Book Your Stocking with Julia Drescher

Book Your Stocking: December 6

All December, readers of all stripes will share their reading wish-lists and/or give-lists. Note on book links: all titles are linked to their publishers or IndieBound, in order to support writers, publishers, and local bookstores. If you are rural and without bookstores, share this post with your librarian or library's Facebook page.

Please welcome today's reader, Julia Drescher.

List

Black and Blur (Fred Moten) (so far, so fucking good!)
Dark Ecology (Timothy Morton)
Lay Ghost (Nathaniel Mackey)
MyOTHER TONGUE (Rosa Alcala)
Winter (Ali Smith)
The Oblivion Seekers (Isabelle Eberhardt)
The Chandelier (Clarice Lispector)
The Passion According to GH (Clarice Lispector)
Elena Ferrante (re-reading Neopolitan novels and The Lost Daughter-which has one of the greatest last sentences!)
This is the Place: Women Writing About Home (Anthology)
Kith (Divya Victor)
Saidiya Hartman (very much waiting for her _Beautiful Lives, Wayward Experiments_)

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Julia Drescher,
photo used with permission

About today's reader: Julia Drescher lives in Colorado where she co-edits the press Further Other Book Works with the poet C.J. Martin. Her work has appeared most recently in ‘Pider, Entropy, Likestarlings, Aspasiology, and Hotel. Her book of poems, Open Epic, is available from Delete Press. 

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Check out more recommendations from Book Your Stocking contributors: 

http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html

Book Your Stocking with Kathleen Callum

Book Your Stocking: December 5

Every day of December, readers of all stripes are sharing their reading wish-lists and/or give-lists. Note on book links: titles are linked to their publishers, or to your nearest bookstore. If you are rural and without bookstores, share this post with your librarian or library's Facebook page.

Please welcome today's reader, Kathleen Callum.

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Reading Wish-List

a.k.a To-Do List

Literature, Science Fiction, Mystery

Barkskins (2016) by Annie Proulx 

The Unquiet Grave: A Novel  (2017) by Sharyn McCrumb 

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (2017) 

Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction by Grace Dillon 

The Sorrow of Archeology by Russell Martin (2005) 

Emergence by C.J. Cherryh

 

 Food/Garden/Agriculture/Health/Ecology/Climate

Seedfolks (2004) by Paul Fleischman

Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life (2018) by David Montgomery

Einstein’s Beets (2017) by Alexander Theroux.

The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health (2016) by David Montgomery (reread)

A Sanctuary of Trees (2012) by Gene Logsdon.

Being Salmon: Being Human (2017) by Martin Lee Mueller

Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking (2007) by Kate Colquhoun

Kiss the Ground: How the Food You Eat Can Reverse Climate Change, Heal Your Body and Ultimately Save Our World (2018) by Josh Tickell

Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History
(2005) by Giles Milton

Current Events, History and Other Non-Fiction

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy  (2017) by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Fourth Edition 4th Edition
by Gloria Anzaldua.

The Wigwams in My Backyard (2017) Rick Will

The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World by Charles C. Mann

Saving Capitalism for the Many, Not the Few by Robert B. Reich

Métis

So Few on Earth: A Labrador Métis Woman Remembers (2010) by Josie Pennys

The Identities of Marie Rose Delorme Smith: Portrait of a Métis Woman, 1861-1960 (2012) by Doris Jeanne

 Métis and the Medicine Line: Creating a Border and Dividing a People (The David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History) (2015) by Michel Hogue

The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region,1650-1815 (Studies in North American Indian History) (1991) by Richard White

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Kathleen Callum,
photo used by permission

About today's reader:

Kathleen Callum operates GEOARCH, Inc., a geological and archeological consulting firm, along with her husband Robert Sloma (who also works in Central Washington as a tribal archeologist). Together, they have a talented teenage musician son who goes to Lewis and Clark High School, live in a 1928 bungalow which they are restoring, and garden on their front lawn.

They first moved to Spokane in 2004 when Kathleen was hired by the U.S.D.A. as an archeologist. Kathleen specializes in Anthropocene landscape change and geoarcheology, eastern Washington history and archeology, the history of the Northwest French Métis cultural contact, ethnobotany, and traditional farming methods. She is one of the volunteer WSU Master Gardeners of Spokane, Spokane County Master Composters/Recyclers, President of Spokane Community Gardens, and an advocate of Food Not Lawns.

She gives public talks about community gardens, growing vegetables, how regenerative agriculture restores local economy and fights climate change, or her own personal story of garden therapy after suffering from a stroke. Recently, Kathleen started facilitating a chapter of the Inland Northwest Food Network’s (INWFN’s) “Food For Thought” book club in Spokane. She often randomly reads whatever catches her eye at Auntie’s, on display at libraries, or at book sales. She re-reads favorite authors like Annie Proulx, Sharon McCrumb, Gene Logsdon, Nevada Barr, and C.J. Cherryh until the books are dog-eared and worn.

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Check out more recommendations from Book Your Stocking contributors: 

http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html

Book Your Stocking with Antonio Ruiz-Camacho

Book Your Stocking: December 4

All December, readers of all stripes will share their reading wish-lists and/or give-lists. Note on book links: all titles will be linked to their publishers, or if this isn't an option, to IndieBound so that you can support local bookstores. If you are rural and without bookstores, share this post with your librarian or library's Facebook page.

Please welcome today's reader, Antonio Ruiz-Camacho.

Give-List

Here are a few books recently published I've read this year and loved, which most definitely will be included in my holiday gift list: On the Frontline, by Susan Meiselas; A Separation, by Katie Kitamura; Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado, and Unaccompanied, by Javier Zamora.

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Antonio Ruiz-Camacho

About today's reader: Antonio Ruiz-Camacho was born and raised in Toluca, Mexico. A former Knight Journalism fellow at Stanford University, a Dobie Paisano fellow in fiction by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Institute of Letters, a John Garder Fellow at Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, a Yaddo Fellow, and a Walter E. Dakin fellow in fiction at Sewanee Writers’ Conference, he earned his MFA from The New Writers Project at UT Austin. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Salon, Texas Monthly, The Millions, and elsewhere. His debut story collection BAREFOOT DOGS won the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction, and was named a Best Book of 2015 by Kirkus Reviews, San Francisco Chronicle, Texas Observer and PRI's The World. It was published in Spanish translation by the author, and is forthcoming in German and Dutch. Antonio lives in Austin, Texas, with his family, where he's currently at work on a novel.

Antonio Ruiz-Camacho nació y creció en Toluca, México. Ha sido becario Knight en periodismo por la Universidad de Stanford, becario Dobie Paisano en narrativa por la Universidad de Texas en Austin y el Instituto de Texas de las Letras, y becario Walter E. Dakin en narrativa por la Conferencia de Escritores de Sewanee. Su trabajo ha aparecido en The New York Times, Salon, Texas Monthly y Etiqueta Negra, entre otros medios. “Los perros descalzos”, su debut narrativo, fue nombrado uno de los mejores libros de 2015 por Kirkus Reviews, San Francisco Chronicle, Texas Observer y The World de Public Radio International; publicado originalmente en inglés, fue traducido al español por el propio autor y pronto será traducido al alemán y al holandés. Antonio vive en Austin, Texas, con su familia, donde actualmente está escribiendo una novela.

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Check out more recommendations from Book Your Stocking contributors: 

http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html

Book Your Stocking with Sharma Shields

Book Your Stocking: December 3

All December, readers of all stripes will share their reading wish-lists and/or give-lists. Note on book links: all titles will be linked to their publishers, or if this isn't an option, to IndieBound so that you can support local bookstores. If you are rural and without bookstores, share this post with your librarian or library's Facebook page.

Please welcome today's reader, Sharma Shields.

Give-List

For the epic literature lover: KINTU by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Incredible epic set in Uganda, filled with magic realism, history lessons, and criticism of colonialism ala Midnight's Children and One Hundred Years of Solitude.

For the poetry lover: Tracy K. Smith's Life on Mars, since she was dubbed our new poet laureate this year. Also, NASTY WOMEN
POETS: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse , edited by
Grace Bauer & Julie Kane and published by Sandpoint, Idaho's venerable Lost Horse Press, a perfect antidote to all of the shit women have to take day in and day out.

For the teen in your life: the Ms. Marvel comics series, featuring Kamala Kahn, Marvel's first Muslim superhero to headline her own series. Written by G. Willow Wilson and drawn by Adrian Alphona.

For the middle-grade reader: HiLo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth, by Judd Winick. My son loved this series, filled with adventure, heart, bravery and kindness.

For the lover of fairy tales, at any age: Fairy Tales and Fables by Gyo Fujikawa. Famous and obscure fairy tales from around the world, complete with gorgeous drawings.

For the Early Reader: The Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. Willems draws expressions so deftly and with such humor. Both my 5 and 8 year olds love reading these books again and again. The simple language is perfect for the beginning
reader.

For the preschooler: Du Iz Tak by Carson Ellis. Filled with whimsical creatures and made-up but intelligible words, this is such a blast to read aloud to young children.

For the baby: A subscription to Babybug, the (chewable) magazine for the youngest of kids, filled with poetry and simple rhyming tales.

For the book-lover/community lover: A donation to the local library friend's group in their name, such as the Friends of the Spokane Public Library or the Friends of the Spokane County Library District.

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Sharma Shields, 

photo by Astrid Vidalon

About today's reader: Sharma Shields is the author of a short story collection, Favorite Monster, and a novel, The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac. Henry Holt will publish her next novel, The Cassandra, in early 2019.

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Check out more recommendations from Book Your Stocking contributors: 

http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html

Book Your Stocking with Tom Noyes

Book Your Stocking: December 2

All December, readers of all stripes will share their reading wish-lists and/or give-lists. Note on book links: all titles will be linked to their publishers, or if this isn't an option, to IndieBound so that you can support local bookstores. If you are rural and without bookstores, share this post with your librarian or library's Facebook page.

Please welcome today's reader, Tom Noyes.

Give-List

In fiction, I'd give Melissa Fraterrigo’s Glory Days (University of Nebraska Press) and in poetry, Cameron Barnett’s The Drowning Boy’s Guide to Water (Autumn House).

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Tom Noyes,
used with permission

About today's reader: Tom Noyes' newest book, Come by Here: A Novella and Stories, won the Autumn House Prize in Fiction and the Gold Medal in Short Fiction from the Independent Press Publishers Awards.  He is the author of two other story collections, Spooky Action at a Distance and Other Stories and Behold Faith and Other Stories, which was shortlisted for Stanford Libraries’ William Saroyan Award. Currently, he teaches in the BFA program at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, where he also serves as Assistant Director of the Humanities and as Consulting Editor for the literary magazine Lake Effect.

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Check out more recommendations from Book Your Stocking contributors: 

http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html

Book Your Stocking Series: Holiday Reading Wishlist/GiveList 2017-2018

Book Your Stocking: December 1

It's Friday and the first day of December, and now that I read books again, I'm motivated to create reading lists. So, not only would I like to share my  Reading Wish-List and Give-List for this holiday season, but every day in December another reader will also share their list(s), in a series I'm calling Book Your Stocking. Check back each day to expand your own reading wish-list and give-list.   

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My Reading Wish-List:
1. The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates
2. The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas and Erin Stead (children's)
3. Saville (Jenny Saville's art)
4. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Abram X. Kendi

My Reading Give-List:
1. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
2. Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

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Want to grow your own reading wish-list? Check out other recommendations from Book Your Stocking contributors: http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html

Holiday Ornaments for Children who Love to Read Books

My four-year old and I began our Sunday morning by cleaning out and organizing his art shelves. In the midst of doing this, we came across a few scenes from Where the Wild Things Are meant for a project that did not turn out, despite high hopes. Rather than recycling the pictures, I moved them from here to there, since everything can be used for a craft. When the art shelves were organized, we started cutting out these saved pictures. I took out the new roll of contact paper. And suddenly we were making Christmas ornaments. 

One thing led to another, and Henry and I found ourselves back at the computer, searching for scenes from his favorite books. Thank you, Google Images. A few times, Henry would run back to his room and scan his bookshelf, then run back and tell me which books we loved. Oh, yes! I'd say. And we'd find more. 

Then we printed, cut, sandwiched each between clear contact paper, cut and taped string and voila! we have lovely little literary ornaments. Quite a few, actually. Perhaps some will become presents for his teachers?

It was a good project because Henry could take part fully in each step, from selecting the pictures, to cutting them out, to measuring the string and taping it to the back. When he wanted to try a different step, I continued working on the step I was on. The last step of hanging the ornaments on the tree was very fulfilling. He chose several to hang on the little tree in his bedroom, too, which is definitely the mark of a successful project. 

This is not necessarily a super creative project, but we enjoyed doing it, and I'm glad that we've commemorated the books we have loved so well. I most enjoyed his picking out the pictures and hearing him tell me the part of the story associated with the picture, as I didn't realize, though I should have, how closely he has been listening--and memorizing--as we read and re-read. His favorite part of the project seemed to be pulling the tape off the dispenser and wrangling the embroidery thread into ornament loops.

These could serve nicely as gift-tags, too, though I don't know that the time-investment would be worth it, especially if you don't require an oath that gift-receivers will keep the tags.

Here are a few samples. Do you know which books these come from?