For those who perhaps are not familiar with him, I just wanted to do my bit to make sure that the whole world learns about the venerable English author, Terry Pratchett.  He’s one of the most prolific, talented, and astute observers of human behavior who is writing today. If you have anything approximating a sense of humor, you will find something to enjoy in his extensive catalog.

Initially made famous for his Discworld novels, which are set on a mythical yet suspiciously familiar disc-shaped world, Pratchett’s work has now in several instances been made into film. Some of you may have seen “Hogfather” which aired fairly recently on American cable television. 

 Unfortunately reading books has to a degree fallen out of fashion, and of course many people are so busy working three or four jobs to make ends meet, that collapsing in front of a television set is the best many of us can do after an eighteen hour day.  Like just about every other instance you can think of, Pratchett’s books have a richness of detail that cannot possibly be translated to a movie… but they’ve certainly given it the old college try and not come up wanting.  (The aforementioned Hogfather was incredibly nicely done….how can you miss, when you cast David Jason as Rincewind? But I digress.)

So, whether you read Pratchett’s books, or watch the available films, if you’ve never heard of him, by all means, step on out and treat yourself, and your family. I would think that any of Pratchett’s books would be suitable for children from about the age of twelve on up, but of course, your mileage may vary. Children younger than that will have some of the jokes sailing over their heads, but they still will enjoy the stories. He’s a master storyteller, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Pratchett writes for adults, however. Anyway, just trust me. If you don’t know Pratchett, I HIGHLY recommend his work, especially his books, especially the discworld novels. Pratchett is a galactic treasure. If we’re rating humorous, imaginative writers on a scale of one to ten, I’d say Pratchett is an eleven! Read him, and thank me later!

I wanted to share a list of some of what I think are the coolest, most inspirational books ever, and I don’t think they are commonly read these days. (Correct me if I’m wrong!) I hope folks might find something new here, and if so, let me know! I love to read and to share good books.

1.) Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl is a book by a concentration camp survivor which will really make you think. It will definitely move you, and it may even change your life. It did mine.

2.) The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom is also a very inspirational book having to with the author’s experiences during WWII. Well worth reading.

3.) Notes to Myself: My Struggle to Become a Person by Hugh Prather. I found this book to be very inspirational and thought provoking, as have all of my friends that have read it. It’s poetic, uplifting, and a relatively quick read.

4.) Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. This tale which on the face of it seems to be about a misfit seagull actually has very important and meaningful overtones which are helpful for the spirituality of humans, too.

5.)Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of The Dalai Lama by H.H. Dalai Lama. Even for those of us who are not buddhist, this book is extremely inspirational and thought provoking. I’d urge everyone to read it, and give thought to what he has to say.

So, I just thought I’d mention these. I’d be interested to know if any of you have read any of them, and if you did, what you thought about them.

Gilda Radner was also an incredibly deep thinker who offered some profundity in “It’s Always Something.”

I also wanted to share one of my favorite quotations from her writings, about love and life. She wrote:

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.

~Gilda Radner

Yep, we never know the fullness of what is going to happen next. The trick is to learn to see the deliciousness in the ambiguity. If Radner could do it staring down advanced ovarian cancer, maybe the rest of us can learn to do it as well.

Enjoy your day, no matter what it brings. There is deliciousness in any manner of things.

“Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.”

-Erica Jong

Need I say more? Erica Jong is a very interesting writer if you’ve never read any of her stuff. I’d recommend “How to Save Your Own Life,” for those of you who don’t know her. Be forewarned: the book is for grownups and would probably be rated R. If you can’t deal with mature things and mature language, don’t read it. Just read her quotes. She’s a thinker, and offers some interesting perspective. Anyway, here’s a link for those of you who may not know her stuff.  How to Save Your Own Life . Enjoy!