Long time since I've done this

So on the whole, life in prison was a hundred times better than life in the Magdalen Laundries. Don't Ever Tell Kathy O'Beirne

If you ever want to read something to make you doubt your faith in Human kind then I'll point you in the direction of this book.

It's a true story of what happend in the life of the author during her childhood and early adulthood. Even though the writing is not an outstanding piece of literature - and there's a very good reason for that - it's vivid enough to bring home the horrors that Kathy suffered at the hands of so called Christians.

The saddest thing about it is that her story is by no means unique. Abused physically and emotionally/mentally by her father, then sent to reform school and ending up in the Magdalen Laundries, where she suffered further atrocities, it is somewhat of a marvel that she survived in the way she did. I don't want to say too much and spoil the book for those who want to read it but, it is a very quick read that brings home how horrible people can truly be.

Another one for good measure

Anton turned to me. "She looks like a spirit, doesn't she? Like if you blinked too hard, she'd be gone." One Child Torey Hayden

Torey Hayden is a rare and precious spirit - the embodiment of love. A teacher of special Ed classes who tells the story of some of the children who crossed the threshold of her classroom, she does so in masterful style.

Sheila is one of her children. A 'wild child' from the beginning. Neglected by a reluctant father after being abandoned - literally by the side of the road by her mother. Torey tells the story of all the lengths she went to to help the child and to educate her in spite of her reluctance. I won't spoil the book by going into too much detail, suffice to say it's a well written, articulate book - sometimes harrowing, but sometimes as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking.

I'd recommend this as a book for any education professional to read. I picked it up by accident in the airport, and now want to read all of the books Torey has written about 'her' children. As a warning I'd say, read it with a box of kleenex to hand.

Second ever reject...

One cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten. The Prince of Nothing, book 1 - The Darkness That Comes Before R. Scott Bakker

...and one cannot write a book review for a book that one simply cannot get into. I've been trying to read this book since August 28th, when I finished Some Place To Be Flying, which I'm not sure I ever reviewed. I got a bit lax around then with the reviews... but still... after three months I'm still only on page 45, and finding any and every excuse to do something else other than read this book. I even read two others because I couldn't bring myself to open the covers of this one.

I'm sure it's a very well thought out story, and I feel so bad that I've given up on it, but I don't know whether it's the author's style, or what it is. I just can't get into the story and other than what's in the blurb, I couldn't even tell you what it's about. So I simply quote what seems to be the pertinent points of said blurb.

A score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse. The No-God has been vanquished and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns... After two thousand years, the No-God is returning. The Second Apocalypse is nigh. And one cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten...

Captive.

So...

Nothing like being captive in a place with nothing to watch, nothing else to do to kick you in the butt. I finally finally manage to get a few pages of something written while sitting on the plane. Oh, it's rough - I'll clean it up when I finally type it up - it's written on paper right now as I didn't have the computer with me, but at least there's something there... and have haven't been able to write anything at all since way back at the end of summer.

It was starting to hurt a great deal that I could no longer do something that I love so much. Hopefully the trend will continue... even if I only do 30 minutes to 1 hour each day until I'm back to where I was... where I want to be.