Have read Grandin's books. Reading her is like passing by a car accident where you turn your head to look but don't want to see anything. Her chosen career is odd, getting down and kneeling in a slaughter house shute to see what scares cow, ugh. Hope the HBO production comes with a warning for sensi...

Thanks for the titles. The Last Girls sounds very familiar, wonder if I read it in a book review. As soon as I'm over this flu (sniffle) I will search out one of Smith's titles.

Personally I tend toward reading non-fiction. Would say 80% of what I pick up is non-fiction but the rest are classics or recommendations from friends who like fiction and know my taste. Agree that the formula based fiction doesn't hold my interest but do not believe it's all eye candy. There is som...

Have not heard of Lee Smith---can you give a little background? A book title? Congratulations on raising your children to feel free to explore and encourage their wandering! You are a Montessori teacher at heart. Nothing compares to turning over rocks in a creek and finding crayfish or a red eft scu...

"Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" is a good start. My copy is off traveling somewhere, and do not have it handy to give you pulisher, date. It has been around a while, maybe not as long as "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance", another interesting read There are books posted on t...

"The poor wretch flees". Typical Dillard, which makes her all the more loved. She seems to be so at home with herself which is so refreshing. Wouldn't you just love to sit down wth her and let her chat about whatever she wants? She had enough unstructured time in her youth to let her sense...

Suzy,
Promise me you're not blaming the Abenaki Indians (as did author at Cornell) for the Salem hysteria & then I will read it.

Don't think you'll be disappointed with Teaching---. It's a relaxing read punctuated by moments of Aha! Do let me know how it compares to Pilgrim Creek for you. As an asidde, Dillard's work saved me from what I thought would be an awkward dinner. An ivy league scholar was there whose thinking is so ...

Dillard is said to write in an outbuilding on her property, alone with her thoughts and notes. AM so glad you are still reveling in her writing. Know one other person who loves her work and quotes from it. She will also take you quickly from the natural world to a peopled world and share her observa...

Running my fingers through my white hair and happy to see Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen's names show up.
My favs:okay, they are OLD- Three Dog Night, Janis Joplin and Beethoven (told you 'old') Ode To Joy. Am still replacing albums with CD's, slowly. Is anyone out there Woodstock age?