May Commonplace
COMMONPLACE
“At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.” - The Magnificat (Magazine) Hebrews 12:11
"The best view of the game is probably from the stands. But that's not where the action is. And so you have to decide, do you want a nice view or do you want to be in the thick of it and playing the game?" — James Clear
"Often, we fail to improve our lives simply because things don't get bad enough. If your new job is hell, you’ll leave it, but if it’s just unsatisfying, you’ll likely grind it out. Thus, small problems often threaten our quality of life more than big ones." Gurwinder Bhoga, Writer and Computer Scientist
"What can be added to the happiness of a person who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?" — Adam Smith, Economist and Philosopher
"The best revenge is not to be like that." — Marcus Aurelius
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” — Frederick Douglass
BOOK REPORT
AUDIOBOOK: The Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff
This author is a prolific historical fiction writer but I think this is the first of her books that I’ve read. It runs a dual timeline, which gets a bit confusing, but it was an interesting story of the French Resistance and Jews incarcerated in Paris during World War II. Of course, I loved it, and I’ll be reading many more of her books.
BOOK: The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
I was warned about the intensity of this Book Club selection before I read it, but I was not prepared for the physical toll it took. It starts sad and doesn’t improve. But the emotional connection with the characters made me pick it up, over and over again. Wally Lamb has never disappointed me with his storytelling. I highly recommend.
BOOK: Upward Bound by Woody Brown
I love everything about this book. Written by a non-verbal, autistic man, it tells the stories of clients and staff at an adult day care facility. There are rare encounters with books that permanently change a reader’s perspective, and this is one of them. It was so enlightening to learn about the inner life of those who are unable to communicate by traditional means. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know. It reinforces one of life’s most important lessons: we really never know what is going on inside someone else’s life.
Ugh. This is bittersweet. Although the Outlander stories are my all-time favorite non-fiction series, the TV show has been a gradual disappointment throughout the years. But I love these characters so much, I would watch a show where they read the phonebook. The highly anticipated final episode left me with more questions than answers, but it doesn’t matter. Diana Gabaldon is currently writing the final book of the series, so the real story hasn’t been told yet. I’ll wait until “Herself” tells us what really happens.
As a sucker for all things British (see: Anglophile), I finally decided to subscribe to Britbox, and this was the first series I completed. It is based on the true story of a mentally ill woman who finds work at Buckingham Palace as a dresser for The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, in the 1980s and is ultimately convicted of murder. I don’t remember when the story happened, but I found it interesting.
TV: Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix
We read this book for the Book Club a few years ago, and I loved it. And although the Octopus does not have a British accent in this film, I still loved the movie too. Sally Field was wonderful in the role of a grieving widow who finds what she’s looking for at the local aquarium, where she works the night shift. This movie is an emotional, feel-good movie that will leave you with a lump in your throat, but it’s totally worth it. (Even if you haven’t read the book.)
