Alas, no one reads this blog but I DON"T CARE!!! I have something to say and, darn it, I will say it.
Thanksgiving done, I found my inner-reader and sat down to immerse myself in teen chick lit. I read "Peaches" by Jodi Lynn Anderson and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was in such a good mood. The dishes were done. I had no programs to plan for. My article (for a local freebie weekly) wasn't due for another 36 hours and it was mostly written. So, on Saturday (this past Saturday) I did nothing but read. Oh, and I took a walk and made leftovers for supper.
So the book (Peaches, see above) is about these three teen girls who are totally different. They know about each other since they all live in the same town but one is a wild woman, daughter of the town "slut". One is the home-schooled daughter of the peach orchard's owner. Her mother left recently. And one is the second daughter of the "best" family in those parts and cousin to the peach girl. The three of them meet up at Spring Break at the orchard and work with the migrants and connect, sort of. But when summer rolls around they all return and bond with each other and some cute guys. Of course, there are some roadblocks to total summer chick bonding happiness and it looks like the orchard's going to be turned into condos but in the end... Oh read it. Not all endings are happy, just the best ones. I actually think I liked this better than the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.
I felt so good after I finished "Peaches"!! The world was drenched in sunlight and grace. A fun read will do that to you.
I also picked up Philip Gulley's "If God is Love", a testimonial on Gulley's theology. Gulley's style is so easy to read - as evidenced in his "Harmony" series - that this is one inspirational book I won't have to labor through.
I discovered some new holiday books - in bookstores, book reviews and online - and some old favorites. NO ONE responded to the desperate plea in my last post. No matter! I have friends and family who DID tell me their favorite holiday reading, although the friend who told me she reads vampire books was not altogether helpful. I may even post my informal survey results here early in December. Vampire books will not be on that list. I'll save them for my Valentine's Day list. Hehehehehe!
Anyway, as to NEW holiday books, Dave Barry came out with a memoir-like novel, "The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog". Only Dave Barry could write a Christmas book in which frozen bat poop plays a dramatically important part. So read it already.
"The Best Christmas Ever" by Chih-Yuan Chen is my favorite picture book for the year. A poor family has a surprisingly satisfying Christmas, rediscovering their favorite things. The illustrations are spare and full of feeling.
I have a list of my ten favorite -or rather - most notable new books for Holidays 2006. I'll post that with my survey results, too.
Well, that's enough for now. I have books to order and catalog.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
As I have been telling everyone this week, I have been either sick or away during the last four weeks. So, I have not written anything anywhere except for some journaling on our recent vacation.
Vacations are good. Getting to and from vacations - this could be majorly improved. What good does it do to spend several days relaxing when the trip home turns into a 24 hour marathon of waiting for postponed flights, crawling in stalled traffic and coming home to bills and "urgent" phone messages from two days before?
If someone comes up with Star Trek-type transporter technology I am certainly interested. Of course, it will probably be unbearably painful, or scramble your brains, or something equally horrible.
Ear infections are bad and although I THINK I have banished the nasty bug I still get dizzy several times a day. No one notices though.
As to reading? HA! For the first month in memory, I have not finished a book - at least not since my last post. I have four books home from the library and I might even finish the fourth Charlie Bone book. I started Foundling, the first book in the Monster Blood Tattoo series and it was mesmerizing - until I put it down. Now, I don't really want to continue it. If anyone HAS finished this book, please send me some encouragement. Scrambled Eggs at Midnight is another book waiting for my attention. I read the first chapter and I think I might actually like it - even though it is another "dysfunctional parent dragging around over-responsible teen" novel. We all think our parents fit that description at some point in our lives so we can relate.
So instead of writing about books I will write about my exciting life - something I try hard not to do but oh well.
I told stories for/with a local drum circle's first Halloween bash and it was so much fun. People of all ages, sexes, and races showed up in costume. Some even decorated their drums. The music store provided djembes and rhythmn instruments for people which is good since my only drum is a large frame drum that I don't like to play. (It looks great on the wall, though.)
The leader is an enthusiastic charismatic woman who really goaded these drummers into pounding away. So we drummed for about half an hour.
Then, I told three stories and the drummers played sound effects and it was very very exciting to be hollering over the pounding drums. Then we drummed for another 20 minutes, voted for our favorite costumes and drums and faded into the night.
Drumming is a work-out and a totally relaxing outlet. I wish this group didn't meet on Mondays, though, since I have a long-standing commitment that night.
Then, hubberoo and I went on vacation to Florida - ahh shucks, now you know I don't live in Florida - and on a Carnival cruise. We haven't found a cruise yet that isn't fun and relaxing but we probably won't cruise with Carnival again. The food wasn't up to our exacting standards. We are cruise-food snobs.
Yesterday was marathon day. I belong to a non-profit weight loss organization, TOPS, that held a motivational meeting from 9 to 3 yesterday. I dreaded going since I had a performance in the evening. But, the volunteer organizers (and most of them are unpaid volunteers) put together a truly enjoyable day of activities, awards and motivational talks.
As a fund raiser this year, local chapters donated gift baskets and we held a raffle. I WON!! one of the baskets. After I won, two members of the chapter that donated that basket came up to tell me that there was an Avon collectible soap dish with the original soap in it in the basket and the dish had been valued at $200. Sure enough the dish is engraved with the date 1977. I guess I have to learn how to sell stuff on eBay. Unless one of my loyal readers wants to buy it. Make me an offer.
Well, then I went home, practiced my story and headed off to our performance venue for Tellabration Lehigh Valley. Four of my teen tellers were there and after a disastrous attempt at practicing and moving props around (that we never used)the performance began. Robin Reichert and John Callahan told two very engaging and very different stories. The Black Rose Teen Tellers were third in the rotation and they were great! The story they chose was one they wrote themselves and all of them managed to remember their lines and adlib with style and aplomb. I wish all the teens had been there because I really would like to sit back and watch them as they do their ensemble piece. Unfortunately, we were shy a teen or two so I had to step in. Then, I told a story and the night of storytelling was over. (I think I did a good job of telling, too.)
But weirdness set in. I carried some things down to my car - with the able and much appreciated help of a teen's father and grandfather - but we couldn't get back up to the fourth floor. First the elevator refused to move. Then it went up and refused to open its doors. One of the fathers tried it by himself and was surprised to find himself on the same floor and then another father tried it and came back to say the doors would not open. Ooooooooo! Weeeeeird! Probably some kind of security thing.
THEN, our storytelling guild had a late night meeting at a local diner and I had to attend. Talk about exhausted!
Today, I visited with friends and family and now I am visiting with you. Let me know what you are reading.
Vacations are good. Getting to and from vacations - this could be majorly improved. What good does it do to spend several days relaxing when the trip home turns into a 24 hour marathon of waiting for postponed flights, crawling in stalled traffic and coming home to bills and "urgent" phone messages from two days before?
If someone comes up with Star Trek-type transporter technology I am certainly interested. Of course, it will probably be unbearably painful, or scramble your brains, or something equally horrible.
Ear infections are bad and although I THINK I have banished the nasty bug I still get dizzy several times a day. No one notices though.
As to reading? HA! For the first month in memory, I have not finished a book - at least not since my last post. I have four books home from the library and I might even finish the fourth Charlie Bone book. I started Foundling, the first book in the Monster Blood Tattoo series and it was mesmerizing - until I put it down. Now, I don't really want to continue it. If anyone HAS finished this book, please send me some encouragement. Scrambled Eggs at Midnight is another book waiting for my attention. I read the first chapter and I think I might actually like it - even though it is another "dysfunctional parent dragging around over-responsible teen" novel. We all think our parents fit that description at some point in our lives so we can relate.
So instead of writing about books I will write about my exciting life - something I try hard not to do but oh well.
I told stories for/with a local drum circle's first Halloween bash and it was so much fun. People of all ages, sexes, and races showed up in costume. Some even decorated their drums. The music store provided djembes and rhythmn instruments for people which is good since my only drum is a large frame drum that I don't like to play. (It looks great on the wall, though.)
The leader is an enthusiastic charismatic woman who really goaded these drummers into pounding away. So we drummed for about half an hour.
Then, I told three stories and the drummers played sound effects and it was very very exciting to be hollering over the pounding drums. Then we drummed for another 20 minutes, voted for our favorite costumes and drums and faded into the night.
Drumming is a work-out and a totally relaxing outlet. I wish this group didn't meet on Mondays, though, since I have a long-standing commitment that night.
Then, hubberoo and I went on vacation to Florida - ahh shucks, now you know I don't live in Florida - and on a Carnival cruise. We haven't found a cruise yet that isn't fun and relaxing but we probably won't cruise with Carnival again. The food wasn't up to our exacting standards. We are cruise-food snobs.
Yesterday was marathon day. I belong to a non-profit weight loss organization, TOPS, that held a motivational meeting from 9 to 3 yesterday. I dreaded going since I had a performance in the evening. But, the volunteer organizers (and most of them are unpaid volunteers) put together a truly enjoyable day of activities, awards and motivational talks.
As a fund raiser this year, local chapters donated gift baskets and we held a raffle. I WON!! one of the baskets. After I won, two members of the chapter that donated that basket came up to tell me that there was an Avon collectible soap dish with the original soap in it in the basket and the dish had been valued at $200. Sure enough the dish is engraved with the date 1977. I guess I have to learn how to sell stuff on eBay. Unless one of my loyal readers wants to buy it. Make me an offer.
Well, then I went home, practiced my story and headed off to our performance venue for Tellabration Lehigh Valley. Four of my teen tellers were there and after a disastrous attempt at practicing and moving props around (that we never used)the performance began. Robin Reichert and John Callahan told two very engaging and very different stories. The Black Rose Teen Tellers were third in the rotation and they were great! The story they chose was one they wrote themselves and all of them managed to remember their lines and adlib with style and aplomb. I wish all the teens had been there because I really would like to sit back and watch them as they do their ensemble piece. Unfortunately, we were shy a teen or two so I had to step in. Then, I told a story and the night of storytelling was over. (I think I did a good job of telling, too.)
But weirdness set in. I carried some things down to my car - with the able and much appreciated help of a teen's father and grandfather - but we couldn't get back up to the fourth floor. First the elevator refused to move. Then it went up and refused to open its doors. One of the fathers tried it by himself and was surprised to find himself on the same floor and then another father tried it and came back to say the doors would not open. Ooooooooo! Weeeeeird! Probably some kind of security thing.
THEN, our storytelling guild had a late night meeting at a local diner and I had to attend. Talk about exhausted!
Today, I visited with friends and family and now I am visiting with you. Let me know what you are reading.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
October 2006
I love my laptop. I am ensconced in the recliner in my slippers and robe with my handy little space heater making me all toasty. Perhaps I will write an ode to my laptop. I wrote an article while handing out candy to trick-or-treaters the other night - using my handy laptop. Of course, I could have used a notebook and pen but then I'd have to type it all into my laptop anyway.
So what have you been reading? Not this blog that's for sure since I get little or no comments. Let's have a little sharing here!
I have been reading the books of Philip Gulley, a Quaker minister who writes about a (gasp) Quaker minister who returns to pastor the Meeting he grew up in, in Harmony, Indiana. I tell my teenagers that these books are for those of us with a few years behind us since most of the characters are in their 30s and up - way up in some cases.
We Quakers in the Blue States will have a hard time recognizing the entrenched conservatism of Harmony but committee meetings are the same throughout the entire Quaker world. Similar to Jan Karon's Mitford series, the Harmony series is a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek look at a town in which people have "always done things this way" and of the young pastor who loves that town, unreservedly.
I wanted to tell you about the books I am going to read. One of my good dragon friends went into NYC and picked up Tamora Pierce's book, Terrier and got Tammie to sign it for me. I am so excited. I should stop typing and start reading right this instance! Except I won't. I wanted to tell you about the two books on my desk at work but I don't remember what they are. Oh wait, Monster Blood Tattoo is one and that has received a lot of positive attention out there in YA Fantasy land.
My memory is a bit hazy because I have been cursed with some awful ear infections and that sinussy, sniffy thing that has been going around. The library sounds like a tuberculosis ward some days with all the coughing and hacking and hoarse whispers of sore throat misery. But yesterday, I felt SO MUCH BETTER. I had two programs back to back at the library with grade school kids and then I went through my poster stash pulling out all the Children's Book Week posters that I and my predecessor collected over the years. (Children's Book Week is November 13th -19th this year. )
And then, because I was all better hehehehe, I went to the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild's Fright Night at Little Pond Retreat Center in Bath or Nazareth or somewhere in between. We told in the barn, not on the hilltop because of the wind and rainy conditions. The barn is a way cool place to tell spooky stories. The wind rushes through the trees and since the barn has one whole screened side (not suitable for overnight stays in winter) you can hear the stream that rushes beside the driveway and the trees whispering in the wind. The door at the end of the barn bangs from time to time and rustling and pounding noises race over the tin and timber roof. We had some excellent stories, including mine, and some very scary moments.
Then I came home went to bed and woke up (surprise) exhausted and achy and hence the robe and slippers of the first paragraph. I will bestir myself to put the chicken in the oven and maybe do a little bit of house work (itsy bitsy tiny bit of housework. Maybe I'll hang up a dish towel or something.) but today is official lying around day.
Take a look at Library Thing. You can catalog your personal collection of books and share that list with others. Some YA and high school librarians use Library Thing to showcase their collections and I may do that sometime. But not today (see above.)
Back to Children's Book Week - during November the Parkland Community Library collects used children's books and distributes them to agencies that work with at-risk and low income kids in the Lehigh Valley. So clean your shelves. You're not really going to keep "Fuzzy Bunny learns to read", are you? Yeah, I would, too. But there are probably some books you can part with.
We are also collecting used eyeglasses and hearing aids for the local Lion's Clubs. I wish I had the sky blue pink cat glasses I wore in third grade to donate. They would be so in style right now.
See you at the library.
So what have you been reading? Not this blog that's for sure since I get little or no comments. Let's have a little sharing here!
I have been reading the books of Philip Gulley, a Quaker minister who writes about a (gasp) Quaker minister who returns to pastor the Meeting he grew up in, in Harmony, Indiana. I tell my teenagers that these books are for those of us with a few years behind us since most of the characters are in their 30s and up - way up in some cases.
We Quakers in the Blue States will have a hard time recognizing the entrenched conservatism of Harmony but committee meetings are the same throughout the entire Quaker world. Similar to Jan Karon's Mitford series, the Harmony series is a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek look at a town in which people have "always done things this way" and of the young pastor who loves that town, unreservedly.
I wanted to tell you about the books I am going to read. One of my good dragon friends went into NYC and picked up Tamora Pierce's book, Terrier and got Tammie to sign it for me. I am so excited. I should stop typing and start reading right this instance! Except I won't. I wanted to tell you about the two books on my desk at work but I don't remember what they are. Oh wait, Monster Blood Tattoo is one and that has received a lot of positive attention out there in YA Fantasy land.
My memory is a bit hazy because I have been cursed with some awful ear infections and that sinussy, sniffy thing that has been going around. The library sounds like a tuberculosis ward some days with all the coughing and hacking and hoarse whispers of sore throat misery. But yesterday, I felt SO MUCH BETTER. I had two programs back to back at the library with grade school kids and then I went through my poster stash pulling out all the Children's Book Week posters that I and my predecessor collected over the years. (Children's Book Week is November 13th -19th this year. )
And then, because I was all better hehehehe, I went to the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild's Fright Night at Little Pond Retreat Center in Bath or Nazareth or somewhere in between. We told in the barn, not on the hilltop because of the wind and rainy conditions. The barn is a way cool place to tell spooky stories. The wind rushes through the trees and since the barn has one whole screened side (not suitable for overnight stays in winter) you can hear the stream that rushes beside the driveway and the trees whispering in the wind. The door at the end of the barn bangs from time to time and rustling and pounding noises race over the tin and timber roof. We had some excellent stories, including mine, and some very scary moments.
Then I came home went to bed and woke up (surprise) exhausted and achy and hence the robe and slippers of the first paragraph. I will bestir myself to put the chicken in the oven and maybe do a little bit of house work (itsy bitsy tiny bit of housework. Maybe I'll hang up a dish towel or something.) but today is official lying around day.
Take a look at Library Thing. You can catalog your personal collection of books and share that list with others. Some YA and high school librarians use Library Thing to showcase their collections and I may do that sometime. But not today (see above.)
Back to Children's Book Week - during November the Parkland Community Library collects used children's books and distributes them to agencies that work with at-risk and low income kids in the Lehigh Valley. So clean your shelves. You're not really going to keep "Fuzzy Bunny learns to read", are you? Yeah, I would, too. But there are probably some books you can part with.
We are also collecting used eyeglasses and hearing aids for the local Lion's Clubs. I wish I had the sky blue pink cat glasses I wore in third grade to donate. They would be so in style right now.
See you at the library.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Artemis Fowl : the Lost Colony!! WOW! The beginning is typical Colfer with Artemis and Butler staking out a busy street in Barcelona. But the introduction of a couple of new characters, magical and not, add another dimension to these fairy/action thriller novels. Artemis is undergoing puberty (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
Colfer does some very creative foreshadowing and there are some extremely tense moments in this book. I actually used less than ladylike language at one point. I don't want to say too much because the book needs to be read to be believed. The Lost Colony is made up of demons - I will tell you that. And there is a particularly odious human bad guy, too. Eoin Colfer knows what he's doing. I certainly hope he plans to write a few more books with these characters. - maybe even start a spin-off series. He might have to if he keeps developing such likeable imps and pixies.
I had a brush with the Accelerated Reader demons this week. I wish I had come up with that idea. I'd be dictating this blog to one of my personal assistants from my cabana on my own private beach somewhere in Tahiti. Anyway, Accelerated Reader has done wonderful things for reading programs at schools all over the USA. It's just unwieldy for public librarians to keep track of - since every school can have a separate and different list and the schools change the lists almost every year. But, I am up for this challenge. I will meet the ARP demons head on and turn them into helpful cherubs. I bet.
Tah. Real life calls.
Colfer does some very creative foreshadowing and there are some extremely tense moments in this book. I actually used less than ladylike language at one point. I don't want to say too much because the book needs to be read to be believed. The Lost Colony is made up of demons - I will tell you that. And there is a particularly odious human bad guy, too. Eoin Colfer knows what he's doing. I certainly hope he plans to write a few more books with these characters. - maybe even start a spin-off series. He might have to if he keeps developing such likeable imps and pixies.
I had a brush with the Accelerated Reader demons this week. I wish I had come up with that idea. I'd be dictating this blog to one of my personal assistants from my cabana on my own private beach somewhere in Tahiti. Anyway, Accelerated Reader has done wonderful things for reading programs at schools all over the USA. It's just unwieldy for public librarians to keep track of - since every school can have a separate and different list and the schools change the lists almost every year. But, I am up for this challenge. I will meet the ARP demons head on and turn them into helpful cherubs. I bet.
Tah. Real life calls.
Friday, September 15, 2006
I have been busy reading and it's just wonderful. A good book is as refreshing as a vacation and a whole lot cheaper - AND you don't have to pack.
Okay - Nancy Atherton's Latest Aunt Dimity book, "Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea" stars the same feisty heiress and mom of 5-year-old twins, Lori Shepard. In this book, Lori is sent under deep cover because her hunky lawyer husband has been receiving dastardly threats on his life and the safety of his loved ones. Off she goes in a private heliocopter to a castle in Scotland!!!!! with her twins. She is given her very own unsmiling mysterious bodyguard. Adventure ensues including a mystery about the possible criminal activities of the villagers. Fun, fluffy and forever optimistic, here's a book that is an antidote to everyday stress.
And THEN there's "I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You" by Ally Carter. May I introduce The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women and its headmistress' daughter, Cammie Morgan? Graduates of the Gallagher Academy are free to pursue whatever career their unusual education has prepared them for but what careers require cryptography, martial arts, Cultures of the World, seven languages and Covert Operations? Yep! Spy girls in plaid skirts. On her very first Covert Operation exercise, Cammie meets a boy from town and falls in love. She creates a "legend" for herself and leads a double life for a semester, sneaking down the secret passages of the Virginia mansion that houses the school. Add to this, she and her best friends are forced to room with the punk - brat daughter of a powerful senator. Here's an excellent romp - in which not everything or everyONE is what they seem. Fun, fun, fun! Another escape from reality.
I was reading the above book one morning while my husband talked to me. I TRIED not to read. It's not polite but, hey! He's been married to me for a decade or two (or ...) He ought to know by now that he can't talk to me while I have a book in front of me. His voice is in the background as my eyes steal back to the page and I feel my lips curl up in an unconscious smile. Oh no! I hope he isn't talking about something serious. I force my attention back to him for a full minute and then my eyes slip down again. It's hopeless. If there is a Readers' Anonymous out there, I will NEVER join. This is an addiction I don't want to lose.
And last, "The Beasts of Clawstone Castle" by Eva Ibbotsen. Here's another ghost story from a mistress of British fantasy. When Madlyn and Rollo's parents are offered a temporary job in America, the children are sent off to Clawstone Castle, a crumbling ruin. They get to stay with Great-Uncle George, his sister, Aunt Ellen and cousin Howard, who can be seen through quite literally. Clawstone Castle is the home of the mystical white cows of Britain and the local rich industrialist wants the land for housing developments. Madlyn and Rollo come up with a plan and with the help of shy Cousin Howard, they recruit a group of benevolent ghosts to haunt the castle and bring in paying visitors. There are some very tense moments when the cows are sent off to be slaughtered. Read it. It's fun.
Okay - Nancy Atherton's Latest Aunt Dimity book, "Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea" stars the same feisty heiress and mom of 5-year-old twins, Lori Shepard. In this book, Lori is sent under deep cover because her hunky lawyer husband has been receiving dastardly threats on his life and the safety of his loved ones. Off she goes in a private heliocopter to a castle in Scotland!!!!! with her twins. She is given her very own unsmiling mysterious bodyguard. Adventure ensues including a mystery about the possible criminal activities of the villagers. Fun, fluffy and forever optimistic, here's a book that is an antidote to everyday stress.
And THEN there's "I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You" by Ally Carter. May I introduce The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women and its headmistress' daughter, Cammie Morgan? Graduates of the Gallagher Academy are free to pursue whatever career their unusual education has prepared them for but what careers require cryptography, martial arts, Cultures of the World, seven languages and Covert Operations? Yep! Spy girls in plaid skirts. On her very first Covert Operation exercise, Cammie meets a boy from town and falls in love. She creates a "legend" for herself and leads a double life for a semester, sneaking down the secret passages of the Virginia mansion that houses the school. Add to this, she and her best friends are forced to room with the punk - brat daughter of a powerful senator. Here's an excellent romp - in which not everything or everyONE is what they seem. Fun, fun, fun! Another escape from reality.
I was reading the above book one morning while my husband talked to me. I TRIED not to read. It's not polite but, hey! He's been married to me for a decade or two (or ...) He ought to know by now that he can't talk to me while I have a book in front of me. His voice is in the background as my eyes steal back to the page and I feel my lips curl up in an unconscious smile. Oh no! I hope he isn't talking about something serious. I force my attention back to him for a full minute and then my eyes slip down again. It's hopeless. If there is a Readers' Anonymous out there, I will NEVER join. This is an addiction I don't want to lose.
And last, "The Beasts of Clawstone Castle" by Eva Ibbotsen. Here's another ghost story from a mistress of British fantasy. When Madlyn and Rollo's parents are offered a temporary job in America, the children are sent off to Clawstone Castle, a crumbling ruin. They get to stay with Great-Uncle George, his sister, Aunt Ellen and cousin Howard, who can be seen through quite literally. Clawstone Castle is the home of the mystical white cows of Britain and the local rich industrialist wants the land for housing developments. Madlyn and Rollo come up with a plan and with the help of shy Cousin Howard, they recruit a group of benevolent ghosts to haunt the castle and bring in paying visitors. There are some very tense moments when the cows are sent off to be slaughtered. Read it. It's fun.
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