March 21st Newsletter Roundup

Books To Read...Or Not!

Continuing my quest to bring you novel perspectives, I have read a couple of thousand pages from over a dozen books and listened to a few audiobooks just in the last couple of weeks. There were some I liked, some not so very much. Here’s the short list summary:

Authors Born in March:

March 8: Kenneth Grahame

March 9: R.A. Montgomery

March 20: Lois Lowry, Louis Sachar, & Fred Rogers

March 30: Anna Sewell

March Books For Special Occasions:

March 11: Five Year Anniversary of WHO Declaration of Covid-19 as a Global Pandemic: Taking a Look at Michael Nehl’s book The Indoctrinated Brain: How To Successfully Fend Off the Global Attack On Your Mental Freedom.

March 20: Equinox: Celebrate from a worm’s perspective in Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Worm

March 23: National Near Miss Day: Taking a look at Victor Davis Hanson’s book The End of Everything

*Should you want more information, click on the picture of the book and it will take you to a review of the book at Bookshop.org. Should you so desire to purchase the book through that link, I would earn a commission. I’m a big fan both library and thrift stores, but if you’re going to buy the book anyway, please consider supporting a local bookshop (and while you’re at it, it tosses a little well-appreciated dollars my way as well).

Kenneth Grahame

[March 8, 1859 - July 6, 1932]

Kenneth Grahame is such a delightful author. I had read Wind In the Willows when I was little and again to my kids when they were little, but this time I chose to listen to the audiobook version, narrated by Kevin Theis, and I’m really glad I did. [I’m most likely going to get myself in trouble here, as I do have some Subscribers from the UK, but they can be sure to correct what I get wrong, so I’m going to go ahead and say it!]

I absolutely LOVED hearing the various characters in the different accents. It added a depth to the story, that, for those of us on the other side of the pond, probably is quite missing. Speaking from the perspective of the US, though we certainly have regional accents, our various regional differences generally don’t convey as much about a person as the various accents do for those to those from the UK. (For better or for worse, I’m not judging as I love them all!) I found that the narrator added greatly to the humor of the story with both of the stories: The Wind In the Willows & The Reluctant Dragon.

Whereas I was familiar with The Wind In the Willows, I don’t remember ever reading The Reluctant Dragon. It is a really charming story that every child, especially the boys, should read. I found the narrator did an especially great job at portraying St. George, though his Dragon was quite good as well. If you haven’t read this one, you’re missing out on a little gem of a story!

(The audiobook I listened to was published by SoundCraft, published in 2022.)

R.A. Montgomery

[March 9, 1936 - November 9, 2014]

Choose Your Own Adventure: #3 Space & Beyond

When I saw the R.A. Montgomery had a birthday in March, I was really excited. I remember discovering the Choose Your Own Adventure series halfway through the third grade. I ravenously read every last one I could get my hands on and thoroughly enjoyed the concept of being able to read and re-read the story over and over and each time get a different outcome.

So, imagine my surprise when I found a copy of Space and Beyond. I roped off an afternoon, curled up in the chair, and started reading. I had to laugh at the Introduction, written in the opening crawl style of script (I call it the vanishing pyramid), clearly influenced by Star Wars, which was released May 25, 1977, with the book coming out and copyrighted in 1980. I remember playing Star Wars with the neighborhood kids when I was still young. Getting to see Return of the Jedi in a newly opened movie theatre was a thrill. It was truly a big deal. I was excited to see how much my perspective might have shifted. I so wanted to write a raving review; I had loved these books so much as a kid. So, I prepared myself for a healthy dose of nostalgia and turned the pages. Bit by bit, though, tiny details started building up. At first, I started to frown. Ok, I can suspend disbelief. Sure, it’s a kid’s book, it doesn’t have to be totally accurate in the science. Alright, there are little insidious jabs. Surely…

Ok, I have to admit. I had to stop reading. I left off and haven’t been able to pick up the book since the first few days of March. I was so disappointed to see the little jabs about how humans (going by the pictures, the White ones) were such horrible creatures and a bane (virus?) to the planet. As a kid, I hadn’t picked up on the patterns of hatred, of blame, of inhumanity, of tribalism, and disparagement. Starting in college, though, when any hint of a beautiful melody was ridiculed as “music that sounds like dead white men” followed by a couple of decades of racism and anti-humanism, and I’m out. It makes me wonder how many other childhood books had planted tiny seeds in the brains of children. Yuck. I still remember the concept fondly, but I had to stop before hitting all variations on outcome, simply to preserve my childhood memories as happy ones.

Moving on…

Lois Lowry

[March 20, 1937 - Happy 88th today!]

I came to really love Lois Lowry this month. I found her storytelling to be compelling and thought-provoking. To be sure, the themes she writes about are mature, but I think she manages very complex issues in a manner which opens the door for dialogue and discussion. To me she weaves her stories in such a way that tell a truth without resorting to graphic or gratuitous descriptions.

I liked her books so much, I made them into their own posts—>

Louis Sachar

[March 20, 1954 - Happy 71st today!]

I’ve only read two of Louis Sachar’s books. I get the impression that I would really like him in person. He probably would have been a hoot as a teacher. With that said, as a teacher, I tolerated There’s a Boy In the Girl’s Bathroom and fairly well despised Wayside School is Falling Down. (I’m still holding out hope that I will love his book Holes.)

I found There’s a Boy In the Girl’s Bathroom to be pretty funny. In fact, there were a couple of times I actually burst out laughing. Before I go any further, NO, this book was written long before our current controversies and back in the day when a boy walking in the girl’s bathroom was viewed as embarrassing and something to be avoided at all costs. This is a story in part about the friendship which forms between a boy who is outcast because his behavior is so toxic, and a new kid, who accidentally walks into the girl’s bathroom when he is looking for the counselor’s office. In some ways, it is a coming of age story, though I think there are plenty of others which are far more appropriate, maturing, and inspirational, like Robinson Crusoe, which is filled with a much more positive message. Still, it was a fast read and had some spots of humor, which I appreciate.

Wayside School is Falling Down, on the other hand, took me forever to read. I found my attention wondering and had to re-read many passages over and over again to get the story straight. To be frank, I don’t think I’ve despised a book more than this one in quite some time. If I were a kid today and I had to read this book, I would simply stop reading and go play on my phone. I found my own reaction to it fascinating, so let me try to unpack it better—> pretty much every character in the book lies and is sociopathic, at best, and psychopathic, at worst. Each chapter contains an anecdote from something which happens during the school day to the various characters. The book is filled with lies, deceits, mockery, shaming, stealing, insanity, adults being stupid, kids laughing at other kid’s pain, and generally things that make one cringe…or at least should make one cringe.

I wonder if I had read this younger if I wouldn’t detest it so much. It is possible that if a teacher made up silly stories like this to tell the students and the students actually had the moral foundation to know that the things in the story are wrong, there might be some humor to it, a way to open discussion, or a way to talk about right from wrong. With that said, I quit teaching because, by the time I had enough of this kind of behavior, EVERY student I had behaved like the kids in this book. I initially heard about these books from several of my students. They thought the stories were HILARIOUS and they endeavored to behave just like the children in the book, right down to destroying my teaching tools and laughing maniacally at the destruction. Children strive towards the heroes you give them. I would caution giving children heroes such as these.

Again…I haven’t given up hope of loving Sachar as a writer, so moving on….

(Mister) Fred Rogers

[March 20, 1928 - February 27, 2003]

Ok, technically I wrote about Mister Rogers back in January, but as long as I’m listing birthday authors, I can’t leave out Mister Rogers! Here’s the link to the post I made about his book Wisdom From the World According To Mister Rogers: Important Things To Remember.

Anna Sewell

[March 30, 1820 - April 25, 1878]

Black Beauty is a nice, easy read. It’s also such a lovely, gentle read (after some of the others). Black Beauty is the story as told from the perspective of the horses, as to how they are treated. We get not only the perspective of Black Beauty from the time he is a foal, but as he moves through the stages of life and treatment. He also gives us perspectives of the animals around him. Purportedly, this book had a profound impact on how horses were treated after it was published, showing yet again, the importance of the perspectives we gain by reading and writing books.

March 11: Five Year Anniversary of WHO Declaration of Covid-19 as Global Pandemic

Five years ago, the vast majority of lives on our planet were upended on a scale never before matched in terms of any global conflict. In his book, The Indoctrinated Brain: How To Successfully Fend Off the Global Attack On Your Mental Freedom, Michael Nehls, a doctor and molecular geneticist, gives an entirely fascinating take on the effects of the pandemic on the state of our mental health and capacity to think critically. In the course of explanation, he addresses specifically the design of the mRNA injections and his theories on the choice of design. Dr Nehls steers the reader into learning how the brain functions, what one may do to protect the health of the brain, and what attacks have been/are being made on our brains. No matter what you think of his theories¹, the information he gives on brain function are quite useful. He speaks to brain health in also in terms of dementia and what may be done to prevent or reverse what has become normal, though he points out, not natural, state of the brain.

Out of all of the books I’ve read this month, this one probably had the greatest impact. I’ve also started supplementing my diet with iodine, CoQ10, and aquatically sourced Omega 3s, in addition to my Vitamin D and Vitamin C. Hears to fighting the battle for my brain!

March 20: Happy Spring Equinox

(Happy Fall Equinox for Southern Hemispherans)

Celebrate the change of seasons from the perspective of a worm.

Doreen Cronin is the author of two lovely children’s picture books:

Diary of a Worm—> a hilarious take of the world from the perspective of a worm) &

Mama In the Moon—> a lovely

Read more here:

March 23 National Near Miss Day

What better way to celebrate National Near Miss Day, than with a discussion of Victor Davis Hanson’s book The End of Everything: How Wars Descend Into Annihilation (2024). Ok, it’s not about any near-miss asteroids or wacky space adventures. It’s about four civilizations who were once great powers, but which fell into demise and were totally destroyed.

Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and military historian, explores the demise of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan. As Hanson indicates, anything can end for a variety of reasons. He specifically dives into these four military catastrophes to show the commonalities. He also includes case references where military campaigns do NOT end in total annihilations and what they have in common.

While he discusses specifically military cases, the patterns could be observed in other areas, like the state of culture, education, and medicine. The book is a good read for anyone who enjoys exploring patterns. In this way, one can help be guided in seeing early warning signs of similar situations.

With that said, Hanson does have a certain expectation of historical knowledge which would make reading the book a lot easier. Thankfully, I chose to listen to this on audiobook with my husband, who has significantly wider historical knowledge (my timeline of the ancient world is a bit sketchy—something I am endeavoring to rectify). I would actually recommend reading the book, so that you can more easily put the book down and look up the references to develop deeper background context.

Learning to see the signs of decline in a civilization and taking actions to reverse the situation is something we should all pay attention and consider doing.

Thank you for your attention.

Please let me know your takes on any of these books! One of the reasons for me starting a Substack was to create a space in which to write about the stories that are critical to pass along to our children (and share with each other).

Diversity of opinion is highly encouraged.

1. I personally think he provides the missing links in my understanding and his theories make very accurate predictions. I can imagine that this book might be a rough read for those who took the shots, but informative and critical, nonetheless. In my opinion, the elephant has been far too long loose in the room and the more we accept that fact and are able to talk openly about it, the better it will be for all of us both to provide help to those who need it most and not to allow this to happen again.