Introverted Reader

Read more about the article Spotlight: Michael Cogdill, Author of <i>She-Rain: A Story of Hope</i>

Spotlight: Michael Cogdill, Author of She-Rain: A Story of Hope

I reviewed She-Rain: A Story of Hope by Michael Cogdill a few weeks ago. I absolutely loved it and blathered on and on about it in my review. I've been given permission to post an article Michael Cogdill wrote. He had me tearing up again when I read this. I swear I'm not a crier, but he keeps finding my buttons! Enjoy. The High Calling of Hard Times: Leadership, Hope, and Radical Love -- Even on the TV News By Michael Cogdill, Author of She-Rain: A Story of Hope The complaints sail almost daily into my professional life. People tell me they find the news so depressing they can't watch anymore. I understand their longing for hope, even as I say the news contains a mother lode of the hope they crave. We journalists and viewers have a way of missing it, even as we look straight at it. My answer grows from having covered terrible news on television for more than twenty-five years. Holding what I deem the sacredness of human grief on my very breath -- as a television reporter and anchor -- has revealed to me the power of the news to inform some of the best of humanity. It forms a lesson in leadership, especially in the worst of times. Aristotle believed "happiness depends upon ourselves." In the coverage of stories such as 9-11, the earthquake in Haiti, or a suffering child in America, we discover the joy of our dependency upon one another. Those stories contain a radical love -- the kind we feel for a stranger in whose eyes we recognize something magnetically familiar. News of human suffering clarifies what Mother Theresa meant when she said charity isn't about pity. It's about love. Too often we who cover and consume the news -- or…

0 Comments

April 15, 2010

Introverted Reader Features

Scout Finch: Character Connection

We all have characters we love. Let's spotlight these fantastic creations! Whether you want to be friends with them or you have a full-blown crush on them, you know you love them and want everyone else to love them too! Most of you will probably post about how much you love each character, but this is a great place for the more creative ones among you to let go and have fun! Write a love letter to Captain Wentworth. Write yourself into a scene with Anne and Diana. Draw a picture of yourself in Jamie's arms. The possibilities are endless. Be sure to post the book's title and author, and be very careful not to give away spoilers while talking about how much you love your characters. Mr. Linky will be posted here on The Introverted Reader every Thursday. I bet most of you know Scout Finch from Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. I love her, so you're going to hear all about her today. Scout is a good girl at heart but she has trouble with her temper and has a hard time understanding the concept of tact. Her chosen method of resolving conflicts is with her fists, and she doesn't see a problem with telling a poor little boy that he's poor. But she adores her daddy, Atticus. I do too! Atticus is a widowed dad who has his hands full with Scout. She loves him so much that usually he just has to sit her down and talk to her like a real human being (*Gasp* She's only a child!) in order to get her to change her ways. At least for a little bit. ;-) She is hilarious and smart, and she hates school because her teachers keep trying to drag her down. They even…

0 Comments

April 15, 2010

Personal Stories

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Happy 12th Birthday, Emily! You are growing up to be a beautiful young woman who is amazingly talented in so many ways. We are always proud of you! Love, Jennifer and Luis Emily is my cousin, and I don't think she could have gotten a better birthday present than having Duke win the NCAA Championship! She's also a fantastic b-ball player in her own right! For the record, she has excellent taste in books. She hasn't given me a bad recommendation yet! As far as I know, Harry Potter and Percy Jackson are still her two favorite series. She's the one who got me and her mom reading Percy! Coincidentally, my quote calendar at work had a quote from J. K. Rowling today that I'll share with Emily and everyone else. "We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already." --From her 2008 commencement address at Harvard

0 Comments

April 13, 2010

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books. Read and Reviewed: Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell--Intriguing story, just not written in a style I liked. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick--Not for me. Night by Elie Wiesel--An important Holocaust memoir. Read, Needs Reviewing The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen Currently Reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl--I can't believe I've never read this before. Up Next: Possibly People of the Sword by Neil O'Donnell. I also just got Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Moon Called by Patricia Briggs from the library, so those may work their way to the top of my stack. Received: A sweet Goodreads friend sent me Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison, Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky, and Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen. I also received Thumb Flagging from the author, Jerome Peterson. Thanks! What are you reading this week?

0 Comments

April 12, 2010

Night by Elie Wiesel: Book Review

Honestly, I can't help but feel that for me to sit in judgment of a memoir of the Holocaust would be terribly presumptuous. We can't ever forget the Holocaust, and any work that reminds us of what happened is important and should be read as widely as possible. The style is a little sparse for me, but do we really need lavish descriptions of crematoriums? I didn't think so. What is important is that Wiesel laid out his thoughts and feelings for all the world to see, an act of unimaginable courage. It is amazing to me how quickly he and the other prisoners were stripped of their very humanity. It is also amazing how tiny acts of kindness stand out in his memory. But we all know those were too few and far between. Just read this. Today, April 11, 2010, is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Six million Jews were killed in WWII. Six million. How do we even begin to wrap our minds around that kind of loss? It's as if everyone in the cities of Los Angeles and Chicago were gone. No longer there. Because of violence and ignorance and prejudice. We cannot forget the loss of these people. The Jewish people are the chief mourners, but we should all mourn their loss. The victims weren't "only" Jews, they were citizens of the world. My world. Your world. Our world. Who knows how things might be different now if such a staggering loss hadn't occurred then? Read Elie Wiesel's 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Visit the US Holocaust Museum's Days of Remembrance page. Visit the US Holocaust Museum's Holocaust Encyclopedia. Here are links to other books I've read, both fiction and non-fiction, that focus on the Holocaust. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds HistoryMaus II:…

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick: Book Review

I know a lot of you are going to disagree with me, but here goes.... Nora Grey is forced to sit next to the new guy, Patch, in biology class one day. He knows more about her than he should, and trouble starts to follow her around. I should have listened to Misty at Book Rat. I still haven't read her spoilery rant, but I will be hitting that as soon as I finish here. This was compulsively readable, I have to admit that. I read it in one shift at work. But, oh my gosh, I mostly loathed these characters. Nora is basically the girl in the horror movie who manages to run the wrong way at every turn, even if there's a door standing wide open in front of her, until she eventually gets herself caught in a dead end. You know how frustrating it is to watch that, yelling at the screen, "Don't go down to the deserted basement! Run out the freaking door!" Yeah, that was me reading about Nora. Vee, Nora's best friend, was just looking for trouble, and she definitely found it. Patch. Ugh, Patch. He pushed all kinds of the wrong buttons for me. I know a lot of girls love this bad boy, but I couldn't stand him. Bad boys should have a touch of sweet underneath everything. I never quite found that. Oh, at the very end, he comes through, but he's been such a jerk throughout everything that it was way too late for me. I didn't like the way that he was constantly teasing Nora, keeping her off balance, laughing at her, and disrespecting her boundaries. And, girls, let me just say that if a guy who says he loves you ever slams you on the bed and traps…

Introverted Reader Features

Rodrigo Belmonte: Character Connection:

We all have characters we love. Let's spotlight these fantastic creations! Whether you want to be friends with them or you have a full-blown crush on them, you know you love them and want everyone else to love them too! Most of you will probably post about how much you love each character, but this is a great place for the more creative ones among you to let go and have fun! Write a love letter to Captain Wentworth. Write yourself into a scene with Anne and Diana. Draw a picture of yourself in Jamie's arms. The possibilities are endless. Be sure to post the book's title and author, and be very careful not to give away spoilers while talking about how much you love your characters. Mr. Linky will be posted here on The Introverted Reader every Thursday. It's back to The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay this week. My post last Thursday was about Ammar ibn-Kharain. This week, I'm going to tell you about my other book love, Captain Rodrigo Belmonte. Young men entering the army of Valleda will do anything to enter the service of Rodrigo Belmonte. Bribery in every conceivable form is sent Rodrigo's way, but he only chooses those he thinks will add something to his world-famous band of soldiers. He's a natural-born leader and his men would happily die for him. He remembers to thank them for their services, he takes care of them, he looks out for them, but he doesn't hesitate to hand out discipline when it's needed. He's also just a fundamentally good man. This book is a fantasy, but it's essentially a story of Moorish Spain. He has to operate under the nobility's rules, but he doesn't have to respect them or like them. He bends them as…

0 Comments

April 8, 2010

Claude & Camille by Stephanie Cowell: Book Review

This is the story of Claude Monet; his great love, Camille Doncieux; and their life as they struggle together in the years before his fame. I started reading this not knowing anything about Monet except that I used to have a print of one of his works hanging in my bedroom. I also don't know much about art except that I know what I like. I have enjoyed reading fiction about art and artists in the past, so I thought I'd give this a try. It was okay. It is always amazing to me that artists who are generally accepted to be--I don't know, geniuses?--had to struggle so hard to be recognized back when they first started out, and sometimes even throughout their entire lives. I guess that just goes to show that people are slow to accept change. The main reason that this got three stars is that it's written in a style that's not really for me. It felt like the author tried to stick very closely to the facts, which I do respect, but that made it feel more like I was reading a biography rather than fiction. I read very, very little non-fiction, so that wasn't a style that worked for me. I'm willing to sacrifice a little truth for a good story! Just ask my husband! ;-) The angle of approaching Monet's life through his relationship with Camille also didn't quite work for me. It was a stormy relationship, and I'm not one for that kind of drama in real life or the printed page. I want to smack people around, and say, "If you're that unhappy, do something about it!" I did enjoy reading about Monet's relationships with the other early Impressionists. I had no idea that all these guys hung out together. Reading…

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books. I visited my aunt and uncle for the long Easter weekend and had a great time. Now I'm trying to get caught up here! Read and ReviewedThe Fetch by Laura Whitcomb. There were things I liked, but it was just an okay book for me. Storm Front by Jim Butcher. I finally started this series! It wasn't perfect, but I thought it was a lot of fun. Currently ReadingClaude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell. It's not my favorite, but we'll see. Up NextI have to read Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick because it is due at the library at the end of the week and I don't have any more renewals. Bought This WeekChangeless by Gail Carriger--I'm super-excited to read this one!The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G.B. EdwardsRick Steves' Spain 2010 ReceivedA Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick from Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar. Thanks, Bill! What are you reading this week?

0 Comments

April 5, 2010

Storm Front by Jim Butcher: Book Review

4 Stars. Were there a few problems with this book? Yes. But it was fun, funny, suspenseful and original. I read it in one shift at work. I was hooked when Harry quips, "But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face." What a great line! Harry is a [...]