dare to dream

Books and Binding

On Friday, May 8, we had our Boston-based Resolutionary Challenge celebration at Henrietta's Table.  As we sat in the springtime sunshine, the conversation turned to our love of books, and how during the course of our 12-week challenge, the online discussion of books, more than any other thread, seemed to bind us to one another, many of whom we had never met.

Is it possible that like Liesel in The Book Thief, when we share stories, especially great ones, there is an express fondness for those with whom we share, as well as a seeing of both ourselves and our shared humanity in these stories?

By request, I've compiled the list of books recommended by this year's Resolutionaries.  If a book was recommended by more than (1) person, I'll include the total count in parentheses.  If I've read and can recommend the book, I'll asterisk.

Happy reading!

Fiction

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns -- Khaled Hosseini
2. Bless Me, Ultima -- Rudolfo Anaya
3. Gilead -- Marilynne Robinson (3)
4. Love Marriage - V.S. Ganeshananthan
5. Peace Like a River -- Leif Enger (2)
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society -- Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
7. The Kite Runner -- Khaled Hosseini
8. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency -- Alexander McCall Smith (*)
9. The Road -- Cormac McCarthy
10. The Secret Life of Bees -- Sue Monk Kidd (2)
11. Uncle Fred in the Springtime - P.G. Wodehouse

Historical Fiction

1. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
2. Here Be Dragons -- Sharon Kay Penman Ines of My Soul - Isabel Allende
3. Moloka'i -- Alan Brennert (2)
4. Sarah's Key -- Tatiana de Rosnay
5. The Book Thief -- Marcus Zusak (4) (*)
6. The Many Lives and Secret Passions of Josephine B -- Sandra Gull (*)
7. The Game of Kings -- Dorothy Dunnett

Classics

1. Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (1)
2. East of Eden - John Steinbeck (*)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (*)
4. Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell

Mystery

1. The Camel Club - David Baldacci

Young Adult Fiction

1. Amaranth Enchantment -- Julie Berry (3)(*)
2. Book of a Thousand Days -- Shannon Hale (*)
3. Fablehaven -- Brnadon Mull
4. The Giver -- Lois Lowry (2)(*)
5. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman  

Note:  My daughter and I prepared a list of questions re:  Amaranth Enchantment for mother-daughter book clubs. Click here to download. 

Non-Fiction

1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:  A Year of Food Life -- Barbara Kingsolver et al
2. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell (*)
3. Outliers -- Malcolm Gladwell (2)(*)
4. The Peacegiver - James L. Ferrell
5. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell (2)(*)

Autobiography

1. Me Talk Pretty One Day -- David Sedaris
2. Personal History -- Katharine Graham (*)
3. West with the Night -- Beryl Markham (*)

  Any books I left out?

A 21st Century Country Bunny

I recently re-discovered The Country Bunny and The Little Gold Shoes, a book my friend Kathleen introduced to me several years ago. 

The Country Bunny illustrates the feminine hero's journey: we observe the protagonist learning to prioritize, delegate, say no, and to get things done. 

I'll comment on just a few phrases:

1)  "Some day I shall grow up to be an Easter Bunny: -- you wait and see!"

All little girls have an 'I'dentity -- they know they are the archetypal Rachel.  But then many of us forget. The Country Bunny doesn't. 

Photo courtesy:   The Little Red Hen

2)  "By and by she had a husband and then one day...there were twenty-one Cottontail babies to take care of."

Do you recall that Psyche's 1st Task, the prototypical story of feminine psychological development, is to Sort the Seeds.  To become the hero of her story, the Country Bunny must (as must we) learn to sort through the seeds of possibilities in the face of conflicting feelings and competing loyalties.  She wanted to be the Easter Bunny and to marry and to have bunnies.  We make choices, and then we get to honor our choices.

3)  "And one day, when her children stopped being babies and were little girl and boy bunnies, she called them to her and said, "Now we are going to have some fun."

Psyche's 3rd Task is to Fill the Flask during which she learns to delegate and to achieve goals against tough odds.  We too must learn to delegate, whether at home or in the workplace if we are to become the hero of our story. 

Psyche's 4th Task is to Obtain a Box of Beauty Ointment, which requires her to learn to say no.  In delegating to our children, our spouses, to those who work for us, it may feel like we are saying 'no' to them (so that we can say selfishly 'yes' to our selves), but aren't we really saying 'yes' to those in our tutelage when we delegate?  

Look at how competent and capable the Country Bunny's children are!  And what CEO wouldn't want her/his corporation to run as smoothly as does Country Bunny Inc?  

Photo courtesy:  The Little Red Hen

4)  "You have proved yourself to be not only wise and kind, and swift, but also very clever.  Come to the Palace tomorrow afternoon, and you shall be my fifth Easter Bunny."

Psyche's task of Gathering the Fleece teaches her to gets things done in a way that gives life to and revitalizes others.   She is innately wise and kind (deeply connected to those she loves) AND she is swift and clever (connected to her self).   

If we are already swift and clever, have we learned to be wise and kind (I digress for this is probably the masculine journey...)?

SOOO...to those of you who are wise and kind, and the ones of you I know -- indeed are!  Are you also becoming swift and clever?

Learning to connect to others and to self - to honor 'you' and 'I'.

Both/and.

Yes and no.

This is our hero's journey.

I am so happy to have re-discovered this book.

Will you go and buy it -- and share with us your insights?

***

I'd also encourage you to enter a competition for Mom-Owned Businesses sponsored by Start-Up Nation.

 

There are three requirements:

1)  Be a mom

2)  Be the majority owner of a business

3)  Have a website

Were she to live in the 21st Century (not the 1930's - that's right this book was written in 1939), The Country Bunny would have a website, having delegated its construction to one of her little bunnies.

Whether you win the competition is far less important than whether you enter.  In entering, we honor our promises made to 'you' and to our 'I'.

 

Once you do enter, leave a comment letting us know and we'll vote for you!  

Announcing 'The Amaranth Enchantment'

My 'I' loved Julie Berry's debut novel The Amaranth Enchantment.

 

The heroine, Lucinda Chapdelaine, embarks on a feminine hero's journey; she connects to and cares for others AND she gets the guy.  

Because Julie's my friend, you could argue I'm biased.

 

I am.

 

But here's what three of the industry's most reputable reviewers, including Publisher's Weekly (note the Starred Review from what industry insiders describe as "Coke to Kirkus' Pepsi"), Booklist and Kirkus have said.

 

The Amaranth Enchantment Julie Berry. Bloomsbury, $16.99 (306p) ISBN 978-1-59990-334-7

Berry's enticing debut novel teems with romance, danger and suspense. Lucinda, a 15-year-old orphan, leads a miserable existence as a servant until she gains possession of an unusual stone belonging to Beryl, a reputed witch. As luck would have it, the gem is stolen and sold to a prince before Lucinda even realizes it is gone. Most of the plot centers on Lucinda's adventures trying to retrieve the stone from the prince, with whom she predictably falls in love. Fantasy buffs will delight in the author's playful use of fairy tale conventions—unlike Cinderella, Lucinda has the good sense to retrieve her lost slipper after attending a ball (“I considered leaving it there, but one footfall in my stocking feet on the cold granite changed my mind”). But the book's main appeal comes from the revelations of many secrets and unexpected twists, including the truth about Beryl. Lucinda has to work harder than most such heroines to acquire her happily-ever-after ending, but her efforts eventually pay off, while leaving readers with enough unanswered questions to set imaginations spinning. Ages 10–14. (Mar.)

"Intriguing characters, fine plotting, and a richly worked narrative."  Booklist

“A lively, quick, stylish, engaging first novel."  Kirkus Reviews

 

On March 5, I am going to the Wellesley Booksmith (I hope with my 8 year-old daughter) to the book kick-off party, buy a copy and get it signed.

On March 6, Julie will host a signing at the Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City.

My 8 year-old, Miranda, and I loved the March 5 book-signing; the young girls were riveted, accounting for nearly all the questions asked.   Miranda and I are reading the book together for a Mother-Daughter book club that we're in; Miranda is also lobbying to have Julie Berry come speak at her school.

When you get a moment, will you go to www.julieberrybooks.com and tell Julie 'Atta Girl'?

Or better yet, tell her in person.

***

My favorite 'dare to dream' passage is at the beginning of Chapter 18.  What's yours?

For those of you interested in questions for a mother-daughter book club, click here for a list that my daughter and I compiled.

Related posts:

1. Affirming our 'I'dentity
2. Myth of Psyche
3. Enchanted Anger
4. Getting in the Game