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.”
  • Sexism, Everyday Microaggressions, and Collective Trauma

    Sexism, Everyday Microaggressions, and Collective Trauma

  • THE PRINTED LETTER BOOKSHOP by Katherine Reay: A Review

    This 2019 publication was one I listened to on Hoopla, provided by my local Brazoria County Library system. I finally got the skill of listening down as I listened while I chopped vegetables, just rested with the lights low,. or opened and cut up junk mail. Reay, now one of my favorite writers, opens with the funeral of Aunt Maddie, the owner of The Printed Letter Bookshop. When Madeline Cullen, her niece attends the funeral, she finds the church packed. Her parents have flown in to pay respects to her father’s older sister, and they leave immediately after the funeral.

    A good read by one of my favorite authors

    Shortly thereafter, Madeline receives a call saying Aunt Maddie has left her house, the bookshop, and even her car to her niece. At first, Madeline, a high-powered lawyer, with a business-driven fiancee want to sell the shop asap. Until she meets the employees of The Printed Letter on her assessment trip to the bookshop. Janet, a recent divorcee, and Claire, a quiet wife and mother are praying Madeline will try to pull the bookshop “out of the red” and continue their livelihoods.

    Described as “powerful” and “spirited” and called an “enchanted story” by the cover and the critics, The Painted Letter Bookstore involves a family mystery, relationships between women, and romance. It is “a story of good books, a testament to the beauty of new beginnings, and a sweet reminder of the power of friendship.” I loved this contemporary read, which points out the existence of second chances and the redemption and forgiveness of things not understood in the past. It is a “darned good read.”

  • TUESDAY TEASER

    SPONSORED BY THE PURPLE BOOKER WHO PROVIDED THE MEME

    The idea is to copy a line or two from where you are currently reading to “tease” someone else into reading the same book. Post your Tuesday Teaser on your blog or enter it into the reply box below. Be sure to give the title and author. No spoilers please.

    Mine today is from Mr. Flood’s Last Resort by Jess Kidd:

    Maud, literally Mr. Flood’s last resort for a caregiver/housekeeper, is talking to her friend, Renata, explaining that Mr. Flood’s wife had been killed in a fall.

    “I know what you’re thinking…It was an accident, Renata. It says so in the care plan.”

    “Heaven forfend that the care plan is wrong. I’d want to look into that if I were you.”

    The initial description of Mr. Flood and the state of his house, given in the opening paragraphs captured my attention because I had seen TV shows on hoarders, but never dreamed things could be as bad as Mr. Flood’s home. The novel promises humor, mystery, and excellent characterization–all things I look for in a darned good read.

  • WORLD POETRY DAY, 2021

    Rae Longest's avatarLiteracy and Me

    Hooray, Hooray! Today is World Poetry Day! Gee, I’m a poet and don’t know it! (And, as we used to add in elementary school,) “But, your feet show it–they’re Longfellows!)

    Seriously, today is a day to celebrate poems and poets. I plan to celebrate National Poetry Month in April and am planning on posting some of my favorite poems. But, today, we celebrate poetry world wide.

    A world-wide celebration of poetry…

    What is poetry; how is it defined? Take a look at this Word Cloud:

    especially impressive

    Poetry is different things to different people, and in my undergrad days, I had an Oral Interpretation professor question my choice of “Freddy the Rat Perishes” by Don Marquis as a poem. He ended up giving me an A on the performance, and added, “I’m not about to argue what is and is not poetry with an English major.” His course was one…

    View original post 70 more words

  • SHELFIE

    This is my poetry shelf in my office:

    Some interesting things here.ook

    On the top shelf is collectible decanter and four glasses purchased from the Franklin Mint during the American bicentennial, which celebrated America’s 200th birthday (1996).

    On the second shelf is a Bulgarian stacking doll (Does anyone know the correct term for these dolls?) a friend gave me after her trip to Europe, a “Teacher” appreciation card with two hand-dipped candles attached from one of my favorite former students (She came through in 2009.) It is perched atop various collections of poetry by poets like Maya Angelou, a signed Margaret Atwood (a gift from a friend), a book on writing haiku, and other smaller poetry books. To the right are the larger books: Shel Silverstein, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, and a couple of others. Standing upright at the far right, poetry anthologies from college courses and some anthologies too tall to stand up on the shelf. In the foreground are, a bronze cat, which was a gift from my mother; a blown glass cat, a gift from a friend who went to Peru, and the business card of an artist, former student Jacq.

    Peeking from underneath is the backboard of my desk, decorated by a sign for my performance at a primary school for Read Across America Day, flanked by an authentic Taiwanese prayer flag display and on the far right, facing inward a student-framed- gift-copy of my teaching motto, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”(Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life.) On the far left, a play on Churchill’s poster from WWII parodied, reading “Keep Calm and Teach On.”

    Who could not get good work done surrounded by such an environment?

    (I saw this idea first on O.D.’s Book Reviews over a year ago and have been wanting to do one ever since.)

    A “shelfie” could be a shelf of books TBR, a shelf just read, or a shelf you have read and are keeping. Challenge: SHOW US YOUR SHELFIE! Post your blog address below and let us have a look.

  • Review: His Name Was Walter

    ragamuffinbooks's avatarRagamuffin Books

    Wow, wow, WOW.

    This book is brilliant. I loved it so much. I think it is up there with one of the cleverest books I’ve read, and I would say my new all time favourite middle grade book. It is original and engaging and incredibly clever, like actual genius, in terms of story elements and things that make it all click together. It consists of a story within a story – two plot lines in two separate times.

    Side note: This is probably not my best written review, as it’s a little gushy and incoherent, but this is what this book made me do. So apologies in advance.

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  • SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS (And Others)

    Just as Saturday mornings on TV in the 50s and 60s was dedicated to kids, Saturday mornings on this blog are dedicated to them.
    Book 1 of the Wallace Family Series finds Meg a gawky twelve year old and Charles Wallace a 6 year old prodigy.
    Book two finds Charles Wallace about Meg’s age in the previous book.
    Book three finds Meg married (to Calvin) and expecting their first child and Charles Wallace a teenager.

    For years, I thought this was it, The Wallace Family trilogy. I read A Wrinkle in Time to my sixth graders every year during the 80s as I discovered it with them. Later, I read A Wind in the Door and reread it recently. I do not think I ever read A Swiftly Tilting Planet until now, as I began my Madeline L’Engle “project”–to read as much by and about her as I could. The first thing I assigned myself was to read this trilogy, only to discover that the characters in these three books were in two other books as well.

    Time travel appeared in the first book (My students and I were all enthralled by the theory of the tesseract.), and the book became a classic. It made L’Engle the well-known writer and household name she is today. L’Engle’s granddaughters ended their biography of her with the publication of Wrinkle, establishing her as a writer and as they point out, L’Engle published her own autobiography, A Circle of Quiet, soon after.

    Book two, Wind, deals with gene therapy and DNA particles, which was years ahead of its time.

    Book three, Tilting Planet, also deals with time travel, but more of a regression into past lives, a “going within” and the concept of changing things for the better. All of this reflected L’Engle’s interest in and experimentation with past lives.

    I have read these three and am as enchanted with the rereading as I was with them upon first reading. I highly recommend this series to readers of all ages.

  • WEDNESDAY, What I’m Reading

    Here it is Wednesday of Spring Break. Some of my Advanced Writing students are traveling; some are trying to work ahead. I have enjoyed my time “off” and have kept busy with projects and have managed to have some social contact with friends. The reaction to our second Covid shot is done, and by the 23rd of this month, I will be “fully protected.” PTL!

    I recently finished this fine novel.

    This novel is definitely a nominee for my best read of 2021. Lily King knows her topic: the lives and loves of aspiring authors. Published in 2020, the novel follows the life of Casey, age 31, whose mother has recently died, and who is facing a mountain of debt. It is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1997. Casey had been a child prodigy in the world of professional golf, but she hasn’t played in years. Her father, with whom she has a complicated relationship, was her manager. She rents a tiny room, attached to a garage, which was formerly a potting shack, and the room smells like it. She has spent the past six years writing a novel and is currently supporting herself and making minimum payments to her creditors by waitressing. Desperately “balancing the conflicting demands of art and life,” Casey meets two attractive men at the same time of her lonely life.

    King writes with “humor, heart, and intelligence,” describing what it means to be a writer and what it means to write. The book was a Read With Jenna selection, promoted on The Today Show on NBC.

    I can’t believe my Spring Break is halfway over!

    Yikes

  • BOOKS FROM THE BACKLOG

    This meme, hosted by Carole’s Ranch has been on my mind for some time now.

    The meme here is to focus on books one has been intending to read for some time. Jan Sincero’s Badass Habits , published in 2020 is one that fits this category in my TBR pile. Fortunately, in January 2020’s issue of Real Simple magazine, a staff writer read the book and wrote about it, saving me the time of having to read the whole book by reading the article.

    In Habits, Sincero states that a certain mindset is required to keep” updating your habits game.” She reminds us to…

    …Stay aware

    …Shift focus when you start going down “pity pathway” and to consciously “think thoughts aligned with where you want to go and who you want to be.”

    The book gives us several strategies to build good habits and stop bad ones.

    1. You will believe what you tell yourself. Talk positively! Then, repeat positive thoughts like a mantra.
    2. Limit time spent with people who think and/or speak negatively.
    3. Limit distractions.
    4. Commit to change, and conviction will follow.
    5. WRITE IT DOWN. “Write down habits you need to change, and write down those you want to establish.
    6. Track the results. Pause at the end of each day, and give yourself checks and x’s. Use a chart. This way, you can see your progress.
    7. Develop new habits for 20 minutes at a time. CHANGE TAKES TIME!
    8. Get up and start your day at the same time each morning. Establish a morning routine.
    9. Just do one thing a day towards eliminating bad habits and establishing good ones in their place. Little steps matter.

    This article had insights and positive steps I could take without reading the whole book. Real Simple makes things just that–real simple!

  • SUNDAY SUMMARY

    THIS HAS BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR READING AND AN EVEN BETTER ONE FOR “WATCHING”

    LOOKING BACK

    This is an approximation, but since January, 2021, I have read:

    13 kids books

    7 non-fiction books

    1 eBook

    3 books of poetry

    1 audiobook

    and 12 novels

    THIS PAST WEEK

    I FINISHED

    A Read with Jenna Selection

    Jenna Bush Hagar’s Book Club on the Today Show
    A Beverly Cleary kid’s novel about divorce and being “the new kid”
    The third in the Wallace Family series (Begins with A Wrinkle in Time)
    My daily check in with my “authentic self”

    Currently I am reading:

    The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

    Kissing Annabel by Steven Herrick

    The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

    A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

    YES, I can keep the books separate in my head. They are all so different.

    I ALSO WATCHED A GREAT DEAL OF TV, thanks to a four-day 2nd Covid shot reaction and to a couple of days spent on the couch due to pain in my feet, legs and hip. There are some really good movies and some Netflix series that kept my mind off of things for the duration.

    This was my week; how was yours? Let me know in the Reply section below.

    Because of the age of my Advanced Writing students, I am always interested in the Millennials. I came across this interesting research this past week.

    READ ON!