series – Peaceful Reader

Healing Everyday

As anybody knows healing takes time and it’s slow. I’m walking more with less heavy breathing and I’m doing some simple exercises that move my muscles around. I am anxious to get back to real yoga that includes downward dog, the “home” base for all yoga practices. I started driving last week which was exciting because we purchased a new car right after surgery. We thought the car was going to take a year to get to us but it arrived sooner and it made for a very smooth ride home from the hospital. Thank you to our son Tristan for finding the car and leading us through this process. We bought a Hyundai Tucson because its a good looking hybrid and will give us more space than our 2004 Prius.

While it is a sure sign of great freedom to drive out my driveway and run some errands I have to check myself while I get groceries, for example, that I can only carry small amounts to my car and cannot fill my cart up with boxes of sparkling water. And I love walking outside in my neighborhood but I can’t take my dogs with me unless someone else walks with me or I go on solo walks, leaving my dogs stunned as I walk away. I’m missing my daughter Japhy/Groovy Girl who headed back to Iowa City this week to her roommates and work. She was an amazing amount of help everyday while I recovered.

In between walks and driving about town I’ve read books and gathered more at our local library. I finished Louise Erdrich’s The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse and Love Medicine, both with same characters and I read them out of order. I do love her writing but both books have so many characters to keep up with and I had to flip to the family tree every other chapter. Right now I am reading Run River by Joan Didion for book club. I went to the library the other day with my husband while he browsed Playaway books and naturally I found two to read: Love is a Revolution by Renee Watson, one of my favorite authors and Simi Liu’s We were Dreamers; An Immigration Superhero Origin Story. I loved him in Kim’s Convenience and am interested in his story. I also have a large book bag filled with books from my school library to read for Iowa Children’s Choice nominees, our state award books.

In between reading I’ve caught up with some streaming. I finished This is Us and Bridgerton and am working on Julia (Child) and The Great with Elle Fanning. Japhy turned me on to Jane the Virgin and she and I watched a ton of that before she left. Now I have to wait for her return to watch more. Atlanta with Donald Glover and Black-ish are my go-to short shows that are easy to fit in as a break. I try to keep my binge watching to a minimum so that I can get lots of reading done but it’s a tough balance with so much good stuff out there. What are you reading and watching?

What a crazy summer!

photo: Scott Shepard

This feels like the middle of summer; it’s hot and the sweet corn is up and being sold on street corners all over the Cedar Valley. I’ve packed in a lot over the summer but I need a few more slow days reading in the hammock (when it’s not a 100 degrees out) and relaxing with friends. It’s been so busy writing hasn’t happened as much as I like; I dream up blog posts but they stay there in my mind.

I did make a big batch of yogurt at the beginning of July. Delicious and creamy, mixed with fruit preserves and pumpkin butter it is the best start to my day. When I make it I don’t use the cream in the recipe-I just used good quality, local 1% milk. I recently found a easy (two ingredient) coconut yogurt recipe from Minimalist Baker that I want to try for my dairy-free Groovy Girl.

My husband and daughter have been very busy with our summer musical production of Beauty and the Beast. She’s had a great time as an ensemble character; she dances, she plays a wolf, Maria, the baker’s wife, and a townsperson. It has been quite a run, with sold out performances, and today the run is done so life might be a tiny bit quieter. (maybe)

I have made it to yoga more than a handful of times which was on my summer plan. I’ve recently read several articles talking about the importance of meditation on our brain. It’s a matter of settling our brain from 5-50 minutes; the more we let it rest, the better our mind functions. It makes sense of course just like sleep for our bodies. I’ve added that to my day even if it is just 5 minutes of quiet breathing in the car before I get out.

I’ve read quite a few great books already and I still have a full basket to go. Every summer I bring home a crate of books to read. Some are books that students loved and it’s my turn to try them and some are books I read to pre-choose the Iowa Children’s Choice Awards. I love doing this as I like to make sure there are a lot of well-rounded choices; books with diversity, books that take kids out of their small-town Iowa world, books that expand their minds, books that tell amazing stories. I’ve read a few that fit this description:

1. Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan – As a Pakistani-Muslim girl in American Amina struggles to mix her family’s culture while blending in at school. Luckily she does have one true friend in Soojin who seems more adept at understanding people. This is a rich story filled with family, food, and new beginnings but also devastating vandalism of her beloved mosque. One of my favorite quotes from the book is from her brother Mustafa – “It’s just so freaking unfair. What kind of person would want to destroy a place where people gather to pray and learn?” My thoughts exactly.

2. Bob by Wendy Mass – This story is a bit of magical realism more than fantasy to me. Livy and her mom come back to visit her grandmother in Australia 5 years after their last visit. When Livy explores her mother’s old room and the room she stayed in when she was little she finds a young greenish creature named Bob in her closet. Bob remembers everything from her last visit but Livy struggles with these same memories. She makes it her duty to figure out how to get Bob home (wherever that might be?) while her mother is off visiting old friends for a week. I had trouble getting into this story yet I liked the conclusion of Bob’s story.

3. Merci Suarez changes gears by Meg Medina – This excellent title won the Newberry medal this year! This story resonates with her family’s rich family culture as Merci navigates her private school surroundings as a scholarship culture. Eventually she learns that if she stays true to herself all will work out. Her grandfather plays a large role in her life and his world is changing as he ages and this affects the whole family as they learn to deal with his aging mind.

4. Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed – Amal lives in Pakistan with her family and she loves going to school and being in her village. Her only dream is to become a teacher. One day she has a heated encounter with her village’s horrible landlord and her dreams are quickly disrupted as she learns what it means to have an enemy. I loved this story and learned a great deal about Pakistani culture. I hope she is working on a second book of Amal so we can see if she realizes her dreams.

5. Aru Shah and the end of time by Roshani Chokshi – I’m only about 5 chapters in but am in love with this fast-paced fantasy book about spunky Aru who has awakened a demon in her mom’s Indian museum. This is one from Rick Riordan’s new imprint and it is excellent.

I’ve also read Helen Hoang’s two books; perfect, quick summer reads and sexy-not for the prudish. These are modern day romance novels even though the covers do not feature bodice-ripping of any kind. I like the characters which feature people on the autism spectrum. I read this fantastic Washington Post article about Hoang and her desire to write romance novels. Very sweet, super sexy, and I will read every book she puts out…

How is your summer?

Gregor and his last bite

I finished book five in The Underland series, Gregor and the Code of Claw, by Suzanne Collins. This has been quite an accomplishment as I read the whole series with 3 fantastic 5th grade boy readers. They’ve loved this series, reading each one in a quick span of about 2 weeks, which is an excellent triumph. Along the way each young man created a plausible character would they be lucky enough to exist in the Underland world. At our last meeting they were so animated about discussing the series and that there is not a sixth book that I charged them with appealing to Suzanne Collins to continue the series with just one more book. Like a dying man to water they all agreed how it would help them to know how Gregor is faring and if Luxa and Ripred are holding to their bond.

As a teacher and a reader I am overjoyed by their display of emotion over the book. I love that they get to know Suzanne Collins through this work as well as The Hunger Games. We’ve discussed such deep topics through this series; war and peace, what it means to be a warrior, how does this compare to our war-plagued world today, and the mind-set of a soldier during battle and after. Whew. These conversations have spilled over into guns and why we need to have guns in our homes. One of my three shared that his mother almost shot him one night as he came in late through the front door of their trailer. Guns. But this blog post isn’t about guns so much as it is about cookies. Not to {ever}make light of guns but honestly we need cookies more.

In one poignant scene as Gregor is preparing for battle, one in which he believes he is doomed to die, he eats one last cookie made by his kind neighbor Mrs. Cormaci. It’s an oatmeal raisin cookie and that cookie got me to thinking about last bites. Not a last meal, mind you, but just a taste of one last thing-what would it be? For Gregor he was very excited to have that cookie in hand.

I’m going to make these oatmeal cranberry cookies (cuz if it were my bite I would prefer cranberry over raisin) and Martha does it best. I’m going to bring these to book club this week as we have our final conversation about The Underland Chronicles, we find a way to mail our letters to Suzanne Collins and we pick our last book of the year.

The quote:

“They settled themselves down to wait. Gregor passed Ares (his bat bond) a cookie and ate the other. If he did end up dead, he was glad the last taste in his mouth came from Mrs. Cormaci’s kitchen.” {339}

Happy Saturday! This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekly cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts.

Top Ten Series I haven't finished but should…

This meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Most of these are unfinished due to the time crunch that is my lovely life.

1. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. I’ve read the first three and want to finish.

2. Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix. I read the first two and moved on.

3. Rick Riordan writes faster than I can read. I have the last book of Percy Jackson and the two more Kane Chronicles and I haven’t even started on his other series…

4. Michael Scott’s The Alchemyst. I’ve read these first 4 and have two more to go.

5. Anna Godberson’s second series, Bright Young Things. (not as riveting as The Luxe)

6. Lois Lowry’s The Giver series. Keep meaning to get this done and now the last one is coming out.

7. The Daughters series by Joanna Philben. I’ve read one and want to read the next two.

8. Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. I loved the first one. Promise to finish series before movie arrives in theatres!

9. Kristin Cashore’s Bitterblue. I’ve read the first two-loved them.

10. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I want to read the second one, Lola and the boy next door, before the last one is out.

When I first started writing I thought I was keeping up but my list easily kept growing! Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke and Bookish for reminding me of all I need to read this Fall. I’ve already clicked around to many other TTT and I have a new list started, Series I need to read!

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander; #11

The Book of Three

Lloyd Alexander

(1964)

The Chronicles of Prydain was a favorite of one of my college professors. She ran the Library Science program at the time I was studying to be a teacher-librarian. Any time I see the series I think of her and because I’m taking a class on fantasy I decided to give it a try. I’ve no idea why it took me so long-it was a wonderful!

Synopsis:

Taran is bored with his assistant Pig-Keeper duties, even though his charge is none other than Hen Wen, Prydain’s only oracular pig. He’d rather be doing something more heroic, like making swords and learning to use them.
When Hen Wen escapes and Taran goes after her, he finds himself farther from home than he’s ever been. Soon he begins to realize that heroism is not easy task. With the dreaded Horned King on the loose and King Arawn gathering the forces of evil, Taran must look past his own dreams to warn the population of Prydain-before it’s too late.

I love how fantasy so easily transports me away to another land and this one did just that. I imaged trudging through the lands of Prydain with Taran, Eilonwy and Gwydion as they follow through with each quest and do battle with the Horned King. This one has very typical good vs. evil crisis but the characters bring it completely to life. Eilonwy is a natural rebel-always curious and never willing to just follow along. She is perfect example of a positive female character and she can do a little magic! I also love a hero who’s shy and humble and Taran and Prince Gwydion both have these characteristics. I’m anxious to read the next in the series, The Black Cauldron, to discover the next adventure awaiting Taran and Eilonwy.

Did every one else read this one in high school? Better late than never for me!

28 Days of Things I Love; #11

I love me some magical fantasy!

Margaret Peterson Haddix's new series

The Missing: Book 1

Found (2008)

I remember reading The Hidden by MPH, the first in her Shadow Children series years ago with my children-the ones that are now teenagers. I don’t think we read the whole series(there are 7 total) but we read a lot of them and we were fascinated by the idea. This new series is just as amazingly unique. She takes a whole plane load of babies and drops them at an airport, no pilot, no friendly attendants. Fast forward 13 years and that crew of babies, adopted into families are now teenagers and are leading regular lives. Two of them, Jonah and Chip, begin to get odd letters in the mail.

Their investigation takes them to the FBI, where they find disappearing janitors as well as a list of survivors and witnesses. Are they survivors or witnesses? From this list, Chip and Katherine, Jonah’s sister make phone calls trying to put any pieces together. Jonah just wants to go back to his regular life before the crazy letters began. Eventually a secret meeting at the local library (nice touch; it is a great place for information) takes place with one of the witnesses and she reveals a few more odd clues. Ahhh, such a mystery!

This book is a great mix of science fiction and I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi but time travel is pretty fascinating. I’m ready to read Sent, the second in the series, which will include a little history according to the synopsis on the back of the book.

I highly recommend everything by this author!

Here is Margaret Peterson Haddix’s website.

Luxury

One of the best things about taking a road-trip is all the reading I can get down as my husband tools along. This trip we were with out any children riding, talking, or fighting in the backseat. I was enthralled in Anna Godbersen’s The Luxe and kept stopping to exclaim about all the unusual plot twists!! I couldn’t help telling him about each unique character and about the lavish balls and of course all the mixed-up love stories had to come out; so at some point, I just began to read aloud to him. It kept him awake…what can I say, it was a blast. I read all the way up and all the way back and that is how I was able to finish The Luxe in just two days, well, that and the story is absolutely riveting!! What great research Anna Godberson had to have done in order to make this story so believable and charming. I like historical fiction but have not read anything quite like this before. I loved the variety of voices the story is told in and the snippets of turn of the century advice given to begin certain chapters. It’s like 19th Century People Magazine, dishing into the rich, old and new money and famous, with their secrets and pampered lives. It is so very romantic, yet not “romance-y”(if that makes sense) and wonderfully-twisted!
I just recieved Catching Fire by S. Collins from Amazon, and want to begin that but when I finish I will have to pick up the second Luxe novel, Rumors!

Quick Synopsis (find more at the great HarperTeen site or Godbersen’s site.

In a world of luxury and deception, where appearance matters above everything and breaking the social code means running the risk of being ostracized forever, five teenagers lead dangerously scandalous lives. This thrilling trip to the age of innocence is anything but innocent. from HT website.

Click here for HarperTeen Luxe site.
ps. The Luxe has been on my tbr list because I read about it over at Janssen’s@Everyday reading! Thank you for such a great recommendation-and she’s right, the book is worth it for the cover alone. Now, if I could find a dress like that-hmmmmm-just one day I would love to wear it!