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Living the Learning Life

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I love reading plays. I don't have a background in

I love reading plays. I don't have a background in theater or any languishing desire to be on stage, but I love reading dramatic scripts. I've read several good ones this year, and my stack has grown considerably!
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Quick question though - where are the female playwrights?? Seriously open to suggestions - my stack needs help.
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Also, not pictured: Shakespeare. I've read him, too 😄

Another beautiful book by Yaa Gyasi. Transcendent

Another beautiful book by Yaa Gyasi. Transcendent Kingdom is told from the first-person POV and so it reads like a conversation with a friend, even though the main character, Gifty, would be unlikely to ever share so much information with one person. The back-and-forth, wandering but not lost, nature of her story reminds me of a deep and rich conversation.
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Gifty takes the reader through her childhood, her special relationship with her brother, her scientific research, love, loss, mental health, and faith. Her story moves back and forth with ease - not usually a technique that I like - without getting jumbled or feeling forced. Gifty is a smart character, and I particularly appreciate that her wrestling with her faith was appropriately thoughtful and nuanced. Indeed, science and faith wrestle in Transcendent Kingdom for meaning and purpose on almost every page.
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I read this book slowly, a couple chapters at night. It did not lack in pacing or storytelling, but it invited the reader/listener to consider and savor the story as one would a privileged conversation with an inscrutable friend. Recommend.

Wanted to post all the love and feels for the most

Wanted to post all the love and feels for the most recent installment in The Vanderbeeker series by @karinaisreadingandwriting - Make A Wish, but I couldn't find it in our usual reading spots. Then I remembered a bedtime conversation between my daughters as they swapped Vanderbeeker books to read before bed. Sure enough, Make A Wish was in my youngest daughter's bedroom in her bookstack. And if it hadn't been there, it would've been in my other daughter's room. And that's probably the best recommendation I can give.
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This whole series is well-loved by our family, and Make A Wish is yet another amazing adventure with the Vanderbeeker crew. Also, I'm getting too old and weepy for these! No deaths in this one, but Hyacinth finding her voice and a multi-generational reconciliation tore me up. My girls think I'm nuts, but that's ok. Books that bring #allthefeels are good books 💚

We're a bit of a "flat-ball" family here. My husba

We're a bit of a "flat-ball" family here. My husband played Ultimate Frisbee in college and is now coaching a middle school team that my daughter plays on. In the process of cheering them on at these different stages, I've picked up some of the language (scoober is my favorite name of a throw), and can hold my own with a flick or a backhand (though once you add all the running to the mix I'm out!). So it's really not much of a surprise that we really liked this picture book 😁
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Flip! How the Frisbee Took Flight by Margaret Muirhead is the story of just how the the Frisbee came to be. It starts with a bit of an uncertain origin and builds to a convincing marketable item. Ubiquitous on beaches and now available in disc-golf sizes, this flying sphere is great as both casual family fun or intense, friendly competition. Highly recommend (the book and tossing the Frisbee around) 😄

We're staying at an air b&b tonight that has, quit

We're staying at an air b&b tonight that has, quite frankly, given me a bad case of bookshelf envy. Not only are there shelves upon shelves of books in multiple rooms, but the hostess has such an eclectic assortment of titles! Poetry, birding, classics, and history sitting next to an essay collection by David Sedaris and a Brené Brown title, among several other modern, popular titles. Alas! I only have time to skim one book tonight, and this title caught my eye. Here's to surprise reading!

I love @mitaliperkins children's fiction, but this

I love @mitaliperkins children's fiction, but this non-fiction work of analysis and reflection on some of her favorite children's classics from other authors is perhaps my favorite of her published pieces.
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I loved hearing about her reading habits and preferences. I very much appreciated her reflection and guidance on confronting hurtful language, stereotypes, and insensitivities surrounding race, culture, colonialism, and history in children's literature. Perkins discusses favorite children's stories by Alcott, Tolkien, Montgomery, Lewis, and several others with enthusiasm, candor, and attention. Her commentary in these areas is insightful and instructive.
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Quote to Think About -
"That's the gift of temperance: it develops in us a capacity to enjoy and express a full range of emotions without allowing them to rule us."
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It was the very best kind of bonus for me to read of her faith and see how that impacted her understanding of the classics that she chose. I admire authors who do this authentically and credibly - Perkins succeeds.
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A great book for children's literature enthusiasts; a good guide for parents who want to engage texts with an eye for instructing about blind-spots; and a wonderfully challenging and refreshing book for faithful reading.
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One more Quote to Think About -
"The task of prudence is to decide which of the others should be put to use in determining a course of action in a particular circumstance. Prudence warns courage to consider what justice might require, invites justice to weigh in on what love might say, asks temperance to wonder if justice demands bold speech instead of restraining the tongue, and so on."

Spent most of Monday passing a small kidney stone

Spent most of Monday passing a small kidney stone and getting scanned to find out I have more to come 🤦‍♀️
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Grateful my mother-in-law could come down and help out. The next day I was feeling better so we went to a bookstore, and I intentionally found Subpar Parks by Amber Share. Laughter is good recovery medicine, and this book does the trick!
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Share provides beautiful illustrations of a few U.S. National Parks accompanied by various one-star ratings that the parks have received. A little snark in her responses paired with interesting tidbits and details about these stunning places is a perfect blend of humor and creativity and travel inspiration. 🏜🌋🏔🏝

Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L. D. Lapinski is a

Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L. D. Lapinski is a book my girls loved, and I was okay with. The premise is great (more below), and I think that is what drew my girls to the story. For me, the over-descriptive build-up to just about everything needed a good bit of editing. Then, falling somewhere between good and annoying, the use of similies was at times the amusing part and at other times read like a mad-lib bonanza. Too much of a good thing maybe? Anyway, that's the critical adult in me, the girls loved the story.
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Flick, short for Felicity, moves to a new home and explores the neighborhood. She comes to a shop with stacks of suitcases and a strangely young and rude curator. She discovers that she has the requisite magic to be a member and finds herself traveling between worlds in our multiverse. Just hop in a suitcase and have an adventure. Really, the possibilities are endless and easily spark imagination in young readers. One of the worlds is threatened and Flick must decide what it is she values most.
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The occasional swear words are unnecessary, but the story is entertaining for the upper elementary/ lower middle grade ranges. Friendship is a key topic, and I appreciated that Lapinski didn't muddle the relationship between the two protagonists.
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We're on the waiting list at the library for book 2 to see what other creative worlds are out there!

🎶🎵 It's beginning to look a lot like sem-i-n

🎶🎵 It's beginning to look a lot like sem-i-nary! 🎶🎶 Best kind of #bookmail arrived yesterday, and yes I did nerd up and start reading. The competition for my knitting time is getting fierce 🤪🤔😉

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