Thursday, January 4, 2018
Ready or not, it's 2018
The beginnings and endings of all human undertakings are untidy.
>>John Galsworthy
Maybe it was the Christmas music or the jingle bells or the bustle of fellow bookstore shoppers that caused me to fall for the marketing ploy of readers' socks. Because I know there is no such thing. But these were not ordinary socks. They were red thick cable knit cotton with a fluffy white lining. Comfortable and warm. Immediately I pictured myself curled up with a good book sporting cozy socks.
To his credit, my husband didn't (outwardly) laugh or roll his eyes when he found me standing over the basket, socks in hand while loudly exclaiming, "they're for readers!"
A pair of the socks left the store with me.
Along with the Times Square ball, temperatures have fallen all over the United States. Here in the upper Midwest, we've set records of low temperatures. I've given myself pep talks about how bracing or invigorating it is grocery shopping when it's 7 degrees. Or, how great it is to even have a high of 7 degrees because some days haven't reached zero.
In my drafty old house, cold air is an unwelcome guest. Frigid air blows in around the doors and windows. The rooms don't feel warm until the thermostat is set at a mind boggling 72 degrees. Even then as soon as the furnace shuts off, cold air quickly rushes back in and we return to shivering even while wrapped in fleece. One happy surprise has been discovering the red socks really are warm and, dare I say, practical.
It's no surprise that January celebrates hot tea, soup, and a reading blitz. My hands will regularly be wrapped around a hot cup of tea while thinking of what I'll read next. And I'm a believer now in the power of readers' socks and their comfortable coziness and cheer on a dreary day. Maybe next year, January will also be known as Readers' Socks Month.
Start your book blitz today with a new book.
Fiction
The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin
Brass - Xhenet Aliu
Still Me - JoJo Moyes
Our Lady of the Prairie - Thisbe Nissen
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden - Denis Johnson (a collection of his short stories)
A State of Freedom - Neel Mukherjee
Neon in Daylight - Hermione Hoby
The Monk of Mokho - Dave Eggers
Promise Not to Tell - Jayne Anne Krentz
Robicheaux - James Lee Burke
Fools and Mortals - Bernard Cornwell
Shroud of Eternity - Terry Goodkind (fantasy)
Sisters Like Us - Susan Mallery
Fall from Grace - Danielle Steel
Dark in Death - J.D. Robb
Into the Black Nowhere - Meg Gardiner
City of Endless Night - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Nonfiction
This Will Be My Undoing - Morgan Jenkins (essays)
Brave - Rose McGowan (memoir)
Swearing is Good For You - Emma Bryne (science)
Anatomy of a Scandal - Sarah Vaughn
When They Call You a Terrorist - Patrisse Khan-Cullors
When to Jump - Mike Lewis
Tell Me More - Kelly Corrigan
Jackie, Janet and Lee - Randy Taraborelli (bio)
Winter - Karl Ove Knausgaard (autobiography)
January is Book Blitz Month, Hot Tea Month, National Soup Month, International Creativity Month, and Get Organized Month.
January Celebrations
4 -Trivia Day
9 -National Poetry at Work Day (or, read Mary Oliver)
14 -International Kite Day (Maybe in Miami??)
15 -Martin Luther King Jr Day
18 -Winnie The Pooh Day (Celebrate A.A. Milne)
23 -National Handwriting Day (Pick up Jenny Pearson's The Art of Cursive Handwriting)
24 -National Compliment Day
25 -A Room of One's Own Day (read the full essay by Virginia Woolf)
28 -Grammy Awards
29 -Thomas Paine Day (It's the perfect time to read Common Sense)
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Tuesday, December 19, 2017
And They Read Happily Ever After
"Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
I'm a firm believer that we're never too old to read a great picture book. And if we have a baby or toddler curled up next to us, listening and learning, it's even better.
Recently my sister and I were talking about all the babies in our lives. "We're surrounded by cuteness," she said. It's true. We have a second generation of adorable blossoming readers discovering all the magic of books. And through them, I am again transported back to picking blueberries with bears, hanging out with cows that type or anxiously waiting to find out just what the polar bear heard.
Even as a young aunt, I was a book giver. (I loved reading the books, too!) Toys and clothes were occasionally given, but I cherished the time spent choosing the perfect book for a young niece or nephew. Now they are adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s, and we still talk about books. They remember The Giving Tree and Peter Rabbit. They remember trips to the library and book stores.
And some of those same books are special to their children. As a great-aunt, I'm still excited about buying a memorable book for my youngest of developing readers.
Choosing a picture book can seem daunting with so many choices on the shelves. First, have fun looking around the store. Don't hesitate to ask for suggestions. And think back to your own childhood...which books interested you? Look for familiar names like Seuss, Boynton, or Carle. Are you looking for a quiet book (Goodnight Moon) or an explosion of sound (Sheep in a Jeep)? A classic or introductory science? Books about siblings or the alphabet?
Many books are published in both board book and picture book formats. Board books are usually able to withstand a lot of chewing, throwing and grabbing. Board book topics range from colors to yoga to sign language to nursery rhymes.
Do you need a last-minute gift idea? Buy some bath toys, a soft baby robe or towel, and a fun waterproof bath book (Barnyard Bath or Bath Time!) by Sandra Boynton.
Packing for a trip? Grab a few of the Indestructible series (Baby Night Night or Things That Go). The language is very simple but the books themselves are just about... indestructible.
If you've forgotten the joy of a picture book, check out Bruce Handy's book Wild Things - The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult or Leonard Marcus' compilation of conversations with celebrated illustrators about why picture books matter in Show Me a Story!
Have fun shopping and reading!
Classics
Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey
Corduroy - Don Freeman
The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown
The Snowy Day - Ezra Jack Keats
Where's Spot? - Eric Hill
Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
Paddington - Michael Bond
And check out these classic authors: Eve Bunting, Marc Brown (Arthur series), Tomie dePaola, Chris Van Allsburg and Steven Kellogg.
Manners
Please and Thank You Book - Richard Scarry
Cookies: Bite Sized Lessons - Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Llama Llama Time to Share - Anna Dewdney
The Thank You Book - Mo Willems
First Books
I Wish You More - Amy Krouse Rosenthal
When the World was Waiting for You - Gillian Shields
On the Night You Were Born - Nancy Tillman
What a Wonderful World - Tim Hapgood
Pat the Bunny - Dorothy Kunhardt
Ten Tiny Toes - Caroline J. Church
Love
Hugs for You - Paula Hannigan
That's Me Loving You - Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Sugar Cookies - Amy Krouse Rosenthal
I Love You to the Moon and Back - Amelia Hepworth
I Love You More - Laura Duksta
Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You - Nancy Tillman
I Love You Through and Through - Bernadette Rosetti-Shustak
How Do I Love You? - Marion D. Bauer
Love You Forever - Robert Munsch
Papa Please Get the Moon for Me - Eric Carle
Action
The Napping House - Audrey Wood, Don Wood
We're Going on a Bear Hunt - Helen Oxenbury
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed - Eileen Christelow
Little Blue Truck - Alice Schertle
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr.
Dinosaur Dance - Sandra Boynton
Silly Sally - Audrey Wood
Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy Shaw
New Classics
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems
The Day the Crayons Quit - Drew Daywalt
Click Clack Moo Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin
Science/Early nonfiction
Baby Loves Science series:
Quarks
Aerospace Engineering
Thermodynamics
Richard Scarry - Best Word Book Ever, Busy Busy Day, A Day at the Fire Station
Jamie Lee Curtis - Today I Feel Silly, Big Words for Little People
Byron Barton - Building a House, I Want to be an Astronaut, Machines at Work
Gail Gibbons - From Seed to Plant, Farming, Sea Turtles
Classics with a Twist
Baby Lit series - Jennifer Adams:
The Nutcracker (dancing)
Little Women (playtime)
Moby Dick (ocean)
A Christmas Carol (colors)
Strong Girls
Feminist Baby - Loryn Brantz
This Little Trailblazer - Joan Holub
She Persisted - Chelsea Clinton
Isabella: Girl in Charge - Jennifer Fosberry
Malala's Magic Pencil - Malala Yousafzal
Little People Big Dreams (series): Marie Curie, Rosa Parks
Baby's Big World: Women Who Changed the World - Alex Fabrizio
My New Favorites
Birds - Kevin Henkes
What a Wonderful World - Tim Hapgood
Itsy Bitsy Spider - Iza Trapani (among others)
When the World was Waiting for you - Gillian Shields
I Wish You More - Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Siblings
Little Miss, Big Sis - Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Sisters - David McPhail
The New Baby - Mercer Mayer
I'm a Big Brother/Sister - Joanna Cole
Good Night
Llama Llama Nighty Night - Anna Dewdney
Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown
Dream Animals - Emily Winfield Martin
Ten, Nine, Eight - Molly Bang
Pete the Cat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - James Dean
Goodnight Yoga - Mariam Gates
Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site - Sherri D. Rinker
The Night Gardener - Terry Fox
Goodnight, I Love You - Caroline J. Church
You Can Never Go Wrong With...
Lois Ehlert - Snowballs, Eating the Alphabet, Leaf Man, Feathers for Lunch, Planting a Rainbow
Eric Carle - Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear Brown Bear, The Tiny Seed, ABC, (with Bill Martin, Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear?)
Dr. Seuss - Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, What Pet Should I Get?
Kevin Henkes - Birds, Sheila Rae the Brave, Lilly's Plastic Purse, Old Bear
Paul Galdone (fairy tales) - The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Henny Penny, Jack and the Beanstalk
Beatrix Potter - The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, The Tale of Two Bad Mice
Books About Books
Read to Your Bunny - Rosemary Wells
Bunny's Book Club - Annie Silvestro
Rocket Writes a Story - Tad Hills
Llama Llama's Little Library - Anna Dewdney
Lola at the Library - Anna McQueen
Library Lion - Michelle Knudsen
Biscuit Loves the Library - Alyssa Capucilli
How to Read a Story - Kate Messner
Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed - Eileen Christelow
* * * * *
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Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Mortalis*
"The curse of mortality. You spend the first portion of your life learning, growing stronger, more capable. And then, through no fault of your own, your body begins to fail. You regress. Beauty withers. Organs fail. As your wisdom and experience are peaking, your traitorous body becomes a prison." Brandon Mull, author of Fablehaven
Emma Morano of Verbania, Italy, witnessed a lot of change in her 117 years of life. She arrived along with the new century, lived through two world wars, watched a world quickly changing thanks to industry and technology. According to The New York Times, Emma Morano was the oldest documented person on Earth at 117 years, 137 days, and a few hours. She was also the last person documented to have been born in the 1800s. The Times described her as a devout Catholic who was married once and only briefly because she "didn't want to be dominated by anyone." Her diet included three raw eggs each day. Being well-groomed was important as was the anti-aging skin cream found in her nightstand drawer, the Times reported. Emma Morano died April 15, 2017.
We're often reminded that only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. Taxes are fairly predictable. Death is a sometimes unpredictable, always inescapable conclusion. Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, summed it up this way: "On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
If you're struggling with the death of loved ones or your own mortality, you aren't alone. At times it can seem that grief has moved in and now has a permanent seat at the table.
Rumi, a Persian poet (1207-1273), wrote that being human is to have unwelcome guests of grief, anger, fear, etc... His poem, "The Guest House," is often used in mindfulness classes and retreats:
"This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor."
The unexpected visitors can be difficult subjects. There are books to enlighten, accompany, and comfort us.
Every Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
End of Your Life Book Club - Will Schwalbe
Being Mortal - Atul Gawande
On Living - Kerry Egan
Bettyville - George Hodgman
Enjoy Every Sandwich - Lee Lipsenthal
A Widow's Story - Joyce Carol Oates
The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
The Theft of Memory - Jonathan Kozol
The Year of Magical Thinking &
Blue Nights - Joan Didion
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? - Roz Chast
The Bright Hour - Nina Riggs
The Middle Place - Kelly Corrigan
Stitches - Anne Lamott
The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story - Edwidge Danticat
"Songs to aging children come,
Aging children, I am one.
People hurry by so quickly
Don't they hear the melodies
In the chiming and the clicking
And the laughing harmonies?
Songs to aging children come,
Aging children, I am one." Joni Mitchell, 1967
* * * * *
* Mortalis - (Latin, 1520s) noun. A mortal, human being. American Heritage Dictionary
* * * * *
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"The curse of mortality. You spend the first portion of your life learning, growing stronger, more capable. And then, through no fault of your own, your body begins to fail. You regress. Beauty withers. Organs fail. As your wisdom and experience are peaking, your traitorous body becomes a prison." Brandon Mull, author of Fablehaven
Emma Morano of Verbania, Italy, witnessed a lot of change in her 117 years of life. She arrived along with the new century, lived through two world wars, watched a world quickly changing thanks to industry and technology. According to The New York Times, Emma Morano was the oldest documented person on Earth at 117 years, 137 days, and a few hours. She was also the last person documented to have been born in the 1800s. The Times described her as a devout Catholic who was married once and only briefly because she "didn't want to be dominated by anyone." Her diet included three raw eggs each day. Being well-groomed was important as was the anti-aging skin cream found in her nightstand drawer, the Times reported. Emma Morano died April 15, 2017.
We're often reminded that only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. Taxes are fairly predictable. Death is a sometimes unpredictable, always inescapable conclusion. Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, summed it up this way: "On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
If you're struggling with the death of loved ones or your own mortality, you aren't alone. At times it can seem that grief has moved in and now has a permanent seat at the table.
Rumi, a Persian poet (1207-1273), wrote that being human is to have unwelcome guests of grief, anger, fear, etc... His poem, "The Guest House," is often used in mindfulness classes and retreats:
"This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor."
The unexpected visitors can be difficult subjects. There are books to enlighten, accompany, and comfort us.
Every Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
End of Your Life Book Club - Will Schwalbe
Being Mortal - Atul Gawande
On Living - Kerry Egan
Bettyville - George Hodgman
Enjoy Every Sandwich - Lee Lipsenthal
A Widow's Story - Joyce Carol Oates
The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
The Theft of Memory - Jonathan Kozol
The Year of Magical Thinking &
Blue Nights - Joan Didion
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? - Roz Chast
The Bright Hour - Nina Riggs
The Middle Place - Kelly Corrigan
Stitches - Anne Lamott
The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story - Edwidge Danticat
"Songs to aging children come,
Aging children, I am one.
People hurry by so quickly
Don't they hear the melodies
In the chiming and the clicking
And the laughing harmonies?
Songs to aging children come,
Aging children, I am one." Joni Mitchell, 1967
* * * * *
* Mortalis - (Latin, 1520s) noun. A mortal, human being. American Heritage Dictionary
* * * * *
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Monday, December 4, 2017
Random Word
"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
Rudyard Kipling
Protean: (PRO-tee-en) adj.1598. 1: of or resembling Proteus in having a varied nature or ability to assume different forms 2: displaying great diversity or variety
Synonyms: adaptable, conversant, handy, skilled, variable
Sources: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Roget's Thesaurus of Words for Writers, thesaurus.com.
"To realize the emotions she (Stevie) wanted to express, Jimmy Iovine brought in the protean young English arranger-conductor Paul Buckmaster, famous for his work with the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Miles Davis."
from Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis
* * * * *
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"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
Rudyard Kipling
Protean: (PRO-tee-en) adj.1598. 1: of or resembling Proteus in having a varied nature or ability to assume different forms 2: displaying great diversity or variety
Synonyms: adaptable, conversant, handy, skilled, variable
Sources: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Roget's Thesaurus of Words for Writers, thesaurus.com.
"To realize the emotions she (Stevie) wanted to express, Jimmy Iovine brought in the protean young English arranger-conductor Paul Buckmaster, famous for his work with the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Miles Davis."
from Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis
* * * * *
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Friday, December 1, 2017
December...it's going to get loud in here*
"...all the Who girls and boys, would wake bright and early. They'd rush for their toys! And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! That's one thing he hated! The Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! >>Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It's not every day that you attend a tuba concert at a library. But if you're lucky enough to be in the vicinity of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Dec. 2, stop in to the library and be cheered by tubas.
As in years past, it is expected to be loud and merry with dozens of tubas playing holiday music. People will be sitting everywhere - stairs, benches, display areas. They'll be clapping and singing, surrounded by music.
I've discovered that it's not just books that create a library. It's a cup of coffee with The New York Times. It's a rooftop garden hosting a bridal shower. It's a little boy sporting an elf hat eating a cookie declaring that "this is the best day of my life." It's high school students playing violins in the lobby. It's genealogy classes. It's Story Time for excited preschoolers. It's a live reindeer snorting (and prancing?) on the sidewalk.
It's my library.
It's my community.
After a lively holiday concert, find a comfortable chair or sofa and read one of these new December books.
Fiction:
Elmot - Fiona Mozley
Three Daughters of Eve - Elif Shafak
Spy of the First Person - Sam Shephard (his final novel)
Enchantress of Numbers - Jennifer Chiaverini
The Demon Crown - James Rollins
The Boy - Tami Hoag
Year One - Nora Roberts
Death at Nuremberg - W.E.B. Griffin
The Wanted - Robert Crais
One Station Away - Olaf Olafsson
Nonfiction:
No Time to Spare - Ursula LeGuin (essays)
Global Discontents - Noam Chomsky
Waking Up in Winter - Cheryl Richardson
Children:
Paddington's Finest Hour - Michael Bond
Love From Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
Dog Man and Cat Kid - Dav Pilkey
December Days
1 - Basketball Day (Yay to UConn women's team!!)
4 - National Cookie Day (Read America's Test Kitchen's The Perfect Cookie)
5 - Rosa Parks arrested, 1955. Boycott of bus system in Montgomery, Alabama began. (Learn more in Rosa Parks: My Story)
6 - St. Nicholas Day
7 - Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
8 - Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day (Read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon or The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger)
10 - Dewey Decimal System Day
11 - UNICEF Day
12 - National Hot Cocoa Day (try a new recipe with Michael Turback's Hot Chocolate)
13 - Hanukkah begins (All About Hanukkah by Madeline Wikler)
14-28- Halcyon Days (Joy, felicity, jubilation,mirth)
15 - Bill of Rights Day
17 - Wright Brothers Day (Read David McCullough's The Wright Brothers)
21 - Celebrate Short Fiction Day
- World Peace Day (Read Malala Yousafzai's memoir I am Malala)
24 - Egg Nog Day (Read Christmas Cookbook by Daniel Humpheys
25 - Christmas Day
- Jimmy Buffett's 71st birthday. (Sing along with his book A Pirate Looks at Fifty)
29 - No Interruptions Day
31 - Make Up Your Mind Day
- Leap Second Adjustment Time
* * * * *
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"...all the Who girls and boys, would wake bright and early. They'd rush for their toys! And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! That's one thing he hated! The Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! >>Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It's not every day that you attend a tuba concert at a library. But if you're lucky enough to be in the vicinity of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Dec. 2, stop in to the library and be cheered by tubas.
As in years past, it is expected to be loud and merry with dozens of tubas playing holiday music. People will be sitting everywhere - stairs, benches, display areas. They'll be clapping and singing, surrounded by music.
I've discovered that it's not just books that create a library. It's a cup of coffee with The New York Times. It's a rooftop garden hosting a bridal shower. It's a little boy sporting an elf hat eating a cookie declaring that "this is the best day of my life." It's high school students playing violins in the lobby. It's genealogy classes. It's Story Time for excited preschoolers. It's a live reindeer snorting (and prancing?) on the sidewalk.
It's my library.
It's my community.
After a lively holiday concert, find a comfortable chair or sofa and read one of these new December books.
Fiction:
Elmot - Fiona Mozley
Three Daughters of Eve - Elif Shafak
Spy of the First Person - Sam Shephard (his final novel)
Enchantress of Numbers - Jennifer Chiaverini
The Demon Crown - James Rollins
The Boy - Tami Hoag
Year One - Nora Roberts
Death at Nuremberg - W.E.B. Griffin
The Wanted - Robert Crais
One Station Away - Olaf Olafsson
Nonfiction:
No Time to Spare - Ursula LeGuin (essays)
Global Discontents - Noam Chomsky
Waking Up in Winter - Cheryl Richardson
Children:
Paddington's Finest Hour - Michael Bond
Love From Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
Dog Man and Cat Kid - Dav Pilkey
December Days
1 - Basketball Day (Yay to UConn women's team!!)
4 - National Cookie Day (Read America's Test Kitchen's The Perfect Cookie)
5 - Rosa Parks arrested, 1955. Boycott of bus system in Montgomery, Alabama began. (Learn more in Rosa Parks: My Story)
6 - St. Nicholas Day
7 - Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
8 - Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day (Read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon or The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger)
10 - Dewey Decimal System Day
11 - UNICEF Day
12 - National Hot Cocoa Day (try a new recipe with Michael Turback's Hot Chocolate)
13 - Hanukkah begins (All About Hanukkah by Madeline Wikler)
14-28- Halcyon Days (Joy, felicity, jubilation,mirth)
15 - Bill of Rights Day
17 - Wright Brothers Day (Read David McCullough's The Wright Brothers)
21 - Celebrate Short Fiction Day
- World Peace Day (Read Malala Yousafzai's memoir I am Malala)
24 - Egg Nog Day (Read Christmas Cookbook by Daniel Humpheys
25 - Christmas Day
- Jimmy Buffett's 71st birthday. (Sing along with his book A Pirate Looks at Fifty)
29 - No Interruptions Day
31 - Make Up Your Mind Day
- Leap Second Adjustment Time
* * * * *
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 |
| **Poster from a previous year... it's tuba time at the library! |
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
November...
which means it's NaNoWriMo 2017
"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." >> Ray Bradbury
It's time to gather your ideas, sharpen pencils (and minds), sit down and begin to write.
And write.
It's November, and time to celebrate National Novel Writing Month 2017. What? You don't have plans for a novel but you've been kicking around ideas for a picture book or memoir? You're in luck - November is also National Picture Month and National Memoir Month. If your genre is poetry or essays, pick up that pen. Sit at the keyboard.
And write.
Celebrate creativity every day this month. Write. Draw. Sing. Dance. Imagine.
Creative Sprint: Six 30-day Challenges to Jumpstart Your Creativity - Noah Scalin & Mica Scalin. Use the last song you remember hearing as your theme for the day (Day 4); write your recipe for happiness (Day 7); retell your favorite book or movie from a different perspective (Day 30).
The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional - Agustin Fuentes. Humans may not be the only artists on the planet - bowerbirds (Australia & New Guinea) spend "a good deal of time investing in something we call art." Learn other fascinating flights of creativity in Fuentes' book.
Letters to a Young Writer - Colum McCann. Don't let "young" scare you off from reading McCann's brief collection of letters. Even if you can quote from memory all the writing advice...it's good to review occasionally.
Show Your Work! - Austin Kleon. Try writing blackout poetry. Open your mind to creativity. As Kleon advises, "don't turn into human spam."
Looking for more ideas? Check out Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk: And Other Truths About Being Creative by Danielle Krysa; Spark: How Creativity Works by Julie Burstein; Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer; Journal Sparks by Emily Newberger; and Rip the Page: Adventures in Creative Writing by Karen Benke.
And make time to read November's new books.
Memoirs/Bios: The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis; Rickie Lee by Rickie Lee Jones; The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina Brown; Prairie Fires: The Life and Times of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser; Gold Dust Woman: Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis.
Cookbooks: Tasting Hygge by Leela Cyd; Moto: The Cookbook by Homaro Cantu; Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook by Jim Lahey; Naturally Vegetarian by Valentina Solfrini; Bread is Gold by Massimo Bottura.
Fiction: Midnight Line by Lee Child; Darker by E.L. James; Hardcore 24 by Janet Evanovich; End Game by David Balducci; In This Moment by Karen Kingsbury; Artemis by Andy Weir.
Celebrate these November days...
1 Howl and Other Poems (Allen Ginsburg) published 1956
National Authors' Day
2 Plan Your Epitaph Day
3 Cliche Day
6-10 National Young Readers' Week
8 Aid and Abet Punsters Day
10 Sesame Street premiere, 1969
Sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975
13-17 American Education Week
13-19 National Book Awards Week
19-25 National Game and Puzzle Week
23 Fibonacci Day: 11/23 >> 1+1=2; 2+1=3
30 The Joy of Cooking (Irma Rombauer) published 1931
* * * * *
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which means it's NaNoWriMo 2017
"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." >> Ray Bradbury
It's time to gather your ideas, sharpen pencils (and minds), sit down and begin to write.
And write.
It's November, and time to celebrate National Novel Writing Month 2017. What? You don't have plans for a novel but you've been kicking around ideas for a picture book or memoir? You're in luck - November is also National Picture Month and National Memoir Month. If your genre is poetry or essays, pick up that pen. Sit at the keyboard.
And write.
Celebrate creativity every day this month. Write. Draw. Sing. Dance. Imagine.
Creative Sprint: Six 30-day Challenges to Jumpstart Your Creativity - Noah Scalin & Mica Scalin. Use the last song you remember hearing as your theme for the day (Day 4); write your recipe for happiness (Day 7); retell your favorite book or movie from a different perspective (Day 30).
The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional - Agustin Fuentes. Humans may not be the only artists on the planet - bowerbirds (Australia & New Guinea) spend "a good deal of time investing in something we call art." Learn other fascinating flights of creativity in Fuentes' book.
Letters to a Young Writer - Colum McCann. Don't let "young" scare you off from reading McCann's brief collection of letters. Even if you can quote from memory all the writing advice...it's good to review occasionally.
Show Your Work! - Austin Kleon. Try writing blackout poetry. Open your mind to creativity. As Kleon advises, "don't turn into human spam."
Looking for more ideas? Check out Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk: And Other Truths About Being Creative by Danielle Krysa; Spark: How Creativity Works by Julie Burstein; Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer; Journal Sparks by Emily Newberger; and Rip the Page: Adventures in Creative Writing by Karen Benke.
And make time to read November's new books.
Memoirs/Bios: The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis; Rickie Lee by Rickie Lee Jones; The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina Brown; Prairie Fires: The Life and Times of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser; Gold Dust Woman: Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis.
Cookbooks: Tasting Hygge by Leela Cyd; Moto: The Cookbook by Homaro Cantu; Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook by Jim Lahey; Naturally Vegetarian by Valentina Solfrini; Bread is Gold by Massimo Bottura.
Fiction: Midnight Line by Lee Child; Darker by E.L. James; Hardcore 24 by Janet Evanovich; End Game by David Balducci; In This Moment by Karen Kingsbury; Artemis by Andy Weir.
Celebrate these November days...
1 Howl and Other Poems (Allen Ginsburg) published 1956
National Authors' Day
2 Plan Your Epitaph Day
3 Cliche Day
6-10 National Young Readers' Week
8 Aid and Abet Punsters Day
10 Sesame Street premiere, 1969
Sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975
13-17 American Education Week
13-19 National Book Awards Week
19-25 National Game and Puzzle Week
23 Fibonacci Day: 11/23 >> 1+1=2; 2+1=3
30 The Joy of Cooking (Irma Rombauer) published 1931
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