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Stacy's Book Club:
While these are not the most
recent books I've read, I am
leaving my review on here since I
really loved each one.  I would
highly recommend every one of
them.  The Other Boleyn Girl,
especially, was impossible to put
down.  I spent many nights flipping
pages till my eyes burned because
I couldn't wait to see what
happened next.  

The Other Boleyn Girl
by Phillipa Gregory
A perceptive and unique tale of the Court
surrounding the rise and fall of Queen
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry
VIII. While it is categorized as fiction, the
historical detail is stunning, sending the
reader into another world full of
deception, passion and intrigue. The tale
is told from the point of view of Mary
Boleyn, Anne's younger sister. Mary
served as a lady in waiting to Queen
Katherine of Aragon and later to Queen
Anne. While the reader knows the
ultimate outcome of Anne's climb to
power over England in the early 1500's,
this story is still full of insight, pain and
evil. A lengthy read at 800+ pages, it is
well worth your time.

The Queen's Fool by Phillipa
Gregory

In the 1550's when young King Edward
was on the throne, a 14 year old Jewish
girl and her father fled from Spain to
make a new life in London. It was the
time of inquisition, and Hannah must put
aside her faith if she wants to live.
Her father is a Bookkeeper; and he
teaches Hannah to read and write in
many languages. Some of her
knowledge she must keep secret; it's a
dangerous time to know too much.
Hannah is more than just intelligent. She
has the sight; an ability to glimpse into
the future.
Enter the famous, driven, and
headstrong Robert Dudley who instantly
realizes how valuable Hannah is, and
takes her to court to meet the King.
Young King Edward is delighted and
moved with Hannah's direct and honest
answers, and he orders her to remain at
court working as a Holy Fool. Before
long, she finds herself Dudley's spy and
a heretic, using her sight to tell Dudley
the future. It's not long before King
Edward dies, and Mary takes the throne,
which is constantly in jeopardy with her
half sister, Elizabeth, and Robert Dudley
plotting against her. Hannah remains
Mary's closest friend and confident while
fighting for her throne, at the same time
she's also Mary's greatest enemy, for she
is still working for the Dudleys', and
ultimately, Queen Elizabeth.


The Kite Runner by Khaled
Hosseini

The Kite Runner is not a romanticized
account of life in Afghanistan- the
protagonist, Amir, is a troubled boy who
grows into a troubled man. Haunted by
the memory that he did not help the
friend who had always helped him, he
thought of himself as an unworthy
coward and tried very hard to run from
his past and forget it. But in literature, as
in life, the past has a way of catching up
to you. And in Amir's case, it came back
to him in a moving, painful manner that
will take a reader's breath away.

In learning about life in Afghanistan for
both Amir, the privileged, and Hassan,
his Hazara servant-friend, one can see
just how troubled a region Afghanistan
has been, for years. Not just with the
Taliban, but before that. And the racial
tension that goes back so far that it is
ingrained in people's minds.

The parallels between Amir's life and
Hassan's, and then between Hassan's
life and Sohrab's, make the book even
stronger. And the ending, after such a
heart-rending story, manages to plant a
tiny, redeeming seed of hope.

FYI:  The recommendations are mine
however the reviews are from
Amazon.com.  I'm just too lazy to write
my own review since it's almost
midnight.  What can I say?
Stacy's Favorite Poem was written by Max Ehrmann
and was first published in 1933.  

The Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons
than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble,
it's a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
These are a few of my favorite things....
STACY IS CLIMBING MT. KILIMANJARO IN
TANZANIA, AFRICA IN SEPTEMBER 2008.
 CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS
GRANDKIDS
Dogs, Cats,
Horses, all
animals
really!