The Story of Mount Desert Island by Samuel Eliot Morison

On Wednesday Terry and I hung out at the library for a while and I read this book.  Morison takes you through the whole island starting with the Indians and the French and English.  Then there were the artists and rusticators and the "cottage" era.  He spent his summers here and knew much local lore and stories.  Morison saw many changes over the years and was full of good background stories and antics.  

The good, good pig by Sy Montgomery

Subtitle: The extraordinary life of Christopher Hogwood -- What a wonderful story about a family that adopted a pig.  They raised it from runt-hood and had it for several years.  It not only enhanced their lives, but the whole community.  Christopher Hogwood was a star in his own right with everyone around.  People brought him slops, he made it in the paper and local news.  Everyone wanted to spend time with him and the Montgomery's were amazed and touched with the interest that Christopher brought into their lives.  Very well written, I felt like I missed something by never meeting Christopher Hogwood.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

I had passed this by a couple of times at the library and finally decided to give it a try.  It was a quick, easy read and very informative about snails.  Bailey was bed ridden with a mysterious illness that last several years.  She watched this snail for a year.  A friend had brought in some wild violets and found this snail along the way.  Bailey loved watching it and ended up getting an aquarium and making more of a woodland habitat for the snail.  She was fascinated by how it lived, moved about, ate, slept.  Watching the snail helped her feel less lonely.  Through her observations she became more and more curious and found literature and studies about snails.  They are very interesting creatures and I do not think that I will ever look at one the same again.  A very good observation of slowing down, being in the moment and appreciating the nature around you.

Snipped in the Bud by Kate Collins

An interesting little story about Abby who owns a florist shop and the trouble she gets into when she comes across a murdered professor and has the finger pointed at her.  Through disguises and sneaking around she is able to figure things out, but she does have quite the reputation of getting in trouble.  This was the fourth book in a series, and I have not read the others, so there is some back story missing for me, but it did not detract from this story.  An easy book to read that will make you chuckle and wonder what she could possibly get into next.

The Beach Street Knitting Sociey and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil

A very plain story about getting on in life.  Jo finds out that her husband is leaving her and then he dies in a car crash.  Her world is turned upside down.  She moves to the country with her kids to take over a yarn shop.  Many new people come into her life, she finds she loves working in the yarn shop and bringing in new ideas.  She realizes that she is really happy for the first time in a long time.  Of course there are many side stories that are funny and have left much to build on in the series.  I am not saying that it was not a good book, but it did not grab me.  I wanted to see how it would continue, but it was easy to put down.  An easy, almost comforting read that felt good coming back to.

The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh

I have enjoyed Hanh's books over the years.  One of the reasons I did read this was that is fulfilled my World Literature Challenge.  Truly, the key to being in control and making people feel good about themselves is to be present and mindful in your own life.  I do believe that if you are happy in your life it is easier to make others feel good and have others feel like you care.  This was a good book, but for me it was a little wordy and out of my reach at this time.  I do love what Hanh has done over his many years working towards enlightening the world and will reflect back on this for a while to come.

French Pressed by Cleo Coyle

I was disappointed again.  Two books ago in this series I was not impressed, but the last one was great.  This one fell flat again.  I do not know if Coyle is struggling with ideas or what.  It really seems like she is just trying to fill pages with things that are not all that important, I feel.  In this book Clare's daughter, Joy, gets wrapped up in a murder and Clare gets involved in getting to the bottom of things.  The book was 260 pages and I think the bulk of the whole thing could have been told in 160.  There are still more books in the series, but I am not chomping at the bit to read them.