Posted tagged ‘Anne Lamott’

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The Saturday Book Shop – Dusk Night Dawn

March 14, 2021

I think I have a copy of every single book Anne Lamott has ever written, so I’m excited to read this new one that seems quite timely:  Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage. 

Anne Lamott has a way of holding all the ups and downs with a warmth, thoughtfulness, and smart sense of humor that somehow puts things into perspective with a quirky and endearing blend of honesty and steady grace. Her stories are seriously funny and rock solid in staying open to love, even when it ain’t easy. Uplifting and hopeful, without shying away from any of the awfulness out there, Anne Lamott helps renew the faith and the laughter within life’s most fallible and fabulous moments—quiet tender places where the heart asks the important questions and anchors us back to the divine roses within our thorny humanity. 

Anne Lamott is the author of the New York Times bestsellers:  Hallelujah Anyway; Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Victories; Stitches; Some Assembly Required; Grace (Eventually); Plan B; Traveling Mercies; Bird by Bird; and Operating Instructions.

I can’t believe it’s time already to be looking at setting our clocks forward at the beginning Daylight Savings Time later tonight. Augh. Maybe a couple chapters of this new book will help me get through this annual “Spring Forward” transition that usually feels anything but!

Happy Reading All, and see you back here next week at The Saturday Book Shop!

Categories: Books, favorite things, inspiration, love, making a difference, quotes, Sunday Inspiration, wonderful ideas, writing
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The Saturday Book Shop: December 19, 2020

December 19, 2020

Welcome back to The Saturday Book Shop.

I’m sharing three books today that sort of sum up the moment here in the midst of the holidays, the pandemic, and looking forward with hope and faith toward 2021, even though we still have quite a ways to go.

Almost Everything: Notes on Hope by Anne Lamotte is just the right blend of funny-meets-unflinching faith that I’ve seen described as capturing “life’s imperfect moments perfectly”. She is also the author of so many favorite titles, including the classic Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, which is all the title implies and more. Love it, and have happily followed her writings long time.

Keep Going by Austin Kleon is a gem of a book by a “writer who draws”. It’s full of creative inspiration and reminder-smiles that do literally help keep you going, come what may. He has an excellent newsletter and eclectic fun blog you can sign up for too.  All of his books rock with  wisdom and wit and big riffs of delight.

And finally, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver. I am grateful to have many many poetry books. Love them all. Especially this one. Mary Oliver and all of her quietly elegant words—which uplift the everyday well spring of nature and life with such a notice-everything-and-tell-about-it open heart—are all time favorites, to be sure. When I was pulling this book off the shelf to snap this photo, a little postcard I had painted for myself and stuck in the book fluttered out. I’d popped it in opposite this poem … seems especially apropos at the moment:

WHAT GORGEOUS THING

I do not know what gorgeous thing

the bluebird keeps saying,

his voice easing out of his throat,

beak, body into the pink air

of the early morning. I like it

whatever it is. Sometimes

it seems the only thing

in the world that is without

questions that can’t and probably 

never will be answered, the

only thing that is entirely content

with the pink, then clear white

morning, and gratefully, says so.

— by Mary Oliver

Wishing you and yours a Very Happy, Peaceful, Healthy, & Heart-full-of-Love-and-quiet-Joys kinda Holiday season❣️

“A book is a present you can open again and again.”

Categories: art, Books, cool stuff, design, favorite things, inspiration, intriguing images, little luxuries, love, poetry, quotes, wonderful ideas, writing
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Let’s Dance!

August 4, 2009

flamenco.heart

Oh, sweet life.

Swaying to a samba beat.

A sheaf of smooth writing paper.

Eclectic embraces of everyday exquisiteness.

Aqua ocean vistas.

Chilled mangoes.

Basil and tomatoes plucked from the garden patch.

Succulent stories.

White sand beneath my feet. Movies screened on a moonlit beach.

Books. More books.

Veni. Vidi. Visa. (I came. I saw. I shopped!)

Luscious Italian everything.

Abundant wispy plumbago plants.

Gardenias. Night blooming jasmine.


Mary Anne Radmacher’s word gardens of inspiration.

Anne Lamott’s writings.

A freshly sharpened bouquet of pencils.

The Beauty & Truth Laboratories of Rob Brezsny.

Daffodils.

Dallying.

The light in my husband’s eyes.

That little inside joke that makes my daughter laugh every time.

Seriously silly stuff.

Long, deep kisses that last three days. (And the movie, Bull Durham, where that line came from!)

Playing with words and images and impressions and ideas.

Dreaming.

Having fun making art. Supporting art.

The steady thrum of a printing press.

Grey’s Anatomy.

iPhone ingenuity.

Vintage wines. (And whines!)

Memorable martinis.

Movie therapy.

Extravagance.

Exuberance.

President Obama!

My dear, dear wonderful family and deeply fabulous and funny friends,

(each enchanting in their own way).

Merrymaking.

Meandering.

Merengue.

Making a difference.

A lot of alliteration!

High tea. High heels.

Serendipity.

Passionate purposes.

Time and tides.

Into-me-see.

Soft landings.

Deep breathing.

Gentle lessons.

A tender touch.

And writing. Yes, definitely writing!

Those are just a few of my favorite things. (I really did start out to make a succinct list of just a handful of things, but then one happy thought leads to another, doesn’t it?) It’s hard to stop once you start to put a list like this together … so many pleasures and inspirations to ponder. I love it all. And I want it all. And writing that down helps me remember that I already have it all when I take a breath and really look and sit still long enough to simply enjoy and reflect on the swaths of sumptuous blessings that flow both through me and to me every day.

That’s what starting this blog is about for me.  I am inspired by the wisdom, wit, and whimsy that wing their way through the web and keep us all connected when we’re brave enough to open our hearts and share all the things we love about life, as well as all the things that haven’t quite made that list just yet! We can talk about those another time; right now I’m just pleased to be giving this blog a first twirl ….

The mysteries and marvels, musings and music, are tuning up. Let’s dance!

Categories: art, Books, cooking, favorite things, Garden, inspiration, movies, wonderful ideas, writing
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