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.”

  • THURSDAY THOUGHTS: Mishmash

    Some random thoughts on a cloudy, but thankfully warmish Thursday morning…

    My “devotional” from Simple Abundance this morning deals with “Reordering Your Priorities.”

    A definite source of joy for me daily

    It begins as follows: “Most women I know have one conscious priority: making it through the day.” We expect rain today, and I am wearing a T-shirt I had made locally. It reads, “A rainy day,/Coffee,/ and a good book–my idea of Paradise.” I have had my first cup of coconut flavored coffee, followed by a 3X Vietnamese coffee that was a gift from a friend. Needless to say, my eyes are wide-open, and I am ready to roll. The good book is Writers and Lovers by Lily King,

    Soon to be reviewed on PWR

    I am ready for a rainy day. So…bring on the rain to water the new plants I put out yesterday to replace the dead, soggy mess of what was left of my old ones after the 14 degree freeze last week. My thoughts refuse to rehash the hardships of our Snowmaggadeon, but let me just mention that milk and eggs are still limited to two per customer. We only need one of each, but what about families with six children? Judging from the TV, there still are people without food, water, and the basic necessities of life in Houston and right here in Alvin. Donating checks to Farm Girls, a local charity and a local church, whose pipes burst and completely flooded, sets the tone for my priorities today. Looking forward…

    I am scheduled for shots in my feet Monday and am really looking forward to the appointment. It means that soon, I can walk in my neighborhood for exercise, returning to a routine I had started before the BIG FREEZE when the arthritis and nerve damage in both feet became unbearable to the point where I had to take pain meds just to hobble around the house. Funny to be grateful for painful shots, but the results…

    Enough meandering, enough musing, enough thoughts for a Thursday morning; I plan to spend until lunchtime reading books and friends’ blogs and enjoying the semi-retirement I am blessed to enjoy.

    Set YOUR priorities. May they be as pleasurable and comforting as mine.

  • TUESDAY TEASER

    THE AIM OF THIS MEME IS TO TEASE SOMEONE INTO READING SOMETHING YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING. (Header courtesy of the Purple Booker.)

    Copy a few lines from your current read into the reply box below. I often get great ideas for my TBR list from this source.

    I am about halfway through.

    Casey, a wannabe writer and currently a waitress at a popular, upscale restaurant is telling a co-worker about her recent date:

    “I tell Harry about the date at lunch the next day.

    ‘Good heavens,’ he says, ‘Is that what it’s like with you writers? [He uses] the word ‘snug ‘ and you’re mad in love?

    ‘I’m not in love.’

    ‘The man is in his forties with two bloody children…’ “

    Yes, this is a romance, but it is so much more. Struggling writers, loss of parent, mother-daughter relationships–it’s all there laid out by the author for the reader’s perusal. The writing is lovely, the dialog witty, and it has the potential to be a “darned good read.”

  • Castellan the Black and his Wise Draconic Tips on Caring for Grandchildren #BrainfluffCastellanthe Black #WiseDragonicTipsonGrandchildren #PickyEaters

    sjhigbee's avatarBrainfluff

    Of course dragonets should be taught to read and write! We’re civilised beings, not brutish fire-breathing monsters – though if you don’t agree, I may well swoop down and flame you…

    Castellan the Black, mighty dragon warrior, features in my short story Picky Eaters, written to provide a humorous escape from all the stuff that isn’t happening on Wyvern Peak… All proceeds for the duration of its publishing life are donated to mental health charities.

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  • UNSAID by Asmita Rajiv: A Review

    One of my 2021 reading goals was to read more poetry. This 2020 collection of poems was recommended by a fellow blogger, and it resulted in my copying several poems for future re-reading and for help in teaching my Advanced Writing class.

    The slim volume contains paintings, prose, and poetry by a young poet who addresses us as “fellow travelers” in this life’s journey.

    This collection of poems “spoke” to me.

    To begin, Rajiv quotes one of my heroes, Maya Angelou, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” The poet goes on to add, “We are so preoccupied by the monotony of our daily existence, that often the moments that take our breath away are perhaps the ones where we are actually holding our breath owing to some anxiety. Where then, is the time to pause and smell the proverbial roses?”

    Poems in this collection are not arranged thematically or any particular mode of organization, but jump from thought to thought. Rajiv explores “the subtleties of love, companionship, and self-discovery.” The title comes from the advice the poet gives to her readers, “By listening to our hearts, we can let the unsaid be said.”

  • BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS, My favorite kind of books

    Rae Longest's avatarLiteracy and Me

    It’s not really a genre, but books about books are my favorites!

    Books about librarians, libraries, antique books, love-affairs with books come in a close second.

    Recently I heard about a book titled Q’s Legacy, which was listed on a list of books about books. I had no idea who Q was or what he had to do with books, but that part was enough for me to order it from a second-hand book selling company. Thrilled when I received it in the mail, I discovered it was by the author of 84 Charring Cross Road, a BBC TV production I enjoyed enough to order the book-version from the library and read it. Helene Hanff wrote Q’s Legacy back in 1985, and it is part memoir, part travel book, and definitely deals with books, writing them, and the experiences attached to both.

    The book’s cover describes it as “a delightful…

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  • SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS ON SUNDAY EVENING

    THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE FOR OUR YOUNGEST READERS OR OUR READ-TOs

    Today’s recommendation is bit tardy because the big winter power outage in Texas took all our power and the internet with it for over three days. We live thirty miles south of Houston, and our home is all-electric (of course). Thankfully, we had received a quilt apiece for Christmas, and with other quilts, blankets and down comforters, we slept in thirty eight or nine degrees INSIDE the house. I had bought a long all-weather coat with a fake fur-lined hood for a trip to NYC last March, which never came to be, thanks to Covid. During the day, I wore my warmest pjs under jeans and a sweater under a bathrobe under said coat. We survived. We were blessed that we never lost water, nor had any pipes freeze and burst. Not all of our neighbors were so lucky.

    Today’s recommendation is the Peppa the Pig series

    My great-grand niece had a Peppa party for her second birthday.

    Here are couple of books in the series:

    But, the book that turned up as a donation to my LFL (Little Free Library) was this one:

    I enjoyed reading this one.

    Although Peppa and brother George do everything they can to make Papa Pig understand they are not sleepy, Papa has them go through their nightly rituals of bath time and teeth brushing before he reads them a bedtime story. They ask for the story of the red monkey, with which Papa obliges, and sure enough, by the end of the story, Peppa and George are fast asleep.

    The pictures are charmingly drawn, with Papa’s “hairs on his chinny-chin-chin carefully present, and Mama Pig’s eyelashes the envy of the Mascara line of cosmetics. This is the perfect tuck-you-in-and-read-you-a-story, story, perfect for assuring pleasant dreams to any two or three year old.

    I highly recommend the series.

  • SUNDAY SUMMARY 2/14/21

    HAPPY Valentine’s Day

    Grunge rubber stamp with word Finished inside,vector illustration
    Reviewed recently on PWR

    In spite of the title, this is not a romantic read. Reviewed earlier today on PWR

    Reviewed recently on PWR

    CHILDREN’S BOOKS

    A re-read
    re-read on an audiobook format
    A delightful read reviewed on “Saturday Morning for Kids, PWR

    POETRY

    Not yet reviewed
    My daily devotional

    I finished up two books today, and am planning to start two new ones tonight.

    QUICK LOOK BACK–GOALS SET FOR 2021

    *Clearing TBR shelves We simply made room for more by adding built-in bookshelves in the guest bedroom at Christmas.

    *Reading more non-fiction I am making excellent progress here and starting Think Again by Adam Grant tonight.

    *Reading more poetry I am doing well here and am enjoying myself after a neglectful break from poetry.

    *Celebration of Color Challenge Completed in January

    *Reading books about and by Madeline L’Engle. I re-read two of her books about the Murray family and a biography of L’Engle written by her granddaughters so far.

    —-COMING SOON— A reading challenge involving New York City for March

    Until next time, stay classy lassies (and lads)!

  • VALENTINE by Elizabeth Wetmore: A Review

    A wonderful debut novel

    I read about this book, just out this year, in a review in The Houston Chronicle. What made me want to read it was it was set in Odessa, Texas, where my neighbor grew up. All I remember from what she told me about the town was about the terrible, red, dust storms. The Odessa described in this novel as a 1976 oil-boom town is prosperous, and sometimes violent. Men had money, nothing to do, and were heavy drinkers. Women were homebound with many children, dependent on each other for friendship and strength.

    When fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramirez appears, bloody and battered, on Mary Rose Whitehead’s front porch, asking for a glass of water and calling out for her mother, the “heartbreaking and thrilling” story begins. And, with “firepower and skill,” Wetmore narrates the story of prejudice and injustice with”breathtaking prose.”

    “Sunday morning begins out here in the oil patch, a few minutes before dawn, with a young roughneck stretched out and sleeping hard in his pickup truck. Shoulders pressed against the driver’s side door, boots propped up on the dashboard, he wears his cowboy hat pulled down far enough that the girl sitting outside on the dusty ground can see only his pale jaw.Freckled and hairless, it is a face that will never need a daily shave, no matter how old he gets, but she is hoping he dies young.”

    Giving alternating povs from the various characters of the sub-plots, the author weaves her strands of violence, race, class, and religion” into a tale that is definitely NOT your typical “Valentine’s-Day-read” despite the title.

  • Gong Hei Fatt Choy! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Year of the Ox! #CNY #CNYbooks #ChineseNewYear #LunarNewYear #YearoftheOx

    Gong Hei Fatt Choy! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Year of the Ox! #CNY #CNYbooks #ChineseNewYear #LunarNewYear #YearoftheOx

    Jee Wan's avatarHooked On Bookz

    Chinese/Lunar New Year falls on the 12th of February (based in the cycle of the moon, varying slightly from year to year) this year. And year 2021 is the year of the ox. This time of the year, my family and I would usually travel back to Malaysia to celebrate it with our families. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic this year, we won’t be able to do so ☹

    So, what is the backstory of Chinese New Year?

    CNY is celebrated for 16 days (from CNY eve to the Lantern Festival). According to the ancient Chinese legend, there was a monster called Nian (which also means ‘year’ in Chinese), who lived in the sea would go onshore to hunt villagers and livestock by the end of the lunar year. Villagers would escape to faraway towns to save themselves from the Nian monster. Then one day, a wise old…

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  • SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS

    Saturday Mornings for Kids reserves Saturday for reviews and recommendations of Children’s Books much like 50s and 60s TV programming reserved Saturday mornings for cartoons.

    Today I highly recommend Kashmira Sheth’s Nina Soni, Master of the Garden.

    I learned so much from reading this little book!

    Indian children will see their own families reflected in Nina’s family, will read words they hear at home in Hindi, and be reminded of Indian food and snacks they often eat at their own tables. Other kids will learn of these interesting words and foods, thus learning more about their Indian friends. But this book is so much more than educational; it is a “darned good read” because the characters matter to the reader, and the plot has its twists and turns.

    If nothing else, Nina is a problem solver. She doesn’t let chard-eating, wild rabbits do her in, nor does she give up when mosquitoes “eat her up.”She is a list-maker, a new-word lover, and loyal friend. She is creative and ingenious, but is willing to ask for help from her friends or parents when it is needed.

    Her little sister, Kavita, is a scene-stealer with her innocent-wise comments and her singy-songs that make more sense than at first glance.

    Planting and tending a garden or at least a few plants is an experience all children should have, and “Master”makes this experience attractive and doable for your child or grandchild. Where planting and growing are impossible, children can read this book and experience the fun vicariously.

    I rate this book a full 5 out of 5.