December 19, 2014

WHAT BOOKS DO FOR THE HUMAN SOUL...




  1. IT SAVES YOU TIME
  2. It looks like it’s wasting time, but literature is actually the ultimate time-saver — because it gives us access to a range of emotions and events that it would take you years, decades, millennia to try to experience directly. Literature is the greatest reality simulator — a machine that puts you through infinitely more situations than you can ever directly witness.
  3. IT MAKES YOU NICER
  4. Literature performs the basic magic of what things look like though someone else’s point of view; it allows us to consider the consequences of our actions on others in a way we otherwise wouldn’t; and it shows us examples of kindly, generous, sympathetic people.
    Literature deeply stands opposed to the dominant value system — the one that rewards money and power. Writers are on the other side — they make us sympathetic to ideas and feelings that are of deep importance but can’t afford airtime in a commercialized, status-conscious, and cynical world.
  5. IT’S A CURE FOR LONELINESS
  6. We’re weirder than we like to admit. We often can’t say what’s really on our minds. But in books we find descriptions of who we genuinely are and what events, described with an honesty quite different from what ordinary conversation allows for. In the best books, it’s as if the writer knows us better than we know ourselves — they find the words to describe the fragile, weird, special experiences of our inner lives… Writers open our hearts and minds, and give us maps to our own selves, so that we can travel in them more reliably and with less of a feeling of paranoia or persecution…
  7. IT PREPARES YOU FOR FAILURE
  8. All of our lives, one of our greatest fears is of failure, of messing up, of becoming, as the tabloids put it, “a loser.” Every day, the media takes us into stories of failure. Interestingly, a lot of literature is also about failure — in one way or another, a great many novels, plays, poems are about people who messed up… Great books don’t judge as harshly or as one-dimensionally as the media…


    READ FULL ARTICLE at BrainPickings

November 18, 2014

SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER!


We are trying to get the word out and increase feedback about
our book on the web. Therefore, we are offering the first
20 readers a FREE SIGNED COPY and BOOKMARK 
(plus free shipping) if they are able to write a review on
AMAZON about our story. Please note that this offer is
only available in the 48 contiguous United States.

Please go to AMAZON to write your review, and just send
a link to your review via the Contact Form our website or
directly to fortyyearsinaday@gmail.com with your name and address, and we will send you a free personalized signed copy. 
  
 GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA!

If you have any other questions or comments, please don't
hesitate to ask.
Happy Holidays,

Mona Rodriguez and Dianne Vigorito



October 9, 2014

Woohoo!

“This astonishing and powerful debut novel begins in 1900 and follows the incredible journey of a young mother and her four children as they escape from Italy into the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, New York. Spanning forty years of triumphs and disappointments for Victoria and her children as they strive for betterment and a taste of the great American dream, Rodriguez and Vigorito’s finely observed tale is riveting. As a reflection of immigrant life in the early 1900s, it’s altogether epic, sweeping the reader along on a journey that’s both inexorable and poignant.”

August 23, 2014

THE REVIEW...


Today Lisl reviews Forty Years in a Day, a novel of family written by a cousin duo, Mona Rodriguez and Dianne Vigorito, and she has **two** copies for giveaway! Simply comment at the review or here at **this**thread.


The Review Group: Lisl Reviews: Forty Years in a Day:

"Told by two with the eye and instinct of keen storytellers who know exactly when to divulge, when to pause and hold onto secrets and twists. Readers will be exhausted and inspired from the journey, and wouldn't have it any other way!"

http://thereviewgroup.blogspot.com/2014/08/lisl-reviews-forty-years-in-day.html

June 16, 2014

One of my favorite quotes from FORTY YEARS IN A DAY...

He looked to the future with appreciation instead of apprehension, because “every day you’re alive is a beautiful day.”  
(page 383)


 FORTY YEARS IN A DAY

June 6, 2014

March 8, 2014

You have to love this guy...


These are 19 Life Lessons from the Dalai Lama...

The Dalai Lama is regarded as the spiritual leader of Tibet and has spent his life helping people around the world reach happiness and enlightenment. Here are a few life lessons he has to share with all of us.

1. Take into account that great LOVE and great ACHIEVEMENTS involve great risk
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson
3. Follow the Three R’s:
     - Respect for Self
     - Respect for Others
     - Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules, so you know how to break them properly
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t give up your values
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy   it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality
15. Be gentle with the earth
16. Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before.
17. Remember the best relationship is one in which your LOVE for each other exceeds your NEED for each other
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon

From:  http://www.mindopenerz.com/19-life-lessons-from-the-dalai-lama/

February 24, 2014

Another GOODREADS GIVEAWAY!

Two *Autographed* copies of FORTY YEARS IN A DAY!
Be sure to enter for a chance to win.


Goodreads Book Giveaway

Forty Years in a Day by Mona  Rodriguez

Forty Years in a Day

by Mona Rodriguez

Giveaway ends March 31, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

February 7, 2014

Ten Things We Want for Our Children...




  1.  Health

  2.  Happiness

  3.  Inner Peace

  4.  Safety

  5.  Success

  6.  Soul Mate

  7.  Purpose

  8.  Prosperity

  9.  Faith

10. Fulfillment
 

Does anyone want to add to this list?  Please send a comment.

January 13, 2014

Rags to riches...



Don't you just love a rags to riches immigration story?  It' reminds you what can  happen when you mix together hard work and a dream. Tony DelGatto  also happens to be a great guy and a relative of mine.

http://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/227623331_Tony_Del_Gatto_of_Grissini_in_Englewood_Cliffs_is_proud_of_his_rags_to_riches_stories.html?c=y&page=1

January 3, 2014

What me worry?


Why is it that sometimes we can get so wrapped up in the worry, we tend to lose sight of all the good?