The Need to Read

 I was watching CNN this morning and cringed at a Yale "expert" advising that we might have the end in sight by this time next year. Sigh. (He also suggested that full Recovery would likely be followed by a period of Going Wild!) Anyway, this mix of bad news/good news reminded me of photo I found on Facebook which covers the current situation pretty well.

So here's wishing we all avoid the pitfalls and will be looking back on 2021 with less animosity than we did on 2020.

 

Evidently, Ganesh chewed his own pop-up hole.

  

Susie made one of her trips to the beach in Venice (FL) this week and shared these sunset pics. (Venice is on the Gulf of Mexico c. 20 miles south of Sarasota, 60 miles south of Tampa.)

 

THE NEED TO READ

 I have expounded on this topic a number of times over the years, but it's never been more relevant than now, when we're struggling with isolation brought on by the Pandemic. It is not just authors who need to read, discovering what's being done in their genre, getting the feel of how other people put words together—do I love that or hate it? It's a case of ALL of us needing to read. I don't care if it's a comic book or graphic novel. I don't care if you insist on hardcover, paperback, Kindle, tablet, cellphone, or whatever. I don't care if it's Mystery, Romance, or Thriller. A literary treatise or a Best-seller. A religious tract or How to Declutter Your House. Sports news or the local gossip sheet. Just READ! If all else fails, turn on the Subtitles on your TV programs!

In times like these, reading can save your sanity. Reading is a lifeline to whatever world you choose. In my case, my taste has moved to an almost steady diet of Mystery, SciFi, and Fantasy. But yes, almost all have a strong romantic theme. I am a lifetime devotee of Happily Ever After. [Side story:  The Ghosts of Rushton Court has been my personal best-seller ever since it came out. But every once in a while I frown at my Amazon sales statistics where it lists "Returns" and ask myself, "Who on earth would return a book everyone seems to love?" And then it occurred to me. My ghosts are intriguing but benign. About as far from Stephen King as one can get. If a person enjoys Tales of Horror, then Blair Bancroft's stories of Regency Romance, Family, and Humor are definitely not for them.\

I repat - it does not matter what you read. Only that you invest a bit of that extra time you likely wish you didn't have in doing something besides complaining, brooding, or twiddling your thumbs. Treat yourself to a good story. To poetry - modern or classic. To a sewing lesson. Want to learn to knit, crochet, do counted cross-stitch? There are books for that as well. Maybe you'd like to learn more about a person you admire - living or long dead. Or maybe the truth behind some truly heinous historical character, like Adolf Hitler. (A lesson we could all use in these precarious times.)

Perhaps you'd like to find out how "Waterloo" joined the language? Or the expression "crossing the Rubicon" - and yes, that one goes all the way back to Julius Caesar. Maybe you're a skeptic - have you read any of the books that question the teachings of the religion you were brought up in? Have you ever read about someone else's religion? Hmmm - perhaps their beliefs aren't  so different, after all. 

Personally, I'm too pragmatic to tolerate books on Philosophy, but hey, that's just me. This is a great time to explore something new. And if that means the latest book by your favorite Romance novelist, that's great too. Crack a book; read a newspaper or magazine; turn on your e-reader device, whatever it may be. But DO IT! READ, READ, READ, READ, READ! You'll be amazed what a great job reading does in bringing joy into your life; or at the worst, banishing depression.

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I've added a couple of patriotic prints to my mask fabric list:

Mask Flags

  

 

Mask Fireworks (the "specks" are silver sparkles)

Mask Winter (the dots are gold sparkles)

 To order or for further information:  blairgak@gmail.com

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For a link to Ghosts on Amazon, click here. 

For a link to Ghosts on Smashwords, click here.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)