"The Heart of a Woman," by Maya Angelou, c. 1981

(entry edited Feb 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st)

This one is next after Room For One More by Virginia Nielsen, c. 1987. This copy is from booksfree.com

update 2/5/05 -- This one has bumped down the queue a bit. Sent booksfree copy back to them and am waiting for a copy from the library. I imagine it will show up at my branch shortly - I had to request within the system.

It is now Feb 14, 2005 -- and I have my copy from the library. This one is now next after Rancher's Bride by Jeanne Allan, c. 1990

Now Feb 16th, 2005 --

I collect quotes as I read. These ones are fun, poetical, or even philosophical. Take what you like, and leave the rest. Note that these aren't necessarily the "best" in the book. These happen to be close to the spot where I stopped reading each night.

"Ask for what you want and be prepared to pay for what you get." p31

When I realized that Godfrey's idea was workable, the burden of tension left my body and for the first time in weeks I relaxed and my brain started to function. p74
[comment: had bad case of writers block. Any passage on the process of writing intrigues me]

I had worked two months for the SCLC, sent out tens of thousands of letters and invitations signed by Rev. [Martin Luther] King, made hundreds of statements in his name, but I had never seen him up close. He was shorter than I expected and so young. He had an easy friendliness, which was unsettling. Looking at him in my office, alone, was like seeing a lion sitting down at my dining-room table eating a plate of mustard greens. p107
[comment: I liked the last sentence in particular]

Female voices shot up like arrows over the crowd. p172

Every ill I knew at home, each hateful look on a white face, each odious rejection based on skin color, the mockery, the discenfranchisement, the lamentations and loud wailing for a lost world, irreclaimable security, all that long-onerous journey to msiery, which had not ended yet, had begun just below our plane [Sahara Desert]. I wept. Gut rose from time to time to bring me fresh Kleenex, and I didn't dare speak to him of my thoughts. I would not make a sound. If I opened my mouth, I might not be able to close it again. Screams would pierce the air and I would race the aisles like a mad thing.
I cramped my lips together until the seam between them meshed, and allowed, as my only expression, the warm tears gliding like honey down my face.
[comment: I liked the imagery of the honey. I needed to give you some context though.]

--
My thoughts after finishing the book:
I would recommend her autobiographies. This the first I have read and will read more as they come my way. She leaves me curious - and that's a great thing by my standards.

"A Mother's Reflection," by Elissa Ambrose, c. 2003

This one is next after Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory, c. 2002. It's from booksfree.com

(it's now Jan 23rd and I am adding passages as needed)

I collect quotes as I read. These ones are fun, poetical, or even philosophical. Take what you like, and leave the rest. Note that these aren't necessarily the "best" in the book. These happen to be close to the spot where I stopped reading each night.

Like Megan, his hair had been a deep fiery red.
She remembered the way the nurses had clucked after Megan was born, swearing they had never seen so much hair on a newborn. "The devil's crown," one insensitive nurse had said. "Heiress of sin."
[comment: being a red head I am interested in remarks like this. and, yes, "grrrr"]

His thoughts drifted to Rachel. Okay. maybe he was more than a little out of tune; maybe he wasn't even in the orchestra. At his house, Rachel had made it clear that she had no intention of going where he'd been headed, but had he listened? p108

my opinion:
The plot kept me reading although I didn't think the language was overly original. I am most happy when I see great use of imagery/humour. It is one that I would recommed but it's not a re-read, if that makes sense.

Books read since Nov 17th, 2004 --

A Knight's Vow by Kurland et al , c. 2001 -- link goes to blog as the book is from booksfree.com -- see entry of Dec 31st, 2004.
You Never Can Tell by Kathleen Eagle, c. 2001 -- link goes to blog as the book is from library -- see entry of Dec 28th, 2004.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman, c. 1973, 1998
Voice of the Heart by Barbara Taylor Bradford, c. 1983
The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe , c. 2002 -- link goes to blog as the book is from booksfree.com -- see entry of Dec 4th, 2004.
Dakota. A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris, c. 1993
Starting Over by Robin Pilcher , c. 2002 -- link goes to blog as the book is from booksfree.com -- see entry of Nov 30th, 2004.
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi, c. 2000
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund, c. 1999
Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark, c. 2000
The Pint-Sized Secret by Sheryl Woods, c. 2000
Sincerely Yours by Gertrude Wood, c. 2000
The Mermaid by Betina Krahn , c. 1997 -- link goes to blog as the book is from booksfree.com -- see entry of Nov 5, 2004

"A Warriors Vow," by Marilyn Tracy, c. 2003

I'm currently reading Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley, c. 2000. However, I have literally rolled the dice to see that this one is next. Crazy method, I know, but it works for me. This book comes from booksfree.com

I collect quotes as I read. These ones are fun, poetical, or even philosophical. Take what you like, and leave the rest. Note that these aren't necessarily the "best" in the book. These happen to be close to the spot where I stopped reading each night.

"Denial can be an attractive piece of real estate," she said.
Daggert gave her an odd look, one both measuring and slightly rueful, but he said, "True. Reality's ground is much stonier." p76

The Guadalupe Mountains sported more pockets of pure iron than almost any range in the entire mountainous state. And if pure iron was absent, the plentiful deposits of iron pyrite would lure the lightning as surely as any rod might.
The very top of the mountain was almost completely iron, iron pyrite and sheets of glass from the numerous times lightning had struck the sand there. Enrique had been right about the strange lights, but wrong the source, Daggert thought. Cima La Luz was aptly named "Light Peak," but from the frequent bolts of lightning striking there and reflecting in the glassy surface, not from alien spaceships stealing hapless humans. p162
[comment: I love passages like this -- can't vouch for it's authenticity as it's from fiction, but it sounds logical]