I dug a book out of the trunk in the garage the other day. THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY. I want my grandson to read it. This book really moved me as a child. Is there a book that remains special to you?

John Steinbeck - 'the Pearl'.
This was a class set book so had to read it. Taught me to be suspicious of things of great promise... and I always wondered.. what did that man do after he'd lost everything - his child , his dreams and he threw the pearl away... what did he do then.. go back to diving for pearls?

My favourite book, these past few weeks, is the one that I've been resting my foot on. My bad back made me seek all sorts of comfort positions and I discovered that if I lifted my right leg up off the ground a couple of inches the pain went away.

I have re-discovered Witi Ihimaera in recent weeks.

`Pounamu, Pounamu' is a book of short stories. A good read if you don't want to get bogged down in a novel.

`Tangi' ... whew! In this novel, Witi Ihimaera takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride. You begin to feel that it's you that's lost a member of the family. Recommended reading still.

I used to have several Witi Ihimaera books. `Pounamu, Pounamu' is the only book I seemed to have kept. I had to get `Tangi' out of the library.

A book that will always remain special to me is one I wrote myself last year. It is called "You're A Dick Mummy" these being the first words my son spoke to me once he learnt to talk after sustaining Traumatic Brain Injury. I assure you they were better than Mum Mum, Dad Dad all those years ago! Writing was cathartic but the response received after publishing has been overwhelming, I'm glad I stuck with it and allowed our story to be out there. Check it out in your local library or if they haven't got it suggest they purchase it as I am told it is a compelling read of triumph over adversity and gives people HOPE....Helping Other Possibilities Emerge. Sometimes HOPE is all you have to go on. Then there is Reach For The Sky...my first ever book taken out from the Public Library almost half a century ago. How many of us remember the first library book we read?

Writing your own book - that is impressive, Ann.. and the journey you must have had to taken.. both with the book and the content.


oh.. 'reach for the sky'. That was another class set book to read at my school.

First library book - I remember mine, Ann. My mother dragged me to the library and told me I wasn't going home until I found a book to read. I spent ages in there and finally found one on 'How to play soccer'. She started going crook cos it wasn't a 'real book'.. until the head librarian (who she was chatting with) stopped her.

First book bought with a book voucher - it was one about Tintin. (That didn't go too well either - '..its too much like a comic'.)

Funny thing - most books Ive read have been ones on 'how to..' do things. Ive read very few novels.. they usually give me weird dreams or nightmares.. (Shogun gave me sweats.) or I get so wrapped up in the characters I kinda 'miss' them when the book ends... which is just plain stupid.

Ha- 'when the book ends'.. what is this - a movie!!

(My next book.. is on order from the library. Its about 'how to' pan for gold.)

Just reading "The Woman I was Born to be... My Story" by Susan Boyle.
She probably had some help writing this (as all celebrities do); it's very well expressed, and a fascinating look at one of our all-time "Cinderella" stories. It also proves yet again, that there is no such thing as an"overnight success" even though to the Britain's Got Talent audience and judges, Susan just seemed to pop out of nowhere. She had always sung her heart out, even had vocal tuition, and been told many times: "you can really sing Susan -- ever thought of doing something with it?" Susan almost didn't make it to the audition for the TV show -- she wore all the wrong clothes, it was pouring with rain and she got lost and eventually ended up taking six different buses to reach the audition venue. She writes that a pivotal experience in her life was her trip to Lourdes, when she had an inspirational moment.., Quite a story.

well.. that's determination then, eh Kari.

Today I got a reminder of another book - 'On the beach'. I was in the library when I found a dvd of the movie starring Gregory Peck.

I came across this book a while back. I was sitting on a park seat at the beach. I must have been sitting there for about an hour before I noticed it sitting on the other end of the seat.
(What a strange little feeling it was.)

There's a book club whose members leave books (after they've read them) in public places for others to find.

This wasn't a happy story.. its about the end of the world.

Anyway after Id read the book I left it at Moeraki boulders.

I have been reading "Nurse To The Imagination 50 years of the Robert Burns Fellowship. Ed. by Lawrence Jones. I read and post a lot of poetry on reminscences thread " A Verse From Your Favourite Poem" and "When Someone you Care For Dies" I am also looking for stories to include in my Heritage Talks. Lawrence Jones is an Emeritous Professor of English at The University of Otago. and has taught at the university for 45 of the 50 years of the fellowship. He has published extensively. I am learning about Burns Fellows poets and writers like Ian Cross, and Maurice Duggan Maurice Shadbolt and Janet Frame.

I have just collected this afternoon the book "Coasters with Al Brown Exploring New Zealands Coast and Its People "From The TV Series Coasters by Peter Young.It covers some very interesting coastlines of our country.

In the past few days we have learned of the death of Poet Harvey McQueen. Last week I collected a copy of his "THESE I HAVE LOVED "My favourite New Zealand Poems. In the introduction he says I,ve been diagnosed as having a rare muscular degenerative disease with no known cure.Increasingly each day is a bonus and a burden I can but play with the hand that life has dealt me. The end is in sight. I hope I can take that feeling onward to mix with the necessary fortitude.Part of the thankfulness is for the poets prescence.I,ve enjoyed their company.Cheers to them. I am enjoying poems by James K.Baxter, Cilla McQueen, Ursula Bethell, Basil Dowling, Lauris Edmond currently.

You must be a quick reader Beachbum! Good for you, and now that you've "released the book into the wild", someone else will find and read it too. I haven't seen the movie but I remember the excitement when it was shot in Australia -- it was rare then for a Hollywood movie to be made Down Under.

Well the movie 'aint bad' , Kari. Its interesting to see how such an impossible situation is portrayed for that period. Every one was still trying to do the 'right' thing. I hate to think how people would carry on today if such a thing happened.

DrL the coasters is back on tv1 (sat night at 7pm... if theres no sport) I watched it last week and was surprised to see them cooking and eating herrings (yellow eyed mullet).

We always regarded those as cat tucker... maybe next time, eh.