Lilith, Adam's first wife

Once upon a time in the city of Tunis, a flirtatious young girl was drawn into Lilith's dangerous web by glancing repeatedly at herself in the mirror.  It seems that a demon daughter of the legendary Lilith had made her home in the mirror and would soon completely possess the unsuspecting girl.  Such tales of terror and the supernatural occupy an honored position in the Jewish folkloric tradition.

Howard Schwartz has translated and retold fifty of the best of these folktales, now collected into one volume.  Gathered from countless sources ranging from the ancient Middle East to twelfth-century Germany and later Eastern European oral tradition, these captivating stories include Jewish variants of the Pandora and Persephone myths and of such famous folktales as "The Fisherman and His Wife," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and "Bluebeard," as well as several tales from the Middle Ages that have never before been published.

Focusing on crucial turning points in life — birth, marriage, and death — the tales feature wandering spirits, marriage with demons, werewolves, speaking heads, possession by dybbuks (souls of the dead who enter the bodies of the living), and every other kind of supernatural adversary.  Readers will encounter a carpenter who is haunted when he makes a violin from the wood of a coffin; a wife who saves herself from the demoness her husband has inadvertently married by agreeing to share him for an hour each day; and the age-old tale of Lilith, Adam's first wife, who refused to submit to him and instead banished herself from the Garden of Eden to give birth to the demons of the world.

Drawn from Rabbinic sources, medieval Jewish folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral tradition, these stories will entrance readers of Jewish literature and those with an affection for fantasy and the supernatural.

TWO, my second item for this TWOsday post, are the two small cheese pizzas my friend Alyssa and I had for lunch in the Cafe today.  Believe it or not, we each took home half of it for later.  I asked her what she knew about Lilith and mentioned my library book.

Today we remember Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the

United States observed on the third Monday of January

each year.  MLK was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent

activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial

discrimination in federal and state law and civil society.

This year, the holiday falls on January 20, 2025.

Another book from our Crown Center library

First Snow in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy ~ by Carl R. Sams and Jean Stoick, 2007, children's, 48 pages, 10/10

The nights were growing longer.  The winds blew colder.  It was a time of changing seasons.  "Have you gathered your nuts yet, Spotty?" the chipmunk asked the fawn as he scurried through the woods burying nuts here and there.  "I heard it from the rabbit, who heard it from the owl ... winter's coming early this year, you better get ready!"  But was he ready?  Was he paying attention to his heartsong?  Wonderful photos for animal lovers, old folks as well as children.

Here's what I have posted this week:

1. For Book Beginnings on Friday, I wrote about a book of fiction that takes place in St. Louis, HERE.  You can see the Gateway Arch of the book's cover (on the right), as a character runs up the steps from the Mississippi River.
2. I mused HERE about the history of a local cemetery and the book I got from the library about it.
3. I wrote about TWO library books on TWOsday, HERE.
4. We had World Logic Day on the 14th, HERE.
5. I wrote about our piles of snow HERE, after we got almost 11-inches of the white stuff.  Then I mentioned signing off to attend a Resident Council meeting.  Fun footnote (at least for me):  We each got a ticket stub on entering, with a drawing held at the end of the meeting.  I was a winner!  I won a box of goodies, including bags of edible stuff like snickerdoodle cookies and caramel popcorn.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Beginning ~ with a better idea?

Book Beginning

"I have a better idea.  Let's have him killed."

Bad Trust (An Attorney Rachel Gold Mystery) ~ by Michael A. Kahn, 2020, mystery (St. Louis), 232 pages

St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold and her colleagues use their wits, legal skills, and a dash of chutzpah to defend both a slander case and a woman accused of murdering her rather nasty brother.  An ugly trust fund dispute among siblings turns deadly when Isaiah, CEO of the family firm he stole from their father, is murdered in his office.

Jewish lawyer Rachel Gold, hired to bring suit against Isaiah on behalf of his sisters, must now defend one against the charge of fratricide.  But playing at detective for her legal case means getting entrenched in the complex dynamics of the Jewish family.

As Rachel and her team seek essential evidence, the widowed Rachel struggles with family issues of her own, including relationships with her young son Sam and her boyfriend Abe. The jury is still out on whether or not Rachel can create the work-life balance she is seeking.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thinking about piles of snow

These piles of snow from our recent snow storm that were pushed into huge piles in the parking lot by the snow plow are beginning to melt, but they have only shrunk a little bit.  People are still having to use shovels to get out of their spots.

This afternoon, I walked across the street to Walgreen's and literally couldn't see to get home across the street.  Okay, I was going west, toward the setting sun, but even using my clip-on sunglasses, I was having trouble and needed to hold my hand up to shade my face, like the brim of a baseball cap.  Next time, if I go around that time of day, I'll wear a cap with a brim!

Hmm, I just noticed that photo above was taken after sunset, so it doesn't look like the blinding snow I faced today.  Gotta go now and comb my hair before going downstairs for our Resident Council meeting.

Let's be logical

I just learned about this when I got online, so this TWOsday gets an extra post.  Let's be logical, okay?  Let's think about it, like the famous "thinker" in this photo and on the cover of this small book on critical thinking that I have.

The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools (Eighth Edition) ~ by Richard Paul and Linda Elder, 2020, philosophy, 48 pages

This powerful book introduces core critical thinking concepts and principles as an empowering problem-solving framework for every profession, course of study, and indeed every area of life. It distills the groundbreaking work of Richard Paul and Linda Elder, targeting how to deconstruct thinking through the elements of reasoning and how to assess the quality of our thinking.

The eighth edition of this guide further details the foundations of critical thinking and how they can be applied in instruction to improve teaching and learning at all levels; it also reveals how we can learn to identify and avoid egocentric and sociocentric thought, which lead to close-mindedness, self-deception, arrogance, hypocrisy, greed, selfishness, herd mentality, prejudice, and the like.

With more than half a million copies sold, Richard Paul and Linda Elder’s bestselling book in the Thinker’s Guide Library is used in secondary and higher education courses and professional development seminars across the globe. In a world of conflicting information and clashing ideologies, this guide clears a path for advancing fairminded critical societies.

I remember fitting together shapes like this little wooden puzzle.  Did you?  I thought of it because of that picture at the top, with the shapes being almost pushed together.

Two more books from the library

The Collected Regrets of Clover ~ by Mikki Brammer, 2023, psychological fiction (New York), 317 pages

What’s the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you can’t give yourself a beautiful life?  From the day she watched her kindergarten teacher drop dead during a dramatic telling of Peter Rabbit, Clover Brooks has felt a stronger connection with the dying than she has with the living.  After the beloved grandfather who raised her dies alone while she is traveling, Clover becomes a death doula in New York City, dedicating her life to ushering people peacefully through their end-of-life process.

Clover spends so much time with the dying that she has no life of her own, until the final wishes of a feisty old woman send Clover on a trip across the country to uncover a forgotten love story –– and perhaps, her own happy ending.  As she finds herself struggling to navigate the uncharted roads of romance and friend-ship, Clover is forced to examine what she really wants, and whether she’ll have the courage to go after it.  This book was named a Best Book of 2023 by NPR.  Looks very interesting to me.

House of Leaves ~ by Mark Z. Danielewski, 2000, literary fiction, 736 pages

A house that's larger on the inside than on the outside?  House of Leaves has been called a terrifying story and has inspired doctorate-level courses and masters theses.  So what's it about?  Here's what I found online:

Neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of the impossibility of their new home, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story — of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.

I put this one on reserve because someone here at the Crown Center told me about it, but I'm not sure it's for me, now that I have it in hand.  I'll give it a try (and let you know what I think), but I already know for sure that it's a heavy, chunky book!