Monday Musing ~ about a Chilean girl in Maine

I Lived on Butterfly Hill (Book 1 of 2) ~ by Marjorie Agosin, illustrated by Lee White, 2016, historical fiction (Chile), 454 pages

An eleven-year-old’s world is upended by political turmoil in this story of exile and reunification from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile.

Celeste Marconi is a dreamer.  She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile — until one day when warships are spotted in the harbor and schoolmates start disappearing from class without a word.  Celeste doesn’t quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is safe, not anymore.

The country has been taken over by a government that declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be considered "subversive" and dangerous to Chile’s future.  So Celeste’s parents — her educated, generous, kind parents — must go into hiding before they, too, "disappear."  Before they do, however, they send Celeste to America to protect her.

As Celeste adapts to her new life in Maine, she never stops dreaming of Chile.  But even after democracy is restored to her home country, questions remain:  Will her parents reemerge from hiding?  Will she ever be truly safe again?

Accented with interior artwork, steeped in the history of Pinochet’s catastrophic takeover of Chile, and based on many true events, this multicultural book is an ode to the power of revolution, words, and love.

Read about 100 exceptional African Americans — including "the real McCoy" on p. 19

100 African Americans Who Shaped American History ~ by Chrisanne Beckner, 2022, social science, 128 pages

Discover the inspiring stories of 100 legendary Black Americans.  From artists and inventors to civil rights leaders, you'll meet extraordinary individuals whose talents, ideas, and contributions have guided the country for hundreds of years.

Ordered chronologically, these brief biographies offer an engaging look at the challenges and achievements of some of the most influetial African Americans.  From well-known icons like abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, to lesser-known figures like aviator Bessie Coleman and singer Marian Anderson.

1. On Monday, I posted about the St. Louis Rams, HERE.
2. On Wednesday, I shared a book, HERE, that my neighbor said she couldn't put down.  I couldn't get into it, myself.
3. My Thursday Thoughts, HERE, were about how reading a novel can help us see the world from a new and different perspective than simply our own lives.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

These notes from a book show one reason I read

A Short History of Myth ~ by Karen Armstrong, 2005, history, 176 pages, 8/10

"Yet the experience of reading a novel ... can be seen as a form of  meditation. ... It projects them into another world, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives" (p. 147).

"A novel, like a myth, teaches us to see the world differently; it shows us how to look into our own hearts and to see our world from a perspective that goes beyond our own self-interest" (p. 149).

My neighbor says she couldn't put this one down

The Appeal ~ by Janice Hallett, 2021, murder mystery, 432 pages

This international bestseller follows a community rallying around a sick child — but when escalating lies lead to a dead body, everyone is a suspect.  The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star.  Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.

But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy — nor of the good intentions of those involved.  Things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal.  The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made.  In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material — emails, messages, letters — with a growing suspicion that the killer may be hiding in plain sight.  The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.

NOTE:  Since my neighbor Betty needed another book to read, she called me, offered me this book, and I gave her "Nice" Jewish Girls by Julie Merberg that I read in October and rated 10/10.  Read about it, HERE.

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams 

were a professional 

American football 

team that played in 

St. Louis, Missouri, 

from 1995 to 2015 

before relocating back 

to Los Angeles.  The 

franchise, which played 

in the NFL, won Super 

Bowl XXXIV during 

their time in St. Louis.

My friend Donna Carey

was a big fan of the St. 

Louis Rams.

Being sick is not fun at all

The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick ~ by Gene Stone, 2010, health and fitness, 212 pages

Who does not want to be healthier?  The author wanted to find out what might actually prevent him from getting sick himself.  This book tells the stories of twenty-five people who each possess a different secret of excellent health — a secret that makes sense and that Stone discovered has a scientific underpinning.  There are:

1. food secrets — take garlic and vitamin C, eat more probiotics, become a vegan, drink a tonic of brewer’s yeast.
2. exercise secrets — the benefits of lifting weights, the power of stretching.
3. environmental secrets — living in a Blue Zone, understanding the value of germs.
4. emotional secrets — seek out and stay in touch with friends, cultivate your spirituality.
5. physical secrets — nap more, take cold showers in the morning.

There's a lot more, as you can see from this photo of the contents pages.  The stories make it personal, the research makes it real, and the do-it-yourself information shows how to integrate each secret into your own life and become the next person who never gets sick.

1. The topic of my Monday Musing post was a Mozart Concerto, HERE.
2. On TWOsday, I posted two photos my two daughters sent while traveling to visit me, HERE.
3. Wednesday's Word was "parasocial," HERE, pre-posted long before my daughters came to visit.
4. I didn't post while my daughters were here, so that's it for my blogging week.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Parasocial?

I have never even heard the word "parasocial," but it is Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year.  Okay, the article says parasocial relates to "a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence."  Since I've never "adored" a celebrity, I guess that could explain why I've never heard the word.