The Berenstain Bears: Trick or Treat

 The Berenstain Bears: Trick or Treat by Stan and Jan Berenstain

1989

Weight: 3.5 oz

Method of Disposal: Donated

I can only begin to describe my childhood love for the Berenstain Bears, and my two favorite books, which I have held onto all of this time.  Trick or Treat and No Girls Allowed.  I have always loved Halloween, dressing up in costumes, animals.  It is no stretch that I would be in love with tiny bears, wearing clothes, and performing childlike dramas.  The illustrations were the best part, but each book has a lesson, of course.  I am confident the Berenstain Bears helped me develop my empathy and my love for reading.  

Halloween is upon us, y'all.  I am struggling to decide what costumes Harriet and I will be wearing this year!  It's the most wonderful time of the year...

A World Without Bees

 A World Without Bees by Allison Benjamin and Brian McCallum

2010

Weight: 10 oz

Method of Disposal: Donating

The trajectory of pollinators, one of the more frightening futures to contemplate.  The critters themselves are always fascinating.  The first chapter or two of this book gives you the fun facts about bees--that the males only live to mate and then die, that sick bees will leave the hive to die so that infection does not spread to the others, that they will not defecate inside the hive.  They are clean and regimented.  They have a plan, they follow the plan, and they perform their dance well.  God save the Queen.

But humans, being the destructive force we are, make it increasingly challenging for the bees to survive.  This book puts forth a wide variety of theories and introduces us to the people who study and stand behind those theories, and they suggest that the disappearance of bees cannot be connected to any one thing we do as earthly inhabitants.  The pesticides and herbicides are a frequently accused culprit, as our parasites and disease that are spread when bees are transported from place to place to increase pollination and the productivity on farms.  A small group of people argue that cellphone use is confusing the bees trying to get back to their hives, though this idea is not popular in the scientific community.  As always, global warming and large-scale farming lacking in diversity of crops are massive problems that we are not sure if the bees can adapt to quickly enough.

Throughout history, bees have disappeared in large numbers periodically, but the current trend seems to be far more alarming to beekeepers all over the world.  In parts of China, honeybees have completely disappeared and people are responsible for pollinating the plants themselves, which is a more laborious project than might be expected.

This book is a great introduction to bees, what life might look like without them, and the massive obstacles facing beekeepers today.  It is clear there is much more to learn, but I feel more prepared to jump into the abyss of information that has been cropping up in the last decade or so.  It does nothing for improving my mood, needless to say, but it is clearly important.

Slaughter-House Five, Or the Children's Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death

 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut x2

Weight: 12 oz

Method of Disposal:  Gave to a friend who gave it back and then I donated that copy and another to Goodwill

I cannot guess how many times I have given away this book, and it is not my favorite Kurt Vonnegut book at all.  I am not even all that keen on it, though I do respect it.  It is impossible not to see it as important when you think about Vonnegut's time in WWII at Dresden, and the years he said he would right a book about it and finally did.  With that lens, it becomes even more powerful.  And with all that said, it is a Slaughter-House Five quote that I have tattooed on my back.  I got it after working at an animal shelter and losing some part of myself that felt pain, love, and passion intensely.  After losing so many dogs, cats, and people.  The sad stories and the tragedy occurring every day, over and over and over and over and over again.

 

The friend I had given it to now has Stage 4 lung cancer and has returned the book and says she loved it.  She does not even know what her treatment plan is, two chemo sessions in, because our medical system has grown too large and distant.  A life is so important and there are so many important lives.

Today, a coworker that I have known for 15 years lost his person and his kids lost their mother.  She was young.  It was unexpected.  He has been receiving treatment for cancer, in addition to the treatments he already receives for MS.  He is one of the hardest working people I know.  He is a great dad and a kind person.  She sounded like she was amazing too, and she made him happy.

The world is so heavy.  It is so beautiful and so painful.  It is so meaningful and so meaningless.  We all are clinging on in the balance.  We believe we are important.  We are important.  To us.  To some people.  We come slowly, and we go quickly, unless we go slowly, and there is no happy ending.  Though, a lot of happiness can be packed in before The End.  It is what it is.  Until it impacts you.  Then, it is so much more.  And, once you have been impacted over and over and over again, you have to decide whether to lean more into meaning or meaningless or everything and nothing.

The Stranger

 The Stranger by Albert Camus

1989

Weight: 6 oz

Method of Disposal: Donating

I reread The Stranger before donating it and am now reading The Plague, which feels quite pertinent these days.  

The main character in The Stranger is not believable or even all that likeable, but he is representative of an existentialist belief about life and as a tool to show how others interpret and see what they are looking to see in someone.  He is not believable because existentialism is not believable.  Can we care about a character whose life has no meaning?  He is so many things to so many people, but he hardly has an opinion himself except about his mortality and, even that, he lets go quickly.

I read this in English.  If my French were not so rusty, I would love to read it untranslated.  Regardless, I always enjoy Camus.  His books read quickly, but they linger a long time.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith x 2

1998

Weight: 15 oz

Method of Disposal: Giving one to a friend and one to my Mom

This book was recommended to me by a dear friend who I used to work with at Waldenbooks.  I ended up with more than one copy, and I decided to read it while home sick with COVID.  Many years after I was told to read it.  It was great, and I recommend it.  I can see why it is a classic.  It is the story of a working class  Irish American family surviving and living in the city, and it focuses on the young girl, Frankie, who we watch grow up.  Frankie is incredibly lovable, and all the characters in the book are complex and interesting because of it.  Her dad is an alcoholic, but he is not someone we hate, because how could we? Frankie loves him so much, as does his wife and her mom.  They have no money, but the mom has a strong determination and work ethic and moral compass, which she shares with her children.  It is good.  You should try it.