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.”

  • ALPHABET SOUP CHALLENGE,AUTHOR VERSON

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    After doing the Alphabet Soup, (Title Edition) Challenge during 2019, it s just too tempting to follow with the author version in 2020. So, Dollycas, count me in!

    My first read of the new year/new decade was a book whose author’s name  started with an “S,” Sanchez, but that was before I started this challenge. I will be reviewing shopping.jpeg Daughter on PWR soon.

    My first read of the 2020 Alphabet Soup Author’s Edition is Lara Avery’s YA novel, The Memory Book. Sammie Mc Coy has Niemann-Pick Type C disease, and she is trying to  record her memories before they leave her as she dies. Two love interests are present: Cooper, her neighbor who has “gone wrong” and is no longer a friend at the opening of the novel and Stuart, the dreamboat every girl wants, but for some reason is interested in Sammie.

    The novel is Sammie’s journal directed at her future self “so she will never forget the most important parts of her life.” This story definitely appeals to John Green fans, including this blogger.

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  • SATURDAY MORNING FOR KDS

    During my recent stint as a middle grades first round reader for Cybils, I  read many great books for kids in grades 5-8. The thing that impressed me most about them was how helpful they were for kids who were facing today’s world, dealing with issues I never even knew about growing up in the fifties.

    Here are a few books that dealt with such issues:

    Up for Air by Laurie Morrison depicts problems specific to eighth graders looking forward to high school and all of its changes and challenges. Because of her outstanding swimming abilities, the girl protagonist must face older teens’ problems when she is asked to swim with them on a city team. She has had her own issues with ADHD and focusing, but has been supported by her adoptive parents from the beginning. When her biological father once again enters her life, the problems and confusion she faces are overwhelming. Add to that the tension and excitement of the swimming matches, and you have a fine, page-turner for older middle-schoolers.

    For somewhat younger kids, the 12 year old protagonist in Out of My Shell by Jenny Goebel is a sure bet. A common problem, divorcing parents, compound the anxiety of the young girl, who is passionately invested in saving sea turtles and saving her family as well.

    For boys, Camp Average by Craig Battle deals with team spirit, competitive urges, and boys’ friendships. The lesson, “Losers can become winners,” is a major theme of this sports-directed, basketball-focused read.

    Finally, a favorite of several of the first-round readers was Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen, a historical fiction novel aimed at middle schoolers.  Dealing with the time period when Lithuania was invaded by the Cossacks, we meet Audra, whose name means “storm.” She is a budding author who becomes involved with book smuggling when books are banned and burned. A well-drawn character, a passion for books, and adventure and perilous trips–what’s not to like in this kid’s novel that many parents would enjoy as well?

    Until next Saturday, that’s it for kids’ books. Happy reading!

  • SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS

    shopping-1.jpegToday’s recommendation is a middle grades (5th-8th) novel that chronicles the life of twelve year old Lyndie. It takes place in 1985 Tennessee when Lyndie’s grandmother is trying to induct her into the necessity of loyalty to family and keeping “family business” private. Lyndie is the family “history buff” and discovers that her depressed and defeated mom used to be an activist against the unjust war in Vietnam, which is ironic because Lyndie’s dad is a Vietnam vet, struggling with alcohol and PTSD.

    Neighbors and Lyndie’s friends reach out to her, only to have their efforts rejected by Lyndie’s grandmother, who labels them “nosy neighbors.” Lyndie needs the support of friends her grandmother tries to keep her away from as she deals with her family situation. How she finally acquires this and teaches her extended family the cost of keeping secrets is the theme of this book.

    On one hand, I hate to think of middle grade students dealing with depression, alcohol, or the fear of “what will people think” on the part of their family; but on the other, these are current family issues kids are actually dealing with every day. If one child can be taught to reach out and can better their lives by doing so, then I say, this is a helpful book that will convince our students that “they are not the only one…”

     

  • THE NICKLE BOYS by Colson Whitehead: A Review

    This was a 2019 publication in large print I checked out from the library.  Although I have The Underground Railroad by this author on my Kindle, I have not read it yet, but after reading Nickel Boys, I intend to.

    Elwood, the protagonist is an upstanding 14 year old, who is ready to start college at the beginning of the story.  He has been raised by his grandmother, Harriett (named for Harriett Tubman), and raised on recordings by Reverend Martin Luther King. Unexpectedly and unjustly, Elwood is arrested and shipped off to the Nickel (a man’s last name) Reformatory in Florida. There he is beaten and tortured and barely survives. At the reformatory, Elwood mets Turner, a streetwise, daring rebel. It is he who convinces Elwood to join in an escape.

    Fast forward to Elwood as an adult, owning his own moving company, and doing everything he can to “keep a low profile” and stay unnoticed. The adult Elwood is keeping a secret he has kept all his adult life, and when it is revealed at the end of the novel, it is guaranteed to blow the reader’s mind.

  • TWO NEW PERSONAL CHALLENGES FOR 2020

    CLEAR THE SHELVES CHALLENGE 

    I plan to read as many books on my TBR shelves as possible in 2020 to make way for new arrivals. My goal is to read or at least give a fair try (before delegating to my Little Free Library in the yard) to one book a week for all 52 weeks of the coming year.

    RECOMMENDED READS CHALLENGE

    I plan to scan blogging friends’ posts this coming year for reviews and recommendations of books they liked. My goal is to read 20 recommended reads in 2020.

    What goals are you setting for yourselves?

  • BEGINNING A YEAR OF CLEARING MY TBR SHELVES

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    I started this book when I woke up this morning with my first cup of coffee. I think I have picked a good place to begin. My first book challenge this new year is to make a dent in my TBR shelves. This novel has been sitting on one of them for at least six months now.

    What are you starting with in 2020?

  • BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS CHALLENGE 2019 and previously read Books about Books

    I took on an informal, personal challenge inspired by a Random House list and a post by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz to read as many books about books as I could during 2019. Here is a list of what I read:

    People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.  I listened to this one by audio book and enjoyed it immensely. The narration was exceptionally well done.

    The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett was a non-fiction account of a criminal who stole first editions and antique books and the detective who finally arrested him. It was a fascinating look into the criminal mind and the obsessive mind of the detective who never gave up.

    The Little Paris Bookstore by Nina George, a novel by Nina George was one of my favorites. I mean, books, Paris, a book-doctor who could “prescribe” a book for what ails you–what’s not to love ? I read this prior to 2019, but enjoyed it so much I had to mention it in this post.

    I digested the Jane Austin Book club in movie form and was a delighted by the romantic and klutzy hero.

    Prior to 2019 I enjoyed The Fault Is in Our Stars and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, both selections from our Third Tuesday Book Club.

    The End of Your Life Book Club by Schwalbe was a non-fiction/memoir centered around books that I enjoyed enough to recommend to the book club. They enjoyed it too.

    A few years back, a student recommended Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief. I rarely read a book a second time, but I re-read it in 2019 after seeing the movie, and I nominate it as a “Best Read of a Lifetime.”

    The Library Book by Susan Orlean was another I read (as soon as it came out) and recommended to my book club. Another book club I frequently sit in on also read it, and the verdict was unanimous, best non-fiction of 2019!

    The Bookshop on the Corner by Jerry Colgan was an audio book I listened to in 2019. It was a attention-keeping endeavor I enjoyed greatly. Often when I listen to an audio book, my mind wanders, not with this one, I cared a great deal about the characters and wanted to know what happened to them.

    Prior to 2019, I read 84 Charring Cross Road by Helene Hoff, a classic, epistolary that speaks to bibliophiles everywhere.

    The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon was part of my Alphabet Soup Challenge of 2019, and was an intriguing read.

    Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine brought me to a new-to-me author and back to fantasy after a long hiatus from this genre.

    Parnassus on Wheels and The Haunted Bookshop by Christoper Moorely were classics I read and listened to (in backwards order) in 2019. Although I read Haunted Bookstore first, then listened to the characters’ back story afterwards, it was a wonderful reading experience overall.

    Recently I finished and placed in my Little Free Library both Life with Bob by Pamela Paul (Bob stands for Book of Books) and Goodnight June, a speculative novel by Sarah Io (an author I had never read but expect to seek out in 2020), based on the children’s classic Goodnight Moon.

    All of these books are reviewed on PWR, so type ones you are interested in into the search bar at the top of the post and start reading some Books about Books in 2020!

     

  • THE ALPHABET SOUP CHALLENGE PART TWO

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    The challenge above is to read an author beginning with each letter of the alphabet during the year 2020. Last year’s Alphabet Soup Challenge was to read a title beginning with each letter of the alphabet in 2019. The second is the one I just finished up (a month ahead of schedule, not bragging, just saying), and posted Part One earlier on PWR.

    Here is a list of titles beginning with the letter “M”

    Man Without a Shadow by Joyce Carol Oates. Oates, one of my favorite authors since undergrad days, is perhaps one of the most versatile writers of the century, and in this one, she did not disappoint.

    Nnutshell by Ian Iwen. Along with Oates’ novel above, this one is a contender for my favorite read of 2019. It tells the tale of Hamlet, set in contemporary London, from the point of the young Prince in utero.

    Obelisk Gate written by N.K. Jamisin. The second book in The Broken Earth Series was outstanding and brought me back to science fiction/fantasy. I am reading the third book currently and want to thank Sarah of Brainfluff for recommending this fine series.

    Prayer of Jesus by Hank Hanegaaff. This was a “find” in my church library that steered me back into my resolution to read SOME non-fiction. I hope to better on that goal in 2020.

    The Sunken Cathedral by Kate Walbert. This was definitely a cover-attract choice which called out to me from my local library. It was a fine read and an introduction to the world of art. It had definite “literary quality.”

    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Hurston. This ground-breaking classic has been on my “Should Read” list since graduate school, and I had started it more than once. The audio version gave me success in finishing it, and the storm scene and the musical celebrations came to life under the skilled narrator’s voice.

    Ubecoming by Rebeca Schern. This novel was as strange as its title, which had more than one significance. I read the review in the Houston Chronicle one Sunday and ordered the book to see what it was all about. I still haven’t decided if I “liked” it or not, but I certainly haven’t forgotten it.

    If We Were Villians by M.L. Rio. This Shakespere-related, who-dun it is also right up there in my favorites for 2019. Everything about it was excellent.

    What the  Wind Knows by Amy Harmon. This time-travel novel was a senior book club selection , and the discussion of it was as interesting as reading it.

    Xingu by Edith Wharton. In  graduate school, I became enamored of Edith Wharton, and when I found this title, I was very anxious to read the book. Alas, I could not find it in my local libraries, and I had overspent my book budget for the year. HOWEVER, I found the movie version on Hoopla and enjoyed it immensely. I also read and enjoyed the graphic novel X-Men: Civil War to do justice to the letter.

    Year of Wednesdays. I have passed this novel on in my Little Free Library, and I do not remember the author, nor did I write it down. I did, however, enjoy it thoroughly, having chosen it for my personal challenge to read Books about Books. The story was most enjoyable.

    Zafon, Carlos Ruis, the author of Shadow of the Wind. My original plan was to segue into the Alphabet Soup Challenge 2020, involving authors instead of titles with this book.  That said, I’m reconsidering today, asking myself do I want to take on another 26 book challenge. More about this in a future post.

    Most of these books were reviewed here on Powerful Women Readers. If you want to know more about any of them, type the title into the search box at the head of the post.

    HAPPY 2020 AND HAPPY READING!!!

     

     

  • SATURDAY MORNINGS FOR KIDS ON SATURDAY EVENING

    After reading all the first round middle grades books for the Cybils awards, I am overwhelmed by the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade books I want to include in my Saturday posts. Here are just a couple of the outstanding recommended books for the first round readers:

    Catch Me When I Fall by Bonnie Graves.  This middle grades historical fiction offering describes “circus life in its heyday.” It’s twelve-year-old heroine, Emma is a “gutsy girl,” who doesn’t know who her father is, and her mother refuses to tell her. After finding an old photo of Fillipo, The Flying Wonder, in her mother’s dresser drawer, she disguises herself as a boy and runs off to “join the circus” and find her father. What she finds and discovers about herself in the process is a coming-of-age tale any middle school reader will be enthralled with.

    Another twelve-year-old heroine in Extraordinary Birds, a puzzling novel by Sandy Stark McGinnes, is a girl named December who bears strange scars on her back. At the beginning, December feels she is secretly a bird, and the scars are the places that will one day sprout wings.  The true story of the scars is something she has blocked out of her memory.  Confronted by the “mean girls” at her school, and protected by her best friend, Cherylynne, December faces the truth about herself and comes into her true identity. This is a powerful story that will be remembered by its readers for a long time.

  • A SALUTE TO DEB NANCE AT READERBUZZ

    2020 will bring me my dream-come-true, bucket-list trip to New York City.  Another blogger friend, who lives in the same small town near the Texas Gulf Coast as do is Deb Nance of Readerbuzz.  She, too is getting a dream vacation, a trip to her favorite city in the world, Paris, France.  In honor of all Deb has done for me, I am quoting a few lines from a book I just finished (which she probably gave me), My Life with Bob by Pamela Paul:

    “Victor Hugo, the great romantic historian of a novelist, a French counterpart to Charles Dickens, understood the effects of inevitable change on a place you know and love even as your memory clings to the familiar contours of its past. Writing about himself in the third person, he explains:

    ‘Since he left it, Paris has been transformed. A new city has grown up, that is as it were, unknown to him. Needless to say, he loves Paris, Paris is his spiritual home…All those places you do not see any more, that you may never see again and that you have kept a picture of in your mind, take on a melancholy charm; they come back to you with the mournfulness of an apparition, make the holy land visible to you, and are, so to speak, the very embodiment of France. And you love them and conjure them up as they are, as they were, and you persist in this.’ ”

    I think this is Deb’s third trip to Paris, and  the longest time she will stay in that city yet, and I bid her bon voyage and happy traveling.