Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou

I am going to start this post by saying that I don't often read biographies. Why? I don't know. Maybe I prefer to escape reality instead of confronting it? Regardless of my motives, I have been wanting to join Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf Book Club and this is the November/December 2016 pick. So, I snagged it at the library!

I am a bad reader sometimes...I had never read anything Maya Angelou had written before. I know, I know. Bad librarian! This book has certainly changed that for me, however. I'm very much looking forward to adding more Angelou to my book repertoire. This book was published just before Angelou's 85th birthday and is the last book she ever wrote. Mom & Me & Mom is 200 pages packed with a story strong on emotion and I was able to blaze through it in an afternoon.

Mom & Me & Mom is a biography of Maya Angelou's relationship with her larger-than-life mother, Vivian Baxter, who ran gambling houses across the country. From the ages of 3 to 13, Maya and her brother, Bailey, lived with their grandmother, who seemed well-suited to care for the siblings due to their parents' shortcomings. When she was thirteen, she and her brother were brought back to their mother and stepfather, but it was not without it's problems. They saw their mother as a beautiful lady, not a mother, and that certainly tainted their relationship at the start. As Maya got older, she learned to embrace her mother's strength and feminism. And, essentially, this book addresses the myriad ways that Maya learned how to be such a strong woman because of her mother.Throughout the book, you can feel Maya's gratitude to her mother for showing her that a young, single, African American woman can be somebody. She taught her not to let a white-centric society define who she was and who she could be. It was such an uplifting message, even during the sad times Maya and her mother experienced (abuse, teen pregnancy, racism).

No matter where Maya went and what she did, her mother was there for her supporting her. Vivian worked hard to show Maya that she was strong and capable, and if things got bad, to simply call on her mom for help. Throughout the book, you can see the evolution from initial estrangement and distance, to the solid foundation that lasted throughout the rest of their lives. It was a beautiful thing to witness and I absolutely look forward to reading her other books.

Furiously Happy (Part Two)

Meet the Family, Dan, Nicole, Lady Katherine
and Lord Destructor the Untamable (aka Gizmo)

I realize if you've been following our blog you've already read a review of Furiously Happy and have probably already added it to your reading list because Meg spoke so highly of it.  However, if you somehow missed putting it on hold at your local library or purchasing it I would recommend doing so now. Don't worry.  I'll wait.

Good.  Now that you've got a copy heading toward you in some manner I'll just tell you what makes this book so amazing.  Jenny Lawson has mental illness and blogs about her life. In reading this she has helped me to laugh at a lot of the things I find myself struggling with some days, and to maybe feel a little less crazy.  Perhaps one thing it does do is help me appreciate my husband a little more, who has no problem that Gizmo has not one, but two theme songs (Lady Katherine is harder to get a good rhythm and rhyming for, but I'm working on it, it's a work in progress).

While I don't own a koala costume to cuddle koalas in Australia, I honestly don't see any problem with the desire to look like a koala and cuddle a koala at the same time.  Similarly I don't have any taxidermized animals to talk to or have sneak over Dan's shoulder as he's on a video call with someone, but again, I wouldn't be surprised if I would do such things.

Near the end of the book Lawson is getting ready to go out and her husband tells her she looks okay, not good, but okay.  So she decides she must change her clothes because Victor, her husband, was not paying her a compliment by saying she looked okay.  He responds by saying he likes her skin because it keeps her organs from falling on the carpet.  I cannot tell you how hard I laughed at this line and how quickly I snapped a picture of the page to send to Dan.  He once told me that he liked my green shirt because green is like grass and my hair is brown like dirt so I look like earth, I wouldn't be surprised if this had come from his mouth.

As Meg pointed out in her review months ago, Lawson is wonderful to read and captures the essence of living with anxiety for the "normals" out there.

Eight Hundred Grapes

Synchronize (verb) "to occur at the same time or coincide or agree in time" (Online Etymology Dictionary).

Much of our lives are left to chance, in spite of perfect planning one cannot prepare for the weather, the actions of another, and as I learned while reading this book, the making of wine. We cannot control the rain or the weather, just as we cannot control the actions of others.

In Eight Hundred Grapes Georgia is one week away from her wedding that is set to take place at her parents' vineyard.  She finds her fiancee is keeping the knowledge of a daughter from her as well as meetings with his ex-wife.  She realizes this as she is trying on her wedding dress and flees the city, heading home.

Upon returning home she finds her family is also struggling in their relationships and realizes the importance of home and family.  Weeks have passed since I read this book and I'm still thinking about it, still wanting to try putting chocolate in lasagna and to enjoy (just one more) glass of wine.

In short, read this book, especially if you have a love of wine, it will probably help increase that love.


synchronize. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved December 22, 2015 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/synchronize

Recycled Tree

I am all about recycling whenever possible.  I have some old shirts I retired in a pile waiting to be cut up and turned into a rug, old pillows are waiting to be turned into stuffed animals, and sheets found at Salvation Army have been turned into dresses or skirts.

In turn, my recycling habits have entered my work life and I began to find annoyance at recycling newspapers when we were using fresh paper for our bulletin board.  And so, an idea was born, when presented with the opportunity of reusing newspapers I decided to make a tree.

Newspapers prior to rolling

Papers are opened, rolled into tube-like pieces and staple it like crazy to the bulletin board in tree form!

I've done this design for the spring, having children write their names on leaves to add to the board, in the fall spraying the leaves with watered down red, brown and orange paint to give the perfect fall look.  This time we had ornaments and snow flakes for kids (and some staff) to color

Fairy Doors at the Library

Close up of my favorite door. Guess the book title.

One of the local Girl Scout troops asked me if they could put fairy doors in the library and I couldn't say no. There are 5 little doors hidden around my branch and I love it. We have a handouts at the desk that show the doors, but don't tell where they are located. So far, we have only had a few kids find them all. One is so well camouflaged that you almost don't see it. They aren't all low to the ground, either, which probably makes it harder to spot. Anyway, here are our fairy doors.

Hidden by the exercise and how-to DVDs.

Hiding in the board books.

Extreme camouflage.

Fairy Library entrance.

I know what you're thinking...Full House books actually still check out like crazy. I credit the reruns.

The kids love hunting them down, and we hope to add more in the coming years. Thanks for stopping by!