The Resolute Woman

Category: book

  • Her mind was straight and tidy

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    resolutewoman
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    When her brother dies in a tragic accident, Ren, who is 12 years old, survives by shutting off her feelings and creating space between herself and other people. In the book Come In and Cover Me, Gin Phillips describes how her character “had trained her mind to be straight and tidy. She was normally very…

  • Savor the moment

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    resolutewoman
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    “Would you stand here with me and savor the moment?” asks Jim Chee to his wife, Bernie, in Anne Hillerman’s new novel Spider Woman’s Daughter. Jim and Bernie, both Navajo Nation police officers, stand and look at the majestic New Mexico sky. “The Sandia Mountains rose like a rugged, blue monolith to the east, glowing…

  • The chief executive optimist

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    resolutewoman
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    Talia Leman was 10 years old in 2005 when she heard about the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She decided to do something. Soon she was on the “Today” show talking about her plans to ask for contributions on Halloween night. The governor held a press conference to promote her efforts. A grocery…

  • The all-knowing, ruthless beauty god

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    resolutewoman
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    I look into my mirror. What’s wrong with my hair? Are those new wrinkles? Have I gained weight? Who’s talking? The all-knowing, ruthless beauty god, says Cheryl Strayed. We all know that looks really don’t matter and that, actually, they do matter to most of us, explains Strayed in her book Tiny Beautiful Things—Advice on…

  • What happens now?

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    resolutewoman
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    Be flexible, advises Ann Patchett in her book What Now?. Plan for the future, but keep in mind that the future may not be arranged precisely in accordance with your plan. “The secret is finding the balance between going out to get what you want and being open to the thing that actually winds up…

  • Finding wisdom

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    resolutewoman
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    When I was in my 20s, I thought that someday I would wake up with grownup wisdom. I would know all of the answers to life’s mysteries and dilemmas. I’m still searching. That’s why I like Ann Patchett’s words in her book What now?. “For the most part, wisdom comes in chips rather than blocks,”…

  • Taste the day

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    resolutewoman
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    Quintus Horatius Flaccus, better known simply as Horace, lived from 65 to 8 B.C. He’s the poet who gets credit for the phrase “carpe diem.” Although the phrase generally is translated as “seize the day,” Harry Eyres, in his new book Horace and Me, translates the words as “taste the day.” As a writer in…

  • Find your own voice

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    resolutewoman
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    “Your own voice is one that seeks a personal truth, one that only you can obtain,” says Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club. “The truth comes from your own experience, your own observations, and, when you find it, if it really is true and specific to you, you may be surprised that others…

  • Splendid arrogance

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    resolutewoman
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    “Sophia” is the Greek word for wisdom. Sophia also is a prominent figure in the Bible in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, stress Susan Cady, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig in their interesting book Sophia—The Future of Feminist Spirituality. Sophia, these authors conclude, drives “us to action on behalf of others….May she…

  • Advocate change

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    resolutewoman
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    Change is opportunity when it involves doing different things or doing things differently, says Mitch Joel in his new book Ctrl Alt Delete. The important word is doing. I like the idea. I sometimes get so overwhelmed thinking about change that I don’t do something about changing. I also love the title. I wish I…