To Read & To Write

Steven Swann Jones' "The Fairy Tale: The Magic Mirror of Imagination" is a great beginner's introduction to the fairy tale genre. While much of his criticism stresses what seems to me "dated" (actually the book is a bit dated for this field) concerns regarding the fairy tale - the regulation of female protagonists to domestic duties under the patriarchy, for example - I really learned a lot about the fairy tale genre as being a form of story exemplary of the "common" person, the "regular" man or woman, the "ordinary". I'd say I, for the most part, agree. Swann Jones makes clear that fairy tales usually feature a main character who isn't *special* in any particular way and under enormous social pressure as well. My response to both these criticisms is this: how can we find a way to understand the fairy tale story as a way of expressing the *extraordinary* tasks of women (whether in the domestic sphere or otherwise)? ...

An elegantly illustrated and elegantly written book about a young boy who lives by the sea and whose grandfather has just passed away. In honor of his grandpa, he builds a tiny ship on the beach and sails away, across the ocean and into the stars. With soothing and calming colors, the finely detailed illustrations prompt looking carefully and naming both objects of technology as well as those found in nature. I love that this book focuses on the idea of discovery yet draws upon ancient folklore and myth to light the way of the child's (and adult's) imagination.

This is a lovely book full of bright, happy colors. Featuring fun rhyming words about nature and animals, "Be Still, Life" wonderfully captures a sunny, warm day, just when all the bugs, people, and creatures come out of hiding. The illustrations are a delightful sort of chaos, just like life, and may help children find inner peace and calm in what may seem like a busy mess of movement and energy. Slow down and point out the things you *can* see, hear, touch, feel, smell... and one by one they will come to you and silence your worry and anxiety, asking you to look within. "Be Still, Life" is a story for children (and adults) about being present in the world, being aware of what surrounds you, and embracing each moment of our special lives. A perfect book for spring and early summer.

For those true lovers of the literary fairy-tale, this publication, released in 2015 by Oxford University Press (so fairly new for a collection such as this), is a must-read. While we are very familiar with those fairy-tales considered classics, ranging from many countries in Europe, such as Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and Hansel & Gretel , the collection here is strategic in that all authors included are British, and moreover, these stories emerged during the Victorian Era. This may or may not surprise you, but England is not so famous for their fairy-stories, in so much as those writers like The Brothers Grimm ( Hansel & Gretel)  or Hans Christian Anderson (The Little Mermaid) , Charles Perrault (Cinderella) or Madame D'Aulnoy (Beauty and the Beast) . We don't really remember who exactly wrote The Three Bears , The Selfish Giant, and The Reluctant Dragon (all of which are included here) - and we don't really realize they are fairy-tales from the Victorian...

This is exactly the kind of book about London, England that I didn't know I was looking for. I've been avoiding travel books for the most part and have instead been mapping out places on my own that I'd like to go (during my honeymoon this May!) based off of books I've read and movies I've seen. For example, the Hundred Acre Wood that A.A. Milne based his Winnie-the-Pooh tales off of (it's a real place) and Merlin's cave (real too). I scoped out some venues where my husband and I can try falconry, as I was inspired by Helen MacDonald's nonfiction book on the subject, "H is for Hawk" (and her love for her hawk Mable). I'm thrilled to visit as many castles as possible, particularly because of Queen Victoria and the Victorian Era, after having read Daisy Goodwin's biography and then watching the PBS series (Kensington Palace, here I come!). Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White" makes me excited to see large residential En...

Not a fairy tale in its true "form", but carrying the essence of a true fairy tale, telling us what love can do even within the depths of hell. That is, carry us forward, swell our hearts, touch our souls, and leave imprints on the mind that no one can erase. Cherish those who are near to you, right now, and never forget what tender open arms that clasp around our fragile human bodies say to us within their comfort, warmth, and gentleness. A beautiful ode to brothers and sisters everywhere, whether they share our bloodlines or breathe the same air which keeps us all alive, if only for a while.

Benjamin Hoff's "The Tao of Pooh" (1982) is a sweet book dedicated to explaining the concepts of Taoism, an ancient Chinese philosophy, to people who don't really get it. By using A.A. Milne's character Winnie-the-Pooh, Hoff elucidates the Tao (translated into English as "the Way") as a concept that encourages the act of non-doing, or doing nothing. Rather than this resulting in failure, Hoff explains - by way of Winnie-the-Pooh anecdotes - how this will result in wisdom, if one has courage enough to really listen to their own personal intuition. Pooh, by keeping his mind empty and on simple things, seems to accidentally come up with solutions to big problems, problems that his friends, such as Wise Owl and Sad Eeyore, can't seem to come up with. Rather than collecting endless amounts of knowledge, or rather than focusing on all the ways one can be clever, Taoism guides us to see and hear and feel what's right here with us, what's right ...

My first review can be located here:  https://feliciareviewsbooks.blogspot.com/2018/07/submergence-by-jm-ledgard-published-2011.html Here's my second. An undergraduate professor of mine instructed me once on the act of reading. If you like the book, she said, and have only read it once, you have not *read* the book. If you liked it the first time, she continued, then read it a second. Then, read it again for a third and perhaps final time. Only after that can you truly decide if you liked it.  I've read Submergence for the second time and have confirmed that I do like it. Very much so. While I understand this technique isn't possible for all books, it already says something if you decide to read a book for a second time, knowing there is still more to see, to understand. (Also, my prof. was speaking as a philosopher, and you know how they are :) My point - which was/is my professors - will demonstrate itself if you glance through my first review and then read this o...

(Listen to the audio version of this letter read by Resonance Audio) My short review:  A powerful and passionate letter to all of us in these times of riot, rebellion, and mayhem. Instead of seeing those who dissent the perpetuation of classicism and racism, particularly by the hands of the police, as apart from the whole (indeed, of humanity), Williams asks us, in well reasoned vexation, to take notice of our blind spots and understand how to fathom these chaotic rebellions as natural responses to injustice, greed, and ignorance. Whether you are part of the rebellion or one who witnesses the death and destruction from your velvet couch, the point here is not so much an urge for you to dis/continue setting fires or to move from your meditative position in order to stoke it, but rather to consider the actions leading up to such hellish disruption; a consideration that hopefully leads to a connective point disavowing all the structures set in place that makes class and rac...

With drawings unintentionally reminiscent of the rotoscoping technique (in such films as "A Scanner Darkly" and "Waking Life"), "The Night Bookmobile" lends itself to an honest dreamlike quality. Unclear images linger behind their clearer, striking thoughts and dialogue, giving us an idea of reality at its blunt end: that of a sadder woman living in Chicago's constant neighborhood twilight, where even daytime seems foggy and filtered, and still more so on the brightest sunny day. Her relief: the world of books and a nighttime bookmobile at an intersection that holds all the books she's ever read in her life. On that sharp edge of consciousness, readers may be able to connect with the solace and sanctuary that books offer, especially when they are connected in a collection. The mysterious owner of this particular nocturnal bookmobile isn't hiring, but being able to experience it makes it no wonder that our main character ends up working in a...

Hello - Every month CPL features a staff picks list of new to relatively new books each personally chosen by a librarian who then writes an annotated review. This month I chose "Submergence" by J.M. Ledgard. Link to the full list:  https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/199702383_chipublib_adults/1378330477_april_2019_staff_picks?_ga=2.205804881.373729198.1554071957-1534046247.1550848137 I also created a bibliography for teens for Asian American & Pacific Islander Month this May. Link:  https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/298483337/1338257009 - Felicia