To Read & To Write

Marianne Williamson's “Everyday Grace: Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles” is a magical book on how we can live life better and more fully, every moment of our lives. This book is addressed to everyone, and starts off with a wonderful interpretation of the Harry Potter world, in which we all start off as plain Muggles and find the magic within our lives with a little help. Further on, there are deeply moving interpretations of fairy tales, such as Cinderella: “When Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother waved her wand… a shimmering energy of golden light surrounded the object of her attention… mice turned into horses, a pumpkin turned into a carriage, and rags turned into a beautiful ball gown. Translated: People around us, once we have shown more faith in them, show up for us more powerfully than we had thought them capable; a job we had thought beneath us, once we throw our creativity into it, becomes the vehicle for great success, our lack in some area, once changed...

Holly Black’s “Tithe” introduces us to Kaye, a teenage girl who is living a rough and tumble – and very real – life in New Jersey. Her mother is an extremely laid-back rock-star… who drinks and smokes. It is typical for Kaye to comfort her mother… and while Kaye’s grandmother, who lives with them, is a little more freaked out about Kaye’s life – a life in which Kaye decides to drop out of school and hang around with her best friend Janet instead, her frustration doesn’t really go far. Kaye decides to apply for a job at the local gas station. And she has to figure things out. She has to understand things. Things not that many teenagers or anyone at all would ever understand… including her best friend. Honestly, this book gets complicated, and it’s totally worth it to read. The title itself should suggest that this may be a world we are unfamiliar with… “tithe”… what does it mean? It's simple definition is "payment" but the best definitions are in story form. The wo...