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 Chip & Joanna 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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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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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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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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Get Caught Reading in May
Edwin Way Teale: "All things seem possible in May."
Holy Alphabet, Batman*, this is a busy month! Forget the lawn and hold off planning that August vacation... there are books to read.
May is National Meditation Month. If you're interested in learning about meditation, pick up a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn or Thich Nhat Hanh. Combine an interest in meditating with National Ride Your Bike to Work Week (May 15-21) by reading Ben Irvine's Einstein and the Art of Mindful Cycling. It's also National Salad Month...just as farmers' markets get started. Salads have moved from the bowl to the plate to mason jars. Ingredients can be anything from quinoa to steak. If you're in need of more ideas, look for Williams-Sonoma's books on salads (browse 641.83 in your library). It's always good to be polite, and during the week of May 9-13, etiquette should be minded! At a loss for instruction on ideal manners? Emily Post's Etiquette has all the answers about business, weddings, children and general social situations. Other May celebrations include Get Caught Reading Month, Creative Beginnings Month and Latino Books Month - discover or read again: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.
Plan to get caught reading in May. It's a reader's dream - new books by Dorothea Benton Frank, Sebastian Junger, Julian Barnes, Emma Straub, Max Allan Collins, Jennifer Haigh, Danielle Steel, Joyce Carol Oates, Laura Lippman, Beth Gutcheon, Neil Gaiman, Nancy Thayer, Mary Kay Andrews, Sophie Hannah, Sharyn McCrumb, Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child, Steve Martini, Nevada Barr, Mary Kubica, Jill Lepore, Joe Hill, Rita Mae Brown, Ann Leary, Justin Cronin, Rick Riordan, Mo Willems, James Patterson, Don DeLillo, Adam Haslett, Richard Russo, Patricia Engel and Louise Erdrich. This month we can learn about the history of paper (Mark Kurlansky) and the differences between Frank Lloyd Wright and Philip Johnson (Hugh Howard).
May Days
1 - Batman Day *Robin the Boy Wonder was known for his Holy expressions. Holy Alphabet was only one of dozens used on the 1960s television show.
1-7 - National Post Card Week. A stamp costing .34 and a cheery wish you were here will make a lot of smiles.
1-7 - Teacher Appreciation Week. Many thanks to all teachers!!
2 - Roberts' Rule of Order Day
3 - National Public Radio Day
5 - Cinco de Mayo
Cartoonists' Day
7 - National Scrapbooking Day - a perfect day for that creative beginning.
8 - Mothers' Day
9-13 - National Etiquette Week. Let's make Emily Post proud.
13 - Birth of Daphne du Maurier (1907), Rebecca.
14 - National Archery Day
15-21 - National Bike to Work Week
16 - Biographer's Day
18 - International Museum Day
19 - Birth of Nora Ephron (1932), Crazy Salad; I Remember Nothing.
20 - Birth of Walter Isaacson (1952), Steve Jobs; Benjamin Franklin.
23 - Birth of Margaret Wise Brown (1910), Goodnight, Moon.
24 - Birth of Michael Chabon (1963), Telegraph Avenue.
25 - Birth of Jamaica Kincaid (1949), See Now Then.
30 - Memorial Day
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Spring Cleaning, or, it's a QVC World
Benjamin Franklin: "A place for everything and everything in its place."
It was another cold dreary day with heavy gray clouds, snow on the ground and a prediction of similar days ahead. I was in a mood somewhere between blue and bored. There was plenty to do at home - the wood floors were laced with ever expanding dust patterns, closets were packed with jumbles of summer and winter clothes, and the kitchen cabinets were in need of a serious weeding process.
My mood darkened even more and I retreated to the couch, flipping on the television. I clicked from one channel to the next until my attention was grabbed by the promise of an orderly house. Who made this promise? QVC. I stopped changing channels, curled up under a blanket and devoted all my attention to home organization, QVC-style.
In the blink of an eye, my mood changed from blue and bored to intrigued and guilty.
Intrigued because I was still in a gray plaid robe with my scrubbed bare face and fingernails badly beaten by winter's temperatures while watching the impeccably dressed women with expensive manicures and even more expensive jewelry demonstrating how I could have a closet that looked Just. Like. This. A closet with multiple pairs of pants hanging on a single hanger. Baskets that collapsed and stored in impossibly narrow spaces, but not before they kept my car trunk organized or helped me to carefully shuttle food to a neighborhood cook-out.
The guilt?
My guilt was for all the same reasons. Plus, I felt like a Stepford Wife wannabe. Is this what matters in life? A sparkling, well-organized home? Aren't there better ways to spend my time and energy? The arguments didn't matter; I was hooked and remained on the couch, squirming a little but full attention still on the television screen with its promises of organization.
Nothing was ordered from QVC on that morning or any other morning. And I don't own even one collapsible basket My recovery from the QVC moment with its manicured nails, tailored clothing and special hangers was just about complete when The Container Store catalog arrived in the mail. Oh no. Page after page of boxes, baskets, shelves and totes beckoned me. Sale prices danced before my eyes. Advice spilled out from the catalog's pages to take inventory, keep or toss, declutter, dress up a closet or bring focus to a garage or basement.
Over a cup of hot tea on another dreary day, I thought back to QVC and mulled over where to start my journey to organization. One room kept crying out...second floor, far corner. My closet.
This means shoes, purses, clothes, scarves and travel items will be examined and moved on or organized.
According to the Los Angeles Times' Mary MacVean, the average United States household (2014) is packed with 300,000 items ranging from paper clips to ironing boards. The article quotes Andrew Mellen, a professional organizer, who asks "is your home an accurate external reflection of you?" Mellen believes if "things have become obstacles to your happiness, that's a problem."
I am comforted by the fact that I'm far from alone in this quest to have a well-run organized home. In the March 2016 issue, More magazine boldly asks its readers if they wouldn't be happier with "less stuff." Five women share their stories of working on a "perfect house in a perfect neighborhood."
If you're unsure of just where or how to start, help is just a book or website away. Check out organizing blogs or websites such as Good Housekeeping magazine or Bob Vila's website for more ideas. Wander around your library in the 648 section - I bet you'll find dozens of books on household organizing. Better Homes and Gardens has an entire magazine geared toward clearing clutter and living easier in our homes. Your book store will have shelves stocked with books such as Marie Kondo's bestseller, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. In Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness, Donna Smallin advises readers to start small with tackling one room at a time (like my closet). Toni Hammersley's The Complete Book of Organization encourages readers to get control of canned goods, corral shoes and coats, and fully utilize a freezer. Look for Peter Walsh's It's All Too Much which has an accompanying workbook. Gretchen Rubin shares her own journey to a better organized life in Happier at Home and The Happiness Project. Organizer Jennifer Ford Berry's book Organize Now! is actually a small binder filled with tips on getting your clutter under control.
Books use various incentives...mindfulness, minimalist living, green living, etc... I agree with Gretchen Rubin - it's likely we just have too much stuff. Sort through everything and set up piles to toss, donate, mend or keep.
After that, stroll through The Container Store for boxes, shelves and totes.
Or, get a manicure.
William Morris: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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April
Doug Larson: "Spring is here when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush."
Fling open the windows. Breathe fresh air. Enjoy the tulips, daffodils and blooming dogwood trees. Colors are alive, somehow both soft and vibrant. Go on an early morning walk without shivering (too much). Even if spring hasn't fully arrived in your state, have patience that it will.
Discover a new novel to savor this month. Shelves at your favorite library or book store will be packed with new books by David Balducci, Anna Quindlen, Steve Berry, Stuart Woods, Ann B. Ross, Lisa Scottoline, John Sandford, Curtis Sittenfeld, Amanda Quick, Anderson Cooper/Gloria Vanderbilt, Lesley Stahl, and Jim Colucci's unauthorized tribute to the Golden Girls.
April is Library Snapshot Month, National Card and Letter Writing Month, National Humor Month, National Kite Month (get outside!), National Poetry Month and Stress Awareness Month.
April Days
1 - Poetry and Creative Minds Day
Reading is Funny Day
1-3 - American Crossword Puzzle Days
2 - International Children's Book Day
3-9 - Week of the Ocean
6 - National Walking Day
8 - Birthday of Barbara Kingsolver, 1955, The Poisonwood Bible
10-16 - National Library Week
Week of the Young Child
12 - National Library Day
National Library Workers' Day
13 - National Bookmobile Day
Scrabble Day
14 - Celebrate Teen Literature Day
16 - Record Store Day --yay vinyl!!
17 - International Haiku Poetry Day
19 - Bicycle Day
21 - Death of Mark Twain, 1910, Huckleberry Finn
22 - Earth Day --Love your Mother Earth
23 - Talk Like Shakespeare Day
World Book and Copyright Day
24 - Pinhole Photography Day
28 - Birthday of Harper Lee, 1926, To Kill a Mockingbird
30 - Birthday of Annie Dillard, 1945, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Lily Pulitzer: "Despite the forecast, live like it's spring."
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