Reading List #2 and other stuff

Sigh. I removed Louise Allen from my TBR list, as I noticed that her heroines have a tendency to slap the heroes sometime during the story. I might have liked that at one time, but it seems I've changed. Thank Goodness! It is not okay for men to hit women and not okay for women to hit men. I also recognize this as something I used to do (though usually in the arm), even if only rarely, and I'm not proud of myself for it. It's something I wanted to change, so why was I reading about it?

Recently, Lucy Monroe, at her blog asked what makes a book a Auto Buy and what makes a Not to Buy.

Auto-buys:
-any author on my Yes list.
Why they're on my Yes list:
-Characters, characters, characters. They have a sense of self and accept responsibility for their own lives. They aren't waiting for someone to "fix" them or even for love to make them whole. I like the instant attraction, but what good is it if they don't work at the relationship? Respect is huge for me. I'd like to hang out with the characters, and I learn to be a better person from them.
-I want to come away from the story feeling uplifted and hopeful.

Not-to-buy:
-Hero/heroines that are manipulative or abusive.
-Infidelity.
-There's no other way to say it but stupid, unpleasant characters that aren't the villain.
-Really foul language. Yep, I find it a downer and distracting in a story. I don't mind the use of god, as it is used in so many contexts, but Christ and Jesus is an absolute no. My Savior died for me; He deserves more respect than that.
-The happy ending is too short! I want to savor it!

I've often said that my favorite books are like friends. I want to hang out with them, spend time with them, become a better person because of them. So this weeks list, though similar to last weeks, has also changed a little.

I'm still reading Venetia, but more skimming because though I like Damerel and Aubrey, they're only in some of the scenes. Venetia is starting to get on my nerves. She's so... so... so... I'd say practically perfect in every way, but Mary Poppins doesn't take lip from anyone, not even Mr. Banks. She's not exactly a martyr, but she's just so cheerful, all the time, and I mean all the time, even when the overbearing mother-in-law is being really demeaning. I finally asked myself, Why am I spending so much time with a book with so many characters I don't like? So though Georgette Heyer is a gifted writer, I find she writes too many unpleasant characters for my taste.

I'm still reading The Menopause Makeover, and though I'm not using a lot of the suggestions, I'm still finding it helpful, but tailoring it to my needs. eHarlequin opened a forum for following the program as a group. I've found some great insights and real inspiration. I had an interesting revelation, today. One of the posters admitted that she didn't like sharing a lot of information about what she was eating exactly and what exercise she was doing. I cheered! I don't like sharing it either. She had an adorable turtle, hiding in it's shell, as her avatar. This was my response:

I feel exactly like that picture sometimes. For myself, I won't be sharing much info, either, but I know that for me it's about having healthy boundaries. Part of what got me into this mess to begin with is that I didn't have healthy boundaries. I didn't have boundaries. I wasn't allowed to have boundaries. Now, as I cultivate my healthy boundaries and learn how to expand and contract them as needed, I find eating better and exercising more seems to be a natural outcome as I no longer need the mental boundary of "If I'm fat, no one will notice me, and then I'll be safe."

BTW, since the beginning of Feb, I've lost 10 lb. WOOHOO!!

My fun book is a re-release of one of Marie Ferrarella's books. Five-Alarm Affair. Aimee Greer is a widowed mother of a nine-year-old girl. Wayne Montgomery is a local firefighter. I love Marie's characters, including the secondary characters, which are usually pretty great people, too, even if annoying sometimes. They're people I wouldn't mind knowing.

Odd bits:

I'm still learning about labels and tags for posts. I will figure it out and remember to do it each time, eventually.

Lastly, today, I've a couple of friends who've wanted to post but had trouble doing so. It isn't you. You have to click on the post or preview at least twice. The first response is usually : Your request could not be processed, or some such nonsense. Eventually, you will win the reply that the post will be published upon approval. That's me being able to look at it first. This discourages spammers (I'm all for that) and keeps out the riffraff. :-)

It's Monday. Go out and claim the day as your own. No one is going to do it for you.