Sunday, September 1, 2019

Birds (of the non-penguin type) Postcards Receivedl

3021.  GR PC May 2023
Sat. 10 June 2023
Dear Chris,  I though I was going to write here bout my love of Breq, in Ann Leckie's scifi Ancillary series ... but writing the GR PC April, about animals, I mentioned the alien Presger Translator Zeiat swallowing the pet fish and I realized I would LOVE to meet her.
Zeiat looks human, but she's not really, and everything she says is slightly ridiculous because she djust doesn't understand humans.  And then when humans try to explain things to Zeiat, it comes off sounding kind of ridiculous as Well!  That just makes me laugh, and I think we could be friends, although I'm not sure I could be as patient as Breq is with Zeiat!  :)
I also love SecUnit of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells... The sarcasm and huge disdain for humans and augmented humans!  But I don't want to meet SecUnit because there would be too much anxiety!  *Laughs*
So exited that Ann Leckie's newest book is about the Presger translators!  Happy Day, Rift

2079.  GR PC May 2021
Wood Ducks
Dear Chris,  Oh, I used to be such a sucker for self-help books!  Creativity and how-to-draw books and how-to-be-happy books ... and habits of productive people and hot-ot-be tidy and how-to-not procrastinate! *laughs*
     My favorite creativity-type self-help book is Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher.  I re-read this many times, and over the years I have managed to smush many of my favorite hobbies into several great projects like this one! (Nature, Photography, Computers, Writing, Reading, Mail, woohoo!)
A few years ago I read some Stephanie Bennett Vogt, and I have also taken her year-long online class for Space Clearing.  I must have done some de-cluttering during that year ... but I am back to making piles of junk, so the clearing def didn't stick!  Ha!
I'm currently reading The Power of Daily Practice.  I don't know why.  I've already got several daily practices in place.  I guess I just want to see how and why other people do it? :)
Ha - I don't think I'll ever cure the procrastination.  But ... maybe the next self help book I read...?! Happy day, Rift

2069.  Kuopio, Finland
Hello, Happy postcrossing.  Satu

2043.   GRPC April 2021
Friday 7 May 2021
I quite reading cis white male authors - for the most part - a few years ago...And now, diversity finds me!  All of my favorite series and books are authored by...
Black Women:  Xenogenesis (series starting with Dawn), The Best of All Possible Worlds, Binti (series)
Queer and Gay People:  The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (series) and The House in the Cerulean Sea.
I also support Uncanny Magazine, which gets awards on a regular basis and has a "deep investment in the diverse SciFi & Fantasy culture")
While I have read some great nonfiction, like How to Be an Antiracist and Tomorrow Will Be Different, I would definitely like to expand my reading out to some mainstream books as well.  I'm sure I've read some diverse authors by and by, but I am taking note of any books you've recommended this month for sure!
Thnks for the postcard - sounds like you found fabulous book stores!  Rift.

2022.  GRPC October 2019
I am pretty particular when it comes to the books I read.  So I usually rate a standard book I've read at 4 stars.  If it's less great than I thought, it gets 3 stars.  I rate down for gratuitous or explicit violence and that's a 1 or 2 star book.  It just makes me sad when humans use there creativity to depict violence.
If I don't finish a book, I don't rate it, although I should...The only reason why I don't finish reading  story is because it's boring and I just abandon it!  I assume I'll come back to these books, but I rarely do.
     An amazing book - a 5 star book, a book I love - is more than just an engaging story that I can't put down.  It's also a story that I don't want to end!  It probably makes me cry at some point, and laugh out loud as well!  I want to spend time with the main characters in real life and I want to go to their world.
Happy (belated) Halloween!  Rift

1990.  GR PC Sept 2019
Cooper Hawk
Dear Chris, Yay Banned Books Week!  I had wondered if the sequel to The Handmaid's TaleThe Testaments was over-hyped ... a resounding NO!  It was an enjoyable read, which kept me on the edge of my seat, with a satisfying ending.  *Thumbs up*
I've red at least one book from each year's top ten ... tho I've read surprisingly few of the #1 banned books from each year.  Maybe that's something I need to work on!  I've read 13 of the classics, 13 of the diverse content, 12 from the 1990s list of 100 and 17 from the 2000s list.
     From the Top 11 books of 2018, I've read #1 George, #4 The Hate U Give, and #9 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  Because my favorite children's book is And Tango Makes Three I am very much interested in A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.  I feel I should also read the book it was based on, in parody.  After all, the more bunny books the better!! :)  What's your favorite banned book?  Mine - To Kill a Mockingbird.  Happy Reading, Rift


1989.  Ufa, Russia
Hello Chris, I'm Ildar from Ufa, Russia, and work for an oil service company.  Best wishes.

1979.  GR PC August
Dear Chris, Yep, I've found and read some great  books this year!  From the nonfiction section:  Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.  It's shocking and dismaying and really a book that people should read.  And I read all the James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small series, which was def a comfort read, since I watched the British TV show as a kid.  And now I'm just dipping into Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, which seems like it's going to be one of those fun, eye-opening reads!
     New author, and new genre (fantasy):  N. K. Jemisin.  I read her The Fifth Season series last year, and have no read all of her books.  And they are all page turners, I just can't put them down!  And some great scifi: Ancillary Justice series by Ann Leckie, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, and To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.  All of these are just WOW! 
Hope you've discovered some great books as well
Happy Day, Rift


1954.  GR PC April 2019
Welcome back to the GoodReads Postcard Exchange!  The last time you played was in 2014?  How time flies!  I hope you'll have fun with the postcard exchange with lost of mailbox joy!  Rift

1268.  St. Petersburg, Russia
Hello, Chris.  My name is Viktor.  I live in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Sending a postcard almost with a bird - eagle from the US emblem.  Perhaps you are interested in the most leftist mark.  It was the emblem of the oldest city of Russia - Derbent-?? city is 2500 years old (opinions of scientists differ) Good Luck!  Viktor.

833.  Chonqing, China
14 July 2017
I come from Chongqing, China.  The Chongqing is situated in the southwest of continental  (??) on the coast of the Long River.  Because the city was built near the mountain, people call it "the mountain city." 

702.  Greetings from Czech Republic
Because I have only painting "reading cards" and you are man (!!) with a sense of humor, I send you raven card.  Raven is poem from Edgar Allan Poe, and you know it.  Enjoy your raven card and have a funny day, Jana.  
PS:  Raven in Czech:  KRKAVEC

671.  Germany
Hello Chris from the western part of Germany.  I send you many nice greetings.  My city is small, calm, and green.  Around is many industry and trade but farmers and gardeners also.  All the best, Take care, Norbert.

655.  India: The Nicobar Pigeon
The Nicobar pigeon is found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands of India through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons andPaulau.  It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas and the closest living relative of the extinct dodo.  It is a large pigeon,measuring 40 cm (15.75 inches) in length.  It is a very vocal species, giving a low-pitched repetitive call.  The species nests in dense forest on offshore islets, often in large colonies.  It builds a loose stick nest in a tree.  Status:  Near Threatened
Greetings from India.  My name is Soorya and I live in the southern part of India.  I'm a homemaker and my husband is a retired railway engineer.  Hope you like the card.  I'm a keen philatelist and love cross-stitching.  Soorya

334.  Greetings from Finland!  
Here is card about my home areas sigil bird, metso (tetrao urogallus).  Large is male and it's hanging out with its chicks.  When in heat male can be really angry and attack on humans too!  My friend got attacked once but he sat on the bird until it calmed down.  Crazy guy!  But both are fine now. :)  Good summer for you, Mervi

311.  Melbourne, Australia
25/04/2016
Greetings from Australia!  I live in Melbourne - the country's capital of sports and culture.  I work as a software engineer and love tos pend my free time outdoors.  Have a good day!  Cheers, Nadya

Goodreads Postcards

3021.  GR PC May 2023
Sat. 10 June 2023
Dear Chris,  I though I was going to write here bout my love of Breq, in Ann Leckie's scifi Ancillary series ... but writing the GR PC April, about animals, I mentioned the alien Presger Translator Zeiat swallowing the pet fish and I realized I would LOVE to meet her.
Zeiat looks human, but she's not really, and everything she says is slightly ridiculous because she djust doesn't understand humans.  And then when humans try to explain things to Zeiat, it comes off sounding kind of ridiculous as Well!  That just makes me laugh, and I think we could be friends, although I'm not sure I could be as patient as Breq is with Zeiat!  :)
I also love SecUnit of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells... The sarcasm and huge disdain for humans and augmented humans!  But I don't want to meet SecUnit because there would be too much anxiety!  *Laughs*
So exited that Ann Leckie's newest book is about the Presger translators!  Happy Day, Rift

3001.  GR PC May 2023 
Trenton, NJ 
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813
This is a really hard topic. (Favorite protagonast)  I have many favorite characters but the ones who come to mind are strong female characters like Anne Shirley (Green gables) Meg Murry (Wrinkle in Time + Hermione from Harry Potter.  The latter two being science minded like me.  For swoon worthy, Gabriel Oak from Far From the Madding Crowd.  Sigh.  I loved him.  And for nonhumans Iorek Byrnison - the armored bear from Golden Compass.  I want an armored bear!  Happy Reading, Amy.

2079.  GR PC May 2021
Wood Ducks
Dear Chris,  Oh, I used to be such a sucker for self-help books!  Creativity and how-to-draw books and how-to-be-happy books ... and habits of productive people and hot-ot-be tidy and how-to-not procrastinate! *laughs*
     My favorite creativity-type self-help book is Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher.  I re-read this many times, and over the years I have managed to smush many of my favorite hobbies into several great projects like this one! (Nature, Photography, Computers, Writing, Reading, Mail, woohoo!)
A few years ago I read some Stephanie Bennett Vogt, and I have also taken her year-long online class for Space Clearing.  I must have done some de-cluttering during that year ... but I am back to making piles of junk, so the clearing def didn't stick!  Ha!
I'm currently reading The Power of Daily Practice.  I don't know why.  I've already got several daily practices in place.  I guess I just want to see how and why other people do it? :)
Ha - I don't think I'll ever cure the procrastination.  But ... maybe the next self help book I read...?! Happy day, Rift

2074.  GR PC June 2021
The book is ALWAYS better!  I haven't seen many books be successfully turned into movies.  And if I see the movie first, I have a hard time going back to read the book.  It's a weird thing for me.  Drives my reading friends crazy!  I'm trying to get Malibu (words obliterated by postal markings) read before the xxx starts on xxxx.

2072.  GR PC June, 2021
I just finished A Dog's Way Home by W. Bruce Cameron and last month read Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan.  I haven't seen the movies which is typical of me.  I generally think the book is better than the movie.  If I want to enjoy a movie, I try not to read the book first.  I have a friend who watches more movies than reads, so she has an opposite approach to movies/books.  Happy Reading - Jenny T.

2065.  GR PC May 5, 2021
Oak Park, Illinois
Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum
I live around the corner from Hemingway's birthplace.  I don't subscribe to self-help books, or read a lot of nonfiction in general, but when I do it's usually a science book a la Mary Roach.  I really liked Phallacy by Emily Willingham and Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz.  Hope you are well and safe.  Take care - Amanda

2045.  GRPC May 2021
11 May 2021
I loved your Amish postcard!  I am reading my 2nd book by Emma Maas.  Both were Amish based and both were good!  I'm not into self-help books either.  The only nonfiction books I read are autobiographies, books about urban legends & paranormal, and true crime books.  I too love children's books, fairy tales, and cozy mysteries.  Hope your visit with your sister was great.  Happy Reading, Sandye

2043.   GRPC April 2021
Friday 7 May 2021
I quite reading cis white male authors - for the most part - a few years ago...And now, diversity finds me!  All of my favorite series and books are authored by...
Black Women:  Xenogenesis (series starting with Dawn), The Best of All Possible Worlds, Binti (series)
Queer and Gay People:  The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (series) and The House in the Cerulean Sea.
I also support Uncanny Magazine, which gets awards on a regular basis and has a "deep investment in the diverse SciFi & Fantasy culture")
While I have read some great nonfiction, like How to Be an Antiracist and Tomorrow Will Be Different, I would definitely like to expand my reading out to some mainstream books as well.  I'm sure I've read some diverse authors by and by, but I am taking note of any books you've recommended this month for sure!
Thnks for the postcard - sounds like you found fabulous book stores!  Rift.

2023.   GR PC October 2019

2022.  GRPC October 2019
I am pretty particular when it comes to the books I read.  So I usually rate a standard book I've read at 4 stars.  If it's less great than I thought, it gets 3 stars.  I rate down for gratuitous or explicit violence and that's a 1 or 2 star book.  It just makes me sad when humans use there creativity to depict violence.
If I don't finish a book, I don't rate it, although I should...The only reason why I don't finish reading  story is because it's boring and I just abandon it!  I assume I'll come back to these books, but I rarely do.
     An amazing book - a 5 star book, a book I love - is more than just an engaging story that I can't put down.  It's also a story that I don't want to end!  It probably makes me cry at some point, and laugh out loud as well!  I want to spend time with the main characters in real life and I want to go to their world.
Happy (belated) Halloween!  Rift

2021.  Krakow, Poland - The Cloth Hall
GR PC August, 2019
This year I had a chance to read some interesting books:
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Stiff:  The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Best regards from Poland, Elizabeth (Biker Mouse on GR) 

1990.  GR PC Sept 2019
Cooper Hawk
Dear Chris, Yay Banned Books Week!  I had wondered if the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments was over-hyped ... a resounding NO!  It was an enjoyable read, which kept me on the edge of my seat, with a satisfying ending.  *Thumbs up*
I've red at least one book from each year's top ten ... tho I've read surprisingly few of the #1 banned books from each year.  Maybe that's something I need to work on!  I've read 13 of the classics, 13 of the diverse content, 12 from the 1990s list of 100 and 17 from the 2000s list.
     From the Top 11 books of 2018, I've read #1 George, #4 The Hate U Give, and #9 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  Because my favorite children's book is And Tango Makes Three I am very much interested in A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.  I feel I should also read the book it was based on, in parody.  After all, the more bunny books the better!! :)  What's your favorite banned book?  Mine - To Kill a Mockingbird.  Happy Reading, Rift


1980.  GR PC August
I haven't read any good books lately but I did read one terrible book that I would like to warn you away from.  Don't read Flame in the Mist.  It's awful and a waste of time.  Have a great day!  Angie

1979.  GR PC August
Dear Chris, Yep, I've found and read some great  books this year!  From the nonfiction section:  Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.  It's shocking and dismaying and really a book that people should read.  And I read all the James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small series, which was def a comfort read, since I watched the British TV show as a kid.  And now I'm just dipping into Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, which seems like it's going to be one of those fun, eye-opening reads!
     New author, and new genre (fantasy):  N. K. Jemisin.  I read her The Fifth Season series last year, and have no read all of her books.  And they are all page turners, I just can't put them down!  And some great scifi: Ancillary Justice series by Ann Leckie, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, and To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.  All of these are just WOW! 
Hope you've discovered some great books as well
Happy Day, Rift

1977.  GR PC April 2019
Dear Chris, I love beginnings!  :) 
     The Introduction, of non-fiction books always gets me excited about the thing I' going to be learning
     For fiction - maybe science fiction especially - there are those few pages at the beginning where you're all "What the heck is going on here??!"  And sometimes you have to re-read a few paragraphs to see if it makes sense yet.  But then you keep reading and everything slowly falls into place.  Very often, the books with those confusing first pages are the ones I want to go back and re-read later!
     I just re-read Ancillary Justice trilogy by Ann Leckie, because I remembered being so confused at the begtinning, and it turned out to be such a great story.  She has a very complicated universe, and ust dumps the reader into it without any prep...and I enjoy the challenge of catching up!  Rift

1954.  GR PC April 2019
Welcome back to the GoodReads Postcard Exchange!  The last time you played was in 2014?  How time flies!  I hope you'll have fun with the postcard exchange with lost of mailbox joy!  Rift

84. Dear Lily by Drew Davies

read on my iPhone
2019 Bookouture
276 pgs.
Adult CRF-Epistolary
Finished September 1, 2019
Goodreads rating:  3.77 - 493 ratings
My rating: 2
Setting:  contemporary Copenhagen, Denmark

My comments:   I had to force myself to finish this one, not even sure why I didn't.  Darn, I even paid full price for it, it sounded that good.  It's pretty depressing and meandering and always made me feel gloomy.  It's about a young woman whose life in her mid 30s is not at all what she had thought it would be.  So after losing her much-loved sister she moves to Copenhagen, Denmark to "start new."  She smokes too much and drinks too much, becomes a hermit and lies around all day, and is just plain unhappy and depressed.  The she "sees the light" and begins to change.  Yes, there were dabs of humor, but just little dabs.  This one didn't do it for me at all.  Bummer.

Goodreads synopsis:  Dear Lily, 
          It’s me, Joy, your much wiser and (very slightly) older sister. I thought I’d start a new tradition of letter writing – now that we’re long distance. 
          On the plane over here, I began to cry in seat 21C. I think the magnitude of it finally hit me, after everything that happened… 
          I haven’t even unpacked yet – the only thing I’ve taken out of my suitcase is Harville, your beloved childhood teddy. Sorry for stealing him, but I need him more than you do. Every time I look at that little brown bear I think about our childhood. Remember that dance we made up to Annie’s ‘It’s a Hard Knock Life’? (Remember the broom choreography?) 
          I’m also sorry for abandoning you – I’ve always been your agony aunt, and a buffer in your infamous shouting matches with Mum. But I had to leave, Lily, I had to. 
          Anyway, I’m here now. I’m here to start over, and to face up to the past. I want to learn to laugh again, and to find someone to love who will maybe even love me back. You always told me I was just getting by, not actually living, so I’m finally doing it. Wish me luck, little sister. 
          Love, 
          Joy x 

A beautiful book-club read for anyone who has ever hit rock bottom, longed for a fresh start, or needed to heal a broken, aching heart.

83. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

listened to audio - borrowed from library
read by Emily Woo Zeller
Unabridged audio (10 hrs.)
2019 Berkley
296 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished  9/1/2019
Goodreads rating: 3.98 - 27,773 ratings
My rating:  5
Setting: contemporary Vietnam, then San Jose/Palo Alto area of California

First line/s:  "Khai was supposed to be crying.  He knew he was supposed to be crying.  Everyone else was."

My comments:  This one kept me giggling and rolling my eyes.  It was ultra cute and sweet and the perfect thing to read on a long, lazy, overcast three-day-weekend Sunday.  I've got to rate it a five just for being a delightful read.  Nothing ethereal or deep, just a little bit of innocesnce, adult autism, and a young adult from a different country and culture coming to the US and knowing very little about its culture other than what they've seen in a Disney movie or two.

Goodreads synopsis:  Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.
          As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.
          With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Postcards from New Mexico

835.  Hello from New Mexico!  
I hope this card finds you happy and healthy.  Megan

Friday, August 30, 2019

Postcards of Interesting People

2038. Germany
Wendenkonig / Serbski kral
Story of the Wendish King vs. the Germans
My name is Dorle.  I live in Berlin, but grew up in Lower Lusatia.  It is in the east of Germany, near the border with Poland.  I still consider this area to be my home.  Best wishes.

2033  Votes For Women!  Lucretia Mott
sent from Raleigh, NC
Disconcerted by the unequal treatment women faced in the abolition movement, Quaker minister Lucredia Mott(1798 - 1880) joined with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to plan the first women's right convention, in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.

1923.  Molodechno, Belarus
Hello Chris.  My name's Olga.  I'm originally from Molodechno, a town with over 90 thousand inhabitants, 75 km from Minsk, the capital of Belarus.  I like art, reading, watching movies, travelling, and cooking (but not so often :) Hope you like this card.  Have fun with postcrossing!  Best wishes, Olga

909.  The Netherlands
My name is Eber and I'm writing from the Netherlands.
I'm sending you a postcard of Anne Frank.  I thought it would suit your current job as librarian in youth services - kids and young people need to hear about Anne and her diary, so that the horrors of war and prejudice do not spread anymore.  Cheers, Eber.

906.  Houston, Texas
May-Britt Moser: Psyhologist and Neuroscientist
I just moved here with my family last year.  And now I've seen the heaviest rain i've ever been through!  You know, Hurricane Harvey.  It's crazy!  Best wishes, Amelie, August 2017

814. Russia 
Ivan Bilibin, Russian Artist (1876 - 1942)
On postcard illustration of the famous Russian artist Bilibin.  he created wonderful illustrations of fairy tales.  It is possible that you library has a book with his illustrations.

757.  Itzig, Luxembourg
I am Dan, 52, lives in a little town called Itzig in Luxembourg/Europe.  Best wishes and Happy Postcrossing with Stan and Ollie!

431.  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 1881 - 1938
Hello Chris!  I've received so many cards from you that now I'm quite confused as to how to reply!  Anyway, I thought you might enjoy this card of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Ataturk, whose mausoleum is in Ankora.  It might be a good teaching opportunity.  Although I do realize that your students are quite young.  Best. June 9, 2016

Thursday, August 29, 2019

82. Blonde Hair Blue Eyes by Karin Slaughter

listened on Audible, through Chirp
read by Kathleen Early
Unabridged audio (2:23)
2015 Cornerstone Digital
67 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 8/29/19
Goodreads rating: 3.44 - 8282 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: 1991 Athens, Georgia

First line/s:   "The morning mist laced through the downtown streets, spiderwebbing tiny intricate patterns onto the sleeping bags lining the sidewalk outside the Georgia Theater."

My comments:  Oh my, this novella certainly packs a punch.  A pretty 19-year-old college freshman in Athens, Georgia, ponders the mysterious disappearances of other pretty young women.  I'm pretty sure this takes place in 1991, so the plight of women and rape and abduction is still either mostly ignored or spoken in hush-hush tones.  At least a lot more than currently.  I was pretty sure of the ending for quite while, but it still got to me. 

Goodreads synopsis:  A missing girl in the news reminds Julia Carroll of herself: nineteen, beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyes.
          Julia begins to dig deeper and plans an article for her college paper. She becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, never imagining how close she herself is to danger. 
from a readerBlonde Hair, Blue Eyes is a short-story prequel to Karin Slaughter's September 2015 novel Pretty Girls. It is a brief look at Julia's life before she went missing. In my opinion, I don't feel that it is necessary for readers of  Pretty Girls to read this but it provided interesting insight into local crime at the time, Julia's character, some family dynamics, and of course her abduction. 

Picture Book - We Are Grateful Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell

A Seibert Honor Book
Illustrated by Frank Lessac
2018 Charlesbridge
HC $17.99
32 thick pgs.
Goodreads rating:  4.28 - 671 ratings
My rating:  5
Endpapers:  Deep, luscious dark purple/eggplant

1st line/s:  "Cherokee people say otsaliheligs (oh-jah-LEE-gah/we are grateful) to express gratitude.  It is a reminder to celebrate our blessings and reflect on struggles - daily, throughout the year, and across the seasons."

My comments: This book is GORGEOUS.  It details the lives of the Cherokee Nation through the seasons, giving the Cherokee words (and pronunciations right on the page, hooray!!), and the simple writing is beautiful.  You close the book with a good feeling, and you want to SHARE! I want to put some of these illustrations on my walls!

Goodreads:  A look at modern Native American life as told by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation
          The word otsaliheliga (oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah) is used by members of the Cherokee Nation to express gratitude. Beginning in the fall with the new year and ending in summer, follow a full Cherokee year of celebrations and experiences. 
          Appended with a glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary, originally created by Sequoyah.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Picture Book Biography - Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise

Illustrated by Paola Escobar
2019, Harper Collins
HC $17.99
32pgs.
Goodreads rating:  4.42 - 790 ratings
My rating:  5
Endpapers:  These are the BEST - Candles, Daisies, Mouse groom and Cockroach bride from her stories, books, all on page sage green..
..
1st line/s:  "It is 1921.  Pura Teresa Belpre leaves her home in San Juan for a visit to Nueva York."

My comments: Pura Belpre, whose name I know because of the awards given yearly in her memory, moved from Puerto Rico to New York City when she was 22 years old. Speaking three languages - Spanish, English, and French - she was hired to work in the library. When she realized there were no book in Spanish, and no stories like the ones she'd always heard her grandmother tell, she began to share the stories during storytime, along with puppets she made. Wonderful story. I particularly like the folky illustrations, I'd love to have some fabric that looks like the endpapers!

Goodreads:  Follow la vida y legado of Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City.
          When she came to America in 1921, Pura carried the cuentos folklóricos of her Puerto Rican homeland. Finding a new home at the New York Public Library as a bilingual assistant, she turned her popular stories into libros and spread story seeds across the land. Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and cuentistas continue to share her stories and celebrate Pura’s legacy.
          This portrait of the influential librarian, author, and puppeteer reminds us of the power of storytelling and the extraordinary woman who opened doors and championed bilingual literature.