New Year’s Resolution #12 & a Book Review Too

Here’s a resolution that will probably surprise anyone who ever friended me on Goodreads, only to find out that I never actually use Goodreads:

I’m gonna do it this year.  Resolved.  I promise.

In the beginning I thought Goodreads was a great idea.  But do you know what happened?  Ratings.  The idea of having to assign a rating to each book I read just shut down my brain big time.  I couldn’t figure out what three stars should mean.  Was it like a C in school; theoretically an “average” grade, but in reality might as well be failing?  The stress of grappling with these weighty issues was too much for my fragile mental state and I resigned myself to a life of enjoying everyone else’s Goodreads reports but never having one of my own.

But after thinking about it for at least a year, I’ve figured out my own personal rating system.

★★★★★  = fabulous, worth reading more than once and even buying.
★★★★ = a great book, one that I’d read again but wouldn’t buy.
★★★= enjoyable but not something that I’d read again.
★★= OK, I finished it but wasn’t thrilled.
★= Not worth my time, wish I hadn’t read it, or didn’t finish.

Can I tell you what a weight off my brain it is to have that figured out?!?  Now I just have to remember what my Goodreads password is!

Book Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

I saw this book recommended a few places and got it from the library to read over the holidays.  It was a fun choice.

CeeCee Honeycutt is a 12 year old child who has been raised by a mentally ill mother.  When her mother dies she is taken to Savannah to spend the summer with her great-aunt.  The synopsis on the inside of the cover intrigued me, since it promised that this is “a book of feminine wisdom.”  I decided to keep track of the bits of wisdom, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Read the book—it's like a gentle Savannah hug.  And in the meantime, here’s some feminine wisdom for you:

• Do something too often and it stops being special.
• Just set up as best you can…we’ll play with whatever we got.
• This is what friends should do: cherish the good and pretend not to notice the harmless rest.
• It’s what we believe about ourselves that determines how others see us.
• Don’t go wastin’ all them bright tomorrows you ain’t ever seen by hangin’ on to what happened yesteryear.
• Wisdom comes from experience—from knowing each day is a gift and accepting it with gladness.
• Its how we survive the hurts in life that brings us strength and gives us our beauty.