authorpages, Books, Nature

I’ve Been Book Reported

43 Comments

Here we are, firmly in November.

We set back the clocks on Saturday, and now it gets dark at 4:30, which always gives me a claustrophobic, restless feeling. I have come to the conclusion that I am neither a morning person nor a night person. Instead, I am a day person, and when the dark comes, I am ready to kick back. This is fine when it stays light out until, say, 7:00 p.m. But when the dark comes at 4:30, it’s too early to relax for the evening, and in addition, it makes me fidgety to be inside so much. Therefore, as soon as I am finished with the copy editing of Library Lost, I will be spending some part of every day outside. Being outside helps with the fidgets.

Speaking of Library Lost, I am coming down the homestretch with copy editing. Wowsah, what a job! Fortunately I have the patience to go over the book line by line. Many times. I wish I could get it right with one pass, but there you are.

This weekend, at a craft fair, there was another first for me. A young man who was about thirteen came to my table and told me that he liked Maya and the Book of Everything so much that he did a book report about it for his English class. Readers, I have been book reported. Holy cats, I was thrilled.

In the United States, tomorrow is Election Day, and it’s going to be a nail biter. As I have written in previous posts, I am heartbroken about the direction this country has taken—the ugliness, the racism, the threats, the lack of tolerance and compassion, the total disregard of the environment.

There are some—a minority, I hope—who think it doesn’t make any difference as to which candidate wins. How wrong they are! And I can use the small state of Maine (population 1.3 million) as an example. Because of our current governor and his refusal to accept the Medicaid expansion money available through the  Affordable Care Act, 70,000 people  in our state have gone without health insurance. These are people who earn too much to qualify for standard Medicaid and too little to qualify for subsidies from the ACA. They are caught right in the middle.

How many people died because of our governor’s refusal to expand Medicaid coverage? How many went to the emergency room, thus driving up the overall cost of healthcare?

In each Maine gubernatorial election—alas, our current governor won two times—if the other candidate had won, then those 70,000 Mainers would have had health insurance. This is but one issue of many where there has been a sea of differences between the candidates, and the same is true with the current election.

So out Clif and I will go tomorrow, to cast our votes and hope, hope, hope that we have come to the turning of tide.

43 thoughts on “I’ve Been Book Reported”

  2. The cosy long nights for reading by the fire are here and congratulations with being book reported! That is so lovely to hear. Here’s hoping for a positive outcome and a turning of the tide with this election. Your autumn leaves are beautiful! 🙂💖🍂 xxx

  3. We’ll be voting in the morning, then going to Portland for Bob to see an eye specialist about macular degeneration. I’m on page 235 in Library. Very clean copy. Found one capital letter that should have been lower case. Enjoy your day!

    1. Oh, thanks, Gayle! I have been thinking that we were coming down the homestretch, and you have confirmed this. Good luck to Bob! Look forward to seeing you two on Wednesday.

  5. I love the autumn leaves image very much.
    I love light but even when it’s darker I shall spend some time outside.

    Talking about elections, when not everyone in my country has food on their plate, clothes on their bodies and a safe place to live, the government has used tax payers $430m to build a statue. Can you believe this?

  6. Good for you that people enjoy your books!

    I sent in my absentee ballot last week and am happy I did so. I hope everyone votes who can, and that it makes a good positive difference for all.

  7. How lovely that you got student book review…I know from my students how much a book can mean to each student, high praise to get a review👏👏.
    Best wishes for your election, may you turn the tide… there is a lot of coverage of the election here in Australia.

    2. Ha – I did the same thing, Judy. I neglected to turn my clock back, and when I woke up and it was 5:20, I thought, “That’s a reasonable time to get up.” So dismayed when I remembered it was an hour earlier.

  10. Mazel tov on being a Book Reported! That’s a great milestone. I am with you on the election, we are planning to get out tomorrow come rain or shine. I am trying to keep a positive approach to the early darkness, but once the sun is set, I tend to settle in and not get much done, so I have to be mindful of getting much done e@rly in the day!

    1. Thanks, Derrick! I wish there would be a blue wave that would give us back the Senate, but that seems unlikely. Still, getting the House back would be something. Now, we wait and see.

  12. Today…we all vote! We must! Can’t say it enough! Our daughter called at 5:30 this morning to ask ” when are we heading up to the town office to vote?” Our conversations about civic duty and participation did not fall on deaf ears.
    Congratulations with regard to the book report! So affirming to hear that response, yes? I am using those ‘in-between’ hours to sort through the piles of paperwork that need filing or tossing. Then I knit or spin. Then, an early bedtime, as usual!

    1. Yes, vote! We are not early-to-bed kind of people, which, of course, make the night even longer. But there you are. I will find pleasant things to fill the dark hours. Reading blogging friends posts will be one of them. 😉

  13. That’s so cool about the book report! You should’ve asked him for a copy! We were at the polling place at 6 and my ballot was the first one scanned in–and now we wait . . . and hope.

  14. Oh, to influence a young person so much that he writes a report about your book! I can think of no better compliment of your writing – (Except if Terry Gross asks to interview you. That would be pretty good, too. : )
    Congratulations on making a difference, my friend.

      1. It’s really a total validation of your efforts. You touched the heart of a young person. I am still so thrilled for you. You can tell Terry the story when she calls : ) You should start a list (seriously.)

  16. How exciting that you were book reported!! I was very glad to see that the voter turnout was great and that our government will have some checks and balances after this election. I was catching up on election results last night and saw the great news about Maine. Lovely photo and we’re still adjusting to the time change, especially Gabby.

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