Musa and Dada are off to the shore, but along the way the bus encounters many others who need a lift. Will there be room for an old man with a bicycleMusa and Dada are off to the shore, but along the way the bus encounters many others who need a lift. Will there be room for an old man with a bicycle, a herder with goats, vendors with baskets of fruit, and more? Yes, there is room for everyone!
A lovely lilting verse, wonderful illustrations, and a happy message....more
I was twenty when this book was published, but I was busy finishing college and I missed both the wildly popular book and miniseries from the 1970s. SI was twenty when this book was published, but I was busy finishing college and I missed both the wildly popular book and miniseries from the 1970s. Still, I always wanted to read the book, and when Chapter-a-Day chose it as the first book for 2025, I joined in.
Roots is the story of the ancestor of Black American author Alex Haley, Kunta Kinte. The African, as his aunts referred to him, had a mythological status in the family. Haley felt inspired to find out more about him based on the few clues provided by his last remaining aunt in the 1960s. He found a scholar familiar with African languages, and that led him to The Gambia where he discovered an oral historian who recited the lineage that led to this very ancestor, Kunta Kinte. He found him in America, enslaved, renamed as Toby, in the census records. He began to reconstruct his life.
I was fascinated to read about the life of Kunta Kinte in Africa, the trials he faced during his captivity on the ship to America, and his life as an enslaved man in 1700s America.
I want to know more about the people of Africa. I hope to read a book about the history of the African people soon....more
Thank you, Mary Oliver, for looking at the world and sharing what you saw, with fresh eyes, with an open heart. Blue Horses is a small volume of her pThank you, Mary Oliver, for looking at the world and sharing what you saw, with fresh eyes, with an open heart. Blue Horses is a small volume of her poetry toward the end of her working life, and it is genuine and truthful and wise....more
"It is strange to be here. The mystery never leaves you alone. Behind your image, below your words, above your thoughts, tHere's how this book begins:
"It is strange to be here. The mystery never leaves you alone. Behind your image, below your words, above your thoughts, the silence of another world awaits."
This book, by poet and philosopher John O'Donohue, is full of deep wisdom and thoughtful meditations about life and the world.
Apologies, but
I have few words that could tell you how good this book is.
Japanologist Beth Kempton takes us on a trip to experience kokoro, a word that means intelligent spirit. Kekokoro [n.] intelligent heart, feeling mind
Japanologist Beth Kempton takes us on a trip to experience kokoro, a word that means intelligent spirit. Kempton travels across mountains and forests of Japan and talks to many wise people about kokoro....more
The Serviceberry is a beautiful introduction to Robin Wall Kimmerer's philosophy of life, a philosophy she encourages all of us humans to take on, a pThe Serviceberry is a beautiful introduction to Robin Wall Kimmerer's philosophy of life, a philosophy she encourages all of us humans to take on, a philosophy that is central to that of nature. It centers on the idea of reciprocity, abundance, and gift economy; it sits in contrast to America's primary philosophy, that of conflictual capitalism.
Six astronauts are up in the international space station circling the earth sixteen times a day. Orbital is one day in their lives.
In the old days, pSix astronauts are up in the international space station circling the earth sixteen times a day. Orbital is one day in their lives.
In the old days, people would go to the top of a mountain to look down on the earth and reflect upon life and meaning and other important things. In this book, these six look down on earth from two hundred and fifty miles above.
There are a few things going on down below---the death of a mother, the dissolving of a marriage, a partner alone on his family farm---and there are a few things going on while on the space station---adjusting to floating, going outside the ship for repairs---but the majority of the book is not really typical novel stuff like conflict and plot but poetry and philosophy, meditations on life and meaning and other important things....more
You might think the author's name and photo look familiar. Yes, Andrew McCarthy was a Big Actor when he was a young man. Now he's satisfied to write tYou might think the author's name and photo look familiar. Yes, Andrew McCarthy was a Big Actor when he was a young man. Now he's satisfied to write travel pieces and ruminate on what is important. He decided to take the opportunity to relive one of the favorite times of his life, a trip down The Camino de Santiago across Spain, and this time he chose to ask along his oldest child, his son Sam, a child who was about to begin the process of launching out onto his own.
Sam, somewhat reluctantly, agrees to travel with his dad, and off the two go, walking, talking, arguing, fighting, making up, resting, asking questions, reminiscing, sharing life wisdom, philosophizing....more
The Mandalorian is a bounty hunter, and he is given the opportunity to retrieve something for which a huge reward has been offered. He succeeds and brThe Mandalorian is a bounty hunter, and he is given the opportunity to retrieve something for which a huge reward has been offered. He succeeds and brings in a child, but he leaves with remorse, and soon goes back to take the child with him.
Graphic novel, this one is called, but I call it a comic book. I shall read on....more
I've always loved Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House, and The Yellow Bus feels like a lovely homage to that wonderful book. A favorite picture booI've always loved Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House, and The Yellow Bus feels like a lovely homage to that wonderful book. A favorite picture book of the year!...more
In 1975, I saw a movie that changed my life. I always felt like this movie was made just for me. I was tired of going to college---I started the day aIn 1975, I saw a movie that changed my life. I always felt like this movie was made just for me. I was tired of going to college---I started the day after I graduated from high school, and after only twelve months of college, I was burned out. The movie that changed my life was The Paper Chase.
It's the story of a young man, James Hart, who is determined to be the best student in the class of a formidable professor, Professor Kingsfield, at Harvard Law School. James does become an accomplished student, but in the end he realizes Kingsfield will never give him the acknowledgment he desires.
The movie ends with him folding his report card into a paper airplane and sailing it away. And that's what I longed to do.
But of course I did not.
And the author of the book from which the movie was made also, I learned, did not fold his report card into a paper airplane and sail it away. Ironically, author John Osborn finished at Harvard Law, and actually became a professor much like Kingsfield....more
Philip Carey is left orphaned after the death of his mother, and he is sent off to live with his aunt and uncle. His childhood is emotionally cold, anPhilip Carey is left orphaned after the death of his mother, and he is sent off to live with his aunt and uncle. His childhood is emotionally cold, and he is often bullied about his disability, a clubfoot. Philip tries to make his way in life, and he explores some of the loptions open to him, with schooling, with travels, with the friends he makes. He experiences both the deep joys and deep pains of living in the world, and he attempts to come to an understanding of life, a life philosophy, a way of reconciling the pain.
Who could read this book and not fall in love a bit with Philip Carey? His goodness is overwhelming, and those to whom he shared his goodness were rarely deserving of it.
Philip's philosophizing is one of the things I enjoyed so much about this book. Philip makes friends with other thoughtful people, Cronshaw among them. It is Cronshaw who offered Philip the metaphor of life as a Persian rug, and it is this metaphor that Philip comes back to again and again, and which somehow brings Philip a sense of happiness:
"Thinking of Cronshaw, Philip remembered the Persian rug which he had given him, telling him that it offered an answer to his question upon the meaning of life; and suddenly the answer occurred to him: he chuckled: now that he had it, it was like one of the puzzles which you worry over till you are shown the solution and then cannot imagine how it could ever have escaped you. The answer was obvious. Life had no meaning. On the earth, satellite of a star speeding through space, living things had arisen under the influence of conditions which were part of the planet's history; and as there had been a beginning of life upon it so, under the influence of other conditions, there would be an end: man, no more significant than other forms of life, had come not as the climax of creation but as a physical reaction to the environment. Philip remembered the story of the Eastern King who, desiring to know the history of man, was brought by a sage five hundred volumes; busy with affairs of state, he bade him go and condense it; in twenty years the sage returned and his history now was in no more than fifty volumes, but the King, too old then to read so many ponderous tomes, bade him go and shorten it once more; twenty years passed again and the sage, old and gray, brought a single book in which was the knowledge the King had sought; but the King lay on his death-bed, and he had no time to read even that; and then the sage gave him the history of man in a single line; it was this: he was born, he suffered, and he died. There was no meaning in life, and man by living served no end. It was immaterial whether he was born or not born, whether he lived or ceased to live. Life was insignificant and death without consequence. Philip exulted, as he had exulted in his boyhood when the weight of a belief in God was lifted from his shoulders: it seemed to him that the last burden of responsibility was taken from him; and for the first time he was utterly free. His insignificance was turned to power, and he felt himself suddenly equal with the cruel fate which had seemed to persecute him; for, if life was meaningless, the world was robbed of its cruelty."
And further:
"His life had seemed horrible when it was measured by its happiness, but now he seemed to gather strength as he realised that it might be measured by something else. Happiness mattered as little as pain. They came in, both of them, as all the other details of his life came in, to the elaboration of the design. He seemed for an instant to stand above the accidents of his existence, and he felt that they could not affect him again as they had done before. Whatever happened to him now would be one more motive to add to the complexity of the pattern, and when the end approached he would rejoice in its completion. It would be a work of art, and it would be none the less beautiful because he alone knew of its existence, and with his death it would at once cease to be. Philip was happy."
Another theme of the book is suffering, and the way suffering gives life meaning:
"But her tears were partly tears of happiness, for she felt that the strangeness between them was gone. She loved him now with a new love because he had made her suffer."
I also enjoyed thinking about the contrast between the ideals the young are taught and the realities of life:
"It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know they are wretched, for they are full of the truthless ideals which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in contact with the real they are bruised and wounded."
This is a quote I found to be beautiful"
"he called to mind his idea of the pattern of life: the unhappiness he had suffered was no more than part of a decoration which was elaborate and beautiful; he told himself strenuously that he must accept with gaiety everything, dreariness and excitement, pleasure and pain, because it added to the richness of the design."...more
Clara is living her life---she works in a beauty salon where she doesn't really care for her customers or her boss or her fellow employees...she livesClara is living her life---she works in a beauty salon where she doesn't really care for her customers or her boss or her fellow employees...she lives with a man she is bored with...and she goes along day after day, doing the tasks she must do, until she runs across a book, In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. She takes the book home and forgets about it for months, until one day she starts reading it. And reading it. Volume one and then on to two and three...all the way to seven. And everything changes...
You know that you enjoyed a book and were impressed by a book if you, immediately upon finishing the book, download all seven volumes, all three thousand pages, of the book the story is about....more
David Brooks takes a close look at some of the world's most highly respected people, including a war leader, a champions of the poor, a Civil Rights lDavid Brooks takes a close look at some of the world's most highly respected people, including a war leader, a champions of the poor, a Civil Rights leader, a writer, and more. He shows how the difficulties each person faced helped develop the person's character. Brooks makes a distinction between the two Adams in the book of Genesis in the Christian Bible. One Adam, Adam 1, becomes great by developing ambition and other worldly values. The other Adam, Adam 2, becomes great by becoming a person who respects others and develops inner values. All of the people Brooks looks at develop into people of great character, like Adam 2....more
James is a wonderful new take on Huckleberry Finn. Jim is enslaved, and he learns that he is to be sold. He hides on a nearby island while he can formJames is a wonderful new take on Huckleberry Finn. Jim is enslaved, and he learns that he is to be sold. He hides on a nearby island while he can formulate a plan, and his friend, Huck, joins him.
Jim and Huck have many adventures, including a flood, trying to con two con artists, and more. This book gives readers both a new look at Jim as well as a new look at the horrors of enslavement....more
Booksellers and librarians are people who have discovered the life-altering powers of books, and they want to share these with others. James PattersonBooksellers and librarians are people who have discovered the life-altering powers of books, and they want to share these with others. James Patterson and Matt Eversmann tell us about the lives of some of these people, many of whom are currently fighting the hardest battles of their lives against forces that want to limit the books that others have access to....more
How well I remember watching The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers on PBS! Here was this wise man, Joseph Campbell, who studied mythsHow well I remember watching The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers on PBS! Here was this wise man, Joseph Campbell, who studied myths all around the world his entire life, being interviewed by a wise and curious man, Bill Moyers, and Campbell replied to all the questions in a way that hinted at the profound mystery of existence. I had to buy and read the book after I watched the series. And, if you haven't read the book or watched the series, I urge you to do so, too....more
Ferris and her sister, Pinky, live with their parents and Grandmother Charisse. Uncle Ted has moved into the basement and Aunt Shirley has not. CharisFerris and her sister, Pinky, live with their parents and Grandmother Charisse. Uncle Ted has moved into the basement and Aunt Shirley has not. Charisse has seen a ghost and she is convinced the ghost wants her to accomplish a difficult task. Pinky is on a rampage and her parents can't figure out what to do with her.
John Lewis wanted to be a preacher when he grew up, and he started his career with the only audience available to him as a child, his chickens. He preJohn Lewis wanted to be a preacher when he grew up, and he started his career with the only audience available to him as a child, his chickens. He preaches, and the chickens listen. When one of his chickens falls into the well, the boy saves her, and attributes her rescue to another of God's miracles. John Lewis even baptizes the chickens.
All of the skills Lewis will use in adulthood in his work as a preacher, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and one of the leaders of the March on Washington and the demonstration on the Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama....more
Deb (Readerbuzz)
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