Lit N Latte for November!

Here is my review for this months book. We read Gift From The Sea
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I have seen it for years and heard various women rant about how great it was. It has been a popular book since it was first published in the "50's. I had thought that someone that had endured the heart break that she and her husband did early in their marriage would have something very substantive to say about love, marriage, child rearing, friendship, faith, or any of the many subjects pertaining to being female.

Sad to say I was disappointed. The book is broken into chapters titled by types of sea shells. The shells represent different stages of a woman's life. I thought the comparisons were a stretch. And the descriptions were lacking meat. It's like having a finger sandwich when you were craving a steak. I thought that it was just another piece of pop psychology from the baby boomer generation. She even had the audacity to write about a time of life or "stage" that she hadn't even been through yet. Did I say I was disappointed? I guess the thing that just really bothered me was the "inner self stuff".

I did glean one or two points from the book. That is, that we as women, sometimes expect our relationships to be all things at all times. In fact, most relationships are only made of a series of moments and memories. They are what they are in that moment. I think this is true and I thought it was a good reminder that we shouldn't put so much pressure and expectation on our friends. We also need to make time for ourselves when we can be alone and where we don't have all the information coming in. (WHAT?! leave my computer off?! ) We do need to shut down every once and awhile.

Our next book is On Strike for Christmas by Sheila Roberts