books and people...

So, this post may ramble because I'm so tired to the point of almost being nonsensical. If anyone ever invents a sleeping pill that actually works and doesn't mess with your mind and body, well...it would be wonderful. And if that miracle pill could cause you to sleep and not dream, that would be even more wonderful.

A whole bunch of things are running through my brain...mostly just related to people...like how I wish people would just be more straightforward, no matter if their reasons for not being so are actually good.

Honesty is always better than lies and real hatred better than fake love. And people can lie with their mouths and their words, but never with their eyes and their body language.

And waking up is part of what happens when you finally begin to see things as they really are, not as you long for them to be. And when you begin to see things as they really are, you're less likely to be surprised by pain.

It's not that you prefer hate to love (hate is never better than love) but that you prefer reality to mind games...and, sometimes, books to people. You know where you stand with books (after all, they're inanimate and have already been written), but not always with people.

Personal growth is good and very important, but sometimes it's not so bad to go back to who you used to be. There was a time when I was shy and quiet and always kept to myself and I think I was much happier and more mature then...because I didn't expect much and I found all my peace and contentment from within and not from how I felt about other people.

One of the best places I found that kind of inner peace was whenever I read Charles de Lint's fiction. Somehow I've drifted away from his work, but now I'm back and I'm glad for many reasons, but mostly because (as it says on Amazon):

“His stories are good for the heart and soul…he reminds you of hope and strength and Beauty and Grace that you may have forgotten.”

Memory and Dream is one of my favorite books of all time and I've read it at least five times and am probably going to read it again this weekend. There are some reads you never get tired of re-visiting. And the world of Charles de Lint is always one you want to live in...because it is so often full of love and goodness.

From Publishers Weekly

The Otherworld tends to lurk just out of sight in DeLint's (Moonheart; Spiritwalk) works, waiting for some chink to appear in the facade of his characters' lives and allow its spirits entry. This latest work is no exception; here fantastic creatures gain access to the bohemian village of Newford through the work of Isabelle, a talented young painter. Apprenticing herself to the troll-like master painter Rushkin, Isabelle learns to paint amazing creatures-creations that subsequently take on a (possibly evil) life of their own. When circumstances cause a friend's message to reach out to her from beyond the grave, Isabelle must confront her own delusional revisionist history and decide if she has the strength to use her art, and the courage to do what she must. While Isabelle's delusions and the book's implication that artists are superior beings become somewhat repetitious, DeLint is otherwise in top form here. His multi-voiced, time-shifting narrative (the story spans 20 years) beautifully evokes a sense of creative community, making it almost possible to believe that the rarified aesthetic atmosphere might well be capable of conjuring up a spirit or two.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

And because one review alone can't do Memory and Dream justice, here are some more:

From Booklist, American Library Association, October 1994:
It is hard to imagine urban fantasy done better than it is by de Lint at his best, and this book shows his imagination and craft at their highest levels. De Lint's folkloric scholarship is as outstanding as ever; he never lets it slide into academicism or pretension… Memory and Dream deserves the highest recommendation and the widest readership.

From The Edmonton Journal, October 1994:
Easily Canada's top fantasy scribe…a major international force in the genre. Here is a biped who has steadfastly avoided stereotyping in his work from the beginning…de Lint has developed a considerable talent for injecting magic into everyday contemporary life. 

From Quill & Quire, January 1995:
De Lint takes a hard look at reality in Memory and Dream, especially at the personal burdens we all carry. He seamlessly blends urban landscapes, with all their sometimes ugly complications, with a magic that feels so true it's hard not to believe he knows something the rest of us don't. 
 
http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Dream-Charles-Lint-ebook/dp/B00IA9U7OM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1426883585&sr=1-1&keywords=memory+and+dream