The Word Shaker

Though I've been back from "Up North" since the beginning of August, in some ways I still feel on holiday (and not because I keep thinking about having an ice cream cone in the middle of the afternoon!) I think it's because I find myself reading every chance I get.

There's something amazing about vacations and the pleasure of losing yourself in great books. I'm not sure why I read more when I'm not at home -- perhaps when you're away, you're not in your routine, you're not over-scheduled and thinking about the things you really could be doing. When you're away you somehow shift from 'doing' into just 'being' (which I think actually gives a happy mellow boost to all your 'doing'.)

In Nova Scotia I read "The Help", a hand me down book from my sister's book club. She had actually given me the book a year ago when I was leaving Nova Scotia, though I had completely forgotten about it, until I discovered it a few weeks ago. It's written from the perspective of 'the help' for women in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962, and it had me at page one. I kept thinking "This isn't that long ago...."

On subways and in the edges of the day I just finished "The Book Thief" (another hand me down from Kris). It's about a little girl in Nazi Germany, and the narrator of the book is Death, who is exhausted. My sister, her mother-in-law and The New York Times all said they really liked the book but it initially took me several pages to get into. Now I understand. Since I've finished it two days ago, it's still been on my mind.

Interestingly, both books are really about the power of words to harm, and heal.

"...THE BEST word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small, skinny girl. She was renowned as the best word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be WITHOUT words...."