Lake House by Kate Morton

What does Amoeba Records have in common with Lake House? Amoeba Records on Sunset Blvd  is where I found this wonderful book.  Little did I know that Amoeba carried used books, but it’s true!  There was a wonderful assortment of books, as well as records, CDs, shirts, and so much more! Check out this iconic store if you are ever in Los Angeles!

Sophie Sparrow is a detective with the London MET, and she is very good at her job.  Sometimes cases get under her skin, and the Bailey case was certainly one that Sophie could not forget.  Since she is forced to take some time off from her position, she ends up in Cornwall and spends some time with her grandfather, Bertie.  Sophie stumbles on a old house, and starts asking questions about the house’s history.

Sophie finds out that the house’s owner is a world famous mystery author, but there is also a family tragedy that caused the family to leave the house in 1933 and move to London.  The family never returned to the Lake House.

This book is told from the view of Alice, who is the famous mystery author, and Sophie Sparrow, who feels she can find the answers to the tragic cold case from 1933.  I thought I had figured out the “mystery” of the book, then I would discover that theory was entirely incorrect.  Several times I thought I had figured out the case, and then I would be sent off in another direction.  I didn’t figure out the ending until the characters did.  I love books like this!

I highly recommend Lake House by Kate Morton.  Pick up a copy!

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

“The dead are never far from us. They're in our hearts and on our minds and in the end all that separates us from them is a single breath, one final puff of air.” 

This is one of the most beautiful lines in the book, Ordinary Grace.  Ordinary Grace marks one of my favorite reads for this year, and it is right up there for one of the best books I have ever read (listened to).  This book was recommended by a friend, and the only copy I could find from my local library was an audio version.  

The audio version is fantastic, and the reader, Rich Orlow, is amazing in his narration.  Within a few minutes of listening to the first chapter, I was drawn in.  

Frank is a thirteen year old boy who lives in New Bremen, Minnesota.  He is entering a fateful summer where his family, friends, and the community will encounter great despair, loss, betrayal, and the loss of innocence.  

As we grow up and become adults, we realize that sometimes adults keep secrets.  Once we realize what those secrets might be, do we keep those to ourselves, or do we tell?  

This book reminds me very much of my all time favorite book, To Kill A Mockingbird. This book, like Mockingbird, has a thought- provoking message, and is uplifting - even in the face of extreme tragedy. Sometimes, a child a greater wisdom than adults.

Read this book when you have the opportunity.  I hope it will be on your list of favorites as well as it is on mine. 

“The miracle is this: that you will rise in the morning and be able to see again the startling beauty of the day.”

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

How many lives were changed on September 11, 2001?  Many lives were lost that day, but for those of us who were survivors, did we cherish our families more?  Did we decide to push away our fears and take chances that we wouldn't have before?  Were we drawn to certain people because we were together the moment that first plane hit the tower?

Lucy and Gabe meet on the morning of September 11, 2001.  They are seniors at Columbia University, and sit together on the roof of the dormitory to watch the towers collapse.  They are drawn together by the tragedy, and though they don't date each other, they are linked in spirit. 

Fast forward two years, and Lucy bumps into Gabe at a bar in New York City.  Their attraction is immediate, and they spend the next year together in Gabe's apartment.  But 9/11 weighs heavily on Gabe, and he feels he needs to do more to help humanity.  He goes to school to learn photography, and decides to travel to the Middle East to find his dream job. 

Meanwhile, Lucy is brokenhearted, and she decides to stay in her job of writing scripts for a children's television show.  Gabe is never far from her thoughts, but she knows he will never be entirely hers ever again.

This book is a very easy read for those who don't have much time to read long chapters. The content held my attention, and I usually read longer than I intended.  The Light We Lost also makes one think about the love we leave behind because the timing might not have been right, or the distance was too great, or a myriad of other instances. The question remains:   What if? 

Next Year In Havana by Chanel Cleeton

What would happen if there was talk of a revolution?  What would you do?  Would you continue to support the current government, or would you watch, wait, and bide your time?  What would happen to you?  To your family?  To your friends?  Could you walk away from the country and never know when you might return? If ever?

Marisol is traveling to Cuba to write a travel article about its beaches, restaurants, and the beauty of the island.  She is also surreptitiously carrying her grandmother's ashes because being buried in Cuba was her grandmother's final wish.  The travel article is supposedly the main reason she is in the country, but really, the main reason is to scatter her grandmother's ashes somewhere on the island.  Her grandmother never gave Marisol any indication where she wanted her ashes scattered, so it is up to Marisol to decide the most fitting place.

Marisol received many warnings from her great aunts to be vigilant while on the island, but with the death of Fidel Castro, she feels that she will be safe. The Perez family fled the island shortly after Fidel Castro became the dictator of the island and began executing anyone who had ties to the former president, Batista.  Marisol doesn't realize that anyone with the Perez name will be on the radar of Cuban officials. 

Marisol's journey to learning her grandmother's story, and the stories of those of her aunts and uncle leads to even more questions, fear for those she has come to love, and a romance.  The sights and smells of Cuba make it a tantalizing place to visit, but the people of Cuba are still victims of an authoritarian society, so life is still very difficult for most residents of the country. This book is a wonderful read, and just getting to know the island and its proud people makes the story. 

The people of Cuba are survivors.  They will continue to fight for their cause and their rights.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

Where is technology leading us?  Are we making advancements so rapidly that we do not fully understand all of the possible consequences?  How can we fight terrorism?  Is religion even relevant in these time?  How do we decide what is truth, and what are untruths that are repeated so often that we come to believe them?  "In Mein Kampf Hitler wrote, 'The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.'" We hear the lies, and then they are no longer lies, but truths.

We are living in a world where fake news can help determine a national election.  One can search online for a particular pair of shoes, or a certain business, and then an algorithm is created that starts sending you information about things you 'like."  What can one person do? 

This book helped me understand why I continually feel so helpless with the matters of the world.  What is the future of humans?  How can we deal with some of society's greatest challenges when many people are trying to raise their families, make a living and are not personally affected by some of these issues?

I had to put this book down several times as there is a lot of information to digest.  "If you feel overwhelmed by the global predicament, you are on the right track.  Global processes have become too complicated for any single person to understand."  So, take your time with this book.  Read it. Put it down, then continue reading as there are some glimmers of hope within its pages as well.

There were a lot of takeaways from this book, but here are a few that I will share within this blog.  "Democracy is founded on the idea that the voter knows best." Harari points out that most humans make their decisions based on emotion rather than any rational decision.  The voter may be using his vote to keep "autonomy and power" for himself or others like him.

Harari also recommends that if you want reliable information, pay for it!  If you get your news for free, then you may not be getting an accurate version.  (Social media - I am looking at you!  Social media users - I am looking at YOU if you read it, believe it, and share it!) Don't be part of the problem.

And finally, as an educator, this book made me think about how much information I give my students.  Havari states that students don't need any more information, but they need the ability to process and make sense of the information.  Students need to be able to figure out what information is important and what is not.  We don't know what skills our students will need in twenty-five years, but they will need general life skills.  Our students may have to continually reinvent themselves to order to find employment as jobs that were available when I was a student are now automated.  What other jobs will be automated within the next five years?  What other jobs will be created?  How can we prepare our students for jobs that don't even exist?

Once you read this book. let me know your thoughts.  Let's talk.

This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

As a mother, I have often wondered how I would parent a child who was transgender. Would I say the right things?  Would I be able to help this child become the person that he or she needed to become?  What could I do to protect my child from those who have closed minds?  From those who hate?  From those who might intend to harm my child?

Rosie and Penn are the parents of five boys, but from the moment Claude is born, they know that Claude is not typical.  Claude is interested in wearing dresses, barrettes, and bikinis in the summer. "Penn knew in his heart that Claude should be who he was."  Rosie and Penn decides to let Claude be who he is, and Claude decides that she wants to be known as Poppy and be a girl. Penn and Rosie live in Madison, Wisconsin, and even though the Madison area is pretty open-minded, there were still those who would never understand why Poppy's parents would allow such behavior from a child. "How did you teach your small human that it is what's inside that counts when the truth was everyone was pretty preoccupied with what you put on the outside too?"

After a couple of very scary encounters in Madison, Penn and Rosie decide to leave Madison and move to Seattle so their family will be safe, and they can start anew.  But secrets cannot remain secrets forever, and the time comes when their family has to meet their secrets and the pain that those secrets have caused head on.

All around us is intolerance.  I see it every day.  I hear it in the words of those around me.  People share videos and memes on social media.  They think their views are black and white, right and wrong. They have no middle. But what this is really about is fear:  the fear of change and the unfamiliar. When Rosie travels to Thailand, she meets a transgender who explains how to live in the "middle way."  "All is change...The people who do not understand are change.  The people who afraid are change. There is no before and no after because change is what is life.  You live in change, in in between."

I loved this book.  I loved the characters, the poetry of the writing, but mostly, I loved the message.  "Dispelling fear.  Taming what was scary not by hiding it, not by blocking it or burying it, not by keeping it secret, but by reminding themselves and everyone else, to choose love, choose openness, to think, and be calm.  There were more ways than just two, wider possibilities than hidden or betrayed, stalled, or brokenhearted, male or female, right or wrong. Middle ways. Ways beyond."

The suicide rate for transgender children is 41.8% - and that statistic is just from respondents to the survey. (American Academy of Pediatrics) These children feel their families reject them; they endure bullying, and sometimes are the targets of violence. These children do not understand what is happening to them and why they are different from their classmates. When Poppy asks Rosie how to be happy in this life, she tells her, "The real trick is you have to forge your way straight ahead through the trees where there is no path."

What can we do?  We can be more tolerant. We can understand that we are not to judge. It's hard growing up, but it's even harder when we have to endure cruelties.  In the words of the author, Laurie Frankel, "For my child, for all our children, I want more options, more paths through the woods, wider ranges of normal, and unconditional love."  We have love within us.  Let's spread that around.

In Praise of Difficult Women: Life Lessons from 29 Heroines Who Dared to Break the Rules by Karen Karbo

On a recent visit to Los Angeles, I was fortunate to visit Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.  I admit, I was wondering how much I would like a museum on the grounds of one of largest cemeteries in the country.  However, I was game for some adventure, so away I went!

The drive to the museum was one I will never forget.  The lawn was awash with poinsettias.  It was utterly both sad and beautiful.  Forest Lawn is set up to be more of a park than a cemetery, so people relax and picnic on the grounds, and there is the sound of laughter in the air.  It was on these grounds that I found a very special museum.

The Forest Lawn Museum was hosting a special exhibit that was called Women of Vision. The works of eleven photojournalists from National Geographic were highlighted within this exhibit.  I was awed by the beauty, yet sensitive nature of the photos.  Some of these women spent four years living side by side with people from other cultures to learn about their thoughts, hopes, and fears.  But I digress...

On the way out of the exhibit, I perused the gift shop, and two life-changing things happened.  The first was as I was viewing a painting called Song of Angels, 1881 by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Within that painting, I saw my mother, and she was an angel.  I sucked in my breath, and it was all I could do not to break into sobs. One of the angels depicted within that painting looks just like a younger version of my mother.  I took a picture of the banner advertising the exhibit, but it isn't the same as viewing the painting.  The second extraordinary thing that happened was finding the book In Praise of Difficult Women on the shelves of the gift shop.

I didn't buy the book on the spot, but I did take a picture of the cover so I could check with my local library to see if the book was available.  Inside the pages of the book are the abbreviated biographies of twenty-nine difficult women - twenty-nine extraordinary, sassy, mouthy, difficult women.

Some of these women's stories were heartbreaking, devastating, and life-altering, but each story speaks of strength, tenacity, and well, being difficult.  From Frida Kahlo, who at the age of eighteen suffered a horrific street car accident, to Carrie Fisher, who suffered a lifetime of mental illness, these brief glimpses into the lives of twenty-nine women push me to become...well, more difficult. 

"These difficult women give us permission to occupy space in our worlds, to say what we think, and to stand our ground.  They give us permission to be ambitious, passionate, curmudgeonly, outspoken, persistent, sassy, and angry.  They tell us by their words and deeds, that it's all right to occupy our humanity."

I have been told many times that I am a "difficult" woman.  I don't always follow the "rules" by being a submissive female.  I once walked away from a job because the owner thought women only should clean and mop, not to be involved in the business aspect.  I had a department head once tell a member of my department that I "asked too many questions."  As a chair of a church committee, I once had a high ranking state church official tell me that meetings would on his schedule, not on my committee's schedule.  (For the record, the meetings were on my committee's schedule, and being called "Little Missy Chair" was reported to his superiors.)

Thanks to my father, being difficult is in my blood.  I will continue to be difficult, and I hope you will be difficult along with me. Stand for what you believe.  Don't let anyone tell you that you cannot follow your dreams, and live the life you were meant to live.