Let's Be Thankful!
By Kimberley Allen McNamara
In less than a week, many of us will sit down with Family and Friends and have a meal to celebrate and give thanks for each other, for our food, for our lives, for our pets…
So what are we Thankful for this Thanksgiving at ActsofRevision.com ?
“We are Thankful For :
The generosity and grace of our group who offer constructive criticism, insightful suggestions and support each time we put words on paper.
Our families - large and extended, small and succinct, the fur-babies included
Paramount is the health, well-being and happiness of our loved ones - and hope that those among us with struggles will heal.
“Literary encounters, we are thankful for this year:
For The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. It is the story of paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and who we really are. It’s a curl up, read-all-day kind of book. Luscious!
For Getting It Right For Two Year Olds by Penny Tassoni. Leading author in childcare and early years education, Tassoni writes this complete guide to working with two-year-olds. It looks in detail at this age group's development in each of the prime areas of learning and provides advice on how best to plan activities and create stimulating environments. It pinpoints two-year-olds development across the prime areas of learning: personal, social and emotional development, physical development, and communication and language. (Can you tell some of us have become grandparents?)
For Margaret Atwood - for her A Handmaid’s Tale (and the sequel Testaments, which is in the TBR pile) this dystopian tale haunts our thoughts, is awe-inspiring in the breath of it’s scope, and is dangerously all too possible. Originally published in 1985, it begs a re-read. As Atwood states: she “never puts anything in her novels that hasn’t already happened somewhere, or will happen quite soon.” (@ericwagner) Atwood was writing about genetically modified meats before ‘it became a thing’. Which makes Testaments all the more scary and anticipatory. Get these - you might have to read in small doses.
For Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book recommendations and her energy championing the narratives of women by women authors. Follow her on instagram.
Jonathan Tropper’s novel This is Where I Leave You - this laugh-out-loud novel which hinges upon the fact that the Foxman family must sit shiva for seven days and they can barely handle seven minutes with each other. Tropper juggles the four siblings, their sexually blunt, psychiatrist mother, the wives/husband, old romances, and the small town of Elmwood with great ease. The movie version may suffer from a rotten tomato rating of 45% simply because the casting director failed to cast one the brother Paul correctly. The rest of the cast (Jason Bateman, Adam Driver, Jane Fonda, Rose Brynn are spot on) which leaves you to wonder why don’t casting directors just read the book? So Read this - it’ll make your family Thanksgiving issues fade into the shadows and you’ll definitely laugh.
For Ronan Farrow and his Catch and Kill book billed as “part thriller and meticulous work of investigative journalism.” You’ll be thankful that Farrow, with his attention to detail and ability to tell a story, uses his super powers for Good by choosing expose these abuses of power even when he was told to ‘let it be’. If you get the audible.com version, he reads it. Worth the listen and the read.
For Scott Kelly’s Infinite Wonder: An Astronaut’s Photos from a Year in Space breathtaking photos of space and our home, Earth. This will brighten your coffee table and touch your core.
And always, always for the poetry of Langston Hughes, Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou …did you know Langston Hughes wrote the Black Nativity? Find it this holiday season and see it.
Additionally, we are thankful for:
Our 2019 Guest Bloggers - Julie Ann Otis and Jennifer Simpson for their insight and the reminder that to abandon the ego makes you a better writer. And our 2018 guests: Jessamyn Hope, Dolores Johnson, MariAnn Leonie, and Diane Barnes whose words still resonate.
The invention of ice cream, French hot chocolate, and other culinary feats.
Random acts of beauty and senseless acts of kindness: the person who calls 911 to get a homeless person help even though they are running late for: work, class, the bus… the college student who leaves mittens and a pizza with another person who looks hungry and cold...the two senior citizens who burst into song on a NYC subway just because, for the teacher who adopted a teen so his mother could die in peace…for a sunset, the moon, the stars, the beach, the rivers, the sight of two swans - natural beauty
For teachers, first responders, parents and grandparents, caregivers, soldiers…
For the gifts of language, writing, reading, abstract thinking, science and mathematics…
For the Arts - all the Muses
For Freedom to be.
And Finally we are truly, truly thankful for all of You. Our readers. For the thumbs up on Facebook or those that write the occasional comment or share our posts. We appreciate all of your support and feedback.
Happy Thanksgiving!
PS - What are you Thankful for? Send us a comment
