What are you reading now?

What's wonderful about Wednesday?  Another book!  That's what makes this a great Wednesday!  But wait a minute.  I don't have room for any more books.

I've been "reading my shelves," trying to decide which books to keep and which to either trade in or donate.  Why?  Because I have a "million" books and no more shelves to put them on.  Okay, so my problem is probably the whole idea that "another book" makes it a great day.

If I've read it, do I really need to keep it?  If I haven't read it, why not?  Have I quit reading books in that category?  Why?  So okay, I have a problem.  A book problem.  Is it a problem of not enough time to read?  Or a problem of trying to spread myself too thin?

Am I the only one with this problem?  No, I'm sure some of you "bookies" can relate.  So tell me, please, what suggestions you have for a crazy book bag lady?  Yep, I keep bringing 'em home in those book bags.

Oh, yeah, one more thing.  Please ignore that title above.  If you tell me what you are reading, I'll probably look it up (if I haven't already read it) and then borrow it from the library or dash out and buy myself a copy!  Oh, it's hopeless!

(And you know I really *DO* want to know your book suggestions, right?)

Friends forever

I just learned that today is National Best Friends Day.

Musing ~ what does it mean?

What is the meaning of it all?  No, I am not despairing of life; I've always asked, "What does this mean?" and "What does that mean?"  I would ask all those questions:

• Who?  What?
• When?  Where?
• Why?  Why?  Why?
• How questions, too, but mostly those "W" questions.

The biggest question, of course, is why is there something instead of nothing?  I'm sure I drove my folks crazy . . . and probably many of my teachers, too.

What are you wondering about today?  Do you have any "why" questions?  If you do, please share one of them with me.

Another couple of books

The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives ~ by Naoise Mac Sweeney, 2023, history, 448 pages

The author debunks the myths and origin stories that underpin the history we thought we knew.  Told through fourteen figures who each played a role in the creation of the Western idea — people like Herodotus, Francis Bacon, and Phillis Wheatley — this history will reshape the way you see the world around you.  Each life tells us something unexpected about the age in which it was lived and offers us a piece of the puzzle of how the modern idea of the West developed.

This is Maphead's choice for her Big Book Summer Reading Challenge.  It looks interesting, but I'm not at all sure I want that challenge right now — even after reading most of what Amazon shares of the book online.

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All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things ~ by Robert Fulghum, 1986, philosophy/stories, ix + 198 pages, 10/10

Fulghum engages us with musings on life, death, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and the best chicken-fried steak in the continental United States.  The book is brimming with lots of significance found in the smallest details.  He learned a lot in kindergarten.  It has lots of fun things to ponder, like these that I marked as I re-read this book after many, many years.

• Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts (p. 20).
• "I might be wrong" (p. 48).
• ... the power (and the price) of imagination.  "Imagination is more important than information."  Einstein said that, and he should know (p. 137).
• And even further up toward the beginning of the list of things I don't understand are the real big ones.  Like why people laugh and what art is really for and why God doesn't fix some things or finish the job.  And at the top of the list is why is there life, anyway, and how come I have to die? (p. 148).
• ... all things live only if something else is cleared out of the path to make way.  No death; no life.  No exceptions.  Things must come and go.  People.  Years.  Ideas.  Everything.  The wheel turns, and the old is cleared away ... for the new (p. 149).
• Does the giraffe know what he's for?  Or care?  Or even think about his placd in things?  A giraffe has a black tongue twenty-seven inches long and no focal cords.  A giraffe has nothing to say.  He just goes on giraffing (p. 159).
• Besides the giraffe, I saw a wombat, a duck-billed platypus, and an orangutan.  Unreal.  The orangutan looked just like my uncle Woody.  Uncle Woody is pretty unreal, too.  He belongs in a zoo.  That's what his wife says.  And that makes me wonder what it would be like if samples of people were also in zoos (p. 160).
• There's a morning in the summer of 1984 I'd like to live over just as it was (p. 180).
• Picasso said, "Everything you can imagine is real."  And I understand that (p. 184).
• "We can do no great things; only small things with great love" (p. 192).
• My favorite book ending is no ending at all.  It's where James Joyce leaves off in Finnegans Wake, in midsentence, without punctuation or explanation.  Some scholars belive the last phrase connects with the incomplete sentence that begins the book, implying an unending cycle.  I hope it's so.  I like that.  But Joyce never said.  You are free to draw youg own conclusions.

When asked what he does, Robert Fulghum usually replies that he is a philosopher, and then he explains that what he likes to do is to think a lot about ordinary things and the express what he thinks by writing or speaking or painting, whichever seems appropriate (p. 197).

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

Another book about a cat

Willow the White House Cat ~ by Dr Jill Biden, illustrated by Kate Berube, 2024, children's picture book, 48 pages, 10/10

Willow, a farm cat from Pennsylvania, adjusts to her new home, the White House, where she finds new places to play and friendly staff members who, regardless of their busy schedules, warmly embrace her presence.

The story of how a cat named Willow made her way from a farm in Pennsylvania to her new home, the White House, and made new friends along the way.  When Willow leaves her cozy barn for Washington, DC, and the big white house where she will now live, Willow discovers new rooms to explore and is welcomed by the nice lady she met at Farmer Rick’s farm.

Willow meets so many new people — one who arranges the flow­ers, another who makes sweet things to eat, and the man with a nice smile who seems to be able to do everything at once.  Even though they are much bigger and busier than she is, each of them always seems to have time to say hello and make her feel at home in the big white house.  Willow enjoys discovering the White House and all the special people who make this house a home.

Beginning ~ with a parable

Beginning

On a cool October day in the oak-forested hills of Lorena Province in Iran, a lost child was saved in an inconceivable way.  The news of it came to me as a parable that I keep turning over in my mind, a message from some gentler universe than this one.

Small Wonder ~ by Barbara Kingsolver, 2002, literary essays, xvi + 269 pages

In twenty-two articulate essays, Barbara Kingsolver raises her voice in praise of nature, family, literature, and the joys of everyday life while examining the genesis of war, violence, and poverty in our world.  This collection of essays that begins with a parable gleaned from recent news:  villagers search for a missing infant boy and find him, unharmed, in the cave of a dangerous bear that has mothered him like one of her own.  Clearly, our understanding of evil needs to be revised.  What we fear most can save us.

In "Setting Free the Crabs," she uses her daughter's decision not to take home a beautiful (and occupied) red conch shell from a Mexican beach to illustrate our own need to give up our sense of ownership of the earth, to resist "the hunger to possess all things bright and beautiful."

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thursday Thoughts

The fastest land animal is a toddler who's been asked what's in their mouth.

I just heard this and want to share it with you:  "Life begins at the end of your confort zone." -- Neale Donald Walsch

Old Turtle books

Old Turtle ~ by Douglas Wood, watercolors by Cheng-Khee Chee, children's picture book, 56 pages, 10/10

This book by Douglas Wood is about creation and the nature of God.  When it first burst upon the publishing scene in 1992, it was recognized as a classic fable about ecology, peace, and the interconnectedness of all beings.  

Old Turtle and the Broken Truth ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Jon J Muth, 2003, children's, 64 pages, 10/10

This sequel comments on earth and all its creatures, who are suffering because the people will not share their truth with those who are different from them.  Then one brave little girl seeks the wisdom of the ancient Old Turtle, who sees that the people's truth is not a whole truth, but a broken truth.  Old Turtle shows the girl the missing part of the truth, and the little girl returns with it to her people.  When the pieces are brought together, the broken truth is made whole at last — "You are loved ... and so are they."  I couldn't put it down.

Old Turtle: Lessons of Old Turtle ~ by Douglas Woods, watercolors by Cheng-Khee Chee, 2007, children's, 56 pages, 10/10

Simple yet profound, it has brought hope and inspiration to children and adults around the world since 1992.  Someone commented on Amazon that this book "teaches us about honoring the diversities among nature, plants, trees, mountains, the ocean, and all of the different kinds of people on Earth."

Old Turtle: Questions of the Heart ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Greg Ruth, 2017, children's picture book, 56 pages

Why are we here?  What is the purpose of life?  How do we find happiness?  Once again, Old Turtle's wise answers offer readers of all ages inspiration, solace, and the most important gift of all -- hope.  This picture book is sure to delight fans of the original.  One person commented that this "is a great book about inclusion."

Song of Wisdom from Old Turtle (based on the book Old Turtle by Douglas Wood) ~ music by Joseph M. Martin, orchestrated by Brant Adams, 2000, music, 72 pages

Long ago, an argument arose between mountains and rivers, stars and ants, lions and bears on the nature of God.  A terrible cacophony of quarreling voices rang out until wise Old Turtle quelled the din, explaining that "God is all that we dream of, and all that we seek ... all that we come from and all that we can find."

Based on the book by Douglas Wood, with its elegant dream-like watercolors by Cheng-Khee Chee, Song of Wisdom from Old Turtle is a choral and symphonic experience, which must not only be heard, but felt by the soul.  Staying true to the text of the story, Joseph Martin has masterfully crafted the many characters and moods of the book into a musical fantasy for SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) chorus and narrator.  Brant Adams' rich and colorful orchestration adds depth and a sense of awe to this choral symphony.  The work leaves audiences speechless, until they jump to their feet in enthusiastic applause.

Though I requested the other books from the library, I own a copy of this last one (music) and had it on hand as I composed this blog post.  Here are awards the original book won, according to Wikipedia:

• 1992 ILA Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards - Younger Reader Category
• 1993 American Booksellers’ Children's Book of the Year - winner
• 1993 International Reading Association Children's Book Award - Picture Book

National Ice Cream Day ~ need I say more?

Oh, I will add that National Ice Cream Day is on the 3rd Sunday in July, which also happens to be during National Ice Cream Month.  Let's eat ice cream!

The Hidden Life of Dogs ~ by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, illustrated by Jared T. Williams, 1993, science, 148 pages

The author is an authority on canine behavior.  She observed the exploits of her dogs during a thirty-year period, including how they dug themselves a vast underground den.  An Amazon customer mentioned that the author's revelations about the basic nature and needs of dogs was helpful, adding:  "Even if you have no dogs, it is a fascinating read."

So I checked it out of our small library and am ready to start reading it.  By the way, if you eat ice cream while reading this book, please do not drip it on the pages.  I'm sure all readers know that sticky pages are NOT good for books.

  

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

Caturday question

Skeeter Syndrome

Skeeter syndrome is a localized severe allergic reaction to mosquito bites, consisting of inflammation, peeling skin, blistering, ulceration, and sometimes fever.  It is caused by allergenic polypeptides in mosquito saliva, and therefore is not contagious. ~ Wikipedia

What is skeeter syndrome?

• Skeeter syndrome is a large local allergic reaction to mosquito bites marked by significant inflammation.  If you have it, you’re allergic to substances in the mosquito’s saliva.  Some people have so much swelling that they have trouble moving.

Who does skeeter syndrome affect?

• Although it’s relatively rare, skeeter syndrome can affect anyone.  However, it often affects children, older adults, and others who may have impaired or undeveloped immunity levels.

You may have had typical reactions to mosquito bites all your life, but then suddenly develop an allergy to the saliva.

• One reason for this may be changes within your immune system.
• Another reason for the change may be that you’re highly allergic to the saliva of one type of mosquito, but not to another.

How does skeeter syndrome affect my body?

• With skeeter syndrome, people may develop fever as well as a large local allergic reaction.

Providers may prescribe antibiotics, but antibiotics won’t help skeeter syndrome.  Cellulitis, an infection, can happen days after a bite when scratching results in infection.

Symptoms of skeeter syndrome may include:

• Large areas of swelling.
• Skin warmth.
• Skin color or texture changes, such as reddening of lighter color skin or darkening or other appearance changes in darker color skin. This also may include the area getting harder.
• Itching.
• Pain.
• Blisters.
• Fever.

What causes skeeter syndrome?

• Skeeter syndrome occurs as a result of an allergic reaction to proteins in mosquito saliva.  A mosquito has a long mouthpart called a proboscis that it uses to bite you.  The mosquito pierces your skin, sucks your blood and secretes saliva into your bloodstream.  Being allergic to the polypeptides in the saliva of a biting mosquito causes skeeter syndrome.
• If you’re allergic to these polypeptides, you may see skeeter syndrome symptoms starting about eight to 10 hours after the mosquito bites you.  Symptoms typically resolve within three to 10 days.

How is skeeter syndrome diagnosed?  Your healthcare provider will take a medical history and do a physical examination.  They may ask you:

• If you were bitten by mosquitoes.
• If you’ve had previous reactions to mosquito bites.
• If you’ve traveled to a different country or different part of the country.  Different types of mosquitoes have different types of saliva.
• About the timeline between when you were bitten and when the rash started.
• If you have any other signs and symptoms that concern you, such as shortness of breath.

How is skeeter syndrome treated?

• If your provider thinks you have a mild case of skeeter syndrome, they will suggest that you:
• Take oral antihistamines.
• Cover the bite with hydrocortisone cream.
• Take over-the-counter pain relievers/fever reducers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen if you have pain or fever or both.
• If you have a more severe case of skeeter syndrome, you may need to take systemic corticosteroids.  Steroids are available as pills or injections.

You should probably recover from skeeter syndrome in three to 10 days.

Prevention:  The best way to prevent skeeter syndrome is to prevent mosquito bites. This means:

• Eliminating any standing water.
• Avoiding areas infested with mosquitoes.
• Using a bug spray registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (typically containing DEET).
• Wearing long pants and long sleeves.  Wear thick clothes if you can because mosquitoes can bite through thin clothes.
• Using screens to cover windows and doors.
• Staying indoors when mosquitoes are most active (dusk and dawn).
• Treating your clothing, tents, and nets with mosquito repellants.
• Covering your sleeping area with protective nets.
• If you have had severe allergic reactions before, your healthcare provider may suggest you carry epinephrine.  This medicine is available as an injector that you carry with you.

What can I expect if I have skeeter syndrome?

• Skeeter syndrome may last from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.  You can go back to work or school when you feel well enough.

When should I see my healthcare provider?

• See your healthcare provider if you’re bitten by mosquitoes and have an extreme reaction.
• Get emergency help if you find your mouth or throat swelling or if you have trouble breathing.
• If a mosquito bites you and you develop severe swelling, pain, and itching within hours of the bite, you may have skeeter syndrome.
• If you have trouble breathing or other more serious effects, you should get immediate medical help.

Management and Treatment:  If your provider thinks you have a mild case of skeeter syndrome, they will suggest that you:

• Take oral antihistamines.
• Cover the bite with hydrocortisone cream.
• Take over-the-counter pain relievers/fever reducers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen if you have pain or fever or both.
• Your doctor may also recommend injectable epinephrine to prevent anaphylaxis.

Why am I so into this subject?  Because my right forearm looked like that leg (above) when I got a mosquito bite recently ... and I'm an old lady.  I also read that:

• You can help yourself in the future by making an effort to avoid mosquito bites.
• Use mosquito repellant, avoid mosquitoes when possible, and wear protective clothing.

Taking a probing look at our world

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis ~ by J. D. Vance, 2018, memoir, 264 pages

Part memoir, part historical and social analysis, J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy is a consideration of class, culture, and the American dream.  Vance's grandparents were "dirt poor and in love."  They got married and moved north from Kentucky to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them.

Their grandchild (the author) graduated from Yale Law School, which is a conventional marker of their success in achieving upward mobility for their family.  That's the short version.  The slightly longer version is that his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and mother struggled to varying degrees with the demands of their new middle class life.  According to this summary I found on Amazon, his family and Vance himself still carry around the demons of their chaotic family history.

Delving into his own personal story and drawing on a wide array of sociological studies, Vance takes us deep into working class life in the Appalachian region.  This demographic of the United States has been slowly disintegrating over the years, and Vance provides an attempt to understand when and how "hillbillies" lost faith in any hope of upward mobility.

With the announcement yesterday that J. D. Vance was former President Trump's choice for his vice-presidential running mate, I immediately called the nearest bookstore and put a copy of Vance's book on hold so I could pick it up in a few minutes.  I got it and started reading it last night.  Have you read this memoir?  What did you think of it?

Musing about how things changed over 45 years

1978: Long hair                                  2023: Longing for hair

1978: 8-tracks                                     2023: Cataracts

1978: Acid rock                                  2023: Acid reflux

1978: Seeds and stems                       2023: Fibre

1978: Staying Alive, the song            2023: Staying alive, the goal

1978: Going to a new, hip joint          2023: Getting a new hip joint

1978: Rolling Stones                          2023: Kidney stones

1978: Bell bottoms                             2023: Big bottoms

1978: Disco                                        2023: Costco

1978: Whatever                                  2023: Depends

1978: Rock and roll all night              2023: Sleep through the night

1978: Think you know everything     2023: Think you know your name

Completed and abandoned books, and one I'm still reading

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

Here's my rating system, which is totally subjective:

10 ~ Loved it!!  Couldn't put it down!!

9 ~ Excellent!

8 ~ Very Good

7 ~ Good

6 ~ Above Average

5 ~ Average

4 ~ Struggled to finish, but not worth it

3 ~ Annoying ~ a waste of time

2 ~ Poor

1 ~ Pitiful!

0 ~ Awful!!  Don't bother

* DNF ~ Did Not Finish ~ one I abandoned

* Nah ~ I don't recommend it

______________________________________________________________

Heartburn ~ by Nora Ephron, 1983, literary fiction, 252 pages (LP), 7/10

A Child's Treasury of Poems ~ edited by Mark Daniel, 1986, children's book, 153 pages, 9/10

Discover Your Genius: How to Think Like History's Ten Most Revolutionary Minds ~ by Michael J. Gelb, 2002, creative thinking, 356 pages (I'm still reading this one)

This book will help you unleash your own creativity.  With fascinating biographies of all ten geniuses, personal self-assessments, and practical exercises, this book is the key to unlocking the genius inside you!

• Plato -- Deepening your love of wisdom

• Filippo Brunelleschi -- Expanding your perspective

• Christopher Columbus -- Strengthening your vision, optimism, and courage

• Nicolaus Copernicus -- Reorganizing your vision of the world

• Queen Elizabeth I -- Wielding your power with balance and effectiveness

• William Shakespeare -- Cultivating your emotional intelligence

• Thomas Jefferson -- Celebrating your freedom in the pursuit of happiness

• Charles Darwin -- Developing your powers of observation and cultivating an open mind

• Mahatma Gandhi -- Applying the principles of spiritual genius to harmonize spirit, mind, and body

• Albert Einstein -- Unleashing your imagination and "combinatory play"

Death of a Dentist: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery (Book 13 of 13) ~ by M. C. Beaton, 1997, mystery (Scotland), 200 pages, 6/10

The Blue Cat and the River's Song ~ by Pamela Hayes Rehlen, 2008, historical fiction, 134 pages, DNF

        I didn't finish this one because it was from a cat's perspective, saying things like this:  "I was left in a town where the people disappeared, one by one, but the buildings mostly stayed the same.  Over the next decades the barns out in back of the big Main Street huses no longer stored hay" (p. 13).  Wait a minute!  How many DECADES do cats live?

        And these quotes:  "All through these years I didn't enter Zeruah's house, although I saw many families come and go ..." (p. 14).  "I can go through the motions of eating, but since I don't require food, it's a tiresome charade" (p. 18).  "I wonder what kind of a man this is who sees me clearly, but seems to find nothing unusual about me" (p. 19).  "I go through the backdoor by imagining it away and then I'm out in the cold and the dark" (p. 23).

        Okay, I caould see this is NOT the book for me, so I returned it to the library.

Caturday's cat is blue

Well, I actually posted it yesterday (HERE) to share my book beginnings.  This is the photo of a blue cat that I used.  Isn't it beautiful?  Here's another cat picture for today.

Beginning ~ with a blue cat

Beginning

I see the Blue Cat and at night when I dream I've become the Blue Cat.  The two of us are one, which is how I am able to tell this story.

The Blue Cat and the River's Song ~ by Pamela Hayes Rehlen, 2008, historical fiction, 134 pages

The immortal Blue Cat must sing the river's song and search for a hearth in this haunting story about the past of a little Vermont town.

I looked up "blue cat" and found this photo in a comment on Quora, HERE.  The person wrote:  "It's actually a way to describe a cat's grey coat that has a certain silver-blueish sheen.  It's a subtle shade, not a pop of color you'd find in a Crayola box."

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

It's Caturday, but where's the cat?

To find the cat, you may need to enlarge this photo.