A Bookworm's Favorite Holiday Tradition + Gift Guide

Every year around this time, ye olde Jólabókaflóðið (Jolabokaflod: Christmas book flood) posts get passed around social media, telling tales about cold Icelandic nights, and cozy Christmas Eves spent snuggled up with chocolate, and books ... As idyllic a way to spend the holiday as it sounds, I wanted to know more.  Is this really a tradition?  How did it get started?  
A lot of people point to WWII era rationing for the reason Jolabokaflod exists, since there were few restrictions placed on paper, and really, what's a lovelier paper gift to give, or receive than a book?  But I wasn't so sure it was quite as simple, or as new as all that, and while you can certainly read about its rise to current popularity, here, I kept digging.  

Thanks to Alda Sigmundsdóttir, I learned about a little something called kvöldvaka, or evening wake.  In her post she tells us of a rich history in Iceland where people gathered together for work, worship, entertainment, and education through story telling, the sharing of folklore, traditions, and more (I'm particularly enchanted by rökkurstund / twilight hour).  If spending time through the winter months looked anything like this, it's little wonder that a culture based on that would lead the scoreboard of most books per capita until recently being edged out of first place by Britain.

With that in mind, I know there are a lot of Americans who would be delighted to begin their own Jolabokaflod, and kvöldvaka family customs, so I've put together a little list of a few personal friends of mine.  With this gift guide we are supporting up and coming authors, independent artists, and self-publishers who are all just trying to make their dreams come true, which, to me, makes the purchase of these books a lovely gift to both the recipients, and the authors.

(alphabetically by first name).

Allison DeBoer Criswell

Everything You Need to Know About College Writing (2016 MLA update)

This book is quite literally, everything you need to know about college writing, and a crucial tool for any student (or regular folks) out there looking to brush up their skills, especially in academic writing.

Autumn Toennis

Bright Bones: Contemporary Montana Writing (Pre-order)

The above anthology includes work from multifaceted talent, Autumn Toennis, who, as far as her readers are concerned, is quite possibly made of magic.

Gerri Ravyn Stanfield

Revolution of the Spirit: Awaken the Healer: An Invitation to Radical Healing

On the smörgåsbord of the self-help, and healing genre, Holistic Medical Practitioner, Gerri Ravyn Stanfield serves us soul food with this book.

Jen Brady

To Write of Hope (40 page debut collection of poetry + photography)

Path of the Brave (Second poetry + photography collection)

Jen Brady's poetry is also featured on track #4 of Hannah Busse's debut album: Underneath Our Surface.

José Rafael Prieto

Soul (Debut novel)

     Kindle Edition

For You Beloved: From Beyond the Obvious and Within the Darkness (Poetry collection)

A true Renaissance man, as a novelist, and poet, José Rafael Prieto, offers a rich, enveloping, and lyrical experience to the reader.

Philip Kramer

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California: Section Hiking from Tuolumne Meadows to Donomore Pass 

Adventure and travel photographer, Philip Kramer, stumbled into writing quite by accident, but judging by his debut publication wherein he shares his wealth of knowledge on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, in a laid back, friendly, yet experienced manner, he's definitely hit his stride!  You can read more of my hype, here.

Trish Nichol

The Mechanics of Dreaming 

     Cover art by: Autumn Toennis

In her own words, "I am a rambler, a roamer, an anywhere I lay my head is homer."  Daydreamer extraordinaire, Trish Nichol, has compiled her debut collection of poetry to whet the imagination of her readers, while she works out the details of what is practical and absurd.  

Góðar stundir!

Timberland Regional Library: The Plot Thickens ...

Last month, I composed, delivered, and posted here, a letter regarding something called The Capital Facilities Proposal that recommended the closure, and / or consolidation of 1/3 of the libraries across 5 counties in Southwestern Washington to each member of the Timberland Regional Library Board of Trustees in a hasty attempt to persuade the board to table the matter until further research, and discussion could be had in order to develop a better plan for all of the communities involved.  Turns out, I wasn't the only one ... Not even close.  In the face of an ever changing schedule, and new sessions frantically added, inboxes were flooded with outcry, board and city council meetings alike were reduced to standing room only as community members showed up to support their local libraries, and plead with board members, and city leaders to allow these crucial gathering places, and services to remain open, and operational in their static locations. 

One thing that sent folks scrambling to make sure their voices were heard was the surprise addition of the October 10, 2018 board meeting, which left people unsure if the end of the month meeting would even take place, or if something severe would be decided at this new date that would make efforts to organize, and appear at the October 24th meeting pointless.  

With that said, there are a few things to clear up before we move on to le scandale ... oh yes, my friends, it turns out libraries can have seedy underbellies!  With many of us on a mad dash to assemble our thoughts, and respect the notion of brevity, a few things were lost in translation as made clear by the use of one of my first lines in the recording of the October 10th meeting.  I believe its use was meant to put people at ease over the redistribution of funds, and to assure the listening audience that this was not, in fact, a case of the Haves versus the Have Nots.

Open Letter to the Timberland Regional Library Board of Trustees:

 Update: November 30, 2018

Dear Members of the Board,

I am writing on behalf, and in support of the communities that have recently fallen under threat of closure of their public libraries.  The Capital Facilities Proposal has come to the attention of current, and former residents alike, and I’d like to have a moment of your time to lay out some shared concerns that, I believe, the proposal does not address in an adequate fashion.

Primarily, I am deeply disturbed by the recommendation that public libraries in small, isolated, and economically depressed communities be shuttered in order to allocate funds toward expansion programs for facilities located near, and around our State’s Capital; an area with the population to support innovative fundraising techniques.  Thanks to the data provided in the proposal, we can see that Thurston County produces 55% of Timberland Regional Library’s revenue, but receives 41% of the budget, and while this may seem like a sad state of affairs for the library facilities in Thurston County, isn’t that kind of the point of belonging to a region(?) -- meaning that the libraries are stronger together than they would be apart.  Making money where you can in order to benefit the whole should be a point of pride for the well-funded facilities knowing that with their help they are doing an important part of ensuring equal footing for all community members within the region, but especially for vulnerable youth, and the impact it has on their education.  It at least used to be, when urban libraries were subsidized by the money generated rurally by the tax on timber sales, or have we forgotten that so soon?  As a society, we’ve come to a point where we’re beginning to view all of our supposed disparities through the lens of unfair hand-outs, instead of what they really are, which is a hand up.

Showing Some Love

During this month of love, it might be nice to extend some support to independent authors, and self publishers who work extraordinarily hard to usher their creations into existence to delight our senses, and enrich our lives.  Discover a few rascals I've had the fortune of knowing, below:

Revolution of the Spirit: Awaken the Healer,
A delicious handbook revealing 9 essential ingredients to living our best, and most sacred life, by: Holistic Medical Practitioner, Gerri Ravyn Stanfield.

To Write of Hope,
A charmingly sized collection of poems staged on original photographs of the equally rugged, and delicate Wisconsin wilds, by: free-spirited, maker of beautiful things, and all around cool chick, Jen Brady. 

• Her poetry is also featured on track #4 of Hannah Busse's debut album: Underneath Our Surface.

In My Head,
Instagram sensation Jon Storm (or @JmStorm) has announced the release date of his debut book of selected poems (August 1, 2017) with pre-sales happening now!  If you've seen this guy's work floating around the interwebs recently, you know this book is NOT going to disappoint.  If his refreshingly honest take on love, life, and loss isn't enough, knowing that his beautiful verses come from such a genuine person is really the cherry on top.  It's rare to come across someone nowadays completely unaffected by popularity, and notoriety, but this all around decent human being is the real deal, and someone whose work I will always be able to support, and recommend without hesitation.

Soul,
Mastering the art of the flashback in his debut novel weaving together scenes from 19th century Puerto Rico with 1980s New York multifaceted creator, mischief-maker, and poet: José Rafael Prieto.

• Keep an eye out for his book of selected poems due in early March: 

For You Beloved: From Beyond The Obvious And Within The Darkness

(Available now!)

xoxo

Calling All Geeks!

It's that time again ... (my favorite) Author, Pat Rothfuss, and crew are at it again.  They're celebrating his birthday today by kicking off a week long charity fundraiser through Worldbuilders over here.  We all remember coming together last Christmas to raise over a million dollars, and where I *won* this little gem out of the lottery, right?

Well, if you're bummed out you missed the last go 'round of this, and the opportunity to help people Pat's blog to read more about how you can help out while getting your paws on some super-duper swag, and wish him a happy birthday if you want to.
dig themselves out of crippling poverty, now's your chance!  Hop over to

xoxo 

"I Cannot Endure To Waste Anything So Precious

as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

Nathaniel Hawthorne

1804-1864

I couldn't agree more, but for those moody,  stormy (or should that be Stormy?) Fall days few things can be so nice as curling up with a good mystery - ghost story peppered with a little American history. 

I was utterly delighted shortly after digging into The House of the Seven Gables to discover how appropriately suited the Gothic tale was to the manic moods of my favorite time of year.  I won't bore you with a totally useless book review.  I always thought, if I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, then why would I base my decision to read it on someone else's opinion? 

Besides, how many books have you had fully ruined by reading an overly extensive review? I'm talking to you, Amazon.com reviewers -- it's a merchandise review for an online shopping mecca, not your thesis! My disdain for online shopping, and smug book reviewers aside, I really enjoyed this book, but I'm into stories based on actual places that the author had a real history with ... and I dig a guy who can rival me for run-on sentances. By this standard alone, I knew from the first page this would be a match made in Heaven!

I highly recommend this book if you're in the mood for a nice little mystery, and if the oversaturation of woods such as "plebian," and "beseech" will help you purge the airhead vernacular of today's "literature" *cough*LizGilbert*cough* from your brain before it turns to goo!

Next on deck:  Jane Austen's Persuasion, which is said to be Pride and Prejudice's more mature sister ... a book that completely bored me to tears in High School, and coincidentally made me unjustly hate Collin Firth for the better part of his carreer.  It wasn't until adulthood that I figured out Jane Austen was actually funny, ironic, and sarcastic without being overly cynical.  Another triumph of the institution of American education which firmly adhered to the philosophy of force feeding us the teacher's opinion, and cramming us full of facts solely to be regurgitated back as test answers.  I'm excited nonetheless to sink my teeth into this new selection!

Happy reading!

xoxo

Summer Reading

They say to never judge a book by its cover, but when I saw these on the clearance rack how could i resist?  I think somewhere between how do I love thee, and apple picking, these guys have got the season covered.  I love a good Summer read these days, but when I was a kid you couldn't find a more befitting form of torture!  I couldn't reconcile sitting around reading about something when I'd rather be out actually doing something, but now I can't think of a nicer way to relax than soaking in some sunshine, and reading a few lovely lines.

I'm pretty particular about the kinds of things I like to read, I've never been able to pick up just any ol' book and get into it.  That's not to say that everything I read is some award winning, soon to be classic either.  I like rich, full stories written in such a way that involves most, if not all of the senses.  Which is why I was a little skeptical trying out Read it Forward.  Every so often they add a new book to their line-up where you can score a free book to read and pass on typically before it hits bookstores.  What's not to like ... you know, unless of course you don't like the book.  I was lucky with my first attempt.  I signed up for a copy of The Philosophical Breakfast Club, was actually chosen, finished it this week, and loved it!  I was worried it would be smug, sterile, and just factually driven in almost list format, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was a full story of four friends, their lives, and how they changed the face of science forever - to this day we still follow the methods they founded.  Anyway, I can't wait to pass it on a story I thoroughly enjoyed!