you say when a taco-toot slips out in a yoga session? Speechless (figuring I'd already said it all), I was quiet.

My gracious neighbor kept his cool and a straight face, "Ah, not to worry Suzanne; completely natural. Let's try something else. Breathe in and slowly exhale the air."

(I thought that's what I just did?)

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

AUTHORBUZZ: THE COMFORT OF LIES (Fiction) by Randy Susan Meyers

A man's affair leads to a baby everyone and no one wants. Three connected women and men question if having children define them, if hating motherhood's routines demonize them, if they can love a child they never knew, if they can accept their husband's child from an affair, and if they can still claim motherhood after placing their child for adoption. My bestselling novel (now out in paperback) examines the year they face the damages of infidelity and the rights and needs of a little girl.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on THE COMFORT OF LIES to find out more about the book and the author, Randy Susan Meyers. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.

 

Dear Reader Column 03-24-14

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

"What can I do when I'm staring at a blank page and I can't find any words?" It's the question readers ask most frequently about writing.

One of the tricks I use is to start writing without any purpose in mind. I simply have a little conversation with myself to get going. Let me share one of those writing conversations I had with myself, just the other day as I was staring at a blank screen...

"The pen rests, the pen weeps; it knows there's a story coming. So I exercise and stretch my muscles. I'm just writing to see what comes out. No plans, just taking a trip; don't need a reservation, won't run out of gas, the supply is unlimited. The only thing I need on this trip is desire.

Start and stop, sometimes I'm on a writing high. The ideas, the emotions I'm feeling, I must get them down on paper, I can't write fast enough. Other times it's famine. No creative or comforting thoughts are within reach. Feast or famine. I complain about my writing abilities.

But perhaps I'm looking at it wrong. I moan when nothing fresh shows up, but maybe that's when it's time to dig back into the storehouse of thoughts I've accumulated. Look through my writing notes and harvest the crops. It's not cheating. I tended to them. Listened to myself, rested, planted, then took the time to let my mind wander.

Writing--it's not feast or famine, Suzanne. It's planting a crop, and then when the time is right the harvest is bountiful. I'm going to try this approach with life.

Days when I feel like nothing is coming together. Weeks without rain, but then suddenly the rain, the sun, the ideas I've planted and tended to, they grow and blossom, overnight. The things I couldn't see before are all so clear now."

Well, look at that! I thought I didn't have anything to write about. I hope my writing trick works for you, too.

If you have a writing question I'd be glad to try to answer it for you. You can reach me at: [email protected]

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

AUTHORBUZZ: TAME ME (Fiction) by Julie Kenner

Last year my Stark Trilogy books were multi-week New York Times, and USA Today bestsellers. Now I'm thrilled to present the spin-off novella that readers clamored for: Tame Me is Jamie Archer's story, the wild child roommate who readers first met and fell in love with in "Release Me." Join Jamie as she chases her own happily ever after.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on TAME ME to read more and to email author Julie Kenner, you'll get a reply.

 

 

Dear Reader Column 03-21-14

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

I'm easily bored, which like most things in life is a good trait--some days. Other days--it's a curse until I find a cure. Because on the other days my spirit feels confused, like I've temporarily lost my way. It's easy for life to get too routine. The every day doings; making my bed, brushing my teeth, going to work, cooking dinner and tidying up around the house, these things are the maintenance of living and I want to do them. But eventually I lose myself amidst the laundry and dishes. When a house gets too orderly, it creates an orderly mind--and there's the problem.

Breaking loose takes courage. To set myself free I need to do something that makes me uncomfortable when I think about it. Something that seems just plain silly. No meaning, no reason. Even I find myself thinking, 'I can't do that. What's the point? People will think it's nuts.' But when I think about the crazy little idea, it makes me smile. So that's why I'm going to build a life-sized cow out of paper mache and let her graze in my yard.

"A cow?" you wonder.

"Yes, a cow and I'm not sure why." I'm not even aware of how the idea popped into my mind. I wasn't looking at cows, but when the idea showed up, I knew it was just what I needed.

I vaguely remember making something out of paper mache when I was a kid. But I'm certain there was a Girl Scout leader or some other authority figure standing close by, giving me step-by-step instructions. This time I'm on my own--well, almost. I think I might have inspired my husband to lend a hand--he's helping me form the cow out of chicken wire. He didn't even ask why, because after 36 years of marriage, my dear husband simply accepts that somewhere in my crazy brain, I need to make a paper mache cow to help me find my way back.

* Yum, yum! It's time for the March Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. Enter today: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/Cookie031814.html

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: SHAMBHALA (Fiction) by Brian E. Miller

What if you woke up in the middle of an Indian jungle wearing only your boxer shorts, to find that you had complete amnesia? This is exactly what happens to Paul, the free spirited traveler and student of yoga in the acclaimed novel Shambhala.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on SHAMBHALA to read more and to email author Brian E. Miller, you'll get a reply.

KIDSBUZZ: Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus this week, enter to win a free copy of these books for middle-graders and teens: THE MILK OF THE BIRDS by Sylvia Whitman; SAVING BABY DOE by Danette Vigilante; and JOHN DREAMER by Elise Celine. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors, and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 03-20-14

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

If you've never-ever, do it today. Experience a little crazy-fun and enter my Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. I love to bake, it's therapy for my soul, and my cookies are outstanding. Take a look at some recent cookie winners and read what they have to say. Homemade cookies delivered to your doorstep or office. To see satisfied cookie winners and to enter the drawing, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/Cookie031814.html

This is a unique book club for sure. Sample a new book every week, chocolate chip cookies delivered to your door, and keep an eye on my column, because soon I'll be "shopping for socks for readers!"

Congratulations to these recent book winners:

Falling In Honey by Guest Columnist Jennifer Barclay: Dorie F. and Dottie M.

Bibliovores by Guest Columnist Bill Barnes (and Gene Ambaum): Kathy D., Mary R., Gina J., Janice D., Sarah W., Donna N., Pamela P., Dorie F., Cam G. and Lynn D.

Wicked Little Secrets by Guest Columnist Kara Taylor: Joanne H., Pam B., Sheila S., Kathleen M. and Diane R.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserve your attention:

(Fiction)
SEDUCTION: A Novel of Suspense by M.J. Rose

(Fiction)
SINFUL FOLK by Ned Hayes

(NonFiction)
DIVERGENT THINKING by Leah Wilson

(Fiction)
SHAMBHALA by Brian E. Miller

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 03-19-14

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

You're an amazing group of book club readers. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

Notes From my Email Bag:

"Suzanne, I just want to share with you that I use [the book club] to introduce a new book each week to my Language Arts classes. I was told by the librarian at my previous school that I had more students reading than any other teacher in my school. I check out a copy of the book from my local library and then loan it to students. My local library thinks it's wonderful.

Our school requires that students take Accelerated Quizzes to earn a portion of their Language Arts grade. I always find out the level of each of the books before I read it to my classes. Sometimes the books don't have a quiz, so I don't read those books even though the books may be awesome. I have introduced the titles any way, and students who just want to read and aren't worried about the quiz, will read them. I have only heard great things about the books that are chosen. Thank you for making my job easier!"--Cheryl E., Language Arts/History

"Suzanne, I loved your column today (about expectations), probably because I can relate to it all too well. I've had my own expectations trip me up and set me back more times than I care to count. It's not what happens to us but how we react to it that counts. It has taken me a lifetime to realize that and I still have to work at it. Glad you and your family managed to make the best out of it after all."--Les

(Below is a note from one of last month's Chocolate Chip Cookie winners. Be sure to read tomorrow's column and enter-to-win cookies.)

"Winter in Pennsylvania this year has been cold, snow-filled and icy. In the middle of shoveling and climbing over snow banks, your homemade chocolate chip cookies arrived! It was a great pick-me-up for our weary staff. They were a few days later than expected due to the weather, but were delicious nonetheless. Thank you for a wonderful treat! They were enjoyed very much."--Denise A. Miller Circulation Supervisor, Pottsville Free Public Library

By the way, if you ever miss receiving an email, let me know and I'll send it right out, or go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/miss

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Warm regards,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

KIDSBUZZ: Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus this week, enter to win a free copy of these books for middle-graders and teens: THE MILK OF THE BIRDS by Sylvia Whitman; SAVING BABY DOE by Danette Vigilante; and JOHN DREAMER by Elise Celine. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors, and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

AUTHORBUZZ: DIVERGENT THINKING (NonFiction) by Leah Wilson

With the film version of Veronica Roth's Divergent in theaters this month, the internationally bestselling trilogy is on everyone's minds. A dozen YA writers--like Code Name Verity author Elizabeth Wein and Morris award winner Blythe Woolston--talk about the series, from Tris' trouble with honesty to the biology of fear to where you'd find the factions in today's Chicago.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on DIVERGENT THINKING to read more and to email author Leah Wilson, you'll get a reply.

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

 

Dear Reader Column 03-18-14

 

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com


AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader,

Expectations. I imagined a four day getaway; could see myself inside a museum, then walking aimlessly around the city, window shopping, popping inside a bakery to buy a black and white cookie, and heading back to relax in a plush hotel bed--crisp sheets and pillowcases waiting for me. Hmm, I couldn't wait to get out of town. I expected to have a grand time. I was counting on it. Hadn't imagined it any other way and why would I? Who wants to dream about disaster?

Expectations are fun to dream about, but then reality set in. The temperature wasn't seasonal, it was freezing cold and a big storm passed through the city. A migraine headache the first day and night kept me in that bed, and the next day my grandson came down with a terrible stomach bug that lasted for two days straight, which meant one night not-a-wink-of-sleep for me. Three days of unexpected illnesses, no sights to see except the view outside our hotel window, and the fourth day it was time to fly back home. Yet it wasn't the string of "happenings" that (in my mind), ruined the trip--it was my expectations.

I had high expectations for the trip, because the last time my husband and I traveled with our grandchildren, our vacation was amazingly, unexpectedly, picture perfect--like a page out of a travel magazine. So I was expecting a do-over on this trip. But filling a vacation, a day, or even a moment with advanced expectations, it's not really what I want to do. Because then instead of setting out on an adventure every day, I'm expecting to follow the road map I've created in my mind.

Thankfully in the midst of our trip I caught up with my expectations, took a detour, tossed them aside and that's when the magic began. I recognized that even though my husband and I and our two grandsons spent our vacation in a hotel room in Washington D.C., the staff was outstanding, we were blessed to have long freight trains pass by our window (we'd count the cars--60 was the longest train) and my husband taught our grandsons how to play gin rummy. And now I have two, gin rummy, grandson geniuses (they're really quite good at the game) and I never would have expected that!

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS by Alexandre Dumas Fils. Start reading now and enter to win a copy of a Penguin Classics book.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA7A24&c=CLASSICS

AUTHORBUZZ: SINFUL FOLK (Fiction) by Ned Hayes

Have you ever had to hide your power as a woman? For me, I was haunted by the story of a medieval woman who remained in hiding for ten years to protect her child. I wrote this novel to tell her story.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on SINFUL FOLK to find out more about the book and the author, Ned Hayes. Send him an email, he'd love to hear from you.