Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, 1911

A story of despair and bleakness, Ethan Frome is typical of an Edith Wharton novel where her characters are trapped in their lives while tantalizingly close to what they crave.

The typical backdrop for Wharton's novels is opulent New York society.  To further compound her characters' despair though, Wharton sets Ethan Frome in Starkfield, a small western Massachusetts town during the winter.

The novel revolves around Frome, who is forced to return to Starkfield from his studies after his father has a farming accident.  He then enters into a loveless marriage with his sickly wife, Zeena.

He is awakened when he becomes enthralled with Mattie, Zeena's cousin who comes to stays with them. 

Typical of a Wharton novel, Frome is provided a taste of an educated man's life and a taste of happiness with Mattie, but ultimately, is prevented from having what he craves.

Wharton is one of my favorite authors and conveys human longing so well.  What is fascinating about Ethan Frome is how the Starkfield winters blends in with the bleakness of her characters' lives and becomes as memorable as any of her characters.

A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life by Bethenny Frankel with Eve Adamson, 2011

I rarely re-read books, but Bethenny Frankel's A Place of Yes really resonated with me so I decided to read it again.  I think part of it has to do with all the uncertainty happening in my life between tearing my ACL and interviewing (but not getting any offers) for positions that I was pretty excited about.

Reading A Place of Yes a second time around, I realized that a large part of this book is about self-promotion.

Frankel talks about her desire to have a talk show, which she has since filmed a few episodes of, and at times awkwardly proclaims how she cares about you, the reader and how her goal is to help you, the reader.

And, wouldn't a great path to helping you, the reader, be a talk show??

Disregarding my cynicism, I did flag a few quotes that I wanted to circle back and re-read to remind myself of things that I want to focus my short-term memory on remembering:

Break the Chain: "When you focus on the bad, you risk becoming the bad, or getting pulled down by the bad.  When you say yes to the good in you, then you become better and better, and you have the potential to go anywhere and do and be anything...

Take it or leave it.  Your natural talents and dreams have been there all along, so look inside to find them, not the world to fix you."

Find Your Truth: "When you know who you are and what you want, you'll be more confident, even if you don't always know exactly what the outcome of a decision will be.  When your decisions, your actions, and your words come from truth - even if it's only the truth of the moment - then you will be preaching authenticity."

"It's not always easy to act out of truth, especially when you aren't sure exactly what your truth is..."

"You are on your own journey, and more than anything else, that journey must be about finding your truth.  Not finding a husband, a boyfriend, a partner - but finding yourself.  Shine the flashlight into those dark places you haven't wanted to face before.  Face up to your qualities - all of them.  Look at your patterns.  Analyze them.

Only by looking back over your past relationships and deconstructing the nose that's led you in the wrong direction will you discover your strengths, your desires, the things you really need from a partner, and the things you really can do for yourself.

You'll find truth, and then you'll be able to take your life to the next level."

Act on It: "Making things happen for yourself is how you gain the experience that will help you continue to practice rule #2, find your truth.  The more you do, the more you act, the more you learn about your truth, refining and perfecting it."

"Find your truth, act on it.  Find more truth, act on it.  Find still more truth, act on it, and so on."

"...Make acting on it your habit, your default mode.  Just get out there and start working and learning and doing.  Start your life.

It doesn't matter if you don't have the perfect job, or even the job you deserve...  It doesn't even matter if you really don't have a plan.  Welcome to the world - what matters is that you are doing something, working for something, proving yourself, gaining experience."

Go for Yours: "I don't get it.  You can have what you want.  I don't know if people are afraid of effort or failure or are embarrassed if they say they want something and don't end up getting it."

"When you go for yours, you are in control, whereas, when you start listening to desperation noise, you lose all control.  When being driven turns into being desperate, you've got to take a step back."

"'Your opponent is yourself, your negative internal voices, your level of determination.'  ...You have to stay in your lane.  If you keep looking to the left and to the right to see what everyone else is doing, you slow down and lose your momentum...  [I]f you keep your mind on you and not on anybody else, you stay focused and efficient...  It's all about you."

Come Together: "When I was able to get out of my own head and look at what my partner was doing, suddenly I could see, with so much more clarity, how to respond to him."

"When you come together and work together in a mutual give-and-take way, rather than simply working side by side, then everything changes.  You make each other better, you are stronger..."

"If someone loves you, it's so important to love them, and make time for them, and give them what they need, and let them love you back.  Coming together is a give-and-take of equal proportion.  There will always be ebb and flow...But in a relationship of equals, of two whole people, it all evens out in the end. 

So give all your love and don't be stingy.  Don't hold any in reserve...  Let it go.  It will all come back to you, and you'll find a whole new level of meaning in your life.  The more you give, the more you have to give . . . and the more you get."

Celebrate: "Make the most of every moment.  Get excited about every little thing.  Why not?  Why not have your wonderful moment of excited anticipation?  Why not be happy now?"

'Life is precious.  Love is precious.  Celebrate the many good things you have..."