Friday, January 27, 2017

      "The clocks were striking thirteen" *



"The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history." >>George Orwell


The literary world has a new rock star - George Orwell. Specifically, Orwell's masterpiece, 1984, is an Amazon bestseller. The book, originally published in 1949, is selling so well that as of this afternoon, it's temporarily out of stock. If you skipped reading it in high school or college (CliffsNotes do NOT count) or if you can't recall the story, I recommend you dust off your old copy or quickly get on the library's hold list, and read this classic. 

Words matter. Books matter. And in a confusing and fast-changing world filled with Orwell's newspeak and doublethink, we need all the help we can get.  


"Panem et Circenses translates into 'Bread and Circuses'...in return for full bellies and entertainment, people had given up their political responsibilities and therefore their power." >>Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games 


                                    Nonfiction

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance
White Trash - Nancy Isenberg
Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay
We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Another Day in the Death of America - Gary Younge
David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell
Autobiography of Ida Tarbell - Ida Tarbell
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - Jared Diamond
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman - Mary Wollstonecraft
America's Women - Gail Collins
The Feminine Mystique - Betty Friedan
Free to be...you and me - Marlo Thomas


                                 Fiction (also known as alternative facts)

Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Tortilla Curtain - T.C. Boyle
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Children of Men - P.D. James
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Emperor's New Clothes - Hans Christian Andersen
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
The Man in the High Castle - Philip Dick
The Women's Room - Marilyn French
A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 


"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters." >>Albert Einstein

  
*It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen is the first line of Orwell's 1984.  

              
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Thursday, January 19, 2017

    An excerpt from One Today, a poem written
        for Barack Obama's second inauguration
                    January 21, 2013


One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,

peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows...

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,

or whispers across cafe tables. Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying hello | shalom |
buon giorno | howdy | namaste | or buenos dias
in the language my mother taught me - in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

...We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight

of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always, always
home, always under one sky, our sky. And always
one moon like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country - all of us - 
facing the stars. Hope - a new constellation waiting for us to map it, waiting for us to name it - together. --Richard Blanco




Richard Blanco's books:
Looking for the Gulf Motel
City of a Hundred Fires
One Today
Place of Mind
The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood

Barack Obama's books:
Dreams From My Father
The Audacity of Hope
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters

What I'm reading now: The Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How Her Journey Inspires Our Own, edited by Veronica Chambers.


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Monday, January 16, 2017

      Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality...I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."


Books/Speeches/Essays by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

Strength to Love

A Gift of Love

Where Do We Go From Here?

Letter from Birmingham Jail

I Have a Dream

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My Life, My Love, My Legacy - Coretta Scott King


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"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Letter From Birmingham Jail.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

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           Between the Covers in 2017

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -- C.S. Lewis


Christmas carols have been quieted. Santa's tiny reindeer are tucked away. Lights and tinsel no longer shine as brightly. And am I the only one who finds it a relief to put away Christmas dishes, bowls and platters so kitchen counters can be less cluttered? 

It's also time to start reading lists for the month/season/year. If your newest favorite book wasn't gift wrapped or if you've hit a reading slump, there's the perfect book waiting for you. January is Book Blitz Month.

Novels/Short Stories. Curl up with a cup of hot tea and read new novels or short stories by Chris Bohjalian, Stuart Woods, Danielle Steel, E.L. Doctorow, Terry Goodkind, John Lescroart, Tim Dorsey, Roxane Gay, Mary Miller, Sebastian Barry and Lisa Gardner.

Best of...books. One annually published book series will help make a lot of readers happy and engrossed. Choose from any of these topics: The Best American...Essays, Short Stories, Best Travel Writing, Science and Nature Writing, Mystery Stories, Sports Writing, Science Fiction & Fantasy. Also, there's the Best American Non-required Reading and Best American Magazine Writing 2016. 

Books for little ones. From board books to oversized picture books, there are stubborn pigeons, sweet bears, goofy hippos, and naughty kittens. Look for Mo Willems' Don't Let the Pigeon... series. Classics are given a new spin in the Kid Lit series by Jennifer Adams and Allison Oliver. Look for Alice in Wonderland to teach colors and Romeo and Juliet to help with counting. You can't go wrong with books by Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Dream Snow), Sandra Boynton (Moo Baa La La La!, Pookie), Lois Ehlert (Feathers for Lunch, Fish Eyes), Harriet Wood (The Napping House), Ezra Jack Keats (The Snowy Day), Robert McCloskey (Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal), Dr. Seuss (Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat), Eric Hill (Spot series), Anna Dewdney (Llama Llama series), Crescent Dragonwagon & Jerry Pinkney (Half a Moon and One Whole Star). Watch for new books by James Dean (Pete the Cat) and Kevin Henkes (Egg).

Books for early readers/readers. Graduating from a picture book to a chapter book is a big step for children. There are authors bridging that gap: Marc Brown (Arthur series); Peggy Parish (Amelia Bedelia series); Alyssa S. Capucilli (Biscuit series); James Dean (Pete the Cat I Can Read series); Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Treehouse series). Classic authors for older readers include Gary Paulsen (Hatchet), Louise Fitzhugh (Harriet the Spy), Beverly Cleary (Ribsy, Henry Huggins), Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House series), Mildred D. Taylor (The Road to Memphis). Young fans can learn more about Jim Henson's magic in Brad Meltzer's I Am Jim Henson, and Frederick Douglass by Walter Dean Myers.

Nonfiction. Smart phones...drones...self-driving cars. Technology is advancing quickly and changing our lives every day. As much as we rely on Google and Instagram, we're also taking a look back at typewriters and Archie Bunker: TV The Book by Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz; Anatomy of a Song - The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R & B, and Pop by Marc Meyers; The Revenge of Analog - Real Things and Why They Matter by David Sax; The Typewriter Revolution by Richard Polt; Television: A Biography by David Thomson; and The Untold Story of the Talking Book by Matthew Rubery.

Three new books to check out in January - Ayelet Waldman shares her struggle to a better life in A Really Good Day. Interested in trying yoga but nervous about various poses? Read Kristin McGee's Chair Yoga. If the right words aren't easily written or spoken in an emotionally charged situation, Emily McDowell and Kelsey Crowe may have the answer in There is no Good Card for This...What To Say and Do When Life is Scary, Awful and Unfair to People You Love.




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