Book Beginning: Bamboo Farmer Wisdom

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.  Please remember to include the title of the book and the author.

Leave a link to your post.  If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

A bamboo farmer buries a giant bamboo seed deep in the earth and waters it day after day.

-- Bamboo Farmer Wisdom: 101 Inspirational Thoughts by Greg Bell.



This is a little gift-book companion to Bell's excellent Water The Bamboo: Unleashing The Potential Of Teams And Individuals, which I reviewed here.



The Wisdom book did indeed come with a Water the Bamboo wristband.  My cats immediately disappeared it.

Pin This!

Uh oh. I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon.  It is too fun to skip.

I'm there as Gilion Dumas.  So far, I've created boards that tie in with Rose City Reader, like Favorite Author boards, book review boards, and a board for the reading challenges I'm doing.  But I also added a couple of house, food, travel, and general interest boards.

If you are on Pinterest too, please leave a comment with your Pinterest user name so I can find you. Or follow me on Pinterest so I can find you and follow you back.

You know, now that I think of it, the same goes for twitter.  You can find me there @GilionDumas.

Teaser Tuesday: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents

FDR was famous for his fierce attacks on big business and "economic royalists."  But those who pose as his liberal heirs forget, if they ever knew in the first place, his equal concern for middle class opportunity and his endorsement of individual enterprise. 

-- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents: From Wilson to Obama by Steven F. Hayward.

This book is a lot of fun and perfect for this election year.  

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This month, Mailbox Monday moves north, to somewhere near Quebec, where Cindy at Cindy's Love of Books is hosting.  Please stop by to visit her blog and join in the fun.

I am on a roll with Ian Rankin's John Rebus series.  I just finished The Black Book, the fourth novel in the series, which I reviewed here.

So I was pleased as Punch to find a copy of Set in Darkness on my branch library's free paperback shelf.

Review: 100 Poems to Bestill Your Young Heart

100 Poems to Bestill Your Young Heart is an exuberant collection poetry by Portland writer Kenneth Woods.  Woods -- who is still in high school himself -- writes with the passion and pathos of every teenager with a wild heart and alert perception.

Some of the poems are funny, others are tender, a few overwrought, and all demonstrate an honest willingness to expose and examine the life of an American teen. It is a collection that would appeal to Woods's contemporaries, but has plenty to offer older generations.

One of my particular favorites is a short poem called "Can't Put My Finger On It" because I love the idea of "clarity of mind" coming together with "clarity of time":

Why do all my good ideas
Come to me
When I don't have
Anything to write
Them down with?

Why can I never
Have the clarity of mind
When I have the clarity
Of time
And space and
All other things that
Allow me to put them to
Any good use?

NOTES

April is National Poetry Month, so a great time to support young poets. 100 Poems to Bestill Your Young Heart is available on amazon, in paperback or kindle. It would make a great graduation gift, especially for creative types.