The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

I first read a book by Elizabeth Berg several years ago. I really enjoyed it and read another that I didn't like so much. I picked "The Year of Pleasures" up this spring while Randy and I were "shopping" for our book business. I liked this one as much as the first one I read.

Elizabeth Berg said about this book:  

"I've always had a fantasy about reconnecting with old friends, with opening a store such as the one that Betta opens. And I loved the idea writing about pleasure, which is everywhere, even when we're in pain."

Synopsis:

" When Betta Nolan's husband, John, dies, she honors a promise she made to him to sell their house, drive across the country until she finds a town she likes, and move there. This is a novel about starting life over, and purposely enriching that life with the many pleasures, especially the small and free ones, that are always available to us. It also challenges the notion that a widow must or should behave in a certain way; and it shows how love does not die, but rather changes form."

"Betta Nolan is determined to find pleasure in her simple daily routines. Among those who help her in both expected and unexpected ways are the ten-year-old boy next door, three wild women friends from her college days, a twenty-year-old who is struggling to find his place in the world and a man who is ready for love."

I love the way Elizabeth Berg writes. I have so many post-it markers in this book - of things that really spoke to me! Even though I haven't experienced losing a spouse from death, I have lost a spouse after 37 years. When Berg writes "Still, every now and then a quick thrill raced up my spine in the form of a thought: I am my own again. Sorrow that lay pooled inside me gave over to a kind of exhilaration in those moments; the relief was stunning." I was amazed that someone other than me felt an excitement in the horrible sadness that had taken over my life.

Betta Nolan realizes "...Neighbors who seemed nice. A good-priced handyman...Lorraine [a new friend]. Into my looming empty basket, I laid these gifts."  Berg does a wonderful job of showing us that our friends, our circumstances can be "gifts" to us. If we let them and she does it without preaching - without making one feel judged if they aren't ready to find pleasures in life yet. She just gently lays it out there and lets us experience the opportunity of turning bad into good.

When you're hurting what if you find one thing every day - not a "I'm thankful for this or that" or not a "gratitude" journal, not something that happens to you that makes you feel good BUT something you make happen. Something you personally do that brings you happiness every single day. - in a very conscience way. - this message from the book reminds me of the "pay it forward" mindset. - Of the Liberty Mutual commercials! You know, do the right thing. 

Have you heard the tail of the Navajo grandfather talking to his grandson, "Two wolves live inside me. One is the bad wolf, full of greed and laziness, full of anger and jealousy and regret. The other is the good wolf, full of joy and compassion and willingness and a great love for the world. All the time, these wolves are fighting inside me." "But grandfather," the boy said, "Which wolf will win?" The grandfather answered, "The one I feed."  Berg is able to weave this mindset into "The Year of Pleasures."  This book is full of thought provoking wisdom.

Ever since reading "Open House" by Elizabeth Berg so many years ago - I have considered her one of my favorite authors. Check out her website - which lists all of her books HERE.

 From her website:

"I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on December 2, 1948. Before I became a writer, I was a registered nurse for ten years, and that was my “school” for writing—taking care of patients taught me a lot about human nature, about hope and fear and love and loss and regret and triumph and especially about relationships--all things that I tend to focus on in my work. I worked as a waitress, which is also good training for a writer, and I sang in a rock band which was not good for anything except the money I made. I was a dramatic and dreamy child, given to living more inside my head than outside, something that persists up to today and makes me a terrible dining partner. I was married for over twenty years and am now divorced. I have two daughters and three grandchildren. I live with my excellent dog, Homer, and my cat, Gracie, mostly in Chicago, but sometimes in Boston or Wisconsin."

I highly recommend "The Year of Pleasures"

*****