Sometimes I feel like I really lucked out on a book. It was in the right place at the right time and it fell into my hands and I read it and I loved it. I've been hearing good things about Stephen Chbosky's  The Perks of Being a Wallflower for years. A couple of months ago I watched the movie and found it enjoyable. Now I am completely enamored with the book.

Entering the 10th grade is hard enough, but add to that a friend who committed suicide a few months ago, changing relationships with friends, and sensitive emotional responses. That's Charlie. On the outskirts of school life, Charlie approaches a couple of friendly seniors at a football game in an effort to not just watch life, but participate in it. Patrick and Sam introduce him to their friends and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (among other things) and Charlie starts to fall into place, discovering the pleasures and difficulties of being part a close knit group. Additionally, he's trying to figure out how to relate to his parents and older siblings as he himself is growing up in both body and mind; and how to handle the feelings, the highs and lows, that sometimes threaten to overwhelm him. There are so many things about Charlie that I could relate to, and that I think would appeal to many teens and adults. Note: Chbosky does not shy away from topics like sexuality, drugs, and depression - if I gave it a movie rating it would be a PG13 (which is the rating of the film version).

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.”

According to American Community Survey Reports from September 2011, workers took an average of 25.1 minutes to get to work. It's a 10 minute drive for me, which is nice. But I have a friend who commutes on the train for an hour, from western Connecticut to NYC, and an hour back. Even though he works on his laptop or reads, that seems like a lot of travel time to me.

Now I'd like you to consider what it would be like to have a horse for transportation. In Colorado. In the winter. In 1916. That was how Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood traveled over an hour to teach school each sunny, rainy, and snowy day for almost a year. Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden (Woodruff's granddaughter) chronicles the lives of these women, who came from Auburn, New York and were brought up in affluent families. They graduated from Smith College and spent some time living in Europe. As the two neared age 30 (still unmarried!), they wanted to use their education to some advantage and jumped at the chance to work as school teachers in the tiny town of Elkwood, Colorado. Letters home recorded a harrowing train journey, boarding with a hard working and kind family, snow on the bed in the morning, children on homemade skis or walking without proper coats or footwear, and people traveling miles and miles for any kind of entertainment and connection. Never complaining (at least not in the letters), they joined in and worked to help that community grow. There are a number of photographs available, and collected in an interesting slideshow. Very impressive ladies - what gumption!

With temperatures in the 70's and 80's, I feel like it's been a pretty pleasant summer. But perhaps

you're looking for a little more heat? A chance to warm your heart? Experience love for the first time, rekindle a flame, or fall in love again?

The RITA awards recognize excellence in romance fiction and this years
winners were announced just a couple weeks ago. With categories from historical to contemporary to inspirational, suspense, young adult, and more, anyone with a penchant for romance should be able to find some great books. There's also a lengthy list of 2013 finalists, and a comprehensive list of previous winners dating back to 1982. Love is in the air!