Book Your Stocking with Donna Miscolta

Book Your Stocking 2021

 Book Your Stocking: Day 14

Thanks for returning to Book Your Stocking, the somewhat-annual advent of books wherein avid readers recommend books for your stocking or sock drawer.

I'm not only happy to welcome Donna Miscolta to today's session, but also grateful that she continues to accept my invitations to share her thoughts on here. 

If you missed a session or would like to see more of Donna's past recommendations, visit http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html

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Recommendation: Inter State by José Vadi

Why: In these wry, intelligent essays, Vadi chronicles the changes in his beloved home state from the time his grandfather followed the crops as a California migrant worker, through the tech boom, high-speed rail development, wildfires, and the pandemic and the resulting gentrification, ghost towns, homelessness, and his own sense of displacement.

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About today’s reader: Donna Miscolta is the author of three books of fiction, the most recent of which, Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories, won the International Latino Book Award Gold Medal for Best Collection of Stories and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. www.donnamiscolta.com

Donna Miscolta, photo by Meryl Schenker

Book Your Stocking with Regi Claire

Book Your Stocking 2021

Book Your Stocking: Day 13

Thank goodness that a virtual way of travel is possible, for today we are welcoming back Regi Claire, all the way from Scotland, by way of her Swiss upbringing. 

Please welcome Regi Claire to this year's Book Your Stocking where avid readers recommend books every day until Christmas. (Past sessions here: http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html)

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Recommendation: The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam 

Why: Written with panache and admirable craft, this compulsively readable, witty, intelligent and moving novel set in the legal circles of Hong Kong and England tells the story of a wife’s secret longings and betrayals.

(Note: part of a trilogy but standalone.)

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About today's reader: Swiss-born Regi Claire is a prizewinning poet and fiction writer based in Scotland.  www.regiclaire.com

Regi Claire

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (December 12, 2021)

Please enjoy this week's edition of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee, wherein I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee.

 

Poems read:

• Winter by Billy Collins
• Winter by Marie Ponsot
• Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost
• Foxes in Winter by Mary Oliver
• The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

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🠊 Listen to more poetry sessions here: http://www.erinpringle.com/p/wake-to-words-and-brew-some-coffee.html

🠊 Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle

Book Your Stocking with Erin Pringle

Book Your Stocking 2021

Book Your Stocking: Day 12

Welcome back to Book Your Stocking, where every day until Christmas, avid readers recommend the book, story, song, or word-something that you and your friends would love to find in your stocking or sock drawer.

Today, I'm recommending a book because I missed a day in the series and it would seem odd to have nothing happen for Day 12, even though it's Day 13 when I'm writing this (technicality, tho it may be).

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Recommendation: Known by Salt by Tina Mozelle Braziel

Why: Her poetry doesn't give a f*ck that it grew up in a trailer park and understands lakes, lipstick, and low-income living. I feel recognized when I read her work. Real, raw, and what poetry looks like when it's by the people for the people--impossibly gorgeous. 

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About today's reader: I write stories in all sizes and prefer to read poetry.

Book Your Stocking with Ann Tweedy

Book Your Stocking 2021

Book Your Stocking: Day 11

One of my favorite poets whose work often appears in Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee is here to share today's book recommendation. Take note. Take many notes. Then find the book.

Please welcome back Ann Tweedy to this year's Book Your Stocking.

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Recommendation: This Wound Is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt

Why: These poems' exploration of colonialism and its effects on the speaker, viscerally in his body, are shattering, and yet the poems are filled with tenderness for his kookum (grandmother), his lovers, and himself.

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About today's reader: Ann Tweedy is the author of the award-winning poetry book, The Body's Alphabet (Headmistress), and three chapbooks: A Registry of Survival (Last Word), White Out (Green Fuse Poetic Arts), and Beleaguered Oases (Seven Kitchens). www.anntweedy.com

Ann Tweedy
photo by Karen Wolf

Book Your Stocking with Heather Keast (my partner)

Book Your Stocking 2021

  Book Your Stocking: Day 10

We have arrived at Friday here on Book Your Stocking, where each day (and mostly each year), avid readers suggest good ideas for gifting readers and word-lovers. 

Today is also a good day to write down all the recommendations so far (click here) for your weekend book-browsing jaunts.

 

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Recommendation: The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King

Why: I learned a lot. And it was a hard tone to strike to tell these horrific stories of genocide with just a touch of humor so that you could get through the book. It was just well done. 

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About today's reader: Heather Keast reads books and teaches books. 

Hezada! I Miss You Named Notable in Shelf Unbound's 2021 Best Indie Books

Good news! 

Hezada! I Miss You has received accolades from shelf unbound's annual selection of "Best Indie Books"

View all the winners, finalists, and notables here: https://issuu.com/shelfunbound/docs/2021_awards-issue-2021-december-january

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Purchase Hezada! I Miss You from the awesome Awst Press: https://awst-press.com/shop/hezada

(Feel free to note this on the gift tag when you set the book under your Christmas Tree. Ha!)

Book Your Stocking with Michael Noll

Book Your Stocking 2021

Book Your Stocking: Day 9

Welcome to Thursday and to the day Michael Noll joins us to give his reading recommendation for the year. One of the most avid readers I know, Michael has found the book that, at least by the title, suggests that he has nothing left to read. 

Thanks to Michael for taking part. And to you, fellow reader, come back again for more ideas for your stocking (and the stockings of your friends). Miss a day? Check here: http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html 

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Recommendation: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow

Why: This book is worth the hype: it re-examines the foundations of so-called Western thought to show that the way our government and society is set up is not the only option and probably not even the best option.

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About today's reader: Michael Noll writes fiction and is the Community Schools Coordinator in Peñasco, NM.

Michael Noll

Book Your Stocking with Ben Cartwright

Book Your Stocking 2021

 Book Your Stocking: Day 8

This year, avid readers were asked to recommend a book, story, poem, OR song. Ben Cartwright is both today's word-consultant and the first to rise up and say, Listen to this song, friends.

And so we shall. 

Let's.

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Recommendation: [song] "God Lifts Up the Lowly" by Ezra Furman

Why: Hope requires toughness and resolve for individuals and folks trying to organize, and this song conveys the type of hope that won't lay down or quit.

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About today's reader: Ben Cartwright is a poet and a teacher.

Ben Cartwright

Book Your Stocking with Henry Valentine

Book Your Stocking 2021

 Book Your Stocking: Day 7

A week of recommendations have passed, and I hope you've passed the time writing down the titles for your next trip to the bookstore or library. Check back every day until Christmas for more ideas by avid readers.

I'm pleased to welcome my child Henry Valentine back to the series. A second grader, he's recently become a hands-down, laugh-out-loud, let-me-read-this-part-to-you fan of the Catwad series by Jim Benton. But here, I'll let him tell you about it.

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Recommendation: Catwad: Four Me? by Jim Benton

Why: Because it has camping. It's one of the funniest books because it has one of my favorite comics in it. I like Catwad because it has very funny little stories in it.

Catwad: Four Me? (cover)

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About today's reader: Henry Valentine divvies up his time among reading, ballet, guitar, and getting as close to our dog's and cats' faces as humanly possible without, somehow, losing an eye.

Henry Valentine and hot chocolate

Need more book ideas? See past recommendations at http://www.erinpringle.com/p/book-your-stocking.html