Reading With Goodreads

If you are familiar with the Goodreads website, then you are probably aware of their annual personal reading challenge. It amazes me that some readers set their book-reading goals so high. One hundred books in a year? Wow! I suppose it is a doable goal if the pages are few or the books are read by Audible. Still, it seems quite a challenge to get through a hundred books in one year. At least for me it would be.

This year, 2024, I set my Goodreads reading goal small―a total of 10 books in all. So far, I have made it through one and a half. Most of the time I read thicker books because I like a story with substantial character and plot development. I do use Audible on occasion; however, I prefer curling up on the sofa with a tangible book in my hands. Paperback or hardcover, it does not matter so long as I can feel the texture of the pages as my fingers turn them one by one.


After finishing Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, I started Eragon again, written by Christopher Paolini. I first read Eragon about fourteen years ago and loved it. This time around I am finding it even more enjoyable as I note details missed during the first read. I plan to get through all four books in this series, hopefully before the end of 2024. I’ll let you know how it goes.


In the meantime, give Goodreads a try for yourself and make a personal reading goal. It can be as few or as many books as you like; you set the pace. Let me know if you add one of my books to your reading list; I would love that.
​Happy reading, everyone!


―Richelle E. Goodrich

Valentine's Cupid and True Love

You know Cupid. That naked, chubby, smiling cherub who shoots his magic arrows at unsuspecting men and women to make them fall in love. He is a busy little match-maker whose image appears on many Valentine's Day cards. Now, I do not believe in an actual Cupid any more than I believe in the reality of Greek gods, but I do believe in the genuineness of love. True love. Love that equates with service and sacrifices made over time. What is this kind of love? I'll let Derian answer that question for you as he answered it for Eena in the book, Eena, The Return of a Queen. I think he got it spot on.

“Love is so much more than an emotion. True love, Eena, is something that develops over time. It’s not the initial infatuation nor the shivers and butterflies that take your breath away when you’re first attracted to someone. Those things are nice, but they are barely the beginning of what could become true love."

She shook her head. “I don’t quite follow.”

The captain inched closer, fixing her with the sincerest of gazes. His hands cupped as if he were holding his very heart in them.

“True love is a developed and intense appreciation for someone. It’s that perfect awareness you’re finally whole when she’s with you, and that hollow incompleteness you suffer when she’s gone. True love takes time. It’s an earned comfort that tells you she’ll be right there beside you no matter what you do, not necessarily happy with your every action, but faithful to you just the same. Love is knowing someone so deeply, understanding her so completely, you can finish her thoughts without hesitation, confident in reading her face, her body, even her slightest gesture means something to you. Love is years of devotion, sacrifice, commitment, loyalty, trust, faith, and friendship all wrapped up as one. True love does more than cause your heart to flutter. It upholds your heart when the infatuation no longer makes it flutter.”

Life is Like a Lengthy Road Trip

 I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season. I know I did.

My husband and I traveled more over the holidays than we have traveled in ages, spending over two weeks driving and flying from destination to destination. The trip was necessary, occasionally fun, every so often difficult, but definitely worth it. During the last two weeks of December, 2023, we were able to attend one son’s college graduation at Brigham Young University-Idaho as well as participate in three separate Christmas celebrations with family members. 

The last leg of our trip found my husband and I coughing, sneezing, and wheezing due to illness—not a pleasant occurrence because the virus plagued us for over a week afterwards (we have reached the productive coughing stage.) The trip, however, was still absolutely worthwhile.

While driving from Oklahoma to Tennessee to reach our little two-bedroom apartment we presently reside in, I was telling my husband that I felt our trip was a mini model of life. The whole trip was too short in some ways, yet it felt exceptionally long in other ways. We were able to spend precious moments with family members—talking, relaxing, and celebrating. I felt appreciation for the relationships I have with family and friends. We caught up on personal news, feasted on delicious dinners, and hugged each other a lot. There were difficult and disappointing moments too. For instance, I got sick with food poisoning which put me down for a couple of days (an awful way to clean out your system.) My husband felt the onset of cold symptoms on Christmas day; I was right behind him two days later. Luckily, no one else caught the virus, so we managed not to share it. There were other good points and difficult points about the trip. The airports and flights were great. The driving conditions and roads were clear—exceptional conditions for winter months in the Pacific Northwest. There was too much driving overall: one trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Rexburg, Idaho and then back; one trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Central Washington and then back; and one trip from Oklahoma to Tennessee. That was about 2,700 miles driven! Not to mention the two plane rides. Yes, the traveling was tiring.

 

The interesting thing to me is how both good and unpleasant moments comprised the trip. We experienced the greatest days as well as miserable days. If I wanted, I could list an abundance of blessings we received, while on the other hand I could list an abundance of hard disappointments. That is why I say it was like a mini model of life. The trick was deciding where to concentrate our attention. If I focused on the food poisoning, the many hours of driving, the friends I was unable to visit, the small and uncomfortable beds, the amount of money spent, the coughing and sneezing on the drive home, etc.—it would be easy to argue that this was a really bad trip. But the thing is, it wasn’t! it was wonderful! Why? Because I focused on the chance to see my kids and my family, the warm hugs I gave and received, the delicious dinners we shared, the gifts we exchanged, the perfect weather we were blessed with for driving, the safe travels, the chance to see my mom and sisters and nieces and nephews, the opportunity to attend a Jazz basketball game, the quick recovery from illness, etc. It is all in what we choose to focus on. Good and bad exist in everything. How we view an event, a trip, a relationship, a lifetime depends on what aspects we choose to focus on. I am truly grateful to know that life honestly feels better when we focus on the good.

Yes, life is like a lengthy road trip, filled with great moments as well as unpleasant moments. It is our focus that determines whether our travels through this life are deemed positive or not.