Atelier S10 S10 itibaren Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
I picked up this book because I enjoyed reading Cold Sassy Tree a number of years ago. This is the unfinished sequel, unfinished because the author, Olive Ann Burns, died before she could complete the work. The first half of the book is the story, and the second half is comprised of her notes, character sketches, and thoughts about where she was planning about taking the narrative. It also includes a detailed description of her life, written by her editor, who had become a good friend. Clearly, Olive Ann Burns was a special individual who found happiness even when very ill. It was uplifting to read about the way she faced her illness and continued to find the good in life.
I have been applying some of the principles from this book and am astounded at the amazing power of positive thinking and changing my thought patterns. It's scary stuff. I was, however annoyed at the out of touchness of some of the suggestions, such as "on first waking, lie for 10 minutes reinforcing your positive thoughts" - my alarm clock is "MUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMM" so I can't do that. And "set 20 minutes in the morning to read/listen to a tape/watch a video which reinforces your positive thoughts" - right, obviously the author is not the main caregiver to small children! LOL. But banishing negative thoughts and only talking positive-self-talk to one's self has definitely been helping me. A great book to get new ideas from and discard what doesn't work for you.
it was important for me to have read this book.