October 2015 in Books

A whooping amount of 19 books read in October!! :o) A staycation (body really needed the rest), a second round of MS attack medicine and participation in the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon helped reaching that number of books read.

Having read that vast number of books does not mean, that I am low on neither a reading list nor physical unread books. I actually expect that the number on my to-read list might grow as getting new inspiration at the annual book fair in Copenhagen next weekend

39 Steps by John Buchan
United Kingdom
E-book / Library Book


The Woman in Danchurchsocial* (Salvation Army) by Henning Mortensen
(Original Title: Kvinden i korshæren)
Denmark
E-book / Library Book / October BookFriend book

On Writing by Stephen King
USA
Library Book

Knot the Usual Suspects by Molly MacRae
USA

Purl Up and Die by Maggie Sefton
USA

Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton
USA

Pan's Secret* by Michael Katz Krefeld
(Original Title: Pan's hemmelighed ) 
Denmark

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
(Original Title: Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvan) )
Sweden

The Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt edited by Donald Wigal
USA

Countdown to Murder* by Gretelise Holm
(Original Title: Nedtælling til mord ) 
Denmark

After You by Jojo Moyes
United Kingdom

Innocence by Dean Koontz
USA

Becoming Dickens by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
United Kingdom
Library book

Bitches* by Gretelise Holm
(Original Title: Møgkællinger)
Denmark

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
USA
E-book / Library Book

Moment of my Life* Edited by Lars Henriksen and Daniel Øhrstrøm
(Original Title: Mit livs øjeblik)
Denmark

Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie
United Kingdom
E-book / Library Book

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
(Original Title: Britt-Marie var här)
Sweden

Christmas with Rosamunde Pilcher
Germany
Library Book

*Literal title: the book has not been published in English version, so title is not an official title of the book

Taking Things for Granted

Even though I thought I knew a lot about Franklin Roosevelt (FDR), I never gave it much thought, that he was struggling with himself and his surroundings when he was diagnosed with polio. To me he is a rolemodel, since he became president of the USA after he got disabled and refused to give up.

A couple a weeks ago - actually when I went to the attack treatment - I watched a programme about Warm Springs, the places where he "claimed" his life back.

His surroundings labelled him, when he was diagnosed - especially his mother gave up and thought that his life was over thus condemming him to be a couch potato. He felt/saw discrimination at first hand and had to surpass that and his gloomy thoughts about his condition to return to life. He had to ask Eleanor to talk to him like he was. Warm Springs offered him a vague hope about being able to walk again, which he wanted to try and found out how to keep on living despite being labelled as disabled - even run for president.

The Eleanor quote that I saw on a memorial in Washington now makes even more sense and got more powerful after having watched this programme. 

Chills was running down my spine when I watched this - the day I got the MS diagnosis, I was in a wheel chair. The doctor asked me to think about early retirement since my world was now limited. Makes me happy that I realised that the lady in the bed next to me had a very active life despite being paralysed from the waist down, hence giving me the courage to seek out exactly what I could do. I have encountered people's perceptions of MS as being disabled and not able to have a normal life, even within in my family - but also opened other peoples' eyes to the possibilities you still have even with MS. I choose to try to see if I could get back to normal - carpe diem - and doing things that people without ilness does not even do :o)

Words of Inspiration

Franklin's illness... gave him strength ad courage he had not had before. He had to think out the fundementals of living and gaing the greates of all lessons - infinite patience and neverending persistense.

Eleanor Rosevelt