Transformation

This morning...
At my desk looking over to-do lists
whose contents overwhelm me
I notice movement
in the ice cream bucket at the corner.
A butterfly has emerged.

Weeks ago...
I collected two tiny caterpillars
from unruly dill plants.
Placed them in the bucket,
Fed them fresh dill or parsley,
And cleaned out their droppings most every day. 
They grew rapidly
Shedding their skin many times. 
And then a few days apart,
Each transformed into a chrysalis. 

As life intervened...
I thought little of those two chrysalises.
So many new starts, so many changes,
challenges, hard work,
and transformation too,
in my own life.
Can I do it all?
I wonder.

This morning...
The butterfly emerged.
Wings fluttering, hopeful,
Ready to fly.
I carried the bucket
to the garden,
Gently set the stick
Near a marigold plant
And the butterfly climbed aboard.
Wings dried in the summer sun
and gentle breeze,
My butterfly friend took flight.

I can do this too,
as difficult as it may be.
Grow and grow,
Struggle and struggle,
Shed some of the old and
welcome what's new.
Work.
Change.
Live.
Transform.

July reading notes: a reading marathon

In July, I read seven fascinating books.  It was a reading marathon!  Since I'm not working this summer, there's more reading time for me.  Without further ado, in the order I read them:

Wild Comfort: the Solace of Nature by Kathleen Dean Moore

This is a series of essays on life, loss and the comforts of nature.  The author wrote it in the aftermath of the deaths of several loved ones.  The writing is lyrical, philosophical, and often very beautiful.  I marked a number of  lovely passages, including this one:

"No measure of human grief can stop Earth in its tracks.  Earth rolls into sunlight and rolls away again, continents glowing green and gold under the clouds.  Trust this, and there will come a time when dogged, desperate trust in the world will break open into wonder.  Wonder leads to gratitude.  Gratitude opens onto peace."  

Reading about Moore's experiences in forests, rivers, deserts, islands, etc. makes me wish I spent more time in such places.  She even makes camping in the snow sound appealing.  My only caveat is that the writing feels at times pretentious.  Moore sometimes uses an obscure word or reference when a more common term would do and would make her writing clearer and more accessible.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

As described on the author's website:  "Children of Blood and Bone is the first installment in a YA West African Fantasy about a girl who must fight against the monarchy to bring magic back to her people."

This book is getting a lot of attention.  It's a New York Times Best Seller, and a movie version is already in development.  I enjoyed immersing myself in this fantasy world, with the various clans and types of magic.  I appreciated the strong female characters.  The obligatory romantic entanglements seemed unnecessary, although not unexpected in a YA book.

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

I could not put this book down!  Westover's memoir is so compelling.  It's been compared to The Glass Castle, which I haven't read so I can't comment on that.

Westover grew up in Idaho, the youngest of seven children born to survivalist parents who focused on preparing for the end of the world and did not believe in hospitals or schools.  Due to the neglectful and/or abusive behavior of some family members, this story is difficult to read at times.  But Westover's story is also hopeful and inspiring.  Lacking any formal education, but encouraged by an older brother, she ends up at Brigham Young University.  Her journey from there to Cambridge, while trying to maintain relationships with her family, is fascinating.  I should say that while I truly could not put this book down and read it compulsively, I just spoke to a friend who couldn't get into it at all. 

You Think It, I'll Say It: Stories by Curtis Sittenfeld

I'm a huge fan of Sittenfeld's novels American Wife and Eligible, so I was eager to read her short story collection.  I devoured it and then went back and reread most of the stories.  Sittenfeld's definitely an acute observer of human nature. Some of the characters and situations are admittedly cringe-worthy.  This brings me to a point I've been pondering.  Do you have to like the characters in a book or story in order to appreciate it?  My own answer is no.  But, from talking to others about books, I think for some people the answer is yes.  I guess we all bring different ideas and expectations to reading, as we do to life.  Which takes me back to Sittenfeld's stories in which the characters often bring wildly different expectations to various situations.  From expectant mothers to old high school classmates to married couples or ex-lovers, they misunderstand, miscommunicate or misjudge.  I have to say, I tried to pick a favorite or two from among these ten stories, but I couldn't narrow it down.  Great collection!

A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

I was so drawn into this character-driven family story.  On the back of the book, a blurb calls the novel "immersive."  I certainly felt immersed in the lives of this Indian Muslim-American family.  As the title references, the various family members are trying to find their place in the context of country, family, religion, culture, etc.  The writing is lovely with some particularly beautifully-rendered scenes.  I'm thinking of a passage about a family picnic, for example, that I went back to reread and savor.

The novel jumps around in time a lot with no rhyme or reason.  It might be a bit disorienting at first.  The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Layla (the mother), Hadia (the older daughter) and Amar (the youngest and only son).  Huda (the middle child) is not a fully-developed character.  This struck me as odd as times, but the story still felt complete.  The very last section of the book is told from the father Rafiq's perspective and had me sobbing.  The story is very sad at times, but also joyful and hopeful.  A beautiful book!

Last, but not least, I read two books by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie.

Americanah, which I first read about three years ago, is a reread for book club.  I'm glad I read it again, because it's such a great novel and because it has a lot going on it.  In light of various activities/groups I've been involved with more recently, Adichie's reflections on race and racism were interesting to revisit. This time around, I also found myself more curious about Nigerian culture and politics.  Again, there is so much in this novel - I highly recommend it!  You can find my original review here.

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions is a quick and thought-provoking read.  The book is a letter that Adichie wrote to her friend who asked her how to raise her baby daughter feminist.  It's an engaging, intelligent and at times funny essay.  After reading both of these books, I again watched Adichie's TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story, which is excellent and also highly-recommended.  Bottom line - I want to read the rest of Adichie's books and watch more of her talks!

*****

That was a lot of reading for one month.  With back-to-school around the corner, my reading time will decrease.  But I'm sure I'll fit in a few more books before summer is over.  I'd love to hear what you've been reading too.   

Picture (Im)Perfect

Social media offers many examples of "picture-perfect" moments, carefully chosen to be shared with hundreds of "friends."  Certainly there's a mix of spontaneous moments thrown in with the curated ones, and everything in between.  Of course, none of us have to post or look at other people's posts or even join social media platforms at all.  My own feelings vacillate between "It can be good" and "It's a complete waste of time."  Despite the voluntary nature of participation, I am glad that my own children's infancy and much of their childhood occurred prior to the age of social media.

We were using a 35mm film camera when our children were born.  We purchased our first digital camera in 2003, when our youngest was a baby.  Digital photography offers a lot of advantages, including higher quality images and the option to take countless photos at no cost.  Instead of just two shots of the kids at the pumpkin farm, why not twenty?  With so many images, we're likely to capture the "perfect" shot.  The downside is also the endless images.  I rarely go back and delete the blurry photos or the accidental picture of someone's foot.  The photos continue to accumulate on the camera roll or in the cloud or on the zip drive.

I could create photo books online.  There are so many websites and options for formats and sizes and themes.  I attempted to do it just once.  After keeping a detailed written journal of our first family trip to Poland, I thought it would be easy to go back and arrange and label the photos in a digital book.  I couldn't do it.  The options overwhelmed me.  The inability to physically touch and arrange the photos flummoxed me.  I decided that the journal and a sampling of trip photos - printed at Walgreens and arranged in a simple photo album - beautifully captured our memories.

Prior to the popularity of digital photography, scrapbooking was all the rage.  Scrapbooking seemed like something I might like to do.  I enjoy making cards or little booklets with personalized poems and doodles and photos.  But I found scrapbooking to be overwhelming in the same way I later found digital photo books to be.  There were stores and classes, special books and inserts, huge varieties of scissors and punches and other tools.  The stickers were too cute or too much faux Victorian sentiment.  I abandoned scrapbooking and arranged the photos chronologically in shoe boxes.

So we have shoe boxes of photos in a closet and folders of digital photos on the hard drive.  I can find them when I need them for an event or a project.  There are images of birthdays and graduations and other milestones, of trips and vacations and reunions.  There are photos of ordinary moments too -  a boy snuggled on the couch with his favorite book, a girl holding her wiggly kittens, siblings ready for battle with plastic light sabers or running through the sprinkler in the front yard.  I adore the snapshots of these everyday occasions.  They were not carefully planned and posed or artfully arranged, and yet these photos are appreciated as much as any other.  Then I think of the photos from my own childhood.  They are of dubious quality, compared to what's produced by modern technology.  They are grainy or terribly lit.  They are faded Polaroids. There are very few of these photographs at all, in comparison to the endless digital images of today.  And how I treasure these photographs, limited both in number and quality.  They don't tell the whole story, and they don't tell a "picture-perfect" story, but they tell enough.

I think of the photo of my family gathered near the pool at my aunt's house during summer vacation.  My parents and my two oldest brothers are lined up in the back with the five younger children sitting on the diving board.  We're in our swimsuits.  My parents are wearing sunglasses.  We kids are squinty-eyed looking into the sun.  Some smiling, others not.  In our matching swimsuits, my younger sister and I are gazing at something off to the side.  What are we looking at, I wonder?

Today this photo might be passed over in favor of one in which everyone is looking the same way and smiling.  That's too bad.  Because I love the story this picture tells of my family assembled around the diving board and the memories it evokes.  I cherish this imperfectly-composed yet perfectly-captured moment.

Where I'm from

that's me on the left

I'm from a red brick cape cod on the south side of Milwaukee.  I'm from a family of nine people who inhabited that five bedroom house.  Birth order and gender dictated the occupancy of the bedrooms.  Upstairs, the oldest two boys shared the large bedroom, the oldest girl had the medium-sized room, and the next two offspring - both boys - shared the teeny-tiny room, which is now my mother's "Christmas closet."  On the first floor, one bedroom was my parents' and the other belonged to my younger sister and me.  We two were the babies of the family, and my mom dressed us alike when we were little.  At some point, our brothers coined the term "Puds" to refer to us collectively.  The etymology of this word is a mystery to me.

We Puds spent a lot of time in our first floor bedroom.  It had white wallpaper festooned with stout geometrically-shaped flowers in vibrant colors.  My dad engineered a built-in closet and drawers and painted them in bright colors to match the wallpaper flowers.  We slept in bunk beds with Kermit the Frog bed sheets.  The décor didn't change as we got older, but we covered the walls with posters of Duran Duran and Rick Springfield and Michael Jackson.  Cousins slept over in that room, two or three at a time.

There were oodles of cousins.  Both my parents came from large families and many of their siblings had large families too.  Some cousins were much older than us Puds and did inexplicable things - like get married - when we were only just making our First Communions.  Older cousins and older siblings might convince us to hold séances in the attic or play with a Ouija board.  But plenty of cousins were close in age.  Together we put on plays in the basement.  I remember taking part in a theatrical version of "Rumpelstiltskin."  We organized fashion shows in the living room.  Our parents sat patiently through these amateur performances.  We played "The Gong Show" and other t.v. show-inspired games.  With our closest cousins, we had our own secret language.  We made up elaborate codes and wrote them in notebooks.

I'm from secret languages and shared memories.  I'm from big families.  I'm from home.  I can't imagine being from any other place.

One more mile, one more word - motivation from running, show tunes & more

This morning I ran three miles.  As a sporadic and fairly novice runner, this is a challenge for me.  I'm always ready to give up at the two mile mark.  Today's excuses included - "I only slept six hours" and "It's pretty hot out here" and "After a busy weekend, I deserve a break."  Those things might be true, but none of them can prevent me from running another mile if I push myself to do it.  Which I did.  Music usually motivates me to keep running.  I like to include show tunes on my running playlists.  I've been a fan of the "Big Fish" soundtrack ever since my daughter performed in the musical at her school.  It's a story full of good life lessons.  I appreciate the lyrics from the song "What's next" -

"What's next?" is all anyone needs to begin.
"What's next?" has been a friend to you.
What's next to do?
One word and then suddenly one more again,
Just like a pen writing a perfect tale.

"One word and then suddenly one more again," reminds me of an anecdote from Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird.  She relates the story of her father encouraging her overwhelmed brother to complete a daunting school assignment - a report about birds - by saying, "Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird."  If we think too much about the whole distance we want to run, the entire story we want to write, or the big project we need to do - we'll likely be overwhelmed.  We're better off bird by bird, word by word, page by page, step by step, mile by mile.  I remind myself at the beginning of any big task that "what's next" - the single next step - is all I need to get started.

The opposite of one step at a time is taking on too much at a time or multitasking.  Both of which are incompatible with the sort of focus that helps us reach our goals.  Blogger and author Cal Newport writes about these ideas.  I mentioned his book Deep Work in my reading notes from a year ago.  I've been reading his blog and skimming his book So Good They Can't Ignore You which details the idea of the "craftsman mindset" versus the "passion mindset."   One becomes a craftsman, Newport suggests, through deliberate practice.  Deliberate practice means not just working hard but also pushing and stretching yourself beyond what's comfortable.  Running one more mile, for example. Or writing a piece that is challenging due to the technique or topic.

This leads me to another source of inspiration - getting things done.  I often think I'm "too busy" to write or exercise or do other things that are important to me.  In April and May, I participated in an online writing course.  I wondered if I would have time to write the twice weekly assignments, read the other writers' pieces, and contribute to the discussions on top of work, volunteer commitments, end-of-school-year events and my son's graduation.  I did.  Because I was busy and didn't have time to overthink and keep revising, I believe I participated in a more focused (and less perfectionist) way.  I benefited greatly from the experience: I learned new ideas and techniques; I wrote at least twice a week, producing new drafts or revising existing pieces; I received support and feedback from a talented group of writers; and I realized that, in fact, I am not "too busy" to write. 

My last bit of inspiration comes from a book.  In my most recent reading notes, I refer to Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser.  Fraser writes:

"Wilder was not always in full command of her material, but in turning out a column every two weeks she was learning how to tell stories, introduce characters, and craft dialogue.  She was becoming comfortable in the public realm, serving up advice to a cohort of women who craved connection, encouragement, and sensible counsel.  She was beginning to taste the gratification that came from seizing control of a narrative, summoning beloved figures, settling scores, and addressing grievances."

I'm not comparing myself to Laura Ingalls Wilder in any way, but I can relate to being "not always in full command" of my material.  Fraser observed that Wilder's regular column gave her the writing practice she needed.  There it is: "deliberate practice."  I experienced deliberate practice in the online writing course.  And it's something I can continue with committing to a regular writing routine and posting regularly on this blog.  "One word and then suddenly one word again.."

*****

Whatever your plans or goals, I hope you've found some inspiration here.

Mid-year reading notes: catching up

It's summer vacation...and time to catch up on my reading notes!  I have read twenty books so far this year.  By the numbers - I read fourteen novels, four nonfiction titles, a collection of short stories and a poetry chapbook.  Since I'm covering a lot of books in this post, the descriptions and comments are brief.  Feel free to comment or contact me if you'd like to know more about a particular title.  Links to author or publisher websites are provided as much as possible.

Highly recommended newer fiction

I have frequently written about my efforts to read books by authors of races and cultures other than my own.  I encourage you to do the same.  Here are three well-written and compelling novels that may very well put you outside of your reading comfort zone.  And it will be well worth it.  These stories are heartbreaking and hopeful, brutal and beautiful, thought-provoking and thoughtful.  
 

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
When I wrote brutal and beautiful above, I was thinking of this one especially.  It's a family story, a road trip story, a ghost story.  It will haunt you and make you think.  You will *feel* this book while you're reading it.  The weight of the trauma and the grief.  But you will also feel the love among family.  I was especially moved by the relationship between Pop and JoJo.  The novel deals with timely, difficult and important topics - trauma, addiction, racism, poverty, and incarceration. 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This epic family story spans four generations and illuminates a part of history about which I knew nothing and a culture about which I know very little.  Multiple generations of a Korean family bear hardships and tragedy in their quest for a better life in Japan.  Yet I found this to be ultimately a hopeful story.  The characters will undoubtedly draw you in.  I particularly admired the strong women in the family, who often assured their loved ones' survival despite the odds.  This is another timely read, given the now-and-always prevalent topic of immigration.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
I loved the arc of this story and the character development as well. The novel centers around the unjust prosecution and incarceration of a black man for a crime he did not commit.  Can we imagine the long term and far-reaching effects not just on one family, but on multiple families and communities?  Part of the book is epistolary in format, featuring letters between newlyweds Celestial and Roy.  If you'd only been married a year and then separated for five years - what then would become of your marriage?  At turns tragic, funny, heartbreaking, and hopeful - I admire Jones' writing style and her storytelling.  Excellent.


For additional diverse voices, see also the following books listed below : Everything I Never Told You, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Hunger, and I Was Told to Come Alone.

Two by two

I happened to read two novels each by Celeste Ng and Amor Towles in the past six months.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Both of these open with a tragic event, a death in the first book and a fire in the second.  The novels then go back and detail the events leading up to the tragedy.  So from the start, you know you are barreling toward the inevitable right along with the characters.  Families and secrets play a key role in both novels.  At times, I was frustrated by the actions of the characters, as in "Don't you people ever TALK to each other!"  But they don't talk to each other, and they don't understand each other, and tragedy ensues.  Both books are decent novels; of the two, I preferred Little Fires.

 

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I read Towles' novels consecutively in the order they were published.  His writing has been described as sparkling, and I agree wholeheartedly.  I enjoyed Rules of Civility, but A Gentleman in Moscow is my favorite of the two.  I would gladly reread it.  Count Alexander Rostov is an aristocrat sentenced by the Bolsheviks to house arrest in an elegant Moscow hotel.  Rostov creates an interesting life for himself and interacts with a multitude of fascinating characters, as many of the events of modern Russian and world history pass by.  A charming read! 

Local/Midwestern authors

The Collected Stories by Carol Wobig

The Salt Before It Shakes by Yvonne Stephens

I had the pleasure to read both of these books and then attend an event featuring the authors at a local book store.  Wobig's short stories are thoroughly entertaining.  Stephens' chapbook of poetry is full of gems  Both books where published by Hidden Timber Books.  I'm glad to have these titles on my bookshelf, as I'll definitely be revisiting both.

A newly-appreciated (by me) classic, some historical fiction & more

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I read Smith's classic coming of age novel before, probably more than a decade ago.  Rereading it for book club, I was touched more deeply by the story.  I can't say exactly why, but it got me thinking about how books affect us differently on a second reading or at different times.

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini
I thoroughly enjoyed this work of historical fiction about Ada Lovelace, which also is a well-written novel of manners. 

Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg
This is another well-done work of historical fiction about a person of whom I had never heard.  Entertaining and enlightening.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
This is decent historical fiction, which I read as a companion piece to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Lila by Marilyn Robinson
I read Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead, so I was excited to read Lila - a sort of companion novel to Gilead -for book club.  Robinson writes so beautifully.  I love the voice of the character Lila in this book.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
This novel is about four siblings whose life trajectories are apparently influenced by a fortune-teller they meet as children.  Was it fate or the choices they made?  There is some good storytelling in the individual tales of each sibling.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez
This young adult novel packs a lot of issues into one book.  It's mostly well done and certainly gives an interesting view into Mexican culture and into the teenage mind.

Nonfiction miscellany

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
This is not a traditional memoir.  It has a sort of spiraling style that at times felt repetitive and vague to me.  But it is also effective in conveying the author's experiences and feelings in a way that is very moving.  Gay shares the experiences and vulnerability of living in her body and provides a necessary perspective for those of us who are not or have never been obese.

How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price
This is a quick read.  Price provides interesting information about how smartphones and social media are designed to hook us in. She also offers useful ideas about how to change our relationships with our phones so they don't feature so prominently in our lives.

I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mehkennet
This was a fascinating read about a female Muslim journalist.  Her perspective is important, and her experiences and adventures around the globe will have you at the edge of your seat.

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser
Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, this book sheds new light on the lives of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family, in particular her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, while also placing their life stories in the bigger picture of history.   

*****

That's my year in reading so far.  And now to plan my summer reading...
How about you?  What have you read recently or what are you planning to read this summer?

A challenge for Black History Month

February is Black History Month, so it's a good time to look more closely at the history of racism in our country.  Most of us lack a complete and deep understanding of the history of racist ideas in America, and this prevents us from comprehending the complexity of the issue and the way forward.  As I mentioned in my reading notes posted a few weeks ago, the last book I read in 2017 was Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi.  It won the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction.  The Judges inscription for the award reads:

"Stamped from the Beginning turns our ideas of the term "racism" upside-down.  Ibram X. Kendi writes as a thoughtful cultural historian, aware that he is challenging deeply held, often progressive assumptions.  Using a masterful voyage through the history of the U.S. political rhetoric, beginning with Cotton Mather and ending with hip-hop, he argues that even the most fervent anti-racists have been infected with that resilient virus.  With his learning, he dares us to find a cure." 

Ibram X. Kendi is an award-winning historian and New York Times best-selling author.  He's Professor of History and International Relations and the Founding Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University.  This book is brilliant and very important.  It challenges the assumption that we can overcome racism simply through overcoming hate and ignorance.

"Hate and ignorance have not driven the history of racist ideas in America.  Racist policies have driven the history of racist ideas in America.  And this fact becomes apparent when we examine the causes behind, not the consumption of racist ideas, but the production of racist ideas."

I can't possibly adequately summarize this book, even if I went back and copied out every passage I marked with a sticky note.

This is why I wish everyone could read the book.  At over 500 pages, it is not an easy or quick read.  But it is well worth your time, and it's imperative to understanding how we got where we are today in terms of racism in the United States.

If you're unable to commit to a 500+ page history book, start by visiting Kendi's website.  There you can read some of his essays.  Also check out his recent piece in the The New York Times: "The Heartbeat of Racism is Denial ."

If you're a reader, please consider diversifying your reading habits in general.  Why not commit to reading a book by a Black author to honor Black History Month?  In the past year, I've read a number of excellent books across a variety of genres, including but not limited to:
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesym Ward (fiction)
Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith (memoir)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (young adult fiction)
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (essays)
March Trilogy by John Lewis (nonfiction/graphic novels)

Of course, reading is just one way to help us better understand Black History and racism in America.  In Milwaukee, there are a variety of organizations that host events to help our community better understand racism and the challenges of segregation in our city.

I am attending one such event on February 13th at the Frank Ziedler Center for Public Discussion.  The event is "Interrogating Whiteness" and will include an introduction by Martha Barry, an instructor for the YWCA's "Unlearning Racism" course, storytelling, and discussions with fellow community members about racial identity and whiteness.  I am participating as an Ex Fabula Fellow, having had the privilege of participating in the third year of the Ex Fabula Fellowship this fall.   "Ex Fabula strengthens community bonds through the art of storytelling."  They partner with a number of organizations in the community to put on outstanding events.  For example, my husband and I attended "Refugee Stories" at the Haggerty Museum of Art and heard compelling and braves stories from several immigrants who live in our community.  Be sure to check out Ex Fabula's website (linked above) or FB page for upcoming events.

There are many local organizations committed to fostering community bonds and better understanding.  The Ziedler Center mentioned above, as well as many local libraries, sponsor events.  The Milwaukee Jewish Museum currently has an exhibit about civil rights.  ZIP MKE is a grassroots organization that uses photography to engage and connect people throughout Milwaukee.  If you're on Facebook, check out March on Milwaukee 50th, which is a page "dedicated to the commemoration of Milwaukee's Civil Rights Movement and the 200 nights of Fair Housing Marches that took place in 1967."  These are just a few examples.

*****

"Shallow understanding from people of good will
is more frustrating
than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."  

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reading, storytelling, listening...how are you going to work to better understand?

Please feel free to comment with any organizations, events, books, etc. that you would recommend. 

Year-end book & blog notes

A new year has started with its promise of fresh starts and new beginnings.  I usually like to take some time at the end of the year to look back and to look ahead, setting goals for the year to come.  There wasn't much space for reflection at the end of the year.  I'm just getting around to wrapping up my reading notes and looking back at my blog activity for 2017.

I blogged nineteen times in 2017, which is exactly the number of times I blogged in 2016.  Since I don't blog a certain day or number of times per week, this is purely incidental.  I'm pondering some blogging and writing goals for 2018, but I haven't settled on anything specific yet.

Of the posts I wrote last year, these three received the most views:
1)  When your dad dies (& some thoughts on grief)
2)  Yes, Shakespeare is for everyone.
3)  all you mommas

Since the posts are not on any one specific theme or topic, this confirms that my blog is indeed "A blog about nothing (and anything)."  One constant in my three and a half years of blogging is my reading notes.  Here's what I've read since my last post in September through the end of 2017.

Adult Fiction

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
In light of everything that's been in the news lately - regarding immigration and the alleged comment about "shithole" countries - this novel is a very timely read.  In fact, it's one of the books listed in the article "11 Incredible Books by Writers from 'Shithole' Countries."  The story takes place during the financial collapse of  2008 and chronicles the lives of two men and their families.  Jende Jonga is an immigrant from Cameroon living in Harlem who becomes the chauffeur of Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers.  I really liked the way the author developed the various characters and wove together the stories of the families.  Perhaps this book asks more questions than it answers about the "American dream."  And that's what makes it so thought-provoking, in addition to being a beautifully-written and compelling story.  Highly recommended! 


The End of Temperance Dare by Wendy Webb
This is a suspenseful and mysterious "ghost story" that takes place in an artists' retreat that was formerly a sanatorium for patients with (and mostly dying from) tuberculosis.  I'd read another of Webb's mysteries and knew I could count on her for a page-turner.  If you're willing to suspend your disbelief (it's a ghost story after all!), you will be entertained.


The Mothers by Brit Bennett
This is the debut novel of Brit Bennett.  The Goodreads description reads: "Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett's mesmerizing first novel is an emotionally perceptive story about community.  It begins with a secret."  Throughout the novel, we see how this secret affects the lives of the three main characters, as well as the families and church community in which they are rooted, as they grow from teens to young adults.  I enjoyed many aspects of the book, but I was dissatisfied with some of the character development and with the ending.


Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
A few friends recommended this novel.  I enjoy historical fiction and this didn't disappoint.  It was interesting to learn about a piece of history that I hadn't been familiar with - the Eugenics Sterilization Program in North Carolina, under which social workers had over 7000 women sterilized, some without their knowledge or consent.  The characters drew me in, and the story was very good.


Tenth of December by George Saunders
After reading Lincoln in the Bardo, I put Saunders' short story collection on my to-read list.  Once again, I'm impressed with his singular style.  As a reader, I was fascinated by these strange and quirky stories.  As a writer, I'm always fascinated by the concept of what a story can be.  Short and long, funny and sad, realistic and fantastical.  The title story is a beauty.  My other favorites were "Victory Lap," "Puppy," "The Semplica Girl Diaries" and "Home."


Child / Young Adult Fiction 

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
This book won the 2017 Newberry Medal.  I saw it on a website and was intrigued by the title and beautiful cover.  It's a middle-grade fantasy novel, and I enjoyed the characters, their fantastical world and the story very much.  The writing is quite lyrical, however, so I wonder how it resonates with young readers.  I know I definitely want to read more of Barnhill's books.


Uglies, Pretties, Specials - Scott Westerfeld
This is a popular young adult dystopian series.  As is often the case, the first book was the strongest.  It's an interesting concept - the idea of making everyone meet the same standard of beauty through surgery.  However, there was an ongoing girl against girl thing between the main character Tally and her sometimes friends-sometimes enemy, plus their involvement in a love triangle with a male character, that really irritated me.  There are better books to read in this genre for sure.         


Whirligig by Paul Fleischman
This is a young adult novel that was the "all school read" for my son's high school this fall.  It's a short book and a quick read.  It's very sad but also an extremely moving story of redemption.

Nonfiction 

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Daniel James Brown
I hesitating reading this, despite recommendations, because I thought it would be a "sports book."  But I'm so glad I finally read it.  It's a such a compelling historical narrative of the time period and more specifically of the people.  The life story of Joe Rantz - his hardships and his grit - is fascinating.  The second half was particularly good.  Although we know what's going to happen, the author draws us into the story so deeply and so emotionally with the suspense of the races and the lives of the people involved.  I was moved to tears more than once reading this book.  Loved it!


Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown

I liked the idea of the book, but the content was just okay to me.  I really admire Brene Brown and have watched her TED talks and read The Gifts of Imperfection, which I loved.  This one was a quick read, but it didn't seem like a complete and cohesive book to me.

Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith
In retrospect, it's interesting that I read this memoir less than a month after reading The Mothers.  Smith's real life story shares some similarities with the fictional story of Nadia in The Mothers - both are coming of age stories about girls who grow up in middle class African American families in California, both have strong ties to their church communities, both lose their mothers at a fairly young age.  But Smith's real life doesn't have the same level of tragedy and isolation as Nadia's fictional life.

Smith is the current U.S. Poet Laureate and her lyrical, beautiful writing hints that she's a poet.  I enjoyed this peek into her life, into a certain family culture at a certain time.  Some aspects I could relate to - the big religious family, the 80s, the insecurities of high school, the love of books and literature.  At the same time, her experience growing up in a black family living among mostly white people was illuminating.   The evolution of her views on both faith and race - particularly when she went away to college - was really interesting to read about .  Perhaps most moving was her close relationship with her mother, the strain of the relationship as she grew older and ultimately the experience of her mother's death when she was still a young adult.  I definitely recommend this memoir.  I haven't read Smith's poetry, but plan to check it out.


Why Buddhism is True: the Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by
Robert Wright
I loved this book!  I was fascinated reading about evolutionary psychology and how our brains/thoughts/feelings developed in certain ways that made sense for hunter-gatherers but no longer serve our needs.  And then to see how this all aligns with secular Buddhism and the practice of meditation was really interesting. 


The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
by Mark Manson
This book grew out of a popular blog post - "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck."  I happened to read this right after Why Buddhism is True.  When Manson talks about not giving an "f" about certain things, he's essentially talking about not being attached to emotional reactions and things that don't matter.  He references Buddhist philosophy quite a bit in the book.  Parts of the book were pretty funny, and I enjoyed some of the stories he told about himself and others.  (I was irritated by a story about the importance of being honest and how he told his wife that something she was wearing didn't look good.)  At times his 30-something male humor and life views did not resonate with me.  I'd love to see a similar book written by a middle-aged mom.  Heck, I could WRITE that book.


Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
This is the very last book I read in 2017.  It's sitting here on my desk, overdue at the library and with about a million sticky notes marking pages.  This one needs its own blog post.  Stay tuned.