Morning Meditations.  Finished 3-19-20, self-help, 315 pages, pub. 2020

Do you ever wish you could take a moment from your busy day to reflect on life’s larger questions? Do you wonder how you could experience your relationships differently? Or how to prioritize your goals? It can be challenging to reflect on our own experiences, to lean on the wisdom of others, and to draw inspiration from the world around us. Now you can . . .. without a big commitment of time.

Morning Meditations is filled with more than 150 bite-sized entries about some of life’s most important questions about the nature of change, stress, mindfulness, gratitude, relationships, self-esteem, and health. Carefully curated from the writings of some of the world’s leading mental health practitioners, the passages offer insight and comfort, as well as prompts for further thought.    from Goodreads

Broken up in to several categories like change, mindfulness, and self-esteem this book is full of ideas to get you thinking.  The multiple categories were scattered (like two Stress entries in a row, a needed thing at this time, I think!) and the entries were short.  None were more than a page and a half and most were on one small page.

When I first started reading this I thought it would be perfect for people on the go who didn’t have a lot of time but still wanted to delve a little deeper into their behaviors or beliefs.  Now, it seems, most of the country has plenty of time, but I think it’s still beneficial to keep our minds focused on our goals and our relationships.

I’ll leave you with one entry so you can get an idea of what’s included.

Dear Edward. Finished 3-16-20, 4.5/5 stars, fiction, 352 pages, pub. 2020

One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them is a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured vet returning from Afghanistan, a septuagenarian business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. And then, tragically, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.

Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place for himself in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a piece of him has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery–one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do find yourself? How do you discover your purpose? What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?   from Goodreads

The Adlers were moving from New York City to Los Angeles when the unthinkable happens and Eddie is left the lone survivor of the plane crash.  Taken in by his aunt and uncle the three try to find some normalcy.  Eddie becomes Edward and because of his miracle status is able to navigate his early teen years in his own way.  From the beginning he latches on to Shay, his next door neighbor, and she becomes his lifeline.

More than just a coming of age story for a boy who loses almost everything, it also tells the tales of the other passengers on the doomed plane.  The military man who is going home to the drugged out Wall Street guy making the moves on the flight attendant, the stories add to the heft of Edward’s new life.  Their lives become a part of his own.

The two points in time, current day and the hours in the air on the flight, alternate with suspense building for why the plane came down and what his miraculous survival means for Edward’s life.  In the end, Edward turns 18 and we find out what happened on the flight and I was left both sad and hopeful.  The dual story lines do seem like a downer, but Edward’s search for meaning and in the people who reach out to him after touched my heart.

Fave pic

Highlights of the Week – It’s over.

Currently Reading   This looks like a broken record.  Gage was home sick, I was sick.  Not much got done.

Currently Listening

Finished Watching Altered Carbon Season 2 on Netflix.  Not as good as the first season, but some good stuff in there.

Plans for the weekend Most everything is closed here.  Ohio has 5 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and they’re all here in our area so we are limiting ourselves to the house this weekend.  I’m working at the Ohio primary elections on Tuesday and I’m not thrilled about the exposure.

I’m hoping some of my positivity will come back next week.  Share some of your happiness with me.  What were your highlights of the week?

Fave Pic  Enjoying the sunset on a healthy Sunday.

Highlight of the Week  Well, the book sale I went to last Sunday was great and I got a chance to meet and exchange notes with another Cuyahoga Library Friends President.  I was even able to invite her to a local meetup on Tuesday that she didn’t know about.  The rest of  the week has pretty much been one I’d like to move on from.  After 10 days on antibiotics Gage had one day of happiness before waking up with the flu on Wednesday.  He’s lost his voice and some of his coughing makes him throw up.  He was able to to nap for almost 3 hours yesterday.  I’m not sure he’s ever been this sick 😦  And Jason woke up sick on Friday.  Pray for their health and mine!

Books Read  (review)

Currently Reading 

Currently Listening   So quirky!

Movies Watched Now I need to get my hands on the the EL Doctorow short story it’s based on and the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story that started it all.  I’m curious to see the trajectory.

On the Small Screen  We’re halfway through season 2 of Netflix’s crazy cyberpunk series Altered Carbon.  I liked season 1 but it took me a little longer to get into this season.

The Water Dancer review

My 30 Day Challenge Update

Plans  for the Weekend  We’re having a kids book sale this morning at the library that I’m in charge of so that will take the me until mid afternoon when I will be back home trying to heal my kid and my husband.  I feel like this healing business has been on my weekend agenda for awhile.

What’s going on in your neck of the woods?

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices.  Finished 3-5-20, children’s non-fiction, 4.5/5 stars, 96 pages, pub. 2018

Fifty of the foremost diverse children’s authors and illustrators–including Jason Reynolds, Jacqueline Woodson, and Kwame Alexander–share answers to the question, “In this divisive world, what shall we tell our children?” in this beautiful, full-color keepsake collection, published in partnership with Just Us Books.

What do we tell our children when the world seems bleak, and prejudice and racism run rampant? With 96 lavishly designed pages of original art and prose, fifty diverse creators lend voice to young activists.

Featuring poems, letters, personal essays, art, and other works from such industry leaders as Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming), Jason Reynolds (All American Boys), Kwame Alexander (The Crossover), Andrea Pippins (I Love My Hair), Sharon Draper (Out of My Mind), Rita Williams-Garcia (One Crazy Summer), Ellen Oh (cofounder of We Need Diverse Books), and artists Ekua Holmes, Rafael Lopez, James Ransome, Javaka Steptoe, and more, this anthology empowers the nation’s youth to listen, learn, and build a better tomorrow.      from Goodreads

So much love in and for this kid’s book!  First, it’s just gorgeous.  The cover is great and each 1-3 page entry is illustrated by a different talented illustrator.  Just flipping through the book, before even reading a word, you will be drawn in.

This treasury was started after the 2016 election and the editors saw how distraught their grand-niece and other kids were.  How they felt all of the hate spewing down on the marginalized and they were scared, confused, and worried.  This is a book to comfort, inspire, and motivate.

The stories and poems included this this collection are a joy to read.  There are personal stories, advice, and poems.  I have a list of favorites and I’ll share a few.  I’m so glad that this was on our library’s recommended list for winter.  Be sure to check it out.  It’s so beautiful you might even want a copy to keep not only for the kids in your life, but for you!