Romantic Fiction, Reality Shaping and The Work

I'm with Renaissance on this one: sounds like some past life stuff was tapped into, even if you can't remember anything consciously.
I had this experience of crying incessantly with one book I read last year that is not from the romantic genre but is the story of a dog, Bell Ria. I cry and cry (many days in fact) without understanding what was happening to me, and I am a good reader, but I never had an experience like that. That's the force of books that bring to you emotions, open them like a flower, like a gift. With the romantic books I feel that the characters are alive, that they are there just for me, like old friends that come to tell me things, playing in front of me from the distance of a Time that suddenly opens like a flower too. In this I think there is more then the talent of the writer. Also there is more than just a brain question. REading maybe put us in a sort of hipnotic situation, where past lives or past experiences and emotions that we forget appear, finally with their voices, finally free.
 
Just for curiosity I checked the internet catalogue of all books in all the libraries that are in our islands (7 islands) for the authors we have in the list. What a surprise to see that all, apart from 2, are there. And I guess others of the same kind. It was like discovering a secret passage in the library, books that I usually never saw when I was walking through the shelves. Yes, a secret passage in a labyrinth that we discovered thanks to Laura.
 
I would like to very briefly share an experience. Since the last novels in the MacKenzie series are not available in German, I am now on the third one, which I am reading in English. I tried this once before at the beginning of the project and failed miserably.

Now I have read two novels in English and listened to the audio while I was reading. With the current novel, I can already read it without the audio and understand it almost as if it were in German. When I read it last night, I was quite amazed myself, but it worked. A nice side effect of this project. :lkj:

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Ich möchte ganz kurz eine Erfahrung teilen. Da die letzten Romane der MacKenzie Reihe nicht in deutsch verfügbar sind, bin ich jetzt beim dritten den ich auf Englisch lese. Ich hatte dies schon mal am Anfang des Projekts versucht und bin kläglich gescheitert.

Jetzt habe ich zwei Romane auf Englisch gelesen und gleichzeitig dazu die Audio angehört. Beim jetztigen Roman kann ich es schon ohne Audio und kann es fast genauso verstehen als wäre deutsch. Als ich gestern abend gelesen habe, war ich selber ganz erstaunt, aber es hat funktioniert. Ein schöner Nebeneffekt dieses Projekts.
 
I had this experience of crying incessantly with one book I read last year that is not from the romantic genre but is the story of a dog, Bell Ria. I cry and cry (many days in fact) without understanding what was happening to me, and I am a good reader, but I never had an experience like that. That's the force of books that bring to you emotions, open them like a flower, like a gift. With the romantic books I feel that the characters are alive, that they are there just for me, like old friends that come to tell me things, playing in front of me from the distance of a Time that suddenly opens like a flower too. In this I think there is more then the talent of the writer. Also there is more than just a brain question. REading maybe put us in a sort of hipnotic situation, where past lives or past experiences and emotions that we forget appear, finally with their voices, finally free.
I've had similar problems reading books, some novels and some memoirs. I'd go to bed and cry for days. Then the headaches would come. Maybe it would take 6 weeks before I'd get away from the bone-aching sadness. This was around ages 30-40. Angela's Ashes was the worst. I still don't like to think about some things in that story. I've always been a voracious reader, so I switched to non-fiction of the how to sort, and learned a lot about a lot of things. It is nice to get back to reading fiction and romance. So far, so good.
At that (crying) time, I was in an unhappy marriage. My husband gave me a hard time about the crying, telling me I couldn't tell the difference between a book and real life. Maybe some of those tears were really about my home situation and just needed a good enough scratch too come pouring out.
 
I've finished Mary Blalogh's The Proposal and am nearly finished with the short book sequel about getting Constance properly married. Enjoying it very much. Thank You.

The subject of Matchmaking is one that should be considered. It is an ancient art and sport, primarily practiced by the elder female members of the family. And for good reason. Males, being the oafs and buffoons that we are pursue mates like a pack of hounds chase after rabbits.

I'm convinced there is a secret female guild - the "Secret Mystical Order Of Consanguinity Helpers" (S.M.O.O.C.H.) that keeps things in a proper order.
 
Je viens de terminer "L'appel des Highlands" Série Les frères Mackenzie Tome 8 de Jennifer Ashley
Encore une histoire passionnante, quelques larmes ont été versées...
Je n'ai plus rien à lire... Les livraison sont plus longues soit disant à cause du COVID et de Pâques...

I just finished "The Call of the Highlands" Mackenzie Brothers Series Volume 8 by Jennifer Ashley
Another exciting story, a few tears were shed....
I have nothing more to read... The deliveries are longer supposedly because of COVID and Easter...
 
I'm currently on book 4 of Lorraine Heath's Sins for All Seasons Series. What I mostly got out of it is how limiting beliefs can negatively impact one's life. Book 1 shows how seeking revenge for our childhood wounds is a bad idea, and how it is not at all obvious that we wouldn't act in the same manner if we were placed in the same situation as those that did the hurting. Those that did the hurting are not necessary the devils we imagine them to be, and besides, we have a lot more options and freedom now than we did back then. The male protagonist in that book eventually comes to realize that he doesn't need recognition from his biological parents and peers, since he's already virtuous and did a lot of things to improve his life and the lives of others. I've read somewhere that it's wiser to give what we didn't get, instead of seeking reparations, especially since it's easy to come to wrong conclusions about others, what really happened in the past and so on . A few threads that are woven through the series is how love can overcome boundaries imposed by social status (commoners marrying royalty), the practice of baby farming in the 19th Century, and how family is more than just blood relations.
 
Just finished book 5 of the Westcott Series SOMEONE TO TRUST. After being involved with this family for five books, I feel like I'm part of the family. And wow, did my emotions come to the fore! I teared up when I read that Joel and Camille have adopted another child, four year old Robbie, from the orphanage (I'm tearing up just typing this!) and Winifred has taken him under her wing determined to show him that he is loved, notwithstanding his attempts to prove her otherwise.
The protagonists could both be said to typify the archetypal hero and heroine, culminating with their marriage and consummation at the end of the narrative, which, according to my reading history of MB, is not her typical style. but, imo, it certainly fits this narrative, This one was an all-nighter. I couldn't put it down, there were so many cliff-hangers that weren't resolved until the end.
All in all, a great read from Mary B.
 
I've finished Mary Blalogh's The Proposal and am nearly finished with the short book sequel about getting Constance properly married. Enjoying it very much. Thank You.

The subject of Matchmaking is one that should be considered. It is an ancient art and sport, primarily practiced by the elder female members of the family. And for good reason. Males, being the oafs and buffoons that we are pursue mates like a pack of hounds chase after rabbits.

I'm convinced there is a secret female guild - the "Secret Mystical Order Of Consanguinity Helpers" (S.M.O.O.C.H.) that keeps things in a proper order.
Yeah, maybe so. This is a bit off topic, but what you wrote reminded me of a more modern tale of romance, virtue and patience, with a traditional matchmaker pulling some strings in the background. The story is in the excellent film Crossing Delancey.
 
From my initial post regarding the romantic fiction in the recent transcript thread:

I went on to indicate that I obtained Mary Balogh's book, Someone to Love (finished), from my local library. The book I really wanted was “The Laird’s Willful Lass” by Anna Campbell. Sadly, neither my local library, assorted metropolitan area libraries linked to the local library, or Ohio Link or Search Ohio (pulls from associated libraries throughout the state) had this book. The Columbus Metropolitan library that doesn't have reciprocal lending with my local library, has it as an eBook only. Consequently, I've gone on to choose the actual books that are available from my local library, the next one being The Proposal (finished) and First Comes Marriage to be picked up tomorrow. All are authored by Mary Balogh.
I signed up for two library cards thinking how great to order digital copies or pick up the actually book in the library in my little town. Not so. I looked for every author on the list to check out at the library and online from two library systems. Only Julia Quinn was available in paperback, probably because it is currently popular as the Bridgestone series on Netflix. I would guess that has been mentioned in the thread. I’ll keep reading through the posts for any thoughts on the show though I understand that reading the stories is where the benefits are to be gained. I’ve started ”The Duke and I” and Anna Campbell’s “The Highlander’s Lost Lady”.

I also found Mary Balogh’s “ The Secret Mistress” in audio format at the library.

With so many titles to get through, I was counting on the library. Books are best for reading before bed so I’m a bit disappointed they aren’t more readily available. Seems I’ll be relying on Amazon.
 
Just finished book 5 of the Westcott Series SOMEONE TO TRUST. After being involved with this family for five books, I feel like I'm part of the family. And wow, did my emotions come to the fore! I teared up when I read that Joel and Camille have adopted another child, four year old Robbie, from the orphanage (I'm tearing up just typing this!) and Winifred has taken him under her wing determined to show him that he is loved, notwithstanding his attempts to prove her otherwise.
The protagonists could both be said to typify the archetypal hero and heroine, culminating with their marriage and consummation at the end of the narrative, which, according to my reading history of MB, is not her typical style. but, imo, it certainly fits this narrative, This one was an all-nighter. I couldn't put it down, there were so many cliff-hangers that weren't resolved until the end.
All in all, a great read from Mary B.

I finished Someone to Trust last night as well. It definitely had my emotions running over. Lady Hodges' machinations and manipulations got me so riled up I wanted to throw my kindle! Not that I did, of course, but it took some time to bring my emotions back under control. Something about what she did, setting Lord Hodges up to bend him to her will so he would be powerless to fight back or do anything to stop it, really struck a nerve and caused a strong reaction of resentful anger in me. I think at least some of this resentful anger came from still not having fully forgiven my parents for all of the sh*t that came from growing up in a strict fundie family where for a long time I was restricted in what I could listen to, watch, who I could spend time with, when, etc. But perhaps more important than those things is the anger and resentment towards my mother for wearing her mask that she wears to pretend like everything is fine and towards my father for being absent physically all of my childhood while he worked nights and emotionally even when he was home. Writing it like this, my family is similar to Lord Hodges' though not to that extreme. Perhaps I need to read it again in order to see how it is that I can forgive them on the one hand and stop feeling guilty for things that weren't my fault on the other.

One interesting thing that happened after finishing the book and going to sleep was that I dreamt that I had a very personal conversation with Pamela Anderson. If someone was to look into my dream they would've recognized her as herself though for some reason she had red contacts in. She didn't look malevolent or evil. It was more like a fashion choice that I found odd. Similar to how some of the Regency era, and even modern for that matter, fashions I find rather odd, even if they were or are the fashion of the time. Anyways she was telling me about her life experiences, how she wanted someone to treat her, and what she would've liked a man to do for her. I was essentially getting to know Pamela, the human being. For those who've read Someone to Trust it was the same way that Lord Hodges was getting to know Elizabeth. Haven't worked out the symbolism of it, but it was touching in an emotional way that my dreams have never been before.

The last interesting thing for today occurred during EE. It was a vision of two men (they looked like men but also had the air of something more) dressed in matching uniforms (something between a military dress uniform and a business suit that was somehow more of a government thing, the closest thing I can think of to describe it is a Star Trek uniform) of some kind. They had me locked in my seat (though it was more like I was strapped to it, the point was I was locked down and couldn't move) while one of them was pulling levers at this console and the other was planning/attempting to force me to take something (wasn't sure if it was to be ingested or injected) as part of some big plan. They seemed smug, confident, and satisfied of the success of their actions even though nothing they were attempting to do actually did anything to me though they were intended to. It was as if they couldn't see that they weren't doing anything. Think of a parent feeding their child in a high chair. Smiling and telling the child how good they're being for eating the food, but then forgetting to actually feed the child. So while I was in the seat and observed them being unable to see their own failures I felt totally calm and relaxed, because again nothing they did was actually doing anything. My takeaway from it was a message of comfort that no matter what they (the beings in the vision, and perhaps the real PTB these beings seemed to represent) intend to do, their wishful thinking will prevent them from being able to do it. Fwiw.
 
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