I wonder if I'm less interested in this blog

I was so excited about this blog when I first started out, but...I don't know, maybe I just didn't pick the right topic.  Maybe I'll say screw the topic, I'll just write about whatever I want.  I have an online diary already, so it seems a bit redundant to have two of these things, but this could be my more public one, where I say things I want people to know about.  We'll see.  I'm not giving up yet :)

Today, though I do have something lovely to write about: "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri.

(picture borrowed from http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk)

She's also the author of "The Namesake" (as it says on the picture of the book), which some of you might have heard of, since it was made into a movie.  And since I know some of the people who might be reading this were in the book club I was in back in MN, and we read it.

Anyway, this is on my list of what I call "soul books."  So is "The Namesake," so I think I have discovered a favorite author.  This is a collection of short stories and they still all have to do with Indian-Americans and their families, and it's just a little breathtaking.  The last few stories all have to do with the same two families/children, but she wrote it in such a way so that I didn't even realize it was about the same people until halfway through the second story.  It's fascinating.

One thing I really like about reading her books is that I have learned a lot about Bengali culture.  She opens up a culture that I didn't know much about and makes it easy to understand.  It's actually probably useful for my future counseling career, because if I ever have any Bengali clients, I'll have an idea of where they're coming from.

In case anyone's wondering what I meant by "soul books," I'll try to explain it.  They're the ones that I feel feed my soul.  They make me want to hug myself, and read every word.  I feel like I'm drinking them in more than reading them.  They speak to the stuff that's the most important to me, the most fundamental.  They make me think about how I want my life to be.  They give me the warm fuzzies :)  They make me feel calm, and make the world seem more beautiful.  I feel like they fill up my heart.

That's a lot of stuff, for just a book, isn't it?  :)  I won't even go into how incredible and transformative books are.  That would be enough for a whole separate blog :)  See you guys next time.