Great Reads
Book Reviews from Molly Swartz
Our patron, Molly Swartz has been donating a book a month to the Rosendale Library that she purchases from our local bookshop, Postmark Books. Here she reviews a few of her latest favorites. All of these are available from Rosendale Library.
If I had been able to walk casually into the library to check out the shelves I would never have read these books, but I really liked each one. On the face of it they look like they would be entirely different, a Buddhist monk in Katmandu, a successful career woman and mom in Boston and a blossoming writer in Mexico City. I confess to reading "safe" authors, repeating the same ones I've enjoyed in the past but its been a pleasure to step out of my comfort zone and explore some new worlds.
I have my own copy of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche's In Love with the World now. I originally chose it because it was one of the staff picks in the monthly newsletter. It is a true life adventure story like no other steeped in Buddhist philosophy and the color and culture of his country.
Sasha Sagan, daughter of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, wrote For Small Creatures Such as We. Here she talks lovingly of her family and her life and about the idea of ritual. Ritual that is not always of a religious nature, but ritual that can help us to navigate through our world and time, that has meaning and is chosen by us. How we celebrate, recognize change, move through our days, anything that we want to give importance to, that we want to make special or memorable.
Jazimina Barrera's On Lighthouses was a Jesse Post (of Postmark Books) recommendation. I had no idea of what it was going to be like but since I do like lighthouses I took a chance and it was a real win. Barrera is widely read and she enjoys sharing what she's read about and come across during her time as a collector of lighthouses. She takes us along on some of her travels to see special lighthouses and writes about others that have been lost to time but not yet to words.
These have been wonderful armchair traveling books. For me though these three books, that come from such very different people and places, there is the commonality of individuals finding their way to live a meaningful life.
So even though I really enjoyed my visit to Katmandu and I haven't yet learned enough about Boston I think I might still be more comfortable with lighthouses. Whatever else I certainly do recommend getting out to travel with your next read.
Molly Swartz
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