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.”

  • WEDNESDAY WAKE UP CALL

    My friend Sarah (at Brainfluff )blogs on Wednesdays books she can hardly wait to read. Let me tell you about one I hope to start this weekend, which is a wake up call for readers in the South here in the U.S.A. It is In the Shadow of Statues by Mitch Landrieu, the mayor of New Orleans. Going in, I do not know where I stand on the removing of statues of Confederate heroes. I fully understand why these men were revered because I grew up in Virginia, “The Mother of Presidents” (The first five presidents of the U.S. were from Virginia.) and never heard The War between the States called The Civil War until I was marred and in college in Texas. Actually, as an elementary student, we had a principal who referred to “the war” as “The War for the Glorious Confederacy.” I didn’t even know “we” lost until eighth grade!

    On the other hand, when I had an African American friend (There were only two in a graduation class of 440. Integration was a forced thing and came late to my home city.) , and she lent me her copy of A Raisin in the Sun, I began to understand “what all the fuss was about.” After I had moved to Houston, Texas, when I married, I experienced ethnic diversity for the first time. At church where I volunteered with teenagers, I enjoyed working with youths of many ethnic backgrounds, and when I began teaching in 1967, I no longer noticed what “color” a student was. A student is a student is a student.

    As the idea of removing the offensive statues began a few years ago, I began to understand and side with friends who found them just that–offensive (to put it mildly; one friend calls it an “abomination.”) My curiosity and empathy have kicked in recently when this book was selected for our next book club read. Mt Better Half and I took it home from the library last Tuesday, and he has already read it. He was born in North Carolina, raised in Virginia and went to college in Mississippi, mind you. I asked him what he thought of the book and his response was, “It makes you think.” I am looking forward to allowing the book to make me do the same and hope to start it this weekend.

    Thanks, Sarah for allowing me to steal your idea and post it today.

    HAPPY READING, ALL!

  • TUESDAY TEASER

    Tuesday Teaser is a “bookish meme,” first started by The Purple Booker. Many of my blogging friends now post their own, and we all enjoy reading each other’s posts. What, you don’t blog? Easy solution: Post your Tuesday Teaser in the respond box below, being sure to give the book title and author. Who knows? Maybe someone will be teased into reading your book, or even comment, telling you they’d read the same book you did. No spoilers, please, just type in a couple of sentences or a short paragraph where you are currently reading or some “special part” that might tempt the PWR readers.

    Tuesday Teaser for October 23, 2018 from Raising Lazarus by Aiden J. Reid:

    “Molly Walker looked around the room, watching the warm embraces between parents and children, husbands and wives. Others were less jovial occasions, handshakes of progress updates between suited lawyers and their customers. The inmates wore drawn, frustrated expressions, emotions bubbling beneath the surface, finding an outlet on the hard seat edges which bent under their force.”

    The incarcerated man Molly is about to meet and interview for a graduate school thesis paper will rock her world and perhaps the entire world itself, for his name is Lazarus, and he claimes to be over 2,000 years old.

  • Book Humor

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  • MONDAY MORNING MUSINGS

    Like most of my retired friends, I’m busier than ever now that I’m wrapping up my last semester at the university. Most of us in our younger years looked forward to our “golden years,” of sitting back and doing nothing. When I tried to retire once before, I found myself in the pit of a depression that took doctor’s visits and medication to climb out of. It is with great trepidation that I attempt to retire again. This time it will be different. I live a very busy life with demands like blogging, checking e-mails, keeping up with family, making things. I have just finished Halloween baskets (think Easter baskets) to sell in order to help finance my Advanced Writing students’ Literacy Projects. Of course each Halloween basket has a paperback, children’s Halloween book.

    The following popped up in the morning devotional I follow, and I wish to share it with you:

    “To describe Jesus as a man in demand is an understatement.  He mentored his disciples, cast out demons, taught in synagogues, and visited followers’ homes. Imagine His to-do list! Everyone wanted Jesus’ time and attention, but He knew when to say no.He knew where to focus and He stayed on task. What enabled Him to do so? He spent time in His Father’s presence alone, praying. We don’t know what He said, but perhaps He asked the Father to direct Him. Jesus had twenty-four hours in each day, just like we do, and He completed His life’s purpose in three years.  Obviously He did something right, and we can learn from Him.”

    This made me stop and think of how many times I had thought of a possible solution on my own, made plans and asked The Lord to bless them after the fact. If we go to our Father first, asking for guidance, we will accomplish more than we ever dreamed we could, and maybe even accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

  • THE BONE COLLECTOR’S SON, HISTORICAL FICTION BASED ON FACT FOR YOUNG ADULTS

    Paul Yee’s historical novel, published in 2005, is a good read for junior high and above, as well as for adults.  Have you ever heard of Vancouver’s Chinatown riots of September 7, 1907?  Neither have I.  This attempt to purge Canada of Asian immigrants, a parade right through the middle of Chinatown, by the  “Asiatic Exclusion League” turned a bad idea into a war between the Asians and equivalent of the Klu Klux Klan.

    The story is told from the point of view of young Ba, son of Bing, the “bone collector,”who makes his living returning the bones of people who died in America back to China to be buried “properly.” It is a job nobody else will do because of superstition and not wanting to do such a lowly job. When Bing digs up the bones of Mr. Shum, whose skull is missing, strange things begin to happen. Although he grew up on ghost stories, Ba tries to heed his father’s advice that there are no such things as ghosts. When Ba “graduates” to houseboy in the Bently home, he finds he must face many things with courage, and eventually is able to help Mrs. Bently “restore” the mansion to its former state and condition. What was a haunted house becomes a happy home.

    The characters are fictional, the plot is imaginative, but the facts on which it is based are real. This is a fascinating “peek” into Canada’s history and an easy way to learn and enjoy  it.

  • Catalyst

    Catalyst

  • BREAKFAST WITH BUDDAH byRoland Merullo: A Review

    This 2007 novel was an easy way to consider Eastern Religions, learn about the culture of America and Asia, and enjoy a darned good read, all at the same time. I had heard about this book from students, bloggers, and book club friends, but I’d never gotten around to reading it. When I saw it displayed (in large print) at my local library, I pounced on it and took it home, beginning to read that night. I assumed it would be a fast read, but some of the philosophical ideas caused me to digest it slowly, putting it aside fairly frequently to muse over some idea or concept.

    The plot is fairly simple, but definitely original. Otto Ringling,  middle-aged father, editor by occupation, makes a car trip from New York City where he lives and works to the North Dakota farmhouse in which he was raised. His “flaky/hippie” sister was supposed to accompany him. When he arrives at her home, a few hundred miles from his, she introduces him to Volya Rinpoche, and she tells her bemused brother the man will accompany him instead. After much grousing, Otto agrees to take the shaved-headed, saffron-robed “priest” along. Otto decides to drive this guru/mystic of a “combined Eastern religion” on his road trip, visiting  “quintessentially American landmarks” and he includes for the benefit of his passenger, stops at a bowling alley, a miniature golf course, and the two men consume many meals as diverse as America itself. On the second day, Otto discovers that Rinpoche is a noted author and he intends to make many stops during the trip for speaking engagements and book signings. What Otto ends up making is journey of self-discovery, as he finds and accepts “his own true heart.”

    Meruello’s writing style is spectacular. As Otto and Rinpoche leave an Indian restaurant, they see hanging in a hallway, “a painting of a bluish goddess…with dozens of arms.” Rinpoche says, “There is a prophesy that this goddess will come soon to save us from something very bad. Maybe she is your niece.” (Otto had told Rinpoche his niece was a very laid-back, spiritual person when Rinpoche and he were talking about reincarnation over dinner.) “Maybe she will be…See, there are symbols in the painting–to know them you have to study them many years–but the symbols say it is so that she is coming now.”

    Otto’s response, after hearing this are as follows: “I’d had moments when the apocalypse seemed imminent–the start of another war, the arising of another nuclear-armed despot, the boiling over of yet another ethnic conflict–but they were always followed by the feeling everything was going to be fine…This was America, we were going to  move forward, always, toward some greater, richer, more pleasurable future…Things could shake us–wars, riots, demonstrations, assassinations, terrorist attacks–but the enormous momentum of our settled and well-fed middle class and the enormous reservoir of our goodness, generosity, brains, and energy, these would pull us through.”

    Rinpoche replies, “Very dangerous time now. Not dangerous for our bodies, you know,  to die, not that. Dangerous for us the other way, Spiritual…But now, soon, it will be better.”

    “Good, I’m glad,” says Otto.

    Passages like these give this reader a great deal to think about and to meditate upon for the days I kept the book, and like Otto, I came away from the book/trip a changed person.  It would be remiss not to mention that the book also has a very good plot, often including humor, a touch of “romance,” and a very satisfying ending.

    I assign Breakfast with Buddha a full five out of five points.

     

  • WWW Wednesday

    This meme was originated by MizB at A Daily Rhythm, and I discovered it on my friend, Sam’s blog Taking on a World of Words. The meme seems to be spreading, and it is a quick way to give your readers an update on your reading each Wednesday.

    Three questions: What are you currently reading? What have you finished lately? and What do you hope/intend to read next? If you have a blog, leave your URL in the respond section; if not, then write the answers to the three questions in that same box.

    Here are mine for Wednesday, October 17, 2018:

    I am currently reading several books, but the one I have to keep stopping and writing wonderful words in my quote notebook is Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 2.  One of my Advanced Writing students loaned me this book, and although I will return it to her soon, I have read enough to know I want to purchase copies of both Volume 1 and Volume 2. As I read, I can hear the oratorical voice of the old, revered preacher proclaim the lovely, poetic style he writes in.  Here is one of the quotes I wrote down: “Flowers, what are they? They are but the thoughts of God solidified…” This is from the sermon “Harvest Time,” the perfect read for an October afternoon.

    I have recently finished Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Lowe. Her mystery/thriller is this year’s Gulf Coast Read, and My Better Half and I both read it and had the pleasure of meeting the author in Houston. We discussed it last night at our Third Tuesday Book Club at our local library.  I shall review it on this blog soon.

    I hope to finish up several books I have started next.  These include Dog’s Song, a YA novel, Evidence of Flossing, a collection of poetry by a blogging friend that seems so promising already, and Fix It, Clean It, and Make It Last, a DIY book donated to my LFL (Little Free Library) by a close friend who knows his “fixits” and “honey-do’s.” After reading these and posting reviews of them, I will tackle the November book club selection, In the Shadow of Statues, by Mitch Landrieu.

    Hmmmm, let’s summarize. I am reading several books I need to finish (a novel, a poetry collection, a DIY handy-person book, and a few more sermons I shall soon purchase). I finished a mystery/thriller, and I shall read sometime before November 27th a non-fiction book. I sure have come a long way from a lit major who only read novels! I think I can officially wear the badge of “Eclectic Reader.” LOL

  • SATURDAY MORNING FOR KIDS (On Sunday)

    I’m having trouble with my laptop and could not post Saturday’s post.  I did what most Senior Citizens do when having technology problems–asked my grandson. The result is I have the missing “Write” tab back.  Thank you Dr. P.

    Saturday’s book is one of the best kid/YA books I have read (and I have read many in 50 years of teaching). Jordan Sonnenblick’s novel, Zen and the Art of Faking It, is a funny, age-appropriate book. San Lee, a teenager and his mother have left Houston where his father is in prison and have relocated to a small apartment in a Pennsylvania town. It is quite an adjustment for everyone. San thinks, “Blending in is impossible, so maybe it’s time for me to stand out.” San begins to invent a “new” past for himself that makes him very popular.He has let the students think he is a Buddhist who practices meditation. He meets a really cool girl who becomes his friend.  Of course, eventually things start to unravel.

    Here, at the front of the book, is “A Note to the Reader”:

    “Have you ever switched schools? I have, and let me tell you–a school is a school is a school.  Every middle school on God’s green earth smells exactly the same because damp lockers, industrial cleaning fluids, and puke are universal. The lunch is the same: How many ways can you flavor a freakin’ Tater Tot? The guys are the same: like a show on Animal Planet without the cuddle factor.  The girls are the same: Martians with human hormones. And the teachers? Please.

    So when I dragged my feet in their rotting sandals through the gray midwinter slush and up the stairs of Harrisonville Middle School for the first time. I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sure I did.”

    I highly recommend this book to kids and kid-friendly adults everywhere.

  • Aesthetics Of October!

    Aesthetics Of October!

    Khyati Gautam's avatarBookish Fame

    Rains have subsided, the petrichor has disappeared, summers have retreated long back and what we have ahead is the melancholic Autumn!

    October is here and is dancing with its utmost vigor. It inflicts upon us a tinge of sadness and yet makes an offering for happiness. It beckons us with its shine and splendor and pushes us away with its ennui and despondency. The tragedy is that it can’t separate itself from pain. Sadness is inherent in its fabric, in its existence. Whatsoever may be the conditions, October cannot be seen apart from the very substance of its presence – the melancholy.

    And surprisingly, just like autumn cannot leave its cloak of sadness so do we can’t give away with the presence of October in our lives. It is there, it will be there sticking to us like our shadow. It will be there with us when we will live…

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