Diary of a Word Nerd

Here are 8 books perfect for your summer reading

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Julia Tomiak / 0 Comment

We are leaving for our family vacation next week, and I’ve started the lists and the piles and the laundry. The first thing I did? Figure out what books I want to take with me! 🙂 Because for me, a vacation means a good excuse to get lost in a book. And if you’re reading this, I bet you have similar priorities. So I’d like to share a few summer reading suggestions with you.

What kind of summer reading do you look for?

One of my favorite podcasts, Matter of Opinion from the New York Times, just dropped an episode with reading recommendations from all four hosts. The books ranged from kid lit (Harriet the Spy and it’s sequel – who knew it had a sequel?!- The Long Secret) to historical fiction. The hosts debated what type of book they liked to take on vacation: the 1000 pages of serious they’ve been meaning to read but never have the time for, or fun, easy books to consume like an ice cream sundae.

Where do you fall this summer? Sophisticated or silly? Cerebral or candy?

One year, I took Charles Dickens’ heavy tome Great Expectations with me to our lakeside vacation in the Adirondacks. My friend turned up her nose. “Why did you bring THAT on vacation?” She had Rob Lowe’s memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, resting on her lap at the time. I lugged Great Expectations up to Lake Pleasant thinking I’d finally have the chance to tackle a classic I “should” read. And I’m glad I got through it. But I’m pretty sure Stories I Only Tell My Friends was way more fun.

My summer reading recommendations

This year, I’m taking two books on vacation. I just started The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles because my book club insisted I had to read it. Most of them read it earlier this year, but I was skittish. My past experience with Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow, was interesting but a bit of a slog. I already like The Lincoln Highway better. The novel opens with so many unanswered questions: What did Emmett do to end up on a work farm? Why did his mother abandon his family? Also, the characters are interesting with unique voices (now I sound like an agent.) And the prose is gorgeous. Here’s what I underlined on page 13:

Because a farmer with a mortgage was like a man walking on the railing of a bridge with his arms outstretched and his eyes closed. It was a way of life in which the difference between abundance and ruin could be measured by a few inches of rain or a few nights of frost.
Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway.

It’s also a road trip story, so quite appropriate for summer vacation. 🙂

I’ll also stow is a collection of short stories called Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri into my travel back pack. My son gave it to me for Christmas, and since that same son is traveling with us (a bonus for the trip since said son is 19 and thoroughly enjoying the freedom that comes with college), I thought I could initiate a discussion with him as we enjoy our four hour layover in the Detroit airport.

Besides those two, here are a few books I’ve already read that would make excellent suggestions for your summer reading list.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Contemporary adult fiction perfect for any feminist. It reads easy and has substance. Oh my goodness, if you haven’t read this yet, pick up a copy already! My daughter read it in 48 hours and said, “It was so so good. She [the main character] goes crazy. I am in awe. If only my hair were not snot slippery so I too could put it up with a pencil.”
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, contemporary adult fiction about a daughter’s love for her imperfect mother.
We Were Liars by E Lockhart. YA thriller set in Martha’s Vineyard. A summer vacation with some seriously uneasy vibes.
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab, a genre defying story of a girl who makes a Faustian deal with the Darkness. Beautiful prose, thought inspiring. I labeled it Magical Realism on Tik Tok and got harassed for doing so. Let’s call it fantasy.
The McNifficents by Amy Makechnie. Middle grade kid lit about a summer of chaos for the McNiffs and their fearless, but aging, nanny, Lord Tennyson (who happens to be a miniature schnauzer.) If you like reading books aloud with your kids, this one’s a winner.
Inciting Joy by Ross Gay. Confession, I haven’t read this one yet, but I loved his The Book of Delights and with all the bad news about the environment and China and Ukraine, I need some joy, people.

There you go, eight more books to choose from!

What are you reading this summer? Can you recommend any great vacation books?

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Who I Am

Listening to birds is good for your health

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Julia Tomiak / 0 Comment

Record heat in the southwest. (Did I hear correctly? 110 degrees?!) Flooding in Vermont. And here in the East, we’ve got wildfire haze in our skies again. If you read or listen to the news this summer, it could mess with your head. The barrage of discouraging headlines often folds my stomach into knots. Thankfully, in recent months, I’ve found two reliable antidotes to stress: my dog and birds.

The dog, Scout, is a shepherd mix. Two years old, a shiny black coat, and 54 pounds of exuberance. She has two modes: play and nap. There is no middle ground. The girl needs her exercise, so every morning, before I launch into the day, we walk for at least 30 minutes. Often, I wear headphones while exercising to get news from podcasts like Up First, The Seven from The Washington Post, and the FOX News Hourly Update. But for that first walk of the day, in the serene hours while the sun climbs up the sky, I go podcast free. No sounds but me, Scout, and the birds.

Take a moment to imagine that. Birds chirping from the fence line, paws padding on the asphalt, the tinkle of dog tags on my puppy’s collar. Kinda makes your heart rate slow, just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

Scout, still being a puppy, requires my attention. I cannot ruminate, or fall down a rabbit hole of internal complaining, for too long before she spots a deer or a squirrel and tries to chase it. I must be ready, ideally a bit ahead of her, to give a command and a corrective tug on her leash to remind her to heel. To stay with me, just like I stay present to her. She gives me much needed practice on grounding myself where we are, beside the green pasture, with the trees shifting beside us in the breeze.

While we walk, I listen to the birds. This summer is the first time I’ve really paid attention to how many different songs I hear. From the pip, pip, pips of small birds hiding in the leaves over my head, to the gravelly caw, caw of the large, black crows flapping high above us. I pay attention to each sound and in an attempt to parse out the different calls.

Please note, I’m not trying to learn which birds make which sounds. I have the Merlin Bird ID app on my phone, but no phone on my walk because, connecting with nature, remember? And while I’d like to learn more about birds, I don’t want to add any “shoulds” to my already long to-do list. So, for now, I just appreciate the different sounds, the joyful cries, the amazing diversity of this lovely county I live in.

My faith in the restorative power of nature is well founded. A recent story in The Washington Post highlighted several benefits of interacting with nature, specifically listening to birds. The article cited several studies that demonstrated “a positive association between seeing or hearing birds and improved mental well-being.”

Birds are everywhere, even in cities. You don’t have to live out in the country, like me, to benefit from nature. Take a walk, even on an urban sidewalk, and you will inevitably encounter a bird or two. Maybe you don’t always see them, but you can hear them calling from tree branches and roof tops. In fact, researchers found people who listened to recordings of bird song had improvements in symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Note the Raleigh skyline beyond this field of sunflowers

A gorgeous field of sunflowers on display at Dorthea Dix Park in Raleigh, NC

This weekend, a friend and I visited a field of blooming sunflowers at Dorthea Dix Park in Raleigh, NC. We both noticed the calming effects of the sea of green and yellow flowers spreading out around us. The bird songs around us just amplified the effect.

My morning walk ritual, with my puppy and the birds to guide me, forces me to ground myself in the moment. To absorb all the peace I can to take with me into the rush of the day. Interacting with nature improves our physical and mental health. Take a few minutes today, and each day, to immerse yourself in nature. I promise you’ll feel better.

Do you have a daily ritual to help you manage stress? Do you listen to the birds that live around you? Even in urban areas, we can hear and see birds. Take advantage of that!

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

How to encourage reading

A new way to stay connected!

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Julia Tomiak / 4 Comments

Hi Word Nerds! My blog is 11 years old, and I’m so thankful for the people who continue to visit and read my words. I’m updating the site a little, primarily with how I push out my posts. For many reasons, including wanting to own my email list and eliminate a nasty plug-in that bogs down my site, I’ve switched email platforms. If you previously signed up to receive my posts by email through Word Press, you were not able to reply to them. With my new email provider, Mailer Lite, you can reply directly to me at my email for this site.

If you subscribed before, you don’t need to do anything. I imported all previous subscribers to Mailer Lite. However, you might have to search your junk email folder to find my posts. If you prefer to resubscribe through Mailer Lite, fill out the form below or in the left side bar of my site and look for an email from Diary of a Word Nerd, email address headnerd@juliatomiak.com.

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Book reviews

Done with Demon Copperhead? Check these out!

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Julia Tomiak / 5 Comments

My struggle with David Copperfield

After I finished Demon Copperhead, I had to check out the book it’s based on. I mean, what is a Word Nerd if not a glutton for literary classics? Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver, is a modern re-write of the Charles Dickens autobiographical novel David Copperfield. The English major in me couldn’t help it! I yearned to compare and contrast. Can anyone else out there relate?

Besides, while I found Dickens’ Great Expectations quite the slog, I loved listening to A Tale of Two Cities last summer after my visit to Paris. So, I queued up the (free!) audio book of David Copperfield, narrated by Richard Armitage (aka Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit movies), and prepared to listen to my second Dickens novel in less than 12 months. All 36 hours of it.

I made it to hour 27.

Compare and contrast

David Copperfield is, according to Goodreads, “the story of a young man’s adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist.” Although David comes from poor beginnings, he is much luckier than Demon in lots of ways. He has lots of friends who care for him and a wealthy aunt who funds his schooling and training. Goodreads describes David Copperfield as “exuberant and popular” filled with equal measures of humor and tragedy. I would substitute the adjectives “dense,” and “trying.” Copperfield reads more like Great Expectations than Two Cities.

Yes, Dickens demonstrates wry humor throughout his novel, and he developed many interesting characters. I especially like David’s aunt, Betsey Trotwood, a formidable woman who gets more page time and punch lines than her counterpart in Demon Copperhead. But she wasn’t enough to get me to finish the book.

Demon Copperhead follows the plot and characters of David Copperfield pretty closely, especially for the first half of the book. It’s fun to discover how Kingsolver modified names and events to fit modern Appalachia. For example, David’s untrustworthy friend James Steerforth from the classic becomes “Fast Forward” in Kingsolver’s novel. While Dora Spenlow enchants young Mr. Copperfield, it’s Dory, also enchanting and unfortunately an addict, who steals Demon’s heart.

By the time I got to chapter 46- yes, that’s forty six- I gave up. I’m a firm believer that life is short and there are too many books to read to drag myself through one I don’t like. So, while I’m glad I explored David Copperfield, I’m done with him.

A better follow up to Demon Copperhead: In the Wild Light

If you enjoyed Demon Copperhead and would like to read more about the people of modern Appalachia, I recommend In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner. It’s a young adult novel about a boy of modest means from Tennessee who learns how to manage grief and find love. Like Demon, Cash has lost his mom to opioid addiction. Like Demon (and David Copperfield), Cash wrestles with memory and identity.

In the Wild Light explores the theme of family, found and given. In a lot of ways, Cash has better luck than Demon or David. He lives with his grandparents and has a strong relationship with his Papaw, or grandfather. Unfortunately, Pawpa is dying from emphysema. When Cash gets the opportunity to leave Tennessee to study at a prep school in New England, he’s torn between staying close to his Papaw and following his chosen family, his best friend Delaney, to a brighter future.

Compare and contrast

In the Wild Light is a YA, less brutal but still bittersweet, version of Demon Copperhead. I love three things about both of these novels. First, the main characters in each book find solace in nature. Appalachia may be poor and fraught with problems, but its rolling mountains and peaceful waterways offer the perfect space for reflection and restoration. Zentner and Kingsolver, who both live in Appalachia, capture that well. Also, in both novels, the main characters use art to process their emotions and work through their struggles. For Cash, that means learning to write poetry. For Demon, that means drawing comics.

Finally, both novels show the importance of friendship and mentorship. Cash and Demon have just a few teachers and or friends who inspire their talent and encourage their efforts. The novels highlight the importance of making time to help teens feel seen, valued, and understood. As someone who parents, coaches, and writes for teens, I could not agree more.

So, even if you are an English major, skip Copperfield, and check out In the Wild Light instead. Zentner is an award winning YA author, and his next book will be a novel in verse. I can’t wait. In the meantime, I’m going to read The Serpent King, the story of Dill, the only son of a Pentacostal minister.

Have you read David Copperfield? What did you think? Are you familiar with Jeff Zentner’s work? Zentner is also fun to follow on Instagram. I saw him speak at a writer’s conference in October 2022, and he was amazing. He spoke about persistence in pursuing creativity. This man wrote his first book ON HIS PHONE while commuting to and from work on a bus. So, no excuses.

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Book reviews

Why Demon Copperhead is worth the Pulitzer Prize attention

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Julia Tomiak / 0 Comment

I moved to Wythe County, Virginia 22 years ago. I live on a farm about an hour away from the coal fields of Lee County, where Barbara Kingsolver set her latest novel Demon Copperhead. I’m firmly entrenched in Appalachian and southwest Virginia culture, and while I like to think I’ve learned a lot about the people of the Virginia mountains, Demon Copperhead taught me even more. In writing Copperhead, Kingsolver (author of another influential book for me, The Poisonwood Bible) aspired to create the “great American Appalachian novel.” I think she succeeded, and I’m not the only one. Demon Copperhead was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for 2022 and was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

The Premise

Demon Copperhead is a close re-write of David Copperfield, Charles Dickens’ autobiographical novel about a young man navigating institutional poverty. Both books explore the role of class and upbringing, but Kingsolver hits on particularly modern challenges, including the pitfalls of foster care and the influence of the opiate marketing machine on the people of southwest Virginia.

Set in the 1990s, Kingsolver’s novel follows Demon, a boy born on the floor of a single wide trailer to a mother plagued by drug addiction and bad choices. Demon eventually lands in the foster care system, finding himself living with people who often do not care about him, just the check he brings in and the cheap labor he can provide. While bouncing through foster homes, Demon encounters a rotating crew of social workers and learns at a young age how to numb his pain with drugs.

Demon painfully and vividly describes his embarrassment at school, branded as poorest of the poor and a foster. He often talks about an unmet hunger gnawing at his soul, and he resents the “city folk” who have used and abandoned the people of Lee County and rural places like it. He sketches comic book super heroes who come to save the people of his community. Once he gets to high school, Demon earns some respect in the cherished lights of the high school football field, but an injury sidelines his athletic promise and threatens to ruin his life.

What I liked

The prose. Specifically, Demon’s voice. Although Demon Copperhead has lots of dark moments, Demon’s voice carries the novel. He is witty, observant, and unapologetic. A review on Goodreads called Demon’s voice “unauthentic.” I must disagree. I hear echoes of Demon’s words in conversations at my local Walmart, greetings at the Farmer’s Market, and discussions of local gossip, politics, and sports.

Demon Copperhead brought to light much I hadn’t yet grasped about the the people and culture of Appalachia. Lee County, the book’s setting, sits at the far west edge of Virginia, with Kentucky on its western border and Tennessee to its south. This community has long been manipulated by outside powers. The coal industry took advantage of the natural resources of the mountains, leaving the people with black dust in their lungs and little financial gain to show for their hard work. Then, the opioid industry exploited the pain and suffering of the Appalachian people. Like so many issues today, opioid addiction is a complicated problem. Kingsolver’s writing brings the multiple facets of addiction into the light.

Even though Demon faces significant challenges, he finds friends and role models to help him navigate his troubles. The novel shows how the good intentions and efforts of just a few people in Demon’s life have a lasting influence on his choices, and subsequently, his survival.

Demon finds comfort and solace in nature, and the novel highlights one of the region’s best assets: its natural beauty. The rolling mountains of Appalachia, green in summer and vibrant in fall, truly inspire awe and wonder. Many mornings I walk my dogs down the quiet country road by my farm and smile with joy at the beauty and texture of the land that surrounds me.

One of the many gorgeous views near my home in southwest Virginia.

When I was in college, I brought my roommate, a native of a small town on the southern Virginia border, to the booming explosion of Northern Virginia, where I grew up. When the first of hundreds of condo and office buildings broke the horizon as we traveled east on Route 66, my friend grabbed my arm and gasped. She had never seen so much development that went on for so long. Kingsolver does a great job of capturing this shock and horror of city living.

When visiting Atlanta, Demon says:

Hundreds of people passed by outside, hugging their coats around them, looking at their feet walking fast. I wondered what they were taking for the brain alarm bell that goes off in a place like this, where not one thing you see is alive, except more people, everything else being dead: bricks, cement, and steel. No morning songs but car horns and jackhammers, all the mountains of steel beam construction. And this, June informed us, was the good part of the town.
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver

What I didn’t like

The story dragged for me at times. While Demon is an engaging hero, and I always pulled for him, I would have appreciated a tighter plot. Demon Copperhead is truly a character study, not just of Demon, but of the culture and morale of a people often disrespected and undervalued by “the powers that be.” With 546 pages and some heavy topics, Demon Copperhead demands a serious reading commitment. And while the dark themes can depress you, I encourage you to push through to the end. There is light at the end of Demon’s journey.

Word Nerd Recommendation

If you like historical fiction, learning about different cultures, or examining the various pieces of a societal problem like addiction, I encourage you to read Demon Copperhead. FYI, Kingsolver is fun to follow on Instagram.

Have you read Demon Copperhead? What did you think? Can you recommend other novels that gave you insight into a culture or social dilemma?

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Book reviews/Favorite Authors

A great family summer read for you!

Posted on June 9, 2023 by Julia Tomiak / 0 Comment

Summer is FINALLY here! I’m looking forward to kayaking, paddle boarding, walking my dogs, and growing yummy veggies in my garden. I also plan to rest from all of that activity with lots of relaxing reading on my screened in porch. And while I always like to learn from my reading, in the summer I enjoy funny, light books to compliment the relaxing “vibe” of the season, as my kids would say. This year, I have a great family friendly and funny read for you. It’s the latest release from author Amy Makechnie, and it’s called The McNifficents.

Amy Makechnie has a lot of kids. Four, to be exact. (Who would do something so crazy? 🙂 ) She also owns schnauzers (at least two that I’m aware of) and coached flocks of wily children on a soccer pitch. So she’s got a good handle on dogs and kids. She shares that experience in her upcoming release, The McNifficents. It will hit bookstores June 20, 2023.

Amy captures the chaos of a large family with humor and insight. She created eight main characters for this middle grade contemporary, and each one shines with his or her own personality. Here’s a summary of the cast from Amy’s Substack newsletter:

Lord Tennyson, distinguished miniature schnauzer and the children’s nanny
Annie, age 13, the oldest and most responsible McNiff; can be…boss boss
Mary, aka, “Naughty Mary”, age 11; modeled directly after my mother’s childhood
Ezra, age 9, finding his voice…and a snake; chaos ensues
Pearl, age 6, sweet and timid; finding her courage!
Tate, age 4, idolizes Pearl; speaks with the most darling lisp
Sweetums, age 18 months. Sand thrower, tail puller, goodness it’s lucky she’s cute
Mr. McNiff, fastidious drama teacher; sings and tap dances his way through life
Mrs. McNiff aka “Honey” her self-preservation is gardening and chemistry. She has a vague recollection that there are six children home for the summer.

As you can guess from this list, the kids need a nanny, and Lord Tennyson takes his job very seriously.

Tenny steals the show in The McNifficents, which is saying something! (Note the large cast of characters above.) He’s got class and a big heart and a strong desire to eat birds. The juxtaposition of him wishing for a tuxedo while fighting his urge to maul a chicken is just one of the many ways Amy captures humor and tension in this delightful story.

Family can be complicated. Sometimes personalities clash, and living in harmony feels impossible. But with the right mindset, and some nudging from a wise old dog, even the rowdiest kids can pull together to get a job done. And that’s just what the McNifficents do, led by the fearless Lord Tennyson. Along the way, they learn a lot about forgiveness, grace, and the overwhelming power of canine instincts. Kid powered hi jinks and even a threatening pack of wolves keep the story rolling to the closing pages.

I also parent a flock of children and own a small dog with peculiar tendencies, Amy’s story nails the complications and joys of living in a large family and often had me laughing out loud. I highly recommend this book for middle grade readers of any age. It would make great read aloud book for family quiet time after a day at the pool or the beach.

The McNifficents will release June 20, 2023. You can preorder it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.

Find out more about Amy at her website and Substack. Also, check out my reviews of Amy’s previously published books, Ten Thousand Tries and The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair.

Share a great summer read in the comments. What’s your favorite summer reading spot? A porch? A hammock?

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!