Book Blog – Page 19 – …on the B.L.

Envy

May 8, 2018 RaeAnna

Read: Yes
Difficulty: III
Length: I
Quick Review: A Russian classic examining the socialist society it was written for.

Yury Olesha is known as a great Russian novelist. Not only was Envy his debut novel, it became one of his most recognizable works. Olesha had an immense talent for appearing pro-Soviet but, in actuality, was critiquing the Communist government when read with an eye for detail. The Soviet’s played hardball when it came to censorship because Olesha subtly critiqued the government through satire, he was able to avoid punishment or jail.

Nikolai Kavalerov is a young and slightly bitter young man. After being tossed out of a bar, Andrei Babichev rescued Kavalerov allowing him to sleep on his couch. Babichev manages a sausage factory and is the perfect Soviet citizen. When Babichev’s brother, Ivan, returns, everything is turned on its head.

I love this little book. I read it in Russian awhile ago. Under 120 pages, it is a dense story filled with a tons of nuance, meaning, history, and culture. Through the character of Babichev, the story is a paragon of communist values. Olesha is not only critiquing the Soviet government but also capitalism. It is also an interesting look into the psychology of the characters. It is also interesting to note how well it was received by his contemporaries. Enjoyed by all the Soviet literary greats, Envy was also in high regard by Pravda, which was run by the state.

I love this book. It’s a great one. If you want to dip a toe into Soviet literature without committing a ton of time, this is great for a night in or quick weekend read.

Memorable Quotes:
“I spoke, horrified by what I was saying.”

Title: Envy
Author: Yury Olesha
Translator: T.S. Berczynski
Publisher: Ardis Publishers, Inc
Copyright: 2004
ISBN:9780882330914

Books

The Book of Tea

May 5, 2018 RaeAnna

Difficulty: II
Length: I
Quick Review: A beautiful look into the history and importance of tea from a master and historian.

Written by and for the tea lover. This incredibly short book is jam packed with teaism. In reality, The Book of Tea isn’t a book at all but a long essay by the Japanese scholar Kakuzo Okakura. Written in English for the Western world to pear inside the world and history of Japan through tea. Tea is a central component of Japanese and Asian identity. It has played a major role in their culture for a millenia and some. With a beginning in the religious and medicinal worlds, tea evolved into a staple beverage in Asia and eventually the world. As times changed so did tea. It has lived a life in three different stages with three different preparations. Boiled Tea came from a cake or brick of tea, which, at one point in time, the ingredients included salt and even onions. After that period, Whipped Tea was concocted from a powder forever leaving behind salt and onion. As technology progressed, tea arrived in its modern form of Steeped Tea utilizing the leaves. Whipped Tea or powdered tea is still present but not popular.

The first traces of tea, as we know it, arriving in Europe was documented by Marco Polo in 879. Tea gained immense popularity in the sixteenth century as access increased and cost decreased. Tea became a drink of the people no longer reserved for the filthy rich and royal.

Okakura talks extensively about the history and significance of tea. It embedded itself in the Asian cultures and religions. Tea plays a significant role in Taoism and Zennism. The tea ceremony has evolved as Tea Masters have mastered the art. Okakura discusses the masters in length before describing the tea ceremony. The efforts required to hold the ceremony are extensive starting long before one even begins. The tea room must be built from the best materials, flowers must be just so, the tea must be grown correctly, so on and so forth. Like many things in Japan, the tea ceremony is executed with precision and mindfulness.

Okakura’s first language was Japanese, but he wrote The Book of Tea in English. The language is simple, elegant, and captivating. He draws the reader into his world. Through focusing on tea, he is able to allow the Western world into a culture vastly different than our own. His words are about more than tea; they are about appreciating the beauty in life.

Memorable Quotes:
“Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage.”
“In joy or sadness, the flowers are our constant friends.”
“He only who has lived with the beautiful can die beautifully.”

Title: The Book of Tea
Author: Kakuzo Okakura
Publisher: Dover Publications, Inc
Copyright: 1964
ISBN: 9780486200705

Books

Keep Marching

May 1, 2018 RaeAnna

Difficulty: II
Length: III
Quick Review: A look into the pitfalls, the successes, the struggles, the reality of being a woman in the United States today.

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner is a founder of MomsRising and works tirelessly to promote women’s rights through public speaking, campaigning, writing, and, yes, marching. Keep Marching is a look into the status of women in the United States. It’s incredibly well researched and accessible. I will refer to the author as KRF for the rest of the post because it is simpler.

I am always wary of feminist books, especially when written by white women. Feminism, historically, has left women-of-color out of the narrative, out of the statistics, and out of the picture. From the beginning of Keep Marching, KRF preaches inclusivity and intersectionality. Thankfully, she follows through.

I don’t want to give too much away. KRF discusses topics falling into three categories: Our Money, Our Bodies, Our Communities. Under these categories our right to choose, pay gap, motherhood, immigration, laws, and more are discussed at length.

Full of statistics, Keep Marching is both distressing and shows signs of hope for women and society. Motherhood is a recurring topic as it is a central component in many women’s lives, even those who are not mothers face obstacles based on reproduction. Women of color are often overlooked, and KRF includes statistics to show just how left behind they are. The stats are often given for women as a whole, but also given based on ethnic background, socioeconomic background, motherhood status, and more.

The book is separated into three parts discussing different topics in chapters. The reader is not bogged down solely in statistics. There are many anecdotes supporting her claims and statistics. The stories also show the struggles every day women face from all backgrounds. They ground her argument in reality. At the end of each chapter, there is a short section about taking action. In case the chapter sparks your interest or lights a fire under your butt, you now have a resource to help you know where to start.

As a cofounder of MomsRising, KRF has been a part of legal reform on state and federal levels. She often reiterates the phrase “we won” giving a sense of hope. An important theme to keep repeating. If we connect, support, fight, and raise our voices as a group, women can win. When women win, society wins. KRF gives many examples showing that when women win we all win. Investing in the future and success is an investment in society. She gives a lot of statistics on how society improves when women are involved at all levels because people need proof to take women seriously…. Or at least, that’s my experience.

It feels like Keep Marching is directed at white women. It is important to educate all women, but KRF makes it important to highlight the battles woc face. White feminists have left this group of women out of the discussion, and KRF is doing her best to include them. I was really impressed by the fact KRF focused so much on the different groups making up women. We are a group, but we are a diverse group, most of whom are consistently overlooked.

None of the information was new to me, but KRF does an excellent job laying out the information in an appealing and educational format without losing the reader.

Title: Keep Marching; How Every Woman Can Take Action and Change Our World
Author: Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
Publisher: Hachette Books
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780316515566

Experiences, Travel

Leaving the Book Behind – Lake Ouachita

April 29, 2018September 8, 2019 RaeAnna

In the Bookstagram community, we tend to focus on books so much. I’m always seeing people apologize for not posting or being absent or what-not. It’s important that we acknowledge our hugely vibrant lives outside of the screens, which I will be doing a lot more of from now on… So here’s a slice of mine:

I have a best friend with whom I have a long history. He has been my person for damn near a decade. So I’ll round. Due to circumstance, he had never been able to meet my grandparents, who I am incredibly close to. FINALLY, he did. He took leave – he’s a Marine – and we roadtripped to their house in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. Suffice to say, they got along splendidly.

I have spent a great deal of time visiting my grandparents, so I had a great deal of things and places I wanted to show him. It was like taking him home for the very first time; except better because no parents.

Lake Ouachita is only about twenty minutes from their house. It’s a huge lake with incredible outdoor activities. We went with the intention of kayaking and taking some really beautiful book pictures. But… that didn’t happen. It was too windy, and they wouldn’t let us rent kayaks because we’d get lost on the water or something like that. I was sad. Honestly, it was for the best because I completely lack upper body strength, and would have for sure been lost at lake.

Since kayaking had been the plan, I dressed accordingly: swimsuit, maxi skirt, and flip flops. Ideal kayaking outfit for cute pictures…. What it’s not ideal for? Hiking.

We walked back to the car. I was sad. Not wanting to waste the trip, we looked at each other and went “walk?” To fill you in. Lake Ouachita is not a podunk lake. It is ginormous. It is located in the Ozarks, so by walk I really mean mountainous hike. While at the car, I had a debate mostly with myself about “should I leave the book in the car?” I went back and forth. Here’s the thing. I love blogging, but it is not just a hobby anymore. I HAVE to create content because it’s becoming a job, which I love. Sometimes, I don’t want to work. After chatting it out with Alex – but mostly myself – I decided to leave the book in the car and enjoy the time I get with my best friend in a beautiful place. I went one further. I left my phone in the car!!! *GASP* (How did the pictures here come to be? Alex brought his phone.)

It was a good thing I left my book and phone in the car because I would have inevitably tripped and fallen all over myself because hiking through a rocky forest with stuff in my hands while wearing flip flops as the clumsy person I am is a bad idea. Very bad idea.

Lake Ouachita is absolutely gorgeous. If you ever a chance to go, you should. Try the kayaking because it’s fun, and you’ll definitely get a work out. We ended up walking almost five miles. I’m glad I wore a swimsuit that gave me good tan lines.

The trail we took was winding. They had recently done a controlled burn to encourage future growth. There was a good amount of breeze as the leaves rustled and the waves rolled in constantly. We were never far from the lake’s shoreline. There were places with sandy shores, forest meets water, and rocks. I love it there. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. It’s an excellent place to get away because you won’t have any cell reception!

It’s important to enjoy life in the moment and not through a lense. I could have taken some really amazing book photos. Instead, I had an amazing day. I rarely get to see my best friend. He lives on the other side of the country and is at the mercy of the Marines. Our time is very limited. It’s important to recognize moments beautiful moments, so they are not wasted.

Books

The Sweetness of Tears

April 24, 2018 RaeAnna

Difficulty: II
Length: III
Quick Review: When a conservative Christian family’s secret is revealed by science, Jo’s path changed drastically opening her mind as she navigates life in a Muslim country.

I’ve read a bunch of not great books lately… So I approached this hesitantly because I was temporarily, literarily jaded. Thank goodness, this lifted my spirits considerably. I loved it!

In The Sweetness of Tears, Nafisa Haji weaves complicated stories to create a beautiful novel full of truly human experiences. In today’s society, Christians and Muslims are viewed as opposites and even enemies. Haji contradicts these assumptions through parallels, by placing the two in the other’s worlds, by creating situations calling for openness and understanding instead of hostility and animosity.

Jo March is a twin raised by a conservative Christian family with a legacy in the evangelist circles. When she studied genetics in high school, she learned the impossibility of her brown eyes by her blue eyed parents. When she found the answer she was looking for, her life changed. She studied Arabic and Urdu in college before embarking on a career as a translator in the Middle East during the beginning of war. Her time there lead her to seek out the answers to questions she had been to scared to ask before. I won’t tell you more because you should read the book, and I don’t want to spoil anything.

I found it addicting from the first page, which rarely happens. I shy away from books with conservative Christians at the center because well, it’s just not my cup of tea. Haji confronts those stereotypes of intolerance, close-mindedness, and more the way she confronts similar to those that plague Muslims.

Haji writes for a largely American audience with the assumption they have a Christian upbringing. She explains Pakistani and Islamic customs for those who are not familiar, but she does not condescend or dumb down her culture. There are so many themes, ideas, customs, and cultures running through the book, I would be a fool to try and talk about them all. She is truly a wonderful storyteller. She is able to put questions in the reader’s mind while waiting to answer them until the time is right.

One of the most overarching themes in the book connects to the way Haji wrote the book. The present is hard to define without first knowing the past, the choices, the situations, the people which created the present. Whether we like it or not, we are products of our parents and grandparents choices and experiences.

Other things I really appreciated: the character of Grandma Faith. She is what a good Christian should be: loving, accepting, and kind. I loved everything she said and stood for, though I am not a Christian myself. None of the characters in the book were dislikable, except for maybe Uncle Ron – the stereotypical evangelist.

I truly can’t recommend this novel enough. In today’s America, there is an overwhelming amount of mistrust, fear, and hostility when it comes to unfamiliar cultures. Haji writes a beautiful story about opening oneself to new and different, to accepting culpability, to being an intersectional world. It’s amazing.

Memorable Quotes:
“family values- only thing I ever saw being values when I’ve heard those two words getting thrown around is the act of not minding your own business.”
“Belief is about closing yourself off – a lie you tell yourself to make the world fit in with how you’ve decided it should be.”
“Real change in the world, real justice, cannot happen without the participation of women.”

Title: The Sweetness of Tears
Author: Nafisa Haji
Publisher: William Morrow (HarperCollins Publishers)
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 9780061780103

Experiences, Travel

The National Arboretum

April 22, 2018September 8, 2019 RaeAnna

So it’s been a week and a half since I was in DC… I meant to do more writing while I was in Arkansas, so that I wouldn’t be so behind. BUT I was having too much fun living. Better late than never I guess.

My best friend, Kelsey, and I decided to visit some beautiful sites during my visit to Washington DC. You’ve already read… Or at least, I’ve already written about seeing the cherry blossoms along Tidal Basin. Next on the list of gorgeous places in DC that are incredibly Instagrammable: The National Columns at The National Arboretum. Bonkers, it was pretty.

We found out the National Columns and the Arboretum itself is a beautiful secret kept from the tourists and maybe even DC itself. While the cherry blossoms at Tidal Basin and the National Mall were packed with people, the arboretum was all but empty. A few cars and a few people with their dogs dotted the landscape. Trees were in bloom everywhere.

I was a little disappointed because the columns were under construction or something. Whatever it was, there was an orange plastic fence around them. When it came to taking pictures, we had to get a little creative with the camera angles. Voila, no ugly fence in the background… Although, I have some cute scrapes on my legs still to prove I’ll work for the pictures I take! I can’t wait to go back and see the columns when they’re up and running with the water and everything.

A little history lesson…. Because I, personally, enjoy knowing the whens, whos, whats, and hows of a place. I’m weird like that. In 1926, the National Arboretum came to be through an act of Congress after a campaign by botanist Frederick Vernon Coville. It is a part of the U.S.’s Department of Agriculture and their Agricultural Research Service. It is home to gardens, public art, walking trails, and more. Today, it functions as a hub for botany research as well as a beautiful place to walk around and take pictures for Instagram.

The Capitol Columns are one of the most recognizable features of the Arboretum, and the place I spent the most time. Partially because by the time I was done… I was so itchy from kneeling in the grass, it was time to go. Yay allergies! There are 22 columns in the Corinthian style placed in the Ellipse Meadow. The columns were originally meant to support the East Portico of the Capitol Building when they were built in 1822 before the dome, in existence now, was finished. The columns were unable to hold the mass of the dome and were removed in 1958. Ethel Garrett was an Arboretum benefactor in the 1980’s, and she wanted to find a permanent place for the columns. In 1984 with the consultation of Russell Page, the two decided where to place the columns and a reflecting pond to capitalize on the beauty of the area. Suffice to say, everything worked out and the Capitol Columns are happily situated in one of the most serene spots I have ever seen.

Basically, if you like the outdoors or are a blogger looking for something beautiful and not so DC-cliché, you should definitely visit the National Arboretum. It’s beautiful to walk around, and if you’re not fond of walking around, you can drive through the park. It’s amazing and worth the visit.