RAE’S READS

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This year (2025) finds me with 53 years of teaching “under my belt.” I have taught all levels from pre-K “(library lady” or “book lady”–volunteer) to juniors, seniors, and graduate students enrolled in my Advanced Writing class at the university where I have just completed 34 years. My first paying teaching job was junior high, and I spent 13 years with ages 12-13, the “difficult years.” I had some of the “funnest” experiences with this age group. When I was no longer the “young, fun teacher,” I taught in an elementary school setting before sixth graders went on to junior high, teaching language arts blocs, an assignment that was a “dream-fit” for me. After completing graduate school in my 40s, I went on to community college, then university teaching. This past fall I accepted a part-time teaching job at Apogee Gulf Coast Schools in its first year at the Alvin campus. After my Better Half died n 2022, I achieved a lifelong dream: opening a bookstore of my own, Rae’s Reads. A year later, I sold the house we had lived in for 47 years and moved into the bookstore. My goal is to circulate and repurpose books. Just as teaching is “in my blood,” so is a passion for reading, writing, libraries, and everything bookish. This blog will be open to anyone who loves books, promotes literacy and wants to “come out and play.”

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  • BEAT STREET SERIES for teens

    Jenna Zark’s newest novel in the Beat Street Series shines a light on San Francisco’s “Beat Scene” A must read for middle schoolers. I can’t believe that as a book seller, I was unaware of this series until now. The author provides the proverbial “something for everyone.” I jumped right into the third book in…

  • WHEW! It has been a couple of busy weeks for this blogger. I went back to my teaching job at Apogee Gulf Coast School on January 20th after the Martin Luther King Holiday and our unexpected snow day (I am only required to be there on Mondays and Wednesdays, but it’s so interesting and fun…

  • Even though I am wearing my reading glasses, something I usually don’t have to do until evening, my eyes are growing weary. I’m obviously not going to set any records, much less match my “personal best” in a Readathon–19 hours. I think I will take a break from continuous reading and do some shelving and…

  • IT’S SNOWING!

    Sooo unusual for the Texas Gulf Coast, the bookstore cat and I woke up to snow this morning–and it’s sticking ! What a perfect day to stay in, stay warm, and READ. READATHON LOG: 8:00 a.m. Listened to the rest of an audiobook, Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. 8:40 Started on p. 59,…

  • READATHON (Continued)

    The MLK/Cold Weather Readathon–2025, officially begins at 8 a.m. Central Standard Time tomorrow, Tuesday, January 21st. When I went through my TBR piles and baskets this afternoon, I discovered I had begun six different books and had not finished any of them. Most were “just started a little .” My goal then is to finish…

  • MLK HOLDAY READATHON 2025

    This is a personal Readathon that takes advantage of the school holiday and pending bad weather. Monday (Martin Luther King holiday) and Tuesday are supposed to remain 32 degrees and below, a rare occurrence for us on the Texas Gulf Coast. “They” are even saying we may have snow (a really rare phenomena here). Since…

  • 25 in ’25

    I never make New Year’s resolutions because I know I won’t keep them. But, after listening to a Gretchen Rubin (author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home) podcast (Happier), I decided to set some 25 in ’25 goals she described. First, I know I will read more than 25 books in 2025, so…

  • IIII’MMM BAAACCCCKKKK!

    Like the Poltergeists in the movie of the same name, I’m back. It’s been a while (a couple of years), and a great deal of water has gone under the bridge. But today, January 4th, 2025, I’m back to blogging. I’ve missed it. “Rae’s Reads” on Facebook did not allow me to review the many…

  • BLOGGIVERSARY

    TODAY marks 8 years since Powerful Women Readers was born. I had had foot surgery (which had to have more of January 18th of this year) and I was starting an online book club to while away the boredom of recuperation inactivity. The plan was to meet quarterly only and read only one book from…

  • FROM THE STARRY NIGHT ELF blog