While I wrote about the present last year, this year I picked the word patience. Like optimism, we also need patience as we all stay home together. I know my patience has been tested many a times already, and I strive to get calmer.

“If patience wasn’t so easily tested, then it would hardly be a virtue.” – Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow

Spending time outdoors (playing or gardening in our backyard), getting some exercise through Zumba(definitely my favorite form of exerzise), playing board games (we have a half-finished game of Monopoly on, and another word game), and well creating recipes and art, all of this helps me towards that goal. It gives me (and us) something to do to make the waiting easier, and more fruitful. And hopefully, we can emerge out of this as better individuals, and in effect, a better world.

“With patience one can achieve what force never will.”
― Clyde Lee Dennis

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The Books

Poems to See By

Book Info

My Thoughts

This book includes a wonderful selection of 24 beautiful classic poems that are organized into categories of “seeing,” which include Seeing Yourself, Seeing Others, Seeing Art, Seeing Nature, Seeing Time, and Seeing Death. It includes works from a diverse set of poets: Wordsworth, Yeats, Angelou and Hughes among others. I discovered new poems by poets I enjoy reading (Thomas Hardy’s The Darkling Thrush, Poe’s Annabel Lee), favorite poems (Shelley’s Ozymandias, Emily Dickinson’s Hope), and wonderful poets I had not read before(Seamus Heaney, Siegfried Sassoon).

I started taking notes as I read each one over and over again, so I could list a couple of favorites. But I soon realized the futility of that exercise. It was just impossible – I love each one for its uniqueness – in the selection of the poem, and the wondrously suited art style as if made for the poem. We see manga, familiar comic strip styles and black-and-white film strips playfully included with whimsical watercolors, folk artsy crayons and more. It is almost impossible to believe it is all the work of a single artist (but it is!)

The artist’s rendering can help readers “see” the poems in a whole new way, and also opens up ideas for more inspiration. Like Peters says, “As much as it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, it’s also the case that a single word can conjure up as many pictures as there are people who read it”. On a side note, I felt I would have had a different feel if the original poems were included before the artists’s interpretation.

In Summary

I am going to get this book for myself, and I know you will thank me if you do too – get the book for yourself and for a loved one or two who enjoys comics or poetry or reading!!

Get it Here

Goodreads || Amazon || Target ||
Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

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Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Edelweiss as well as the publishers for the digital ARC of the book; these are my honest opinions after reading the book.

“Roses do not bloom hurriedly; for beauty, like any masterpiece, takes time to blossom.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

A Portrait In Poems

Book Info

My Thoughts

This is a very uniquely styled biography with a distinct Parisian feel. Rachel Katsaller’s illustrations are charmingly whimsical and colorful with details to delight the readers that effortlessly enhance Evie Robillard’s freestyle verse that flows smoothly across the pages.

I loved how Stein’s quotes and poems are interspersed throughout, adding a unique and fun touch to the book. This is a perfect start to introduce young readers to these fascinating women. It will also make them curious about art, literature, history, and of course, Paris!!

I learned a lot that I had not known before, like how Picasso worked on a portrait of Stein for months and then scrapped it because he couldn’t “see her” (Stein) anymore when he looked at the painting.

From the very first lines, “The next time you go to Paris, you might visit this big green spot”(and even before, actually), to the author’s note at the end, this book delights and informs!

Note

While the age-range says 6 – 9 years, it is text heavy for the youngest readers so can be used as a read-aloud for them, while it will easily for older kids too (and adults as well!!)

In Summary

Picture perfect poetic portrait!! That means, yes, I recommend this one:)

Get It Here

Goodreads || Amazon || Target ||
Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

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Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital ARC of the book; these are my honest opinions after reading the book.

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
― Aristotle

Prairie Lotus

Book Info

My Thoughts

I loved, loved, loved Prairie Lotus. Narrated by Hanna, a strong, intelligent, and determined 14 year old Chinese-American girl who moves east with her father to Dakota territory from California in the 1880s, this novel is one that captured my attention(and my heart) from the very first.

Hanna’s character is totally likable, believable and relate-able, and one I would want on my side, and one I would root for too! She is full of spunk and determined to rise above all the challenges she faces to achieve her goals.

Hanna deals with racism, and I loved that she faces it with dignity. At the same time, she notices the similarities between how she and the Native Americans she encounters are treated, and always treats them with respect herself.

She also deals with missing her mother. I truly was touched by the many memories she has of her mother, and smiled at all the time she recalls her mom’s many sayings. Her interactions with her schoolmates and townspeople is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at different times.

Linda Sue Park’s descriptions help the reader visualize life exactly as it was in that time and place. And while the story is historical, sadly, the issues are not. In the light of what is happening, reading books like this will help bring issues like racism to the forefront, and help us towards becoming a more inclusive and welcoming society.

Side-notes

I now want to read more by Linda Sue Park. And this book reminded me of so many other books I loved, including The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Notes of an Undocumented “Citizen,” and a couple others.

And a few of her “mama’s says:”

• Good work is no good if you don’t finish.
• To save time, take time.
• For the person who is sour, do something sweet.

In Summary

Of course, a much needed book which is a must-read. A book that belongs in our hearts and minds.

Get it Here

Goodreads || Amazon || Target ||
Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

Pin me

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital ARC of the book; these are my honest opinions after reading the book.

“Why is patience so important?”
“Because it makes us pay attention.”
― Paulo Coelho

My ‘P’ Book Stack

The Books

• Penelope, the Foal Fairy
• Peter Pan
• Pippi Longstocking
• The Pull of the Moon
• The Perfect Man
• The Pickwick Papers
• Problem-Solving and Artificial Intelligence
• Parrot and Olivier in America
• Promise Me
• Peace and Me
• Purplicious
• Pot Luck
• The Polar Express
• Puff the Magic Dragon
• Poirot’s Early Cases
• The Pilgrim’s Progress
• The Prodigal Daughter
• and a couple more not pictured here

Quick Notes

Puff the Magic Dragon was a gift from a friend, and has been read (and listened to) many times. The art in this book as well as in The Polar Express is gorgeous!

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”
― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Random Thing(s) for ‘P’ Day

And Thanks for your Patience!!

I found so many interesting words today so here is my attempt to include them all.

I certainly hope we are past the paracme of the current grave situation for now; paracme meaning a point beyond the highest or greatest or a point after the crisis of a fever is past. And that pejorism (the belief that the world is becoming worse) becomes a thing of the past once this is all over.

Moving on to other things. Have you ever felt a pain of a long ago wound? Then you have experienced pseudaesthesia, which is a phantom pain, false or imaginary feeling. Or something more realistic – have you sneezed when you accidentally spilled pepper in one of your recent kitchen adventures? I do not have the term for the sneezing but substances that cause sneezing are called as ptarmic.

Ptarmic pepper!! That sounds like a play on words, which is what my next word means. The word is paronomasia, more commonly known as a pun.

Do you love plashy paths? Do you enjoy psithurism and petrichor? Then the first summer rains in the wooded countryside will be your best bet to totally get all three!! Plashy refers to full of puddles while psithurism is the sound of rustling of leaves; and petrichor is the scent created when rain falls on dry ground.

While I know that I can sometimes (most?) be prolix, or write posts using too many words, I hope I don’t bore you, my dear reader!

And to continue that mishmash theme I have had on for the past few days, today I bring you – pismirism; this is the hoarding of small or insignificant things

So all of these random thing(s) or more specifically words, would be my paraphernalia, which refers to miscellaneous articles, especially the equipment needed for a particular activity. In my case, those miscellaneous things would be words!!

And lastly, as I sign off on this random things section, do you use an extra flourish under your signature? That has a name as well. It is called a paraph.

And I almost forgot! Here is one more word for you. It is paralipomenon which refers to a thing left out; added in supplement!!! Did you see the paronomasia here?

And now, the end of this post

So, dear reader, as always, a couple of questions for you. Have you read any of the pictured books in my ‘P’ stack? Or any comments on them? Do you have interesting ‘P’ words or facts for me? Or tips on how you are staying patient?

“He was the crazy one who had painted himself black and defeated the world.
She was the book thief without the words.
Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like rain.” –– Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

For previous posts, click on the links below:

Day_0(Theme) Day_1A Day_2B Day_3C Day_4D Day_5 Day_6E Day_7F Day_8G Day_9H Day_10I Day_11J Day_12 Day_13K Day_14L Day_15M Day_16N Day_17O

Linking up to the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, and the Ultimate Blog Challenge (click on the images to learn more about these challenges)