Whoopi's book ~ plus two quotes

Is It Just Me?  Or Is It Nuts Out There? ~ by Whoopi Goldberg, 2010, humor essays, 224 pages, 9/10

Have you noticed that things aren't as civil as they once were?  Or that rudeness is no longer an exception but a lifestyle?  Sure you have.  All you need to do is set foot outside your door to see that bad manners are taking over everywhere.  People are yakking on cell phones in restaurants, even at church.  Folks in carpools wear enough cologne to make our eyes bleed.  Complete strangers think it's OK to rub a pregnant lady's belly.  Passengers abuse flight attendants, family outings to the ball park are ruined by rowdy drunks . . . a congressman heckled the President of the United States.

Well, Whoopi Goldberg has noticed all this and more and asked herself, "Is it just me?"  Unleashing her trademark irreverence and humor, her new book of observations takes a funny and excruciatingly honest look at how a loss of civility is messing with the quality of life for all of us.

So if your pet peeve is folks who talk in movie theaters like it was their living room, or if you get bugged by people clipping their nails and performing other personal hygiene next to you on the bus, or if you cringe when "please" and "thank you" get replaced by "gimme" and "huh" . . . you have found a kindred spirit.  Whoopi has witnessed the growing disrespect and rudeness in our lives and realized she is not alone.

Two quotes

1. "This book is all about behavior that bothers us" (p. 177).
2. "TEXTATION:  The overwhelming urge to text" (p. 199).

Musing on a book that I am re-reading

10 Keys to Happier Living: A Practical Science-Based Handbook for Happiness ~ by Vanessa King, 2016, self-help, 336 pages, 9/10

"Happiness is not something ready made.  It comes from your own actions," says the Dalai Lama, patron of Action for Happiness.  Vanessa King has drawn on the latest scientific studies to create a set of evidence-based practical actions.  They will help you connect with people, nurture your relationships, and find purpose.  You'll get ideas for taking care of your body, making the most of what's good, and finding new ways to stimulate your mind.

Here are the ten keys to happier living:  (1) Giving, (2) Relating, (3) Exercising, (4) Awareness, (5) Trying Out, (6) Direction, (7) Resilience, (8) Emotions, (9) Acceptance, and (10) Meaning.

Historical fiction set in Tennessee

The Mountains Under Her Feet ~ by Catherine Vance, 2023, historical fiction (East Tennessee), 308 pages

Isabel King is a daughter of the mountains and a child of rural east Tennessee. Over the course of half a century and two world wars, her family has grown, changed, and survived despite intergenerational trauma, the shadow of Native American genocide, and modest means.

Yet when the government evicts her and her neighbors from their homes, Isabel must once again find new beginnings and belonging upon the mountains under her feet.  What can she hang on to, and what must she let go?

Set against a backdrop of world-shaping events, The Mountains Under Her Feet is the story of a woman who faces change, exile, the challenge of building a family by choice, and the struggle to rise above prejudice and preconception.

I'm from East Tennessee.  Chattanooga (my hometown) is on the southern edge of the state, while this story is set near Knoxville.  I also lived there for a few years, so I was curious about this book when I first heard about it.  I've only read the first three chapter so far (set in 1936, 1911, and 1913), but the book pulled me in, making me want to know what happens next.

Here is the book's Epigraph:  "You don't know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."  — Isabel King (the book's main character)

Word of the Day

epigraph /ˈep.ə.ɡræf / noun = a saying or a part of a poem, play, or book put at the beginning of a piece of writing or a film, to give the reader some idea of what the piece is about.  (This definition is from Cambridge English Dictionary.)

Editing ~ You may get a kick out of all these editing jobs listed inside the book:

• Developmental Editing by Nyri A. Bakkalian, PhD
  
• Line Editing by Georgina Key
• Copyediting by D. Ynes Freeman
• Formatting and Proofreading by TNT Editing (Theodore N. Tinker)
• Proofreading by Amanda Mills Woodlee
  

As a former editor of two in-house publications, I had to do it all (including the layout and most of the writing).  So I was curious and asked Google:  "How is copyediting different from proofreading?"

• In copy editing, the copy is tidied up for conciseness and polished so that the information is delivered to the reader clearly.  Proofreading, however, is the last opportunity to catch errors and correct inconsistencies relating to how the page looks.
• Copyediting involves the "five Cs":  making the article clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent.
• Proofreading and copyediting are two different editing jobs with the same goal:  to perfect your writing before publication.  One is in charge of style consistency, while the other ensures the text is free from technical inconsistency.
• Copy editing is checking for the use of proper wordage, conciseness, and fact-checking.  Proofreading can be for both fiction and non-fiction to check spelling, grammar, and flow.
• What is Proofreading?  In traditional publishing, proofreading services refer to checking the document for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.  It’s the final editing step before production to ensure that the piece of writing is perfect.
• The professional proofreader does more than correct typographical errors.  The "proof" or "galley proof" is the final manuscript with all the designs, covers, and formatting.  It’s a test version of the book that will be published.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate 

computers in different time zones — to talk about

our lives, our books, and our reading.

We are hosted by Deb Nance at Readerbuzz.

Volunteers at the Crown Center

"A box of many thanks" (see the blue line at bottom center) was hanging on my doorknob earlier this week, and I wanted to show you what was in that box.

• The chocolate candy at the left says, "THANKS for all you do!"  One also adds, "You make a difference!"  Another adds, "You are appreciated."
• Three of those six mints in the middle say, "Thank You."  The other three say:  (1)  "You are worth a MINT to us."  (2)  "Thanks for your commitMINT."  (3)  "We recognize your accomplishMINTS."
• The notepad on the right says:  "THANKS for MAKING a DIFFERENCE."
• The white writing on the side of the pen says:  "THANKS for all you do."
• Can you tell they encourage us to volunteer to do helpful jobs around here?  Back in 2020, I wrote about various jobs for volunteers, HERE.

Beginning (twice) ~ in 1948

Ruby's beginning in 1948 (Chapter 1)

My grandma Nene always said that early was on time, on time was late, and late was unacceptable.  Fatty was unacceptably late again.  Knowing full well that I had some place important to be.

Eleanor's beginning in 1948 (Chapter 2)

Eleanor bustled across Howard University's campus, clutching the letter in her right hand.  The return stamp was crested with the Alpha Beta Chi emblem, so she knew it was what she'd been waiting for: a response to her interest letter to join the sorority.

The House of Eve ~ by Sadeqa Johnson, 2023, historical fiction, 384 pages

This was Reese Witherspoon's book club pick for February 2023:  "These two women’s lives intersect in the most wonderful and unlikely of ways.  I was completely surprised by the ending of this beautifully told and written book."  The Washington Post called it a "triumph of historical fiction."  It was a New York Times bestseller.

The book is set in Philadelphia and DC in the 1950s (when I was a teenager).  It explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

In Philadelphia, 15-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to become the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter.  But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love.  But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don't let just anyone into their fold.  Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William's family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby — and fitting in — is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Mothers and monsters, mermaids and milkmaids

Girl Country ~ by Jacqueline Vogtman, 2023, short stories, 200 pages

This winner of the Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize will be published in mid-May, so I haven't read it yet.  But it sounds like a book I would enjoy.  Here's what I know about the stories:

• A near-future farmer battling environmental crises takes in a mysterious girl he finds on the roadside.
• A bus driver navigates through treacherous weather and memories of her tragic past as she races to save children from the end of the world.
• A woman keeps giving birth to children from different time periods.
• And a woman struggles with her young daughter mysteriously transforming into something wild and unruly, confronting themes of motherhood and family.

The stories range from medieval Belgium to the near-future of the American Midwest, populated by mothers and monsters, mermaids and milkmaids, nuns and bus drivers — women in every walk of life, but particularly working-class women, navigating the intersection of the mundane and the magical.

It's waffle time again, folks!

I plan to be in the Circle@Crown Café this morning

because it's Waffle Wednesday.  Come eat with me!