Day 4,5

Isabel Allende Island Beneath the Sea. Gorgeous piece of writing, Zarite, the main character and her life in what we now call Haiti, and her life following in New Orleans. Love Barbara Kingsolver. I really liked her new one, The Lacuna.

My fave book of all time, has to be The Old Man and the Sea. By Ernest Hemingway. My favorite book has not changed since my loss, but I do now love love self-help books. Favorites there are going to be Tibetan-American buddhist perspectives on everything.

I also loved An Exact Replica of My Imagination. I devoured this book and sobbed into the pages, felt a real connection to Elizabeth McCrackin's words.

Favorite author of all time so far, Alexandra Fuller. If you have yet to read her, she writes with consideration and grace about subjects that are neither pretty or nice, but so true. a genius and lives in Wyoming. She was born in England, grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

Day 5. Favorite quotes

You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

-Virginia Woolf

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.

-Bernice Johnson Reagon

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

- Buddha

I truly don't have this perspective yet, but i am working on it.

Keep Smiling and Viya Con Dios

- My Dad, always said these things to me and I have always remembered them. He also told me, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." Love you Dad.