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Thru My Looking Glass

4/26/2019

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"Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them."
        -David Hume


Arthur and I love art. We enjoy art museums in every city that we visit. Whether in the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York or the Norton Museum of Art near our home, we find pieces that we love and pieces that are not to our taste. The artwork that adorns our walls are pieces we've collected through the years that have made us smile. Some people find our choices appealing while others obviously aren’t enamored. That is okay, because none of us holds the secret to beauty, exclusively.

Beauty truly is in the eyes of the beholder, and we all see things through our own kaleidoscope. That is why most of America is enthralled with "Game of Thrones", and while I appreciate the work that has gone into it, I just don’t find it appealing.  On the other hand, I enjoy Shakespeare while many find his writing to be unreadable. 

That is okay...chocolate vs vanilla...both good...which do you choose? If it happens to be chocolate, do you spend your free time discussing how unattractive vanilla is? Do you rate it lower if it has those little brown flecks in it? Do you snicker when you pass a bowl of vanilla ice cream?

When did man start believing that looks supersede all else? More to the point, when did man start believing his judgement of how something or someone looks is the criteria that we should live by, and when are we going to teach our children that everything has beauty in somebody’s eyes.

I sat in my classroom year after year and watched the boys swarm around the stereotypical pretty girls, giving them a false sense of worth while the rest of the girls felt less attractive then they actually were. These young men were harming both groups with there hunt for beauty. The first group began believing that their looks meant more than their brains, charm and good nature. They focused on those looks instead of building their character. The second group felt inferior because they didn’t have the body or face of a super model and often fought depression and became introverted, hiding the true inner beauty they possessed.

Several months ago a group of girls at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland found a list that a group of boys formulated last year. In it they ranked the 18 girls in the school's International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme by their looks. The young ladies were devastated and began questioning their worth, but these are strong young women who decided to take it in a more constructive direction.

The school had disciplined the boys involved, but the girls felt that this wasn’t enough. They organized a meeting on March 8, International Women's Day, that was attended by administrators and students. They confronted the boys involved with the list, including the senior who originally created it. The girls told the perpetrators how it felt to be judged on a daily basis by their supposed friends. They made them realize that what was funny to the boys was devastating to the girls. The young man who created the list was truly humbled and said it would take a long time to forget what he had just experienced.

A coed group of seniors have been meeting frequently since then to try to change the school's culture for future classes. One big step for them...one small step for women everywhere. The answer to women’s poor treatment through the years will not be found in a courtroom or even in a classroom. The answer will be found in the hearts and minds of men who come to realize the damage they are doing to mothers, daughters, sisters and wives everywhere. When they emphatically feel the pain a woman feels when she believes she doesn’t meet their standards of beauty, men will hopefully think twice before they create a list over a few beers one night.  Like art through the ages, all people are beautiful in someone’s eyes, and all people must feel beautiful in their own heart.

Literature, like art of all kinds, helps to teach us about ourselves, and It's Not Hansel and Gretel (It’s Not a Fairy Tale Book 2), by Josh Funk has several lessons to teach young people and their parents. Funk just didn’t like the way some stories were written, so he took it upon himself to change them up a bit.

As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

-Beverly
​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog
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It's Not Hansel and Gretel (It's Not a Fairy Tale Book 2) by Josh Funk (Author) and Edwardian Taylor (Illustrator)

4/25/2019

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​​Genre: Children's
​​Click book cover for Amazon.com
Apparently, Josh Funk doesn’t want people to tell him how stories should end (or begin for that matter) so he decided to write fairy tales the way he imagined them. Move over Hans Christian Anderson, I have become a Josh Funk fan girl. I suspect that this tale, It's Not Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by Edwardian Taylor, is aimed for the mommys and daddys who spend endless hours reading to their children. While the dialog between Hansel and Gretel is witty enough, it is the lines where the author tries to get these two lost children to listen to him that made me laugh out loud.

I also enjoyed the current issues that author Funk wove into his fairy tale. Feminism was front and center when Gretel wants to know why the story isn’t called Gretel and Hansel, and food waste is frowned upon when a bread crumb trail is mentioned.

The illustrations in this book were fun to look at, and the author threw in characters from other stories (hello Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk) to keep his audience interested. This is the first Josh Funk book that I read, but I guarantee that it won’t be the last.

- Beverly

Publisher - Two Lions
Date of Publication - ​March 1, 2019
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Thru My Looking Glass

4/18/2019

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“If we can stop sexual harassment in the workplace...women will only have to deal with harassment all the time at every other place they go.”
—-Jimmy Kimmel


I am not sure which is more disgraceful...the number of politicians who have inappropriately touched people or a political atmosphere where the major goal is to highlight every misstep an opponent ever took in his/her life. If the latter doesn’t stop, our political system and our country itself will fall to the wayside. It is time that our politicians do the job that they were elected to do, and we judge and vote for them because of their ability to deliver on their promises.

We have to remember that what is considered wildly inappropriate now was accepted as mild flirting years ago. When Joe Biden massaged a woman’s shoulders or kissed her hair he thought he was being “cute” and would have been horrified to think he was sexually harassing her. That doesn’t excuse it, but it also doesn’t foreshadow how he would handle the presidency.

George H. W. Bush was certainly inappropriate when he grabbed the buttocks of several young women. His “joke” claiming that "David Cop-a-feel" was his favorite magician was just plain...gross, but it didn’t define his presidency. He made these crude gestures in front of his wife while he sat in a wheel chair. I doubt that he expected his position would help him gain sexual benefits. Nope...just being your stereo-typical “dirty old man.”

Bill Clinton had many accomplishments during his years in office. He gave us the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. His administration showed the lowest unemployment in thirty years and provided 22 million new jobs. He had the lowest crime rate in 26 years and provided 100,000 more police to our streets. Welfare reform legislation helped us attain the smallest welfare rolls in 32 years. I could go on, but none of that would change the fact that he was wildly inappropriate with women, just like his escapades with Ms. Lewinsky doesn’t change the way he performed his presidential duties.

In fact, it would be difficult to find more than a handful of Presidents who didn’t act inappropriately towards women before, during and after their respective terms, and that is sad, frightening and downright disgusting...but had little to do with their effectiveness in office. The difference today lies in a less than professional media and a World Wide Web with little self control. We know everything a candidate did (and a great deal that someone thought said candidate might possibly have done ) before he or she even formally announces his/her candidacy. It takes the focus away from his/her platform and into a personal arena that is way less relevant to the good of our country.

I am sickened by the sexual antics of men in power. I am equally sickened by a media that somehow lost its purpose and aims to titillate rather than educate. There are still some top journalists out there, and I will continue to hunt them out, but sadly they are quite literally a dying breed. Unfortunately, many of our politicians will continue to disappoint us with their moral choices, and many of our journalist will continue to focus on "who" not "what"  these people have done. If you can’t get past these “me too” moments that cloud the issues than there is probably only one way to go. Vote for a woman in the 2020 election.

Speaking of a woman who will definitely get your attention, and your heart, Jodi Picoult is an author who makes me laugh and cry simultaneously. Her novel, A Spark of Light, is one in a long list of Picoult novels that will make you a super fan of this amazing author.

As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly
Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog
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A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

4/18/2019

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​Genre: Fiction
​Click book cover for Amazon.com
Jodi Picoult’s talent as a storyteller has no rivals, and it lies completely in her ability to portray her characters. Each character in her novels is so multi-dimensional that the reader can’t help but believe they are reading about people they have spent time with in the past. Her storylines bring in current themes, and she generally shows all sides of the issue she is highlighting.

A Spark of Light takes on the abortion issue, and she is obviously attempting to humanize both sides of one of the most emotional topics that face us today. A women’s health center is attacked by a gunman, George, who opens fire and takes everyone inside hostage. We soon learn why George has taken this unthinkable step, and while we don’t agree with him, we do sympathize with his misguided emotions. He is a father who will do anything for his daughter.

Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, is a father too, and his daughter, Wren, is one of the hostages, along with the doctor, a nurse, a young woman who aborted her child and a pro-life protester disguised as a patient. The story counts backwards through the hours of the encounter, and it is told through the viewpoint of everyone involved. As we get to know the characters and their motivations, we realize that everyone seems to be doing what he/she believes is necessary.

I enjoyed the book, even though I found it a bit confusing to follow at times. Although Picoult does an admirable job juggling the many characters and the odd timeline, there were times I had to jump back and get my bearings before continuing. She does try to give light to both sides of the issue, but I think I picked up which way she leans. 

If you are a Jodi Picoult fan, this is one for your library, and if you have never read any of her books, I urge you to find a nice chair and a box of tissues and get started.

- Beverly


Publisher - Ballantine Books
Date of Publication - October 2, 2018
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Thru My Looking Glass

4/12/2019

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The book to read is not the one that thinks for you but the one which makes you think."
---Harper Lee

It has been difficult for me to find time to read/write this week, as we have been tackling some health issues in my family. All will soon be back to normal, but unfortunately I have no blog or book for this week. I did just finishing reading The Three Beths by Jeff Abbott and will write the review for next week’s blog. It was quite good, and I look forward to adding more of his books to my library.
​

Until next week,

Happy reading,

-Beverly
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Thru My Looking Glass

4/5/2019

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“Anxiety plays a major part in demoralizing the body as it leaves the body and mind wide open to diseases.” 
  -Alexander Chase


I believe that I have just gone over the edge. As a consummate reader, I spend mornings perusing various news sites, food sites, housekeeping sites and entertainment sites. For my own peace of mind, I am going to have to find another hobby. According to everything that I have read over the last year or two, my stay on earth is tenuous at best, and everything I eat, drink or do is contributing to my early, and most likely painful, demise.

Okay...I gave up meat products in my home...no deadly chicken bacteria lingers on my counters, and I use disinfectant wipes occasionally, when I fear some nasty bacteria has invaded my kitchen. Today I read, “Why Your Beloved Disinfecting Wipes May Be Making Your Kitchen Dirtier.” Are you kidding me? Are there really people out there whose main job is to find out how nothing...and I mean nothing...is safe.

There are hormones in my meat, mercury in my fish, pesticides in my produce, and apparently e coli is everywhere. I read an entire article on how I should use disinfectant wipes on every surface near me on a plane, but this latest article contradicts the first one and tells me that I am spreading germs whenever I swipe a wipe. Cruises are out, because who needs Norwalk Virus? Also, according to a recent article, one can never tell when a crew member might attack. Aghhhhh.

Drinking is also harmful to our health, apparently. I am not talking about alcohol this time (although we all know about the “ills of alcohol”), I am referring to all other liquids. The sugar in soda will get you, but artificial sweetener in diet soda is infinitely worse. Don’t drink too much juice because that will also give you a sugar overload. Water has always been my beverage of choice, and I carry a bottle around wherever I go. Big mistake! It seems the bottles are shedding micro-plastic pieces into the water, so bottled water is a no-no. Perhaps I should fill a thermos with good old tap water...but wait...the latest article I read says that micro-plastic contamination has been found in tap water throughout the world.

I think the only answer is for me to stop reading. There is no way that I can give up eating and drinking everything, and the anxiety of reading what I am doing to myself can’t be good for me. Maybe I should just veg in front of the television.  Wait a minute, that won’t work. First of all, I recently read that sitting in front of a television for extended periods can shorten your lifespan by several years. Also, those commercials are killers.

Watching television without the benefit of fast forward has become a real anxiety provoker. First we are told about all of the illnesses that are lurking around every corner, and then we are given a list of “side effects” attached to every drug. Anyone who actually reads that list and still opts to take any medication is braver than I will ever be. Every time I am prescribed a medication or advised to take a vaccine, I need to give myself a pep talk to do what I know is right.

There is nowhere to turn for those of us who want a healthy lifestyle without becoming neurotic, so I intend to listen to the advice my mother gave me many years ago. Most things are safe to eat, drink and do in moderation. A glass of juice in the morning, one or two cups of tea/coffee through the day and an occasional milkshake is just fine, and I am going back to carrying my bottles of water, because hydration trumps micro-plastic fear. I will bravely eat my mercury laden fish and take a chance on contaminated veggies. I will even bravely use my disinfectant wipes on airplanes and in hotel rooms as I take the occasional vacation. I will do it all in moderation. In fact, the only thing I will give up is reading the articles that have been messing with my mind, because anxiety is probably my worst enemy.

I will never give up reading good books though, and this week’s book really kept me going. Your Son is Alive by James Scott Bell was a well written puzzler that took my mind off of worrying about my tuna fish sandwich.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly
Click on the book cover to order a title mentioned in today's blog
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Your Son is Alive by James Scott Bell

4/4/2019

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​Genre: Thriller
​Click book cover for Amazon.com
James Scott Bell introduces us to good people facing an impossible situation in his thriller, Your Son is Alive. When Dylan and Erin Reece’s son was kidnapped fifteen years ago, their world, and eventually their marriage, came to an end. The passing of time doesn’t dull the hurt, but Dylan is determined to try to find happiness again when a note is slipped under his door. Your son is alive is written in crayon, and Dylan must find out if this is a sick joke or a miraculous truth.

Strange things continue to happen to Dylan and Erin as they work together to find out whether their son is truly alive, and Bell makes the reader care for these characters as we go on this search with them. This easy-to-like book takes us on a roller coaster ride with each chapter leaving us wanting to turn another page.

The chapters alternate viewpoints between Dylan, Erin and occasionally the “bad guy,” and I always find that method keeps me invested in the story. Every time I think I have something figured out, Bell adds a new twist to the mix. I enjoy the music and movie references that he throws in, and the memories that Dylan and Erin have about their five years with their son Kyle are relatable enough to capture any parent’s attention.

Bell writes without sexual scenes, vulgar language or gratuitous violence, and I found that a refreshing change of pace. Your Son is Alive is a great addition to anyone’s thriller collection.

- Beverly
​

Publisher - Amazon Digital Services LLC
Date of Publication - ​April 28, 2018
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