April is National Poetry Month

 

April is National Poetry Month. It is hoped that bringing this form of writing to the forefront will encourage both the reading and writing of poetry among students and adults. 

All too often, we hear comments like 'poetry? not my thing' or 'I hated memorizing poetry in school.' or 'I never could understand poetry.' On the other side are readers who make comments like 'I love the beauty of words strung together in a poem.' or 'Poetry soothes my soul.' or 'The beauty of a poem stays with me.'

Just as in prose, poems are not all lumped into one category. They come in an infinite variety. We start out with nursery rhymes that are the sing-song kind of poems children love. Grade school students are exposed to poetry in readers and children's magazines. High School students read poetry within their English classes, and if they have the right kind of teacher, may grow to enjoy it. If all they do is memorize and have the teacher interpret the poem for them as a totally different entity than what they thought they read, it's going to be a black mark against this art form for those students. 

There are wide choices in the kinds of poems we read. They range from humorous to tragic to love poems to ones about nature to short haiku or other Japanese forms. There are rhyming poems and those that do not follow a specific rhyme or rhythm. You have a whole world of poetry to choose from in your reading. There are even prose poems--ones written in paragraph form.

Many poets today publish a book of their poems, usually rather short in length and often based on a particular theme, or just a collection of poems they have written over the years. I often purchase ones published by poets I know, and I have never been disappointed. 

Writing poetry is something anyone can try. You do not have to have studied it in college or a master's program. Anyone can put words together in poetic form. I have never had any formal training in writing poetry, but I gave it a try and found I liked writing poems. Are they magnificent? No. Do they satisfy me? Yes. Have any ever been published or won a contest? Yes. Do I write complicated forms of poetry? No. 

Several members of my online writing group are poets. I have enjoyed the poems they submit for critique, and I have learned a lot by reading the critiques other writers have made. And I have critiqued many of them myself. 

We do more than enjoy reading poetry. We learn as well.

During this national celebration month, give some thought to reading and/or writing poetry. Here is one by one of my favorite poets--Emily Dickinson,

For Readers--A Fine Historical Mystery Series

 























I like good mysteries and historical fiction, and when I find s series that encompasses both genres, I'm very pleased. Recently I discovered a series of mysteries featuring a Scotland Yard Inspector, Ian Rutledge. Set in England in the early years after WWI, Ian tries to resurrect his position at Scotland Yard, even though he came home 'shell-shocked',' the term used to describe what we now call PTSD.

Inspector Rutledge had to execute a young Scots soldier named Hamish who had been under his command during the war. Getting beyond it has been impossible, so Hamish lives in Rutledge's mind and speaks to him as he investigates murders.

The first of this series that I read was The Black Ascot. I enjoyed it so much that, when the newest one was published, I put A Divided Loyalty on reserve at my library. It did not disappoint. The stories are page-turners and done well enough to keep the reader guessing the outcome.

What I found unusual about the author is that Charles Todd is actually a pen name for a  mother and son duo---she being named Caroline Todd and he, Charles--who has produced a large number of books in this series, and also a series featuring an English nurse serving in WWI, named Bess Crawford.

They live in two different states in the eastern part of the United States, North Carolina and Delaware. I have always found it difficult to understand how two people author one book, let alone when they live in separate states. Then, add the fact that they are mother and son, and I am having a difficult time understanding how they write a book together and do it so well! Does Mother ever pull rank with an I'm the mother attitude? Does the son ever play the I'll whine so she gives in trick? Since the series has been so popular, I'm guessing that they have learned to work together quite well.

Rather than give you a summary of the two books I have read, let me just say that the author(s) have a nice way of writing. A great deal takes place in small villages outside of London. While not losing anything of the story itself, the reader sees the villages and the people who live there quite well, not with long descriptions but with bits and pieces using sensory details and fine prose. If you've ever visited England, you'll be transported back while reading these books. There are also scenes in London and inside Scotland Yard that give the reader a good image of both.

The reader learns something of Inspector Rutledge's personal life, never enough to overpower the mystery story itself. I found myself wanting to know more, wanting to cheer Ian on in so many places within the story, fearing for him in others.

To read a summary of The Black Ascot, go here. For a summary of A Divided Loyalty go here. These are books 21 and 22 in the series. I am definitely going to look for the earlier books and will also check out the Bess Crawford series.

Family Stories, Memoir, Biography--What's the Difference?

Both readers and writers sometimes get confused about the difference between family stories, memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies. They're all about peoples' lives, aren't they? Yes, but there are also distinct differences in the four. In addition, they are all nonfiction.

Family Stories:  These are pieces of family history. Each individual story tells about a person and/or event. You might be writing about your grandfather who came to America on a ship in 1925. Or about your grandmother who had the biggest vegetable garden in the county. Or maybe your Aunt Nellie whose wedding was ruined by a tornado. Or your great-aunt Olivia who did animal impersonations. Or about Uncle Henry who suffered from depression. These stories will give younger and future family members a picture of their extended family or ancestors. They are usually written for the family to read, not for publication. Although, the person writing the family stories can assemble them into a book. They need not be chronological. Assemble them any way you want to. Occasionally, a family story can be submitted to a magazine or anthology, but that is not the number one aim.

Biography:  It's a look at a person's life from birth to the present or when death occurred. Another person writes the life story after interviews and research. Biographies are usually about a historical figure or a celebrity--a known name. We often read biographies of a person we've admired and would like to know more about his/her life. Authors of biographies want publication

Autobiography:  This kind of book is basically the same as a biography, but it is written by a person about his/her own life. To me, it feels more personal and appears that the reader is able to see the writer's own thoughts and feelings about the events in that person's life from birth to the present. Again, the author hopes for publication.

Memoir:  Memoir can be divided into two categories--long and short. The long, of course, is a full book while the short can be a 1000 word piece. Memoirs are narrower in scope than a biography. Instead of relating the story of a life in chronological order, it focuses on a situation, a problem, or a relationship. It is limited to a phase or time period and is based on feelings and memories. Memoir books appear to be quite popular today. For some reason, readers enjoy being privy to the life of another person, to see what obstacles they faced and how they did so. Short memoir pieces work well for anthologies like Chicken Soup for the Soul or for contests. Those who write memoirs are striving for publication. 

Books I Liked In 2017

Most writers are also avid readers. I have been one since the days of Dick and Jane in my first grade reading book. Bookworm is probably an apt description of me durng my growing up years. It still fits today. I finished reading the last of my library books on Monday of this week but the library was closed for New Year's Day. I almost felt panicked! Tuesday, I was at the library and brought three books home. 

I read a few books in 2017 that I especially enjoyed. They are ones I'd recommend to others. The first three are historical fiction and other two are mystery/suspense. I have included links to Amazon for each one.

• News of the World by Paulette Jiles
• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
• The Address by Fiona Davis
• Glass Houses by Louise Penny
• House of Spies by Daniel Silva

How about you? Can you recommend a few titles that you particularly like in 2017? 

Choosing A Book To Read

If you're a reader, and all writers should be, you can easily get lost in a book like the little girl in the poster. We're whisked away to another time, another land, another situation every time we open a book and begin to read.

We have an ice storm predicted for our area, possibly over a four day period. Most people immediately think they should get to the grocery store before the shelves are wiped clean after shoppers get enough of the necessities for the duration of a storm. But me--I headed to the library yesterday afternoon to make sure I had enough reading material if this storm materializes and is as bad as they are telling us. Even if the power goes out, I can still read during the daytime. And, by the way, I did go to the grocery store when I finished at the library.

At the library, I headed to the New Book section first to see what appealed to me. It occurred to me that I select books to look at based on three things--title, author and genre. I do the same when visiting a bookstore.

There are titles that intrigue me enough to make me pull the book from the shelf and check out the frontispiece to see what the story is about and to read the short review quotes which often appear on the back cover. There are also titles that I skip by. Why? Mostly because there is nothing in them to pique my interest. This is why choosing a title for the book you've written is so very important. Titles are also important for short stories, essays, articles, poetry--just about anything you write. When you spend lots of time on the full piece of writing, don't grab a title out of the air and go with it. Take your time finding the best one.  I've written an article on titles that might be worth reading.

I often choose a book because of an author whose work I have read and liked earlier. Or that author might be one that has been reviewed in the newspaper or Book Page and I've wanted to read something by him/her. I don't just grab the book and go. I look at it in the same way as stated in the paragraph above.

Genre is important to me, and to most readers. I do not read Sci-Fi or Horror or Fantasy or Erotica. When the library sticker on the bottom of the book's spine tells me it is one of these, I move right on the next book. No reason to pull it off the shelf and look into it any further. Most readers have certain kinds of books that they will never read, as well as ones that they are drawn to immediately.

I brought four books home with me and I intend to get lost in at least one, maybe more, during our stormy week-end.

A Great Week-end Read

If you have a free week-end, zip over to your library and check out a copy of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. The book was recommended to me by a friend who loves books like I do. I zipped through the 272 pages of the hardcover copy in two evenings. When I have a book that I am thoroughly besotted by, I can read faster than when I have to plod through one that is of little interest.

A.J. Fikry owns a bookstore on a fictional island called Alice that is off the eastern coast of the USA. An automobile accident claims the life of his beloved wife. As the story begins, A.J. is despondent and grumpy. He's also a bit of a nerd but maintains his bookstore for the islanders and summer tourists and because he loves books more than anything in his dreary life.

Enter Amelia, a publishing company's sales rep who is unusual in her own way. She and A.J. clash at first but come to develop an interesting relationship. Someone leaves a life-changer in A.J.'s bookstore--a baby girl who captures the broken heart of this unusual man. By the time, he has cared for Maya through the week-end, A.J. cannot stand the thought of sending her into foster care. He adopts her and raises her as his own. 

We are treated to seeing him become a loving, if unusual, father while developing a friendship with the local police chief and maintaining ties with his dead wife's sister and her author husband. A.J. uses the wisdom he finds in books to live his life and to raise the little girl. I quickly developed a liking for this curmudgeonly protagonist and all the other quirky people in the story. 

Even though the book is not lengthy, we move through years of A.J's life with Maya and his relationship with Amelia. A bit of mystery is introduced at the beginning of the book which is not solved for a very long time. And throughout the story, books take the spotlight over and over.

Some short quotes by reviewers:

  “This novel has humor, romance, a touch of suspense, but most of all love--love of books and bookish people and, really, all of humanity in its imperfect glory.” —Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow Child

“Marvelously optimistic about the future of books and bookstores and the people who love both.” —The Washington Post

“You won’t want it to end.” —Family Circle

It's a perfect book for Book Clubs to read. you'll laugh, you'll nod your head in agreement, and you'll shed a few tears as well. Yes, it's a perfect week-end companion. 

A List of Favorite Christmas Stories

What are your favorite Christmas books? The one pictured above is truly a classic. Even people who have not read the book seem to know the story because it is referred to in so many instances.

Libraries usually have big displays in December of Christmas books--ones that tell the religious significance and others that deal with the whimsical, fun commercialized end of this holiday.

Bookstores also feature holiday books for buying. What a nice gift to give someone in hopes they'll curl up with the book late on Christmas Day to top off their holiday celebration.

There are myriad holiday cookbooks to choose from, as well. If I received one of these, I'd hope it was early in the month so I could try out the most appealing recipes.

This is a short list of some of the favorite Christmas books or stories. Many,you'll note, are children's books. Guess what? We adults enjoy them, as well, and we're delighted when we have a child we can read these special stories to. You can google to find other favorite Christmas stories.

•  The Gift of the Magi  by O. Henry
• The Night Before Christmas  by Clement Moore
• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
• A Cup of Christmas Tea by Tom Hegg (one of my very favorites!)
• The Snow Queen  Hans Christian Andersen
• The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
• The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
• A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
• A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

Each of you probably have favorites you could list. You can find others at the Goodreads link.which names 735 titles of books that use a Christmas theme.

Do You Have Favorite Books?

Looks like Snoopy is a big reader as well as a writer. I can relate to that double joy. I became a lover of books long before I started writing. Reading has served me well in my writing journey. I've read so many books and of many genres. 

I don't read sci-fi and I don't read horror novels. Neither one appeals to me. Give me historical fiction over sci-fi any day. And the horror stuff doesn't do much for me either. Add erotica to my forget it list, too. I don't mind a little sex in a book but don't need a blow by blow description from cover to cover. The movies in the 40's and 50's had scenes that ended with a smoldering kiss and the viewer was left to imagine the rest. It lent a bit of mystery to the romance. Not so today--bare it all. But I am getting away from my topic.

As the poster indicates, books feed our soul. They are the nutrition of the mind. They're the recipe for a good life. We are offered a variety of books and each of us leans to certain genres. We may have different tastes in genres but we have a common love of good books.

Do you have a list of your all-time favorite books? Most people do. Here are just a few of the ones that hold a cherished place in my memory bank. They are in no particular order. Find them at your local library or on Amazon.

1. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (first in a series)

3. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

4. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

5. A Time To Kill by John Grisham

6. A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford

7.  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

You'll see that I read fiction, much of it fiction aimed at women. I do read other kinds of books, too, but these seem to be the ones that I remember loving. Some, I've read a second time. 

Leave your own list in the comments box. We all like recommendations. 

Summer Reading Recommendations

Summer is often touted as being a time to read. Take a book to the beach. Take one with you on vacation. Airplanes and airports provide time for digging into that novel you've been neglecting.

Sure, that's true, but for serious readers like me, reading goes the year round. I've been doing more reading than writing recently which means that my wriitng is suffering a wee bit. Nevertheless, I've pored through some fine books.

Monday, I finished Sara Gruen's latest--At The Water's Edge. She is best known for her novel titled Water For Elephants. I liked this latest book best. Some will describe it as a romance; others WWII story, still others a psychological study. Maybe it's a little of all three. Three socialites go to a small Scottish village in the waning days of WWII. The two men are determined to find and photograph the Loch Ness monster. These two men are as flawed in character as can be. The wife of one is a shallow woman who leads a life of a wealthy young married woman. We watch Maddie evolve into a better person when she sees what her husband and his best friend are really like. It's a story of loss, love and the downward spiral of two men. The contrasting personalities of the people they encounter in the village inn would be a psychologist's dream paper.

Other books I've read recently that I enjoyed and recommend are the following:

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

All The Light We Cannot See  by Anthony Doerr

The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

The first two links will take you to reviews on this blog and the last one is the Amazon page.

All four of the books I've mentioned here today are classified as historical fiction. I must add one other novel I read this spring that kept me turning pages in rapid succession. It's not in this same category; it's a suspense/thriller book. One of a series about an Istraeli spy who's real life job is being an art restorer. Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva hooks the reader and holds onto to the person turning the pages to the very end. If you haven't read any of the titles in this series, google to find the list and start at the beginning, although it is not necessary to do so. You can read individual titles without reading the ones that preceded it.  I have the latest release The English Spy on reserve at the library.

Squeeze in some time for reading this summer or fall or winter or... Reading is a year round pleasure.

Book Series For Kids--I Love Them!

                                                            


Do you remember reading a series of books when you were growing up? I was an avid Nancy Drew fan and must have read nearly every one of the many titles in the series. Girls in my class read and then traded the books. It seems there was always a Nancy Drew mystery on someone's desk. I'm not sure if the boys did the same with the Hardy Boys books or not. My husband told me he read them all.

Another series I loved glamorized the life of a nurse. I followed Sue Barton from student nurse to senior nurse to staff nurse to neighborhood nurse to rural nurse and more. Did it make me want to become a nurse? You bet it did! That is, until I found out chemistry was a necessary course. I didn't like science and didn't get straight A's in it like I did my English classes. Even so, I didn't stop reading about Sue's adventures.


Noel Streatfield wrote a series of books for girls that I also read. Shoes appeared in the title of each one--Theater Shoes and Circus Shoes and Ballet Shoes are ones that come to mind. What a painless way to learn about the world of a ballet dancer, a budding actress or a circus performer. Of course, it made young girls dream of following in the footsteps of the young heroines in each book.

At an earlier age, I devoured The Bobbsey Twins books. It was, I believe, my first introduction to the concept of a series of books featuring the same characters. That's not counting the Dick and Jane series of readers used for reading instruction in many schools decades ago. I felt bad when I found out my grandchildren did not learn to read with Dick, Jane, Baby Sally, Spot and Puff. As a first grader, I considered them my special friends. Maybe I still do! 

How could I write about a series of books for kids without mentioning the Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. These books also made the trade-one-for-another rounds at my grade school. The books were a wonderful way for children to learn the pioneer history of our country. 

One thing I learned from reading the various series was to recognize an author's name. When I went to our local library and scanned the shelves, those names popped out and I stopped to look at the book to see if it might be one I hadn't read. 

I doubt that any of the authors of these deeply loved books ever became wealthy from royalties received.  Even so, something kept them writing about the same characters, devising new adventures for them, coming up with challenges and hurdles for their characters to meet and conquer.

Happily, the concept of a series of books for kids has continued. A few that are popular now are the Narnia books, Imagination Series, Betsy-Tacy, Boxcar Children and of course, Harry Potter. I'm delighted that children are still finding a hero/heroine to love in a series of books like I did. I'm also pleased that some of the series I loved are still being read today.

What were your favorite series of books for kids?

A WWII Story I Recommend

I finished reading this Pulitzer Prize novel very early this morning. I could have finished it last night but chose to read the final 43 pages today. For some reason, I didn't want to come to the end of this compelling novel written by Anthony Doerr.

And so, at 6:15 a.m., I sat in the quiet house and read to the end of this bestseller. You can't help but wonder if the world needs one more WWII story but perhaps we do, perhaps we need to be reminded on a frequent basis what the world became during those years. When they are as beautifully written as this book, they are a satisfying read. Despite the abundance of WWII books, each one tackles one small part of that war, introduces us to a handful of the thousandas actually involved. I've always thought that historical fiction is a painless way to learn history, and this novel deals out a healthy portion of history to the reader as well as some scientific knowledge.

The story begins in 1934 and centers around two children. Marie-Laure is a blind child who lives in Paris with her father, a locksmith in the Paris Museum of Natural History. Werner is an orphan who is being raised with a younger sister in an orphanage in a coal mining town in Germany.  He is gifted in the science of radio transmission and all involved with it. As a result he is sent to a training school for Nazi youth and eventually becomes a soldier. Marie-Clare and her father flee Paris when the Germans come. The go to Saint-Malo, a town on the seacoast of Brittany, where they stay with Marie-Clare's great-uncle. Etienne has never recovered from his WWI experiences and remains housebound in his tall, six story house, due to his never-ending fears. 

The book moves back and forth effortlessly between the two children and what occurs in the lives of each. It is only late in the book that their paths cross and then for only one day. As we follow the lives of these two characters, we also get involved with a mystery of the whereabouts of a huge diamond named The Sea of Flames. 

There is much more but I prefer the reader find it on his/her own. The story is fascinating and gripping. Not being of scientific mind at all, I felt I learned some things about radio transmissions during this period of history as well as learning something of what it is like to live without sight as Marie-Clare did from early childhood on.

I also reveled in the beauty of the prose. Some paragraphs almost felt like a prose poem as they were written in language that spoke to my heart.

I found a veil of overwhelming sadness throughout the story. How can a war story be anything else, I asked myself. Even the ending pages which take place long after the war ends did not leave me with joy or hopefulness. But this is not a reason to pass over this novel. 

Read it for the fascinating story. Read it for the beautiful prose. Read it for a painless history lesson. 

Oh C'mon--Give A Book This Year

The Book Lover's Christmas Tree

Here we are in that awful decision making time of year. What shall I get for Aunt Martha? Would Mary Sue like these salt and pepper shakers or not?  Gift giving time has its pros and cons as we can all attest. 

For the readers on your list, definitely consider a book. You usually know the person well enough to figure out the kinds of books he/she likes. But what if they've already read it? you might ask. There are three solutions to that problem.

Solution  #1: Get a book that is just published. Odds are the person has not rushed out to buy it yet.

Solution  #2:  Give a gift card to a book store or for Amazon

Solution  #3:  Buy a book you think the person would like and include a gift receipt so that they can exchange it if they have already read it. Make it easy by not ordering online if you think the book might get exchanged. 

Where are you going to purchase these gift books?

 1. If the person lives in the same town you do, consider a local bookstore. Makes it easy to exchange and you're supporting a local business. 

2.  If the book is something you know will not be exchanged, try Amazon.com. Prices are definitely a draw here.

3.  One of the major bookstores like Barnes and Noble or Hastings that seem to be in most cities of any size

4.  Places like Target and Walmart have book sections and the prices are generally discounted.

5.  Even your local grocery stores often have book sections

6.  Library Used Books Shelf:  OK, this one is possibly a stretch but you can find books that look brand new. Only problem is that there is no return. Maybe this is a good place to 'gift' a book to yourself!

Have you read a book this year that you loved and would like others to read, too? Perfect gift for your book lover friends or relatives. Include some classics as well as newly published books. 

Definitely consider books for gifts for children. In this e-world we live in, we need to work hard to promote reading for pleasure to the younger generations. If you're not sure what books are the most popular, ask for help from a clerk or your local children's librarian. They have the knowledge and are usually happy to share. 

Lastly, shouldn't writers be the one group of people that supports reading and books in every way possible? Maybe the writer's slogan for December should be Give A Book! If you've been fortunate enough to have a book published this year, what better gift to give than an autographed copy of your own work? 

I couldn't agree more!

This Reader Likes Ken Follett's Century Trilogy

Ever since reading Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle, I've been an ardent admirer of his ability to tell a story that holds the reader from beginning to end. He was only 27 when he wrote this suspense novel that put the reader on the edge of his seat more than once. There have been new releases on this book which was originally published in 1978 under the name Storm Island. The author is Welsh and he has published many more books making his name easily recognized by the reading public in many countries.

What amazes me about this author is that he writes suspense novels and historical tomes and plain good stories to read. Not just one genre. I suppose we should call him gifted. I might also add patient as the amount of research that goes into his historical novels is astonishing and time-consuming. Once he became a top-selling author, he was most likely able to hire a research team to get the information he needed to write the books. 

His latest work is a trilogy that follows members of five intertwined families in England, Germany, Russia, United States and Wales through the twentieth century. We watch the characters during the WWI years, the WWII years and in the final book, the tumultuous 1960's to 80's. Needless to say, it is a fair amount of time between the publishing dates of the three books but it is not a problem. Once I started on Book 2, the characters and the things that happened in Book 1 came back to me easily--thanks in part to excellent writing. The same has occurred in Book 3. 

I am a fan of historical novels because I enjoy history but find that it is of greater interest to read a well-researched novel about an era rather than a nonfiction textbook. I'm a people person and want more than the facts of what happened in the world during a particular time period. I like knowing how the things that happened affected people around the world. The Century Trilogy gives me both the history and the people, although they are fictional. Still, they are representative of those who lived in the time period. 

Be forewarned--these books are in the 1000+ page variety. I have not found that to be a problem. In fact, when I finished the first two lengthy books, I immediately wondered how soon the next book would be out as I had the desire to keep reading.  I'm in the middle of Book 3 now and know I'll be sad when the final page is turned. 

Another favorite book by Ken Follett is Pillars of the Earth which follows five families through the building of a cathedral. I found the story and the educational information fascinating. I have visited many cathedrals in Europe since reading that book and I know that it gave me a far greater appreciation of how these magnificent edifaces were built.