Tuesday, November 15, 2016

                       Keep Typing

"Writers can affirm and celebrate or they can destroy."                                                                                                   --William Zinsser



Scene: American Housewife (ABC) situation comedy. Husband is settling into den to write about John Stuart Mill. His wife observes his writing ritual which is reported as: "He poses like Wonder Woman for 2 minutes to raise his testosterone. Then he listens to jazz to activate his right brain. Next, he eats almonds for energy. Finally, he has a glass of port to loosen up. If we were rich, it'd be eccentric. We're not, so it's just plain weird." 

We all have them...writing rituals. A special chair or pen, clean office or crowded library, mornings only or at midnight when the house is finally quiet. The rituals can be adorable, or as mentioned, just plain weird. Maybe the key question is if the rituals help the writing or prevent the writing. On an episode of House Hunters International, a man hoping to write his first book toured a potential property and proclaimed that he couldn't write in the space. Couldn't or wouldn't?? Books have been written in coffee shops and offices. They've been written by harried moms of preschoolers and busy attorneys. Doctors and laborers.

November 15 is "I Love to Write Day." If you're participating in NaNoWriMo, you're halfway there. Hopefully this can be a day of perfect verbs and nouns, phrases that don't sound cliched, and characters that ring true, not as silly caricatures.

If your writing has hit a wall, it can help to get advice from the masters. William Zinsser, author of several books including On Writing Well, advised writers to ask what are your values and intentions as a writer? If you're writing a memoir, hold the emotion, Zinsser said. He added that writers shouldn't set out to write a heart-tugging memoir, to make sure details ring true, and that getting published isn't the only reason to write your story. "Don't whine," he said. For more information, check out Zinsser's blog, The American Scholar.

Books to consider: 

The Writing Life: A collection of essays and interviews - National Book Award authors

Writing About Your Life - William Zinsser

Expressive Writing: Words That Heal - Pennebaker/Evans

Writing From the Body - John Lee

Chambers Biographical Dictionary

Bill Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words - Bill Bryson

The Craft & Business of Writing - Writer's Digest Books

Steering the Craft - Ursula LeGuin

The Grammar Devotional - Mignon Fogarty

To Show and To Tell - Phillip Lopate

On Becoming a Novelist - John Gardner

Art of Memoir - Mary Karr

The Mindful Writer - Dinty Moore

Writing Flash Nonfiction/Writing Flash Fiction - Rose Metal Press Guide

Micro Fiction - Jerome Stern


"I'm not sure what prompted me to start writing another book....there was certainly nothing to be gained by feeling sorry for myself. Telling stories was still a means of escape. And so I put a fresh sheet of paper into the machine, ready to flee once again. This time I no longer thought about getting published, but just wrote for my own amusement. The journey, not the destination, became the thing, and I rediscovered the simple satisfaction of seeing my ideas materialize before me, sentence after sentence." from A Good American by Alex George  

                                    * * * * *

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Sunday, November 13, 2016

              Little Bits of Good*

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


It is not an uncommmon question - "where were you when..." And those "when" topics have shaped the United States - President Nixon's impeachment, 9-11-01, Armstrong on the moon, etc... 

One of my own first clear memories is watching my mother weep after the 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy. For many days to follow, the mood in our house was somber and hushed.

In April 1968, I was sitting cross-legged in my front yard, next to my older sister. It was still early spring and the trees were not fully leaved which gave us a gauzy distant vision of downtown Kansas City. From our suburban yard, we could see flames shooting into the sky. Our city was on fire. I started asking questions all beginning with "why." Why are people so angry? Why are there fires? Why are we under a curfew? Why are our parents so tense? At nine-years-old, I struggled to understand the news, the heavy shock of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. My sister tried to explain - fear, race, economics, but I think she wasn't sure of any answers either.

When the "why" questions demand to be answered or at least addressed, books can help us with ideas and considerations. 


"Extremists have shown what frightens them the most is a girl with a book." -- Malala Yousafzai


                              Nonfiction

Common Sense - Thomas Paine
Civil Disobedience - Henry David Thoreau
Self-Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Diary of Anne Frank
The Autobiography of Margaret Sanger - Margaret Sanger
20 Years at Hull-House - Jane Addams
1968 - Mark Kurlansky
Steal This Book - Abbie Hoffman
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom - Catherine Clinton
On Liberty, the Subjection of Women and Utilitarianism - John Stuart Mill
John Adams - David McCullough
Black Boy - Richard Wright
Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin
A Testament of Hope - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Bad Feminist - Roxanne Gay
A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines - Gail Collins
Suffragette: My Own Story - Emmeline Parkhurst
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman - Mary Wollstonecraft
The Long Loneliness - Dorothy Day
Dust Tracks on a Road - Zora Neale Hurston
The Givenness of Things: Essays - Marilynne Robinson
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power - Jon Meachum
33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs - Dorian Lynskey


                                 Fiction 

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Lottery - Shirley Jackson
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd
Flight Behavior - Barbara Kingsolver
Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo

                             * * * * *

What I'm reading now: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Jared Diamond.


*"Do your little bits of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
                                                             --Bishop Desmond Tutu


                             * * * * * 

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Monday, November 7, 2016

                       Random Word

Virginia Woolf: "Language is wine upon the lips."

Circuitous: sir-KYOO-uh-tuss/adj/1664. 1) Having a circular or winding course  2) not being forthright or direct in language or action. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

Synonyms: roundabout, indirect, meandering, serpentine (thesaurus.com)

"...there is no court rule that prohibits the filing of petitions not sanctioned by court rule, if you follow." Bennie knew it sounded circuitous, but she was right on the law."  from Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline.



                             * * * * * 


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Thursday, November 3, 2016

                         November

"Every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile." --Elie Wiesel


As we begin a new month filled with thankfulness, maybe we need a theme song to lead us. A suggestion -  "What the World Needs Now" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It's been sung by many artists including Jackie deShannon, Judy Garland and Dionne Warwick. Recently the song was recorded by Broadway performers to show their support for the victims of the June shooting at Pulse, a nightclub in Orlando. (Song available on iTunes)

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that's there just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, no not just for some, but for everyone." 

It's a fairly simple idea that too often becomes complicated in its application. Maybe Elie Wiesel had the best idea - start with a smile.


                                     * * * * *

Books are great companions. Introduce yourself to new thrillers, mysteries, novels and ideas to ponder. In November, look for books by Erika Johansen, Joe Hill, Patricia Cornwell, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich, Anne Rice, James Patterson, Jeffrey Archer, Clive Cussler, Danielle Steel, Jayne Ann Krentz, and David Balducci. There are novels by Alice Hoffman, Wally Lamb, Zadie Smith, Michael Chabon, J.K. Rowling, Paolo Coelho, Fannie Flagg, and Richard Paul Evans.

Looking for a surreal menu experience? Eat dinner along with Salvador Dali. Sing with Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson. Here's your chance to learn more about Trevor Noah and Anna Kendrick...and everyone's favorite Gilmore Girl, Lauren Graham. We can try to figure out the world by reading Thomas L. Friedman, Hilary Plum and Thich Nhat Hanh. And it's OK to be an adult and still want to read the Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney or enjoy the new Dr. Seuss-themed coloring book. 

November is National Memoir Writing Month, National Family Literacy Month, NaNoWriMo, Picture Book Month, Aviation History Month and Manatee Awareness Month.


                               November Days


1-7    - World Communication Week

2       - Plan Your Epitaph Day

3       - Cliche Day

5       - Digital Scrapbooking Day

6       - Daylight Savings Time ENDS

8       - Election Day

11     - Veterans' Day

13-19 - World Kindness Week
           Geography Awareness Week

14-20 - National Book Awards Week

15      - I LOVE to Write Day

19      - Mother Goose Day
            Rocky & Bullwinkle Day

20-26 - National Game & Puzzle Week

21-27 - Better Conversation Week

23      - National Espresso Day

25      - National Day of Listening

                                     * * * * *

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Wednesday, November 2, 2016

                  Everlasting Natalie

"You really have to love words if you're going to be a writer, because, as a writer, you certainly spend a lot of time with words. A suggestion for someone who wants to start writing? Be a reader. It's the only real way to learn how to tell a story. Readers are lucky -- they will never be bored or lonely." -- Natalie Babbitt



Natalie Babbitt, author of Tuck Everlasting, Knee Knock Rise and The Moon Over High Street died Oct. 31, 2016. She was 84 years old. Babbitt is probably best known for Tuck Everlasting, a novel written for children and also enjoyed by adults. 
Published in 1975



from Tuck Everlasting: "Closing the gates on her oldest fears as she had closed the gate of her own fenced yard, she discovered the wings she'd always wished she had."

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

      An Evening with...Candice Millard                   
"I've always been interested in the idea of self-reinvention." 
                                                                        --Candice Millard


Great leaders are born, not made and one name stands alone as a virtual synonym for leadership - Winston Churchill, said Candice Millard, introducing her newest book, Hero of the Empire.

"Winston Churchill was a master politician and one of the most famous people in history but we don't talk about what created him," she added, speaking to a large audience at Unity Temple in Kansas City, MO. 

As a way of discovering what drove Churchill to such political heights, Millard researched his early years. By the time Churchill was 24 years old, he had been in three wars. He loved the gallantry of the military and was fascinated by power. "He (Churchill) was the first to sign up and the first to show off," Millard said. "He worked as a journalist and was a very good writer." Hero of the Empire is the story of what happened when Winston Churchill was hired to cover the Second Boer War as a correspondent and was subsequently captured and held as a prisoner of war. Churchill hated every minute of captivity, said Millard.

After his escape and return to England, Churchill was nearly unstoppable. He ran for a seat in Parliament and won. As a man and leader, Churchill was far from perfect, Millard said. He could an elitist and arrogant, but from him "we get lessons on grit and the power of words," she added. "He lived for 90 years. It was a crowded life." 


His crowded life is well documented. Millard traveled to England and South Africa to research Churchill's life during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and his rise to political power.  She was happy to find a wealth of primary sources which are "important for narrative non-fiction," she said. "This is such a great story."

Digging into history isn't new to Millard.  Her first book, River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey chronicled TR's exploration of the Amazon River. Her second book, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President examined James Garfield's presidency, assassination attempt and later death, largely because of deplorable medical care. Hero of the Empire joins these earlier books as a New York Times bestseller. 

When the former National Geographic editor isn't researching or writing, she enjoys reading novelists Ian McEwan and Hilary Mantel. Millard's favorite non-fiction writers are no surprise - both are noted historians - Stacy Shiff (Cleopatra) and Nathaniel Philbrick (Valiant Ambition). Millard said it was "a thrill" to meet acclaimed historian David McCullough (The Wright Brothers) at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. 

There are already ideas for the next book but a final decision will be made in early 2017 when her book tour is finished, Millard said. Although the topic will almost certainly be history, Millard maintains she is not a historian, instead, she "writes about history."

For more information about the life of Winston Churchill, browse the website of the Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri:  https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/ 

                   "Writing a book is an adventure" - Winston Churchill

                                   * * * * *

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Tuesday, October 25, 2016

                 Pencil, Paper, Plot...Go!

"Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: do not use semicolons."
                                                                                       -- Kurt Vonnegut


Sharpen your pencils. Settle into your chair. Organize your thoughts. Take a deep breath. Write.

It's almost time for National Novel Writing Month, or as it is affectionately known, NaNoWriMo . Every November, the good folks at http://nanowrimo.org/ encourage us to get busy with a goal of writing every day. By the end of the month, a 50,000 word novel is born. 

In 2015, more than 430,000 people heeded NaNoWriMo's invitation to write.The annual challenge has paid off for novelists. Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and Eric Morgenstern's The Night Circus are NaNoWriMo creations.

For those of us not interested in writing a novel, daily work on a memoir, poem, essay or children's picture book is also good exercise. Think of it as pilates with a pencil or keyboard.

Let those nouns and verbs flow from brain to paper or screen. Don't edit as you write - get the first draft written. All of it. As William Wordsworth said, "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." 

Most of all, have fun writing in November. Imagine yourself as a writer in a threadbare sweater drinking gallons of hot tea and searching for the perfect verb while writing the next Great American Novel. You won't be alone because according to Cornelia Funke, "all writers are lunatics."

Indeed.

                                      * * * * * 

If you need a gentle shove in the right direction, get to a bookstore or library and check out these helpful guides.

Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel - Dan Cooney

The Writer's Digest Handbook of Novel Writing - Tom Clark

Zen in the Art of Writing - Rad Bradbury

Lawrence Block's Writing the Novel

On Writing - Stephen King

Element of Style - William Strunk Jr.

Escaping Into the Open - Elizabeth Berg

Writing Fiction - Gotham Writers' Workshop

Writing Fiction - Janet Burroway & Elizabeth Stuckey-French

                                      
                                        * * * * *
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Monday, October 10, 2016

            Going Old School in October


Autumn was upon them. Here and there, leaves struggled to turn color, and the day was cloudy and cool. from Karen Cushman's Grayling's Song


It started with buying a journal (or two) embellished with photos of old typewriters or QWERTY art. Then I rediscovered a vintage Underwood typewriter in our basement. My husband reminded me that his mother bought it at a garage sale and toted it home for her five children. It now sits in our living room with various black and white postcards (Samuel Beckett, Flannery O'Connor, et al) dressing it up. 

I have typewriter stickers and artwork. I have books about typewriters. When I text, the sound is a clickety-clack straight from a 1950s typing pool.

After hemming and hawing for a few months, I reached a decision today. Sitting in the back seat of my car is a typewriter. Black. Metal. Not electric. It has an ink ribbon. It won't self-correct. It won't offer suggestions of similar words.

Why is there a typewriter in my back seat? I'm not a total Luddite. I depend on the Internet for wide-ranging searches. For news updates. For shopping/browsing. But I also feel sad when I scan a restaurant and see entire groups seated together, heads down and texting, posting or searching. Or people taking selfies continuously during a concert while not paying any attention to the singer/musician on the stage.

We're incredibly connected and totally disconnected at the same time.

Why is there a typewriter in my back seat? I want to hear the clickety-clack and see words magically appear on paper, not just on a screen. I want to reverse decades and be 17 again with a typewriter, crisp white paper, a plot and a dream. I want to hear the crank as I roll in the sheet of paper and listen to the ping(!) of the carriage return lever.

It may be another whim that I'll regret by the end of the year. But it'll be fun getting there.

                                       * * * * * 


October is Children's Magazine Month, Emotional Wellness Month, National Art and Humanities Month, National Cookbook Month (yum), Photographer Appreciation Month, National Go On a Field Trip Month and National Stamp Collecting Month.

If that doesn't keep you busy, look for new thrillers/mysteries by John Grisham,Stephen King, Vince Flynn, John Sandford, Stuart Woods, Tana French or Charlaine Harris. If you enjoy tales told by celebrities, this is your lucky month. Check out books by Dolly Parton, Bryan Cranston, Brian Wilson, Phil Collins, Elvis Costello (new in paperback), and Princess Leia herself - Carrie Fisher. More ideas? Try Randy Wayne White, W.E.B. Griffin, Jennifer Weiner, J.K. Rowling, Jodi Picoult, George R.R. Martin, Maria Semple, Elin Hilderbrand, Karen Kingsbury, Alexander McCall Smith, Pat Conroy, Debbie Macomber, Mary Engelbreit, Laurell Hamilton, Nancy Grace, Iris Johansen, David Macauley and Stan Lee.


                                               October Days


2-8-     Great Books Week

4-        National Taco Day (perfect for National Cookbook Month)

5-        In 2000, series premiere of Gilmore Girls 

6-        American Libraries Day

7-9-     National Storytelling Weekend

13-      Silly Sayings Day

16-22  National Friends of Libraries Week

17-23  Freedom of Speech Week

25-31  International Magic Week

28-      National Chocolate Day

30-      Checklist Day

31-      Boo! 

      
                                                              * * * * *

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Thursday, September 1, 2016

                           September

"They say that all good things must end someday. Autumn leaves must fall...when the rain beats upon my window pane, I'll think of summer days again. And dream of you."
                                                 Chad & Jeremy, "A Summer Song"  *1964* Metcalf/Stuart/Noble 



The air smells a little of change. Change in routine...getting up early for school with only memories of afternoons at the neighborhood pool. Change in season...in the Upper Midwest the nights are getting cooler and a few leaves are starting to turn yellow. Road trips have
been swapped for bumpy rides in a school bus. Store shelves are brightly decorated with crayons, markers and binders. This is a season of fresh starts and good intentions.   

September is Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month, Baby Safety Month, Update Your Resume Month and Library Card Sign-Up Month.  Whatever your reading taste, there's a new book for you this month. Looking to update your house? Books by ChipJoanna Gaines or the editors of Good Housekeeping magazine can help. If the brisk air invites you to try a new recipe, Ina Garten or Alton Brown offer ideas. Did you grow up listening to the Boss, Bruce Springsteen? Read his autobiography, September 27. Other singers share their stories: Mike Love of the Beach Boys and Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire. Mysteries and suspense will keep you awake  - Harlan Coben, Joanne Fluke, Margaret Coel, John Grisham, J. D. Robb, J. A. Jance, Karin Slaughter, David Baldacci, M.C. Beaton, Mary Higgins Clark and James Patterson

This is a busy month for book releases. Use your library card to check out new books by Candice Millard, Ransom Riggs, Ursula LeGuin, Nicholas Sparks, Carol Burnett, Carl Hiaasen, Ann Patchett, Craig Johnson, Jonathan Safran Foer, Ian McEwan, Berkeley Breathed, Dave Barry, Clive Cussler, Jim Henson, William Kent Krueger, Norm MacDonald, Nancy Tillman, Jennifer Weiner, Max Lucado, Margaret Atwood, Anne Trubek, Elizabeth Vargas, Emma Donoghue, Mary Pope Osborne and Mo Willems.       



                                               September Days


1-7     - International Enthusiasm Week

4        - Newspaper Carriers' Day

8        - International Literacy Day
           &National Ampersand Day& 

9        - Opposite Day (thanks, Spongebob!)

16      - Anne Bradstreet Day, poet, 1612-1672 (My love is such that rivers cannot quench...")

17      - International Eat an Apple Day

18-24 - International Keep Kids Creative Week

19      - Talk Like a Pirate Day, arrrgghhh

22      - Dear Diary Day (find your old diary or start a new journal)

23      - Love Note Day (write your own or read David Lowenherz's The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time)

24      - National Museum Day

26/10-1- Banned Books Week (Frequently challenged authors include Judy Blume, Aldous Huxley, Toni Morrison and Lois Lowry)

30      - Ask a Stupid Question Day 

                                 
                                        * * * * *

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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

                            August

"Let me enjoy this late summer day of my heart while the leaves are still green..." John Bohrn, "Late August"


This is one lucky month. Not only is August the eighth month of the year with 31 glorious days, it is also an adjective. And might I add, a superb adjective. 

August (aw-GHUST). Inspiring awe, reverence or admiration; imposing, eminent. (from Roget's Thesaurus of Words for Writers)


Find a hammock or comfy chair, pour some iced tea, and read a new book by Amy Schumer, Jeffrey Toobin, Ann Hood, Nicholas Sparks, Louise Penny, Catherine Coulter, Stuart Woods, Eric Van Lustbader, James Andrew Miller, Janet Evanovich, Lisa Scottoline, Susan Wiggs, Caleb Carr and James Andrew Miller. If you enjoy coloring, watch for new books by Johanna Basford and Disney.

Celebrate August -  American Artists Appreciation Month, Get Ready for Kindergarten Month, National Read a Romance Month and What Will be Your Legacy Month



                                    August Days

1-7    - Simplify Your Life Week

2       - National Coloring Book Day

3       - Friendship Day

6-10  - National Scrabble Week

7       - Sisters' Day

9       - Book Lover's Day

12     - Vinyl Record Day

18     - Bad Poetry Day

20     - International Geocaching Day

21     - Poet's Day

26     - Women's Equality Day

28     - Pony Express Day


                                     * * * * *


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Monday, July 4, 2016

           Happy Birthday, Dear America

"Saturday in the park, I think it was the Fourth of July. People talking, really smiling, a man playing guitar, singing for us all. I've been waiting such a long time for today. Every day's the Fourth of July...a real celebration for us all." Robert Lamm's Saturday in the Park performed by Chicago, July 1972 


Americans have many reasons - 240, actually - to celebrate this Fourth of July, according to Time magazine. For many Americans, that number could be pushed to 241 if you count that the latest issue is "99% politics free." The list is wide-ranging and fun. It's filled with ideas of where to travel and what to cheer. Midnight sun baseball in Fairbanks, Alaska? Yes! Artisanal bread in all 50 states? Sure. The national park system turning 100 years old? Great! Iowa's funky bicycle ride (RAGBRAI) from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River that also features pies at each stop? Sweet and delicious!

Our reading habits and books also made the list. It's good news for all Americans that bookstores, especially independent stores, are not disappearing. Time calls their death "greatly exaggerated" (# 64) while touting the success of Tattered Cover in Denver, Colorado and R.J. Julia in Madison, Connecticut. Americans are still reading up a storm, buying both e-books and hard copy books. We love our traditional novels (# 164) such as Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellows, and Birds of America by Lorrie Moore. Children's classics (# 177-185) remain close to our hearts, Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

And we pack up our lawn chairs and picnic baskets whenever we get the chance to enjoy any staging of Shakespeare under the stars (# 212). 

There are new books to keep you reading all summer. Watch for: J. K. Rowling, Daniel Silva, Liane Moriarty, Danielle Steel, James Patterson, G. B. Trudeau, Peter Lovesey, Hannah Pittard, Delia Ephron, Marcia Muller, Linda Castillo, Alexander McCall Smith, Susan Mallery, Ace Atkins, Iris Johansen, Lenny Dykstra, Lauren Weisberger, Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella, Gregg Olsen & Rebecca Morris. 

Three upcoming books that have gotten a lot of pre-publication buzz: Mary Mann Hamilton's The Trials of the Earth; Nicolaia Rips' Trying to Float; and Kate Summerscale's The Wicked Boy

In honor of our Independence Day, I'll be reading Gail Collins' America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines. 

J*u*l*y is Cell Phone Courtesy Month, National Blueberries Month, National Ice Cream Month and Dog Days (of summer) Month. 

            
                             ** J U L Y   D A Y S **


3     - Superman Day

7     - Chocolate Day

10   - Clerihew Day (Not sure what a clerihew is? Check out The Lost Clerihews of Paul Ingram.  

11    - Bowdler's Day (Thomas Bowdler - famous for removing offending passages from books)

13    - French Fries Day

14     - National Mac & Cheese Day

20     - Moon Day (In honor of July 20, 1969 and Neil Armstrong's "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind..." 

22     - Spooners' Day (William Archibald Spooner - often got his words mixed up such as "Can I sew you to another sheet instead of can I show you to another seat?" 
         - Hammock Day

23     - National Day of the Cowboy (Read Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey or Max Brand)

24      - Amelia Earhart Day (East to the Dawn by Susan Butler)

26      - National Talk in an Elevator Day (Ask what book he/she is reading)

27      -Bagpipe Appreciation Day

30      - Friendship Day
          - Paperback Book Day (Great for packing along on August vacations) 

                 
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

                  Daring Greatly in June

Theodore Roosevelt: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.

Brene Brown: "If you aren't in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I'm not interested in your feedback." Brown is the author of Daring Greatly and Rising Strong


June gives us the gift of a new attitude. We're ready to swap wool coats for a colorful new uniform - shorts, bandannas, t-shirts, and flip flops. Put the makeup away but remember sun screen! It's time to pack a bag for the beach or park - books, magazines, sunglasses, iced tea and maybe a sandwich or two. Laugh. Splash. Enjoy. Feel your heart beat a little faster with the first sighting of fireflies. Summer officially arrives on June 20 but the flowers are already planted, ceiling fans are lazily spinning on porches, and public pools are open.

My library is encouraging its patrons to be daring this summer. Will I discover a new writer or different genre? Sample unfamiliar food? Write a song? I'm looking forward to being double dog dared to celebrate and explore my library and community. Dare yourself to a new adventure. Take a class. Hike. Update your resume. Explore a different state, culture or country. Join an exercise group. Just get out of your comfort zone...a little bit or a lot. 

It's perfect that June is National Audio Book Appreciation Month. If you're planning a road trip, pack along your favorite author on CD. It's also Great Outdoors Month, so get outdoors and breathe the fresh air. If you're fortunate enough to live near an ocean, breathe in that salty air and celebrate National Oceans Month. Can you name all the Earth's oceans?* Toast the arrival of summer with a pitcher of mango tea in honor of National Iced Tea Month. 

And get ready to enjoy new books by Anne Tyler, Karen Cushman, Stuart Woods, Stephen King, Emily Griffin, Elin Hilderbrand, Brad Meltzer, Janet Evanovich, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lisa Unger, Laurence Leamer, Stephen Coonts, Annie Proulx, Kimberla Lawson Roby, Chuck Palahniuk, Carla Neggers, James Patterson, Lionel Shriver.


                                      June Days

1      - Dare Day
          Go Barefoot Day

4      - Birth of Val McDermid (1955), The Retribution 

5-11 - National Business Etiquette Week

10     - Ball Point Pen Day

16     - Bloomsday. Celebrate all things James Joyce -  Ulysses, Dubliners

17     - Eat Your Vegetables Day

18     - Birth of Amy Bloom (1953), Lucky Us

20     - First Day of Summer

21     - Birth of Ian McEwan (1948), The Children Act

24     - Celebration of the Senses Day...tasting, smelling, hearing, seeing, touching

28     - National Columnists' Day

29     - Camera Day

30     - National Bomb Pop Day


*** There are five oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic...the United States now recognizes the Southern Ocean (Antarctica), according to NOAA.

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