Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us.
I just finished reading The Gobi Desert by Mildred Cable and Francesca French. The three ladies who traveled the desert for many years told an interesting story about the stages across the desert from one oasis to another. They were banished in 1936 along with other foreigners.
Each stage was planned to be thirty miles between sources of water or about three miles an hour walking until the war when trucks became the mode of travel. Until then the camels and carts drawn by horses or the donkeys that carried loads managed each stage in one day or at night depending on the season. The travelers depended on good drivers who had walked the stages all their lives and knew every step of the way.
Each oasis was different. A few were only a tiny water hole that had to be hunted for and were usually brackish. One oasis had an elaborate way of bringing water from the mountains to support a lush area of trees and crops.
One interesting oasis was near a half moon-shaped lake surrounded by sand dunes. The author wondered how it survived until she realized that the wind blew a special way in the valley…toward the dunes…keeping the sand at bay.
Books are an oasis for me. I read to learn and satisfy my curiosity about many things, of course, but I also read as a chance to be peaceful and find comfort.
I try to make Bookflurries an oasis, too, where everyone can come and escape hard things to talk about books, movies, music, and life.
Some of us tonight will be exhausted and need a lot of comforting. Please feel free to say anything you need to say. It will not be off topic, tonight.
I remember when I first came to Daily Kos how important it was to know that others felt the same way that I did. It was good to know that people were going to keep trying and to not give up.
What have you been reading this week that you would like to share?
What books bring you comfort like the sweet water of a good oasis?
A huge thank you to all of you for working so hard on the election these past months.
My comfort book the past few days has been Drawn Blades by Kelly McCullough. It is the fifth book in a series with my favorite characters Aral Kingslayer and his Shadow, Triss.
Pgs. 93, 94 show how the two characters behave to each other.
Aral is hurt, but he wants to help:
Triss: Not going to happen Aral. If you try to move one inch from this spot I will tie your legs together.
Aral: All right. I’ll sit, but only for a little while. If I don’t get a signal from Faran in the next half hour or so…
Triss: She’ll be fine. That, or dead, and here’s nothing you can do for her in either case, not unless you want to bleed yourself unconscious.
Aral: I decided not to argue the point any further. Not until I had to. Given the nature of the familiar bond and our relative strength of will, I could probably force the matter, take control of Triss against his will and make him let me do what I wanted. Some schools of magery did that sort of thing all the time, but I had never in all our years together exercised control over him when he had set himself against my will, and I would rather die than use him like that. He was my partner, not my servant, and always would be.
The question in the story that hurts Aral is could a goddess of Justice make mistakes? For those who acted on her demands and believed in her this is a heart-rending thought and yet in the series of books Aral has grown strong and better understands himself to deal with the problem.
The other problem is can Siri be trusted? When she herself warns him that she might be lying, how can he discover the truth?
The one thing he really believes is once the goddess died and went through the gates to the wheel of rebirth, she should not be brought back. What might come back is terrifying to think about.
I am also taking comfort by reading The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith. The books are too slow for many people, but I feel so comfortable with Precious and her thoughts.
Diaries of the Week:
Note: Write On! Will begin at 7:00 PM EST for the winter. There will be guest editors, also, so SS says to click on the heart to be sure not to miss the diary.
Write On! NaNoWriMo Eve Eve
by Emmet
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Kos Katalogue 2014 Holiday Mothership - HOTLIST THIS!!
by Sara R
http://www.dailykos.com/...
NOTE: plf515 has book talk on Wednesday mornings early