Weekly Wrap-Up

If one asked me to what do I think one must principally attribute the singular prosperity and growing force of this people, I would answer that it is the superiority of its women. —Alexis De Toqueville, De La Démocratie En Amérique

WHAT WE LOVE THIS WEEK

Maira Kalman. I still owe this woman an ode. My ode-owing is stacking up. What I wouldn't give to live next door to her so we could be real friends instead of imaginary ones. And The Pursuit of Happiness is one of my favorites of her books and especially applicable ahead of President's Day. Pick one of these up and you'll not only fall in love with Maira, but our country again. And for your kiddos (and let's be honest, you too), spark their patriotism and knowledge of former presidents with her Looking at Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything.

The #choosingtolovemyself campaign. A few of our favorite instagrammers—Melanie Burk, The Small Seed, and Beauty Redefined—have teamed up with others to make this month of love all about learning to love ourselves and helping our daughters do the same. You can read more about it here. As Maira Kalman wrote: "I call my aunt in Israel. She is 92. And I ask her, 'What is the most important thing?' And she answers, 'Self-confidence.'"

Last minute Valentine's ideas. Because we pretty much operate on last-minute-standard-time. Thankfully, our friends at Caravan Shoppe have us covered. We'll take one of these, and in honor of Tracy's new pup Ringo, one of these as well.

Leo on love: "But the law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable." —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

COMING NEXT WEEK

Finding time to read when there's no time to read. This has become all too real for me these past couple weeks, which is why (cough, cough) that long promised review of When Breath Becomes Air hasn't happened yet. The good news is I finished and happened upon some great tips for finding time to read along the way. It's a win/win.

In honor of the #choosingtolovemyself campaign, we'll feature books every young girl should read.

Our first real book club post of the month. Have you started yet?

Posted by Rachel

Throwback Thursday

Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.

It’s official: I’ve come off of Cloud 9 to write this post.  My Super Bowl weekend was awesome like Peyton! Clearly, I’m enamored by storybook endings. (Aren’t we all?) But I’m also willing to dwell in reality, so I’ll read the tough but poignant stuff. I have a friend who doesn’t like to read about characters that make poor choices. I might have been scratching my head when she aired those words because we can learn from others’ poor choices, can’t we? Books are teachers.  They’re advocators. They’re illuminators.     

My eyes were opened to the devastating history of war-torn Afghanistan when I read The Kite Runner. Amir, the son of a wealthy Kabal merchant, develops an unlikely friendship with Hassan, the son of his father’s servant.  Their friendship soars as high as the kites they sail in a local kite-flying tournament. Sadly, in a tenuous moment, Amir betrays his friend. Betrayal haunts him indefinitely. But the kite runner learns for himself (and reminds his readers) that wrongs can be righted.  And good can ultimately outmatch evil.   

This moving story teaches me much about redemption—that reclamation is possible if we doggedly chase after it.  Hope runs through this beautiful novel that will make you weep at times, and will make you rejoice at other times.  Maybe, just maybe, you’ll even find a storybook ending.

Posted by Tracy

The One And Only Crenshaw

Imaginary friends are like books. We're created, we're enjoyed, we're dog-eared and creased, and then we're tucked away until we're needed again.

Crenshaw is my second favorite story about an imaginary friend.  My first is about my Uncle Scott’s make-believe dog, Afro.  (His imagination was by no means politically correct, but it was big—there is that.)  He was just a skinny boy of seven. Afro was good company: he laughed at Scott’s jokes, he was fiercely loyal and equally obedient.  The two were a match made in pet heaven.  

One day Scott walked in with Afro and stood next to his brother who also happens to be my father—the kindest man you’ll ever meet.  Ask Rachel about Craig, she’ll confirm.  But boys will be boys. I’m not sure what prompted my dad to ask Scott where Afro was.  Probably testosterone.  At any rate, when Scott pointed out where his invisible friend sat, my dad stomped on him.  Stomped and then twisted his foot for crushing emphasis.  Scott crumbled to the floor.  He bawled uncontrollably.  His sobs shuddered and his body convulsed. I think it was at that moment that my grandma Dorcas said, “You’ll need to bury Afro.”  Aghast, my father exclaimed, “He’s not real!”  Dorcas gave my dad a matter-of-fact look, and explained, “He is to him.” I can clearly see my teenage father begrudgingly digging a shallow grave for an imaginary dog.  It makes me chuckle every time.  

Are imaginary friends as important as real ones?  Katherine Applegate thinks they are—at least the kind like Crenshaw.  He’s extra large, opinionated, and loyal.  Crenshaw appears when Jackson and his family fall on tough times.  Because Jackson is now a fifth grader and admittedly an “old soul,” he fights the idea of an imaginary friend.  He’s the kind of kid who likes facts, a real scientist in the making.  But Crenshaw is hard to resist.  He’s a black-n-white, San Francisco baseball cap-wearing cat. Pretty easy going. In fact, he doesn’t mind riding on top of the mini-van, especially if he has a few purple jellybeans in tow.  Honestly, Crenshaw won me (and my boys) over. If I didn’t have Rae, I’d probably need a giant cat that skateboards and takes bubble baths to walk me through the hard days.  Maybe Applegate wants all of us to understand that friends matter.  Period.  Real or imagined will work.

Posted by Tracy

Book Club Monday

No matter how foreign and lonely the world outside, the books always reminded me of home.

It's Book Club Monday and I don't have my book yet. Anyone seeing a pattern here? The good news is I just downloaded it from Audible to start listening until my hard copy arrives. The bad news is that doesn't really help me write a post about it today. Really though, none of us should be thinking about anything but the Bronco's brilliant win yesterday. If Tracy had her druthers, today would be declared National Peyton Manning Day in order for all to revel in his greatness. So that's what we'll do. We'll just revel a little while longer and meet back here tomorrow.

Side note: I just realized there is also The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition. You can have your kids read their version right along beside you!

Posted by Rachel

Weekly Wrap-Up

This one's for you Tray....

Photo Courtesy of La Ciudad Deportiva

WHAT WE LOVE THIS WEEK

Peyton Manning. I love him but let there be no dispute: Tracy is his hands down, numero uno, ain't-no-one-lovin-him-more fan. She'll be cheering him on from the stands tomorrow and if you know Tray, you know her voice carries—which means her man will know she's there and perform accordingly. Go Broncos!

Birthday books. Hooray for friends who love books! Here's a look at what's been added to my stack: Girl at War, People of the Book, The Japanese Lover, The Martian, and The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. If anyone needs me, I'll be reading.

You can be sure whenever I bring myself to put one of these books down, my page will be marked with this beauty from a dear friend.

Speaking of books and lovelies, another dear friend gave me this print from one of my favorite children's books illustrators, Emily Winfield Martin. Lucky, lucky me!

And look for more inspired posts as I've now got this to jot down any ideas that come my way. A lovely gift from an even lovelier friend.

Book recommendations. A long-time friend I don't see nearly enough of told me about a YA book she loves: Daddy-Long-Legs. I've ordered one up!

Book Gifting. Which is why we updated our Gift Guide to help you find the perfect book for just about any occasion. Bonus: when giving a book, include one of these. There is a space on the back for you to write your favorite quote! My friend Jill went all the way to Vienna to find them, but thankfully she's shared a way we can order one without having to leave the house. Although, I'd still rather go to Vienna.

COMING NEXT WEEK

Tracy's review of Crenshaw.

My review of When Breath Becomes Air. Really.

A real, honest to goodness, bona fide Throw Back Thursday.

Posted by Rachel

Book Gifting Made Easy

My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read. —Abraham Lincoln

We want to make it easy to be everyone's best friend so we've revamped our Gift Guide to help you find the perfect book for any occasion. Need to give a friend a little lift and encouragement? We've got a book for that. Heading to a baby shower? We've got a book for that. Is the mom-to-be an English Lit fan? We've even got ideas for that. But enough from us, head on over and have a look for yourself!

Reality Is Overrated

I begin with writing the first sentence—and trusting to Almighty God for the second. —Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Writer's block: a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Well, that's definitely going on around here. You should be reading a Throwback Thursday post right now—we're long overdue for one of those, aren't we? Rest assured (because I can't) that it's not from lack of effort.

The past couple days have felt eerily familiar to my novel-writing days, or rather, my lack of novel-writing days. I'm stuck in a quagmire of uncreativity. Not a real word, I know, but it's the best I've got. I'm suffering from writer's block, remember? Side note: if you look up the antonym for creativity, it's reality. Which does aptly describe my life right now; there's been far too much reality dwelling lately for a girl who thrives in her own alternate universe.

While I work on pushing pesky reality aside and finding my way back to creative land, here are some favorite first lines from novels I love, as well as some from novels I'm yet to read, whose first lines make me want to add them to my ever-growing, reality-defying stack of books. Ah, the search for that perfect first sentence—the one that will pull your readers in and entice them to pull up a chair and stay a good long while. I know that search has kept me up nights. These authors make it look easy and I'm trying really hard not to hate them for it.

FAMOUS FIRST LINES

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing. —Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. —Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle

You better not never tell nobody but God. —Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. —Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups

I have never begun a novel with more misgiving. —W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge

Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.
—George Eliot, Middlemarch

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. —C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. —Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome

Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. —Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

All this happened, more or less. —Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

I am an invisible man. —Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —George Orwell, 1984

I once believed that heroes existed only in old men's fables, that evil in the world had triumphed over good, and that love—a true, unselfish and abiding love—could only be found in a little girl's imagination. —Camron Wright, The Rent Collector

I'm stopping now or I never will. Well, at least not for a few more hours. There are so many more I could share. What are some first lines that have stuck with you through the years?

Posted by Rachel

They Say It's Your Birthday

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. —Marcel Proust

It’s Rachel’s birthday today.  I picked her gifts thoughtfully, but mailed them in a flurry.  If you’re reading this Marie Kondo, I’m beyond help (and your reproach for that matter).  You may have organizational advice, but quite frankly, I need a cape. And I need it now.  Forget about being faster than a speeding bullet, or leaping tall buildings in a single bound.  I just wanna stretch hours in a day.  I just wanna summon up a little more non-three a.m. quiet time.  You know, time for the details, like writing Rachel’s birthday card.   

Here’s what I’d say.  Dear Rae,
Every time this year, I think about how much I hate proximity.  We could celebrate so much better together.  *The Bard said, “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”  We’ve got mirth and laughter mastered, don’t we? I suppose the old wrinkles are comin.  I’m surprisingly okay with that.  If I have to age, I’m glad I get to grow older with an incomparable friend like you.   

I have to say that for some time I’ve felt like a nightingale that has forgotten the song of my heart.  In the fog of life, I can’t seem to recall the words.  Thank you for singing my song back to me.  Again and again.  You are, in truth, the once-in-a-lifetime friend.  

Happy Birthday girl!  We’ve got lots more of these to look forward to. Love you, Tray

Maybe this blog is better than a cape.  We have a lot to look forward to, don’t we?  Like this month’s book club selection. Rachel and I chose The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.  It’s a little-known Best Seller.  I’ve given it away to nearly a dozen people, all of whom reported loving it.

Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, said this about our pick this month: “This is an amazing, inspiring and heartwarming story! It’s about harnessing the power not just of the wind, but of imagination and ingenuity. Those are the most important forces we have for saving our planet. William Kamkwamba is a hero for our age.”  Like Rachel’s birthday cake, we can’t wait to dive in!

*Yes, I quoted William Shakespeare in your birthday note.  I’m the eternal English major!

Posted by Tracy