Your Kids Don’t Want Your Stuff — A Memoir
In early 2011, a medical event in her father’s life changed everything for author DJ Anderson. With her mother already dead she was forced to face the reality of an accumulation of belongings that had been ongoing since 1954. “I never set out to become an expert in downsizing,” says DJ. But an expert she has nevertheless become.
With the overwhelming task of cleaning out her parents’ home, came the need for a plan. Through the lens of her experience, DJ has developed a strategy intended for those still living with all that they have accumulated. She encourages her readers to use her experience as a template. “Do it for your children,” she says. “Do it now, before you get sick, while you still can make decisions. Free yourself from your stuff and save your children, or other family members or friends, from having to do what I had to do.”
Written in the form of a memoir, DJ’s category-by-category strategy can also be used by those facing the task as she did. Her clear-eyed, no nonsense prose is both encouraging and sympathetic. This is a must read book for every generation, especially those who find themselves past retirement with the time required to take on the task.
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A Matter of Persuasion — A Novel
Laura is a brilliant cellist about to graduate from a prestigious New England boarding school and head off to one of the top music schools in the country. Jonathan is a formidable soccer player with dreams of completing his private school and university education before getting recruited to a professional team. Neither were expecting to fall so deeply in love and wish so fervently to start down their career paths together. Thinking that they have succeeded in arranging to attend the same college, they begin to make plans for their shared life together. But Jonathan’s family, furious that their son is not following their plan, intervenes.
Persuaded to separate from Laura or lose all financial support, Jonathan makes the painful decision to leave her to pursue his dream. In the wake of his departure, Laura finds that she is pregnant with his child. Upon deciding to go through with the pregnancy, her fears of what his wealthy and influential family might do to further exert their influence lead her and her family to make an uncomfortable pact. They decide to keep the child’s existence a secret from Jonathan.
Throughout the years that follow, and try as they might, neither Jonathan nor Laura can erase the love they have for one another. The pull to find each other again is strong and undeniable. As they both pursue their original career goals, they also make decisions that put their individual paths on a collision course with one another.
Mercy of the Fallen — A Novel
Set on the shores of Lake Michigan, Mercy of the Fallen follows the secret teenage romance between Elizabeth Sawyer and Simon Walker. Their relationship falls apart when they become overwhelmed by their inexperience with matters of the heart. Although haunted by their emotions into adulthood, they choose to continue down separate paths even while they keep close track of one another through their mutual friend Sara Foley. When Sara inadvertently brings the two former lovers together for a weekend in New York City, where they realize the mistake they have made, regrets surface and questions emerge. But, how long will it take to correct the error? Will their efforts result in fulfilling their innermost “what if” fantasies or will they fail to achieve what they both feel was meant to be? Mercy of the Fallen is a page-turning tale of forgiveness and redemption.
