Uncategorized – Page 23 – Peaceful Reader

The end is always the beginning

It’s the end of Kindness Month and Black History Month (check out this link for our youth poet laureate) yet those two celebrations should continue on everyday. You know what else should continue? Kids going to school everyday in a safe environment. Sometimes it is THE ONE place where children do feel safe and increasingly we keep making it scarier. Practicing for a tornado drill is very different from actually participating in a dangerous intruder drill. It’s not remotely fun to talk about a dangerous intruders with lower elementary students (or any student).

The idea that we can’t get an assault weapon ban done in this country is really, truly beyond crazy to me. It is a mental health issue as well; I do understand that yet the two go together. Ban assault weapons (not hunting rifles or hand guns, mind you) and make mental health care part of routine wellness care. Both of these items would show that we care for our citizens. We don’t want people to be target practice; we want people to feel well in their heads and hearts.

I’m unbelievably proud of the Stoneman Douglas students who’ve rallied, resisted, and shared their thoughts. I’m happy that Stoneman Douglas students were also able to head back to class today so as to get back to the routine of going to school. This personal account made me cry. It’s disgusting that they will forever have the memory of friends dying near them and the sound of rapid gun fire in their hallways. According to the NYT after Sandy Hook, 400 people have been shot in more than 200 school shootings. That’s a terrible statistics for America, for our young people, teachers, administration and parents. People should be even more fired up than they are. I do appreciate Dick’s Sporting Goods stepping up and making a change; it could be more but it’s a start.

And don’t even get me started on the ludicrous idea of giving teachers guns. I’m working with students all day long. They are in and out of the library, my office, the back work room and in this safe and loving environment there is NO room for a weapon to be sitting ready for the next shooter to come strolling in to our space. I think the same for every classroom and office in our building and in every building across the country. Ain’t no place for weapons. Now those that represent us; find another way to make schools safe again. We should be focusing on kindness and learning, thinking, and creating.

The Nix by Nathan Hill

I really am ready for spring! I need the snow and ice to melt and the temperature to rise. I want to see green shoots peeking out of the rough ground. I know here we still have a long way to go.

Reading is one of the ways we get through the long winter and during the month of February I’ve spent a lot of quality time with one book-The Nix. Just me and 732 pages of writing from Nathan Hill. It’s a good thing I liked it. It’s long with lots of characters and a variety of twists and turns. There is A lot going on in this novel.

Most of the plot lines center around Samuel, a professor at a small midwestern school. His mother abandoned him as a boy and now as an adult she’s suddenly in the news for throwing rocks at a presidential candidate. Samuel would rather just ignore it except for the book publisher who knows there’s an interesting story there. We travel back in time to see his mother, Faye, as she leaves her small Iowa home with her disgruntled parents behind as she embarks on a new stage of her life in Chicago.

In between we meet a cast of characters from Samuel’s and Faye’s early life and travel as far away as Norway. We meet gaming friends and learn about this complex world of Elfscape as we watch Samuel deal with a humorous yet cheating college student who has an unusual grasp of how the world should work. So much going on yet I was never confused. Everyone’s lives are multilayered and every story, every offshoot matters in this tale.

It reminded me of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara because of its length and detailed writing. Here’s a sample of detail from The Nix:

So that day he felt like he needed to cry. He told his mother he was going to his room to read, which was not unusual. He spent most of his time alone in his room, reading the Choose your own adventure books he bought from the bookmobile at school. He liked how the books looked on the shelf, all together like that, homogenous, with their white-and-red spines and titles like Lost on the Amazon, Journey to Stonehenge, Planet of the Dragons. He liked the books forking paths, and when he came to a particularly difficult decision, he would hold the page with his thumb and read ahead, verifying that it was an acceptable choice. The books had a clarity and a symmetry to them that he found mostly absent in the real world. (83-84)

I’ve already added it to my shopping list for upcoming birthdays and holidays. This is Nathan Hill’s first published novel and he seems like a bit of character himself. I listened to this interview to learn more. Give it a try; any good novel is worth the time you put into it and this one is a huge success for Mr. Hill.

Happy February!

We are in the middle of some crazy weather here in Iowa. School is already canceled for tomorrow. I’m excited to sleep in a little bit extra but tomorrow night we have to road trip to Des Moines so fingers crossed the weather will be calm. NO major blizzards.

Luckily with all this freezing weather I have an excellent book to read; The Nix by Nathan Hill. It’s our book club pick of the month and I’m the host for February. I’m fascinated by Faye, Samuel’s mother, as she’s portrayed as a hippie/radical who questions the politics and policies in the 60’s and still. There is also a small Iowa connection.

Other than reading we’ve been putting together puzzles at our lovely Grandma Bruch heirloom table. My husband’s brother and his wife came for a long weekend recently and we put together a cool puzzle of record albums from Uncommon Goods. This inspired us and Groovy Teen said we should always have a puzzle going at this table. We never eat there anymore so it is now deemed the puzzle room. Now we have a puzzle of old baseball cards in the works.

While our family was here I made a recipe I’d made years ago, a sweet potato chili, which we had with loaves of fresh bread. I do love cooking for people and chili hit the spot for how cold it was that weekend. I’ve also been binge watching Stranger Things; it’s a little creepy for me at times but Groovy Teen (who’s watched it all several times) holds my hand at critical moments. I’m also finally caught up on This is Us; always a cry fest for me! The fire was just too much. We’ve also had a great time playing Spot it! and Listography. We lead crazy fun lives.

Stay warm out there, wherever you are.

Kwame Alexander's novels in verse

I think of my library students very much as my own. I take full interest generally in what they read so when I had several 6th grade students hugging, Kwame Alexander’s Solo, lovingly in their arms-I was intrigued. One such 6th grader sighed and smiled as he relayed the plot to me, ending with “you just got to read it Mrs. Holt.” So I did.

I’m in awe of Alexander’s ability to write in verse. It flows so freely, fluently and is filled with a gentle jive. I could see why these 6th graders in particular were swooning. It has everything; a little bit of rock & roll, a legend, a rich and famous lifestyle, romance but then a feel good trip to Ghana where another way of life is sought. It concludes gracefully without a perfect ending just like life.

Two other books keep flying off the shelf in our library; The Crossover and Booked both by Alexander. I’ll have to wait until summer to read them as they check out as fast as they come in.

I hope Kwame Alexander continues to write for elementary as well as young adult. He has a fresh voice that keeps my kids looking for more. I love following him on social media as well; he’s out there talking books and literacy like an ambassador!

Let's compare; my 2017 books

It’s a fantastic feeling to look at my books from the past year and find so many great titles. I hope your year in reading was just as exciting. I read a good mix of books from my TBR piles and plan to sign up for Roofbeam Readers’ TBR Challenge this year to keep me on track. I also added in stacks of new books about diverse characters, which made me fall in love with some new authors like Jason Reynolds and Angie Thomas.

Longest book: Eragon-I’m glad I finally read this fantasy tale
Favorite Detective-Cormoran Strike (Robert Galbraith)

Top Twelve

1. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (real train, great writing)
2. The Mothers by Brit Bennett (Nadia and Luke, love story but more)
3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (brilliant story of police violence + more, very well written)
4. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (dystopian look at our world if Pence takes over)
5. A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman (sweet story of Ove learning about life)
6. American War by Omar El Akkad (dystopian look at future American w/out oil)
7. Our souls at night by Kent Haruf (sweet tale of neighbors making a connection)
8. To the bright edge of the world by Eowyn Ivey (amazing writing, journal-style about Alaskan exploration, LOVED her 1st book The Snow Child)
9. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (amazing, 300 years of life in Ghana and descendents)
10. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (The Count is imprisoned in beautiful hotel and finds a way to continue living a great life)
11. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (novel in verse, aftermath of Will’s brother’s death, strong voice)
12. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (1937 New York City, great cast of characters)

Top Elementary Fiction:

1. Shooting Kabul by N.H Senzai (escape from Afghanistan, life in America)
2. Some kind of courage by Dan Gemeinhart (great character western)
3. The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill (well-told fantasy)
4. Save me a seat by Sarah Weeks/Gita Varadarajan (diverse friends have all the fun, after the drama)
5. Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes (9/11; well done)
6. The girl who drank from the moon by Kelly Barnhill (well-told fantasy)
7. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (dragon quest)
8. Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes (excellent voice, plantation aftermath)
9. Pax by Sara Pennypacker (pet fox struggles in the wild while boy tries to get back to fox)
10. A wrinkle in time by Madeleine L’Engle (wild, intergalactic ride, introduced it to 5 unsuspecting 6th graders)

Enjoy! What stories made an impression on you in 2017?

3 Great Stories

I ended 2017 with three good library books and oddly enough I didn’t receive any books for Christmas. Probably good because my own piles are still sky high. Before I share my 2017 stats I thought I’d share these three.

1. The Tie that binds by Kent Haruf (1984): I read this because I loved Haruf’s Our Souls at night which pushed me to the library to find his first story of Holt, Colorado. Described as a Greek Tragedy, this story gives us Edith Goodnough, a woman who struggles to make something of her life within the confines of the hand she’s been dealt. Her mother dies young and Edith is left to care for her younger brother, Lyman and her abusive father. The intricate tale of love and loss will make you question how far responsibility carries anyone.

2. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (2011): I picked this one up after reading A Gentleman in Moscow and found this one as clever. Katey Kontent, a 25 year-old New Yorker with her roommate Evelyn meet Tinker Gray, a wealthy and handsome banker in a Village jazz club. The three of them set off on adventures, big and small, with both Evelyn and Kate hoping for their own moments with Tinker. Evelyn and Tinker eventually pair up but it’s not in any way how they expected. Filled with twists and turns and memorable characters like Anne Grandyn, this first novel by Towles is just as intriguing as A Gentleman in Moscow.

The Dry by Jane Harper (2016): Set in Australia this murder mystery has its own twists and turns in a short amount of time. Aaron Falk returns to his small hometown after his childhood friend Luke and his family are murdered. Aaron agrees to stay for a week to help the new sheriff as they both have questions about what exactly happened. While digging up clues they find simmering hatred and other secrets harbored by the small town residents. As they dig for clues Luke hopes to solve another mystery involving the drowning of his childhood friend Ellie of which he was the prime suspect. For a mystery with a LOT going on this one handled it all with interesting style. I’m looking forward to the next Aaron Falk tale.

Holiday Hoopla

Christmas is over and thank heavens. The holiday is a bit of a mountain to climb; all the preparations of gifts and food, keeping everyone happy and moving in one direction, the right amount of drinks and frivolous fun balanced with close family time. I would think this would all get easier as the kids get older.

There were many parts of the holiday that I enjoyed and will savor over the course of 2018 and I plan to put a little more thought into next year’s plan. Next year I don’t want to be the one person constantly in the kitchen preparing food. We’ve always had interesting meals for holidays, we don’t tend to have a big platter of meat as the main course. This year we had two vegans to work with and it was no easy feat. As per my last post I did prepare an almost all vegan spread and they were delicious recipes. Even with a perfect spread it was still off. Next year I’m just going to have a ton of Indian food pre-prepared, ready to heat back up and served around the table.

Everyone has expectations for the day and I have a sinking feeling that somehow I was not a good cruise director. Although I think whatever plans I had made or not made wouldn’t have mattered. What is it about holidays and family gatherings that bring out the negative or at least hurt feelings? It begs the age old question “why can’t we all just get along? It takes a lot of empathy to understand trauma and depression and while I am a caring person I feel like I’m being slowly pulled down the rabbit hole. So instead I’m putting my whole spirit into ushering in 2018. Let it be a good and peaceful year.

Happy Holidays!

Weekend festivities

It snowed last night which means for many children celebrating Christmas that Santa’s journey will be made much easier in his sled. My children are all older yet they appreciate snow a little more at this special time of year. I love the snow when I can stay inside, curled up in front of the fire with a very good book. Luckily I got most of my errands/shopping done yesterday.

I have a lot of cooking and baking to do today and I thought you might like some recipes. Heather and Tristan have been vegan for about a year now and that changes our holiday meal drastically. We are pretty healthy eaters leaning more toward vegetarian so it’s not like a cooking crisis but traditional meals like oyster stew and clam chowder on Christmas just won’t do. Instead will be having a carrot and potato soup with fresh homemade bread, a salad and homemade vegan brownies for dessert. It will be a simple meal sandwiched between two church services.

Tomorrow we are going to have a tofu/potato scramble, vegan cinnamon rolls and mimosas (luckily those are vegan naturally!) for breakfast after a few gifts have been opened. Later in the day we will sit down for a late supper of turkey lasagna (my husband begged for one non-vegan item), a a vegan roast (Heather and Tristan are bringing it), this amazing cauliflower dish from Jaime Oliver, mashed potatoes and vegan gravy, and a vegan berry pie. I’ve got my work cut out for me so I don’t know why I’m still standing around.

Happy holidays everyone for what you may celebrate may be different than I; I wish for you a happy and contented life as we move into a new year. Another year for Trump to mess things up giving us all the more reason to stand up and be heard.

Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, and

JOY to the World.

Craving Chickpeas…

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Happy December!

Last week I was craving spicy soup, which has nothing to do with Christmas or December but just my own odd taste buds. I looked through recipes both online and in my massive stacks of books looking for just the right one. I found this one by Rachael Ray that looked interesting: Indian-spiced Chickpea, and this one, Morroccan Chickpea, from Good Foods, and then this, Chickpea Chili, from MyRecipes. I ended up kind of making my own up loosely based on the last one except I did not have butternut squash on hand and I left out pimento-stuffed olives because seriously I couldn’t imagine that flavor with the soup I was craving. Once I settled on a recipe I found some friends to invite over to be my tasters.

I made a batch of brown rice, tossed up a fresh salad, and this rustic bread to break together. Oh and I had a couple of chicken breasts on hand and as other people love their protein I shredded it and left it as a topping to be tossed into the soup like the parsley and sour cream. They left quite full, smiling and with half a loaf of bread in their hands. Also they’d both done well at Spite and Malice and Taboo; games that we played. It was a lovely winter night; cold outside, toasty on the inside.

I finished Maggie Stiefvater’s new book, All the Crooked Saints, tonight. She is a very imaginative writer and I think she casts a spell on each of her stories. This one, set in Colorado in 1962, is about the Soria family and their ability to collect pilgrims looking for miracles and it’s about radio waves, saints, and love. I don’t understand how she weaves that altogether but she does. My Maggie favorites are The Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys series. Now I’m on to Choosing Civility by P.M. Forni and Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam.

How lucky we are…library books are a treasure.

If I had to buy every book I wanted to read my bank balance would be zip, zilch, nada. All the time.

Praise Jesus for the invention of public libraries and hope to the future they last for all eternity. Over the past few weeks I’ve compiled a stack from 2 different visits.

I also finished an amazing book, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, a beautifully written story of Count Alexander Rostov. He’s under house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in the heart of Moscow. He’s lucky to be alive yet it’s difficult to understand you may never take one step outside to do ordinary things. He sets up routines to get through until young Nina, a visitor to the hotel engages him in conversation. His time is soon taken up with this precocious guest as they explore the inner workings of the hotel. Amor’s language and the characters he breathes life into make this tale magical and believable. I would love to have been part of this story even as the seamstress who guides Alexander into parenting. I returned this one back to the library only because it had a hold on it; otherwise I may have read it again. Instead I found Amor’s first book, Rules of Civility (2011) and plan to read that soon.

Here is the rest of my stack:

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (2017) : excellent novel in verse about young Will retracing his life after his older brother is killed. (finished)

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (2017) : Magical tale of the Soria family in Colorado as they take care of pilgrims and each other. I’m on chapter 6 and as soon as I finish composing I plan to fly the sofa and read…I’ve loved Maggie’s writing for a long time and once took a long drive through flood waters to hear her speak. She’s pretty badass too.

What to say next by Julie Buxbaum (2017) : Recommended to me by my friend Tina, this one is an interesting tale of an unlikely friendship between Kit and David. (not yet read)

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner (2017) : Carter Briggs is a happy young man until he sends one text to his friend Mars minutes before Mars, Eli, and Blake are killed in a car accident. Now the world seems to be coming down on Carter as everyone looks for someone to blame. (not yet read)

The Ties that Bind by Kent Haruf (1984) : I read Kent’s “Our Souls at night” in the hammock this summer and was in love with the characters and the simple story line. I thought I’d start at the beginning of the Holt, Colorado stories with this one.

The Dry by Jane Harper (2016) : This title popped up on my mother-in-law’s feed as a great new read while they were here which prompted both of us to put it on hold at our respective local libraries. After reading my last Cormoran Strike mystery (the 2nd in the series)-b/c I read them out of order-I could use another good thriller.

One of my 4th graders wandered around the library yesterday with a stack of books in her hand and a huge smile on her face and dreamily said “so many books, so little time…”