books

Obama Book Club

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Continuing with our picks to the Obama Book Club, highlighted by this article from Entertainment Weekly, this week’s space goes to Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow.

I read this book right after reading his biography of Hamilton which was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s inspiration for his very popular Broadway msuical, Hamilton: An American Musical.

In both, I really enjoyed Chernow’s style and way of writing. Even as a fan of history, I sometimes find the reading of period writings to be a bit hard on the linguistics inside my head, but I didn’t find that in the Chernow books. In fact, it was strangely easy to imagine Hamilton and his contemporaries speaking and/or writing in hip-hop.

This biography of Founding Father, George Washington showed me a side of President Washington and his family that I hadn’t before seen or heard. It is by no means a simple read, but it is written in a way that is easy to understand. It held my interest throughout and I couldn’t put it down. It was one of those books that when finished, I wanted to read it again.

It has never been more important to recognize and know our history. Starting with the founding of our country as we look at our current global standing and the world around us.

Obama Book Club

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Entertainment Weekly’s Book Recommendations from President Obama

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

These are just some of the accolades for this book:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER | NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER | PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST | NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST | NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly

Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States” (The New York Observer)

– – –

These were the words that stood out most to me when I read this book: “This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.”

I found it profound reading as someone who didn’t experience racial bias in the same ways as African-Americans. It gave me an insight that I hadn’t gotten before through television discussions.

I first became familiar with Ta-Nehisi Coates’ work through his appearances on several political talk shows. I liked, and still like, his straight-forwardness and truth telling as he expresses his experiences, his hopes for his children as well as a warning primer which should not be in any child’s vocabulary or life sphere.

The President and I read this for different reasons, and from different perspectives, but in recommending it I feel that we both expect our readers to take a look at and absorb what is happening in families right now. We were all part of the problem; it is time for all of us to be the solution.

Obama Book Club

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As a writer, I am drawn to other writers and their processes. It is one of the main reasons that I follow pepole like Connie Schultz, Wil Wheaton, Neil Gaiman, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Another writer who I follow and get inspiration from was also recently the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

I’ve titled this based on Entertainment Weekly’s  article with a comprehensive list of Mr. Obama’s book recommendations.

Last week, he spoke to the New York Times about how reading and writing was his secret to surviving those White House years.

Beginning today, and for at least the next eight weeks, I will share one his book recommendations. I will also share if I’ve read it or if I plan to read it.

It was recently revealed that President Obama gave his oldest daughter, eighteen-year-old Malia a Kindle filled with books. I actually did this for my mother-in-law a couple of Christmases ago. It’s a wonderful gift for any avid reader. One of the books he put on it for her is The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing.

That is my first book suggesetion to you.
I have not read this book, but with my introduction about writers, and this book being about a writer and writing, I thought it a perfect initial choice. I have already added it to my reading list for when I get my next Amazon gift card.

On the 5th Day of Christmas, My True Love gave to Me:

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​…gumption.

This is disguised as a book rec. Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers by Nick Offerman. It is funny, historical and biographical, autobiographical, serious and not, and there is quite a bit of language, both of the English and the salty variety.

Comedian and all around great guy, Nick Offerman profiles many gentlemen and gentle-ladies who have that one thing that lets them hit their goals and more importantly to keep getting back up when the lemonade stand knocks them down. Making lemonade is fine, but adding a shot of whiskey is better. I think Mr. Offerman would agree with me.

Oxford Dictionaries defines gumption as:

shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness

A few synonyms are: ingenuity, imagination, acumen, practicality, spirit, pluck, courage, moxie, spunk, and my favorite: wherewithal.

In total, in addition to an epilogue and a bonus chapter, there are twenty-one profiles, some you’d expect: Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Benjamin Franklin as well as founding father, George Washington, and some you might not expect: Conan O’Brien, Carol Burnett, and Willie Nelson.

Those last three speak directly to my prejudices. Despite loving many celebrities, finding inspiration in them, and respecting them, I am still under the impression that they and celebrities of all types are expected to be more because they do more. Or rather, they do more publicly, and often hide their hardships, not always because of shame, but because of being so far ih the past as to not talk about anymore. They appear to just do it, which I suppose defines those with gumption better than the Oxford Dictionary.

Just get it done.

When you’re a kid that phrase usually means clean your room, finish the dishes, put away the groceries, but responsibilities foster more responsibility.

Some shrug off the fall; others cry, but they all get up and make a new plan.

That, my friends, is gumption.

Read the book, learn something new, meet someone new in its pages, and find out where your gumption is and how to find it; to reach it.

50-31 – The Magic Tunnel

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The Magic Tunnel by Caroline D. Emerson was one of my favorite books as a child, and it still resides on my bookshelf. I will take it out on occasion and thumb through it, reading bits and pieces and remembering what I loved about it.

It was multi-genre, taking on adventure, history and historical fiction, and time travel, and it probably influenced the direction of my interests more than I would have thought at the time. It had everything a voracious reader in elementary school could ask for.

I spent my elementary years in NYC – Queens with grandparents in both Queens and the Bronx. The brother and sister in The Magic Tunnel also lived in New York City, and in taking the subway, something I did with my uncle and on class trips, they found adventure in the past before NYC became New York. It was originally New Amsterdam, and in their travels, they met the original Dutch colonialists, the Native Americans already living in the area, and Peter Stuyvesant.

They explored the Dutch settlement and saw other aspects of Dutch colonial life and recognized much as what they had been learning in school as well as straightening out some misconceptions from that time period.

In the years after reading this, I immersed myself into history and science-fiction, still two of my loves. I also continue to have an unfinished novel from college in the same multi-genre way, combining time travel, adventure, and history. Without realizing it, I’m certain that The Magic Tunnel was a strong influence to begin and continue that story. Even today, I still come back to it and try to tweak and add elements, thinking maybe the story is relevant and can still go somewhere.

After college, I joined a re-enactment group to study and fully immerse myself in The Middle Ages.

I still love train travel, and am thinking of how to take a train trip for a writing excursion, although I’m not sure that I want to travel to another dimension or plane.

Published in 1964, it may certainly be dated and somewhat stereotypical, but it is still worth a look to see how our past was perceived and may have been perceived by two elementary age siblings just trying to get home.

Tote Bag Activites

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I finally found a way to put my bag obsession to good use. Kids are always bored; at least they think so. One way to combat this life fatigue over the summer is to have a few tote bags ready to go. Just add items to the bag, keep it in the closet until needed.

1. Library Tote

New books to read. Reading lists to bring to the library. Mini-journals (can be homemade) to record books read, minutes spent reading, book summaries and reviews. Bookmarks. Materials to make bookmarks as an additional activity.

Don’t forget to check out your local library for their summer reading program. There is always a theme, prizes, and an end of program event. We’ve done several and they are great fun!

2. Food

This can include new snacks that the family hasn’t tried yet (non-perishable of course). Recipe cards. Aprons for your kids. Potholders. Cookie cutters. These can be used on bread, cheese, etc. If you know you’ll be using this bag you can add in the ingredients for something specific for that rainy day. Grocery list for food tasting.

3. Surprise Movie Tote

Choose a popular movie that your kids haven’t seen or have only seen once in the movie theatre. Include microwave popcorn and individual boxes or baggies of candy. The movie theatre boxes are sold at Target and Wal-Mart for $1. You don’t have to buy the movies either. Check out the DVD section of your library or Redbox. Netflix also has a DVD subscription service, but that is slightly more expensive (although still quite reasonable).

4. Summer Cleaning

Cleaning is always more fun when, well, it’s not really, but some kids really do like to clean. Have a list of chores in the bag with points assigned to it, like a scavenger hunt. In place of a list, you can use (or make) a six-sided die so the choices are truly random. Set the table for dinner, fold the laundry, fold someone else’s laundry in the house, put the sneakers away, make your bed, etc.

5. Pinterest

Pinterest has some really great boards for kids’ activities. You can get started on making some Christmas gifts as well as gifts for your upcoming teachers. By this time, your kids should know who next year’s teacher is and could make a little welcome packet for back to school.

I’ll have some recommendations tomorrow for you to check out. School is almost out; what are you waiting for?

What are some of the things you can think of mjaking a tote bag activity for? Answer in the comments.

Don’t Panic

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At some point we are all Arthur Dent. Someone comes along and tells us to don’t panic and of course at that moment we do. And we continue to panic until we realize that all we need is a guide and a towel. And in my case in the picture above, a babelfish.

Count to 42 and enjoy the ride.

Rough Riders

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I’ve been following Aftershock Comics for awhile now. They’re a new comic publisher co-founded by my friend’s brother. Mike Marts has previously edited over at Marvel and DC. I was excited to see this new venture of his and publisher, Joe Pruett.

I immediately signed onto their Facebook, and saw this come up on my feed at the same time my middle son was begging me to read some comic books with him.

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I asked my friend if Adam Glass, the writer credited on the cover was the same Adam Glass who’s writing I’ve loved for so long on the CW’s Supernatural, and was given a resounding YES! My family was so excited to buy me a comic book that we immediately popped over to our local comic shop on Sunday afternoon as soon as church ended, and picked up a copy.

My son seems to think this is my first comic book. It’s not. When I was a kid, I read Green Arrow, Star Trek, and even own a collector’s copy of the Death of Superman. One of my husband’s first gifts to me while we were dating was a signed copy of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.

In issue 1 of Rough Riders, we meet Teddy Roosevelt and Jack Johnson. By the end of this introduction, they’re on their way to add Harry Houdini to their group. Yes, my ridiculously meta self checked and all of the principals on the cover were alive at the time of the date on the cover – 1898. I think there is a bit of a time travel, but I’m not sure as it’s only just begun.

History, Steampunk, and Adam Glass….what could go wrong?!