Category Archives: books

Mar23

giving back.

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Set in modern-day Appalachia, Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Demon Copperhead” is a contemporary retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, “David Copperfield.” Now, she’s using the royalties to help people in the region she depicts in the story, opening up a home for women in recovery. “I felt like, I am getting a novel from this place, and I’m going to give something back,” she said.
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“when you’re in a position to have gotten so much, the gift at this point is giving back.”
— paul stanley, american musician, kiss

 

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source/image credit: harper collins

Mar6

‘great children’s books are wisdom dipped in words and art.’ – Peter H. Reynolds

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The Kind Wolf, by Jozef Wilson

Bunny and Tree, by Balaint Zsako

And So To Bed, by Molly Brett

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in celebration of children’s literature on world book day and every day

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‘children’s books remind us in uncertain times that there is still much we do know.

kindness matters.

laughter is essential.

caring for each other is everything.’ 

-The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

Jan22

go to a library.

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whenever and wherever you need a library

look closely

you may find one in the most unlikely of places

whether deep in the woods, alongside a curb,

or myriad other places

they are all around you just waiting to be discovered. 

 

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‘when all else fails, give up and go to a library’

-stephen king

Jan9

a series of choices.

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i recently wrote a post about

my dear friend and author, breeda kelly miller

who researched, wrote a play, performed, and presented

her family’s heritage story:

https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/?s=kelly

she continues to perform the play on stage

had the play aired on pbs,

and presents her story all over the world.

above is the companion book she has written 

which includes more details, background, quotes, photos, and inside jokes

fully rounding out her family’s tale. 

this book was a lovely read

 it was a pleasure to follow along with the story

of the kelly family’s journey

from ireland to canada, and ultimately, the united states

their tale is told through the eyes of a daughter

with stories from the generations before her

sharing the true life eccentric characters and situations 

that carried all of them through life.

it’s a story of love, humor, grace, loss, and acceptance

the photographs make it easy to imagine the people she writes about 

their brave and challenging moments

along with their glories

as they made the best of situations presented to them

gained personal strength, learned as they went

finally finding their place in the world 

a place they came to call home. 

This book takes you through the ebbs and flows of their lives

while sometimes just treading water

but they make it through and inspire us to do the same.

What a beautiful legacy gift Breeda Kelly Miller has created for her family

and for all families

who can all imagine bits of themselves and their own stories in this book. 

every person, every family, every place, every choice, has a story.

looking back and learning about our past

how we came to be who we are, where we came from, bringing us to where we are now

helps us to understand and make sense of our lives.

I hope that you enjoy the Kelly family’s journey as much as I did. 

Sláinte! 

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“life, like a poem, is a series of choices.”

Dame Maggie Smith

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Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home is now available for sale at the two sites listed below:

https://breedamiller.com/products/mkjh-book/

https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Kellys-Journey-Home-American/dp/1956465235

 

Dec1

mrs. ticklefeather is missing.

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this is a reblog, as this book arrived and was promptly lost

at the detroit post office 3 years ago, and i’m hoping maybe it will arrive this year!

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as a collector of the classic golden books

i am endlessly fascinated

by their history, artwork, authors, short tales, and backstories

i finally found and ordered one i’d been looking for

“lucky mrs. ticklefeather”

which seems to have quickly made it’s way through multiple cities

only to land in detroit a few weeks ago

where is has remained

stuck in an ‘in transit’ status

ever since its arrival.

will *mrs. ticklefeather ever be found?

is she still considered lucky?

is there a rival golden book collector near me

looking for the same book?

does paul her pet puffin, have anything to do with this?

it remains to be seen and i remain hopeful

this story isn’t over yet. 

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*Book summary – Rare ~~ Mrs. Ticklefeather was a very thin old lady with a good sized feather in her hat, and on her feet she had tall black shoes with plenty of buttons. She lived on the top floor of a terribly high building because the top floor is the best place for getting sunshine, and, Oh, what a good thing sunshine is for thin old ladies. When her pet puffin, Paul, goes missing, the elderly Mrs. Ticklefeather becomes very upset, but the next day Paul returns and brings with him a special gift that brings her great and unexpected happiness. Great illustrations in mid- century yet modern style.

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“hope is the last thing ever lost.”

italian proverb

Oct23

wavy lines.

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my book of erma’s columns from over the years

 compiled by her children after her passing.

a writer i’ve loved

since hearing my mother laugh

when reading her column

many years ago

most houses in america

had at least one of her columns

stuck with a magnet on their refrigerator 

a few years back i went to a writer’s conference

at her alma mater

her legacy to past, present, and future writers

 had the time of my life

surrounded by all those creative minds

her children, grandchildren, fans

 writers and comedians from all eras

now her book takes me back through the years

with notes in the back from a wide range of people

all who paid tribute to her humanity and to her writing

 it recently became

‘my relax in the bathtub and read book’

yes, i fell asleep and dropped it into the water

at least five to seven-ish times

not because i was bored

because i was relaxed

it felt like home reading her

 i think she’d love

that i read it that way

 the now wavy lines and pages

are my personal tribute to her.

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“as a child, my number one best friend was the librarian in my grade school.

i actually believed all those books belonged to her.”

*erma bombeck

 

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*

*Erma Bombeck, 1927 –1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. She published fifteen books, most of which became bestsellers. 

Between 1965 and April 17, 1996 – five days before her death – Bombeck wrote over four thousand newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humor, chronicling the ordinary life of a Midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read semi-weekly by 30 million readers of the nine hundred newspapers in the United States and Canada. Her work stands as a humorous chronicle of middle-class life in America after WW II, among the generation of parents who produced the Baby Boomers.

 

Sep29

the monk of mokha.

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celebrate national coffee day with a your favorite cup of coffee and this wonderful book

it’s the incredible but true story of a young man, Mokhtar Alkhanshali,

a beverage, a history, a mix of cultures, and pure perseverance

the unlikely and winding journey he took

from here to there and back again

 keeps you wondering

will his dream come alive?

with a refusal to give up

a survival instinct

and lots of thinking on this feet

you’ll follow along

with this poignant, suspenseful, moving, and often funny story

as Mokhtar struggles to keep his balance

and not abandon his people

both near and far.

written by award-winning author, Dave Eggers

you can’t help but cheer him on

and you might even learn something along the way.

 

Mokhtar Alkhanshali and company

 

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“Al-Shadhili became known as the Monk of Mokha, and Mokha became the primary point of departure for all the coffee grown in Yemen and destined for faraway markets.”

-dave eggers, the monk of mokha

 

 

 

 

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credits: Dave Eggers, 2018, NYT bestseller, Knopf Publishing

Jul15

‘i think hope and magic are probably connected. ‘ – Kate DiCamillo

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thanks to the library consortium, and the detroit public libraries

i recently had the pleasure of attending an online talk

featuring one of my favorite authors, kate dicamillo

 just as friendly and full of whimsy as i had imagined

she talked about how she got her ideas

for stories and characters

how they became a part of her

i’ve loved her books for years

she writes for children of all ages

 in the last few years i’ve read some of them again

 with new eyes and life experience

i’ve been even more taken with them

each filled with hope and joy and spirit

 characters who refuse to be anything other than who they are

and who, against the odds, never surrender

she has such a brilliant magic to her writing.

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‘i like to think of myself as a storyteller.’
*kate dicamillo
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*Kate Dicamillo has written 30+ bestselling books, beloved by children and adults in touch with their inner eight-year-old, for two decades, including Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, The Magician’s Elephant, Flora & Ulysses, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Some of these have been turned into operas and movies. Her new books in 2024 include the middle grade novel Ferris and Orris and Timble: The Beginning. She is a rare two-time winner of the Newbery Medal.

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below is a link to a post i wrote not long ago, about one of my very favorite books of hers, ‘the miraculous  journey of edward tulane’, which was beautiful and moved me to tears.

journey.

Jul10

burnt toast.

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this book dedication popped up in my feed, and i’d love to know the story.

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‘remember, behind every great person is a cat ignoring them’.

-author unknown

 

Jul9

the souls they never knew they saved.

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i love the library
i’m there at least a couple of times a week
an unending source
of knowledge, humor, wisdom, drama, community, films, music, and life
the librarians are the lifeblood of the place and somehow keep it all going
in elementary school
i volunteered to help our school librarian, miss hoopengarner
where i had the incredible joy of seeing new books come in before anyone else
proudly getting them ready for the shelves for others to enjoy
i’ll never forget
i unpacked, wrapped, made up a card, glued on a pocket, checked out to myself, and stamped a return date
on the very first copy i had ever seen of ‘charlie and the chocolate factory’
 i was the first one in my entire school to read this book
how very lucky was i?
it was a level of magic i’ll never forget.
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and now, i have a little game for you to try:
your librarian name is the first name of the oldest person you know
followed by a last name composed of the adjective that best describes how you move through a room
combined with the main ingredient from the last sandwich you ate.
mine is: eleanor stumblecheese
(i rather like it)
let me know how yours turns out
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‘i’m of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path,
on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.’
-barbara kingsolver
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image credit: pinterest vintage, santa fe library, the laughing librarian (game)