There is so much to see, do and read in the springtime! Let’s not waste a moment but take advantage of the time learning!
Relearning to See, by Thomas Quackenbush~ I suffer from myopia and astigmatism, along with strabismus on top of that. So yeah, I have a lot of eye strain. I’m also not a good candidate for contact lenses and I don’t particularly feel glamorous with two pairs of eyeglasses. I just have never been able to think well with frames on my face. Being interested in holistic measures, I’ve heard of improving one’s eyesight naturally using different exercises, diet, etc but never really knew how to implement it or had the confidence it would help with my particular issues. I discovered this title on goodreads a while back, and then found it at a book sale when a local library was doing a purge. What a stroke of good luck! It’s been my breakfast reading material for the last couple of months. Overlook the author’s unfortunate last name. This is an in-depth textbook that borrows a lot of material from a learned eye doctor, William Bates, who studied and practiced during the turn of the century thru 1920’s. A lot of his explanations and reasoning makes sense. I appreciate that he does not view the Bates Method as eye “exercises”, rather a way of relearning how to see in a natural, relaxed manner. Some of it gets a little too textbook on me and over my head but that’s okay, I just skip ahead to the more comprehensive parts. Have I seen any improvement? I want to finish the book first to understand everything before I begin implementing the techniques daily. (To be completely honest, it is hard to form a new habit and it is hard to practice while a lot of your work is in front of a computer.) But there was a moment (which the author refers to as “a flash”) when I experienced a bout of being able to see clearer than I had for a long time. This was after I’d started trying some of the relaxed ways of looking around me. It did not last very long, but it was enough to give me some hope and encouragement. I think a lot of people will be interested in the scientific material presented, and be assured this is not some “quackish” gimmick.
The Enchanted Hour, by Meghan Cox Gurdon~ This was such a wonderful book to listen to on audio! I had no idea what it was about when I saw it in the library but the title had me hooked and I enjoy listening to non fiction audiobooks so I took it home with me. Do you enjoy reading aloud and want a kindred spirit to share your enthusiasm? You’ll find it in the author who narrates her own book. Her passion for reading out loud to youngsters, teens, dogs, the ill, disabled, elderly—anybody and everybody!– is obvious. She provides tons of interesting studies and statistics, as well as interviews with doctors, volunteers and a few guinea pigs on the benefits and NECESSITY of reading out loud. Did you know that our society has lost approximately a third of its vocabulary and illiteracy is rifer now than it was decades ago? How can we stop this epidemic and be more involved in our kids’ lives? The answer is simple: READ A BOOK. And yet most of us struggle to do keep up this discipline in a modern world of technology. Gurdon shares tips and ideas from her own experience on how to make reading a fun family habit and how to make memories for years to come. As a narrator, Gurdon does pretty well since she has had years of practice while bringing up four children. I do wish she wouldn’t affect character voices for some of the people she quoted or interviewed, as this is sort of a no-no in non-fiction narration and becomes cartoonish rather than enhancing the story. But she had such a warm, cuddly type voice and I fell in love with her descriptions of babies, tykes and tots. Please do not misunderstand that reading is for young children only. Although Gurdon puts a lot of emphasis on this, she also stresses that reading out loud really is good and beneficial for all ages.
The finalists for the 2019 Audie Awards have been announced and for the first time, I’ve gone through all 24 categories and made my choices IMHO. It’s rather like the Oscars; in fact the Audies are like the Academy Awards for audiobooks. Let it be known that I haven’t listened to any of these books in their entirety, only just the 3-4 min. 
booklearned 