The Peach Keeper

by Sarah Addison Allen

I REALLY enjoyed this book. The story was a reminder of the importance of friendships and how TRUE friendships, though they might fade, never truly disintegrate. Real friendships grow roots so deep that they last for a lifetime.

Some SPOILERS beyond this point!

This story is really about friendship and the lengths that a person will go to to defend the foundation that friendship is based on. Agatha's decision to help Georgie through a difficult situation reveals the love she felt for Georgie. Even in her old age, even after she and Georgie's friendship seemed to slip away, she was willing to lie and take the fall for Georgie's teenage actions. Agatha's promise transcended time and years of broken friendship. The peach tree that grew over Tucker Devlin's gravesite seemd to represent the secret that Georgie and Agatha shared and kept for many years. The removal of the tree and the revealing of Tucker Devlin's grave represented the release of that secret because it was time for Willa and Paxton to know that part of their history so that they could create the lives they wanted for themselves.

I highly recommend this book.

Making Your Thoughts Work For You

by Dr. Wayne Dyer and Byron Katie

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Wayne Dyer


I think the message presented makes a lot of sense, and it goes along with the quote, "Change your thoughts, change your life." (Also a book written by Dyer)

It seems that our world has transformed many of us into fast-paced workaholics with many technological advances (iphones, laptops, texting, instant messaging, email) that provide numerous conveniences. Unfortunately these conveniences ultimately funnel more feelings of stress into our lives, along with feelings that we are not accomplishing all that we should. I think Byron Katie's "work" could be instrumental in helping people to look at their thoughts in a different way than they are used to. As the observer, it becomes easier to turn those thoughts around, making them work FOR you rather than against you.

I got this from the library....worth checking out!!