I love Sundays. They are usually low-to-no-commitment days. Mainly meaning that if a dawdle a little longer with my coffee that is ok. Hanging out in the house making a small plan for my day – dropping off a check up town, considering snowshoeing later this morning, afternoon planning something tasty for dinner and diving into the Book Club book for this coming Tuesdays discussion.
This week two books arrived in my home that I am pretty excited about.
A Gentleman’s Murder by Christopher Huang: This looks to be a 1924 mystery involving a prestigious club and a dead man found in a vault with a letter opener to the neck… Lieutenant Eric Peterkin is the right man for the case. Why am I intrigued? My friend Ryan chose this book as his First Book of the year. I have through the years picked many books that were first brought to my attention by Ryan. The fact that this was the first book of the year only adds to my desire to give it a try.
The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda: As stated on the back of the book, there are no limits to the lies, suspicion, and secrets that can poison the perfect marriage… The book is centered around Kate Nelson who is happily married to John and they have a wonderful daughter Ashlyn. They seem like the perfect family until John leaves Kate for a younger woman, Tish. Tish is youthful, ambitious and goes after what she wants and almost always gets what she wants. Now she has John. But does she? Kate didn’t just go away as Trish had thought she would. Now Tish has suspicions of John’s infidelity and it centered around his ex-wife. Neither woman sees what is about to come next. Why am I intrigued? Author Kaira Rouda has blown me away more than once. In fact, her book Best Day Ever was my choice as First Book in 2018 and I was thrilled with my selection.
There you have it. I am listening to The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher on Audio. Jury is still out on this one…
Huh. You ever choose a book and later wonder what drew you to the book mainly because what you thought you were about to read is NOTHING like what you read?
Or is that just me?
Author Lulu Miller is a NPR Reporter who while dealing with her own struggles, becomes fascinated with David Starr Jordan, who among other things was Stanford University’s first president and along with his students, identified over 2500 fish species. If that doesn’t capture your attention… he may have also been a murderer.
Yes, there is something for everyone here.
If you know what I usually read, you may wonder what drew me to this book. I believe initially I was fascinated with this person and thought it was going to be more about life lessons and I would come out with some small take-a-way. And honestly, maybe I did. The book is a little less than 4 hours on audio and by listening to it I may not have experienced it as fully as I could have while bustling around my home or in the car – but I did have one small aha moment.
There is a point in the book where Lulu Miller discusses that back in the day, people were encouraged to live in full reality. They were told it was not healthy to believe beyond your limitations or in other words dilute yourself. As time went on, it was found that the people who did live by this were far less happier people, often depressed. Where those who lived a little on the edge of fantasy, perhaps believed a little more in themselves then they should, over inflated their abilities, strengths, etc… were overall happier and healthier people. This was a game changer.
I really liked that part of the book because that is something I firmly believe in. If you constantly feel that this is the box you live in – with 4 walls and a floor and a ceiling and there is no room to move, grow, imagine, dream… well…. that is not for me.
Admittedly, that is probably not the best take away for this book. I know for a fact someone could read or listen to this book and take away far more fascinating things about David’s life, discoveries and intrigue that surrounded his days. I honestly am not sure how I feel about it as to properly do this, I feel I would need to listen to it or read it again and I do not feel I am that invested.
See reviews on Good Reads, there are a lot of people that loved this book and had huge responses to it. My timing simply was off.
An intimate look at the details and the devastation behind the 2007 wild fire in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota that became one of the most destructive fires in Minnesota history. Passionate, compelling, and a book that is truly hard to put down.
~Sheila
Gunflint Burning is the account of the events of the Ham Lake Fire in May of 2007. What started out as a camp fire made by a well seasoned explorer of the Boundary Waters, turned out to become a fire that would burn for nearly two weeks, engulfing 75,000 acres of forest and 144 buildings.
This book by Author Cary Griffith takes you through the events of not only the devastation of the fire, but the people of the Boundary Waters, the Firemen and authorities who fought the fire, as well as the man behind the match.
Let me start here. I am a Minnesotan and LOVE the Gunflint area as well as the Boundary Waters. I live about 5 hours away. Its amazing to believe that there are still places in this world that I can drive to and not have cell phone reception. It is a freeing feeling.
In 2013, friends of mine as well as a couple of their friends decided that they wanted to take a 5 day canoe trip through the Boundary Waters. I was asked if I would like to go along, and always up for an adventure that was a definite YES. We loaded up with all of our food, clothes and gear and ventured out. I had been to the Boundary Waters before but not like this. Five girls out adventuring each day, carrying our canoes through trails and grass and landing where we landed each night. It was an experience of a life time and one I will always cherish.
This trip was six years after the devastating fire and you could still see the signs of it where there was a lot of new growth, but many trees were not there. While I knew of the fire, I never dug into what had happened until years later when I would meet Author Cary Griffith through our local event, Wine and Words. When Cary signed on to speak about his new book I was fascinated. I love a good non fiction, and one in my home state and as interesting as the details of this fire peaked my interest. When Cary spoke at the event that I knew I needed to read this book as as soon as possible.
Cary described in vivid detail how he came to write the book and the investigation behind it. Honestly out of our five authors present at this event in 2018, it was Cary Griffith that left me with the biggest take away.
The book is broke into chapters and dates – starting with May 3rd, 2007 with Steve Posniak on the day he started his annual camping trip into the Boundary Waters. This would be his twenty seventh trip, and unknown at this time, would be his final trip.
I actually read this book in late fall of 2018 after the August Author Event with Cary. I only noticed in the last couple of days that I had never reviewed it for no reason other than I tend to get busy and forget to review what I have read… always amazing me at the end of the year when I see my book count on Goodreads and know I have read a heck of a lot more than that, but can not always recall what is missing. As I figure that out – I will be reviewing these missing books.
I recommend Gunflint Burning to anyone enjoys a well written true story. You do not need to be from Minnesota or have experienced the Boundary Waters to appreciate the enormous impact of this historical event.
If you ever do have the opportunity to come this way, I highly recommend experiencing the Gunflint Trail as well as the Boundary Waters. Both are rich with history and adventure.
Happy Sunday! I do love me a good Sunday with things to do – but not must do’s, ya know? Like I have nowhere I have to be… checking things off my list like laundry, dog walking and refrigerate organizing can easily turn into book reading, card writing and working on a puzzle while listening to a book on audio.
That kind of day.
As many of you know – I choose a word for the year every year as opposed to a resolution. I make a big deal out of the word (just like I do out of First Book). It has to speak to me and be something I know that will stick. If I don’t, then within a couple of months I am trying to recall what the word was and how to implement it in my life. *Wah Wah so to speak.
Some years, I just know what it will be and come in like a jouster on top of my steed. Other years… I am struggling to find the right one right up to go time. They are always best when a story accompanies why it became my word.
And that is what happened this year.
For must of 2020 I felt my word for 2021 was going to be Enough. The act of determining what was enough and being ok with saying no. Something, admittedly I can struggle with. However as 2020 came to a close and most of the big hurdles I dealt with had been conquered and no longer as pressing and hard as they once felt – I did not want to waste my word on something I felt I was already doing. So January 1st came, and I still did not have the word I felt fit for this new year.
Have you ever heard of Strength Finders? It is an online assessment that identifies your top 5 strengths. A book accompanies this and once you know your strengths you can read up more about them and then utilize this knowledge when developing teams for work, etc… I first learned about this in a Minnesota Library Group Training session in 2012. I was fascinated to learn these things about myself and since then everyone I know who has taken this assessment what it identifies as their top strengths I have found to be spot on.
Through the years, I have taken the assessment 3 times, the last time in 2018 when a new Strength came to the top of my list that I had never seen on anyone’s list before – let alone mine. It identified my #1 strength as a MAXIMIZER.
This was explained as: Excellence not average is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average takes a great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb takes just as much effort but is much more thrilling. Strength’s rather yours or someone else’s, fascinates you. Like a diver after pearls, you search them out looking for the telltale signs of a strength. You are attracted to others who seem to have found and cultivated their own strengths. You tend to avoid those who want to fix you and make you well rounded. Rather you want to capitalize on the gifts which you are blessed. It’s more fun. It’s more productive. And it’s more demanding.
So…. on January 1st, after being up until almost 2 am working on the First Book post, I was taking my own sweet time getting to work (there was not set time to be there). My boss gave me a call to see what time I was planning to be in and I explained to him that I had been up late working on all the pieces of the First Book. He was sharing how he too had been up late with his wife binge watching a tv series, and I continued how if I had not had to be so detailed I would never have been up that late. You know me I said, “I had to maximize the post – make sure it was easy for people to find the books in the pictures and put on their own reading lists if they chose. And of course I wanted to identify where the authors were, I thought that would be fun….”
And there it was.
Maximize is my word for 2021. I want to take the everyday – and level it up. I guess, live intentionally so to speak. I am a big believer that each day is a gift and I am also someone who knows first hand that you only get that day the one time. Once your through it, you don’t get to go back and make it better. Might as well put in the extra effort and have something worth being proud of, worth remembering… and I absolutely love looking back and saying, “Yeah I did that.”
Yeah, that was a bit long. I am curious if you chose a word for 2021? If you did please share it? I find saying things out loud make it stick much better than secretly keeping it to yourself. Also if you had a word for 2020, I would love to hear how it went. I find almost consistently that what I think a word will mean at the beginning of the year means something different to me by the end. My 2020 word was Define. I had no idea that 2020 would be what it was and my word turned out to really mean something stronger than I thought it would. I feel in some ways we were all defined in 2020. 2020 revealed true character in how we each handled these world changes. Turned out to be a great word for 2020.
Good Morning! Well, morning in Minnesota anyway. I have my COFFEE and still basking off what a great first day of the year I had. I feel good. I hope you do as well. Every year First Book energizes me and this year – if you took part in it – congratulations, you were part of a record breaking year. We had 134 entrees sent in! Well…133. The Harry Potter book; I noticed a friend posting about as her first read – and well…. it is Harry Potter after all so I asked her if I could add it. I solicited that one. Anyhoo… congratulations. What you are seeing above is the pics that came in yesterday after I made the BIG post. To see them all in their glory as well as all the 13 Authors mixed among them, check out yesterdays post.
This is First Books 8th year as being part of this blog. First Book for me started much longer ago. I was thinking about it yesterday and I would say possibly 30 years. Long before I did this (or even knew what a blog was), I was a big reader. For some reason, the first book of the year was always a special decision. It was after all, the book that often brought me into the New Year and that felt like it kicked off my bookish year. When I did start this blog in 2009 (Can you even believe it????) I still was doing First Book solo, but in those early days of working with publishing houses and authors and often reading on their agenda not mine – First Book became me guilty pleasure book. It was the book I chose because it was what I wanted to. It could be a re- read of a favorite, one I had been waiting to read, whatever it was – it was just for me.
Fun Fact – in the early days of my personal First Book – my first book of the year every year was a True Crime. Honestly. I know that may sound a little creepy, but that is what I picked every year as my one true crime book of the year.
This year, I chose The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. This is also my book club’s pick for January. I did not pick it because it is the Book Club book as well. I picked it because I am genuinely excited to dig into this book. From what I have heard, it is exactly what I love…. a little bit of magical fantasy and a whole lot of what if’s. I am all in.
I was going to talk to you about my word for the year as well today, however I don’t wish to ramble and that can wait until tomorrow.
This is one of my favorite posts of the year. The moment I get to reveal all the books you have shared with me. Thank you to everyone who sent in pics of your First Book, the response was incredible. Books came in from Scotland, Australia, Canada, and all over the United States. We went over 100 pictures sent in this year.
*If you sent me a picture and do not see it here please let me know. Pics come in from Facebook, email, and text, and try as I do, I could have possibly missed something. Also – every year a few pics trickle in late so if you are reading this and did not turn in your first book, however, wish to – you certainly can as I update again tonight and repost tomorrow and additions. You can email me pics at sdechantal@gmail.com
Under the pics I have listed the book titles as well as a few fun facts – I will identify the authors in the pictures (see if you can find them – there are 13!) as well as what book shows up most frequently for this year’s collection.
That was a lot of fun! I love seeing what everyone is planning to read first this year! Did you find me and my pick? I’m pretty well disguised! Promised land by Barack Obama takes the lead with 5 people selecting this as their first read. Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People comes in second! Thanks again, everyone. Hopefully, you find a few interesting reads out of this group to add to your own list. I know I did. Happy New Year!
It’s the Eve before the Eve. I recently have been listening to a new audio book and usually if I do not enjoy something I just move on… not every book is for everybody ya know? Yet this book was such an epic fail I literally groaned out loud when I finally decided enough was enough. I am talking about Jerry Seinfeld’s new book, Is This Anything?
I love good humor. I adore quick witticism. While I don’t per se usually sit down and watch a comedy act, I do enjoy good funny shows etc… I have listened to many a funny person on audio as they narrate their life and share their journey and have come out the other side just fine for doing so. Some examples would be David Sedaris (hilarious!), David Spade, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Justin Halpren, Kevin Hart, Jim Gaffidan… you get the picture. All funny… all laugh out loud funny. Even typing about them makes me want to listen to some of them again…
And then there is, Is This Anything? At first I thought it was just the start of the book…. like a prologue. A robotic woman’s voice announces the joke, then Jerry tells the joke. THEN the robotic woman’s voice announces another joke. Jerry tells the joke. And again. And again.
And again. Seriously who thought this was a good idea?
I was listening in my car or when I was cooking dinner. The voice was jarring. The audio had no smooth rhythm. The jokes were not like chapters, they were like speed bumps so you literally had a new joke and a new robot voice every 30 seconds to a minute. It was awful and after an exasperated “ARGGGHHH” Charlie Brown style, I shut it off.
Life’s too short.
Nothing against Jerry, I enjoy him on Seinfeld. This was just not a win for me.
Is This Anything? No Jerry, it is not.
Have you experienced a book or audio that you could not get through do to choppy formatting? Weird voice? Or other fingernails on a chalkboard happenings?
I don’t do resolutions. They are messy and usually within weeks you have forgotten all about what you were planning to do anyway.
Or… is that just me?
In 2014 I heard about One Word. There used to be a cool page called One Little Word, that had a list of words but I see now it has been removed. You can also find books on this now, and here today I found this page called oneword365.com .
But honestly, you don’t need all the bells and whistles.
It wasn’t until 2016 that my word really took hold. 2015 was, well, some of you were there with me through all of that. I was at a point in my life where I didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t want to do anything and I sure as hell didn’t want to be anywhere people were – especially happy people. My word for 2016 was COURAGE and honestly it changed everything. I used my word when I didn’t think I could do something. When the word “No” was right there on the tip of my tongue and then my word would come to mind… and I would instead say, “I can do this.” COURAGE was the right word for me that year, a friend gave me a key that said COURAGE on it, I had it on a bracelet and I owned it.
In 2017 my word was SHINE. 2016 gave me what I needed to feel like I could breath again, and in 2017, I really did SHINE in so many ways. In 2018 I went with Experience. I wanted to experience new things and not waste the life I was given. In 2019, my word was Spark and in 2020 it was Define.
I chose Define because I wanted to define who I was. I wanted to be the person I was on the inside as well as on the outside. One of the great things about choosing a word is what I usually think it is going to mean for me…. it tales me in a whole new direction. (2015 was Emerge – the hardest of all my word posts to read -and there was a time when I hated it, before I began to understand that it would have a different meaning then I had anticipated). Define for 2020. Well…. who wasn’t defined in 2020? 2020 brought out true colors in people like I don’t think we have ever experienced before. You had fear, hate, anger, defiance, ugliness, cruelty, as well as hope, kindness, love, teamwork, those who rose above the chaos and looked to where they could lend a hand. While Define was not at all what I thought I was going to do with it, I feel I lived it well.
So here we are at the crossroads to 2021. I am still undecided. Choosing my word is a big deal to me. I thought I had it, and now I am not so sure. When I have it, I will let you know. Feel free to join in. It is most definitely a personal choice and what you feel you need for the upcoming year. It can be personal. You can share it here, you can also send me a private message if you wish to share it with someone. It is entirely up to you. It is after all your one word.
2020 has brought many challenges to so many – in so many ways. Non Profits are no different. With the inability to have our book sales as we normally do twice a year, not only do we not have the income that the book sales usually make, we do not have an outlet to put books in our communities hands. With MANY books being donated weekly by our generous community, and no sale in over a year, as many non profits are doing, we had to think outside the box.
The Friends of The Brainerd Public Library book sale moved online in late October. This was due to a dedicated team of Volunteers who set up the sale just like you would if we were opening the doors to a regular sale. They categorized the donated books and we set up the website to offer people a chance to go on line and purchase a bundle of their favorite genre… OR… choose an Experience bundle that would be a mix of great reads to try. You could also message the Book Sale Team and let them know if you were looking for specific titles, and they would communicate back; and if they had it, they set up a pick up time and customers could pay at the door. It’s like curbside pick up…. for books.
My part of all of this is the website and really why I am writing this today. I have been volunteering at the book sales for about 12 years now. I love talking to people about books, recommending books and seeing what they can recommend to me. In all the years of doing this, I found that this online sale has a few things happening that I did not anticipate – but I certainly appreciate.
Volunteers filling book orders that have come in through packing lists and online ordering
It is a more personal experience. You see the customer place their order and they share with you authors they like, and genres they like. Someone from the book sale team takes their request and fills their order based on what they have said – like a personal shopper.
You see new trends. When orders come in and customers are choosing their books, you really get to see what people are looking for. In turn this helps our Book Sale Team know what is popular when the donations come in. Non Fiction, for instance, has had a much bigger request then I thought it would.
Teachable moments. Recently we had an order come in requesting Cozy Mysteries. If I see an order come in where someone requests a specific author or something like this, I will add a little note to it to assist the team filling the order in where to find the books. For this particular request, I made a note for the team saying they probably already knew this but just in case, I explained what a cozy mystery was (Sconed to Death!) as well as a few of the popular Cozy Mystery Authors. Later, one of the Book Sale Chairs told me that they had a fun time finding those books and had a fun discussion and learning what a Cozy Mystery was. 😀
Phone calls for specific books. We now have a master list of people who have shared what they are looking for. There is the guy who will take all Bibles donated. There is the lady who will take any crochet books. And of course thanks to Queen’s Gambit, there is a run on anything Chess.
When the in person sale is happening, it is so crazy busy you don’t really have the time to spend with one person as they choose their books. You might wave to someone or help for a couple minutes, and then you are flying off to assist the next person. As in many things, this is a slow down and more focused process that thanks to the dedicated Volunteers, is working.
I am sure the Book Team could share a lot more cool stories – these are just mine from the comfy chair at my house and watching the orders come in. For those of you who live elsewhere, what is your Library or Friends Group doing at this time? I would love to hear other ideas!
For those that do not know, I am the President of the Friends of the Brainerd Public Library. I do this because I have always had a love for books and connecting people to books they will enjoy. To me, the best gift is sharing a book you love with someone else. It is like you gave them keys to another world where they may be living in the marsh of North Carolina, or saving a futuristic world, or even a young boy riding a train for the first time to a school of magic.
After a horrific shooting, Dr. Olivia Simon rushed to the emergency room to do her best to save a young woman’s life. As all attempts fail and the patient dies while Olivia is doing everything she can, Olivia realizes she knows the woman…
it is Annie O’Neil. The woman that Oliva’s husband, Paul, is in love with.
As details unfold and Paul has to deal with this enormous truth, Olivia struggles with her own truths. Desperately trying to save her marriage, while trying to understand her husband’s overwhelming grief for a woman he was merely infatuated with, Olivia finds herself looking deeper into Annie’s world, including Annie’s own husband and children for answers.
This was a real whoa. As crazy as the details of this book are, you cant help but know that in todays this world this is an absolute possibility. I was annoyed with Paul, rooting for Olivia, and all the in-between. Definitely a page turner to the very end. If you are looking for a wonderful Diane Chamberlain read, this is it.
Book Journey 