Joke:
Q: How do you ruin
a dragon’s birthday party?
(answer at the bottom after
Found on the Shelf)
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Last week, I read a quote that I liked, and then the internet completely ruined it for me! Sounds empowering. Sounds uplifting. "Never feel sorry for raising dragon slayers in a time when there are actual dragons." And then I saw answers to it like, "You can't slay climate change, so aren't you just bringing children into a doomed world?" and "Why should your children have to fix all of the mistakes you made for them to inherit?" - thanks a lot Reddit! This is exactly why I stick to emails instead of social media. My imagination kicks in, and then I'm asking all kinds of questions: Why do I have to raise a dragon slayer anyway? Why are there so many dragons? Who knows if the dragons in question are even that bad? - especially if they haven't eaten anything spicy in a while? Shouldn't we try to talk it out with the dragons first? And finally, can't we just support the dragons emotionally, so that there don't need to be any slayers at all? Sigh. Parenting is hard. And before you discount my dragons, just remember, approximately 1/3 of the Indian population believe that aliens will arrive on Earth this year. I wouldn't put anything past 2022: dragons OR aliens. Email me back with your reply of a 1 word or 1 sentence prediction for 2022. I'll send free books to my favorite 5. -yes, this is entirely subjective, but I promise, I'll share all of the results with you next week!
(alien info. source: Global Advisor/IPSOS)
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The Best Feel-Good Books of 2021
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Click the Adult or the Kids/YA links in the images and get the jump on tomorrow's releases today!
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A quick check-in with our Evening Book Club proves that things are moving along just as abnormally as ever. The following is from their fearless leader, Dean.
The evening book group always has two requests as we begin a new year. First and foremost is the fact that the group wants me to quit. It ain't happening, people. The second is a request to see an updated list of the group's book ratings. (I can send you the pdf if you'd like it. Just reply to this email with your request.) It goes back to 2006. Actually the group is much older than this. In fact we've been rating books since before the invention of language and the written word. That has made the early ratings so hard to confirm.
December's reading of Edward Lee's, Buttermilk Graffiti, gave everyone a chance to show off their culinary skills. Mr. Lee is a Louisville based chef who searched out different cultures and cuisines of America. He also provided recipes for the foods he wrote about. The group agreed to prepare the foods as dishes to pass during the meeting. This could have been problematic with a Zoom presentation. However I contacted an Uber driver, gave her my slaw dogs bathed in bourbon washed butter, and sent her on her way. Her instructions were to gather up all of the entrees the group prepared and bring them back to me. When she returned all that she had in the car were the slaw dogs. She claimed nobody wanted to touch them once they learned I had prepared them. As one participant exclaimed, "I wouldn't waste a bottle of bourbon on a bunch of slaw dogs." All that I received out of the adventure was the Uber bill. |
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The January 18th meeting will once again be Zoomed. Ocean Vuong's novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter written by a son to a mother who cannot read. It is a strong portrayal of the struggles of immigrants, a coming of age work that is intimate, disturbing and beautiful. Mr. Vuong is a highly regarded poet. This is his first novel and you can hear the poetry in his writing. |
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We invite everyone to register with us to Zoom from 7 to 8 PM. I will email you the link the day before or day of the meeting. Left over slaw dogs will be served.
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This one is "technically" for teens, but it's valuable for anyone who needs to check in with themselves. Check out some of the inside images and prompts for a great way to step into the new year! Click for inside images.
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At an event full of strangers, isn't it always a wonderful surprise to find someone you can truly talk with? Meena, Shannon, Smita, Abru, and Mohan are those strangers, and you will talk about them as if you know them when you finish Honor.
Smita is our protagonist: Indian-American, investigative journalist, and steadfast friend who finishes covering one of the most heartbreaking murder trials I've ever encountered in a novel for her friend Shannon. Journalists strive for objective distance from the people they cover in their reporting, but you, the reader, will not be able to bear even one inch of distance between yourself and Meena. The religious fundamentalism that brings about her husband's murder makes your whole body ache to just reach out and hold and comfort her through her unjustifiable loss.
At the core of Umrigar's writing, as always, is how people treat one another. You simply must pick it up and savor every word. Click here for the full review.
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Anna is fond of exploring the nooks and crannies of her village, which feels reminiscent of the Pied Piper's Hamelin. Upon climbing a forbidden ladder to the top of the village wall, she spies a far-off mountain, larger than anything she has ever imagined. Ignoring the call of the wild proves pointless, and Anna eventually enlists her little brother, Finn, in an epic quest to reach the top. My daughter says the bear is her favorite part of the book because, "He is so big that he is scary, but then his eyes are so kind you just know everything is going to be ok." And after Anna gives him an apple she found in a lovely orchard along the way, he snuggles by the fire with the children through a stormy night.
The siblings eventually DO make it to the top, discovering that what they thought would be the biggest adventure of their lives is only the beginning.
The intricately detailed illustrations seem to have an indigo wash over them giving the storytelling an otherworldly quality. And they triumph as heroes and return home from their mighty exploration at the end!
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When your friend who isn't even vegan preorders 3 copies of a vegan cookbook 6 months before it's publication date, you pay attention. And if the Matcha Rice Krispy Treats she posted on Instagram are 1/2 as good as they look, it will be worth the price and then some!
Here's a link to some of her recipes if you like to try before you buy!
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Joke from above:
Q: How do you ruin a dragon’s birthday party?
A: Tell him to blow out the candles on his cake!
Awww. Poor little dragon.
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Visit us:
10am-7pm Monday-Saturday
Closed on Sundays
307 East Lake Street
Petoskey, MI 49770
or email us at:
background image credit: Patrick Tomasso @impatrickt
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