My friend Trish handed this book to me this week and insisted, in her own sweet way, that I read it right away. She is, like me, a lover of young adult fiction. A Monster Calls is actually a young adult graphic novel written by Patrick Ness from an idea told to him by author [...]
When I was in the fourth grade my family left our Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago for the suburbs. While I have very mixed feelings about that decision made by my parents, I know they wanted a safer life for their daughters. When we got to the ‘burbs, I did what I always do: I [...]
Some days are definitely better than others in my line of work, but who isn’t that true for among the working? On my last post Angie asked me a question that I’ve been pondering ever since I read it: How do you renew yourself? I responded in the comments but after I did it I [...]
While I am still loving to read real books and not textbooks it must be said here and now: what have y’all been reading that’s worthwhile these last two years? I know, I know. You’ve already told me. You’ve already said what you like, but now I’d have to go back in the archives and [...]
Sometimes I enjoy the slow life afforded to me as I watch through my lens what other people are doing. I’m a people watcher. Guilty. Since it’s not ever me that’s going along sluggishly, I blissfully watch others in the slow motion of life, and that’s a good thing because it reminds me to be [...]
Mark Twain nee Samuel Clemens is a genius. Of all the things to ban a book for, this one is mostly challenged because, as it states here, of the N-word. They even say the phrase “N-word” in the document, which makes me want to claim that word once again because I’m not one to be [...]
Justice originates among those who are approximately equally powerful, as Thucydides (in the terrible conversation between the Athenian and Melian ambassadors) comprehended correctly: where there is no clearly recognizable predominance and a fight would mean inconclusive mutual damage, there the idea originates that one might come to an understanding and negotiate one’s claims: the initial [...]
You won’t ever find another novel with more interesting character names. Milkman Dead First Corinthians Ryna Guitar Bains Sing (Singing Bird) Magdalene Dead Hagar Ok. That last one is in the Bible. Still, you don’t find many modern characters with such memorable names. Many things are memorable about the brilliant piece of fiction by Toni [...]
Fathers and daughters. Racism and reality. Family and phantoms. Accusations and disingenuousness. Lust and lies. Rape and righteousness. And rites of passage. Simplicity is the only way I can describe To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s so fervently ingrained in me that Scout is the simplest of characters who teaches us complex lessons about life in [...]
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