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How to raise readers

March 24, 2017 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

My friend Hillary, who reads more than anyone I know, wrote about how she’s tried to create an environment that encourages her boys to be readers.

Here’s some of her thoughtful advice:

Read in front of your kids. Reading is what adults do. All adults. Men and women. Mike, before the boys were born, tended to read only before bed, but I asked him to make a point to read in front of the boys because I didn’t want them thinking books were something only women liked.

Read with your kids every single day. Yes, you’ll read board books, but read novels, too, sooner than you think. You need the entertainment and you’ll be surprised how interested they can be. Read Ferdinand and Where The Wild Things Are and I Want My Hat Back and The Book With No Pictures and keep reading them as you go on to Charlotte’s Web and The Hobbit and Wonder and Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Read tidbits from your own books, when it makes sense. Read poems. Read news stories. Read cereal boxes. Read even when they won’t sit still. And when they don’t want to read to you and/or stop wanting to be read to — at age 9, our oldest has hit this milestone — then read together in companionable silence. We have a family reading hour most nights before bed. Sometimes I read aloud. Sometimes we all read silently. Either way, I think we all feel cozy and content and loved.

Read the full post on her site, and sign up for her newsletter, which is called “Make America Read Again.”

Image via the Library of Congress 

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: books, children, kids, make america read again, reading

Hygge reads, kids edition: Children’s books for winter days

February 8, 2017 by Leslie Leave a Comment

By Leslie Kotzas

This past year, I’ve spent my days surrounded by the warmest images, the cutest creatures, and fluffiest monsters. Working in the children’s department of the public library in the company of beautiful picture books keeps me warm and cozy in the dark, gray winter. (Librarian plug: Stop by your local library and find a treasure to warm your heart!)

Before you jump to your feet and head out the door, let me share the ones that I’ve found delightful. They’ll make you laugh, make you weep, and make you snuggle under blankets!

Ada Twist, Scientist: This is a great rhyming book that promotes girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Ada gets into some interesting predicaments trying to prove her hypothesis. If you like this one, there are a few more that are just as good: Iggy Peck, Architect and Rosie Revere, Engineer.

Ida Always: Grab your tissues, clutch your baby close, and let the tears flow. Two polar bears that live together in the zoo have to face the fact that Ida is dying. I could only read it once!

Cat Knit: Sometimes our friends change, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t friends. Get out your knitting needles and make a new friend for someone you love.

Nanette’s Baguette: This book rhymes the adventure of Nanette and her responsibility to bring home a baguette for her mother. Want to know what happens to that baguette?

The Messy Book: Do you have a little one that is a little messy? Want to show them that cleaning up isn’t so bad? Then this book is for you!

This is Not a Picture Book: Picture books are clearly the best. However, what about when books stop having pictures? Are they worth it? Check out this book and find out.

Gary: This books made me smile like a fool the whole way through. This pigeon who dreams of doing big things is given the chance despite his disability.

Ideas Are All Around: If the book above doesn’t pique your interest about writing, then follow the author through his books as he looks for ideas to write about.

A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting: Bears are all around in the woods. Do you know what to do if you spot one? Check this one out quick! You’ll be needing this advice!

Miss Moon: Wise Words From A Dog Governess. You’ve got a dog. Find out what advice Miss Moon has to share!

Have anymore picture books you can’t get enough of? Need more recommendations? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook!

 
 

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: books, children, favorite books, hygge, hygge week, kids, librarian leslie, reading

Hygge reads: What to read that’s cozy and comforting

January 30, 2017 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

By Hillary Copsey 

Nothing is cozier than a good book and a comfortable chair. I’d argue that’s all you really need for hygge, though sure, add in a blanket, a cup of tea, and an early twilight so you can flip pages in the warm glow of a reading lamp.

For maximum coziness, consider these books.

The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien:

Hobbits understand hygge, so consider the parts of this book set at Bag End in The Shire to be instructions for maximizing the comfort of your own home. Same for the interlude at Rivendell, though elves are a bit more ostentatious in their luxuries. And when Bilbo and the dwarves are adventuring, pull your blanket around you and be thankful you don’t have to face off with Gollum in a cold, dank cave.

The Bullet, Mary Louise Kelly:

A tense criminal mystery with the added intrigue of mistaken identity, this novel will keep your pulse pounding and show you, in comparison to the protagonist, who finds a bullet mysteriously lodged in her neck, just how snug and secure you really are.

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling:

Magic is real. Friendship saves the day. Humor drives away boggarts. Good defeats evil. Happy endings are very hygge.

Alif The Unseen, G. Willow Wilson:

Equal parts fairytale, sci-fi thriller, and love story, this is the kind of book that keeps you up all night. At the very least, you’ll want a second cup of tea so you can read just a few chapters more.

Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery:

What’s cozier than a childhood favorite? I’m assuming my childhood favorite is one of yours, too, but c’mon, who doesn’t love Anne Shirley? Who hasn’t wanted a bosom friend as loyal as Diana? Who didn’t dream about Gilbert Blythe? If you are the exception, pick one of your own beloved books to reread and remember what it felt like to be a child, completely transported to some other place, some other time, just through the magic of the written word.

Writer Hillary Copsey wants to #MakeAmericaReadAgain. Find her on Twitter @HillaryCopsey or sign up for her forthcoming newsletter about reading, books, and discovering new perspectives in the modern world. 

Photo via Unsplash

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: books, favorite books, hygge, hygge week, reading

My books are the home I take with me

August 29, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

photo-1464865885825-be7cd16fad8dBy Hannah Nersasian 

International shipping isn’t cheap. You fill boxes, weigh them, use up the remainder of your overdraft in paying to have them wrapped and shipped 3,000 miles. The boxes travel slowly, meandering their way across the ocean, waiting in containers in ports with other boxes containing other lives, with other destinations. It takes time and money and effort to pack up and move, so it makes sense that you’d choose only the most precious possessions and that you’d weigh their value against their literal weight. You wouldn’t choose things that could be purchased again on the other side of the ocean for far less money than it’d take to ship them. You wouldn’t choose to take things you’ve already used and probably won’t use again. You wouldn’t choose things that are worn and old and probably have a resale value of about 20 cents. Except of course if you’re me, and those things are your books, and where you go, they go, no matter how inconvenient or irrational or expensive.

So when I moved to a suburb of Boston in 2010 (from London), I didn’t take furniture or dinnerware or even my good chef’s knife. I didn’t take my spice collection or some of the larger artwork that had hung on my walls since my teenage years. I didn’t take my stack of old love-notes and photographs. Some I’d pick up later, cramming what I could into overfilled suitcases and hoping my theory of ‘if I can lift it, it’s not too heavy’ would hold true. But most I’d leave behind in my parent’s house, dodging my mum’s comments of how once you’re married you really shouldn’t still be storing things in your parent’s attic.

What I did take, packed tenderly into two cardboard boxes with reinforced sides, were my books. Books that I devoured during my teens, trying desperately to understand myself and the world and love; books I’d destroyed with highlighter during my undergraduate degree; books that had changed my life; and books I’d never read but always meant to. In a few instances I took two copies of the same book for different reasons: a cherished inscription, a favorite cover. And as they sauntered across the Atlantic, as I finished up a job and attended my own leaving parties, as I spent three misguided months couch surfing to save money and pay off the aforementioned overdraft fees, I felt them missing from me. Their weight and familiarity, wit and wisdom, temporarily boxed up, sealed and floating on a dark ocean without a track-your-package option.

They arrived in Boston before me, a chunk of my heart waiting (along with my fiancé) when I got off the plane, claiming space for me in an apartment that was bleakly utilitarian, male and overrun by mice. I hated that apartment. The kitchen floor seemed to be designed to look dirty and the linoleum tiles had tiny pock marks in them perfect for catching dirt and never letting it go. The bedroom was painted a dark mauve. Our upstairs neighbor was a big guy who ran on a treadmill right above our bedroom every morning and the whooshing sound below seemed reminiscent of the womb, except not in a good way. The basement was semi-finished and smelled of mildew and mice. I was glad to be in America and thrilled to be in the same country as my husband. I hated that apartment.

Moving countries comes with the longest and strangest to-do list you’ve ever encountered. I had to complete a series of HPV vaccine shots (because for a brief moment in time it was a visa requirement, until it wasn’t), learn to drive, sign up for a Social Security card in my maiden name and then switch it to my married name once my green card arrived. I had to find a volunteer role to keep my resume from stagnating and find friends to keep my spirit from stagnating.

But top of the list was a bookcase for my books. I knew if I had to live in that apartment, finding a space for them would allow at least a corner of it to feel like home. I was right. Once my books were unpacked I felt myself start to relax a little, as if they emitted a quiet calm energy just for me. I spent those early months stubbornly working my way through the to-do lists and buying more books, feeling as though each new acquisition grounded me more definitely into my new life and claimed more space for me in that hideous apartment.

We’ve now moved, thank goodness, and my books were the last things I packed and the first things I unpacked. Even in an empty house littered with boxes to be emptied and belongings to be found, a full bookshelf equals home to me. And placing books on shelves is a sacred ritual, weighing each one for a moment before sliding it onto the shelf, that helps me accept and embrace my new environment. Filling shelves with books is an immediate statement of home and a quiet-but-bold declaration of self. Like a tortoise with his shell, my books are the home I take with me, just a little more awkward and a lot more expensive to carry.

Hannah Nersasian is a first-time ‘mum’ from rural, southwest England, currently living in Framingham, Mass., with her American husband, son and cat. You can read more from Hannah on Boston Moms Blog and on her personal blog. Find her on Facebook, or follow her on twitter @Alien_Hans.

We’re asking some friends to share their answers to one question: What makes a house feel like a home? If you’d like to contribute to this series, email thesmartdomestic@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: books, feels like home, home, home decorating

What to read (during maternity leave)

August 8, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

Suzanne asked a few friends for recommendations to occupy her mind while she’s home with a newborn. Today, blogger (and mom of two) Hillary Copsey shares her recommendations for what to read. 

Reading is, in many ways, the perfect thing to do when you have a new baby to tend.

It’s quiet. It transports you from the tedium of diaper changes and the pleasant yet prickly trap of a nursing or sleeping baby. It can be done in fits and spurts, in any place and at any time – even in the dark of night, thanks to phones and tablets.

And reading aloud endlessly will quiet the screaming of a colicky child – at least for a bit. (May you never discover this for yourself.)

When Suzanne asked me to compile a maternity leave reading list, I dove into the search for recommendations with two big assumptions, based on hazy memories of my own reading habits after my sons were born. I read less when my boys, now 6 and 8, were wee, and the reading I did was short and light.

Both assumptions are false.

I’ve kept track of every book read, by month, for nine years, and because my boys’ birthdates are just two weeks apart, my maternity leaves fell in the same three-month period. Even as a first-time mom with a colicky newborn, my book count during that three-month period remained at the nine-year average. When my second son was born, I read two books above it.

I’m an omnivorous reader, and my maternity leave reading history reflects that, too. Just as in the years when I wasn’t rocking a newborn in the wee hours, my book lists from early 2008 and 2010 are a mix of genre and literary fiction, nonfiction, short stories, young adult, long-form journalism and favorite rereads.

All of this geekery to point out this essential fact: If reading is a vital part of your identity, a baby won’t change that. You will find time for it – and, if you have one, you should ask your partner to help you make the time. Reading was the thing I did to remain who I always was even as I became something new, a mother.

I have a list of recommendations, but here’s my best advice: Read what you enjoy.

Avoid parenting books. Skip the books you “should” read. Instead, turn to comfort reads, whatever that means to you. Take this time to wallow in what you love – baby and books.

Favorites from My Maternity Leaves

The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly – great particularly for boy moms

The Dexter books, Jeff Lindsay – quick, dark humor

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon

The Underland Chronicles, Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games author

The Good Soldiers, David Finkel – longform journalism

White Teeth and On Beauty, Zadie Smith – So, here’s the peril of maternity leave reading: These two very good books blur together, read as they were in fits and starts while my youngest son was tiny.

Short Stories 

I always say I don’t love short stories, but my book lists shows that to be false. These collections are great, delivering smart, often funny or poignant social commentary in manageable page counts.

Tenth of December, George Saunders

Some Possible Solutions, Helen Phillips – particularly “The Doppelgangers,” but on a good day when you can laugh at yourself

The Paper Menagerie, Ken Liu

Drown, Junot Diaz

Where The God of Love Hangs Out, Amy Bloom

Vampires in The Lemon Grove, Karen Russell

Fiction 

This is a collection of books I still think about after reading in big, greedy gulps.

Lucky Us, Amy Bloom

The Royal We, Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

This Is Where I Leave You, Jonathan Tropper

Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan

Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson

Where’d You Go Bernadette, Maria Semple

The Flavia de Luce mysteries, Alan Bradley

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

Mudbound, Hillary Jordan

Horns, Joe Hill

How to Tell Toledo from The Night Sky, Lydia Netzer

Monsters of Templeton, Lauren Groff

Summerland, Michael Chabon

The Likeness, Tana French

Finnikin of the Rock, Melina Marchetta

Speak, Louisa Hall

Old Favorites

These are the books I return to again and again. Even if you’re not usually a re-reader, you might find it comforting when your hormones are raging and you’re covered in bodily fluids.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Anne series, L.M. Montgomery – Go for the later books. I’m telling you, Anne Shirley Blythe is a feminist role model.

Grimm’s Fairytales – I particularly like this version, Fairy Tales from The Brothers Grimm, by Philip Pullman

Song of the Lioness series, Tamora Pierce

Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett

Nonfiction

This list was compiled with the same criteria as the fiction list.

The Boys in The Boat, Daniel James Brown

Data-ism, Steve Lohr – Read this with Speak from the fiction list.

The 50-Year Silence, Miranda Richmond Mouillot

Being Mortal, Atul Gawande

Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Ward

Between The World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Online

We all have our corners of the internet that suck us in for hours, so I’ve kept this brief.

“The Midnight Zone,” Lauren Groff – my favorite line: “I taught them how to read, but they could make their own lunches.”

NextDraft – This daily newsletter from Dave Pell will keep you up-to-date with everything happening outside your house.

Tom and Lorenzo – Follow the celebrity fashion machine with witty commentary and lots of pictures of pretty dresses and pretty people.

Twitter is great for night-time feedings: Someone is always up, and you can pick and choose what you read further. Authors like G. Willow Wilson and Rainbow Rowell are great on Twitter. Following all your favorite news sources is never a bad idea. I also recommend @XplodingUnicorn for funny observations about parenthood.

Medium – The daily digest is a fairly decent round-up of interesting reads and/or the reads people are talking about.

After 10 years in Florida, Ohio native Hillary Copsey returned to the Buckeye State, where she works for a nonprofit arts agency, blogs at Not Raising Brats, and reads copiously. Find her on Twitter @HillaryCopsey. She and Suzanne would both like to #MakeAmericaReadAgain. 

Photos from the Library of Congress (1, 2, 3)

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: #makeamericareadagain, books, favorite books, fiction, nonfiction, reading, short stories, what to read

It’s National Library Week!

April 13, 2016 by Leslie Leave a Comment

card catalog 2

Did you forget about your libraries? Because I did. After spending hours roaming the stacks of the Alden Library at Ohio University, I just forgot. I ran out into the world, bought a Kindle, looked up factoids on Wikipedia, and bought books for pennies on Amazon. I’ve been able to afford a computer and internet access since my college days. I didn’t really think the library had anything to offer me. Surely, I could find anything I needed just by Googling it!

But libraries are literally everywhere. (Justin Grimes, a statistician from the Institute of Museum and Library Services created a map of all the individual libraries and museums in the United States. Read more about it on Every Library and Museum in America, mapped by Emily Badger.)

Nevertheless, even if you own all the books you’ll ever need and you have internet access, the library is still a place to seek out.

Library are places to learn from your community.

A good library will have programs and services that meet the needs of its community. Right now, you can find help for tax preparation, play groups for parents of young children, crafts for all ages, and venues to meet and connect with people in your neighborhood.

Digital resources are available.

Apps like Overdrive and Hoopla allow you to download books, audio books, and videos to use on your mobile devices for free. All you need is a library card.

Find anything via inter-library loan.

There are more books available than you realize. Most libraries belong to a consortium, and books can be requested from other libraries. So even if your neighborhood library is small, you can probably get what you need.

And let’s not forget that you’ve already paid for it.

Your taxes go to support your local library, meaning you might as well take advantage of it.

So go find your nearest library and get a card. If you’re spending your days tending to a brood of offspring, seek out your peers by going to a “Baby and Me” class. And while you’re at it, grab something to read or download a free e-book from your library’s electronic resources. Remember, reading is fundamental!

If you happen to be in my neck of the woods, come visit me at the Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library where I help patrons find books, sing songs to toddlers, and create crafts with teens. While you’re at it, get a library card!

Image via the Library of Congress here

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: books, community, learning, library

A business of books and tea

March 13, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

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If I had to rattle off my favorite small pleasures in the world, tea and books would be at the top of the list. So when I heard about Muse Monthly, a subscription service that sends a new book with a themed tea pairing, I thought: “YES, PLEASE.”

I asked Christina Blok, the creator of this genius idea, to share the story of how it started and why she loves her side-hustle.

Christina Blok, Muse MonthlyeUpzpQn

Smart facts:

  • Passion project: CEO and Creative Director of Muse Monthly
  • Day job: Social media marketing
  • Social media: Website Twitter Instagram

Domestic facts:

  • Lives in New York City
  • In a long-distance relationship

Christina grew up as an avid book reader, and she’s also a frequent tea drinker. “My mom has always been a tea person, and she instilled a love for tea in me and my siblings,” she said.

Last year, Christina was in a stressful job that was wearing her down, and every evening, she’d come home and crave a gigantic mug of tea and a book, to help her shut down and relax. That’s when the idea for Muse Monthly was born: What if you could get a great new book and a delicious tea on your door step every month? What if the tea was selected to create a cozy atmosphere that matched the theme of the book?

The Venn diagram of people who love books and people who love tea is practically a circle.
– Christina Blok

…

Read More »

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: books, boss lady, boss women, entrepreneur, kickstarter, reading, tea

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