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Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML:As the obituary writer in a spectacularly beautiful but often dangerous spit of land in Alaska, Heather Lende knows something about last words and lives well lived. Now she�??s distilled what she�??s learned about how to live a more exhilarating and meaningful life into three words: find the good. It�??s that simple�??and that hard. Quirky and profound, individual and universal, Find the Good offers up short chapters that help us unlearn the habit�??and it is a habit�??of seeing only the negatives. Lende reminds us that we can choose to see any event�??starting a new job or being laid off from an old one, getting married or getting divorced�??as an opportunity to find the good. As she says, �??We are all writing our own obituary every day by how we live. The best news is that there�??s still time for additions and revisions before it goes to press.�?� Ever since Algonquin published her first book, the New York Times bestseller If You Lived Here, I�??d Know Your Name, Heather Lende has been praised for her storytelling talent and her plainspoken wisdom. The Los Angeles Times called her �??part Annie Dillard, part Anne Lamott,�?� and that comparison has never been more apt as she gives us a fresh, positive perspective from which to view our relationships, our obligations, our priorities, our community, and our world. An antidote to the cynicism and self-centeredness that we are bombarded with every day in the news, in our politics, and even at times in ourselves, Find the Good helps us rediscover what�??s right with the world. �??Heather Lende�??s small town is populated with big hearts�??she finds them on the beach, walking her granddaughters, in the stories of ordinary peoples�?? lives, and knits them into unforgettable tales. Find the Good is a treasure.�?� �??Jo-Ann Mapson, author of Owen�??s Daughter �??Find the Good is excellent company in unsteady times . . . Heather Lende is the kind of person you want to sit across the kitchen table from on a rainy afternoon with a bottomless cup of tea. When things go wrong, when things go right, her quiet, commonsense wisdom, self-examining frankness, and good-natured humor offer a chance to reset, renew, rebalance.�?� �??Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted �??With gentle humor and empathy [Lende] introduces a number of people who provide examples of how to live well . . . [Find the Good] is simple yet profound.�?� �??Booklist �??In this cynical world, Find the Good is a tonic, a literary wellspring, which will continue to run, and nurture, even in times of drought. What a brave and beautiful thing Heather Lende has made with this book.�?� �??John Straley, Shamus Award winner and former writer laureate of Alaska �??Heather Lende is a terrific writer and terrific company: intimate, authentic, and… (more)
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As I read her descriptions of the people she has written about and learned about the basic facts of her own life, I found that her simple message and lifestyle encouraged me to stop thinking about what I might not have, but instead to choose to look for and appreciate the good things that I do have in my life and all the good things I have had as well. Is my glass half full or half empty? It is definitely half full. The joy of finding whatever “good” news there is in a situation instead of looking for and dwelling on the “bad”, improves one’s life markedly. So let’s all find the good, shall we?
Life is lived in the dash between the dates on our headstone and until that last date is engraved, we can always change the story in between. Lende is the obituary writer in her small Alaskan fishing village. Often she knows the people she's writing about very well so it's heartbreakingly easy for her to find the good in someone's life as she goes about the business of distilling a life to the space allotted in the paper. Each short chapter is packed with wisdom gleaned from the life of someone who has died. And the brief slice of their life that Lende captures is wonderful, giving a real sense of the person. There is humor here and there are unexpected revelations. Lende shares a bit of her own family's challenges and the life-affirming way that she decided to face them. And as she does, she reminds us all that how we face each thing in our life is in fact a decision. We can dwell or we can celebrate and celebrating is infinitely more fun. It is a quick and welcoming read, one that is easy to dip in and out of when you need to be reminded about all the positives in life thanks to its vignette style essays. Heartwarming, simple, and direct, this is a gorgeous little book with a beautiful message that will leave you smiling as you close the cover. If you're looking for the good, you'll certainly find a lot of it here.
A gentle set of stories centered on the lessons of small-town life.
A gentle set of stories centered on the lessons of small-town life.
This nonfiction book about a small-town obituary writer could have been fascinating.
I was disappointed that the author chose to buy a puppy rather than rescuing a dog, because she didn't want a dog that had learned bad habits from other people. And she had the dog shipped to her, apparently never seeing where it came from, what sort of conditions it was raised in, what condition the parents were. But the whole puppy thing didn't have much to do with the story.
Which was part of the problem. This short book felt disjointed, smug, and a little too stream-of-consciousness. The author's reading was a little too excitable. I could hear too many exclamation marks.
Perhaps others will find merit I didn't, but for me, this was a book I didn't enjoy and was pleased it was short.
From the snippets they all seemed like they were good people...
Did I learn anything else form this