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The New Mandala - Eastern Wisdom for Western LivingThe New Mandala – Eastern Wisdom for Western Living by John Lundin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I tried to listen to the text-to-speech of the Kindle version the other day, it didn’t work. I decided to try again last night, and it worked out quite nicely.

I felt a little lost at first as the easter religions and the Dalai Lama are less known to me than the Judeo-Christian Western religions. However, author John Lundin quickly helped us see how familiar those seemingly foreign concepts are. I found myself quite interested.

This book will need multiple reads. This is the first one to get acquainted and see our common interests. But next, I want to go through and practice some of the meditation and kindnesses Mr. Lundin teaches us to use.

I highly recommend this book for seekers and for those who love comparative religions.

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Here is Linda’s prompt:

“Hi there! I’m back with our nineteenth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, our prompt comes to us from the wonderful Willow. Thank you, Willow! Please be sure to visitย Willow’s blogย to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 19th, 2025ย is “why.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Why do I write reviews? It started out in the same way as blogging. I needed a place to keep track. What have I read? Sure, I can go to GoodReads to see if I have read a book, but since I try to record bits of my life here, I can see how that book choice or emotions of the day reflect each other. What I read can affect my life. And my life can carry into my thoughts as I read.

Why did I read this particular book? The author gave me the book long ago when I lived in Reno. He live(d) in Lake Tahoe at the time. I promised a review, so I put it on my ‘Currently Reading’ shelf on GoodReads. That was to prompt me to read it soon.

That shelf has overgrown. When a library or Libby book comes up, it goes to the top of the list over those I own. Suddenly, I have 85 books I am supposedly currently reading. Ha! So my new plan is to pull from the bottom of the list (first books added) and then back to the top, the latest added. My plan is to eventually meet in the middle. Does anyone want to take bets on how long that’s going to take?

I was surprised at how much I appreciated this particular book. It seemed to start rather boring. But soon I found that there were answers here I’d been asking, even though I didn’t know I was asking those questions.

Why. The word my kids learned nearly as soon as they could talk. It is an amazing work that mostly keeps me wondering. How often did I hear my babies ask, “Why is the sky blue?” Or just “Why” to nearly anything. I feel we should stay in that frame of mind. Stay young and keep wondering, WHY?


Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 18th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: โ€œpack/peck/pick/pock/puck.โ€ Use one or use โ€™em all for bonus pointsโ€”itโ€™s up to you! Enjoy!

As usual a song jump out at me:

Decades ago I was in this community musical. Just chorus, but it was so fun. Oliver songs make me so happy. Even if singing about poverty, codependency, and stealing don’t seem appropriate topics to have any glee about.

Peck and puck are left over. But Shakespeare did give us the hockey puck, yes?๐Ÿคฃ Okay, be nice.ย  I do have chickens who could peck… the seeds at your feet. Why didn’t this stream take me anywhere? Guess I’ll just pack it in now.


The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in CrisisThe Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For a non-fiction, history type book, this was very interesting. George Stephanopoulos wrote the book and narrated most of it. He is a quiet unassuming man, who knows from experience about the subject matter. He was even able to insert a bit of humor now and then. Not as well as his wife, Ali Wentworth does humor, but, lightened the heavy subject matter a bit.

Lisa Dickey was a contributing author.

Peter Ganim, Elisabeth Rodgers also narrated. That brought the possible tome to something to keep connected.

I highly recommend this book if you are curious about the workings of such places as The Situation Room. Why is it there? When did it start? Who has used it and why? It is intriguing.

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Your prompt for JusJoJan January 17th, 2025ย is whatever you want it to be. Have fun!

Hence, a book review does well here.


Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your NarrativeMaster of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative by Keke Palmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Keke Palmer has quite the personality. I remember seeing her as a child actress. Her energy was terrific. And I remember her in Grey’s Anatomy as a pregnant teen. She has always been a great actress with a lot to say.

Though I wanted to love this book it seemed Ms. Palmer couldn’t decide if she was writing an autobiography or a self-help book for herself. Either way was okay. I still enjoyed her take on life and trying to make it a good place for everyone.

Probably teens or young adults will connect to this best. But if you like Keke, you’ll enjoy it, too.

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This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, โ€œpersonality,โ€ comes to us from Astrid.ย Check out her blog here!


One-Liner Wednesday and Just Jot It January are prompts from Linda G. Hill

Friends, streaming on MAX, by the way, is the best antidepressants.


My Sister's Keeper: A NovelMy Sister’s Keeper: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finishing a book early on at bedtime, I was left shuffling. Libby had a Jodi Picoult. I thought I could never go wrong with anything of hers. Yet, within the chapter, I realized I had already read Small Great Things. I enjoyed that book, but I wanted something new. So I searched Libby and found My Sister’s Keeper.

This one immediately intrigued me. The younger daughter shows initiative in fixing her problems.

Richard Poe, Julia Gibson, Barbara McCulloh, Tom Stechschulte, Carol Monda, Jennifer Ikeda, and Andy Paris narrate this book, keeping the reader/listener engaged. However, I could not get to sleep at a decent hour.

I loved hearing the characters’ separate points of view.

I’m trying not to give spoilers. There is a great blurb on GoodReads and Amazon if you are interested. But make sure the Kleenex is near the end of the book.

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his post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, โ€œinitiative,โ€ comes to us from Fandango.ย Check out his blog here!

See what I did there?

okay

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, โ€œembrace,โ€ comes to us from Laura. Check out her blog here!

Does ’embrace’ mean {this} or

Well, that was embarrassing

JusJoJan, Notifications


This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “notifications,” comes to us courtesy of Sadje.ย Check out her blog here!

Without notifications, I wouldn’t be online at all. I turn them off on most apps as it is just too much online time. The only ones I respond to are comments. Even then, I’m horrid at keeping up. My eyes still don’t like reading either on the phone or computer.

Sorry my jot needed more. But that was all I came up with.๐Ÿฅบ


Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 11th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: โ€œitโ€™s the little things.โ€ Take whatever the phrase โ€œitโ€™s the little thingsโ€ brings to mind and use it in your post. Have fun!

On days like today you can see clearly that it is the small things that make all the difference.

The small thing I’m referring to today weighted in a little less than 8 pounds, and a head full of hair. I can’t believe it was- um-a long time ago this day. Most of my small things are near or at middle aged. Give a mother a break. Who worked harder that day the birther or birthee? Happy Birthday big guy. Glad we got to talk today


Your prompt for JusJoJan January 10th, 2025 is โ€œecho.โ€ Use it any way youโ€™d like. Thank you, Dan for the prompt! Please be sure to visit Danโ€™s blog. Enjoy!

Let’s try an echo from the past. It is Friday. So how about Finishing Friday? Best I could do on short notice.

So, smiling turtle is coming along. The bottom is almost done.
These slipper socks were supposed to be for my son, but I found they fit me instead.
They are comfy!
Just as I was going to restart my son’s sox, but my brother, who lives with us, asked for a pair. So I’ll make his first. They are coming along.
I’m trying to teach myself to improvise and play something more modern than classical. Modern beats are hard for me. I’ll get there.

For a while, I had to do very little as the bottom two knuckles of my left thumb started hurting. It went up my arm, all the joints and into the scapula. So all knitting, crocheting, even violin, and ukulele had to stop.ย  Even the piano hurt when I’d hit notes too hard on the side of the thumb. It made me so sad.

Luckily, it is getting better. But I’m still giving the crochet and the strings a break. Meanwhile, I’m trying morning bed yoga and include hand, arms, and shoulder stretches. That is helping the sciatica stabs, too.

Back to the prompt. I wish I could go somewhere to hear an echo. Somewhere so in Nature and isolated that a whisper would repeat back. It is such a great sensation to live through. I’ve been in caves that had that kind of sound. And the acoustics were so great that when my mom and I sang out it sounded like the most beautiful sound ever.

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