Monday, April 30, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?












What I Finished Last Week

Nothing.

Oh dear. 
Nothing?  I finished nothing last week?
 Odd. Disconcerting.



 
What I'm Reading Now

Bloom by Kelle Hampton


What I Reviewed Last Week


Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis
Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis
by Lauren F. Winner


When I Was a Child I Read Books
When I Was a Child I Read Books
by Marilynne Robinson

And here's a treat:
I received a little audio clip
from the Macmillan audiobook, When I Was a Child,
read by the author herself:

Audio Clip:  
When I Was a Child I Read Books



What I Might Read Next


Tomorrow is the start of my Book Un-Birthday Month,
so I hope to read any un-birthday books that
will arrive in the mail for me.

Of course, I'm always open to suggestions!


What are you reading today?!



It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Book Journey offers a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling BJ how many you visited.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Library Conference, a Photoblog

 



Even though the conference was just thirty miles from my home,
I decided to stay in a hotel in Houston.
What a great view!

As usual, there were lots of great authors,
including this author, one of my favorites,
Hank the Cowdog author John R. Erickson.

Zita the Spacegirl author/illustrator Ben Hatke.

 Divergent author Veronica Roth.
I came that close to getting a copy of Insurgent.
A kind librarian generously offered to loan me her ARC.

Great sessions, including this one about
 the ALA Every Child Ready to Read
program that we initiated with a small grant
 at our school this year.


 Some of the usual unusual characters at the library conference.

Wouldn't it be nice to have an outdoor reading room at my library?!

I took home a first place medal in the Fun Run this year!


 I found a geocached book,
even though I really didn't know what to do with it when I found it! 

 And, best of all, I took home a gentle wolf puppet 
and a nice little stack of free books 
from the conference!





How was your reading week?


What is the Sunday Salon
Imagine some university library's vast reading room.
It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in.
They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,
and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go.
Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and
compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....


That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual.
Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon
get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read.
And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs.
Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon,
an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities
 and fall into a good book. 
Click here to join the Salon.

Monday, April 23, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?






 





What I Got in the Mail Last Week



Such a cool idea for a book!


 
What I Brought Home from the Library Conference


Yes, that's me standing on a chair and,
yes, the books do stretch from the floor to the ceiling.



What I Finished Last Week 
and What I Might Read Next


Imagine by Jonah Lehrer
(Review coming soon)


When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson
(Review coming soon)


I don't know what I'm reading next,
but I have lots and lots of choices, don't I?!



What are you reading today?!



It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Book Journey offers a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling BJ how many you visited.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon!


It's time again for Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon!

FINAL UPDATE:  Hour 24

  1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  Nine pm.  I just could not keep my eyes open for one more minute.
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  Children's books work for me.
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  I think prizes might be nice. Maybe I can help with that in October.
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The little videos posted each hour were clever and motivating.
  5. How many books did you read?  Twelve. (Fine print: All were children's books and ten of these were simply children's picture books.)
  6. What were the names of the books you read?   
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? Because of Winn-Dixie
  8. Which did you enjoy least? I enjoyed all of the books.
  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I've never participated as an Official Cheerleader, but I think that's what I'll do in the fall readathon.
  10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will definitely be back. I might serve as a Cheerleader.


UPDATE:  Hour 6


I haven't read much so far. In my defense, I had to give blood (Woo hoo! I have now given 10 gallons of blood!) and then had to go to the library to pick up the book I really wanted to read today, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.

Now I've given my blood, I've gotten my Winn-Dixie book, I've poured myself a big, cold glass of ice water, and I've planted myself in the most comfortable reading chair in the known universe. Here I go, ready to read away....

More later....


Introductory Questionnaire

 

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I'll be reading today in my beautiful town of Alvin, Texas, on the Texas Gulf Coast.


2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I hope to reread Because of Winn-Dixie, the children's book I'll be giving away Monday on World Book Night.


3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I'll be drinking lots of delicious ice water.


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm Deb Nance. I started reading spontaneously when I was two, and it's my favorite thing to do. I'm also deeply interested in happiness and spirituality and education and creativity. 













5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I always do a Readathon Lite. Feel free to join me if you, like me, want to participate but need your beauty sleep. 

I hope you will stop in here and say hello! 



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Top Ten Tips For New Book Bloggers

(10) "Build it and they will come" is just for ballparks.
For blogs, I'd advise, 
"Build it and visit other people's blogs; then they will come."
If you (9) leave a comment.
(8) Always leave a comment.
(7) Visit other people's blogs.
(6) Leave comments.
(5) Do you want to make some friends?
Then I suggest you visit other people's blogs...and...
(4)...Are you getting my message...It's simple, really. Just visit other blogs...
(3)...visit lots of other blogs...
(2)...lots and lots of blogs...and...
Last of all, and most important, (1) COMMENT

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Monday, April 16, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?






 




What I Finished Last Week

Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
(Review coming soon)


Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience 
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
(Review coming soon)


 
What I'm Reading Now

Italian Days by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison



What I Might Read Next


Here's what I brought home from the
Texas Library Association Conference one year:
And another year:
What will I find next week at
TLA??





What are you reading today?!



It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Book Journey offers a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling BJ how many you visited.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Sunday Salon: Texas Library Association Conference 2012


 

It's time for the 
Texas Library Association
Annual Conference!

My sweet esposo graciously offered no protest 
when I suggested, 
though the conference is a mere thirty miles from my home,
that I would like to bunk in for the week in Houston
to completely immerse myself in the conference experience.

So I am. 
For the next week, I'll be Read-Kiddo-Read-ing and
Using-Creative-Nonfiction-ing and 
Cooking-Up-Language-Development-ing
and eReader-Technology-ing and more.

I'll be meeting authors.

And I'll be acquiring free books!

Let me know if you'll be there, too!
Tweet me @debnance!





What is the Sunday Salon
Imagine some university library's vast reading room.
It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in.
They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,
and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go.
Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and
compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....


That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual.
Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon
get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read.
And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs.
Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon,
an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities
 and fall into a good book. 
Click here to join the Salon.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Top Ten Books That Were Totally Deceiving




The prompt this week for Top 10 Tuesday is Top Ten Books That Were Totally Deceiving. The prompt goes on to add, "those covers or titles that don't fit the books, a book that was totally different than its summary, or those books you thought were going to be fluff that turned out to be more serious etc etc."    

I want to take a second look at books that are defined as children's picture books. Often people think of children's picture books as simplistic, with controlled vocabularies, and overly-rosy views of the world.

That can be true.

It is not true of the best of children's picture books. The best children's picture books are small poems that ponder all the big issues of life, with illustrations that add to the thoughtfulness of the poems. 

I will go so far as to say that the best children's picture books are...gulp...Literature.

Here are some you might consider reading again. And again. And sharing with a child. Or even another grownup....


Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski
(or Tacky the Penguin
or Chrysanthemum or a dozen other books 
about children...or grownups...who don't feel like they fit in...)
Woolbur refuses to go along with the rest of the flock....


That's Good! That's Bad! by Margery Cuyler
A boy is lifted up into the sky by his balloon.
That's good, right?
Or is it bad?

Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis
Do you think you are in love?
Take a look at this little story....


The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
I seem to love this story about a beautiful little house
that falls into disrepair with age
more and more as I grow older....



Window by Jeannie Baker
Here's another Jeannie Baker book
that you can only really appreciate, I think,
as an adult....



Rotten Island by William Steig
You must read this picture book.
Or any other William Steig book.



Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Another fabulous author.
Chris Van Allsburg is a philosopher.
In the disguise of a children's picture book author.


Hey, Al by Arthur Yorinks
Yet another author that you must try...


Terrific by Jon Agee
Jon Agee knows human nature....

Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka
Anything Chris Raschka.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
I've always loved William Joyce's books.
He's apparently been puttering around with movies
for a while and taking a break from books,
but now he's back with a book/movie,
an iPad book app that is...well, fantastic.

I could go on and on with this list, and I probably will on another day. 

Do you have titles for this list?

What did you do with this prompt? Where did it take you?





Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Monday, April 9, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


                     




What I Finished Last Week

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
In just 144 pages, Julie Otsuka magically takes us the readers
 deep into the experience of the lives of Japanese mail-order brides of the 1930's...more


A Room With a View by E. M. Forster
I decided to read this book for the wrong reasons...more


The Floor of Heaven by Howard Blum
You'd think you were reading fiction. This story is that good.
And the truth is that Floor of Heaven is a little bit fiction...more


 
What I'm Reading Now

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

A Traveller in Italy by H. V. Morton

Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon



What I Might Read Next


Italian Days by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison



What are you reading today?!



It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Book Journey offers a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling BJ how many you visited.