Hilary Clinton’s HARD CHOICES was a game-changer for me. It’s going on my “Best of the Year” list.
Many dismiss this book as campaign positioning. I see it as far more. I think it’s a valuable historical document, a very detailed account of what one term as US Secretary of State entails. I also think it’s Clinton’s “for the record” legacy.
I came away extremely impressed with what she accomplished—or tried to accomplish—and impressed, as well, with the role of the US in attempting to keep world peace. The world is a tinder box of explosives; the job of the US Secretary of State is critical!
Hilary’s “Smart Power” approach—diplomacy being the most important part of the equation—strikes me as sound. She makes very strong arguments for environmental protection and equality for women worldwide being key to both US security and economic development. She is a tireless advocate of Democracy. She’s a little more of a Hawk than I like, but that’s easy for someone not in the thick of it to think. Her humanitarian values are front and centre.
I came away from reading Hard Choices wanting to campaign for Hilary for President. I’m no longer a U.S. Citizen, but the U.S., like it or not, has an enormous effect on the well-being of the world—my world—and whoever is running that country will have a profound effect on my life and the lives of those I hold dear.
I highly recommend this book as an overview of the extremely serious problems in the world today. (It would be a worthy task for any book club to take on. The discussions would be heated, without a doubt!)
I’m both heartened and alarmed after reading this book: heartened because of the worthy work being done, and alarmed at how how fragile things are. A party less inclined to effective diplomacy and one that does not recognize key dangers (one that denies global warming, for example!) could spell disaster for our world—my world.
I rarely speak out on political issues. Some of my wonderful readers and very good friends are not in agreement with my views, I know, and would be inclined to dismiss anything written by Hilary Clinton. I urge you to read her book, and then let’s discuss.
Note: I listened to the Audible edition—all 27 hours of it!— and I highly recommend it, with a few cautions. The lion’s share of this very long and detailed book is narrated by Hilary, and she does a fantastic job. I didn’t care for the other narrator, Kathleen Chalfant; she puts too much emotion into her voice, which, for me, is distracting. Fortunately, she only narrates the short opening and closing sections, which are not the meat of the book.
That’s a wonderful thought. There are times when I think I would do well simply to immerse myself in the work of Hilary Mantel, as well as the books she has found enlightening.
There are many video interviews of Hilary Mantel on YouTube. I love this one especially, where she talks about “opening up the past.”
The amazing “photo” at top is by Flóra Borsi. It expresses, for me, the depth of what one might learn by immersion in the work of someone like Hilary Mantel.
I got back home last night from a flash-trip to Edmonton for a “reading” at StarFest, the St. Albert Readers Festival in Saint Albert, Alberta. I’m still aglow from it! It was such a special evening. Close to 100 in attendance—”sold out”—and a wonderful crowd. I’ve honed my talk-with-prizes—such fun!
Here’s a wonderful comment a reader put on Facebook that the StarFest organizer just sent me:
The most wonderful thing about being a writer is having you READERS. <3
I’ve a million things to do, so I’m going to leave it at that for now. It was lightly snowing when I got back last night and in week and a half my husband and I turn into Snow Birds and head south.
You might have noticed that my website is changing. Please forgive the awkward transition phase—the visuals, especially. I have to change the basic design—the “theme” in WordPress language—so that it can be read more comfortably on mobile devices (i.e. tablets and smart phones). Ultimately, it’s going to look very much like it did before, but better.
Sundry Sundae delectable links:
Links for Napoleonistas …
• I love this painting of Napoleon. So very like him.
• If you were one of the billions following the Serial podcast, you will want to know the newest (and shocking) revelations: here, here and here. This new form of Net journalism could have a very positive effect. It would be a relief to see justice for Adnan, and—one prays—changes made to the “injustice” system that incarcerated him.
Sorry, Peeps, I’ve apparently disappeared on you! I was doing my best to post at least once a week, and — voilá — now two weeks have passed.
An update:
The plot does indeed thicken: with index cards, the old standard. My extensively detailed Excel plot sheet bombed on me. Excel is complex, and once it stops working, it’s challenging to fix—at least for me. (If I do need a spreadsheet at some point, I think I will use Numbers.)
But for now, returning to index cards is refreshing.
What’s nice about index cards is that you can move them around and clump them up. You can throw them out and add more. You can lay them out, squint at them, and rearrange them. The other thing you can do is stick post-it notes to them. I had piles around: Random Thought Capture I think of them. Sticking them on index cards and putting them in a semblance of order is calming.
What’s eating up my time:
Pondering plot (puzzling);
Research (fascinating);
Taxes (aggravating!);
Health: getting shots, check-ups, consultations, plus learning how to sleep using a CPAP machine (challenging);
Fixing things (sigh);
Finding things (double sigh);
Gardening (oh, my back!);
Reading: catching up on many issues of The New Yorker, Renaissance, and The New York Review of Books before we head south (yikes!);
Preparing for Canadian Thanksgiving (yay!), always a big, boisterous celebration at our house;
Preparing for a trip west to give a talk at StarFest. (:-) See below!
Getting ready to fly south for the winter. (What? Already?)
An event coming up …
I’m going to be flying to Edmonton next week to give a talk (with prizes!) at StarFest, the St. Albert Readers Festival in Saint Albert, Alberta, October 16, Friday night at 7:00.
I’ve heard that this is a great festival; I’m very much looking forward to it. Do come!
• Who isn’t overwhelmed? I find Stephanie Bennett Vogt’s books on clearing clutter — both mental and physical — inspiring. I’m looking forward to her newest book A Year to Clear and enjoyed watching her three videos on clearing: Reducing Overwhelm, Releasing Stuck Energy, and Getting Spacious.
Last Tuesday morning there was a terrible tragedy in our peaceful part of the world: an enraged man, recently out on parole, sought out and murdered three of his former girlfriends. Our community is so small that everyone knows someone who knew one of the victims or even the killer. It is hard to comprehend such a loss … impossible to comprehend such rage.
It is also impossible to comprehend a “justice” system that allows a repeat violent offender out on parole without providing any protection whatsoever for the women he’d already abused and threatened.
There was a beautiful vigil for the three on Friday night: it helps to share tears with hundreds (and hundreds) of others.
I am officially Lost in Plot. Will I ever emerge? I’m not so sure! When I’m not puzzling, I’m painting, or weeding, or reading (Lila), or avoiding getting to taxes. :-(
Here is a painting I finished this week, inspired by a photo I saw on Facebook.
• I’ve been reading Marian Schembari’s blogs for some time. She has an honest vitality and sense of humour that is very engaging. I originally read her because she wrote very astutely about promotion and social media. Now I’ll read whatever she writes. I’m always happy to see a new post by her. Here’s a recent one: My recipe for $800 cupcakes.
I devour Bookmarks magazine whenever it comes out. The magazine covers recent publications in a range of genres, and gives an excellent summary of the major reviews.
I read it cover-to-cover pencil in hand, marking the titles that interest me. Then I go to my computer and download a free Kindle sample of each book to my ebook reader.
This is rather like browsing books in a bookstore. I check each title out, and buy the books that hook me—print editions for the half of the year we are in Canada, (mostly) digital editions for the six months we live in Mexico.
This inevitably leads to book overload. In little over one month, we will be packing up, closing up, locking up, and flying from Canada to our second home in Mexico. I will need to decide which books go with me, and which ones stay. This is not easy for a bookaholic, much less a writer of historical fiction.
As it is, I have many, many unread books: books I will never read, books I am reading, books I intend to read soon. I certainly do not need more. I remind myself of this as I’m downloading samples of:
Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont;
Re Jane by Patricia Park;
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño;
The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard;
The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendetta Vida;
The Rocks by Peter Nichols;
Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli;
The Millionaire and the Bard by Andrea Mays;
The Sea by John Banville.
You see what I mean? Where can I sign up for Bookaholics Anonymous?
