Ramp Up Your Summer Reading With The Ghost Studies

Do you want to ramp up your summer reading? Join your fellow book-clubbers in reading a fascinating book selected by Intrepid Reader Karen.

Karen has discovered a phantastic book titled The Ghost Studies: New Perspectives on the Origin of Paranormal Experiences by Brandon Massullo.

The Ghost Studies, according to Google, provides scientific explanations for paranormal occurrences, including:

• New and exciting scientific theories that explain apparitions, hauntings, and communications from the dead
• The latest research on the role of energy and electricity in hauntings
• The role that emotions, bioenergetics, and the environment play in supernatural phenomena
• New research into why some individuals are more prone to ghostly encounters

I am as skeptical as the next person, but I have had some inexplicable experiences that make me wonder what else there is in heaven and earth, and I'm willing to find out what Mr. Massullo has to say on the subject.

Readers, let's begin discussing the tome on September 2.

Oh, and start planning for our Autumn Read: The Iliad, a new translation by Caroline Alexander.

What books would you like to read together? Offer some suggestions in the comments below, or email me and I'll share your ideas with the rest of the group!

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo: Eagle Poem

In honor of the new U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo. 


Eagle Poem 

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.

by Joy Harjo
From In Mad Love and War

Time Travel: When You've Gotta Go, and How Annie's Crew Managed

The Polar Book Club book took me a little bit longer to read than I anticipated— so thank you for your patience. Let's discuss The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks!

Intrepid Reader Karen suggested the book for our Polar Book Club because it sounded amazing: a young woman in San Francisco wakes up one day to discover a 19th century Kansas wheat field in her backyard, along with a letterbox that contains a letter addressed to her — from the year 1890.

The wheat field appears soon after Annie takes delivery of an old red wooden door purchased from a local antique shop. After a little digging, she discovers the door was once owned by the magician David Abbott, who was killed only days before it was sold at auction more than a century before. Her new "neighbor" Elsbeth dated her letter only days before the magician's murder. Can the crime be prevented and a life saved?

From the beginning, I wasn't sure what to make of the characters: Annie, a recently orphaned, terminally ill woman who speaks, dresses, and acts like a 19th century woman; Christian, her contemporary who survived a terrible accident and lives with the horror every moment of every day; Elsbeth, a widowed, retired schoolteacher who doesn't suffer fools and is all-business about everything in life; and Edmond, a gardener and friend of Christian's who is the key to this mystery — or is he?

Throw in David, an other-worldly magician doing the impossible with an ordinary-looking door; the good-natured but wary street urchin Cap'n who leads a perfectly oiled team of hungry, homeless kids; and truly evil, remorseless henchmen — and you have the motley crew who make up the story.

The book's characters seemed to embrace the outlandish premise too quickly. What would a time traveler need to do to convince you of their story? Would you travel across the country at the drop of a hat upon request and receipt of a pre-dated news article? What would you do for a virtual stranger: risk your life, your health, your future — or your present?

The book started a little slow for my taste, then began throwing in one bizarre vision, connection, and coincidence after another. In the end, it amounted to one too many coincidences, misjudged pop culture references, an implausibly violent scene in a rather soft-edged story, and an improbable ending that tidied up every conceivable loose end. However, I'd still consider it a three-star read: it is good time travel, and it presents an interesting premise, and a pretty intense ride full of surprises and familiar themes.

Polar Book Clubbers — and other readers of the book — what did you think? Send me a note, or comment below!

2019 Summer Reading Begins — Join the Club!

When Memorial Day comes around, my mind goes to two thoughts: gratitude for those who have given their lives to defend my rights and freedom, and summer reading.

The first book of the summer will combine both: Dogs of War, a graphic novel I discovered at my library.

After that is anybody's guess. Oh, I make a list, check it twice, and read some of the titles — but most summers, I stray from the list because the next new book captivates me, and I lose track of all of the books.

The best part? It's the beginning of the 2019 Summer Reading Club.

The Summer Reading Club lasts from the Friday before Memorial Day to the first day of autumn — so, this year, from May 24 through September 23.

To join the club, just send me a message or comment below, then read as much as you wish. Spend long summer days lounging with a book and a cold drink. I want you to be so immersed in your books that you forget about lunch. The club member who reads the most will receive a book from me. You get a book you like, I get to give it to you: that's a win-win!

In return, I ask that you give back. For every book read, I want you to pledge time or money: donate to the public or school library, little free library, or literacy program of your choice. Choose cash (a buck a book, or the cost of all books read, or even a copy of the books themselves) — or find out how your library or literacy program prefers its donations. Remember: volunteer hours are an excellent way to give back, whether it's to the library or another organization of your choice.

So, back to the matter at hand: books. Right now, I foresee a Summer of Sequels, which includes (in no particular order): 

• Of Blood and Bone
• The Map of Days
• Waking Gods
• Wolf Hall
• Lady Cop Makes Trouble
• Time's Convert
• The Bear and the Nightingale
• As Chimney Sweepers Turn to Dust
• The Map of Time (re-read)
• After the End of the World
• The Storm of Locusts
• Mary Poppins Opens the Door
• Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery
• Probable Paws: A Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery

Oddly enough, I am not really a fan of book series. Under most circumstances, I rarely continue beyond the third or fourth book, especially if there seems to be no end to the series or there are large gaps between the installments. I will pretend I waited until now to start the Cromwell series because Hilary Mantel has a publication date for the final book of the trilogy; thank you for playing along.

Here are a few other titles on my nightstand I'll add to the mix:

• Severance
• No Visible Bruises
• Children of Blood and Bone
• Where the Crawdads Sing
• Small Great Things
• Empire of the Ants
• Gingerbread
• I was Anastasia
• One Day in December
• The Book of the Unknown
• The Lilac Girls
• We Were Eight Years in Power
• Behind the Scenes at the Museum
• The Keeper of Lost Things
• 4 3 2 1
  
• Anything is Possible
• Norse Mythology
• The Power
• Hamilton: The Revolution
• The Intuitionist
• Ready Player One
• The Book of Harlan
• The Lost City of Z
• The Gun Seller
• The Lowland
• And the Mountains Echoed
• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter 
• The Sixth Extinction
• Bellman and Black
• Just Mercy
  

Warning: my "finished" list will most likely look very different than the list above. That's fine. Your list probably will, too. If you share your STBR (Summer To Be Read) list with me, I am glad to share it with your fellow clubbers — or you may post it in the comments below.

We are all friends here. We do not judge each other's reading choices or media. Enjoy your E.L. James or your Encyclopedia Brown. Listen, or look at a page or pixel. Your fellow readers may ask questions, maybe offer suggestions for other similar reads or good book resources, and we always appreciate reviews or feedback. Reader to reader, we can have fun. 

Best of all, no pressure! No matter how many books you read (or don't), you are still a reader and we're glad you're in the club.

So, who's in? Let me know!

Perdu • National Poetry Month

Perdu  

I no longer appear

in photos. No one pictures me

in the moment. Poolside, red

plastic cup in hand, smiling faces,

a dripping child on a grandmother’s

damp lap, squinting into the sun. Bride

and groom in white, surrounded by

well-dressed pastel-flocked crowd

on the dark parquet dance floor. Groaning

picnic table, red and white checkered

tablecloth, tanned patriarch flanked by

children and grandchildren biting into

crispy black hot dogs, crunchy pickles,

sticky pink watermelon. Around

the dining table, goofing in the mashed

potatoes, a selfie with Dad. Adorable,
adoring stealth shots: watching tv, nothing

special, Happy Days reruns, teens in

identical superhero t-shirts, stuck in time.

There are no gaps, no holes,

no negative space unfilled.

I am not redacted.

I am naught.

by Chris Fow Cohen

with permission of the author

Spoken Word Poetry: I Think She was a She • National Poetry Month

I Think She Was a She by Leyla Josephine

Tattered Kaddish • National Poetry Month

Tattered Kaddish


Taurean reaper of the wild apple field
messenger from earthmire gleaning
transcripts of fog
in the nineteenth year and the eleventh month
speak your tattered Kaddish for all suicides:

Praise to life though it crumbled in like a tunnel
on ones we knew and loved

Praise to life though its windows blew shut
on the breathing-room of ones we knew and loved

Praise to life though ones we knew and loved
loved it badly, too well, and not enough

Praise to life though it tightened like a knot
on the hearts of ones we thought we knew loved us

Praise to life giving room and reason
to ones we knew and loved who felt unpraisable

Praise to them, how they loved it, when they could.

by Adrienne Rich
courtesy exceptindreams