spring break Archives - Elizabeth Maria Naranjo

Posted on March 15, 2024 ·

Spring is in the air, bringing the scent of orange blossoms, the warmth of sunny afternoons, and a season full of bookish promise. There’s a new Simone St. James’ murder mystery in March, a Stephen King short story collection in May, and another entry in my favorite cozy mystery series in June. I’m looking forward to all of them, but first here’s a look behind at some of the best books I’ve read so far in 2024.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

My daughter, Abigail, introduced me to the magic of Studio Ghibli several years ago. When she was in high school, her early-out Wednesdays were a chance for us to have some girl time—grabbing coffee and muffins and watching a movie before it was time to pick up her brother from middle school. The first Studio Ghibli movie she wanted me to see was Howl’s Moving Castle, and I was duly impressed with the gorgeous animation and the unique, charming tale. I finally read the book, which is whimsical and wonderful, with a sassier Sophie and a more dramatic (if you can believe that!) Howl.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

This was a reread, although I cannot recall when I originally read Atonement. Like Howl’s Moving Castle, I saw the movie first. The faithfulness of the adaptation here is stunning; the movie is like a mirror image of the novel, which is as beautiful and intricate as I remember. Ian McEwan’s stories take place so much in his characters’ richly imagined inner worlds; I love the meandering quality of their interior monologues, the precise descriptions of the world around them, and the slow unfolding of the plot. Something different for me this time around was how much more I appreciated Part 2 and Robbie’s fateful journey to Dunkirk.

Dead City by James Ponti

In my second-period reading class there sits a little red-headed girl who is attentive, respectful, and follows all the rules. Imagine my surprise then, when I had to ask her several days in a row to put her book down at the end of silent reading time. Responses included “I’m almost done with this paragraph…” and “Can I just read to the end of the chapter?” When I asked her about the book she couldn’t seem to put down, she launched into an enthusiastic description of a tale involving a middle school girl who fights zombies in New York City. “You should read it,” she added, and so I did. Sure enough, Dead City is utterly delightful.

Night Shift by Stephen King

It’s always the right time for a Stephen King reread. Like most of King’s classic works, this book is a staple of my adolescence; I remember long days and late nights spent buried in the pages of these stories. Throughout the years I’ve revisited “Children of the Corn” often, but it had been a while since I’d experienced the supernatural horror of “The Mangler,” the understated beauty of “The Last Rung on the Ladder,” or the bloody good fun of “Battleground,” a story in which a professional hitman who kills a toymaker gets ambushed in his apartment by a set of plastic army soldiers. In the words of my bookish sixth-grade student, “You should read it.”

Here and Gone

Posted on March 14, 2017 ·

Image from Flickr by Mrs eNil

Sunday was the end of a too-short spring break that left us on the verge of summer. When I woke my son on Monday morning light was already streaming through the window. On our walk to school, the sun was hot on the back of my neck. I wore a T-shirt and left my jacket at home.

I joke about having no tolerance for the cold, but around this time of year I’m always a little sad about the fading winter. I like dark cold mornings and long cool evenings. I love wearing sweaters and boots. I love burning candles, the kind that smell like autumn.

We started the break with a Lord of the Rings marathon, spent a day at our favorite outdoor mall, spent another day at an arcade, tested out my son’s homemade grill (which meant choking down a lukewarm hot dog), went out for pancakes, and spent lazy afternoons on the porch reading.

One of my favorite moments from spring break

Yep, that’s a chocolate-covered Twinkie

Swinging into spring (or summer?) at the ice cream shop

We ended the break with a trip to the Renaissance Festival, where it’s always hot and dusty and exhausting—like summer, but in a good way. Sitting around the jousting arena, drinking lemonade and fanning ourselves with festival maps while knights duel with lances on horseback against the backdrop of the Superstition Mountains has become something of a spring tradition.

Anything goes at the Renaissance Festival

I finished a new story, submitted a few old ones, and received two gorgeous contributor copies of Hunger Mountain’s spring issue, where my short story “Windows” was published. I even managed to squeeze in over 20 hours of work, dashing in and out of the bedroom to clock in hours on the computer while my son roller-bladed around the neighborhood and my daughter sketched manga.

Hunger Mountain’s spring 2017 issue

It was a wonderful week, and now the kids are in their final quarter of the school year and I’m going to try and not flinch at the Easter supplies crowding the shelves at the grocery store. Because what comes next are those big Styrofoam pool noodles and water guns and bubble blowers. And although summer brings with it one good thing—my kids are home with me—I’d still rather see Halloween displays and wake up to the dark quiet mornings of fall.