Books for Hope

This year has been a tough one for me when it comes to reading, and I think it’s because things are a bit… weird out there at present. Maybe some of you are experiencing similar problems, so we at the shop want to offer a little antidote- The Silent Book Society. 

Tonight at 6 will be our first meeting of the Silent Book Society. You’ll bring a book, or purchase one at 15% off and enjoy an hour of focused reading- but with other people. We’ll have tea or coffee- as I said on Instagram, it’s free, not fancy, so if you want to bring your own, you are perfectly welcome to do that. You’ll also turn your phone ringer off and do your best to ignore it. 

I am currently reading Colm Toibin’s The Heather Blazing. I am enjoying it, but I don’t have much to say about it further than that, because I’m not far into it. It seems to have jumped off the shelf at me because it mentions the Irish Civil War, the Troubles- and most of you know that I’m sort of stuck in that rabbit hole at the moment. Speaking of, did you hear they’ve locked down the Belfast Project until 2080 something? Anyway.. 

Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis by Elin Kelsey is a book I’ve been perusing slowly. Here’s a bit that jumped out at me: “Embracing the truth, unfortunately, is difficult to do… Sometimes, the best you can do when you truly feel hopeless about the planet is to try to remember none of us knows how things are going to play out. We live in a world that is alive with 8.7 millions other kinds of species. The sheer amount of biodiversity means it’s impossible to know the outcome of the combined actions of all of the living beings on the planet. We have science-informed models to help us predict and ward off critical problems, and it’s essential that we respond to them with all the seriousness and urgency they deserve. Yet it’s also true that even the best projections exist within a context of unknowable variation. Wise hope, says Joan Halifax, comes from accepting that we never know what is going to happen. "Wise hope is born of radical uncertainty, rooted in the unknown and the unknowable,” she says. 

It reminds me of something several wise people have said recently, and maybe coincidentally, Instead of saying “what’s the worst that could happen?” ask “what’s the best that could happen, and do everything in your power to make it so.”

Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake and illustrated by Jon Klassen is one of the sweetest things I've read in the last few months. We have the series here at the shop, but if you haven’t experienced these charming little books, they are a great idea for the middle-graders in your life, or, if you’re like me, for yourself if you need something a bit… less heavy, these are lovely books. I could say a lot about these books and take up a lot of space- instead, I’ll point you to this marvelously succinct review. 

The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons is perfect for the kiddos in your life- or for you if you need a quick primer on the importance of bees. I like the detailed illustrations and explanations of the jobs of individual bees in the hive, along with the anatomy of the bees  and the hive. A fascinating classic.  

See you tonight!