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Monthly Archives: April 2020

Coronavirus Update From New York City: April 30, 2020

30 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Here’s Brendan’s (would you believe?) SEVENTH weekly update from NYC.

Blind Injustice

As I started thinking about what to write for today’s coronavirus update piece, it dawned on me that I’ve been providing updates for nearly a month and a half. Indeed, I provided my first update on March 19th, and here I am, providing my seventh weekly update at the end of April!

There have been no changes in terms of my own health and my family’s health. No change is good news, as it means none of us have still received coronavirus symptoms. All of us in the household are definitely looking forward to the day that we can see whether we have already contracted the coronavirus and were possibly asymptomatic. That being said, I would like the antibody testing for the coronavirus to get more accurate first before getting a test myself, because apparently, the current antibody tests (tests that look for antibodies to determine whether someone has already…

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Randy Rainbow Song Parody …. “🧼 ‘A SPOONFUL of CLOROX’ 🧼 …. “!!

30 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 21 Comments

Dr. Rex is a huge fan of singer Randy Rainbow, and she’s gotten me addicted to his videos as well. “A Spoonful of Clorox” is his funniest parody yet!😂

It Is What It Is

~~April 25, 2020~~

A SPOONFUL OF CLOROX

You must be hiding under a rock if you haven’t heard the Prez’s new suggestion for treatment of COVID-19.

The following day he walked it back by saying he was being sarcastic.

I’m not buying the ‘treatment’ or the excuse at all!

Randy’s here to explain it all to us!

The seriousness of the health pandemic can’t be minimized but when things are scary, uncertain and difficult to accept, humor makes the day … at least mine!

RANDY, RANDY, RANDY!!

HortyRex©

Trump’s suggestion that people might try ingesting disinfectant to “knock out” coronavirus gave Randy Rainbow a few ideas for other home remedies, with an assist from Mary Poppins.

Sings Rainbow:

“Some Pledge on your pancakes makes coronavirus pass, coronavirus pass, coronavirus paaasss — if it gives you gas try some bleach in your beer, and shove a flashlight up your…

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Give a Boy a Gun: 20th Anniversary Edition, by Todd Strasser ~ 3.5 Stars

30 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Bullying, Mental Health, School Shootings, YA Fiction

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Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Books for Young Children for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 12th, 2020

176 Pages

Synopsis: In this 20th anniversary edition of Todd Strasser’s gut-wrenching and critically acclaimed Give a Boy a Gun, two boys bring guns to school in search of revenge against their classmates.

For as long as they can remember, Brendan and Gary have been mercilessly teased and harassed by the jocks that rule Middletown High. But not anymore. Stealing a small arsenal of guns from a neighbor, they take their classmates hostage at a school dance. In the panic of this desperate situation, it soon becomes clear that only one thing matters to Brendan and Gary: revenge.

This special 20th anniversary edition includes updated back matter and statistics on school shootings—a topic that is now more relevant than ever.

Give a Boy a Gun was written twenty years ago, yet tragically retains all of its relevance today. The first book about a school shooting written in the aftermath of the Columbine mass shooting on April 20, 1999, it shares a few similarities to the events that unfolded there, although Todd Strasser actually began researching the subject earlier.

The novel is in epistolary format and the majority of it is told through transcribed interviews with parents, teachers, and students that Gary’s stepsister Denise compiles three years after Brendan’s and Gary’s attack on their tormentors and the adults who failed to protect them. Through the eyes of several characters, the reader sees what precipitates their violent rampage, as well as the bloody night of revenge itself. Included are the two 10th graders’ suicide notes which added an additional chilling and disturbing layer.

There are a few things that prevents this from being a perfect read. First, while seeing the viewpoints of so many characters in a book thats under 200 pages long, is informative, it doesn’t allow you to really connect with anyone. The characters are also extremely stereotypical, with the football players being the one-dimensional bullies. I also would have somehow liked to have delved more deeply into the psyches of Brendan and Gary, but there just wasn’t time. What I found the most interesting were the various teachers’ attitudes toward the bullying going on right in front of them. The football coach who tacitly encourages it, the teacher who sees it as typical “boys will be boys,” and another who sees it as a problem but doesn’t know what to do to end it. And finally, I read the Kindle version of this which shares updated gun violence examples and statistics all the way up to 2019. While these are enlightening, inserting them at intervals throughout the story, rather than at the end is jarring and disruptive.

If You Give a Boy a Gun is a flawed yet earnest and well-meaning look at gun violence in America, as well as the social and psychological effects of daily bullying on vulnerable teens. It’s raw, unflinching, and brutally graphic, so I’d recommend this for ages 15+. I believe it’s a worthy addition to any discussion regarding this ongoing problem.

Rise Up! : Sign Language Version

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Be prepared to be blown away by this beautiful and inspiring sign-language performance of Rise Up!

beetleypete

My step-daughter Emma works here in Norfolk in a school for children with special educational needs. Because of Coronavirus, she is currently working from home on teaching projects. She decided to use her sign language skills to help and inspire the kids at the school, many of whom have great problems with communication. She worked hard to create a sign language version of the popular and inspiring song, ‘Rise Up!’

I don’t normally make such requests, but on this occasion I am asking all of you, wherever you live, to share this blog post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on any other social media platform you are a member of.

Sign language is international. and so many people trapped at home during the current lockdown may be thrilled and inspired by Emma’s video. Let them know it will all be over soon, and that one day they will ‘Rise Up’…

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Whimsical Wednesday ~ SNL Edition

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

SNL, Whimsical Wednesday

 

 

Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration

28 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 17 Comments

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Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration

DC037DF5-6C94-4EE4-AA7E-905648BEC838

This past Sunday evening there was a livestream celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday. Participating in Take Me to the World, were Broadway luminaries such as: Raúl Esparza, Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, and many others. After some technical glitches were ironed out, it wound up being an incredible concert with many memorable performances. For me, the standout performance though, was Meryl Streep’s, Christine Baranski’s, and Audra McDonald’s boozy rendition of Ladies Who Lunch, from Company.

And, if you missed the concert, here it is in its entirety.

 

 

 

Did You Get Money You Don’t Need From the Feds? Here Are Some Ideas of Where to Donate It.

27 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 19 Comments

While many of us desperately need the stimulus money being given out from the federal government, if you’re not in need of yours, here are some excellent suggestions from Brendan on how you can help others.

Blind Injustice

Those of you who have been following the weekly updates on how I’m doing, and how my city (New York City) is doing with the coronavirus, will know that I am in a pretty stable situation professionally. As a result, I didn’t need the federal government to give me $1,200…yet I was given it anyway since many of us are receiving somewhere between $1,200 and $4,700.

If you are a person struggling to make ends meet, you need not feel guilty about using the money to help yourself financially. In fact, you’re the kind of person who was envisioned as benefiting the most from receiving the money.

However, if you are like me in that you don’t need the money, I strongly recommend that you give away the money in ways that help those less fortunate (because there are so many people less fortunate than you, in that case). However…

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Google Doodle Games

27 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

Google Doodle Games

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If you’re as fond of Google Doodle Games as I am, rejoice! Starting today, Google will be featuring some of their most popular interactive doodles in a new daily series!

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Today’s is a throwback to 2007 when it celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first computer programming language designed for children. It’s more challenging than it looks!

https://www.google.com/?client=safari

 

 

Pandemic Parodies ~ Beauty and the Beast ~ The Corona Version

27 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Beauty and the Beast, Humor, Pandemic Parodies

 

 

The Paris Library, by Janet Skeslien Charles ~ 4.5 Stars

27 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 32 Comments

Tags

Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Suspense

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Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: February 2nd, 2021

409 Pages

Synopsis: Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983:  Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that the share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.

A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors—The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.

A book about heroic librarians resisting Nazis that’s based on a true story! No surprise I immediately requested it is it? The American Library in Paris, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has a fascinating history, but it’s what the library and its staff did under the leadership of Library Director Dorothy Reeder, during the German occupation of France that’s truly astounding. For more on this, visit https://americanlibraryinparis.org/history

As far as The Paris Library is concerned, it’s obvious that Janet Skeslien Charles did her due diligence in regards to the Library’s history and the Nazi occupation of Paris. Charles met some of the descendants of the historical figures who appear in her story, when she worked at the Library in 2010, and her love and fascination for the subject shows. The WWII passages are the best part of the book in my opinion. I loved the setting and all its thoughtful details such as the inclusion of the Dewey Decimal System and specific works of literature. I also loved seeing the war through the prism of the Library, its staff and its patrons. As this is historical fiction, a good portion of the book focuses on Odile’s life and relationships which I quite enjoyed as she’s a believable and charismatic character who adds a personal note to a chapter from history that I’m not sure many are familiar with.

The weakest parts of the book are when the story veers away from Odile’s wartime experiences and jumps to her life in 1983. I feel a little guilty about complaining, because there nothing inherently wrong with this timeline, except for it being slower in pace. It’s just that I was completely caught up in the events of Paris of 1939-1944, so much so that I found myself a tad resentful at being pulled away.

In her author’s note (which is a must read), Charles discusses her research and how this book came to be, but there’s two passages that stood out to me and I’d like to share them.

My goal in writing this book was to share this little-known chapter of WWII history and to capture the voices of the courageous librarians who defied the Nazis in order to help subscribers and to share a love of literature.

…A friend says she believes that in reading stories set in World War II, people like to ask what they would have done. I think a better question to ask is what can we do now to ensure that libraries and learning are accessible to all and that we treat people with dignity and compassion.

Without hesitation, I HIGHLY recommend The Paris Library to library, literature and history lovers, as well as all readers interested in learning a fascinating piece of WWII history. On a personal note, for a retired children’s librarian like me, for who libraries and librarians have played such an integral role in my life, reading about these heroic librarians was a privilege and absolutely thrilling.

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