RAE’S READS
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23 GOOD THNGS
1-4 Inprint seasons attended–During 2023, I attended four Imprint sessions in Houston, Texas. I heard readings from James McBride from The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, Jumpa Lahiri from Roman Stories , Viet Thanh Nguyen from A Man of Two Faces , and Zadie Smith from The Fraud. I look forward to more Inprint readings n 2024.
5-11 Author Events Coordinated and Facilitated at RAE’S READS, my bookstore. All of the authors signed and sold a respectable number of books, and a good time was had by all.
6 A Mini-Craft-Sale at the bookstore, where we sold everything from pens headed with crocheted flowers, jeweled bookmarks, quilts, and many more hand-made items.
7-8 Two pot-luck dinners which included good food and excellent conversation.
9-10 Two Family Music Nights, one Americana Country and one Slow Jazz by local musicians.
11-12 Two Ladies’ Teas, one done by my friend Ann Landry who talked on “A Famous Woman You Never Heard of”; and one I did which was a review of 365 Days of Gutsy Women, including readings from the book and an interactive sharing time about Gutsy Women who have influenced our own lives.
13 A Thanks for Your Help BBQ for about thirty people who helped me move into the bookstore or supported me in the process.
14-15 Two visits from my brother who lives in Va. and drove 1,800 miles one way to help me out two different times .
16-23+ Meetings of the Tuesday Night Readers Book Club, including one meeting where we met at the bookstore and shared pulled-pork sandwiches with all the “trimmings.”
MANY MORE GOOD THINGS HAPPENED TO ME IN 2023, more than I can even write down. It was a very good year.
RAE 1/1/24
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I am thinking this Thursday morning about my word for 2023–HOSPITALITY.
This word has meant so much to me this year, it is bound to be a “God thing” that I chose it. I have striven to show hospitality both at my home and at my bookstore. While I was living at my home of 46 years, I had many friends in twos and threes over for coffee, sometimes even making new friends by inviting visitors to my Little Free Library at the house inside for coffee and homemade cookies while I searched for “just the book you will love.”
Even more seriously, when my bookstore, RAE’S READS really got underway January, 2023, I was able to offer hospitality to strangers and customers, some of whom became friends I will enjoy for the rest of my life. Since January, we have had seven Author Events (signings), a Ladies’ Tea, a Mini-Craft Sale, two Family Music Nights, Girls’ Nights during bookstore hours on Thursday evenings, two Pot Luck Suppers, a huge Thank-You Barbecue, and many “I saw your car in the driveway and thought I’d pop in” visits. I have definitely learned and discovered the meaning of
It has been one of the best experiences of my life and a literal life-saver getting me through the year of “firsts” after the death of My Better Half. I now have an informal support team of friends who mean so much to me, and all because I extended to them a little hospitality. Hospitality is SHARING whether it be your home, your listening ear, or your time. What I have learned in 2023 is that when you intend to bless others, you end up being blessed tenfold.
RAE 2023
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Because we’re close enough to the end of the year, and because my time from today until then is spoken for, leaving me little time for reading, I am reassessing my reading challenges and wrapping up some of them like this one hosted by The Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking about.
My original challenge last January was to enter the “Newbie” category by listening to seven audiobooks in 2023. I came close–so close. I completed five audiobooks and an e-book. Here are the ones I listened to:
A kid’s book to start the year off easy, Bloomi’s Boombox by Shanthi Sekaran
An adventure-Romance novel that kept me cancelling housework to listen (I can’t do both at the same time.) Drawing in the Dust
The first three Harry Potter books
and The Outlaw and the Rock Star, an e-book
I do not believe I will take on this challenge in 2024. Listening to audiobooks is just not my thing. I know some of you like Carla of “Carla Loves to Read” do quite well with this form of book, but…not me. There will be other challenges I will want to enjoy, but aside from listening to the rest of the Harry Potters, I don’t see any audiobooks in my 2024 future.
RAE 2023
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As I read nonfiction for my Nonfiction in November challenge, I came across a wonderful “resource” book that I want to keep for “future reference .”
This 2004 publication came out when book clubs were becoming popular, and it is a comprehensive guide to starting and maintaining a good book club. Two friends wrote it, who love books and enjoy sharing recommendations of good reading. Some of the book’s practical advice follows:
“How to start a group–and keep it going /How to tell a book by its cover (really!) /How to generate a lively discussion /Behind-the-scenes anecdote, dirt, and favorite book lists /The best and worst book group books /Book group troubleshooting, no matter what sort of group you belong to…” and much more.
This is a book I will read again and again, not from front to back, but turning to relevant pages depending on what kind of group I will be setting up for Rae’s Reads, my bookstore, and/or whatever needs a boost in an existing group. It will be a constant help.
RAE Tuesday 12/5/23
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My original plan was to read one nonfiction book each week in November, making a total of four nonfiction books read for this challenge. By week two I was behind. To date, I have finished three books, re-read all the chapters in Wintering, and re-read all the pages on “Winter” in Everyday Celebrations. That alone is enough pages to consider it four books, but since I have arbitrarily decided that I really need to read one more nonfiction book to “keep me honest” and fulfill the challenge. I have begun a fourth nonfiction book and am extending my challenge to January 15th.
LEFT TO FINISH BY DECEMBER 15TH:
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JUST AS Saturday Morning TV programming in the 50s and 60s was reserved for cartoons so Mom and Dad could sleep in while the kids ate cold cereal in front of the TV, so PWR reserves Saturdays for recommendations of kids’ books.
The Happy Day Series of books, published in the 1980s is available on Etsy and other vintage book sellers. And, they are worth looking into. The words in this little volume are COMPASSION, POLITENESS, KINDNESS, and PATIENCE. Designed for the youngest readers, some still non-readers, this book makes the perfect read-aloud for Grandma or Grandpa to present to the little ones curled up in their laps. The illustrations are purposely simple and quite charming.
Here is just one new word for your little one to learn–one you will be glad they learned…
PATIENCE ” is a quiet thing–something that can grow every day in little ways. Patience is waiting for a baby kitten to grow big enough for you to take it home. Patience is turning the end of the skipping rope instead of being the one to jump. Patience is waiting quietly to tell Mother something until she is finished talking [on the phone]. Patience is trying again and again when learning something new until it. becomes easy to do.”
Thanks for reading…
Rae 11/25/23
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TODAY: AN AMAZING AUTHOR AND AN AMAZING STORYBOOK
Recently, I had the honor of meeting Jan Duffy and arranging for her to present her wonderful children’s picture book at Rae’s Reads.
This wonderful story is a family affair. Jan writes the story with her daughter Shannon, a high school friend illustrates it, and her husband (along with Shannon’s teddy bear) are main characters in the family adventures when Jan’s husband becomes an American astronaut and takes Teddy to the International Space Station.
The writing is exceptional, Jan never talking down to kids, and the illustrations are whimsical. It would make the perfect Christmas present for kids in Houston, and any little future astronauts worldwide. I enjoyed it immensely and promise you will enjoy it as you read it to your child/grandchild. Be sure to include the child’s Teddy in the experience.
When Jan and her kind friend, Karen left Rae’s Read after our meeting, some of the sunshine left the bookstore too, so lovely were these two ladies. Also, Jan left a copy of her book, signed by her, her daughter, and her husband for the Alvin Public Library. I can’t wait to witness how happy our librarian will be. She also allowed my brother, Mike, who was visiting from Virginia, to purchase a copy and inscribed it for Noah Grace, his great-granddaughter. What a wonderful time!
Now, I am looking forward to December 9th when Jan Duffy brings her book to Rae’s Reads to share with the children.
powerfulwomenreaders 