Surprise

B

Hey there! It’s been awhile. I haven’t shown my face here in a long time. I’m not 100% sure why but it could be a number of things. Let’s explore

  • I’ve been crocheting things like crazy
  • I moved
  • I got a different job
  • I was emotionally exhausted from that job
  • I moved again
  • I got a different job than the different job
  • I’ve been exploring how to cook more fully
  • I like learning new things
  • I learned the accordion
  • I had a podcast
  • I have been intentionally traveling
  • I was busy writing a book
  • I was busy editing a friend’s book

These are all legit things that have been happening for me. I have been busy out in the world exploring all the possibilities that were there for me. Then today I did something odd. I went back and I read some of my old blogs on here and I came to a simple conclusion.

I missed you all.

I missed getting to write about books. I missed getting to discuss why books are important. I missed spending so much time thinking about books.

So here’s the deal. I can’t promise I will write on here for forever. I can’t promise I won’t disappear again. I can’t promise I won’t go missing from time to time. But I promise I will be back. It’s good for my soul. It’s good for my mental health. It’s good for all of me.

My current plan to share some of my adventures in self-publishing my first book and maybe give you a few behind the scenes looks at what my mental process was like.

I look forward to chatting and sharing with you all again soon.

Keep Sparkling,

B

To read or not to read? That is the question

B

The amount of independent reading required in schools today is much higher than when I was in school. Often grades are tied to turning in slips that record how much a child has read at home. In my day we were required to have AR points and that was enough of a standard. Now we’ve moved beyond that to having both AR goals and reading minutes. These kids are feeling overwhelmed!

Why are we doing this? I know many students who struggle with reading and getting their minutes in. It may be because they have a chaotic home life. It may be because they don’t have anyone to remind them to read. It may even be that the parents have fought the kids on so many things that day, this just isn’t the fight they want to have.

But I get where teachers are coming from! They are trying to encourage more reading. They don’t want kids to lose these vital skills. Studies show that reading to your child before they go to school can help them be leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to comprehension. This push to get kids to read in this way may be motivator for some, but not for many.

And yet, I’m not surprised. Looking at our society- who still chooses to read for recreation? There are less and less people who value reading as a past time. I know very few adults that tell me that they spend their leisure time reading. Covid has affected that some for my friends, but not many have picked up a book to read.

Now me, I love to read (obviously)! I will stay up late to read a book- to watch a movie… not as likely. But to finish a book- I will stay up for HOURS! I have stopped letting myself read thrillers past 7pm or else I will never sleep because I will HAVE to finish the book! And I encourage you all to pick up this habit of mine. You should all become obsessed readers. Ready-set-go!

So let’s all make a decision. Right here. Right now. Let’s all commit to reading again. Maybe it’s just reading for 5 minutes a day! Maybe you’re choosing to sit and actually read the newspaper today. Maybe you’re choosing to sit and read to your child. Maybe you’re remembering how much you loved that book as a child and it’s time to revisit those happy feelings. Let’s all strive to read more. Every little bit will stimulate your brain.

Go find more happy moments via reading!

Keep Sparkling,

B

Good to be Home

B

It’s good to be home. Have you ever been away on a long trip and as fun as the vacation was, it just feels good to be home? That’s my feelings as I write on here. It’s good to be home. It’s good to be back writing about the things I love and sharing with the people who love them.

It’s good to be writing about books again. Books are such beautiful things! So my first post in over a year- what to share with you all! I could tell you about the books I read last year, the things I accomplished, or the books I gifted to others. I chose something different.

Do you have any books that you like to re-read? Books that just feel like home to come back to? Books that you can read and re-read and still enjoy every minute of? Books that you can practically quote? Books that you can skip from one section to the next because you know exactly where the parts you really want to read are at?

I’ve got those! I’d like to share a few with you.

I love this book. This was one I went into with trepidation and not expecting much but I ended up absolutely loving this fun little rom-com of a read. The U.S. has been broken down and re-built. Fast forward to years in the future when a ruling family now has to find a woman for their son to marry. Picking one girl from each section this read is the Bachelor meets a divided country caste system meets a teenage rom com.

This one is so cute! Fandoms have become a very real part of culture and this book celebrates them! The main character has been writing fanfiction of a fantasy series, think Harry Potter meets Eragon, for most of her teen years. As a new college student she has to discover how she can meld her need to write her fanfiction with her desire to begin experiencing the outside world. Cath is a lovable introvert that the reader will root for from the get-go.

These are my current go-to loved reads! What are yours?

Keep Sparkling,

B

Surprise!

B

Surprise! Guess who’s back! It’s been quite the year. I walked away from this blog a year ago to be a barista. That lasted for about 2 months before I jumped feet first into social work again. It’s been quite the year. Social work in the time of COVID- not a fun feat I tell you.

But I realized something. I missed you all. I missed my readers. My loyal community of people who wanted to talk about books and diversity. My amazing group of people who cared about how to grow through our reading.

For the last year I’ve been writing on “Sparkly Musings of Illogical Proportions.” This will continue as I’ve discovered this to be an amazing outlet for me. On that blog I challenge people to do little things to grow more. To be more kind or to do more for others.

But I’ve missed writing about books. I’ve missed exploring what I’m reading with others and sharing what I see going on in the world of books. So I’ll be back!

Starting January 2021 I’ll be back with more books to discuss and more joy to share. I’ll be limiting it to every other week due to writing two blogs now, but I promise more sparkling content is coming. I encourage you to join me on Sparkly Musings of Illogical Proportions also. The two blogs will be coming out on opposite weeks so fun content will be available readily. I can’t wait to start this new adventure with you!

Keep Sparkling,

B

A Change this way Comes!

B

It’s been a year. A long year. A fun year!

We’ve discussed the importance of diversity in literature!

We’ve looked at some of my favorite books!

We’ve looked at the way books shape our lives!

We’ve looked at some silly mistakes I’ve made!!

And now it’s time for a change.

My time as a librarian came to an end at the end of October. I’m now a barista at a local coffees shop. I just needed a change. Something new.

But the last year, getting to write as the Sparkling Librarian has been so rewarding! Thank you so much for allowing me the honor of writing to you all. It has truly been my privilege to know that someone is reading what I write, and I have not taken that responsibility lightly.

So a change! I’m starting a different blog. As much as I’ve loved this, it’s time to move on. To make a clean break. So as of January 1, 2020 you can find me at my new site!

Sparkly Musings of Illogical Proportions

This is a dream I’ve had for quite awhile. I’ve had the name picked out since back in 2018 and it’s finally coming true. I’ll continue to write about books, but this new blog will allow me to share more of my deep thoughts. More of the things that challenge me. More of … well more of me. My love of books is just one small part of me- so here’s to new beginnings.

I promise there will still be sparkles. I hope you’ll join me on my new adventure, but regardless- thank you for honoring me with your attention this past year.

Keep Sparkling,

B

Valuing the “other”

B

Being different is awesome! I totally love how different I am from other people. I make weird faces, I dress is outlandish outfits. It’s awesome. But sometimes it feels like it’s not always appreciated by those who are looking for diversity.

Diversity in Literature is a huge topic. This is one of the most argued topics in YA literature right now. Diversity. It’s a big word. But does “Diversity” mean that we ignore some topics in order to cover “diverse” topics? I’d like to propose that we need to look beyond “diversity” to “otherness”.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, at some point in your life you will be the “other”. Whether you are a Caucasian male or a Hispanic female or a Spanish Catholic or an Irish Protestant, at some point you will be the “other” in a situation. As an unmarried woman, I have found myself often in the “other” category when I am with my married friends. When I am with my friends who are still in college, I am the “other”. When I am with my male friends, I am the “other”. I bet you’ve recognized yourself as the “other” a time or two.

Being the “other” can put you in a position of great power or great victimization. You get to choose. You can feel sorry for yourself because you don’t fit in. You can wallow in your feelings of not being “enough”. Or you can choose differently- You can choose to see that you have a unique perspective and that perspective is needed. You get to choose what you offer to the world.

But there is power in realizing that you are not the only person who has ever felt like an “other”. There is always someone in a group that feels like an “other”.

I recently attended a bridal shower for someone very dear to me. I was trying to get someone’s attention. I addressed them by name, there wasn’t anyone around to distract them but they very pointedly walked away from me and towards someone else. I know they heard me, and yet they ignored me. They put me in the place of being the “other”. The unwanted, the unseen.

The way we respond to the presence of another person is powerful. We can choose to affirm their presence and show them they are wanted. Or, we can ignore their presence and let them know that we do not value what they have to say or what they want to share.

If you’ve read my blog before, you know I love Brene’ Brown. She wrote a blog about Toni Morrison’s talk on Oprah. Brene Brown shared how Morrison talked about your initial reaction when your child walks in the room. Does your face light up? Does your face reflect your desire to have that person’s presence in your life? Or do you look to criticize? Do you look at them and immediately flick your eyes off to the side so you won’t have to interact?

Ignoring a person or shutting them down shuts down their spirit. I felt so little when I was ignored at the bridal shower. I felt so unvalued and unwanted. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter what that person thought of me. It doesn’t matter if they want my opinion. So I was the “other” in this situation- so what. The bride saw me and her face lit up. She showed me that my presence was wanted. She did as Morrison suggested and affirmed my presence by reflecting her delight in me on her face.

We each have our people. Our people who love us and want us around. If you don’t have those people in your life, please let me know! I want to be one of your people! I’d be happy to show you just how delighted I am by your presence. But decide that the voice of your people matter more than the voice of those trying to keep you as the “other”.

Let’s go delight in “others” this week!

Keep Sparkling

B

The Things I don’t Know

B

“You don’t know what you don’t know until you know.”

There’s a lot I don’t know. I will be the first to admit that. I don’t know how atoms really make everything up. I think I get the concept but I’m not actually sure I know how it works. I don’t know how to build a house. My Dad does. He’s a contractor. I know the basic concepts but I don’t know the execution.

There’s something that makes me super aware of what I don’t know. That would be a big two word thing. A big thing that makes lots of people uncomfortable. Here we go- Political Correctness.

I try hard to be politically correct. I really do. But there is always something changing! There is always a new correct term. And besides that- there’s always someone waiting to be offended. Some people have genuine reason to be upset but sometimes the language changes. And sometimes people just have different preferences.

My sister has dark skin and she told me she prefers to be called “brown” and not “black”. One of my friends from college has dark skin and they told me they prefer to be called “black” and not “brown”. So which is it? What do I do?

Here’s the key to all this- having grace for those that don’t know what they don’t know. There’s a lot I don’t know. There are a lot of things I don’t get. It can take me awhile to catch on to a joke, which means it can also take me awhile to know that something isn’t politically correct. Since things change so quickly, politely correct me. That’s all it takes. Jacqueline Woodson’s audiobook Harbor Me has a very interesting conversation at the end. She discusses having grace for those who don’t know what they don’t know. She suggests that we have grace and politely correct others, instead of choosing to be offended at their lack of knowledge.

This is one of the reasons I love to read books about people who are different than me. They have different experiences and I can learn from them! I don’t have to be them to learn from their mistakes and their experiences. I have never been a dark skinned man. But I can learn about the experiences of a dark skinned man in the books that I read. I have never been a woman of Latino descent, but I can learn a lot about what it is like to grow up as one from reading a book from that viewpoint. Yay Diversity in Literature!

We are all just trying our best here. Let’s learn to have grace and politely correct each other instead of choosing to be offended.

Keep Sparkling,

B

Stop Giving me Details. I don’t want them.

B

Stop giving me details. I don’t want them. I promise! I have an imagination. I can fill in some of the gaps myself!

So many books you find want to give you every. single. detail! It is exhausting to read! If a sentence takes 45 words, I probably don’t want to read it. “The waning moon shown its soft, serene, quiet light upon the sleeping world that had not a sound but the low, hooting of an owl as it perched on its branch as if it was watching all the world slumber, ready to defend it to the end of the line.” That’s nice once in awhile, but three pages of descriptions gets a little long.

When I was growing up my dad often said to me, “Give me the short version.” I loved to give details! I loved to be able to tell you every important moment of the story. I even left out some really good ones! Eventually, I came to realize that those details weren’t as important as I though they were. They were nice, but not necessary.

One guy I knew, when telling someone how he knew me, wouldn’t just say, “We were involved in ministry and our paths crossed.” NO! He had to tell people who it was that invited him to an event and what he was involved in with this person previously and where the event was held and who he rode there with and how he came to no other events like this and how he was talking to this person when I walked up to talk to someone else and then that person’s dad introduced me to someone else… and blah blah blah! It was exhausting! A 5 second explanation worked just as well as the 5 minute one he wanted to tell.

I recently read Eragon for the very first time. I slogged my way through most of the book. Then I got to the last hundred pages, things started moving, and now I want to read the rest. But it shouldn’t take me that long to know I want to keep reading. Paladini is awful lucky I don’t like not finishing a book I start.

In one of my college writing classes my professor talked about what was important in your story. I have no idea who they were quoting, and I can’t find the quote for the life of me, but it went something like this.

“If a person is hammering a nail into the wall at the beginning of a story, they should be hanging dead by it at the end.”

Wow. That would allow me to eliminate so many unnecessary details! That kind of writing would take such intentionality!

In Eragon a lot of the description of places could be greatly shortened if he stopped and thought about how things would connect in the long run. Now I know Paladini was young when the books were published and I applaud him for being accomplished at a young age. It’s his publishers that I would like to have a little chat with……

But there is an art to writing. It involves the imagination. If you give every single detail or descriptor of a place, you eliminate much of the need for imagination. I feel like Hemingway said it well when he stated, “If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut that scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written. “- Ernest Hemingway

So let’s take some time to hone our art that we call Writing. Let’s focus on intentionality in our descriptors, not just slapping them on a page.

Keep Sparkling,

B

Brene’ Brown is my #vulnerabilitygoals

B

Brene’ Brown is one of my favorite writers. I don’t agree 100% with everything she writes but EVERY TIME I read something she’s written, whether a book or a blog post, I’m inspired or challenged. She makes me want to be better.

Brene’ is never afraid to admit her failings. She openly talks of her mistakes and her desire to grow. She is vulnerable. She is fearless, or so she seems.

In one of her blog posts she talks about lovelessness. She quotes Bell Hooks book, “All About Love”.

“Taught to believe that the mind, not the heart, is the seat of learning, many of us believe that to speak of love with any emotional intensity means we will be perceived as weak and irrational. And it is especially hard to speak of love when what we have to say calls attention to the fact that lovelessness is more common than love, that many of us are not sure what we mean when we talk of love or how to express love.

Everyone wants to know more about love. We want to know what it means to love, what we can do in our everyday lives to love and be loved. We want to know how to seduce those among us who remain wedded to lovelessness and open the door to their hearts to let love enter. The strength of our desire does not change the power of our cultural uncertainty.

Everywhere we learn that love is important, and yet we are bombarded by its failure. In the realm of the political, among the religious, in our families, and in our romantic lives, we see little indication that love informs decisions, strengthens our understanding of community, or keeps us together. This bleak picture in no way alters the nature of our longing. We still hope that love will prevail. We still believe in love’s promise.”

So love. It’s important. But I’m not sure it’s as important as lovelessness. When I look at our current society I see a trend of lovelessness. With more mass shootings, racists comments, “us vs. them” mentality, and bullying on the rise, loveslessness is becoming an even greater epidemic.

So let’s do something about it. Let’s love. Love doesn’t mean I just agree with your every action but I believe love means that I treat you with respect and dignity even when I disagree with you. Love means I go out of my way to attempt to understand where you are coming from, because you matter. Love means work. Love means humility. Love means I put you first.

So let’s choose love. I challenge you to go out and find someone to love this week. Find someone who needs encouraged. Find someone who is different than you. Attempt to understand them. Attempt to meet in the middle.

Keep Sparkling,

B

Praise or Criticism, which is more important?

B

I can be very critical of books. I pursued a degree in Secondary Education: English. (That’s not quite where I ended up as I’ve mentioned in these blogs before)

I spent HOURS learning how to critique books and examine if they would be useful in a classroom setting.I spent HOURS discussing whether or not a book had value or merit. I spent HOURS figuring out what symbolism there might be in a passage or a re-occuring theme. And I will be honest in admitting, it has made me quite critical of many books that I read. Even though in most classes we decided that almost every book has merit- I struggle to appreciate someone’s writing that doesn’t have much polish. I struggle to believe that “everyone is a writer” when I spent hours working on learning how to write more proficiently.

The idea that someone could waltz in off the street with no training and do what I do is not something I agree with. Nevertheless, there are THOUSANDS of self-published books and THOUSANDS of writers who are getting published with no training. And that’s great! Honestly, it is. But I still approach every book I read with a critical eye.

I ask myself, “what is this book trying to sell me? Is this making a political statement? (But aren’t most statements political these days?) Is this trying to persuade me to think differently? Does this book make me question some of my hard and fast standards? Does this book make me want to be a better person?” Usually at least one of these questions is addressed. I find myself loving less and less books. (That being said I do enjoy a good “beach read” every now and again) I might like a book but I have a harder time putting my “B Loves this book” stamp of approval on things, than I used to.

So when it comes to reading a book, what matters more? To praise the things they did well or criticize the things they need to improve on?

Book reviewers tend to fall on one side of this road or the other. I tend to look for things to criticize and if there aren’t very many, then I can recommend the book. If it is overflowing with things to criticize, then I don’t recommend it. But what are my criteria?

Here are a few of the things I consider when looking at a book.

  • Does the book correctly represent the culture it is portraying?
  • Do the characters have depth or are they very stereotypical?
  • Is there a compelling conflict/problem?
  • Is the writing of a professional caliber or does it feel like a first draft?
  • Is the writer’s voice concurrent throughout the whole book or are there sections where it feels like someone else wrote it?
  • Do I feel compelled to keep reading or am I drudging my way through needless details

But on the subject of praise, a recent SLJ article commented on how important praise is to a writer.

“I hope people will realize that just one reader’s- any reader’s- glorious praise of a book holds incredible value for that title and its author.” -Lalitha Nataraj

But you can look on Goodreads and see thousands of great reviews of books that don’t correctly represent a culture and are very stereotypical.

So what’s more important? Neither. We need both. But let’s be aware of what we are handing to our kids (as well as ourselves) to read and let’s be aware of what we are teaching our children through what they are reading. Let’s look to diversify their interests and diversify their world, not reinforce the walls they see.

Keep Sparkling,

B