True Stories Make Good Reading

September 29, 2012

As an employee of MCPL, I write blogs on a monthly basis. Sometimes I find this hard to do, since I consider myself to be a reader and not a writer. Like any reader out there, the thought of writing a book has crossed my mind fleetingly, but I am just not good at finding the right words. I can’t help wondering when I write a blog if there is really anyone out there who is interested in what I have to say. I read some of the other blogs that are posted and think, "WOW we really have some talented writers in our Library system." Since this is such a struggle for me, I like to try and use some of the books I have found as a basis for my blogs.

I have always been a fiction reader but have recently changed over to reading some nonfiction. I found the nonfiction book I recently read as I was checking it in one day and thought it looked interesting. The book was Both of Us: My Life with Farrah by Ryan O'Neal. I’ve never been a big celebrity buff,  but I sure remember Charlie’s Angels and the ever famous Farrah poster. As I read the book, I learned what kind of person Farrah really was and how she was so much more than just the beautiful blonde we all knew her as. It was very enlightening to read about how she was such a strong and special person and how she was so much like us non celebrity people out here. I truly wish I could have been one of the fortunate people who knew her personally rather than just knowing her as one of the Angels.

The next nonfiction book that I decided to read came after seeing a special on television one night. The next morning, I placed a hold on a copy of A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Lee Dugard. Let me tell you, this has been one roller coaster of a read. I am amazed at this girl’s ability to survive and come out of her eighteen year, yes I said eighteen years, captivity with such a positive attitude. As I read the book, it was hard to not think, "oh at that point I would have tried to escape," or think I would have done something differently. The difference between she and I though, is that she was only eleven years old when she was abducted. I’m thinking as an adult who has not been manipulated and shut off from the rest of the world for years. The anger that I felt  when reading this book of how our system failed this poor girl is very hard to swallow, but you cannot change the past. You can only hope that her story will change the future. 

Leslie A.
Smithville Branch