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.”

  • BLOGMAS 2021, Day 26

    Whew! As my grandmother used to say when something came to an end, “It’s all over but the shouting!” Today will truly be a day of rest as every Sunday/Sabbath should be. Leftovers, yes, no cooking. We ran the dishwasher yesterday to clean up the things we cooked in, and will run it again today to clean up the dishes we used for our meal. We expected five people: two came besides us, one had to back out at the last minute, and we sent two plates home to people we would like to have come, but they were unable to do so. Everything was delicious (if I do say so myself), and the mother and daughter who came brought a delicious orange salad. All in all, it was one of our best married Christmases yet. Turkey for two can be pretty depressing, even though My Better Half has always been an appreciative diner and never leaves the table even on ordinary days without complimenting me on the meal. THAT makes cooking a pleasure. For me cooking is therapy and a creative outlet for me most of the time. I love to “invent” casseroles and desserts, using leftovers and what is on hand. Many chilis, soups, and salsas began with the question, “What needs to be used up that’s already in the refrigerator?

    Tomorrow I will get back into the routine of things but for today and tonight I plan to take it easy, luxuriate in the Sunday newspaper, and read, read, read…

    BLOGMAS 2021 will continue through December 31st, then again, it’ll be “…all over but the shouting!”

    Sleep tight, Santa, you did right by the kids in our neighborhood. Our 88 degree day saw lots of new bikes and scooters being tried out Christmas Day.

  • DAY 25, Christmas Day
    Christmas Eve

    “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give Light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of Peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

    From today’s devotional, “The Way of Peace”

    “How small and gentle His coming was. He came as an infant. The night in which He came was noisy and crowded; it is unlikely that, in the traffic and travelers to Bethlehem, the tiny wail of the newly born could be heard.

    God approaches gently, often secretly, always in love, never through violence and fear…Very often we do not recognize God. God comes in many people we do not like, in all who need what we can give…God. comes in those we love. In our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters, our friends and our children…We must love everyone with a supernatural , sacramental love…”

    PRAYER: “Oh God, who renews us this Christmas, help us keep track of the ordinary, even in the midst of celebration, so that our feet will never stumble in the way of peace.” (Devotional from Child in Winter: Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany by Thomas Hoffman)

    Christmas morning

    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

    Rae

  • SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN-TONIGHT! BLOGMAS 2021, Day 24

    The Man in the Red Suit himself.

    HAVE YOU BEEN NAUGHTY OR NICE?

    He knows if you’ve been bad or good…

    MAY SANTA FULFILL YOUR GREATEST DREAMS.

    Christmas Eve 2021/Rae

  • All Good Things 🌱

    THE BEST KIND OF CHRISTMAS TREE

    BLOGMAS 2021, Day 23

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    St. Alban’s Episcopal Church | Facebook

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  • TITANS by Lelia Meachan: A Review

    This stunning novel set in Texas is a Wonderful read.

    Titans is set in the late 1800s, early 1900s Texas, on the cusp of the industrial revolution. It deals with “long-hidden secrets, enduring bonds, and redemption.” Samantha Gordon, heiress to Las Tres Lomas cattle ranch is as modern as any young lady of the age; it is her father who must adjust to such new contraptions as the telephone or fall by the wayside as progress advances.

    Nathan Holloway, a sweet-natured farm boy in far North Texas discovers a startling fact about his birth and his heritage; his father regrets keeping secrets from his son and is afraid he will lose him.

    The two families are connected, unbeknownst to the two central characters.

    It is a “heart-felt, big-canvas story,” reminiscent of Giant and other “classic” Texas tales involving cattle ranching and Big Oil. Plenty of twists and turns keep the reader turning pages as the story unfolds. It is a darned good read.

    (Titans is the sequel to Roses, but I read Titans as a stand alone and was perfectly fine with it.)

    I have not read this first book yet, but may choose it in the future to learn the backstory of the characters I met in Titans.

    FOR A NOVEL AS BIG AS THE STATE OF TEXAS, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND TITANS.

    THANKS EVIN

  • PRESENT OVER PERFECT by Shauna Niequest: “Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living”

    This book includes a foreword by Brene Brown, and quite frankly, I am sure the author has read some of Brown’s books, for their philosophies are similar. This book encourages one to :”Live a life of meaning and connection instead of pushing for perfection.”

    Niequist describes her journey and invites the reader to join her on it.

    The author begins with these words, “A few years ago I found myself exhausted and isolated, my soul and body sick. I was tired of being tired, burned out, and busy.”

    Ever been there? I have. Like the author, I have longed for “connection, meaning and depth,” only to settle for “busy.” Sometimes I have even chosen “busy” as a distraction to keep myself from thinking, from introspective thoughts and from searching deep within. Niequist explains a new way to live, incorporating grace, love, rest and play, which “changed everything.” Her challenge, first to herself, then to the reader is to find her “essential self.” She teaches us to embrace silence and stillness in her collection of essays. Her technique allows us “to be present in the middle of the mess and ordinariness of life.”

    This author brought home the peace and gracefulness of her Lake Vacation home with her and has never lost it since. My favorite essays were “Learning to Play” and “The Spring of the Basketball Hoop.” Both describe the value of play, family, and friends. I would rate this 5 on a scale of 1-5 and would describe it as a “darned good read.”

    RAE

  • BLOGMAS 2021, Day 22

    This is a familiar verse which explains the reason for the season…

    Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

    But there is more, more promise, more hope…

    The child in the manger is the Prince of Peace.

    AND WE COULD USE A LOT MORE PEACE IN THIS SAD, OLD WORLD OF OURS TODAY.

    Let’s keep The Christ in Christmas.

    rae

  • The Fullness of Life | #GratiTuesday

    GRATITUDE AT CHRISTMAS/BLOGMAS 2021, Day 21

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    Life’s a Dance © Margaret B. Ross | Facebook

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  • Happy first day of winter

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  • BLOGMAS 2021, Day 20

    An Advent Devotional Book that is helping me celebrate the days leading up to and beyond Christmas

    Today’s devotional for December compares the Baby Jesus at this point in time, in his mother’s womb, to ” a seed in the earth” that “grows toward His birth.” As for Mary–she rested. “She rested in God’s will, in God’s timing, in God’s planning.” My prayer, too, is that I accept God’s will for whatever is to come, that I will wait on God’s timing and not be impatient, and will not plan ahead of God, then ask Him to bless my plans after the fact. These three things are especially hard for me to do…to wait, to rest, and to accept.

    Thanks, Evin for the sign off.