Dear Fellow Reader,

I love quotes. Do you? And I love aphorisms. Now, I don’t know that I could have told you that I liked aphorisms because I am not sure I could have told you what one was.

From the dictionary –

“A pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

I will confess that I have notebooks filled with quotes. What do I use them for? Not much, but they have survived many cleanouts. I even have some quotes posted on my desk that I have come across lately.

“Write a little every day

                                                 without hope

                                                            and

                                                                    without despair.”                

                                                                                                                   Isak Dinesen

“My best teachers were not the ones who had all the answers. They were the ones deeply excited by questions they couldn’t answer.”

                                                                                                     Brian Greene, Physicist

So, it is with this love, I read Gretchen Rubin’s new book, Secrets of Adulthood. It is a book of aphorisms that she put together for her daughters who were sailing off to adulthood. But as she says, it was also for her. It is a very short book, easily readable in an hour or so. BUT… the copy in front of me is littered with flags to mark spots I found interesting.

“What we believe is most important isn’t always what becomes important.

When the first Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, died, he’d nearly doubled the size of the empire, defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra of Egypt, streamlined administration, increased trade, funded numerous construction projects, and fostered the arts. The most significant historical event during his reign was… the birth of Jesus.”

Or this one –

“When we feel as thought we don’t fit in, we fit right in.

One of the most universal emotions is the feeling that we don’t belong. At one point, drummer Ringo Starr briefly left the Beatles. He visited John Lennon and said, “I’m leaving the group because I’m not playing well and I feel unloved… and you three are really close.” John said, “I thought it was you three!” Then Ringo visited Paul McCartney and said, “I’m leaving the band. I feel you three guys are really close and I’m out of it.” Paul replied, “I thought it was you three!” Ringo didn’t even bother to visit George Harrison.”

The book is broken down into six major sections with multiple subsections under each. I am not sure I paid attention to the sections as much as I could have, and probably will when I go back to read it again. Now, I did not buy the book. I took it out of the library, but I will buy a copy of it. I will mark up my copy and make notes – my copy will be full of marginalia. (Don’t worry, the flags I put throughout the library book are the post-it kind that don’t leave a mark.)

Since Mother’s Day is next Sunday, I would go as far as to say that I think this book would make a great Mother’s Day gift. It looks like a gift book.

On a different note –

I was knitting a gift for a friend and was a tad bit behind on getting it finished for a deadline. To accompany my knitting, I listened to audiobooks. (Because, what else would occupy my thoughts?) Some time ago, I had picked up the audiobook for Toms Lake by Ann Patchett. I had picked it up because I knew the book was read by Meryl Streep. I loved it! I am not sure that I would have enjoyed it as much if I read the book. So, if you are behind on your Ann Patchett or just all the books to read, I suggest you try the audiobook. It was well done.

(Besides Book Bub, I also get emails from Chirp. Chirp sells discounted audiobooks.)

Thanks for reading!