Gravity is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty: a Fun Novel That is also Thought Provoking

Young adult author Jaclyn Moriarty's newest novel is for adults, Gravity is the Thing, that is both a  mystery, love story, comedy, and a light-hearted critique of the self-help industry.

Abi Sorenson's life is upended when her fifteen-year-old brother disappears on her birthday. 

In his place, Abi begins receiving anonymous chapters from a self-help book called the Guidebook. She receives the chapters for twenty years and is asked now and then to mail "reflections."

Abi who has always believed there must be some connection between the missives and her brother's disappearance agrees to go to an all-expense paid trip to a remote island off of Tasmania.

The invitation promised someone would explain the truth of the Guidebook. On this island, she meets a kooky cast of participants who have also been receiving chapters of the Guidebook in the mail.

The truth, however, is not what Abi nor anyone else expects; she is curiously let down. She ultimately decides, as do a few others, to continue to take seminars with Wilbur, even though some think the seminars are a cult or a sham.

Nicole, Niall, Sasha, Anthony, Abi, and pest control man meet every Tuesday for wine and cheese or dessert at Wilbur's apartment. Though she expects little of these meetings, they have a profound effect upon her life. 

Abi, who recently went through a divorce, and who subsequently opened a business, the Happiness Cafe, is looking for self-love, a sense of belonging, and romance.

The flight lessons, as the webinar is called, ultimately does give Abi what she needs though not in the way she predicts. This is an enjoyable, delightful, slightly off-kilter novel about self-discovery.

Getting Started with Linkedin Learning and Marketing

For most of us involved in the library field or any other service-driven field, marketing is an essential part of what we do. Unless you're already an HTML expert, Jen Kramer's "Practical HTML for Marketing Projects" is a good starting point. 

She discusses text editors e.g. Sublime text and goes over basics for the beginner. 

Jen Kramer's "Practical HTML for Marketing Projects" is an ideal place to start before diving into more complicated videos.

Kramer  gives two challenges and their solutions. She stresses that her solutions are her interpretation of the design problem. Other solutions may work as well.

She cheerfully announces, "there's never just one solution in web design."

For learning how to create "repositories" in Github, watch James Williamson's "Github for Web Designers."

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

Naomi's earliest memory is of herself as a ten-year-old running naked in a strawberry field. She runs towards migrant workers who take her to a sheriff.

Twenty years later, Naomi is a thirty-year-old private investigator trying to find a child who has disappeared while out on a family trip. Naomi has become a private investigator to atone, as she puts it, to "atone" for her past. 

The child she seeks to save, however, has been lost for three years in a remote part of Willamette Valley. There's no evidence to suggest that the child is alive. The case is inactive and its assumed she has perished in the snow. 

Naomi learns from each case and this case gives her most valuable insight yet. Glimmers of the past return as she finds the living conditions of the girl, a cave in a remote claim.

Denfeld, a former private investigator, writes a taut, psychological mystery with details that ring true.  

A harrowing work of psychological fiction set in Oregon's Willamette Valley where fur trapping is still commonplace in remote towns. In one such town, a mysterious figure lives in obscurity. Years ago, he had been kidnapped and tortured by someone he calls simply "The Man."

Could this be mysterious figure be tied to the missing girl?

As Naomi reaches out to her foster bother, some of her lost memories return. After solving the case of the missing girl, called the "Snow Girl," Naomi vows to solve a more personal missing person case. 

The Butterfly Girl is the second novel in the Naomi Cottle series. 
https://renedenfeld.com/author/

Foxlowe by Eleanor Wasserberg

This atmospheric, creepy novel uses a superb narrative technique. The story is told through the eyes of Green, a young girl who has grown up in an artists commune at Foxlowe.

She has no parents and all is shared equally in the family in a pile called the Jumble.  Green thinks, however,  she belongs to Freya Marsh. Freya, the de facto leader, is an affectionate tormentor who loves and tortures Green.

The family's actions are compared to a shoal of fish; none of them wants to be "edged" or ostracized. Green feels being "Edged" is worst than taking the Spike Walk--a horrid punishment that Freya invented.

Though the family think they have retreated into safety, real danger lurks through the halls of the ancestral home. Freya takes a baby away from her mother. The family seems unable to sense the growing moral uncertainty. 

Instead of checking her authority, the family goes along with whatever Freya decides. Thus, when Freya arrives with an infant, the family never questions her origins. They simply welcomes the infant as a new family member. Curiously, Green names the infant Blue.

In order to feel safe from the outside world, the family performs numerous rituals. During the Winter Solstice  they perform the Scattering--a line of salt is poured around the house to protect the house from outsiders. Green, in a fit of jealous, puts the infant outside the salt line, an action that will have serious repercussions . 

Green, Blue, and Toby grow close in the years that follow. The grown believe that they have provided the children with the most magical childhood. They don't go to school and are not subjected to society's rules.

The ungrown are not given access to the most basic things e.g. mirrors and cannot leave the grounds or talk to strangers. Green in never given a chance to leave Foxlowe until a tragedy occurs.

Psychologically damaged, Green may never be able to integrate into society.  One of the growns who became a Leaver is determined to give her a chance. Can he help her or will he only make things worst? 

Green is a fascinating yet unreliable narrator in this novel that is both complex and frightening.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

In this novel, two teenagers avoid each other at school yet are also fiercely, strangely attracted to one other. 

The two come from different worlds. Marianne has a much higher socioeconomic status than Connell. Her parents are barristers whereas Connell is raised by a single Mom. Connell's mother is, in fact, a housekeeper for Marianne's parents. 

Due to some quirk on her part, Marianne has a lower social status in school than he does. Connell is a popular football player while she is lonely and ostracized.

In spite of this, the two teenagers come together for secret trysts. Terrified, though, that anyone would find out about their affair, Connell treats Marianne coldly. He invites someone else to the Debs.

At Trinity University, the pair become friends and lovers once again. She is now more popular than he is yet they still struggle to communicate. Their relationship continues to be passionate, volatile, and heart-breaking.

After a misunderstanding, the two start seeing other people. Marianne, intelligent yet damaged psychologically by her family, seeks out boyfriends that are cruel to her. 

Connell feels Helen is a better choice until a funeral at his home town bring his illusions crashing down. 

This novel, which was long listed for a Man Booker prize, will soon become a 12-part half-hour drama on BBC3.

The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean

This debut by Australian author, Felicity McClean, is a tantalizing page-turner. This exciting novel is a mystery and coming-of-age story in one. Tikka remembers her childhood--she grew up in a small Australian river valley.

One incident irrevocably changed the Tikka's life: the summer of 1992. Her neighbors, Corrie, Hannah, and Ruth, disappeared one fateful day. The police assume its a missing case but Tikka and her sister are withholding information. Tikka knows that the Van Apfel girls were planning to runaway, a fact she kept from police. Years later, as an adult, she wonders if she made the right choice.

She dwells on the Apfel girls' disappearance to the point where it begins to affect her mental health. As Corrie's memory consumes Tikka, she begins to see Corrie everywhere, or at least people who that look like Corrie.

McLean has a delightful sardonic wit. She frames the story with the Lindy Chamberlain case, a woman whose baby girl disappears while on a camping trip.

Tikka stages a skit based on the case for a school event the evening of the Van Apfel girls' disappearance. Just as it had in the Chamberlain case, the Van Apfel case causes many tongues to wag. Characters jump to conclusions about a male teacher.

Many novels focus on missing girls. Julia Phillips' Disappearing Earth focuses on how a Siberian community reacts to the disappearance of two of their own. 

Though it addresses the self-help industry and single motherhood,  Jaclyn Moriarty Gravity Is The Thing, is also about missing persons. 

Other titles about missing persons:
Lippman, Lauran. Lady in the Lake. 
Miranda, Megan. All the Missing Girls.
O'Nan, Stewart. Songs for the Missing. 

Biloxi by Mary Miller

Louis McDonald, Jr always assumed he would inherit his father's estate after he retired. He didn't count on his wife leaving him and his Dad leaving the bulk of his estate to her.

Though he is, at times, an unlikeable character who drinks too much, Louis can also make amusing, wry observations.

His life goes in an unexpected direction when Layla, an overweight mixed-breed dog, and her wacky owner, Sasha, comes into life.

Louis' plight will appeal to anyone whose life didn't turn out the way they expected.

His life is peppered with a myriad of inconveniences. For instance, there is a bird that keeps hitting his window each morning. Even though his wife left him, his brother-in-law keeps visiting with left-overs. He is diabetic but can't remember to manage his sugar levels. 

Louis is an endearing curmudgeon who has a hard time finding the right things to say to people. The only one who seems to accept his failures are Layla, the dog who has entered his life by coincidence.  

While there's not much action, there's a lot of reflection and humor in this novel.

The Monkey's Raincoat

"I had very much wanted to turn up some good news for Ellen Land. But good news, like magic, is sometimes in short supply."

Elvis Cole, The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais.

This award-winning novel, the first in the Elvis Cole series, The Monkey's Raincoat is grisly yet entertaining. Elvis and his partner, a buddy from Vietnam, have taken on a challenging case.

Smart-mouthed and cocky, Elvis is also pure-hearted. He risks everything for his client, Ellen, who husband and son have gone missing. 

Cole likes Disney figurines and the fierce loyalty of his partner, Joe Pike. He hunts down criminals who take advantage of the weak, yet he also despises red tape and police bureaucracy.

His renegade tactics test the patience of LAPD. In the end, he does what he sets out to do--he solves the crime. He also gives Ellen her bit of good news. 

Imagine it Forward by Beth Comstock

Comstock has done everyone a service by describing how she changed the trajectory of her career. Despite being a self-described "introvert", Comstock led innovative change at NBC and GE. 

If you're looking to boost your career or change your work environment, this book is worth a read. 

Few professionals are able to tackle a subject like this with honesty and objectivity. Comstock is one of the few who does it effectively. She's honest about herself: she learned she comes across as blunt. 

Yet, she also learned how to use "permission slips" that allowed her to make positive steps forward and "sparks" that encourage discovery in the workplace. 

After being promoted to chief marketing officer at GE, she created program called "Imagination Breakthroughs." The program encouraged discovery and new revenue generating projects.

She also started "Ecomagination" which involved starting new green energy initiatives that lifted GE's brand value. 

Comstock celebrates these successes but she also doesn't shy away from describing failures which is to her credit. 

Promoted to a new position at GE, Comstock continued to find new ways to tell GE's story despite some unfortunate turn-of-events--the stock market crash of 2008 and some other mishaps. 

She brings many innovative people on board at GE--Ben Kaufman, CEO of Quirky.com--in order to change the status quo. Her changes resulted in a much more welcoming and innovative corporate culture.

Sprinkled throughout the text are quotations and challenges that will help readers create change in their own lives. She also uses text boxes to elaborate more fully on key terms e.g. "Emergence."

Netflix's I Am Mother

The bot or droid, known as Mother, selects an embryo from a catalog of many embryos. Depositing her into an artificial womb, the embryo grows into a  baby.

Mother raises the girl, known as Daughter, but shields her from all knowledge of the outside world. 

Mother has been programmed to save humanity but she will also kill humans if it benefits her larger plan. Daughter realizes that Mother has been lying  to her  when a stranger break through the protective barrier.

The stranger, played by Hilary Swank, looks a lot like a much older version of herself. The stranger is injured and distrustful of droids, including Mother. She claims to be in contact with other humans.

After the stranger is better, Daughter takes off with the stranger. She has learned some terrible truths about Mother and the family of embryos kept in the clear cases.

The stranger has secrets, too, which leads the daughter to reject her and return to Mother. 

Ostensibly, Daughter has returned for her infant brother and the other embryos. She confronts rather than reconciles with Mother, who is it turns out, is more than a single bot.   

In the end, viewers hear Mother's chilling lullaby. Mother is 
capable of killing but so too are all the other players in this narrative. 

Conferences for Bloggers

I've never heard of these conferences but they look like an awesome way for bloggers to network and gain new skills:

June 20-23: International Food Blogger Conference

The International Food Blogger Conference began in 2009 and now attracts 200+ food bloggers, writers, and digital media influencers with great passion for the industry. Events include food tours and sessions covering technology, social media, and blogging 101. “Lightning Talks,” fast-paced presentations from fellow attendees, are returning for the second year. IFBC19 takes place at the Centennial Hall Convention Center in Juneau, Alaska.

June 27-29: TravelCon

TravelCon is “the place to learn the business of travel media.” Boost your skills in video, photography, writing, and blogging. The conference has an impressive lineup of speakers to cover industry best practices and what’s buzzing right now in the travel industry. The event takes place at Westin Copley Place in Boston.

June 27-30: SHINE

SHINE is an invite-only conference for fitness, wellness, and nutrition social influencers. Attendees will experience a mix of workouts, networking, and breakout sessions covering topics like content creation and industry trends. Anyone interested in attending can fill out an application on the event website. The conference takes place in Anaheim, Calif., during the Idea World Fitness Conference.

July 15-17: MozCon

MozCon brings together industry leaders from search engine optimization (SEO), mobile, local search, and more. Attendees will learn tactics for ranking higher in search results and have plenty of opportunities for networking. The three-day event takes place in Seattle.

https://mediablog.prnewswire.com/2019/06/04/blogger-conferences-june-2019/

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

One by one Kya's family leaves her--her mother, her siblings, her beloved Jodie, and lastly her alcoholic and abusive father. Kya, whom the town  calls "the marsh girl," learns to rely on herself and turns to the marsh for comfort. 

While its difficult to fathom how she can do this, Kya learns to provide food for herself by bartering with a local bait shop owner, Jumpin'. She hides from anyone wanting to send her to the local school but eagerly learns to read from a local boy, Tate.

Shunned by the inhabitants of Barkley Cove, Kya learns to hide as skillfully as a deer. Part of Kya, however, still yearns to connect with the townspeople.

Maybe that's why she falls for Chase, the confident local rich kid who motors a flashy boat. By this point, Tate has also abandoned her--he has gone off to college. 

Kya believes Chase's lies--that he loves her and intends to marry her. Only later will Kya comprehend the depth of his deception and it nearly destroys her.

This is an incredible story with many plot twists that keep readers guessing. 

Mired with Kya's story is the story of the town itself and its prejudice towards her. When Chase turns up dead, the sheriff automatically accuses Kya.

Since childhood Kya has collected feathers, shells, and other marsh specimens. Just as Kya uses her intelligence to scientifically catalog her marsh specimens, Kya will use her intelligence to safeguard what she believes rightly belongs to her.  

This debut spent many weeks on the New York Times best-selling list and will soon become a major film.

The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen

Bowen's historical novel, The Tuscan Child, is a gratifying read. 

Joanna and her father, Sir Hugo, couldn't be more different. After his death, Joanna is startled to find a love letter to a woman in Italy. 

Intrigued, Joanna goes to San Salvatore in Italy, to discover more about her father's life. She knew he had crashed while serving in World War II but she had not known the exact location, San Salvatore, a hill town in Tuscany.

Though there are no hotels in San Salvatore, Joanna finds a comfortable place to stay. She feels at home with Paola's family until a strange event occurs. Someone has drowned one of the local men in the well near Joanna's rented room.

Police think Joanna, a foreigner, is suspicious, even though she insists she has nothing to do with the man's murder.

Renzo, the son of a rich landowner in San Salvatore, has a connection to her father and the woman he names in the letter, Sofia Bartoli. Is he the "beautiful boy" her father mentions in the same letter?

The novel takes many twists and turns and Joanna learns what's true and what's false. 

At the Corpus Christi festival she beings to see Renzo in a new light.  Though she does not trust Renzo, something is drawing her and him together.


This is a charming World War II story with light intrigue and light romance.

Still I Rise

Here's hope for a gray day.

 

Still I Rise

By Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.


source:  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise

Ultra Processed Foods

An article from the NIH directors blog reports the finding that ultra processed foods lead to weight gain.

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2019/05/21/ultra-processed-diet-leads-to-extra-calories-weight-gain/

Several online commenters wondered why a list of ultra processed food was not included. As it turns out, Cooking Light, has a February 2019 article on that topic.

https://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/nutrition-101/what-is-ultra-processed-food

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Set in New York, My Name is Lucy Barton, is a psychological portrait of a woman who has survived a terrible upbringing of cruelty and poverty. 

At the start of the novel, Lucy, who is temporarily hospitalized, received visits from her mother. Lucy is grateful for the visits and grateful for the doctor who seems to genuinely care for her. 

Underneath the mother's kindness, however, there is an undercurrent of cruelty. Lucy is the only one who has successful escaped her humble beginnings in Amgash, IL. 

Lucy has gone to college and become a writer but she still experiences loneliness and disconnection. Once after Lucy has her first baby, she calls her mother. Her mother, however, refuses to accept the charges for the collect phone call.

This novel is set in the 1980s before cell phones and smart phones. Another crucial part of the novel is the AIDS epidemic; Lucy feels a connection with outcasts and with the neighbor who is dying. 

The brothers and sisters she left behind in Amgash feel some resentment for Lucy, who made it out of the rural community. Those themes are explored in Strout's award-winning short story collection,  Anything is Possible. 

Lucy discovers she will always be connected to  her family even though she has left them and started life anew elsewhere. 

The Chrysler building on the cover makes sense.

The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

This is a novel that pulls readers in immediately because there’s so much at stake for Yasmin and her daughter, Ruby. The pair hope to rescue Matt, Yasmin’s husband and Ruby’s father, from an outpost in Northern Alaska that burned to the ground. 

Despite a terrible childhood, Yasmin has found the love of her life in Matt whose adventurous spirit matches her own. Even with a few challenges–like her daughter’s disability and Matt’s tendency to wander, Yasmin believes in his love. 

Police, however, have decided there are no survivors. Refusing to give up hope, Yasmin and Ruby make their way North by convincing a truck driver to take them to DeadHorse. From there they hope to take a taxi plane to Anaktue. 

Yasmin takes matters into her own hands when he becomes ill; she drives the truck herself across dangerous icy roads.Fans of psychological suspense will love Lupton’s foray into the world of ice trucking. This is a complex novel about motherhood, disability, and ethical choices. 

On one hand, Yasmin has felt that becoming a mother (especially a mother to a child who is so vulnerable) has made her invisible:

“It shocked her to realize that for years she’d felt bland, dull even to herself. Around her, everyone else’s characters were clearly defined, the borders of their personalities etched sharply, but not hers. She’d had tasks and chores and love for Ruby, huge love for her, but how would she have described who she was? Somewhere along the line she’d lost the idea of herself.”

Thus, the mother’s dangerous quest to find her husband is also quest to find her lost self. Yasmin endures the bitter cold of the Dalton highway, a possible stalker and the hazards of trucking during a storm.

Equally brave, Ruby decides how and when she’ll use her voice. Despite her mother’s repeated requests that she use her real voice, Ruby uses “Voice Magic” and twitter. In one courageous move at the end, Ruby uses this technology to thwart the evil doers who wish to harm her family.