Library Loot ~ July 3-9

The Boy Who Wouldn't Obey: A Mayan Legend ~ by Anne Rockwell, 2000, children's, 8/10

When Chac, the great lord who makes rain, takes a disobedient boy as his servant, they are both in for trouble.  According to Mayan legend, Chac is one of the gods of the sky who control rain, wind, thunder, and lightning.  With his bottomless gourd of rain, his bag of winds, his booming drum, and his flashing ax, Chac is a mighty lord.  But all his powers can't give him the patience to handle a mischievous mortal boy he plucks from the forest to be his servant.  This particular boy rarely does what he's told on Earth, much less in the heavens.

Crones Don't Whine: Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women ~ by Jean Shinoda Bolen, 2003, psychology

Bolen's playful sense of humour and keen insight combine to offer women thirteen qualities to cultivate.

1. Crones don't whine
2. Crones are juicy
3. Crones have green thumbs
4. Crones trust what they know in their bones
5. Crones meditate in their fashion
6. Crones are fierce about what matters to them
7. Crones choose the path with heart
8. Crones speak the truth with compassion
9. Crones listen to their bodies
10. Crones improvise
11. Crones don't grovel
12. Crones laugh together
13. Crones savor the good in their lives

Engage in these small practices and you're bound to be a happier person, who's doing her bit to make the world just a little better.  Here are thirteen brief essays to turn to again and again, in bad times and good, alone and with others.

Under Fishbone Clouds ~ by Sam Meekings, 2009, fiction (China)

Following a young Chinese couple as their love grows, and is tested, during Mao's Cultural Revolution, this elegant debut novel provides a rare and personal glimpse into the birth of modern China.  When the Kitchen God is challenged by the Jade Emperor to fathom the workings of the human heart, he chooses to follow the life of Jinyi and his wife Yuying, from their blossoming love until their old age, in hope of finding an answer.  The Kitchen God watches as the new government strictures split their family in two, living inside their hearts as they they endure the loss of two children, homesickness, and isolation, all while keeping alive a love that survives famine, forced labor, and even death.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages us to share titles of books we’ve checked out of the library.  Add your link any time during the week, and see what others got this week.