Book Review: Raymie Nightingale

Kate DiCamillo is one of my favorite authors for children and tweens. I adored listening to the third grade teacher I worked with enthusiastically share The Tale of Despereaux. I loved reading Because of Winn-Dixie to my youngest. We enjoyed Edward Tulane's journey (especially since it had a character named Bryce) and The Tiger Rising. My younger boys often requested "toast with a great deal of butter," in the words of Mercy Watson (DiCamillo's younger fare).

Thus, I have been holding off, with great anticipation, a chance to begin her new trio of books. I found Raymie Nightingale at Goodwill during a half-price sale. Then, when the pandemic hinted at days of isolation, I snatched up library copies of Louisiana's Way Home and Beverly, Right Here (wiping my card and the books down with a sanitizing wipe). I know it must be so hard to be an author with a widespread following. The pressure to perform must be immense. While I enjoyed this simple tale, the characters didn't entice like Despereaux, Winn-Dixie, or Edward Tulane.

Ten-year-old Raymie Clarke has a problem. Her father ran away with a dental hygienist. Now Raymie has a plan. She will compete in a beauty contest, get her picture in the paper, and win her father back. Thus, the book opens at a baton-twirling lesson where we meet Raymie and two other contestants, Louisiana Elefante and Beverly Tapinski. Each is a character in her own right; thus, each gets a book of her own.

I appreciated the hard life issues the book tackles: death, infidelity, abandonment. DiCamillo presents each with tender care and encouragement. I appreciated the inter-generational relationships between Raymie and Mrs. Borkowski, Louisiana and her grandmother, and the three girls and the residents at the Golden Glen nursing home. My favorite moment - when the tough Beverly holds Alice Nebbley's hand. Still, I never rose to a level of affection to match her earlier books. We shall see how I feel about Louisiana's story next.

Book Review: Five Pages a Day

My mother and I both had the same taste in books. If I liked a book, I could be sure it would appeal to her. If she suggested a title, I knew it would be a hit with me. What a blessing that was! To have another individual in this wide world who knew exactly what would thrill you and could recommend titles sure to please. Wish I still had that - oh, how I miss your book recommendations, Mom!

When I wrote the blog post about finding several old letters from my mother, I determined to go back and read those recommended books. I started with this one, Five Pages a Day, from an author we both loved: Peg Kehret. To my knowledge, my mother never attempted to write a book. I think she wrote some short stories and some articles. I vaguely recall her attending a writer's conference when I was a teen, but I think nothing ever came of her ambitions and she simply let them slide. (Oh, how easy it is!)

I share my mother's enthusiasm for this memoir/writing book. Although written for children, I eagerly devoured every word. Kehret tells of her early battle with polio, her first forays into writing (a newsletter about neighborhood dogs), her determination to reach certain goals, and her practice of writing five pages a day. The resounding lesson I learned from Kehret's book: set goals and persist! For quite a while, I pursued my morning two pages, but when discouragement hit several months back, I dwindled to writing however long I wanted (still usually managed a page or two, but didn't press myself if nothing surfaced). I have never set down a list of goals, and this might be something important. Kehret had three or four publications she aspired to reach, and it thrilled me to read of each success.

Her habit of submitting something every Friday certainly influenced her success. I tend to sit back and wait, when I should continue to pounce in different corners and allow every rejection to spur me on to another submission. Her early successes came in word contests. Indeed, she once won a car for a twenty-five word entry. No doubt, the discipline of narrowing down to twenty-five words improved her writing skills. I need what she has - grit and determination! Thankfully, by reading her stories (Runaway Twin, Ghost Dog Secrets, and Dangerous Deception) and her life story, I'm more eager than ever to stick to the task at hand ... to set down my daily five pages and to send my words out into the world instead of hoarding them in treasure chests of computer files.

Book Review: The Catalyst

I do not share the same perspective and worldview as the author of this book, The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind. And Jonah Berger failed to succeed in changing my mind about my religious beliefs. However, despite his personal viewpoints on issues, he presented some excellent points about changing someone's mind and in an easily digested format. Since I have a very important someone whose mind I wish to change on subjects causing great distress, I eagerly devoured Berger's instructions.

Berger asks, "what are the hidden barriers preventing change in this individual?" He identifies five barriers to change: 1) reactance (if pushed to change, people tend to dig their heels in and push back); 2) endowment (people will continue doing what they have grown accustomed to doing); 3) distance (are you asking for too much?); 4) uncertainty (will change really benefit me?); and 5) corroborating evidence (does the person need more proof?). Berger suggests an acronym to help remember how to REDUCE roadblocks: "reduce Reactance, ease Endowment, shrink Distance, alleviate Uncertainty, and find Corroborating Evidence." Although Berger provides many interesting case studies to illustrate these mind-changing principals, his own perspectives shine through most of them..

So, what was my take-away? Instead of pushing my difficult individual to change his mind, I should ask more questions (like a hostage negotiator, reminding him I'm on his side) and help him change his own mind about the decisions I see as erroneous. I'd love to say with confidence that this change of tactic will resolve everything, but I'm still skeptical. He may need to get to a breaking point before he's open to hearing other perspectives and changing his opinions about the best course of action. I will pray to be a catalyst, when an opening surfaces, and will try to incorporate skills of negotiation in the meantime.

Biding Our Time

We are, predictably, spending our pandemic-prompted-down-time in the following ways:

Baking:

I have made six or seven batches of bread. I'm not an outstanding bread baker and shy away from yeast breads (too difficult for this non-cook), but this recipe from Celebrating Sweets for Honey Oat Quick Bread solved a few dilemmas (solidifying honey and soon-to-be-outdated flour):

Plus, Trevor is on a cookie baking binge - we've made chocolate chip cookies, chocolate white-chocolate chip cookies, funfetti cookies, and sugar cookies, plus several batches of buttercream icing. Needless to say, we are also

Eating:

Good Lord, it seems like every time I turn around someone is wanting something to eat again (given the late hours of the boys, it is like running two different schedules of meals, so I think I prepare food and clean the kitchen about six times a day, seriously!). Food bills climb and waistlines expand. I am sad to say, almost all the weight I lost doing the time-restricted ketogenic plan has managed to find its way back to my mid-section. Groan. For the life of me, I cannot stay away from the fridge or all those baked goods we keep making. I tell myself I'll go back on the diet, but every day I put it off one more day.

Puzzling:

I've seen several families post photos of their puzzle adventures on Facebook and we are well behind the curve (indeed, saw images of some 40,000 piece Disney puzzle - insane). I like to choose puzzles with lots of different colors and patterns (i.e., easier!). I enjoyed this doors puzzle:

But, this White Mountain 1000 piece book covers puzzle was my all-time favorite - such fun!

Zooming:

Can I tell you how much I hate Zoom? I loathe it. You either get two extremes - nobody talks or several begin speaking at the same time and then you're scrambling to see who will take the floor. The connections feel artificial. Conversation feels forced. I have yet to find a location in my home that has a decent background (yes, I know you can add artificial backgrounds) with adequate lighting and little foot traffic. But, for now, I continue to attend my weekly Bible study group gathering (thankfully, we only have a few more sessions and then I may swear off Zoom altogether).

I thought, perhaps, it was a matter of limited connection.You know, if I zoomed with my family - people I share more intimate connections with - would it flow better? Well, nobody in my family suggested a zoom meeting for Easter, but I recently saw an invitation from some old Salvation Army friends. Even though it had been years since I'd been in contact with the initiators of this group, I had high hopes. Sadly, only twelve individuals participated and I only knew 5 well, 2 peripherally, and the rest not at all. I was trying to figure out if we were mostly officer's kids, but don't know for sure.

While it was better than the Bible study sessions, I still don't think I'll join in if they schedule a second session of the get-together. I'll just be happy when we can go back to regular group gatherings and not the artificial, technological gatherings of Zoom.

What I have NOT been doing - cleaning or writing. Nothing will ever induce me to seek cleaning as a past-time, ha! (My poor husband breathes a sigh of frustration - all this time on my hands and no motivation to Marie Kondo our house or scrub our floors - ha!) Besides my morning pages, I cannot focus or concentrate on any writing. My mind is too cluttered with daily doses of depressing news (my cousin, a professor in Massachusetts, posted that his university is considering holding off on the resume button until January of 2021 and if they do, will others follow suit?; CBLI has been cancelled for 2020 - sob; options for a 30-year-anniversary trip dwindle daily - we weren't planning anything major, but perhaps a getaway to Mackinac Island; and they have begun work on the new development of homes coming to the field across from our meadow).

Book Review: The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a current hot title. While I didn't love this book, I did like plenty of aspects. The concept of stories opening up ten thousand worlds and fresh experiences thrilled me. I loved the many passages articulating why our stories are so very important. The book held my interest, and I was glad I picked up on the story line easily, despite setting it aside for almost three weeks because of my trip to Florida and my decision to complete The Lost Girls of Paris in time for the book club discussion that never occurred.

January Scaller (during the entire audio experience I thought it was spelled like a studious person - ha) has lived almost her whole life as a ward to an eccentric old man who collects artifacts from around the world. Her father explores the world for the well-to-do Mr. Locke and only returns to visit January occasionally. Her world is upended when she happens upon a book claiming to outline ten thousand doors. As January reads the book, she learns her origins, her purpose, and her role in the magical world around her.

This book, like many others, offered an opportunity to hear perspectives that differ from my own. I didn't like much of the side commentary, but I could still appreciate the weaving story about how books take one into a whole further dimension and open up things we might not perceive or experience in any other way. Still, I wouldn't have lost much if I hadn't read the book.

Book Review: This Tender Land

In 2016, I enjoyed William Kent Krueger's book, Ordinary Grace (reviewed here). As with that story, This Tender Land enticed immediately. Right out of the starting gate, from the introductory two pages, I ached to submerge into the tale. Listen to the marvelous opening:

"In the beginning, after he labored over the heavens and the earth, the light and the dark, the land and sea and all living things that dwell therein, after he created man and woman and before he rested, I believe God gave us one final gift. Lest we forget the divine source of all that beauty, he gave us stories."

"The tale I'm going to tell is of a summer long ago. Of killing and kidnapping and children pursued by demons of a thousand names. There will be courage in this story and cowardice. There will be love and betrayal. And, of course, there will be hope. In the end, isn't that what every good story is about?"

Mesmerizing! While This Tender Land is not a Christian novel, it causes the reader to contemplate the nature and role of God in our lives. Many horrible things have happened to the main character, and he decides that "God is a tornado." His brother has a similarly sour perspective. He sees God as a shepherd who, one by one, eats his sheep. Other characters provide their views on God. If you stop there, however, you'll never get to the hope and redemption in the novel. Stick with it; it is worthwhile!

The young orphans Odie and Albert are the only white children at an Indian Training School, run by a terrible woman they nickname "The Black Witch." She often sends Odie to an isolation room for his many misdemeanors. After another Indian boy goes missing, Odie is convinced he might be next to disappear. Defending himself, he commits a crime that nobody will consider an accident. He flees in a canoe down the Gilead River, taking along his brother, his best friend, and a newly orphaned girl the Black Witch intends to adopt. Like the Gilead River, ambling into bigger rivers and tributaries, their journey ambles into bigger rifts and trials. This modern-day Huckleberry Finn story gives the reader so much to ponder and digest.

Filled with lyrical writing and riveting storytelling, this book offers an enjoyable escape from the world's troubles. In the author's note at the end, Krueger acknowledges his love for Dickens (we share that in common) and tips his hat to him for the opening setting. He outlines his research and identifies the factual bits to the tale. With the stellar writing, quest theme, believable characters and brisk pacing, this book will surely become a well-loved part of our literary landscape.

Book Review: Wild Words

Back in November, after a poignant disappointment related to a heavily invested writing project, I set all writing projects aside, gave up my writer's group, and tried to shift my focus elsewhere. The problem is, I cannot seem to let go of writing. I still write daily. I still journal as part of my morning ritual, and have even been dabbling in poetry (not my standard fare, nor my skill-set). I laid it at God's feet and gave it up - even taking on a leadership role in the children's ministry for my Bible study (was that what God wanted me to shift my focus to?) but I felt like a pen shoved in a pencil sharpener - I didn't belong there and instead of feeling like I was giving my best, it always seemed I never had enough to give. When the difficulties with my wayward son intensified, I couldn't focus on anything, let alone leadership or writing. But here I am, reviewing - of all things -  a book on writing.

Nicole Gulotta (author of Eat This Poem - a book I'll have to seek) shares her own journey as a writer in Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer's Path. She talks of the various seasons we endure. I related to several: The Season of Self-Doubt, Discontent, Liminal Space, and Retreating. Even though I poured myself into writing during my season of raising young children, I never experienced those conflicts of interest. It was something I had to do, and I carved out time to write. Nor could I relate to the season of Visibility. While Gulotta sent her heart and soul out in her writing, I fearfully hold back from fully presenting my words to the world. In the grand scheme of things, I've submitted relatively few offerings and often to the wrong place (I was ecstatic when one agent requested my manuscript, only to follow his Twitter and discover he despises any reference to God or religion - something that comes out in my writing even when the manuscript isn't a Christian one - no surprises, his response was a "no").

So, after reading this book about the many seasons along the writer's path, am I brave enough to write again? I don't know. For now, I continue to pray for God's direction and guidance. If all I can focus on for this "season" is the struggle with and for my son (well, that and the pandemic) - so be it! Getting him through this monumental obstacle course is far more important than seeing my words in print. My wild words within, in this liminal space, will have to wait.