![]() “Naught for Your Comfort” takes its title from a poem by G K Chesterton. I do not although I have a caveat there which I will share in a moment.īut those two books reminded me of the futility of getting anxious about new forms of training design, delivery, and content. And reinforced what a colleague once said to me long ago “William never turn down any training job”. Reading those two books and being spurred on by others has enabled me to branch out for example into ONLINE training delivery through Teams and Zoom. Links to the “Comfort Zone” to be precise! “ Naught for Your Comfort” by Father Trevor Huddleston and the quote “ Nothing to fear but fear itself” from a biography of US President Franklin D Roosevelt made such links for me. ![]() ![]() ![]() Books you read in the COVID lockdown period may have triggered a link to another subject in the portfolio of skills and knowledge you offer as an employee, a volunteer and freelance worker. ![]()
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![]() Dubois and coming across a brief reference to the founding of Wilberforce University. Perkins-Valdez has said she was inspired to write her debut novel, Wench: A Novel (2010), after reading a biography of W.E.B. She is currently an associate professor at American University in Washington, DC. Perkins-Valdez has published short fiction and essays in such magazines as The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, StorySouth, African American Review, PMS: PoemMemoirStory, North Carolina Literary Review, Richard Wright Newsletter, and SLI: Studies in Literary Imagination. ![]() She completed a PhD in English at George Washington University in Washington, DC. ![]() She attended Harvard College as an undergraduate, earning a BA degree. She is chair of the Board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors. Dolen Perkins-Valdez is an American writer, best known for her debut novel Wench: A Novel (2010), which became a bestseller. ![]() ![]() ![]() I first heard about Alyssa Cole from Anne Bogel, and I first remember hearing about An Extraordinary Union on What Should I Read Next Podcast way back in August 2019! (This is likely when I recommended it and dear readers, that is how to get 120+ books on hold. We may also chat through some of our favorite titles that Anne should get the blame credit for while we’re talking books. CST! Sign up here if you want to join us as we talk through Don’t Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy To Your Life by Anne Bogel. ![]() But then again, is it really an issue? I’m not going to overthink it, I’m just going to invite you to our next Virtual Book Club on Friday, March 26th at 7:30 p.m. ![]() Are you ready for another edition of #blameAnne? Yes, we “blame” Anne Bogel for a great many books we love, as well as my holds situation, but I completely acknowledge that my lack of will power in the face of all of her amazing suggestions is really the issue. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() If you're looking for a perfect book for a gift, these will be a sure hit! I know your family will enjoy them over and over again! Happy Reading! But they always manage to get the help they need and make it home safely to their quiet little house once again. On their sea adventure they somehow end up at the top of a very tall tree on this remote island in the middle of nowhere! And their skiing adventure leaves them upside down attached to their skiis over a huge chasm. ![]() On their camping spree they encounter a bear when after accidentally leaving their marshmallow bag out. Magee and his little dog Dee start out their day just going to do something fun as two pals, but end up going on all kinds of hairy adventures in these books. The words almost just say themselves as you are reading these books aloud, which is my favorite way to read them. Chris Van Dusen is another genius rhymer. Another of my favorite things about these books is the rhyme. His stories are admittedly a bit ludicrous, but kids love it, and so do I. They are some of those books that you check out at the library dozens of times and then realize, why don't I just buy them?Ĭhris Van Dusen has a knack for captivating his readers with humor and drawing them in through wonderful illustrations that make you want to keep turning the pages for more. ![]() If you or your children haven't read these books before, you are in for a huge treat! These books are delightful, amazingly illustrated, and funny. ![]() ![]() "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. But will Saber discover too late that a woman's heart is a treasure more priceless than any kingdom? Fans of Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn will enjoy this story. ![]() Between persuasion and passion, they realize that only together can they defeat the enemies determined to destroy them. but soon finds an English governess is not so easily seduced. There they hide the truth about their past: a glittering ball, angry words, a passionate kiss. To ensure her silence, Saber kidnaps Victoria and carries her away to his castle deep in the woods. Only beloved historical author Christina Dodd could bring you the latest story in the Governess Brides series.Lovely Victoria Cardiff is very prim, very strict, very sure that England is the only civilized place in the world.She's about to find out she's right.Only Victoria knows the truth about dashing, dissolute, dangerous Saber Lawrence-that he is a renegade prince plotting to seize control of his country. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() We can’t deny anyone that meaning to them, as far as these characters go. ![]() “For people, a lot of readers of a certain age, Frog and Toad as characters seen through a queer lens is hugely important to them. “What we wanted to do here is create a faithful adaptation of the books,” he continued. “It is part of the books, it’s part of the legacy.” ![]() “You can’t deny it,” Hoegee said of the books’ queerness. Showrunner Rob Hoegee said that he wanted to keep the inherent queerness in the stories and that a “significant number” of his cast and crew were LGBTQ+. As LGBTQNation points out, “the show is wall-to-wall moments of Frog and Toad doing wonderful, lovely things for each other.” While the two never kiss, don’t live together, and never explicitly state their romantic love for each other, it’s hard to see them as anything other than a couple. Sometimes you need to take a break from the real world, and Frog and Toad is the perfect calming, queer cartoon to help you do that.įrog and Toad follows in the tradition of the beloved children’s books, as well as Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street, in that it centers around a “friendship” between two male characters that is very obviously more than a friendship to anyone who is watching. ![]() ![]() When Csikszentmihalyi published Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience in 1990, readers found in it a set of blueprints for the pursuit of happiness. Psychology as a discipline is more often concerned with human dysfunction than with situations or activities that result in deep satisfaction. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost." ![]() ![]() Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. ![]() He is best known for the concept of "flow"-the state of "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake," he told John Geirland of Wired. Psychologist and educator Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (born 1934) has gained wide recognition and even best-selling author status for his investigations into the nature of happiness and creativity. ![]() ![]() ![]() But Guest's characters are complex, rich in their emotional and psychological make-ups. Obviously, you'll want to discuss Beth Jarrette-on the surface an unsympathetic character. What are the steps in his process of recovery.Ĥ. You might also trace Conrad's path to health, which is the crux of the story. In the introduction above, Guest says she "wanted to explore the anatomy of depression." Does she do a good job? How realistic is her portrayal of what has become a much discussed mental health issue.ģ. In other words are the Jarretts an ordinary family? How so.or how not so?Ģ. I think a good discussion can be had by asking what Guest meant by her use of "ordinary." Is it ironic.or sincere. Why the title? Clearly, it has thematic significance. Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)Īlso consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Ordinary People:ġ.Generic Discussion Questions-Fiction and Nonfiction. ![]() How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips).Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources they can help with discussions for any book: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() All I can say is there are lots of twists and turns in Madhav and Riya’s story. I really don’t want to say more as it will take away something from the reading experience. Madhav is from a small town, almost rural area in Bihar. The story is about Madhav and Riya, who meet in St. Because, in India, that is what most men get. Hence, I thought we needed a term like ‘Half-Girlfriend’. ![]() Half-Girlfriend, to me, is a unique Indian phenomenon, where boys and girls are not clear about their relationship status with each other.Ī boy may think he is more than friends with the girl, but the girl is still not his girlfriend. What happens when two people from different classes fall in love is what the book is about.Īnd frankly, what is a ‘Half-Girlfriend’ anyway? Half-Girlfriend is about a boy from Bihar who doesn’t speak English well and falls in love with a rich girl from Delhi. What is your book ‘Half-Girlfriend’ about? ![]() ![]() ![]() At one point Jennifer Ackerman makes a brief, representative list of both the smart and the stupid birds, and I couldn’t help noticing that the former – crows, herons, gulls, woodpeckers, and so on – are not eaten by humans, whereas the more intellectually compromised ones (who go on EDL marches and buy extended warranties on white goods) such as partridges, turkeys and quail are considered good eating. So, avian intelligence exists on a wide spectrum, with the dimmer end seemingly, like the dodo, almost striving for extinction, voting for Brexit and so on, while at the top end of the scale we have marvels, with only the higher primates matching the birds’ tool-crafting capabilities. ![]() I looked up pictures of both (sadly, there are no colour plates in this book) and observed that while the crow looked very smart and capable, Pierce Brosnan-era Bond in terms of looks, the kagu would appear to have been designed by someone who had been given the brief “make a ridiculously daft-looking bird”. Meanwhile, also in New Caledonia, there exists the flightless kagu, a bird so stupid that it runs towards predators. ![]() ![]() I distinctly recall thinking that I was not at all confident I could have worked it out myself. Y ou may remember seeing a short BBC film a few years ago in which a New Caledonian crow, known as “007”, navigated an eight-stage puzzle in order to retrieve a piece of meat. ![]() |