The Anguish of Others - What's Happening at Book Readers Heaven...

The Anguish of Others - by Walter Jack Savage 

Used with Permission from Artist

I am one of the Anguished Others... I knew it as soon as Jack posted his latest painting...

In fact, right now, it seems the entire nation is anguished others...distressed by what has been happening...

distressed with the various opinions thrown out...

yet, with no real coherent reality we can adjust to.

I have been anguished and it has affected my calm, cool, existence as a reader and book reviewer... No longer am I excited to be taken away from reality into the pleasure of a book. Sure I still do that, but, with it, a need has arisen to actually see and participate in the reality that has anguished me...

Many of you have told me, on reviewing your books, that I had seen exactly what you wanted your readers to read. I am gratified when somebody says that, because I try to understand the author's intent rather than rely only on my own opinion. That, to me, is not a review, but rather an opinion statement.

Now I have seen at the national level the reality of chaos in our daily lives. How dare reality interfere with the joy of escaping into books?!!! Yet it has and I can't ignore it...

Now you are seeing me more socially active, especially on Facebook... Now you are also seeing books picked by me to read because of content... I am an Anguished Other that believes this is what I now need to do, although I will continue to read books I have, I will not easily accept new requests...

To complement Book Readers Heaven, I have taken on the responsibility of another group on Facebook. As you know, Reviewers Roundup has been successfully functioning to showcase books, reviews and other publishing-related activities.

Talkin' Bloggin' With Glenda is a place where bloggers, essays and other cultural points of interest may be posted and discussed. I'll be leading with my own questions or issues, but anybody who is interested may also participate... A danger-free zone where discussion and not arguments will occur... We Anguished others want to speak out, even in disagreement but it can be done in a manner that can be helpful, beneficial, even if we do not change somebody else's mind...at least we have spoken out... to help others understand our anguish.

I apologize to those who may not have many reviews and need mine...please write me and let me know...otherwise, I will be doing the best I can to respond to the reality we all face, as well as delighting in all the wonderful books made available to me.

Also of note, right now I am experiencing some sort of glitch/slowdown in outgoing email...I can receive your email, but sometimes stopped from sending...I have reported it, but you should know that I can and do receive emails...

I hope you will give me feedback, negative and positive about what's happening with me here... There will still be a lot to read...but it may be more about stuff of interest, guest bloggers, and things I think needs to be shared and discussed... I hope you'll continue to support Book Readers Heaven...

My next posting will be a personal opinion piece from me...

The Cross Versus The Flag...

I hope you'll take a little while to read and comment or come to Talkin' Bloggin' on Facebook to discuss and ask questions and give your opinions and feedback...

I Take A Knee in Support of Freedom to Speak and Protest...