Mind Expantions (Books and Movie)

Vacation is the best time to catch up on good books, informative magazines and even some good movies. I did just that recently on my beach trip. I loaded my bag (that Flo gave me) full of things to expand the mind. I wanted to pass some things along......



I recently won a full year subscription to the magazine Life:Beautiful by fellow blogger, Mrs Jules of Casa de Jules. Life Beautiful is a great new magazine with a great concept. It is much like that of Southern Living, Good Housekeeping (and specifically in this month's issue, Coastal Living) with a dose of Christian candor and inspirational verse thrown in. It is unlike any other magazine I have seen. Mrs. Jules describes it as, "This magazine is loaded with a wealth of goodness, including delicious homemade recipes, decorating bliss, vacation resources, inspiring life stories, tips on money management, on and on...and overall, a consistent reminder to "find God in every minute of every day". A great read, indeed!


Another of my favorite magazines, for those are locals, is Outdoor Alabama. It is chalk full of local wildlife and native plants. The photography is incredible. It also has a fun annual contest for photographers. I have posted before of local Paul Sansom's placing in last year's contest. If you are interested in the magazine or the contest visit the web site link above for more information.

Home Magazine is another magazine in which I got a free subscription. And you can too, anyone can! You don't have to win it!! Why pay for a magazine subscription for popular magazines, when you can receive one free? Go here. There are hundreds featured. Just sign up. That's it! I signed up for several. There is no limit. I did, however give them my email address that I reserve for junk mail. That way I do not clog my mailbox with spam in the case they sell your email address. You can find free email addresses online. When I am through reading, I will donate to the library or thrift store.


Yes, so I throw in a cookbook in my beach bag to read. What? Don't you read a cookbook on the beach? I love cooking. And I love eating. But I also love a good story, and as mentioned before on my blog (here, here, here, here and here)Lulu Buffets Cookbook, Crazy Sista Cooking, is my cup of tea. It features great recipes, along with interesting tales mixed right in. She (like her brother Jimmy) has the innate ability to draw in the audience with the skill of "seasoning" her tales with humor, leaving one wanting more. And she's fun!! You feel like you are sitting at a chair at her very kitchen table while she serves up some of her best food and stories (I am waiting on my actual invitation, Lulu!).
And, I am mentioning all of this because Lulu will be featured on Monday, July 28th on the Today Show on NBC. She will be cooking live in New York. There will also be a live feed from her restaurant in Gulf Shores, Lulu's Homeport Marina. Lulu will be on the Today Show in the third hour (9AM CST). Her restaurant doors will open at 8AM to guest on that day. If you are in The NY or Gulf Shores area, check it out. If you aren't as lucky, tune in on the television. Lastly, Lulu will be autographing copies of her book in Orange Beach....Lucy Buffett's Cook Book Signing, Orange Beach Library Friday, July 25 from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.


Finally, an old book that has been in my library for so very many years, Alabama One Big Front Porch.

The author is my all time favorite author and tale spinner, the incredibly talented and inspiring Kathryn Tucker Windham. It has been some time since I last read this book. I grabbed it last minute as I headed out the door. I'm glad I did. If you love history, you will love this book. You need not be a local to appreciate the tales in the book. The way the book is written, I could just hear Ms. Windham saying the words in my head. It was if she were telling me the stories herself, in that unmistakable southern drawl. Oh, what I would give to sit on Mrs. Windham's front porch for a couple hours with her and a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade......But if you cannot do that, you will find her in her books.

Finally, my movie recommendation. It is a movie that I have been waiting for it's release for the past 16 years. Alex Haley's Queen. It is a movie that I watched, sitting on edge if my seat, cheering for the movie's main character, young Queen (played my Halle Berry), to prevail in a world of prejudice.

"There are two side to every story, the saying goes. For Alex Haley, one side was Roots, the towering chronicle tracing seven generations of his mother's family. The other side comes to the screen in Alex Haley's Queen, the remarkable history of the paternal side of the author's family.
Oscar and Emmy winner Halle Berry plays Queen, daughter of a slave (Jasmine Guy) and a plantation owner (Tim Daly). During the years of the antebellum South, the Civil War, Reconstruction and beyond, she searches for a home in two cultures of her heritage-and at times is shunned by both. But rejection and hate are no match for her unconquerable will. Ann Margaret, Danny Glover, Martin Sheen and Ossie Davis also star in this poignant, uplifting final chapter of the Haley legacy."
Honestly, this movie has stayed in my subconscious for 16 years. I have spent much of that time trying to locate it on the Internet. Finally persistence paid off, last week I searched and found that the movie had been released in January of 2008. I ordered it and had it by week's end. True, it's long (283 minutes) but keep in mind that the movie first ran as a miniseries on tv. Time will fly, though, for it is so captivating, it will draw you in for the haul. Never dulling, for even a minute. To me, it is Halle Berry's best performance. And---you do not have to have seen Roots to see this movie to understand it.
I ordered my copy from Amazon. It was $19.99-and worth every cent.

I hope you find these suggestions worthy of filling your beach bag. Enjoy!