The Book Pages: Bookmark this page!

Just a small portion of Erik Pedersen’s bookmarks. (Photo by Erik Pedersen)

PUBLISHED: June 24, 2022 at 5:20 p.m. | UPDATED: June 24, 2022 at 5:20 p.m.

Bookmarks help us remember where we’ve been.

That’s obvious, of course. When it’s time to set down your book, you jam a receipt or a sandwich or whatever’s handy in between the pages that you’ve read and the ones you intend to read. It’s simple, effective technology.

But I was struck the other day by how bookmarks also remind us of where we, as people, have been. I was searching for something in a box of papers and came across a bookmark my late mother gave me when I was about 12.

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Framed by a kid-friendly drawing of two tigers wrestling (a familiar enough activity in a house with five kids), the bookmark has my mother’s beautifully distinct handwriting, a skill she developed as a child at a school where sloppy penmanship brought a harsh penalty.

Never one to miss a chance to let her children know she cared about them, mom ignored (as she always did) the pre-printed “From” to write “Love always,” a sentiment I believe she meant wholeheartedly.

Despite the fact that the fine print on it reveals her gift is a “Gift Enclosure Bookmark” manufactured by the Antioch Bookplate Company of Yellow Springs, Ohio, I can tell you this: Few things more powerfully transport me back in time than that little piece of colored cardboard; it’s still holding my place, allowing me to go back and recall her warmth, kindness and love of her family (and reading).

I’d never realized how much I have since relied on bookmarks as emotional reminders. From my teens and twenties onward, I’d almost always buy postcards, save tickets and fold up receipts when traveling and stuff them into the books I’d acquired on my journeys, all of which reminded me of places I’d been, the books I’d read and people I’d met here and abroad.

These days, my wife is a noted letterpress printer, and she’s produced beautiful, one-of-a-kind books, bookmarks and postcards that I’ll never, ever drop into a mailbox (even if she says I should). And as a parent, I’ve long hinted to my kids that the easiest birthday or Father’s Day token is a handmade bookmark, and I have a small fortune of specimens, each carrying a memory or a joke or a reminder that we all were once a little younger. Each one is precious to me.

How about you? Tell me your bookmark stories – the strangest, the best, the object most often stuck between pages – and I may share it here. (I once knew someone who would tuck cash into books, less as a bookmark and more like a bank if he needed money. While undoubtedly clever, there was stress around the possibility of loaning out a book that had the rent in it.)

Zahn McClarnon plays Joe Leaphorn in "Dark Winds." (Photo Credit: Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC) — Zahn McClarnon plays Joe Leaphorn in “Dark Winds.” (Photo Credit: Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC)

Q. What’s a good streaming series that was first based on a book?

A. All of them.

OK, not all of them, but there are a handful of new shows based on books that you might want to check out.

“The Old Man”: In a Hulu series based on Thomas Perry’s 2017 standalone thriller, Jeff Bridges plays the title character, an aging widower who seems like he might be losing his mental sharpness until something happens that has you rethinking what you thought you knew.

I’ve only seen the first episode, but I loved it so far and the cast includes John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman, Alia Shawkat, Noor Razooky and more.

“Dark Winds”: I first picked up one of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee novels off a rotating wire bookrack in a Monument Valley convenience store 30 years ago. It’s been a while since I’ve read one, but I’m excited to get into “Dark Winds,” the new AMC+ series about a pair of Navajo Tribal Police working in the 1970s.

For more about the series, which had already been renewed for a new season, Stuart Miller interviewed lead actor Zahn McClarnon and executive producer Graham Roland about it. I’ve seen the first episode and I’m ready for more.

“This Is Going to Hurt”: OK, I had no idea this was based on a book when I started watching, but apparently author Adam Kay has sold tons of books in England. I tuned in because it stars Ben Whishaw, best known as Q in the 007 series, who I first saw playing poet John Keats in the 2009 film “Bright Star.” He’s also the voice of Paddington, and I think we can all agree that “Paddington 2” is one of the most appealing films ever made, even having a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes ranking.

In a scene from "This Is Going to Hurt," Ben Whishaw and Ambika Mod play doctors. (Photo Credit: Sister Pictures/BBC Studios/AMC) — In a scene from “This Is Going to Hurt,” Ben Whishaw and Ambika Mod play doctors. (Photo Credit: Sister Pictures/BBC Studios/AMC)

Anyway, “Hurt” is set in a 2006-era maternity ward in England and it’s full of drama and dark humor and the persistent worry that Whishaw’s character is not getting nearly enough sleep. I’ve seen the first episode, but if I hadn’t had to stop to write this I’d be watching it now.

I also plan to watch the new season of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy,” based on the comics by writer (and rock star) Gerard Way and illustrator Gabriel Bá and see where the series, which is wonderfully wild, goes this time around.

Any recent adaptations that you like? Email epedersen@scng.com with recommendations or suggestions we might mention in the column.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

‘The Lies I Tell’ author and teacher Julie Clark shares something no one knows

"The Lies I Tell" author Julie Clark (Photo credit: Eric A. Reid) — “The Lies I Tell” author Julie Clark (Photo credit: Eric A. Reid)

Julie Clark is the author of “The Ones We Choose,” the best-selling “The Last Flight” and the just-published thriller, “The Lies I Tell.” A native of Los Angeles, Clark is also a fifth grade teacher, and after the Uvalde, Texas school shooting she shared a powerful video on Instagram about the ways that she not only teaches her students, but also how she must plan to try to keep them safe in case of a school shooting. Here, she responds to our questions about the books that have mattered in her life.

Q. What are you reading now?

I’m reading “The Civil War” of Amos Abernathy by Michael Leali. It’s a middle-grade book about a boy named Amos, a committed history buff. When Amos meets a cute boy at the Living History Park where he works, Amos becomes determined to learn whether there were other LBGTQ+ people in 19th century Illinois. Amos discovers a man named Albert J. Cashier who might have identified as trans today. Amos fights to bring Albert’s story to light, despite the resistance he gets from his divided hometown. I’m a fifth grade teacher in addition to being an author and I’m always looking for new books to add to my classroom library and this one is sure to be a hit with my students.

Q. How do you decide on what to read next?

I have to balance books I choose to read for pleasure and books I need to read as a part of my job as an author. I’m often asked to blurb upcoming books and those must take priority at times. However, I always get a thrill from going into a bookstore and browsing the shelves, reading the backs of books and the inside flaps, looking for a world I want to disappear in for several hours for no reason other than because I want to.

Q. Do you have a favorite book or books?

Yes! I have several that I read and re-read every few years. “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger – a brilliant out-of-sequence love story that deals with time travel and fate and how the people we love will always find us. “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant – based on the biblical story of Dinah, a daughter of Jacob in Genesis. It’s a beautiful and evocative story of four mothers who teach and guide Dinah into midwifery, but more than that it’s the power of women and how their voices have shaped and guided history. Finally, every few years I re-read the Discovery of Witches Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I am always a fan of stories of witchcraft, time travel and battles between good and evil. And the love story between Diana and Matthew is unparalleled.

Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?

When we were young, my mom would drop us off at our grandparents’ house on a Saturday or Sunday and one of the things my grandfather always did was take us to a bookstore to buy books. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they were always willing to spend it on books for us. Then we would return to their house and my brother and I would read the day away while my grandfather watched golf on television. I’m not sure who was happier with this arrangement – us or our grandfather, who was able to watch hours of PGA tournaments uninterrupted.

Q. Is there a genre or type of book you read the most – and what would you like to read more of?

I read in many different genres – obviously a lot of thrillers. But I also love to read historical fiction, light fantasy, upmarket women’s fiction and mystery. I also love police procedurals by authors like Michael Connelly. I can’t think of a genre I would like to read more of, since I have such a huge reading pile that encompasses everything.

Q. Can you recall a book that you read and thought that it must have been written just for you?

Believe it or not, the first book I felt was written just for me was “Blubber” by Judy Blume. I remember reading it when I was in the fifth grade – it’s a story about girl dynamics and bullying, about how easy it is for something to get out of hand and the courage it takes to be an upstander. It was so relevant to my life at the time. I knew girls who would choose a target for the week and then relentlessly go after them and was familiar with the strategy of keeping your head down in order to avoid being the next target. It felt so real and rang so true that when I finished it, I flipped right back to the beginning to read it again.

Q. What’s something about the writing of your book that no one knows?

I spent a year writing a different book that my editor didn’t love. I only pitched her “The Lies I Tell” in October of 2020 off a synopsis and she loved it, which was great! Not so great was that she wanted the manuscript (one that did not yet exist) in nine months.

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