Category Archives: Miscellaneous

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Current book mantra.

There are no moss on my books because they’re constantly being shifted, moved, read, returned, shared, and opened. Right now I am in a constant state of reading.

The snapshots above are forty-eight of the recently-read books that encompass

• Books for a panel I moderated for School Library Journal
• Nonfiction books for a subcommittee to help determine ‘best’ books of the year
• (Secret books that are invisible because I’m on an awards committee and can’t share)
• Manga because I’m trading books back and forth with my son
• Recently published books that are getting some buzz because I’m constantly on the lookout for books to purchase and recommend
• Picture books because they’re beautiful
• … and a smattering of other titles that fell into my lap

I’ve got books on my phone in ereading apps, books in my purse, one squirreled away in the car, several in my school bag, and a stack at work.

There will never be a shortage of books to read. What I do have a shortage of sometimes is time to read them. Can I get a week’s vacation to do nothing but read- alone, with tea, a comfy blanket, and gently falling rain in the background?

Books are life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

As the summer draws to a close and most Northeast educators begin to look toward their classrooms and the return of students, I spent a day surrounded by book people. And it was lovely.

For the last several years, my presenter-in-crime Stacey Rattner and I have shared the best books of the year to our local area educators and I’ve looked forward to every one of them and am sad when it is done. However, within the last two years, we’ve been invited to present to other local cooperatives that coordinate librarian and teacher professional development to do the same during the school year– so the adrenaline rush of preparing for a presentation and delivering it lasts the whole year through now. I’m both grateful for the opportunity to meet other librarians and educators, read as many books as I can to be the most prepared I can be, and find entertaining and inspiring activities to break up the time that can be useful in their own practice.

I’ve written about it before and will reiterate it again, my passion for running professional development is directly related to the work I have to put in to deliver it. That’s deep learning for me. So preparation begins as soon as the date it booked. I often mull over the possible theme and organization for quite a while, writing down a note here or there and then leveling up to a brainstorm.

I’ll save a love letter to Stacey for another post and instead offer a toast to the wonderful librarians and educators who came out on one of the only sunny days our summer has offered (so much rain!) to be ready for the school year for their students and share their thoughts, opinions, and book love with one another.

What is your favorite kind of professional development? What is a lasting memory you have from a past event?

French comics, amirite?

Jordi Lefebre and illustrator Clemence Sapin published Always Never in 2020 before Dark Horse Books published in in the States in 2022. It ended up on my radar as an Eisner nominee for best US edition of international material and I discovered Hoopla had it in their collection.

It’s a story told in rewind– the graphic novel starts on chapter 20 and works its way back to 1 as it unfurls a lifetime of connection between Ana and Zeno, now grey-haired linked arm and arm talking about a bridge with flirtation in their eyes and light teasing in their words. The story of these two begin with the end which is an enticing place to start as it sets up a slight mystery that can only truly be unraveled by getting to the beginning.

What took my breath away first was the style of the art from the layout of the panels on each page including the movement whether scene to scene or moment to moment. Selfishly, I also want Ana’s wardrobe, so any scene that included her in it, I was ogling her clothes and how she wore them in attitude and style.

Second, the emotional edge that Lefebre plays with is as universal as it is individual. Ana and Zeno will be judged but with they be sympathized with too?

Third, the secondary characters whether it be the three sisters that sit outside the bookstore to Giuseppe have a three-dimensionality as vivid as the two protagonists Ana and Zeno.

I could gush more, but it’s best just to savor it yourself. I’ll be sitting here drinking my tea, planning a trip to a botanical garden looking for a bridge to cross and setting aside time to set sail on the high seas in a power skirt suit complete with a scarf wrapped around my neck.

It’s Women’s History Month and a few weeks ago I also finished both Enola Holmes’ movies on Netflix which made me giddy for strong female leads. I’ve compiled a short list of the most memorable females in books and why they’ve still stuck with me.

1. Alana from Vaughan and Staples’ Saga comics because that’s one woman (with wings) that I’d never want to cross on the battlefield of interstellar war or in love whether it’s her husband Marko or her daughter Hazel.
2. Hazel from Schwartz’s Anatomy and newly published sequel Immortality because women surgeons in the 1800s. Her ingenuity and stickwithit attitude empowers all women in science.
3. Josie from Sepetys’ Out of the Easy because she wanted a way out. Her mother’s way was not going to be her way but she learned from those women in the brothel and others around her just the same.
4. Lisbon sisters from Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides because you can’t get more memorable than the desperation, one girl at a time, to try to leave their life in suburbia. This is hands-down one of my all-time most memorable books. I even named my dog after one of the girls.
5. Naomi from Perez’s Out of Darkness because the braid on the cover is emblematic of her struggles making her way through life after the death of her mother and dealing with her abusive stepfather while keeping an eye on her twin siblings and falling for Wash. There are scenes from the book that I replay in my featuring Naomi’s quiet strength.
6. Susie Salmon from Sebold’s The Lovely Bones because her death is what led to the pain and heartbreak readers experienced that she could only but watch from a distance. A life cut short is often grounds for being remembered long after the death.
7. Coco from Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier manga series because her insistence on needing to become a witch and her delightful problem-solving skills were about to fracture the relationship with the other girls in the atelier, until they realize how pure of heart Coco is, with a side of goofiness.
8. Mattie from Donnelly’s A Northern Light because being close to a murder is a scary thing, but her uplift from just a farmgirl to self-education is inspiring.
9. Laura from Jordan’s Mudbound because the delicate balance of being raised in the city to moving to mud country was enough to tear her in two. The quiet desperation and decisions she makes are not always perfect but quintessentially human.
10. Anya Balanchine from Zevin’s All These Things I’ve Done because having a target on your back is hard enough, but keeping what’s left of your family together while trying to run an illegal chocolate empire is even more difficult. She’s got spunk.

Of course, this is just a handful. I might actually have to go back and create more lists of memorable women because there are too many to choose from.