My Virtual Reading Room

7 Days Meme copied from holmes221b

The 7 days meme:

day one • a song
day two • a picture
day three • a book/ebook/fanfic
day four • a site
day five • a youtube clip
day six • a quote
day seven • whatever tickles your fancy

Well, anyone who knows me knows I'm reading all the time...so it's very, very difficult for me to pick just one book/ebook/fanfic. So with your gracious permission, I'm going to pick one of each :)

Book:

"Adventures In Two Worlds" by A. J. Cronin.  An excellent book and one I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone with an interest in writing or medicine.  An electronic copy may be found here: www.archive.org/stream/adventuresintwow011750mbp/adventuresintwow011750mbp_djvu.txt

I must warn you, however, that it does contain a fair number of typos, so reader beware :)

Ebook:

"The Complete Father Brown" by G.K. Chesterton.  Wonderful psychological mystery stories; one of my favourites along with Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.

www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/Complete_Father_Brown/index.html

Fanfic:

It is difficult to choose one among so many...but since I have to choose just one, I'll have to day KCS's and PGF's Vows Made in Storms, as that one was the one that really drew me into the SH fandom :)

www.fanfiction.net/s/4090135/1/

( Lyrics translation here: )

Ours is a generation that has been challenged again and again.  We have had so many wake-up calls--some subtle, some more obvious, but perhaps none has impacted us like 9/11.  For a very brief moment, it appeared as though we were actually listening, and realized that our lives were not only about business and the pursuit of pleasure, but about timeless values, mature love, and sacrifice.  On that day of infamy, we rose above the flames of the Twin Towers and united in fellowship and kindness.  In Torah language, we call this chesed. G-d built the world on pillars of chesed (Psalm 89), for that is the energy that justifies the continued existence of mankind.

Chesed is more than making a charitable contribution.  Chesed means giving of ourselves and placing the needs of others before our own.  Chesed means smiling at someone even if our own hearts are breaking. Chesed means imparting words of encouragement even when we are consumed by our own fears.  Chesed means a desire to give, not necessarily because someone is in distress or deserving, but because our hearts overflow with love and we feel a need to give.

On September 11, we felt that need.  We examined our lives; we evaluated our priorities; we became kinder and gentler--we did chesed.  Our newfound kindness was evidenced even in the way we said hello.  Instead of the usual cursory nod, we actually greeted one another from the heart.  Everywhere there was a willingness to help, from the heroic firemen, to the police, the mayor, the president, and the man on the street.  People were actually listening with their hearts to the voices of family members, friends, neighbors, and even strangers, but all too soon, as the intensity of our pain subsided, we reverted to our old ways, and it was business as usual.

(From Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis' "Life Is A Test")