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Author Archives: Alicia Abdul

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About Alicia Abdul

You'll find me drinking tea in a dress and reading... or making lists.

He spoke to me

03 Mar

The local newspaper this weekend featured a human interest story about a horologist. For the uninformed, including me until I read the article, a horologist is the someone who studies time as it relates to watch and clockmaking and repair.

This slice of life story made me stop and think about all of the ways that people contribute and what they find worthwhile, including creating a career out of it. And he made a comment

“I restore memories and that’s an awesome thing.  Bringing back someone’s cherished memory means I’ve contributed something to this other person’s journey.  That makes me feel like I matter.”

Aren’t we all looking for that opportunity to contribute to one another’s journey and feel like we matter? And yet I was also silently smiling a little as a school librarian when the article writer explained,

Once in a while, he’s had to deliver some brutal honesty, informing a potential client that what they’ve got is beyond repair or just not worthy of the cost. 

I felt this. Because I spend some portion of the year pulling books off the shelf to donate to a location that might have an audience that would appreciate them or truly pull them off the shelf and discard them. That’s a hard conversation with others who see the books in the recycle bin or trash and want to save them. I have my ready-made reply that both understands where they’re coming from but explaining that everything must come to an end, even a book’s life.

Are horology and library science the same? No, but there are connections to be made. Emotions to be had. Feelings of the books from your childhood that you want to preserve. I shared the epic moment on Instagram that I gifted my boys with my copies of Calvin and Hobbes that I had been collecting since I was a child. What are those items– clocks or books– that have cherished memories?

 
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Posted by on March 3, 2021 in Articles, Reflections

 

Outstanding book of the month for February 2021

28 Feb

Why does this not get easier? Too many amazing books, that’s why!

Without further delay, here is my pick for the outstanding book of the month read in February 2021. Unlike my Top 10 lists at the end of the year that focus ONLY on books published within that year, my outstanding book of the month picks are anything that I’ve read in the month that may be a little older or yet-to-be-published.

Lives of the Stoics: From Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

This book is a game-changer. I would add this to my list of books that changed me (a post for another day) because I didn’t really know Stoicism. I knew of the oft-quoted men (and none of the women) in the book. I had read quotes shared on social media that they had written or spoken, but I didn’t know it was a life philosophy. This is my life philosophy and I didn’t know it, until I read this book. Now I’ve got others coming from the library both from the Stoics themselves and by the authors to do a deep dive. And isn’t that the way the best kind of learning happens?

Like my colleague always said, it’s like pulling the thread of the sweater. I pulled the thread… and I’m excited to see what I discover next.

 
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Posted by on February 28, 2021 in Adult, Book of the Month, Nonfiction

 

Color

16 Feb

Book Riot question: What colors did you find on your bookshelves? Any surprises?

My answer: Blues, yellows, and some greens. Was I surprised? Not really. Based on the descriptions that reds typically represent romance, I’m not surprised that I don’t see a lot of red on my bookshelves. And I take it as a compliment if it’s true that blues tend to be cerebral fiction and nonfiction.

What about you?

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2021 in Miscellaneous

 

The February friendship tour

13 Feb

This time last year I was beginning my friendship tour. Seriously, that’s what I called it. And it seems prescient upon reflection. I spent my February break from school visiting each of my closest friends be it for tea, a meal, or a stop at the house to catch up. And I made sure I saw everyone on that mental list even if I had to track down the last of them after she returned from Spain in a supermarket. And it filled my cup in ways that are immeasurable.

I also made sure to take a picture with her too because all too often, I have my phone tucked away with good friends and don’t get pictures. When I think about my friendship tour now, I get goosebumps. I saw everyone and got the picture to prove it. 

I was hoping to include a review of a book on friendship with a post about the power of friendship and my favorite books that highlight the bond. Unfortunately the book was less focused on human friendship and more about animal friendship from an evolutionary standpoint so instead I’m going to share my six recently-read favorite titles featuring unique or strong friendships and spare you a review of the other book:

  • Go With the Flow by Schneemann and Williams 
  • Heavy Vinyl by Usdin and Vakueva 
  • The One and Only Bob by Applegate
  • The House in the Cerulean Sea by Klune
  • Pumpkin by Murphy (not yet published) 
  • In the Wild Light by Zentner (not yet published)

Who are your favorite friendships in books you’ve recently read? It’s important when recommending books to teens to talk about friendships, so a few years ago I created a bookshelf on my Goodreads account to capture this. 

Equally important is to keep in touch with those that you’ve formed friendships with whether you’ve been connected since middle school or met as coworkers and connected. Who are your closest friends? What do they give you? Whether you’re celebrating Galentine’s Day today, tomorrow on the 14th, or every day. Cheers to friendship in literature or in life. 

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2021 in Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Miscellaneous, Reflections, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

#24in48 whirlwind

10 Feb

I often post about my participation in the Dewey’s 24-hour readathon. It’s a break from reality which involves snack planning and stack prepping in addition to the amazing experience of focusing on your reading life for 24-hours (or as close to that as you can get).

Well from great ideas come more great ideas. One of the participants was inspired by her participation in Dewey’s but also knew that 24-hours straight was an unrealistic expectation for her so she created #24in48 in 2012 which expands upon the concept: in this one you strive for reading 24 hours over a 48 hour weekend that begins at 12am Saturday morning and ends at 11:59pm on Sunday night. 

This was my first participation and I’ll now keep these events on my calendar alongside Dewey’s. Did I manage at least 24 hours this weekend? Yes, I managed more than 25 and probably could have done more but I did take the time to enjoy the Superbowl on Sunday night. I filled the time with audiobooks and unadulterated print books throughout the weekend which included finishing two audiobooks and several e- and print books.

What I liked most was the inclusion of social media posts to include in an Instagram story centered around current reads and progress but my favorite was the “quotables” where readers could share a quote from a book they were reading with the book cover. I’m a quote lover, so it’s something I’m going to take from the readathon and share more of on social media: quotes that resonated with me in the hopes they lead to discussions with other readers.

Here’s what I read:

  • The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist by Balko and Carrigan
  • Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by May
  • Witch Hat Atelier #7 by Shirahama
  • Hunting Whitey: The Inside Story of the Capture and Killing of America’s Most Wanted Crime Boss by Sherman and Wedge (audiobook)
  • Reef Life: An Underwater Memoir by Roberts
  • A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Brown
  • Troop 6000: The Girl Scout Troop that Began in a Shelter and Inspired the World by Stewart (audiobook)
  • The Low, Low Woods by Machado and DaNi 

Are there reading events that you participate in? If so, which ones and why do you love them? 

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2021 in Adult, Events, Fiction, Graphic novels, Manga, Nonfiction, Young Adult

 

Reporting for duty

01 Feb

The anticipation has reached a fever pitch. Today is now my first official day on duty as chairperson for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award committee. I couldn’t be more eager to start. This will be my fourth committee and first as chair. Luckily, the wisdom and leadership that the chairs of the previous committees I’ve served on will serve me well.

I’m anxious for the challenge ahead. I’m excited to get to know each member of the committee. I’m pumped to put my organizational skills to good use. I’m eager to read fabulous YA nonfiction all year. I’m nervous to do the best job to serve YALSA, ALA, and the committee.

And as the year unfolds, there will be plenty of Zoom meetings, emails and spreadsheets, Post-its, stacks of books, but the reward comes as the Youth Media Awards near when we narrow down the reading to five finalists before we name one Excellence in Nonfiction winner.

 
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Posted by on February 1, 2021 in Nonfiction, Young Adult

 

Outstanding book of the month for January 2021

31 Jan

And just like that, January is over! Therefore I must review the books I’ve read this month and pick one (just one) outstanding book of the month, which with the volume and tenacity I read, is always too difficult. Alas, it must be done and I’ve chosen one from way back in 2009 because it led me to a second book from way back in 1900 that was also read this month. The original? The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and the retelling Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz graphic novel retold and illustrated by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young, respectively.

What I loved was that the Marvel published graphic novel was so vivid and humorous that it led me straight to the original. I wonder if that should always be the point of any adaptation or retelling? That it will ultimately inspire the reader to the original which is what inspired the writer to create a retelling to start.

Having read them so close together, the adaptation captures the essence of the original and it is bolstered by the artwork which has a whimsy and color so beautiful to see with everything from the yellow brick road to the silver shoes to the emerald of the Emerald City. It was entertaining and adventurous. Emotional and warm as is the original which was surprisingly short.

If you haven’t read the original, do so and then read the graphic novel because both were favorites from the month for sure and continues my dive into reading classics I never read on my own terms.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2021 in Book of the Month, Fiction, Graphic novels

 

Classic reading

29 Jan

It’s easy to feel like you’re not a serious reader if you don’t have a list of classics that you can readily discuss the merits of because you’ve read them and adored them.

I consider myself a serious reader and realize all of the classics that I’ve never read and instead of feeling bad about it, I add them to my list when the mood strikes me and I’ll get to them when I feel like it. I’ve written before about being a mood reader. Recently, I’ve been in the mood for a few classics: Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Each was inspired by another book that finally pushed me to read them. For Moby Dick it was Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. For Silent Spring it was Bryan Walsh’s End Times: A Brief Guide to the End of the World: Asteroids, Super Volcanoes, Rogue Robots, and More. For The Wonderful Wizard of Oz it was Marvel’s adaptation of the book into a graphic novel by Eric Shanower and illustrated by Skottie Young.

There’s often a push to read a classic before you’re ready for it, simply because it’s a classic. There is such a thing as the time being right: I remember reading The Great Gatsby in high school and hating it, then reading it in college and loving it. Would I have been ready for Moby Dick 10 or 15 years ago? Probably not. But I wanted to now and that has made all the difference.

And the receptivity to the book has to play a part in the enjoyment of reading, which is why it is important that kids have choice in their reading because choice (be it mood, interest, level, background) plays a part in how we read the book. Have you read Frankenstein to an adult is akin to have you read Harry Potter to a kid. Not all are interested nor ready for it and that’s okay. We will be some day. Or not.

Give yourself a break if you’re staring at the stack of oldies that you should read but aren’t. You’ll be ready one day. Or not. And that’s okay. But if you are, enjoy the ride. Know your own reading life. And know when to read that book recommended by a friend or that classic or that book that’s been sitting on your TBR for three years.

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2021 in Adult, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Reflections

 

No one asked me, but

11 Jan

In subscribing to a handful of blogs and reading websites, following hashtags on Instagram, and reading professional magazines for librarians, I spend time each day skimming or deep-reading articles and short snippets of reviews and recommendations. Several days ago, Senjuti Patra published an article “A Brief History of Reading” via Book Riot. Several passages struck me and I wanted to share my thoughts. Yes, no one asked me, but I’m going to share them anyway.

The earliest written texts were meant to be read out loud. The characters were written in a continuous stream, to be disentangled by the skilled reader when reading out loud. Punctuation was used for the first time only around 200 BCE, and was erratic well into the middle ages.

This fascinated me, but it makes sense that the development of writing taken from the oral traditions wouldn’t have been fully formed. And even now, things continue to develop and morph. It truly centered around the reader and a skilled one at that. Someone who would practice ahead of time and deliver it with gusto because it was a form of entertainment or to deliver information that anyone could understand.

Reading from a book was considered pleasant dinnertime entertainment, even in humbler homes, from the Roman times to the 19th century.

Let’s bring this back. Seriously. I’m thinking that once a week, we’ll turn off the news and instead listen to a family-friendly audiobook. What would you suggest?

Once primary education became more accessible and acceptable, younger members of the family read to the elders, in a sweet reversal of the classic grandma’s tales.

The minute I read this sentence I remembered the scenes (I’m sure they were in the book but I automatically conjured the movie in my mind) from Little Women in which Jo was heading to the home of an older relative (her great aunt?) to read and dreading it, but how important it was for the connection between generations. It allowed the youth to practice their skills and benefited the old who might have had failing eyesight but also wanted the companionship. I’m assuming technology has stepped in in some ways and someone older is just pulling an audiobook up, but what a thought that books like card games can bring everyone together.

 
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Posted by on January 11, 2021 in Articles, Blogging, Quotes, Reflections

 

Finding passion

03 Jan

Netflix is the pleasure I reserve for early morning workouts on the elliptical in the garage and Friday and Saturday nights usually. Netflix in the mornings is whatever I want to watch while the weekend watching is usually with my husband and sometimes even the kids. Last night we watched two episodes of two different series: one called The Surgeon’s Cut (episode two “Sacred Brain”) and one Chef’s Table: BBQ (episode two “Lennox Hastie”).

My takeaway from the first series having watched the first episode as well as the second now is that the body is an amazing thing. Having recently read the deeply bibliotherapeutic memoir The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper, I can’t help but connect the two. The doctors in the docuseries and of her own memoir are passionate about their work because they can throw themselves into something that helps others when they themselves needed a hero growing up– for each of them, they became their own rescuer and in that metamorphosis, they now fight for others. A powerful message indeed.

My takeaway from the second series you can likely connect to my affinity for reading food memoirs which I’ve shared extensively here and on the other blogs I contribute to. Especially this second episode, Lennox Hastie has created something entirely his own for his own benefit– the love of the heat of an open flame and his restaurant that took a career to open in Australia– is all flame-cooked from the salad to the dessert. Whether it was the crafters of the episode and thus the series or Hastie himself, the episode hit me deep down. His quest for scrumptiousness and his enjoyment in watching others moan with the pleasure of the taste sensations is the chase that he yearns for. But it is more than pleasing others, there is also a deep satisfaction with himself in the process of exploring and creating that should be honed. Everyone should find their passion the way he has. It’s the constant practice that connected me to one of the last books of 2020 that I listened to: James Clear’s Atomic Habits coupled with Eric Ripert’s 32 Yolks.

How do we unlock our passions? How do we keep the drive alive to excel and find our purpose? What is your story?

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Nonfiction, Reflections, Shows

 
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