Book of the Week

I just can't resist shating books I love! Here's my picks for this weekend.

Creative Discovery
Remember Elder Uchtdorf's talk in the RS broadcast in the fall? It has become hands down one of my very favourite conference talks. Talk about empowering! As a writer, it was so encouraging to hear that creative pursuits can be aided and encouraged by our Father in heaven. Read the talk if you don't know it, I like to review it every few months or so, but as it is not a book, let me come to the point. Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way" is like the how-to guide to apply the principles discussed by Elder Uchtdorf. The book could be considered self-help in that it gently prods and encourages readers to develop their creativity, but by seeking God's help to do so. I confess that I was skeptical-until I read it. Since then, I have been sharing the title with others. Elena has found it helpful too. I've kept recommending it to my friend Eva so often that I finally just bought her a copy. She was under the misunderstanding that it was some hippie, New Age blather, but then I showed her the chapter headings; Recovering a Sense of Safety, Strength, Integriy, Possibility, etc. I think it was that which convinced to her to actually read it. Here's a book for all children of God's children- and He is the ultimate artist.

Where's the Bear?
I'd say that all of us are familiar with the classic story of "Going on a Bear Hunt" and it's innumerable variations. They're about a dime a dozen for all the versions that are out there. My ultimate favourite for this one is Helen Oxenbury's version. She effectively captures the lilt and metre of the story which makes it so fun, and her pencil and watercolour illustrations of a daddy taking his four kids on an adventure are great. To be honest, the scenery of the pictures remind me of home here in Slave Lake (and yes, there actually are bears up here!) The touch of running across a blizzard while on the bear hunt really makes me smile, and makes me wonder if Oxenbury had Canada in mind when she put it in there.

Happy reading everybody!