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.”
Thanks to Hoarding Books for creating this fun meme.
My First Line Friday offering comes from Think Again by Adam Grant, a book just out. It deals with “The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.” Skipping the Prologue, which definitely got my attention, the first chapter opens with:
“You probably don’t recognize his name, but Mike Lazaridis has had a defining impact on your life. From an early age, it was clear Mike was something of an electronics wizard.”
I am trying to read more non-fiction in 2021 than I did in 2020, and this is going to be enjoyable reading.
I have an admission to make. When I chose this book, all I remembered was I had read “something” by Rachel Joyce before and enjoyed it. Looking at the title, my thoughts went to a schoolteacher who owned a Volkswagen. When I discovered it was about an old-maid home economics teacher who had been an entomologist looking for an undiscovered golden beetle, I lost patience after the first twenty pages and put it down.
Fortunately for me, blogger Deb Nance of Readerbuzz read and mentioned it in a post; our tastes in reading are closely aligned, so since she liked it, I decided to give it a “go.” I’m so glad I did.
When I read the afterpages, I discovered I had read and truly delighted in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye, The Love Story of Miss Queenie Hennesy, and The Music Shop–all novels by this same author.
Miss Benson, fed-up with her uninteresting, mundane life, decided to do something about it–something that fueled her passion for beetles. She planned a scientific expedition to New Caledonia, the other side of the world from her home, where the rumored beetle was “likely” to be discovered, if anywhere. Hiring Enid Petty, a “floozy,” as my grandmother would describe her, as her assistant, Margery Benson soon was enmeshed in the adventure/misadventure of her lifetime. Joyce even throws in a madman of sorts, who after being turned down for the position of assistant, stalks the two women wherever they travel. One can expect humor and warmth from Joyce, and this book delivers them in spades.
Joyce explores the theme of women’s friendships, and the ending is quite extraordinary. In the back of the book the “Acknowledgments”and “Afterwards” only add dimension to the reading experience. There are insightful discussion questions in the “Reader’s Guide” and a charming “Interview”of the two main characters by the author–something I’ve never come across before. Like the author titles this section, “In Fiction Anything Is Possible.”
This 2017 publication was described on the cover by one blurb-writer as, “a big beautiful book filled with characters I cared about and remembered after I’d read the final page.” My sentiments exactly! When I read, what I appreciate most is characterization, and Sunja, Isak, Joseb, and Kyunghee became very important, well-drawn people as I read the novel.
Pachinko is a gambling game played in pachinko parlors.
Coming from a poor, but proud Korean family, young Sunja meets Hansu, an older, very rich, mysterious man. He lives and does business in Japan, where Sunja and Isak, a Presbyterian minister who saved her from disgrace, end up as well. Throughout the novel, the author describes how the Japanese look down on the resident Koreans.
Lee is a gifted storyteller,who gracefully tells of the “harsh discrimination, catastrophes, and poverty the main characters endure. Pachinko is a story of women’s friendship, the pursuit of joy, and the history of an ancient national conflict. It opens in the early 1900s and journeys through generations of Korean history.
The other news I wanted to share is I have a shop at Society6. If you’re looking for unique gift ideas, I just might have something to fill that need. Or, if you’d just like to see some of my photography you can do that, too. https://society6.com/tambranicole
Anne’s Flower Garden, taken at Chicken Paradise, San Antonio, Texas
Ever need assistance with that question? Well, there’s a podcast for that!
I have come late to the party, but I have discovered podcasts. Of course, I am drawn to those podcasts that are about books or things “bookish,” and recently, I enjoyed some podcasts that help with today’s question. Get out your TBR list/folder and prepare to jot down titles and authors as you google these two podcasts:
No sales pitch, no statement of preference, just an old-fashioned recommendation for them both.
Hosted originally by The Purple Booker, this little meme advises us to copy a sentence or two from our current read to see if we can “tease” others into wanting to read it too. Here’s where I left off in Pachinko:
A wonderful story, a wonderful novel
“Haruki Totoyama married Ayame, the foreman of his mother’s uniform shop, because his mother had wanted him to do so. It turned out to be a wise decision.”
Can’t you just hear with your “mind’s ear” the precision of the Japanese language and culture. This story of Koreans living in Japan, recipients of racial hatred and discrimination, is a fascinating story of refugees living in an alien country. It is already a “darned good read” a little over half-way through the book.
I have been so busy with the start of the new semester that I have done very little reading, other than looking at and marking student assignments. I have done some reading which is summarized here.
Grunge rubber stamp with word Finished inside,vector illustrationA lovely historical fiction story told in the form of closely connected poems
This is so much more than a children’s book. It is the story some of my students back in the 70s experienced as they fled Vietnam, were sponsored by local churches, and were plopped into my reading class with no knowledge of English. This was one of my most challenging and most rewarding teaching assignments ever. I often wonder what became of Son, Hau and Dung, and where they ended up. I often wonder if they are well and happy.
A wonderful book of poems recommended by a blogger friend
I am reading this book slowly, savoring every word and appreciating the lovely word choices and phrasing.
Min Jin Lee is a new author to me, one I am respecting more and more, the further I get into the book.
This is a wonderful novel. I am lucky enough to get the large print edition from my local library. It is a long book to begin with, and in large print, it is a good five inches thick!
My daily check-in with Breathnach and with myself
There isn’t a day that goes by that this book doesn’t speak to me. I copy many of its copious quotes into my Quote Notebook, and think all day about what this author says. I am learning to think about myself, my life, and things, in general, differently because of this book.
This came in the mail yesterday
When I opened my mailbox, there was a book! I was excited because I couldn’t remember ordering one. Peachtree Publishers were kind enough to send me a free copy, and I had forgotten it was even coming. What a wonderful surprise! It will be perfect for a Saturday Morning for Kids post.
It’s definitely time for another classic! I have plenty on hand on my TBR, it’s just a matter of picking one up.
So, happy reading, and as we say goodbye to January, let’s look at February as a month of love–to others and to ourselves.
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