Originally intended to simply focus on book reviews, over time, KaliDesautelsReads has morphed into its own entity.
I write about issues that are near to my heart, be they political, feminist, motherhood, mental health, or, as the title holds, books.
A thirty-something Canadian woman in my mid-thirties, I have been “super married” to my high school sweetheart since 2006, and together we have two crazy, clever, kind, hilarious, wonderful kids.
My first book – How Not To Blog: Finding Myself, One Post at a Time is available on Amazon (in eBook formats for you clever tech readers, and paperback for those of us who love that new book smell!)
I have tried a podcast – it’s still on Apple and Google Podcasts – but writing is where my heart is.
My life changed dramatically when my husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in 2018, and I am now a writer for a leading Canadian Cancer Non-Profit.
I am lucky enough to have a family that loves me and pushes me to be my best, even if it is outside of my cushiony comfort zone. I have a village of friends that nourish me, mentally, and spiritually.
Welcome to my thoughts. Sit down. Stay a while. Enjoy a cup of coffee!
“Firstly, even the most rudimentary of intelligences would have no difficulty in grasping that being properly informed about something is always preferable to being ignorant, especially in such delicate matters as good and evil, which could put anyone at risk, quite unwittingly, of being consigned to eternal damnation in a hell that had not yet been invented.” – José Saramago CAIN: a novel.
Reading Saramago’s final book, a novelization of the Book Genesis has been doing 2 things for me:
1) reminding me that I hate the Saramago punctuates his writing; and 2) that he is a brilliant author with very insightful prose.
Lilacs are one of my absolute favourite things about spring. When I was little we had beautiful lilac bush that smelled amazing. My grandparents had one, too, and when we moved homes and didn’t have our bush any longer, my Grampa would cut lilacs and bring them to us. A few years ago, I mentioned to my friend Lindsay that I really wished that I had lilac bushes near me, and then one day, she showed up at my front door with a little baby lilac bush in a pot. I planted it, and each year watched it grow bigger and stronger. This year, my baby beautiful bush has grown and HAS ITS FIRST BLOOM!!!!!!!! Thank you, Lindsay, for the plant years ago and the smile today. I am so happy right now ❤️
Yesterday, I had a group text with my brother and sister, and while I lamented that life intended to burn us (think Moriarty in the pool area with John and Sherlock), my wise sister reminded me that life is all about balance. So instead of looking at things as inherently good or bad, we need to find the balance in them.
In that vein, I have dusted off my gratitude journal from where it lay since Dave’s cancer diagnosis, poured myself a glass of water (while the coffee brews, because, you know, balance….) and I am going to remind myself that even in the darkest days, light can be found if only someone remembers to turn on the lights. (Seriously paraphrasing Dumbledore, but here’s to finding the light switch).
This is what I have been working towards – the sense of stability for my babies while the rest of our world spins off of its axis. Sitting with my kid who is writing his first speech and got upset about the stress of it. But after he calmed down and we got going, he put his little hand on my shoulder and said “thank you for helping me, Mama, even though it was tiring.” My sweet, sweet boy. It’s impossible not to melt when my kids are self aware and loving.
No matter what, these are my greatest blessings and the reason that I wake up every. single. day.
Scared? Frustrated? Nervous? Unhappy? Just remember that we have been all of those things before, and we have all lived through them, so there is a pretty good chance that we will live through this, too.
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Repost • @theeverygirl A good reminder for Thursday night — and every other night too. Tag the friend who needs to hear this!! || photo by @nomorechasingrainbows
We stopped into a flower shop for birthday flowers for my Memere, whilst doing our running around. If you need aromatherapy and a mood brightened, wander into your local flower shop. Mine is full of pops of colour, antique stoves and occasional chairs. We found her some pretty ranunculus, peonies and greens, which are now resting in the living room on the coffee table, but I also fell in love with these adorable floral bunny pots! They remind me of my sister, who is our familial bunny baby, having been born on Easter weekend.
Good morning!! Happy Friday Eve! Time for a carrot smoothie, and a to do list that I have put off all week! My leave of absence from work has felt extremely long, but as it is ending in a few days, I am finding myself running out of time to make sure everything is ready for being back in the office! No more time for lollygagging in the morning! As my mom always said – Up and at’em, Atom Ant!
And yes, our reusable straws are totally Christmas straws 🙂
Growing up in a home packed with books has a large effect on literacy in later life – but a home library needs to contain at least 80 books to be effective, according to new research.
Led by Dr Joanna Sikora of Australian National University, academics analysed data from more than 160,000 adults, from 31 different countries, who took part in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies between 2011 and 2015. All participants were asked how many books there were in their homes when they were 16 – they were told that one metre of shelving was equivalent to around 40 books – and went through literacy, numeracy and information communication technology (ICT) tests to gauge their abilities.
While the average number of books in a home library differed from country to country – from 27 in Turkey to 143 in the UK and 218 in Estonia – “the total effects of home library size on literacy are large everywhere”, write Sikora and her colleagues in the paper, titled Scholarly Culture: How Books in Adolescence Enhance Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Technology Skills in 31 Societies. The paper has just been published in the journal Social Science Research.
“Adolescent exposure to books is an integral part of social practices that foster long-term cognitive competencies spanning literacy, numeracy and ICT skills,” they write. “Growing up with home libraries boosts adult skills in these areas beyond the benefits accrued from parental education or own educational or occupational attainment.”Teenagers in a home with almost no books went on to have below average literacy and numeracy levels, the researchers found. Having approximately 80 books in adolescent home libraries raised levels to the average, while once the library size reached 350 books, it was “not associated with significant literacy gains”. The same was true for ICT skills, but the gain was not as steep.
According to the paper, teenagers with only lower levels of secondary education, but who came from a home filled with books, “become as literate, numerate and technologically apt in adulthood as university graduates who grew up with only a few books”. The university graduates who grew up with hardly any books around them had roughly average literacy levels, said the researchers. So did those whose schooling ended in the equivalent of year nine (13-14 years old), but who grew upsurrounded by books. “So, literacy-wise, bookish adolescence makes for a good deal of educational advantage,” the authors claim. The same was found to be true for numeracy, leading the academics to claim that “adolescent exposure to books compensates for shortcomings not only in adult literacy but also numeracy: its impacts are equivalent to additional years of education.”
Sikora said: “As expected, respondents’ education, occupational status and reading activities at home are strong predictors of superior literacy nearly everywhere, but respondents clearly benefit from adolescent exposure to books above and beyond these effects. Early exposure to books in [the] parental home matters because books are an integral part of routines and practices that enhance lifelong cognitive competencies.”
The paper raised the possibility that the move towards a digital culture could reduce the impact of printed books, but said that “for now … the beneficial effects of home libraries in adolescence are large and hold in many different societies with no sign of diminution over time”.
“Moreover, home library size is positively related to higher levels of digital literacy, so the evidence suggests that for some time to come, engagement with material objects of scholarly culture in parental homes – ie books – will continue to confer significant benefits for adult ICT competencies,” concludes the report. “For the time being … the perception that [the] social practice of print book consumption is passe is premature.”
The inventors of the Beyond Meat burger are geniuses. I love that this burger is available at A&W in Canada, because it is such a fantastic alternative to meat, tastes and has the texture of a traditional burger, while being plant-based!!
Kali J Desautels 