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April 27, 2021April 27, 2021 by kmore
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When "Big Friendship" came out last year, I knew it was just the kind of NF sociology/psychology/ memoir blend that I love, love love!  Now I'm hooked on their popular podcast, "Call Your Girlfriend." Big Friendships, according to the authors' definition are transcendent, reciprocal, generous, active and mature.  Because I am lucky enough to enjoy Big Friendship in my own life, turning the pages of this book provided opportunities to reflect and be grateful for the richness they bring to my life. These two cracked open their private worlds to share the magic as well as the struggles they have faced in their very public friendship. I will be carrying so many things from this book into my own friendships.  (Side note:  Like @aminatou, I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer at a relatively young age.  I truly appreciate her openness about that experience.  It's affirming and provides hope for those of us tiptoeing around the "C" word.) Reading "Beartown" takes me back to my blue-collar, small-town roots-- where sports reign supreme, and everyone is just trying to keep the town going.  I loved the range of characters that so closely resembled people I grew up knowing, and I felt like I could see and smell the forest that was almost another character in the novel. This is my favorite Backman book so far.  He forces us to witness an all too common experience for girls... at parties... when they've had too much to drink.  We can see it coming-- the blaming, the shaming, and the alliances, but what we don't see coming is the power of a few people making the right choices.  This one is brimming with Golden Lines and an abundance of wisdom regarding the dark side of loyalty and competition. Golden Line: “You want to defend those you love, even if the ones you love aren't very good all the time. And sometimes they're even downright awful.”  "Rabbit Cake" by Annie Hartnett What seems like forever-ago, my friend and I were captivated by the @gwynethpaltrow movie, "Sliding Doors."  The idea that one's entire life can be altered by the difference of making it through a pair of sliding doors-- or not-- was very thought provoking.  In fact, over the years, we seem to refer back to the idea, and the movie, on a fairly frequent basis.  So....... I think that is why I connected so well with "The Midnight Library" by @mattzhaig.  It's a quick read, but one that had me lying in bed mulling over the little things in my life that could have set me on a different trajectory. What would I be doing now if I had gone to the other college I applied to? What if I hadn't gone to that teaching workshop and met the person who ultimately became my best friend? I was pretty sure I knew how things were going to play-out for Nora in this novel, but that's okay. I appreciated the simple revelations, and hey, I'm a librarian, so what's not to appreciate about a book set in a library? If you want something that doesn't make you horribly sad about the world and just need a charming escape, this might be a good fit.  Golden Line:  “Maybe that’s what all lives were, though.  Maybe even the most seemingly perfectly intense or worthwhile lives ultimately felt the same.  Acres of disappointment and monotony and hurts and rivalries but with flashes of wonder and beauty.  Maybe that was the only meaning that mattered.” #morebooks #readmorebooks #bookbliss #bookreview #reading #lovebooks #goldenlines #goldenline #bookquote #midnightlibrary #matthaig #slidingdoors @oprahsbookclub is reading the Gilead trilogy by Marilynne Robinson, so I revisited my Golden Lines from "Home," which I read several years ago. These quiet character studies explore the complexities of human relationships, and while they are completely impossible to describe, they are completely worthwhile to read. #goldenlines #goldenline #homebook #marilynnerobinson #marilynnerobinsonquotes #oprahsbooksclub #readmorebooks #grace #readingbliss #bookish Families are complicated, and Dig by @as_king_ explores that theme with depth and originality. Like it or not, the attitudes and decisions of our ancestors have a way of influencing our present -- not always for the better.  In this Michael L. Printz award winner, five estranged cousins reconnect through an interesting, and shocking, serious of events.  Together, they start to dig their way out of the toxic past where racial stereotypes kept their parents and grandparents from truly connecting with one another.  This was a one-of-a-kind story with many, many layers.  I know the next generation can do better, and this book is proof of that.  Golden Line: “Potatoes are one thing.  People are another.  You can't abandon people and think they’re going to be fine.  People need things.  Probably love most of all.”  #readmorebooks #readmore #michaellprintzaward #readthisbook #yabookrecommendation #awardwinner #racismsucks #bookreview #booklover #booknerd #bookish #booksofinstagram #a.s.king I love The Moth.  Both the podcast and in print. These small, bite-sized stories never fail to strike a chord-- real people, sharing the personal experiences that have impacted their lives.  I love the honesty and vulnerability of ordinary life.  I love the ones that can make me both laugh and cry in such a short span of time. I hope I can visit a city and attend a live storytelling event sometime in the near future, and I really hope they publish more Moth anthologies. (I am also dying to attend a Moth Teacher Institute, so I can introduce this storytelling format to my high school students!) These books have gotten me through a stretch when finding focus to read was a struggle.  They filled the gaps and for that I am a committed, and grateful, fan. @mothstories SO much to think about in my latest read by Jenny Odell. What if we resisted an endless pursuit of productivity and attention? What if we started engaging with our communities, our natural environment, and ultimately, ourselves? Odell's meticulously researched book convinced me to rethink how I spend much of my time and more importantly, where I direct my attention. Golden Line: “We should care about those around us because we are beholden to each other in a practical sense...Let’s not forget that, in a time of increasing climate-related events, those who help you will likely not be your Twitter followers; they will be your neighbors.”  p. 133 Finished "In Five Years" by @rebecca_serle last night and it was just what I needed...A quick page-turner full of friendship and love with just the slightest hint of magic. The simple takeaways from this one: Listen to your gut and be there for your friends. I'm sharing this golden line because I was thinking about this VERY idea a couple of days ago during my previous read, and it resonated with me strongly. In it, a young refugee was explaining the social customs for visiting one's home in his birth country and how he had to get used to new cultural norms when he came to the United States. It made me think about how we are losing some of the simple "niceties" about how we behave, interact and socialize. I am guided and comforted by many of the social norms that I grew up with because "that's just what you do!" Whether you're in a hospital waiting room while your best friend is dying, as in this book, (you'll have to read it to understand) or eating dinner as a guest in one's home, as in my previous book-- we could do worse than to hang onto some of the social normalcies that, if nothing more, show respect to ourselves and those around us. Happy Reading! #readmore #goldenlines #infiveyearsbook #rebeccaserle #weekendreading #socialnorms

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