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.”

  • ANOTHER FAVORITE SET IN NYC

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    Elizabeth Gilbert is an author whose books I have always found pleasing. After reading her non-fiction offerings, I was intrigued as to what her novel would be like.

    City of Girls, which deals with life in New York City over several decades, held a special spot in my heart at this time because my  girlfriends’ trip to New York, scheduled for March 19th through 23rd, was cancelled thanks to COVID-19. Sighing as I read about landmarks and all things New York that I wouldn’t be seeing any time soon, I was soon caught up in the story of Vivian who tell of the “one true love of her life.”

    To me, characterization is more important than plot, resolution of conflict, or anything else. To read of the personal growth of a character and the resulting actions (which of course have consequences) that character takes, makes for a fascinating read. Using questions suggested by a fellow blogger many years ago, I’d like to write this review in terms of characterization.

    1. Who was your favorite character? Definitely Aunt Peg, Vivian’s eccentric aunt who owns and runs the Lily Theater, and who has a hit on her hands, along with drama queens and complex social and sexual situations of her off-Broadway “family.”
    2. Who was your second favorite character? The primary character, Vivian is my second favorite character. Surely no one was ever so innocent or has ever undergone such change (and gained in knowledge) as this character was. She reminds me of myself and several other people who “just don’t think.”
    3. Would you want to follow these characters in future books? Because Vivian is an old woman as she begins to tell her story, a sequel would be unlikely, and Aunt Peg would be long deceased if a sequel were to occur, my answer would be no.
    4. What about the relationships between the characters in the book? That is exactly what made this novel a page-turner and a delight. The author never had her characters act out of character or in a way that wasn’t believable based on what the reader had been told about that character’s backstory.  

    During the story, Vivian’s loss of innocence but lack of maturity cause her to “make a personal mistake that results in a professional scandal.” As a critic for The New Yorker wrote, this novel is “by turns flinty, funny, and incandescent.”What Vivian learned about life, in general, was “You don’t have to be a good girl to be a good person.”                                               

  • NEW CLOTHES FOR NEW YORK

    One cannot take a trip to NYC without buying some new clothes. Although two of my traveling girlfriends planned to do some serious shopping while in NYC, shopping was not on my agenda. I had already purchased clothes for the trip.

    black tights or leggings “finish” this outfit.

    How can a girl attend a Broadway show without a new dress? I found this one on sale.

    And, of course, new earrings are a necessity for a new dress.

    Found at the Tractor Supply store here in lil’ ole’ Alvin. At $24, it was a steal!

    My most valuable purchase for the trip, for reasons I could never have imagined, was this Tote, all-weather coat with fake-fur-lined hood. I never actually got to NY, so I never thought I’d have occasion to wear it, but recently, in our BIG FREEZE, when the temperature dipped to the high thirties INSIDE our all-electric home, this coat was my daytime “housecoat.” LOL

  • ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS SET IN NYC: THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE by Fiona Davis

    I used this book for my Celebration of Color Challenge. It was my “White book.”

    This book is predominately white. The actual building in NYC, The NY Public Library is made of white marble.

    I chose this book because it is the latest by my favorite author, Fiona Davis. Like all her other novels, this one features and explores an iconic NYC building. Did you know there was once an apartment in the “innards” of the NY Public library where the superintendent and his family could live? Davis moves between 1913 and 1993, describing the building and telling the story of the “apartment” while creating a mystery with twists and turns.

    One critic describes this 2020 publication as a “love letter to literature, the NY Public Library, and the strength of women.” Davis introduces us to two women, decades apart: Laura Lyons, wife of the superintendent of the library, mother of two, and a writer herself, and Sadie, modern curator of the NY library who is Laura’s descendent, and determined to be given her due respect. Both women are trying to solve the mystery of a series of rare book thefts, then and now, and suffer the consequences of “poking their noses into business best left to men.”

    Laura back in 1913 becomes one of the first female students at the Columbia Journalism school, writing about the famous/infamous Heteradoxy Club in Greenwich Village during its days of Bohemia and nurturing of an all-female, radical group. Sadie must prove in 1993 that she herself did not steal the rare books and is not a “hysterical female,” whose job and responsibilities have become too much for her.

    This historical novel is Davis’ best yet, and that’s really saying something! I highly recommend this fascinating read and assign it 5 out of 5 stars.

    Author: Rae Longest

    This year (2019) finds me with 50 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 30 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. 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.

    It’s starting to snow. I’m glad I packed the all-weather coat I bought just for this trip! (LOL)

  • NYC/DAY 2

    I received this invitation in my email this morning (truth!) from Jay Cudney, blogger of This is My Truth Now, and author extraordinare,

    “You must stop by the NYPL and check out the Rose Room. I’ll meet you by the lions and buy you some tea in Bryant Park next door.” Jay is a long-time New Yorker, and my plans for the morning have been set. (LOL)

    The New York Public Library
    Jay says to check out this lovely room.

    This lovely Rose Room, designed for reading, will be my first stop on taking a tour of the New York Public Library. I’m glad I brought my current read, Writers and Lovers along.

    Since the Strand Bookstore is no longer open, this opportunity to do something really “bookish” in NYC is a treat!

    Thank you, Jay!

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR. SEUSS

    Rae Longest's avatarLiteracy and Me

    What better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday than to observe Read Across America Day?

    Today, March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’s birthday; it would be his 117th. Interestingly enough, he “was voted ‘Least Likely to Succeed’ by his classmates at Dartmouth College (1921-1925)” It was he who coined the word, “nerd,” which first appeared in If I Ran the Zoo, published in 1950. Born in Massachusetts, his children’s books are the favorites of kids, parents, and teachers, alike. “Green Eggs and Ham was written on a $50 bet when his publisher challenged him to write a book using 50 words or less.” (Quotes and facts taken from Parade magazine)

    What better way to celebrate the good “doctor’s” birthday than by establishing Read Across America on his birthday.

    Schools all over the United States hold special events and make time to read on this special holiday.

    As a library volunteer…

    View original post 87 more words

  • ARRIVING IN NYC

    Today is the first day of my virtual trip to NYC. My arrival is in the evening, and the whole city is lit up for me.

    This is a calendar of scenes in NYC given to me as a New Year’s present by Deb Nance, fellow blogger. The reading bears perched on my journals are in the foreground.

    I can hardly wait to unpack and enjoy my elegant hotel room. LOL

  • THE LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY, A month of love

    I didn’t love the weather in February; I didn’t love the fact that the pandemic wasn’t getting better. I did love my local library and celebrated Love Your Library Month by donating to the Brazoria County Library, and supporting the Alvin Library League by buying used books for my Little Free Library several times. I LOVE books and everything bookish.

    Last February I heard about the old and famous Strand Bookstore in NYC, and with that as my impetus, I got busy planning a girlfriend’s weekend in that city I love.

    Three girlfriends, ranging from 50 to 82 in age, and I planned a trip to NYC, which included a Broadway play, a bus tour of the city (none of us are “good walkers”), and a trip to the site of 9/11. Each of us had “special agendas” to carry out while we were there. I intended to visit The Strand Bookstore; meet my favorite author, Fiona Davis for lunch in an authentic NY Cafe; and have coffee at an authentic NY Coffee Shop with Jay Cudney, my blogger friend and full time author on Sunday morning before the Broadway matinee.

    We were scheduled to leave Houston on Southwest Airlines on March 19, 2020. AND THEN THE COVID VIRUS PANDEMIC HAD OTHER PLANS FOR US. We cancelled the trip on March 14 because we were afraid we’d be placed in a two week quarantine when we arrived back in Houston on the 23rd , and because we didn’t want to bring the virus back with us. This was after much discussion and a lot of prayer. Talk about a God thing! Had we gone to NYC, we would have been quarantined there, and who knows when we would have made it home?

    It was a disappointment, but also a relief to cancel the trip. Fast forward to March, 2021. I am going to NYC–VIRTUALLY through my blog, PWR. Each day in March, there will be some kind of NYC-related post. I am looking forward to taking virtual tours and reporting on them, reviewing books set in The Big Apple, and doing other New Yorkish things during the month. If you know of something I can do without leaving the Texas Gulf Coast, nestled between Houston and Galveston, use the reply/comments box to let me know, please.

    I am soooooo looking forward to my trip. Come along with me and enjoy New York.

    Souvenir mugs: from left a mug bought for a dollar at Goodwill when I didn’t get to go; and on the right, a souvenir mug given as a gift by fellow blogger, Deb Nance of Readerbuzz, who lives in my hometown.

  • SUNDAY SUMMARY

    AFTER THE RECENT SNOWMAGGEDON, the temps getting up to 80 degrees was a blessing!

    This week was sunny, often cloudy and humid, but…WHO CARES! No more snow; no more 14 degrees with no heat. The plumbing and heat & air-conditioning trucks travel throughout the subdivision, and soaked carpeting and insulation are left out on yards to be picked up. Things are slowly returning to normal. I am caught up with catching up my online Advanced Writing class, and have been able to do some reading.

    An attempt to read more non-fiction

    An attempt to read more poetry

    A re-read for a “project”
    Another re-read, same “project”

    An eBook

    My daily “read”

    I am savoring this one and reading slowly.

    Definitely something from The Classics!

    That’s me all right!

  • A PLAN FOR A SATURDAY

  • THINK AGAIN by Adam Grant: A Review

    One of the best non-fiction reads so far this year

    The subtitle, “Knowing What You Don’t Know,” let’s us know this is a book about the value of rethinking. Taking tests as a student, I was always told “Go with your first instinct and never change answers; don’t overthink.” Grant says just the opposite. He complains that when we get an idea, we freeze it and seize it, and hold on to it too many times. Because we are human, we enjoy living in our “comfort of conviction” over the “discomfort of doubt.”

    There is something for everyone in this book: for teachers in the chapter “Rethinking the Textbook, which has excellent ideas to teach ‘rethinking;’ for young people who are in a quandary over making a career decision or life plan; for mid-lifer crazies who are in a career crisis; and parents, who want their children to be able to solve problems that don’t even exist yet. It is especially applicable to business bosses and leaders who wish their companies/organizations to be effective and efficient.

    Timely answers for NOW, for Covid questions, NASA examples and experiences from his own kids and family fill the book with readable and relatable anecdotes that keep the reader turning pages.

    It is a “darned good read’ and very helpful in dealing with life.