Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter!

From John Updike. (See the story behind the poem here.)

Seven Stanzas at Easter

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that–pierced–died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

More Randomness

You've probably heard the sad news that Borders has declared bankruptcy and is closing bookstores around the country, some of them right here in its home state of Michigan. Click here to see a "Bitter Borders Compilation" by employees.


This gives new meaning to the phrase "curling up with a good book."

In Evan news, he is now waving bye-bye. Yes, he is very talented. And check out his bedhead in the picture above. He's stylin', too.


And, Happy Earth Day (a little early)! I am going to take part in the Great Cloth Diaper Change on Saturday at a local cloth diaper store to try to set the Guiness World Record for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously. Want to join me? Click here to read more about it and to find a location near you!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Book Review: When Sparrows Fall

I thoroughly enjoyed Meg Moseley's well-written story of second chances. Divorced professor Jack receives an unexpected phone call one morning asking him to come take care of his dead half-brother's six children. Their mother, Miranda, has taken a fall and will be out of commission for a while; Jack has been named the children's guardian. He arrives to find an unusual household: Miranda's family belongs to a very legalistic church. The children are homeschooled and very sheltered, and Miranda seems to be inordinately afraid of her pastor. Jack's suspicions and Miranda's secrets collide as he tries to unravel her past and free her from her present. The romance is believable and the ending is satisfying. *I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. Click here to download chapter one.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Random

These are a couple of the random things that have interested me lately...maybe they'll interest you! Scream 4 filmed in Plymouth, MI -- and some of it filmed in Next Chapter Bookstore and Bistro in downtown Northville. To read more, click here. And support your local independent bookstore! A designer has created a gown made of over 300 Golden Books! To see it and the process, click here. It's the perfect thing to wear to the Librarians' Annual Gala. (I know, there's no such thing. But there should be. Imagine: Prom for Librarians! The only problem is, the male-to-female ratio is totally off.) Happy Monday!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Book Review: Clementine and the Family Meeting



I can't help but compare third-grader Clementine to Ramona Quimby. She has the same irrepressible personality and timeless quality. Pennypacker, like Clearly, clearly understands children and remembers exactly what childhood was like. And, like Ramona, Clementine has wonderful, completely believable parents.




In Clementine and the Family Meeting, Clementine panics when she sees the sign announcing a family meeting. Surely she's in trouble again. But you may be able to guess what's coming...family dynamics, they are a-changin'...and you'll love going along with Clementine on her journey to acceptance. Oh, and you might be inspired to go out and buy a tool belt of your own. Take my word for it.




If you haven't read the rest of the Clementine series, start and the beginning with Clementine. You can thank me later.




*I was provided a free e-book copy for review by the publisher through NetGalley.