I don't understand what you mean by making your dreams "real." You wish to repeat them? See more detail? Clarify what [if anything] they mean? Have more dreams, or better remember those you have? See while awake what you seem to see while asleep? I've found that my dreams fall into distinct categories. There are the precognizant, which come in a repetitious series over several nights, are vivid, detailed and become more detailed with each repetition, and usually occur weeks or months before the "real life" event depicted. They are also comparatively rare. The more usual [remembered] dreams vary in color, clarity, are more or less obvious metaphors, or are entertaining if meaningless. The rest of the dreams are those I really don't recall after awakening and I think are the overwhelming majority. Simply keeping a pad of paper & pen beside the bed and writing down whatever you recall as soon as you awaken seems to be a commonly suggested practice; the act of consciously trying to remember improves your "memory" of what was dreamed. To be honest, I rarely do this -- to write a detailed description of what I found interesting or amusing or puzzling while asleep just isn't among the things I care to do upon awakening, and like most folks I quickly forget what I dreamed and don't feel a loss in the forgetting. Over several years of [mostly] recordkeeping upon awakening, I found there were few metaphoric dreams which didn't clarify themselves within a couple nights -maybe my subcouscious came to realize that if it wants to tell me something, it's better to do so clearly and directly instead of the using the usual symbols. Precog dreams are so memorable that I can write (or tell) about them many hours after waking. However, unless I note them in my diary, I often forget them within a few weeks of the series ending.

Oh, yes, I re-read all the time. The ones I re-read the most are Jane Austen's novels, the "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon, "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy (one of my favorite books ever), and "Far From the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy. I've re-read "To Kill a Mockingbird," too, but only 3-4 times.:)

I just posted our selections on the 2011 Book Club choices thread. (I tried to post the list earlier, but my Firefox browser crashed just as I was finishing, so I turned off my computer in frustration.) Since you've asked in this thread, I'll repeat the list: Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah Biography Night (individual choice) Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor Our community One Read book (title as yet unknown) Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick Shanghai Girls by Lisa See My group has already read several of the the suggestions that were offered in this thread, and generally we liked all of them, so I think we'd like the others as well. I will keep this list handy for future selections. Thanks again! -- Kathy

Wild Swan is probably my favorite book on China - fiction or non. The stories of her grandmother, mother and herself read like good fiction, and I came away with a much better understanding of modern Chinese history and culture then I had before. I agree - I don't think you can really make any generalization about any country, but esp not one so big. Yes we export some of our most glaring stereotypes for all to see. But its so very different between regions, states, rural/urban/suburban, and so dependent on class, race or nationalities. Rather an interesting mix, actually. Im in a website that has a language forum, and people from all over the country pop in with their favorite regionalisms, and comments on others. Makes me remember how really diverse this huge nation is, and makes me wonder how in the world we managed to all stick together for so long!