You might ask then, why a picture of the Eiffel Tower as my icon? My favorite thing to do when I can afford it is to travel and Paris is the place I have gone most often (in large part because my husband always wants to go there in preference to anywhere else, and hey, it’s not a bad place to be!). But I am always glad to come home to Santa Fe and our beloved two cats and two dogs.

I live in and am rooted in New Mexico. I was born and grew up in Missouri, went to college in Oklahoma and grad school in Indiana but then I moved with my first husband to Las Cruces and found my true home in New Mexico. This place just grounds me. I did live in Denver for over 10 years—a great city where I made some lifelong friends, but knew that New Mexico was where I would end up. For one thing, I am a humidi-phobe and once I discovered the high and dry West there is no going back to sticky anywhere else. Santa Fe has it all—that clear dry air and just perfect weather plus lots of great food, rich heritage and cultural options galore.

We don’t just have problems with the Supremes—read John Grisham’s latest: The Appeal. An eye opening and depressing look at how our courts are being corrupted at the state level by corporate interests.

Thanks, Steven—they are now on my list. I knew about The Snow Leopard but not the Laird book which sounds fascinating.

Maurine: If you loved Pillars, then you must read World Without End. Learned more than I ever wanted to know about building cathedrals but couldn’t put these books down. I love everything by Allende—her books have that wonderful capacity to lead us to believe in magic.

Kate: Have you read John Grisham’s The Appeal yet? Always distressing to find out how much corporate America is controlling our lives.

ME: I found Bridge of Sighs hard to get into, but it grows on you so suggest you stick with it.

I haven’t yet, but plan to get to all of his books so will put that one next on my list after I finish his Seville books.

Mary Lou—I haven’t read that Sue Monk Kidd yet but really loved The Mermaid’s Chair.

So many good books. If you would like to know more about Tibet and China I highly recommend all of the novels by Eliot Pattison. Start at the beginning with The Skull Mantra to follow the adventures of the main character. When I am finished with Pattison’s books I am always sad to be leaving his world—feel the same about Lisa See’s last 2 books Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in love. I also enjoyed her earlier mysteries set in modern day China. Since I am going to Spain in a few weeks I have been reading some to build the anticipation and have discovered a great new-to-me mystery writer: Robert Wilson. The Blind Man of Seville was a great read—very complicated plot and I was delighted to discover 2 more books with the same detective. Used to love Elizabeth George until she gratuitously killed off one of the main characters.

Best friends—my life’s blood. In thinking about this topic, I think that my best friendships have been forged with time spent together and shared interests and this has seemed to occur the most during school days and work situations. When there is time to share joys and fears and learnings, then I have been fortunate to find many kindred souls that I connect with heart to heart and mind to mind. Some of those friends from childhood and teen years I don’t talk with often mostly because we live far apart, but whenever we have found the time to meet and visit again, the deep connections are still there. Once that bond is established, it endures. What a blessing.