11. The days are long but the years are short.

Everyone seems to agree with this happiness principle. Some days feel like they will never end, then in a blink of an eye you write down the date and realize it is May. I always hear people say, "When you get older, it just goes by quicker." This doesn't really seem fair to me. Personally, I wouldn't mind if everything just slowed down a little bit. So in the spirit of my eleventh 'Happiness Principle,' I have been trying to enjoy the moment. Here is an example: Last Sunday was such a beautiful day. Not too warm, not too cold. Just right. It seemed like the perfectness of the day was carried in the wind. I spent the morning outside working in the yard, then when it came time to go to work I decided to walk. When I got to work my mind was clear and I was in a great mood. When it came time to walk home I treated myself to an ice cream cone. I think I will always remember that walk home vividly. I don't think I past another person walking or driving, to me the rest of the whole world was completely still. I paused for a few minutes and enjoyed the view of the sun going down over the water. Sometimes you just have to take a minute, center yourself and enjoy what is around you.

I know last week I made somewhat of a promise to keep up on book updates, but I seem to have gotten out of the habit. I promise to try harder!

Update Book 41: The Mistress's Daughter by A.M. Homes

Two of the goals for my 100 book resolution were to read books that I normally wouldn't pick up and to get recommendations from other book lovers. Most non-fictions and memoirs fit the first half of that statement perfectly. I think one of the things I like about fiction is that you know the author has complete control of the story. In a non-fiction or memoir it is real life. You can only get one side of the story and most of the time the author doesn't even know all of the answers. So I always feel a little unsettled when I finish these type of books. Not that I can't enjoy them and learn from them, I just feel like real life has enough unanswered questions.

"The Mistress's Daughter," is the story of a women who was adopted at birth and now, thirty years later, is contacted by her Mother. The story is heartbreaking and sad at times. At the end she talks about how the most important thing is family, but that family isn't always the people who you are blood related to. I guess this book hit a personal note for me. My Mom was adopted and after reading this book, I realized that I had never really talked to her about it. After, we had a good conversation.

It is kind of an odd thing. People always talk about how important blood is, but I don't share a drop of blood with half of my extended family and I can't imagine that sharing DNA could make them any more important to me. A lot of things had to happen for me to be born, for me to live where I do and for me to have the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that I have. I feel so incredibly blessed that I have the family that I do. I guess I don't really know the right words to say about it, but I wish I did. I only know how I feel and sometimes there aren't any words.

Update Book 42: Bloodroot by Amy Greene

C.A.K.E club book numero dose. At our last meeting we chose our next three books. Rolled the dice and "Bloodroot" came up for April. "Bloodroot" was kind of hard for me to read. It is written in four sections. The first two section are from the perspective of four different people and at first it was hard to follow (just like my explanation!) Once I got into it though, I liked it. I have certainly never read a book like it. "Bloodroot" takes place in the Appalachian Mountains. This is the story of Myra and her cursed family. I couldn't believe how these people lived, it was obvious they didn't do it sanely. I don't think I ever really emotionally connected with this book. I think I just read it from afar. I read a review of it after I had finished and the reviewer said that they cried multiple times while reading it. I never had even came close while I was reading it.

Obviously neither did the other member of the book club. Two of them didn't finish! I guess I understand because I too had a hard time with it, but I was still disappointed that we couldn't share how we felt about the entire book. Hopefully everybody finishes May's book "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

Update Book 43: Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak

It is decided. I love everything this man writes. Yes they are all in the Young Adult section, but that doesn't change how I feel. I love the way he puts words together. I think I could basically devour anything he writes. "Getting the Girl" is one of the first books he published and you can see how much he has matured as a writer when you read "The Book Thief." But I still enjoyed this book. It was an easy read with nice big print, the story was simple but entertaining. I can't wait to get my hands on his next book.