Brave, Strong and Patient

I bought this book because it was published in 1861 and written by a woman who was a former slave. Honestly, I thought the writing style would be a little bogged down like lots of books written in that time, but it wasn't. I was transported to her life, her place, her horrors. I could not believe the lengths to which this woman went to escape her lecherous "owner", and to ultimately secure her freedom. Harriet is a hero, an inspiration, and a testament to the ability of the human mind to transcend hardships physical and mental if one is sufficiently motivated. I even love the cover photograph of Harriet, with a wry little smile, seemingly saying, "I won.".

Fooled Me!

This vintage whodunit seemed to be simple--I thought I had it figured out, but I didn't!

Definitely did not see the twist at the end coming at all. Of course there are some moments that wouldn't get past the editor these days, but if you disregard those, or maybe mentally swap other words/persons/sentiments you can get past them. All in all a tidy little mystery.

She Just Kept Swimming . . .

One morning, as author Lynne Cox was heading in from her daily swim in the southern California surf, she was alerted that a baby gray whale was swimming along with her. Had she swam to shore, the whale would have followed her and been beached. So she kept going, swimming much farther out in hopes to reconnect the baby, "Grayson", with his mother. She continued her swim for hours beyond the norm, while onlookers and locals tried to rally help. The story is heartwarming, and mom and baby do eventually reunite. Lynne's recollection of the events of the day are astounding, as is her obvious knowledge of ocean life she was pressed to notice on such an unusual day, with an unusual swim, with a most unexpected buddy. There's a lot of detail at the beginning of the book which was honestly a little excessive for me, but it all came together when the whale appeared. This is a feel-good book for those days when you just need something nice to think about. And maybe she'll inspire you, on an unusual day of your own, to just keep swimming, too.