Preparing for Christmas!

Let me review a few books. The first one I read read in preparation for the library's book club, “A Carol Dickens Christmas,” by Thomas Fox Averill. It is a 2014 Kansas Notable Book. The novel is set in Topeka, Kansas. In this book, protagonist, Fin is a high school student in his senior year.  He is soooo ready to be gone and in college.  This is until he happens upon a previous band member from high school.  Fin is a talented trumpet player.  He sees her on her steps, she pregnant and not looking very happy.  He decides that he is going to seek her out.  He  does, and get involved with her whole family. This changes his life. And just about upturns his mothers life, who prefers the predictable, honored traditions of celebrating Christmas using "A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. These traditions will collide with the events and plans that Finn has made.  It is an enjoyable and thoughtful story. 

A book I have read in preparation for Christmas “The 13th Gift: A True Story of Christmas Miracles,” by Joanne Huist Smith. This is about a family who's father has died.  It devastates the three youth and mother.  This is the first Christmas, they do not want to face it.  They'd rather ignore it, but others have a better idea.  Bless it, enlarge it and embrace it!

Another new item for Christmas is “The Mistletoe Inn,” by Richard Paul Evans.  The Mistletoe Inn,” by Richard Paul Evans.  This is book two of the Mistletoe series.  They are not a trilogy but “independent love stories abounding with inspiration, humor and romance – Christmas presents for my readers” (p. ix). The review on the front flap sounds rosy. But this story brings protagonist Kimberly Rossi through the death of her mother, a move to a new town, and the betrayal of her husband. After that, Rossi moved to Thornton, a suburb of Denver where the story really begins. I bet you will enjoy once again this author’s story.

The next book is “Christmas Bells,” by Jennifer Chiaverini. The author bases this novel from the poem entitled, “Christmas Bells,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Protagonist, Sophia Peleg has organized a wonderful Winter Holiday Concert at Peleg Wadsworth Elementary School.  Called into the principal’s office after the program, she was congratulated for an excellent concert, . . . the best yet. . .” (p. 4). Even with the excellent work, she finds out due to a ballot measure failing and emergency financial measures being instituted, she will be laid off at the end of the school year. Her principal wants her to begin looking for a new teaching or musical employment position for her future. Sophia is also a volunteer at her local church.  She works with the children in their musical presentations. As she delves into the selections and themes for the Christmas concert for the church, she selects a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  It is a glorious poem that speaks of loss, tragedy, while good will and peace triumph.  This book tells the story of how Longfellow came to write the poem.  It weaves Sophia’s life and experience in the midst of telling the story.  You will enjoy this book.

Other books you might want to look to read are: “Marry Me At Christmas,” by Susan Mallery (regular and large print); “Falling Like Snowflakes,” by Denis Hunter (large print); “The Last Chance Christmas Ball,” by Mary Jo Putney & Jo Beverly; “Winter Stroll,” by Elin Hilderbrand; “Dashing Through the Snow,” by Debbie Macomber; “A Christmas Bride in Pinecraft,” by Shelley Shepard Gray; “Amish Christmas at North Star,” by Cindy Woodsmall & Mindy Starns Clark; “Heartsong Cottage,” by Emily March; “Christmas on Candy Cane Lane,” by Sheila Roberts; “Away In A Manger,” by Rhys Bowen; and “A Cherry Cola Christmas,” by Ashton Lee; “Duck the Halls,” by Donna Andrews; “A Log Cabin Christmas Collection,” by Wanda E. Brunstetter; “Christmas of Twilight,” by Lori Wilde; “Celebrate Christmas,” by Susan Wiggs; “An Island Christmas,” by Nancy Thayer; “The Christmas Light,” by Donna Vanliere; “The Lodge on Holly Road,” by Sheila Roberts; and “A Quilt for Christmas,” by Sandra Dallas. 

Read Malcom Gladwell's non-fiction books. Learn about yourself & others!

The first book I read by this author was “Outliers: The Story of Success." This was an intriguing book that described how successful people like Bill Gates, the Beetles and others became truly great at what they do.  Essentially, Gladwell demonstrates through stories that it is the practices and time spent in their lives and background.  It is the environment and opportunities they have used to propel their excellence.  But, it is also the hard work and self-determination that makes them great.  Gladwell shares with us that these people practiced over 10,000 times.  Practice really does make perfect, but then we'd have to change the saying, practice makes successful! 

The second book I read from this individual was "Blink:  The Power of Thinking without Thinking." This book describes how we make decisions and how often times it is the gut, fast decisions that are more right than the slower methodical decisions.  His discussion is good, and valid in some instances, but I don't think I will begin to make decisions by shooting from the hip anytime soon!

I've also read “David &Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants,” by Malcolm Gladwell.  This book discusses how the story of David and Goliath is often realized in our lives when we face obstacles. Gladwell demonstrates that might often is defeated because the greater loses the perspective for themselves, as well as the legitimacy in others eyes to conquer the opposing force. The author discusses this concept when challenging educational beliefs that smaller class size is better or the ivory league will be the best for a student. These are not always confirmed in our lives.  He covers the struggle between criminals, crime, jail and the justice system.  Even girls basketball teaches us lessons.  Gladwell discussed the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King and his various associates. He presented us the history about a lone doctor slogging through the deaths of almost 99% of deaths in children a few decades ago, when we came face to face with leukemia.  This doctor through his efforts persisted until chemotherapy was born.

Considering recent events, I wonder what this author would have to say about our current election cycle?

I've enjoyed and gleaned some great insights from all three books.  I recommend them highly.  Just wish Gladwell would write something new!

North Korea continues to draw attention internationally!

          Korea continues to draw attention.  It brings me to discuss the book "Orphan Master's Son," by Adam Johnson.  It is a fiction piece, however, Johnson has used details from personal testimonies, eyewitness accounts and source documents that have described hunger, lack, confiscation, escape from concentration camps, betrayals and deaths within North Korea by their leaders. This is a riveting piece that outlines how the citizens of this country really are just property to be used and disposed of by the great leader.

          Pak Jun Do is the son of the Orphan Master.  He makes it through circumstances that most of us would never dream of encountering. In the end he even bests the great leader.  This gives me hope that one day the people of this land will be set free to live without tyranny.

          If you want to find out about some of the sources used for this novel visit websites like litlovers.com, and the many newspaper reviews.  Amazon. com also has a very long article with pictures explaining the interaction between truth, testimonies and fiction.

          In closing this blog piece, all I can say is read this book; it will give you compassion to want freedom for the people of North Korea.

Three historical fiction" items challenge us to consider our choices

I have been reading the book,  “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr for the Pioneer Memorial Library, book club. This is a 2015 Pulitzer award winning book written about World War II as a historical fiction genre.  Protagonist, Marie-Laure LeBlanc cannot sleep in her home at Number 4 rue Vauborel. She lives with her great uncle who has not returned home in over 24 hours.  She worries about him but must stay home and wait.  In the middle of the night she is caressing the miniature model of the city in her bedroom. She hears the roar of planes overhead. She makes her way to the window and gently pushes it up so that she might hear what else is happening.  In the midst of this, a piece of paper sits gingerly on the windowsill. She picks it up, feels and sniffs it.  It is smells of fresh ink, is crisp and new.  What it says she does not know. She is blind.  Now the author introduces us to a second character, young private named Werner Pfennig. He is in the German Army serving in France.  He is eighteen years old and is on his way to the cellar of the L’hotel de Abeilles (Hotel of Bees). The ground is shaking, the plane engines are roaring overhead. D-Day was two months ago.  But their little island had not been liberated by the Americans or English.  Cherbourg, the town is about to experience the crushing blow of the Allies against the Germans.  Those within this French town just received thousands of leaflets telling them to leave the city, go to the open fields and wait out the attack.  Marie does not know this. She must just wait. As Werner is moving quickly to the cellar he thinks this may be it for him; his day of meeting his maker.  Doerr gets his reader right where he wants them, then he back tracks 10 years.  He tells of their childhood in several chapters, then springs us back to 1944 in part two.  This book reads at a good pace. The dialogue is easy but engaging.  I think we will find this a thought provoking and interesting book to read.  Join me in finishing the story.

The next novel is also a historical fiction item: “The Nightingale,” by Kristin Hannah. The book starts with an elderly woman living through old age, cancer and now the necessity of moving into a smaller home and away from her beloved house called the Peak.  She was a young woman during WWII, when the Nazi’s invaded France.  She and her sister take different paths during the struggle against Nazi oppression.  Their lives will be changed dramatically. Both will fight this enemy in ways they never thought possible.  The Gestapo are looking for the Nightingale, and the search is being broadened until it comes to one of the sisters. She is in danger, but cannot tell those in the resistance, they have their own problems. She must find a way around the suspicions and death threats. This book will keep you captivated. I actually liked it better than the one above.

A third item from World War II and France is “Sarah’s Key,” written by Tatiana DeRosnay.  This is a profoundly important book to read or listen to. The author creates an historical fiction piece that is so clearly close to the real happenings of original setting that it is excruciatingly painful to consider. This story is about a Jewish family that becomes part of the now infamous Vel’ d’Hiv roundup which occurred on July 16^th and 17^th in 1942. The roundup was perpetrated in collusion between the Nazi’s and the French National Police. In this story, Sarah’s family is taken by force to the national bicycle velodrome called the Vélodrome d'Hiver. From there they are taken to Auschwitz. Sarah’s story is captivating and challenging. 

I hope like me, these novels will make you reflect just what you would allow to go on to a group of people in your town, county, state or nation. It will also make you consider your heritage, just who do we think we are and how did we get where we are, and what have we lost in our heritage from the past.  

  

"Gone to Green," by Judy Christie

         

 Do you want to read an enjoyable, light but captivating book? Then read the book entitled, “Got to Green,” by Judy Christie.  This is book one of the “Green Series. No, it is not about going green.  It is about a young woman who inherits a newspaper in a small town.  Protagonist, Lois Barker moves from a larger Midwestern town, Dayton, Ohio to a small rural area in Northern Louisiana. Barker is used to the fast life as the city editor section of the Dayton Post.  She is use to working nights and weekends, and most holidays.  As someone without children she is chosen to the work the newspapers editors desk during holidays and other difficult times. While feels she has begun to tire of such treatment. Ed, her best friend and mentor takes her aside and tells her he is leaving the Dayton Post.  He has purchased a paper and will leaving within two months.  She is devastated.  While they have never been romantically involved, their friendship has been very important to both of them.  Her boss asks Barker to take the managing editor’s position that Ed has left.  She knows that this will bring her even more challenges, however, she says yes. Barker goes home to consider all the changes that have come to her so swiftly, but it is not until the next morning when she meets with Attorney Owens that her life really begins to spin out of control. She has been given a great gift but wonders if she can handle it.  What is the answer? Read and find out!
The book was so easy to read, I decided to read all three in the series. 

        

         Book 2: "Goodness Gracious Green,"

                                             Book 3: "The Glory of Green"

Continuum vs. Axis

While I was in South Dakota, both in the capital city and the Black Hills area, these last two weeks, it reminded me once again how important our relationships are and our history is when we look to our current environments. During that time I heard about the land mark Supreme Court decisions. I have reflected on the fact that we often get to certain situations over time.  Agree or disagree with rulings by our court system, we have to remember we have been moving on a continuum. Merriam-Webster tells us that a continuum is “a range or series of things that are slightly different from each other and that exist between two different possibilities.” This is kind of what was happening with the decisions by states regarding marriage and the Affordable Care Act.  There were two disparate beliefs about what should be allowed for the laws regarding marriage.  There was also legal maneuvering in states and among our federally constituted elected officials regarding the Affordable Care Act.

So for the last number of years, court cases have been climbing through the court system until two cases changed the very axis of law, and rights were changed.  You may ask why I use the definition “axis.” Merriam-Webster gives us several definitions.  Several fit here: “a straight line about which a body or a geometric figure rotates or may be supposed to rotate. . . . 5:  a main line of direction, motion, growth, or extension 6 a :  an implied line in painting or sculpture through a composition to which elements in the composition are referred b :  a line actually drawn and used as the basis of measurements in an architectural or other working drawing.” I think that Dictionary.com gives us another concise definition: noun, plural axes. . . 1. The line about which a line about which a rotating body, such as the earth, turns.” This informs me that that legally speaking, we have moved from a continuum of possibilities to an axis by which all states and legal decisions will be predicated upon.

There have always been historical decisions like this in our history as a nation.  The very first was made at the Continental Congress when the people and representatives sent men to discuss separating from England.  From that time, we argued and disagreed upon many subjects until the Declaration of Independence was ratified by the 13 colonies. I know you will say, yes but that they were our representatives making the decisions, not the court.  But, these same people made up our nations framework and its structure for a reason. We often find ourselves unwilling to acknowledge two juxtapositions. We honor our nation’s leaders for creating a republic that included 3 branches of government, while currently thinking that our current branches of government are failing us.  I do not see things as gloomy.  We are a free people who have the rights to live and participate in our government.  We can and do make a difference in others people’s lives through personal and governmental means.   People are still flocking to our nation to live! When we have to begin begging or paying others to come, live and work here, I will know this is the end of a great nation.  Until then, I will continue to work and strive to serve the people within our society no matter what.  

Visualization and reading enhances true learning, memory and emotional connections

This week I have had the great pleasure to be part of the iConnect iLearn 2015 ‘un’Conference put on by USD #315 with an invitational to all Northwest Kansas teachers, administrators, para’s, librarians and others who work in schools.  For the past four years or so I have been allowed to attend and glean from this conference. Each year I commit to learning at least one technology skill to add to my technology abilities.  In fact, usually I come away with at least three new ways of doing tasks. I always come away more informed and with a better understanding how our children and youth are interacting with technology while in their classes. I come back to our library and work to implement and use these skills for others.

This year is no exception.  I attended several technology sessions. But, what really stuck with me yesterday, was a non-hi-tech sessions. It was entitled, “Visualization: Minds On for the 21^st Century." It was done Lina Zeilger (Principal at Quinter Elementary). She has been working for 25 years teaching and administration.  In the session,  she share with us that she came across the importance of visualizing for students while reading and learning.  This began a journey of research for her.  From this, she has written the book, “Visualization: Using Mental Images to Strengthen Comprehension. Enhancing Writing through Visualization,” 

 I have learned early in my studies as a child that visualization, pictures and imagery help me retain needed information, but I thought this was just a learning style I had. What Zeigler tells us is that this is effective for most people.  She discovered that TV and Internet pictures, concepts, and video’s show us what to think and visualize. But reading and listening to radio or audio-books helps us to learn to visualize.  Many children today have not learned to create their own pictures or images in their minds as they read or learn about a subject.  For today’s children, their imaginary play times are being superseded by technology.  She did not say to take technology away, just use it with discretion. 

One teacher who was a returnee on this subject, stated she implemented this technique with spelling in class.  The students were to draw their words or the concept of the word.  The children found that they were successful at their spelling because they had associated the work and learned what it meant from within and not without. She stated that if a child could not visualize a word, then others in the class helped paint the picture.  Together each child began to succeed.  Those with learning challenges found they were smart in a way, which had not been tapped into. 

What excited me about this topic was reading.  A child will be more successful at comprehension and remembering the theme of a book, a subject, concept or topic if they have first used their mind to think and visualize the characters and descriptions used in the book. Visualization then enhances forming memories and thus, remembering. 

So now you say, but I can’t do that. It’s not coming to me.  A few years ago, I read the book, “Sarah’s Key” (by Tatiana de Rosnay), and the author described the Roubaix or Metro dome in France.  If had no idea what that looked like or how it might have looked.  I could go to Google or a database for help.  That is a great way to use technology. A simple non-fiction item written for junior fiction ages, or using a digital encyclopedia (provided by State Library of Kansas – for free) will help you find out about a subject quick and easy.

Reading novels, historical fiction, and biographies of others has been shown to also enhance the way a person can operate within a situation. Let’s say you have never been in a situation before and you walk into that situation you have been reading about; the fact you read, thought about, and visualized the situation in the book will help you in your real life situation.

Sometimes we have trouble forgetting bad situation.  This is because memory and emotion is merged and enhanced visualization and memory is made.  We can utilize visualization, emotion and thinking in a positive way. What if we used this same technique to enhance our enjoyment? Take a book, read it, visualize.

Push yourself this week; read a book or genre you’ve never read.  Read outside your comfort zone.  Pick up a fantasy or science fiction book.  Pick out a book about an age group or society you know nothing about. Read or listen to a book that challenges you to take time to relax, enjoy and visualize.  If you don't have something like this, go to your local library! The Pioneer Memorial Library where I work, has wonderful resources for its citizens. Our motto is “Bring Words to Life!” Reading and visualizing will help you create, imagine, grow, learn and enjoy!