TASTING GREAT LITERATURE

I used to read more books just for pleasure. These days between researching and writing my own books, my blog, and that huge time-suck called Facebook, hours seem to zoom by at warp speed.

Magazines (even dated second hand ones) are fun and interesting.   Plus I enjoy a good old-fashioned newspaper. I still read mine sprawled out on the floor as I did when I was a kid. Also there's so many interesting articles online, too.

A Facebook friend chided me for not making time to read more books. "You could fit in at least 10 pages a day!" she declared. -- I absolutely love it when someone dictates how to spend MY free time!

"I read 3 books a week!" another poster added with pride. -- Well give you a fuzzy lollipop, lady, and a hairy jelly bean, too!

Had my father been alive, he would have criticised her for not doing something more productive with her time. I used to delight in curling-up with a READER'S DIGEST. Whenever my dad caught me, he'd berate me for not doing something useful. He thought my writing was a waste of time, too. -- That's what kept me sane!!!

The books I love the most, are usually the ones most people seldom read.

Guess I should be ashamed, because I've never read GONE WITH THE WIND. But the movie was awful enough, thank you! I was gagging on ham and corn all through it. Geez, I hope the book is a lot better. In nearly every scene, Scarlett O'Hara carried on like a spoiled 5 year old. (Or perhaps that was Vivian Lee's fault.) How can anyone describe this character as a strong woman, or a role model? Scarlett O'Hara navigated life by using others. Isn't this the trait of a weak person.

O'Hara is best remembered for her quote, "If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill! As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!" For a decent human being, lying, cheating, stealing, and killing would be a desperate act of last resort.

Guess Scarlett wasn't clever enough to figure out how to make a fishing pole. Georgia is abundant with lakes and streams! All that land around the plantation must have supported wild game. (There weren't many vegetarians back then.) Geez, I thought most Southern women knew how to shoot! Or she could trap! If I remember correctly, she had at least 2 servants remaining. Doubt she'd be doing any skinning or gutting, herself! And wasn't her main goal in life to break-up her sister-in-law's happy marriage! -- Rhett Butler finally wised up in the end.

Never would I waste my money on 50 SHADES OF CRAP, or whatever its called. It amazes me that so many women who make meals of salad to eschew putting garbage in their bodies have no problem putting it into their heads!

Besides, when it comes to fiction, I'd much rather see a movie. I prefer history books. Also I love a good paranormal publication, too, if it has some basis in fact, or a plausible theory behind it. If you are one of the few people who read my blog, you know I am a firm believer in ghosts. Biographies and autobiographies, I find interesting if they are NOT about pop celebrities.

I will never forget I WILL SURVIVE by Sala Pawlowicz, a riveting autobiography I read in High School. As a young Polish teenager, Sala was dispatched to several concentration camps. I couldn't say in an oral book report the humiliating degradations to which she was subjected. And because she was pretty, Sala was targeted for special abuse by the female guards. One vowed to see her die! To save herself, Sala took a dangerous risk that could easily have cost her life. Sala Pawlowicz was a strong heroine in reality!

The new novel LET IT BE by Vero Beach author Rush Roberts is an autobiography fictionalized to protect the innocent. Rush came from a family far more dysfunctional than mine. Yet, unlike me, he managed to earn a college degree and become a highly useful member of society.

I've heard on excellent authority this is a gripping read. It also has plenty of humor. This would make an amazing movie on the big screen! Remember, everything in this book actually happened! Rush is a a regular person brimming with talent, courage and a strong, indomitable core.

Despite all the dysfunction, Rush Roberts had one huge advantage in life. He is blessed with an outstanding mother. Donna Roberts Mitchell is a successful businesswoman and dynamic radio personality. Often I've enjoyed her acting and powerful singing voice in many Vero Beach Theatre Guild productions. She's a mover and shaker here in Vero Beach! I'm proud to know her.

Clearly, she is a mother who adores her son. I believe she made all the difference in his life.  He inherited those extraordinary genes.   Rush Roberts will be OK no matter what. Because of his book, he might even become a celebrity.