Time May 15, 2014

Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:06 am

If you had all the time in the world, what would you read?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!




This is easy.  Everything.  I would finish the Aunt Dimity series as well as the Elm Creek Quilt series.  I would re-read the Mitford series in anticipation of the new book coming out in the autumn.  I would definitely read more of the M. C. Beaton Hammish MacBeth series -- great, funny books.  And......I would throw more Garrison Keillor in and more classics.

Like I said, everything.

Where Did The Week Go?


I can't believe this week has just flown by and I have neglected all the posts I usually do during the week so I am going to try to catch up.

Teaser Tuesdays (Apr. 22)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Ok, I am not actually reading this book but plan to start it tonight as I try to make an attempt to read two books at once!  Anyway, here goes.

"Damnation! Major Robert Kurland jerked awake from his uneasy half-sleep to the hoot of a barn owl and glared out into the darkness,  his breathing uneven, his mouth dry.  When he was able to walk, he was going to take a gun out in the woods and slaughter every nocturnal creature that had disturbed his sleep for the plast few months."

Page 1, Chapter 1 --Death Comes to the Village by Catherine Lloyd.

Favorite? April 24, 2014

Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 6:31 am

Do you have a favorite book? What do you say when people ask you? (This question always flummoxes me because how can you pick just one, so I’m eager to hear what you folks have to say.)
And, has your favorite book changed over the years??


 Actually, no, I can't say that I do.  I have favorite authors however -- Jan Karon, MC Beaton, Nancy Atherton, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Dorothea Benton Frank just to name a few.  I haven't read anything by any of these women that I haven't liked and would recommend anything by any of them and that is what I tell people when they ask.


So, what have I been doing that has taken me away from my bookish memes this week? I have been working on a picture album.  My photos are very unorganized -- I wouldn't even use the word organized in any way when speaking of them.  They are in boxes, albums, in piles in the closet -- they are a hot mess. So, I decided to do something about them.  I am most concerned about the really old photos.  They have been through a lot, glued into albums, pried out of the albums, they survived a fire -- they are in rough shape and I don't want them to get any worse.

However, I hate scrapbooking.  I have tried it and I have never found any joy in it.  It is expensive, requiring LOTS of cute stuff and messy.  I have done many scrapbooking pages using original photos and then regretted it when I wanted to share the photos or use them in another way and couldn't get them off the page.

So, I decided to something different.  I had seen some vintage albums in antique stores and like the way they were done so that is what I sat out to do.

I purchased a very nice, large photo album

I purchased old-fashioned photo corners

Add some black scrapbooking paper to it

These lovely Gelly Roll pens in white work great on black paper

And here is a really bad photo of one finished page.

I am leaving enough space so that I can label each photo with genealogical information for my children and grandchildren.  Lots of writing and dates and background information -- it is really quite fun.

So, this last week has been spent finding the photos, organizing the photos, arranging and afixing the photos and labeling the photos.  Am I done?  Oh no, not even close but I have started and that is good.

 

 

Mark-ups April 3, 2014

Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:29 am

Do you write in your books? Highlight? Make notes? Or do you like to keep your copies as pristine as possible?




Today, on Booking Through Thursday, we are discussing marking in books -- do you?  Don't you?


When I was in college and the books were my own, I made notes in my books and highlighted them.  If there had been sticky notes in those days, I probably would have used those as well.  Nowadays, no, I don't write in my books.  I try to use bookmarks so the pages aren't dog-eared.  I like my books to stay as new as possible but it is difficult since I do carry them around in my purse.  I know that books aren't as valuable as they used to be, in this day and age of paperbacks, but I still value them a great deal and like to keep them nice, if I can.

"Another question raised by YA author A.S. King‘s blog post last week which touched on censorship—especially as it pertains to young adult books.
She writes:

If there really is [an ideal] town like this in America, I am happy about that. Really truly happy. But are your teenagers going to stay in that town forever? Don’t you want them to go to college? Or go out in the world and do stuff? And don’t you want them to be prepared for all of these real things that happen all the time in real life? Don’t you want them to know that they will make mistakes? Don’t you want them to learn how to make smarter mistakes?
Fiction can help. I write my books for one reason, whether they are for adults or teens. I write to make readers think. I write to widen perspective. I write to make readers ask questions and then answer the questions or start conversations. And I write sometimes to give voice to the throwaways, of which our society has many, but we usually hide them because we are still uncomfortable with what we see as our own mistakes. Make sure you say that in a whisper. Throwaways.

And so … this, right here, pretty much explains exactly WHY I like reading so much. Yes, it’s fun and entertaining and diverting, and all that, but ultimately, it TEACHES me things. It broadens my horizons and makes me look at ideas and people and life in general in new and interesting ways. Isn’t that what reading and art in general is SUPPOSED to do? How do you feel about this? Do you agree? Disagree? Discuss!"


I believe that reading is a venue for learning as well as a pleasurable activity for relaxation and diversion.  As my neighbor told my bride-to-be daughter "if you can read, you can cook". 

I was an avid reader as a child -- it was my activity of choice since I wasn't particularly athletic and I was an only child so I spent lots of time on my own.  I loved the books by Kate Seredy -- "The Good Master" and "The Singing Tree"  which took me into a culture and an era that was not my own.  I was entranced. I always enjoyed historical fiction because I was curious about how the generations before me lived.

I am still the same way as an adult -- I love reading for pleasure but I also read for knowledge.  I read lots of magazines -- Smithsonian being one of my favorites-- and I am an avid blog reader.  I quilt, cross stitch and embroider and I enjoy reading about what other crafters are doing and learning new techniques.

I do genealogy so I am fascinated with reading old documents and records as well as tips on how to find more information.  When I began doing family history, the first official document to find it's way into my hands was my great-grandmother's death certificate.  I was in awe that I had a piece of paper in my hand that would help me to know the woman who mothered my grandfather -- the woman I never knew but was always curious about.  Reading that document gave me insight about the woman but also about her life.  Nothing can compare to that and yes, it was a learning opportunity.

I love reading books/magazines/blogs that take me places that I will never go but would love to.  Pictures make me happy! I also learn a lot about the children of today by studying current kid-lit fare.  Can't say I am thrilled with that in some cases but it is a window into the child world today.

So, yes, I would say that reading is as much a learning opportunity as it is a pleasurable activity.

I am opposed to censorship because it is subjective.  Who is doing the censoring?  Who has the right to determine what I read or don't read?  When my children were young I was aware of what they read but I never censored what they read.  I was much more concerned about tv programs and movies.  I find it very disturbing to think that somebody could control what I read/watch/think/say.  The only person that has the right to do that is me.

Booking Through Thursday


If there was one book you could make sure nobody ever read again … what would it be? And why?

It would be "Bramwell Valley" by John Harold McCoy.  It was the first book I read on my Nook -- I got it free and it is a good thing because it was just plain awful.  I don't usually say that about books but with this one, I just can't help it.

Sorry Mr. McCoy.

Booking Through Thursday -- July 12, 2012


Today's question is what book(s) have you read that you are secretly ashamed to admit.


This is an easy answer.  None.  Zip.  Nada.

I guess I was a little shy about my mother finding out that I read "Gidget" when I was about 13.  She questioned the appropriateness.  I guess she hadn't realized that I had outgrown "The Bobbsey Twins" although I still pick one of those up now and then.  My reading taste runs more along the line of historical fiction, a new interest in mysteries, fun books like the one I am reading now, "East End Jubilee" -- books about the human condition.  I am not a big fan of romance -- especially the stuff with the Fabio lookalike on the cover.  I do not like books that contain violence, especially against women and children, and I am not the sort to read gruesome stuff.  If I want that as entertainment, all I need to do is turn on the television.  I do like biographies as well.

Sex in books doesn't bother me, if  not violent, although I don't seek it out.   However, I had a lovely chat with my dental hygienist yesterday about "The Fifty Shades of Grey".  She was completely embarrassed to admit that she had read the trilogy and didn't really want to admit it.  She even archived it on her Kindle so her kids wouldn't find out she had read it.  I downloaded a free sample of it onto my Nook a few weeks back when everybody was talking about it and, honestly, it just didn't grab me.  After the conversation with the girl yesterday, I will have to give it a second look at some point just out of curiosity.  However, I have, at last count, about fifty to-be-read books on my shelf and those have first priority.

I know, I am a bit late with this but here I go with this week's question -- "If you had to chose to live within a novel, which would it be?

I would have to say that I would choose to live within  a series of novels -- the Mitford series by Jan Karon.  I love the town and all the characters.  I love the closeness of the characters even though it is so stereotypically  "small town" but, never having lived in  a small town, I think it would be nice.

So, yeah, it is off to Mitford I would go!

8 September 2011

Booking Through Thursday has posed the following questions --

What are you reading now?
Would you recommend it?
And what is next?


I am currently finishing up "Aunt Dimity and the Duke" by Nancy Atherton.  It is the second in the Aunt Dimity series that consists of about fifteen titles.

I would recommend this book but I would rather recommend the series. I didn't realize this was a series and read one of the books sort of in the middle of the series.  It was stand alone, as they all are, but it is much nicer beginning at the beginning because they do build on each other.

As far as what is next, it would be an obvious choice to read the third in the series but I might take a break and do something else.  Sitting on my bookshelf calling out to me each time I walk by is a copy of "When the Light Goes Out" by Larry McMurtry.  It is the sequel to "Duane's Depressed" which I haven't read.   Hmm..in reading the back of the book, it describes "Duane's Depressed" as "one of McMurtry's most moving novels" -- Texas Monthly.  So, maybe I shouldn't skip over that one -- I might miss something.  So, in answer to the question -- I am not sure but I will let you know!

The Whole Week in One Fell Swoop

I have been trying to post more regularly but I have a problem in that some days I just simply have nothing of any interest to say.  So, in order to keep me on an even keel, I like to employ several "meme's" so to speak. This week, I have gotten completely off track and have done none of them so I am going to combine them all into one and try again next week.  so, here goes.

Blue Monday

Learning to catagorize by color

Teaser Tuesdays

This weeks Teaser is from "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine
 Howe.

"After a few more minutes spent yanking on the last stubborn vines, Connie sat back on her heels and regarded the revealed gate.  Its iron was so pitted with rust and age that she feared it might dissolve at her touch."



Wordless Wednesday

Booking Through Thursday -- Multi-tasking

I do not multi-task.  I am not good at it.  With anything.  If I am reading, most likely the television is on because the Hubs is sitting in the next chair.  If the book is good, I can tune out the tv but if the book  is just so-so, I end up watching the tv but I don't do both at the same time.  I have never brushed my teeth while reading a book but I have actually ridden in the car and read but not while I was driving -- little joke there.

Friday Fill-Ins

1.  Oh gross! I thought it was chicken!

2.  Ah, well, THAT'S off my bucket list.

3.  No, thank you.

4.  One thing I can play on the piano is Heart and Soul.

5.  and then, I would like to buy a lottery ticket and win a boatload of money.

6.  I can't forget all the lies they told us.

7.  And as for the weekend, tonight I am looking forward to reading, tomorrow my plans include yard work and Sunday I want to go to church and relax.

Booking Through Thursday

All other things being equal -- do  you prefer used books?  Or new books? (The physical specimen, that is, not the title.)  Does your preference differentiate between a standard kind of used book, and a pristine, leather bound copy.


Well, this does require a bit of thought, doesn't it.  Do I prefer used books?  It depends.  If I am looking for a title that is out of print I obviously  have to prefer it used, don't I?  In that case, I would go for a hard back copy.  The most recent purchase of this type has been The Bumper Book, a children's book from my youth that I have bought copies of for my grandchildren.  Both copies that I have bought have been a bit worn and a bit musty but very tight and intact and I was pleased with my purchase except for the ridiculous price tag that was on them.  

I guess I would say that for current reading I prefer new books.  I like the larger paperbacks over the standard paperbacks but, above all, I prefer hardbacks.  I go against all decor suggestions and leave the dust jackets on them because I like to look at them -- remember, I am the one who chooses books by their covers -- not a great idea but my style, for sure. 

This then brings us to the question of e-books, doesn't it?  Can't leave that new technology out of this conversation, can we?  I have an e-reader that I have a love/hate relationship with.  However, after the latest updates, our relationship seems to be mellowing out and we are working much better together.  The idea behind me wanting an e-reader is my inability to quit buying books.  We have run out of room in our house.    We have no more bookshelf space and no more wall space to put more bookshelves so something had to be done besides purging all the books.  I have begun purging some of the books and I have made the decision  that almost all new books will be bought for the e-reader and if I want to a hard copy to add to  the library here I will but I will no longer  enter a bookstore glazed-eyed, without direction, and run willy-nilly past the bargain bins to the new releases gathering up enough books to run a small lending library.

So, in my case, I guess there are no hard and fast rules as to my preferences.  It depends on the situation, the price and the importance.

Booking Through Thursday

I haven't done a BTT for a long time and, of course, when I visited today I found this super long questionnaire.  I will try.  It might take a couple of edits.  Ok, here goes.

1.  Favorite children's book -- The Bumper Book -- a compilation of stories and poems

2.  What are you reading now? -- "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress"

3.  What books do you have on request at the library?  None, they are planning on closing our neighborhood library which will leave this side of town without a library.

4.  Bad book habit -- buying because I like the cover

5.  What do you have currently have checked out of the library?  Nothing -- see #3.

6.  Do you have an e-reader?  Or does it have me is really the question.  Quite a tempermental thing -- but yes, I do.

7.  Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?  One at a time -- I confuse easily.

8.  Have your reading habits changed since you started a blog?  Not really except now I look at books and think about whether they are blogworthy!

9.  Least favorite book you have read this year.  No doubt -- "Bramwell Valley.

10.   Favorite book you have read this year.  I have no idea -- I read so slowly that my readings can overlap years.

11.  How often do you read out of your comfort zone?  What does this mean -- location or genre.  I never read out of my comfort zone on either.


12.  What is your reading comfort zone?  Again -- my chair is my favorite place to read.  As to genre -- I like many things -- historical fiction, biography, current novel fare and how-to books involving my favorite things -- quilting and embroidery.


13.  Can you read on a bus?  Don't know -- never tried.

14.  Favorite place to read -- my chair, my house

15.  What is your policy on book lending?  I lend books to a select few. Namely daughter and daughter in law

16.  Do you ever dog ear books -- I try not to but I used to as a child

17.  Do you ever write  in the margins of books?  Not when reading casually.

18.  Not even with text books?  Well, of course, with text books but it was hard when having to chisel on the stone tablet.

19.  What is your favorite language to read in?  Well, I prefer my native tongue which is American English but I can handle a good dose of British English as well. 

20.  What makes you love books?  Ah, well, the love of reading was cultivated in me at an early age.  It began with a fascination of watching my mother read the newspaper and then watching my cousin read and get lost in her stories.  When I learned to read I was fascinated that books could take you to places you would probably never go and, if you didn't devour the book, you could stay in that place as long as you wanted and you could revisit without checking your luggage.  I love books that make me completely forget where I am when I am reading them.  Another place, another person, another life......and all for about $14.95 or a library card.

Ok, I will publish this now and finish later.

Booking Through Thursday -- What is Reading, Fundamentally

IMHO -- reading is feasting your eyes upon the written word and ingesting the meaning therein. I think all of the examples, except audiobooks, constitute reading. There are many types of reading, for example, reading for pleasure, reading to gain information or instruction, required reading as in a classroom, necessary reading as in street signs but for it to be "reading" it has to include the visual action of looking at the written word.

I think that "reading" changes with different stages in our lives. As a child, reading comic books for instance is reading as much as reading textbooks. As an adult, one may read for his/her job or education. People read novels and literature for pleasure. It is still all reading and all beneficial.

I think that reading is the single most important skill a person can acquire. If a person can read, he/she can accomplish anything.

Did I actually answer the question?

Booking Through Thursday

Ok, I recognize that it is no longer Thursday. I am slow, ok? Here goes.

"Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what is the difference between a book and a movie?"

Well, yes and no. Both books and movies are forms of entertainment so, in that regard, yes, I want to be entertained by both.

Both books and movies have the capability of being thought provoking, insightful, mood altering, shocking, and emotional.

Movies, however, are instant gratification and require very little "participation" from the watcher. They are relatively quick so there isn't much time to languish in the mood, scenery, language, etc. They can be very stimulating visually, obviously, and with today's movies that can be very powerful. I do think that movies based on books are generally lacking -- especially if you read the book first.

Books, on the other hand, are slower and the reader has the ability to linger over passages, re-read sections and visualize the characters and settings -- make his/her own "movie" in the mind, if you will. With books, the impact unfolds over the course of the read rather than have it "in your face" so to speak.

So, I would have to say that I want both to entertain me but my mood, available time, and situation would dictate which form would be more appropriate at certain times.

Booking Through Thursday -- Manual Labor Redux

Again, for some reason, can't cut and paste topic so I will just go with it.

Uh, manuals -- yes, I do read them but generally not until something happens to the "gadget" and I have to figure out what I did wrong. And then I generally only read the section that involves what I did wrong. I usually leave the manual reading to A who does a much better job of it than me.

Self help books -- Oh no. There is no help for me by my self or anybody else, I fear.

How-to books -- Well, if cookbooks fit in this catagory then I would have to say yes. I read cookbooks. Now, that doesn't mean I actually do anything with the information once I read it but I do read cookbooks.

I would have to say that I do read needlework books. All the time and they are sort of how-to books with patterns and all and definitely self help books because needlework is the best therapy I know of.

Booking Through Thursday -- Manual Labor

"Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-to's....do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries--if any--do you have in your library?"

I have a dictionary and a thesaurus. I HAD a Strunk and White but my daughter confiscated that. I have a number, maybe six, writing guides from a creative writing course I took a number of years ago. I still have some texts from college, also.

Do I read them? No. I reference them, from time to time, but I don't sit down and read them. I have been known to read encyclopedias for pleasure, however.

I have found that as I am reading more and blogging more that my need for such material is, once again, more viable. However, I am finding a new resource for that -- my daughter, who is a communication/journalism major, comes in most handy for that sort of thing. In fact, she has told me that I am entirely too liberal with commas which is evidenced in the previous sentence. So, while, I don't read these sorts of books, I probably should.

Booking Through Thursday

What do you do when you run across a word/phrase you don't know?

Well, if I can't figure it out from the rest of the text, I look it up. I am sorry to say that I have pretty much given up a traditional dictionary and head to the internet. The internet makes it easier to look up phrases if you are reading a non-American piece.

Besides, isn't that what they taught us in school -- look it up?

Booking Through Thursday


________ would have been a much better book if_____________

London would have been a much better book if it hadn't been so long! Still not done, still enjoying it, don't know what I would cut out but it is really, really lengthy and I am, apparently, really, really slow.

Would recommend, though.

Booking Through Thursday

"Who is your favorite male lead character. And Why"

I would have to say that my favorite lead male character is Father Tim, the main character in the Jan Karon Mitford series. Why? Well, he is so REAL. Even though he is an Episcopal priest, he has all the strengths, weaknesses, temptations, doubts as us regular folks. He isn't preachy and really shows the human side of life. He is kind and gentle, he has diabetes and loves food which shows his vulnerability. All in all, he is just a real down to earth character -- picture an aging Dan Aykroyd.

The second favorite would be Blackie in the Barbara Taylor Bradford "A Woman of Substance" series. He is another gentle, loyal soul that isn't afraid to show the frailities and strengths of the human spirit. I saw the movie before I read the books -- I enjoyed the books more -- but I have to say that when I read the character of Blackie all I saw in my mind's eye was Liam Neeson! That isn't bad either!