We took a lovely road trip the Lake Norman in North Carolina last week, our third February in a row. Jason has clients in the Charlotte area so he always works a few of the days leaving Gage and I to our own devices. This week we were able to be away for 6 days, even though that meant Gage missed 2 days of school. On our way home we stopped in Wytheville, Virginia and toured the Edith Bolling Wilson First Lady Birthplace Museum, even staying in the hotel dedicated to her history in the town. I considered this a 2 day field trip. Once a homeschooler…
We had a great book club discussion this month. Take My Hand is historical fiction that drew its inspiration from a real 1973 court case. It found that government family centers were sterilizing girls of color as well as those in poor neighborhoods reliant on government help.
Well written and a shocking part of this country’s not so long ago history. I really liked this one. Highly recommend.
This is the sequel to Then Came You that I finished a few weeks ago. An innocent author comes to London to research her next book, only to shoot a man and fall in love with the owner of a gambling club. Loved it.
I’ve read a few other books by Pema Chodron and I always finish feeling inspired and content. She is an American Buddhist nun and writes about Buddhism in such a welcoming and relatable way. I take a lot from Buddhist teachers, Thich Nhat Hanh being my introduction. I’m a Christian, but I’ve really grown personally from books like these. Maybe you will too if you give one a try. This one deals especially with some life strategies that all can benefit from.
“The most straightforward advice on awakening bodhichitta is this: practice not causing harm to anyone- yourself or others- and every day, do what you can to be helpful.”
“Buddha was pointing out that the fixed idea that we have about ourselves as solid and separate from each other is painfully limiting.”
“Our personal attempts to live humanely in this world are never wasted. Choosing to cultivate love rather than anger just might be what it takes to save the planet from extinction.”
I started this series with book one and haven’t looked back. I realized I was a few behind so I’m making quick work of the last few. If you like police procedurals you should definitely give this series a look. He started as a Minneapolis police detective, but is currently a US Marshal still based in Minneapolis. He has a recurring partner, Lucas Flowers, and an adopted daughter, Letty, who each have their own spin offs.
Most people are familiar with Malala by now. The girl was shot in the face by the Taliban on her way to school in Afghanistan. But there is a backstory if that’s all you know. I already knew everything in this book, but it’s an easy one hour listen on a road trip with your kid!
*I’ve read 22 books so far this year.*
Currently reading
Watching
Jason and I watched Season 1 of White Lotus. What a crazy, beautiful trip. Any other fans out there?
Plans for the Weekend
There are a few hours left that will be spent on Friends of the Solon Library duties. I need to connect with a few members about Facebook stuff and I need to start finding volunteers for our next big book sale. Anyone want to help out in April?
I first read The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende when I was the manager of a B. Dalton bookstore in the Washington DC area 25ish years ago. Each month the staff would have to choose a recommendation for a display and I would pick one to read. This was one of those recs and it was my first foray into the world of magical realism. For that it will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve long had this on my list of top 100 books, but this was my first reread and I had forgotten much.
I can’t believe that I’d forgotten what a monster Esteban was. Seriously, this is more his story than anyone’s and I remembered the women with the green hair and the seers more that I remembered the rapes. So much to discuss if you have a book group waiting to take it on.
The last third of the book had more of a focus on Chile’s history and was fascinating (based on actual history of the 1970s). Allende provides such a rich picture of the South American country. Still relevant today. The ‘right’ overthrew the ‘socialists’ by a coup, only to empower a dictator who ended democracy for the country. A cautionary tale if anyone is paying attention.
After some thought I think I’ll go ahead and put it on my favorites list for now. We’ll see if anything comes along and beats it as I reread favorites.
Have you read it? What did you think?
“…she did not believe that the world was a vale of tears but rather a joke that God had played and that it was idiotic to take it seriously if He himself never had.”
“Just as when we come into the world, when we die we are afraid of the unknown. But the fear is something from within us that has nothing to do with reality. Dying is like being born: just a change”
“She tried to recall the cold, the silence, and that precious feeling of owning the world, of being twenty years old and having her whole life ahead of her, of making love slowly and calmly, drunk with the scent of the forest and their love, without a past, without suspecting the future, with just the incredible richness of that present moment in which they stared at each other, smelled each other, kissed each other, and explored each other’s bodies, wrapped in the whisper of the wind among the trees and the sound of the nearby waves breaking against the rocks at the foot of the cliff, exploding in a crash of pungent surf, and the two of them embracing underneath a single poncho like Siamese twins, laughing and swearing this night would last forever, that they were the only ones in the whole world who had discovered love.”
“thought about the years I still had left to live and decided that without her it wasn’t worth it, for I would never find another woman with her green hair and underwater beauty. If anyone had told me then that I would live to be more than ninety, I would have put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger.”
It’s been a busy two weeks. I took a road trip with a friend, celebrated my parent’s 55th anniversary, my dad’s 77th birthday, sat through my son’s IEP meeting and helped with a luncheon at his school, and even did a minimal amount of planning for an upcoming trip and possible high schools for the boy. Gage had a day off of school and I took him with me to sort donations at the library and he worked hard without complaint!
Bell has a white mother and black father and it’s his mother who is the one to first tell him that when world will see him as different. She embarrasses him when she causes a scene calling out bias and yet his father remains largely silent when he needs to hear from him the most. This book starts when he is 6 and has a run in with police and they take his water gun and ends after the George Floyd murder when he has to decide if it’s the right time to have the talk about race with his own young son.
Bell was the first Black editorial cartoonist to win the Pulitzer Prize. Highly recommend. Its’s engaging, touching, honest, brave.
This book manages to do many things well. It will benefit parents, teachers, or anyone who knows or works with a kid with an autism diagnosis. In the 9 mindsets it also has something for every stage of the child, from child to older teen. I especially like the section on the medical comorbidities, too often treating the medical issues is completely overlooked.
Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas. 4.5/5 stars, Historical Romance, 371 pages, 1993
I loved this book, but both main characters did some horrific things to each other. I will read and most likely love anything she writes.
“That is the power of our differences to make us smarter and more creative. And that is how all those infusions of new cultures and ideas, generation after generation, created the matchless alchemy of our melting pot and helped us build the strongest, most vibrant, most prosperous nation on the planet, right here.”
I’m not in menopause, yet, but I am of a certain age so I wanted to prepare myself. In many ways I wish I hadn’t 🤣. I wish I could say reading this made me feel empowered, but mostly it just depressed me. I’m glad I read it and I’m glad I’m done reading it. I took some useable knowledge and am better off for it. Make sure you’re taking extra calcium ladies!
Currently Reading
Movies
On my weekend road trip we went to the grand old theater in town and finally saw Killers of the Flower Moon. Yes, it was 3 1/2 hours and I had to get up for a 10 minutes break in the middle, but I really liked it. Lily Gladstone was phenomenal.
We watched Little Italy on Netflix. It had a fun cast and some laughs.
Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress. Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles–the earned wisdom that helps her continue to “become.” She details her most valuable practices, like “starting kind,” “going high,” and assembling a “kitchen table” of trusted friends and mentors. With trademark humor, candor, and compassion, she also explores issues connected to race, gender, and visibility, encouraging readers to work through fear, find strength in community, and live with boldness. (from Goodreads)
Michelle’s memoir Becoming is one of my favorites. If you haven’t read it, you should. This book shares new stories, offers advice, and addresses the ‘go high’ vision and what it means.
It didn’t pack the same emotional punch of her first book, but there were parts I really loved. I loved the section on her relationship with Barack, especially that first trip to Hawaii to meet his family. I love her honesty and the way that she never puts him on a pedestal. Through her we see the real him. I love this quote, “Any long-term partnership really is an act of stubborn faith.” This spoke to me because I often speak of my own marriage this way.
The last few sections about how she was portrayed in right wing press and her now famous call to ‘Go High” were my favorites. We are so lucky to have had her as First Lady and to have her now encouraging us all to do the work. As many like to say, freedom isn’t free, and if we want a better country we have to be better citizens. I’m going to leave you with a few of the quotes I write in my journal.
“If you keep your children from feeling fear, you’re essentially keeping them from feeling competence.”
“We’re alone, each of us. That’s the ache of being human.”
“Any time we grip hands with another soul and recognize some piece of the story they’re trying to tell, we are acknowledging and affirming two truths at once: We’re lonely and yet we’re not alone.”
“Going high is not just about what happens on a single day, or a month, or inside one election cycle either. It happens over the course of a lifetime, the course of a generation, Going high is demonstrative, a commitment to showing your children, your friends, your colleagues, and your community what it takes to live with love and decency. Because in the end, at least in my experience, what you put out for others- whether it’s hope or hatred- will only create more of the same.”
After two snow days this week and bitter cold temps we went to the movie theater yesterday and saw Wonka! The magic was just what we all needed. We followed it up with Aladdin’s Lebanese food and our day was made.
Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger. 3.5 stars, thriller, 260 pages, 2023. I like Lisa Unger’s thrillers and this one was quick and satisfying. Madeline was a survivor of an attack, the same attack where she watched her best friend get murdered. Harley is a true crime podcaster and is looking into the 10 year old story. Not surprisingly, secrets are uncovered and danger abounds.
Simply Sinful by Carly Phillips. 2.5 stars. romance, 272 pages, 2000. I was looking for a quick satisfying romance, but this wasn’t it. Detecctive Kane McDermitt goes undercover to prove Kayla’s business is really a front for prostitution. He requests a date (through her business), sleeps with her on said date, and is then convinced she is innocent. Of course he was.
I’ve read 7 books so far this year.
Currently Reading
Nothing has changed from last week, except I’ll probably finish one of these today.
Movies
Wonka, 2022. Magic and chocolate fun for the whole family! I’m so glad that we saw it on the big screen.
Streaming
We finished up season 2 of Reacher on Amazon. We liked it even better than the first season.
Plans for the Weekend
I’ll share this because I’ll be puzzling some today and maybe it’s an idea that appeals to you. I belong to our local Buy Nothing group on Facebook. Neighbors offer each other things they no longer want or need. For the last few years I’ve offered up a puzzle exchange for the month of January, sort of a Little Free PUZZLE Library. When the weather was good I put them on our front porch shelves and as we’re snowed in I’ve moved them to a bin at the end of our driveway. I started with 7 puzzles that I’d done this year and was willing to part with and told people to come take, trade, or give. It’s been fun seeing the puzzles that have come in. The turnover is high, even a few weeks in.
This year I want to make a concerted effort to volunteer more. My work for the local library Friends board takes about 4-6 hours a week on average. I don’t want to take time away from that because I love working with the donated books and book sales as well as running the Facebook page. I just want to make a little more time in my day to find new places that could use an extra hand. For the last two Fridays I’ve volunteered at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and helped Clevelanders shop for food that they need – for free! It’s rewarding and I’m happy to have met some very wonderful people and plan to continue helping out a few times a month. As the temperatures are freezing everywhere, I am constantly reminded to be thankful for our warm and cozy home that’s stocked with all the food we need and the books and puzzles that keep my heart purring like like a cat.
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith 4.5 stars, Thriller/Private Detective Mystery, 960 pages, 2023. Cormoran Strike series #7. Robin goes undercover to try and expose a cult. Cormoran deals with Charlotte, again. This series needs to be read in order. Start with Cuckoo’s Calling.
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood. 4.5 stars, YA Romance, 352 pages, 2023. I like Hazelwood’s romances and this one set in the chess world for teens was a lot of fun. The ‘couple is 18 & 20, one bisexual and one not having met anyone who has interested them in that way, and both hardwired for chess. This is her first YA romance and I appreciated the behind closed door sex scene.
The Miracle Seed by Martin Lemelman. 4.5 stars, Nonfiction Graphic Novel for Kids, 80 pages, 2023. What a hopeful book in such an uncertain time. This is the true life story of how 2 Israeli scientists brought the Judean Date Palm tree back to life after having been extinct for over 2000 years. (Here’s a link to a magazine article about it) Inspire the green thumb in your life with this inspiring story from Israel.
Currently Reading
Movies
Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2022. What in the world? This was a wacky, insane, and thoughtful movie about parallel universes. Jason and I agreed that we’ve never seen anything quite like it. Two hotdog thumbs up.
Plans for the Weekend
Any other Sunday my weekend would be over, but since tomorrow is MLK Jr. Day we get one more day to play. We have some friends coming over tomorrow to hang out and play games before Gage has an orthodontist appointment. I hope your three day weekend brings some good reading and fun!
Like most readers of Harry Potter, I love JK Rowling books and when I started seeing the reviews for this series I knew I’d have to give her a post HP chance to win me over. And she did. I love this series.
I love Cormoran Strike. I loved him in the first of the series and I’ve loved him in every one since. He’s smart, grumpy and a hero who came back to London after losing a foot in Afghanistan. He could have milked the media because of his being the (illegitimate) son of a famous rock star, but he chose, instead, to live a life of purpose. He’s a bit of a mess but an honest and earnest one. He and his partner Robin’s relationship is the heart and soul of this this series.
I love the narration by Robert Glenister. He became Strike for me so I’ve listened to all 7 books (so far) on audio. I totally recommend trying the first one and seeing if you like it.
Read if you like– well plotted thrillers, disability front and center, the possibility of a workplace romance, grouchy yet smart private detectives, big big books, or mysteries set in London.
I do think that you need to read these in order to appreciate them.
Check out my wall of books! These are the 334 books (minus one that I finished after I took this picture) that I read in 2023. I’ve seen a few bookstagrammers do this and I started planning at the beginning of December to get the books from the library that I needed (which was a lot!). You see there were loads of picture books, which came from homeschooling for half a year and from being a panelist for the Cybils Awards.
But, now we’ve turned the page to a new year with new goals and intentions. I’m not an organized person. I tend to get everything done either right away or at the very last minute and most everything else gets lost in the middle. So, I’ve got a list of daily goals, weekly goals, and monthly goals. It’s a lot, but I’m hoping to teach myself some of the skills that I always seem to struggle with. So far I’m 100% on my 9 daily goals and I’m over half done with my 11 monthly goals. I also have a weekly goal of blogging 3 times a week and that has clearly not gone as well. I’ll get there eventually.
Bookish Events
I went with a friend to my first Silent Book Club! This meet up was downtown at the Cleveland Public Library. It was fun, but not exactly silent, lol. The idea is that you take your book to a public place where other bookish people will do the same and you all sit together and read your books. Sort of a social, but not really, book club without the homework. There were 19 of us. It was intriguing enough to try again when they meet at a Barnes & Noble.
As a woman of a certain age, this was a quick book explaining what happens during perimenopause/menopause and some of the things you can do to keep yourself as healthy as possible. It’s an older book and didn’t go into great detail, but it was a nice overview.
A very quick introduction for elementary school kids at only 32 pages. Lots of nice photos and just enough information to get started with a study of Israel and what’s going on there now.
Movies
Jason and I actually made it to the theater! We both really liked The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, 2022. I haven’t read any of the Hunger Games books, but love the movies. This is the story of Coriolanus Snow way before we meet Katniss meets him. How does he become the man we know in the trilogy? I thought it was great although I had a question or two in spots. Have you seen it? What did you think?
Plans for the Weekend
When I get my to do list done today I’m hoping to visit you all! I miss checking in with you all. Do you have plans for the day?
So many good books this year! You can find my picture book recs here, here, and here. My middle school recommendations here. My adult fiction 5 stars here.
Now for my nonfiction, graphic novel, and high school favorites.
These 4 boys were in high school when they beat college teams, including MIT, in a national robotics competition. It starts with telling you how they came to be in the US, how they found family in the robotics room, and where they are now 20 years later. Middle school/teens. Highly recommend for adults too.
Many of you may have heard of Zion Clark, a short documentary on his life was number one on Netflix. He was born with no legs to a mother in jail with an unknown father. He got bounced around Ohio’s foster care system before finally being adopted at the age of 17. He made headlines in his senior year of high school when he started winning wrestling matches.
Zion grew up in the Canton/Massillon area, less than an hour from where I live so this was a local story for me. But even if it wasn’t I would’ve been so moved my his story and spirit. I think that all teens would benefit from reading such a powerful story of perseverance. And adults should read it too!
This was my first book of 2023 and there were my thoughts when I first posted about it on IG.
My first book of the year is also perfectly suited for today, January 6. On Tyranny, Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Professor Timothy Snyder, illustrated by Nora Krug is an important read, especially as we reflect on this day 2 years ago when our democracy was under attack from within. Drawing in the histories of Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, and others, Snyder provides stark similarities to things happening in the United States.
An important read for every American, no matter your political leanings.
#10 “Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. You submit to tyranny when you renounce the difference between what you want to hear and what is actually the case. Post-truth is pre-racism”
I’ve posted more excerpts on my blog so I recommend clicking over there. Get your eyes on a copy and learn, dissect, and come away with a renewed sense of what it means to be a citizen of a functioning democracy and what that demands from us in return.
“Natural warmth has the power to heal all relationships-the relationship with ourselves as well as with people, animals, and all that we encounter every day of our lives.”
“We’re like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand in hopes of finding comfort. This running away from all that is unpleasant, this continual cycle of avoiding the present, is referred to as self-absorption, self-clinging, or ego.”
“We’re all looking for a permanent reference point, and it doesn’t exist. Everything is impermanent. Everything is always changing- fluid, unfixed, and open. Nothing is pin-down-able the way we’d like it to be. This is not actually bad news, but we all seem programmed for denial. We have absolutely no tolerance for uncertainty.”
Joan Chittister, a Benedictine sister, writes with such grace and wisdom about topics perfect for my meditative time. Vision, an understanding heart, humility, soul, holy indifference, gentleness of spirit, imagination, questioning, emotional stability, purity of heart, inclusion, and nature of the heroic in life are the chapters you’ll find.
I’ll leave you with a few quotes… “Compassion is the ability to understand how difficult it is for people to be the best of what they want to be at all times.”
“We’re not here to suppress the gifts of others in order to make room for our own. We’re here to put all the gifts of humankind into the great pool of humanity so that, because of the gifts of each of us, we can all live better in the end.”
“There are too many people trying to get into Heaven who have yet to muster the amount of soul it takes to appreciate all the life there is on earth.”
“People who refuse to question all of the assumptions that underpin the way they live-on the grounds that to ask is a violation of faith-are people, ironically, who want cheap answers, not hard faith at all.”
“The societies we live in are increasingly making our minds ill, making it feel as though the way we live is engineered to make us unhappy. When Matt Haig developed panic disorder, anxiety, and depression as an adult, it took him a long time to work out the ways the external world could impact his mental health in both positive and negative ways. Notes on a Nervous Planet collects his observations, taking a look at how the various social, commercial and technological “advancements” that have created the world we now live in can actually hinder our happiness.” from Goodreads
I’m sure most of you have seen Humans of New York online. Brandon Stanton started taking photos of people in various cities along with a caption or story and his blog gained traction. By the time his camera found the humanity and exuberant essence of NYC, people were paying attention. And still are. This book was originally published in 2013. I loved every bit of it. The people, the quick story, the quote, the photos.
I can stare at these faces for days. In this over sized picture book, James & Other Apes, James Mollison exquisitely captures these 50 apes found in sanctuaries around the world. They are seen on all of their primate glory. The eyes are the window to the soul, after all. They are each identified by names with short bios at the end of the book.
The graphic biography all ‘ladies’ and the people who love them need to read. Even if you don’t read graphic novels you will want to get your eyes on this one.
I LOVED the art, but also the women included. I knew many, like Temple Grandin and Hedy Lamar, but there so many new names to me, like Agnodice, Clementine Delait the Bearded Lady, and Nazis Al Abid. I learned more about Margaret Hamilton and Mae Jemison.
This is a graphic bio of the time when she wrote Strangers on a Train and the lesbian thriller A Pinch of Salt under a pseudonym. A Pinch of Salt was later retitled Carol and is known for having the first happy ending gay characters had gotten in books.
Loved the book and recommend it. It was the Author’s Note at the beginning that hooked me. I left out more good stuff for brevity.
“This is a story I believe is worth telling. That being said, I want to be clear: The protagonist of this story is not a good person. She was deeply anti-Semitic, racist, and misogynistic, even by the standards of her time. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that many of her beliefs were nothing short of evil…
What a fun book this is! If you love Steve Martin’s humor and New Yorker covers you are going to get many chuckles at the mostly single panel funnies in this collection.
Interspersed amongst the rest is the story of Steve Martin and Harry Bliss, told in comic style, and how they came to put together this book. My favorite is when they were checking each other for ticks. It’s a great 20-30 minute read, sure to make you chuckle.
It’s been another crazy year of reading, with my current total at 343. Much of that has been kids/teens reading through homeschooling and Cybils Awards first round panelist reading. So, like last year, I’m not picking favorites but highlighting my 5 star reads by category.
Since I read over 100 nonfiction picture books for Cybils alone, this will be two separate posts (part one is here) SO MANY fantastic books!
This little forgotten story was made great fun by the humor of the words and illustrations. The mother and her son lived in the house as it was being rolled to a different location – for a whole month!
An American Story by Kwame Alexander, illustrator Dare Coulter. 56 pages, 2023
It’s a beautifully illustrated book that will generate great discussion no matter how old your child is. Alexander wrote this book after a conversation with his daughter’s teacher when he asked why she was teaching about the 13 colonies without talking about slavery. It belongs on all of the shelves! The illustrations were a mix of sketches, paints, and clay figures.
We Are Branches by Joyce Sidman, Beth Krommes illustrator. 40 pages, 2023
I’m obsessed with the illustrations in this book! Perfect for early elementary nature lovers.
Stacy's Books 