Book Beginning Friday & The Friday 56

Today I'm taking part in Book Beginning Fridays over at Rose City Reader, and The Friday 56 at Freda's Voice.

Here's my Book Beginning:

"I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other."

from Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I loved that first paragraph. I think when you get that old, it doesn't really matter, does it?

Here's my excerpt from page 56 from the same book:

"He grabs me by the scruff and smashes my face into the door frame. With his other hand, he yanks open the sliding door and chucks me inside. I fall forward, my hands outstretched. I come to a stop against a brass rail and straighten up, looking back at Earl in shock. Then i see the rest of them."

Yikes, trouble ahead!

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Books Books and Books

The other day a coupon came in the mail for a local thrift shop, buy one get one free on Wednesday only, up to $10. Sweet! So sis and I went again to check it out...along with about half the city. We stood in line to check out for about a half an hour. Half hour standing in line makes me think about what I got, and I put several books back. Even some Little Golden Books, ack! What was I thinking?!  Well, anyway, I got some good stuff.

 First, "How I Became a Pirate" by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon. I love pirate picture books! Next is a nice hardcover book of "Raggedy Ann Stories" by Johnny Gruelle. This copy is from 1993 and in perfect shape. Next is Book Two of Percy Jackson & The Olympians, "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan. A very nice paperback Scholastic edition.

 Now for the Little Golden Books I did buy: "Disney's Pocahontas The Voice of the Wind" by Justine Korman, illustrated by Peter Emslie and Don Williams. "Walt Disney's Peter Pan" from the motion picture "Peter Pan," based on the story by Sir James M. Barrie, illustrations by Walt Disney Studio, pictures adapted by John Hench and Al Dempster. "Walt Disney's The Jungle Book 40th Anniversary Edition." I love these classic books.

Next is "Walt Disney's Donald Duck's Toy Sailboat" told by Annie North Bedford, pictures by The Walt Disney Studio, adapted by Samuel Armstrong, from the motion picture "Chips Ahoy." Anyone remember this movie? I don't! An internet search tells me the movie was made in 1956, which was well before my time. Cute book tho!

Next is"Oscar's Book" by Jeffrey Moss, pictures by Michael Gross. This book is along the same lines as the "Monster at the End of this Book," in that Oscar doesn't want you to read the book. The whole time he is trying to get the reader to close the book, and then at the end, he laments that if the reader does close the book, he won't have anyone to yell at, and begs the reader to keep the book open. It's a cute book, I'd never heard of it before!

At the opposite end of the Sesame Street spectrum of books is "Grover's Guide to Good Manners" by Constance Allen, illustrated by David Prebenna. I love Grover's language and this is a cute book to read.

The next Little Golden Book is "Thomas and the Big, Big Bridge" illustrated by tom LaPadula and Paul Lopez. Did you know that Thomas the Train was based on "The Railway Series" by The Reverend W Awdry? You learn something new every day.

Next is another Raggedy Ann story, "Raggedy Ann and Andy Help Santa Claus" by Polly Curren, illustrated by June Goldsborough. This little book is from 1977, and is in good shape.

Lastly, "AnnaBelle's Wish," adapted by Susan Korman from the animated film "Annabelle's Wish," illustrated by Alan Nowell & Associates, based on a short story by Dan Henderson. I had never heard of this little book or story either. The movie is from 1997, was narrated by Randy Travis, and features Jerry Van Dyke, Jim Varney, Rue McClanahan, and Cloris Leachman. The book is published in the same year.

The last book I got (this was my free one with the coupon) was "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden. I've been wanting to read this book, and was glad to find this nice paperback copy.

Lastly, we had to buy some trucks and cars for the baby! He loves them! The little clear car on the left lights up when you shake it or hit it or drop it. Cute!

Linking up with The Penny Worthy Project, Thrift Score Thursdays, High on Thrifting Thursdays, and Thrifty Treasures.


Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Board Books A to Z - "D"

Good morning all! Today we'll take a look at the books the baby and I read that start with the letter D.

First, "Dumpy and His Pals" by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, illustrated by Tony Walton. This is a simple little book illustrating several trucks and the sounds they make. My son loves this book, and I think it's cool that it's co-written by Julie Andrews.

Next is a large board book called Danny the Duck. There are a series of four of these books, and they've been a big hit in our home.

Next is "Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish, Three, Four, Five Fish!" by Dr. Seuss. Is it sad when part of your life is deciding if this book should have been included in the D section for Dr. Seuss, or the O section for One Fish...anyway, the book has little sliding fish at the top, and for some reason my son has not read this one too much. We'll keep trying.

Next is "Daddy and Me" by Karen Katz. Another by one of my favorite authors for babies, and the boy loves this one too.

"Dory" is a little Disney series book (others include Nemo, Marlin, and Gill) based on the movie "Finding Nemo." I think Dory is my favorite. On the last page of the book, Dory acts like she's never met us before and says "Hi! My name is Dory, and this is my, HEY, have we met before?" Ha, it's so cute.

That's it for the D section. Be looking for some new thrifting posts later this week! Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Board Books A to Z - "C!" and Teaser Tuesday

Today I'll concentrate on the board books that start with a C!  There aren't many of these, so here we go!

First - "The Circus" by Bendon Publishing International. This is one of a set of three books with googly eyes that are open to show a different set of eyes on each page. This has been a favorite in our house.

Next, "Counting Kisses" by Karen Katz. This is a recent Goodwill purchase, and it hasn't seen much action yet. We'll get there!

Next is "Cuddly Frog" part of the Pot-Bellied Buddies series, illustrated by Penny Johnson. I bought this little book at Dollar Tree, I wish I had bought all four books, but just bought this one. The others in the series are "Cuddly Kitten," "Cuddly Piglet," and "Cuddly Puppy." I need to go check out Dollar Tree again to see if they still have these.

And last in our "C" books is "Colors," a Disney board book I bought for $1 at Target. This one has been a hit also!

And now, time for Teaser Tuesday:
  
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!
Here's my Teaser:

"My heart pounds so hard that, despite the roaring of the crowd, I am aware of blood whooshing through my ears. I am filled to overflowing, bursting with love."

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen.

Enjoy your day and your current book!

Board Books A to Z - "B"

Day two of the A to Z series, I'm taking you all the way through the alphabet with my board books.

First is a little set of puffy books I bought from Big Lots long ago. I think they were $2 each then, I probably wouldn't pay that price now, but I would be missing out. These are great books my son loves. There's "Baby Bug 1 2 3," "Baby Bug Hugs," and "Baby Bug A B C" all by Dena Fishbein. These little books have the cutest illustrations, and each one ends with a hug!

Next are a couple of the books from Elmo's World, a lift the flap series. "Babies!" and "Balls!" We originally found the "Food!" book at a thrift store, and our son loved it! Then we found a whole set of four books at Costco, so we paid about $8 for all 4. Well worth it!

Next are a couple of Big Bird books. The first one doesn't even have a title on the front, but it's all about Big Bird taking pictures for his photo album. There are little buttons on the bottom with sounds. Then, I found "Big Bird's Guessing Game About Shapes" at a library sale not long ago.

Lastly, there has to be some board books about Baby, right? I have three. "Baby Farm Animals" is a board book version of a Little Golden Book, illustrated by Garth Williams. "Baby's A B C" by Neil Ricklen is a book with pictures of real babies with a puffy cover. And "Baby Day" is part of a set we found at Goodwill a long time ago. It's a touch and feel book with a mirror attached. This and the other books in this series are put out by Priddy Books. They've been a joy for my son since he was just teeny.

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Saturday Goodwill finds

Hubby and the baby and I headed out to Goodwill for half-price day.  Here's our stuff!

A Large picture book by Discoveries called "Dangerous Animals." This book is in very good condition, and has lots of big pictures of, well, dangerous animals.

Some Little Golden Books: "The Sailor Dog" by Margaret Wise Brown and pictures by Garth Williams. What a find! It's in good condition, from 1981.

I found several copies of "The Bouncy Baby Bunny Finds His Bed" by Joan Bowden, illustrated by Christine Westerberg. These are all from 1976 and are pretty good condtion.

I found a board book version of "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams Bianco, retold by Patricia A. Pingry.

This picture did not turn out well, but here's what it contains:

The globe is smallish, but in pretty good condition, got it for only $1.50. My first globe!

A hardcover copy of "Father Bear Comes Home" by Else Holmelund Minarik, pictures by Maruice Sendak.

"James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories" illustrated by Lesley Holmes.

"The Battle of the Labyrinth," book four of the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. I haven't read any of these, but this cover and book was in such good condition I couldn't resist for $1.

"Inheritance" by Christopher Paolini, last of the series that begins with "Eragon." Again, haven't read any of these, but this was in such nice condition for $2.50.

Last, a hardcover Barnes & Noble Classic edition of "Emma" by Jane Austen. I don't have a copy of this book yet, and I felt I couldn't go wrong.

Last, we bought this Little Tykes picnic table for the baby, for $5.  Very nice haul this week.

Linking up with The Penny Worthy Project, Thrift Share Mondays, Thrift Score Thursdays, and High on Thrifting Thursdays.

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett

From the back of the book:

Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, raising her seventeenth white child. She's always taken orders quietly, but lately it leaves her with a bitterness she can no longer bite back. Her friend Minny has certainly never held her tongue, or held on to a job for very long, but now she's working for a newcomer with secrets that leave her speechless. And white socialite Skeeter has just returned from college with ambition and a degree but, to her mother's lament, no husband. Normally Skeeter would find solace in Constantine, the beloved maid who raised her, but Constantine has inexplicably disappeared.

Together, these seemingly different women join to work on a project that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town-to write, in secret, a tell-all book about what it's really like to work as a black maid in the white homes of the South. Despite the terrible risks they will have to take, and the sometimes humorous boundaries they will have to cross, these three women unite with one intention: hope for a better day.

Warning: possible spoilers!

I may be the only person in the U.S. that hasn't seen this movie, but I'm glad I read this book. It's full of suspense, tearful moments, laugh out loud moments, and biting your nails moments, along with such good writing that it was hard to put down.

My favorite character was Miss Celia, the "newcomer" that Minny begins working for. She is full of secrets, and I'm hoping the author will do another novel based solely on her. Actually, I think the author could do a slew of novels based on other characters, or the same characters after this book.

 There are other female characters that are interesting in this book also. Miss Elizabeth is Aibileen's employer, and she is very mellow, but follows the crowd. We get glimpses that she really isn't a very good mother. Miss Hilly is the antagonist in the book (and former employer of Minny), but her interaction with her children shows she loves them very much. There are other characters also, that are viewed as one way, but the more the book goes on, we find out they are much different than they are assumed to be.

One thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. I was hoping for more stories/lives to wrap up. I'd definitely read a new novel on Skeeter and her life after this book, as well as Aibileen and Minny. All three women's lives changed dramatically during the course of the book, and I'd love to read about all three and how their new lives turned out.

Now the only thing left for me is to see the movie. I had a hard time picturing the people, fashions, etc in the story, and so the movie should help with that. What I think is funny is that Emma Stone played Skeeter in the movie. I totally didn't picture her like this. I thought she would not be pretty at all, based on the description in the book. But, based on the article linked above (click the picture), apparently the author thought she was a good fit, so I guess she may be! (Maybe I ought to see this movie before making judgements!)

Overall, an excellent read and I can't wait to see the movie! What did you think of this book/movie?

I'm linking up with Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books. Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Savers Shopping Trip

Recently, my sister and I visited Saver's again. On Thursdays they have 25% off everything with your Saver's card. That's hard to resist. Here's the lowdown!

My son is so into trucks right now, it's truly not funny. Especially when we're riding in the car and he's constantly pointing to anything with wheels and yelling "Shuck! Shuck! Shuck!" It's so cute! So we got this "truckload" of trucks for him! The big one is a plastic Tonka, nice!

Next is a selection of board books. First, "Busy Buddy, A Busy Bugz Glitter Book" illustrated by Bill Bolton. It's a little confusing, definitely a book for boys, but there are glitter pages (the hammer on the cover is glitter). I suppose it's for the babies to recognize the bright colors. Next I bought "The Wikki Stix Book of Wiggles, Squiggles and Curlicues!" There are supposed to be some kind of creatables, but those weren't attached. I still like the pictures, bright and fun. Next is "Disney's Pooh's Birthday Book." Pooh board books are hard to find.

The next couple are large picture books. First, "Children's First Book of Animals." It's a very tall book with lots of pictures and information. Next is "The Magical Snowman" by Catherine Walters and illustrated by Alison Edgson. It's a cute picture book with a sparkly snowman throughout. Can't wait to read this one.

Next are two picture board books by Sesame Beginnings: "At the Zoo" and "Bubbles, Bubbles." The store did have a Cookie Monster book, but it was not in good shape, boo!!

Next is two small Little Golden Books and an Arch Book. Did anyone have Arch Books as kids? I remember my Grandma had a bunch of them, and we used to love them! This one "The Lord Calls Samuel" is the first one I've seen in a long time and I'm happy I found it! It's written by Susan Hammond and illustrated by Elizabeth Swisher.

I also found "Katie the Kitten" a First Little Golden Book, written by Kathryn and Byron Jackson, illustrated by Leslie Morrill. There's a teeny price tag at the back inside cover that says $.10! This one is only from the 80's, so it's not as old as it looks. The next one is Disney's Tangled, adapted by Ben Smiley, illustrated by Victoria Ying. Vintage 2010..heehee.

Now on to the Little Golden Books. "Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp" adapted by Teddy Slater, illustrated by Bill Langley and Ron Dias. This copy is from 1991. "Rumplestiltskin" from Grimms' Fairy Tales, illustrated by William J. Dugan, also from 1991."Toy Story 3" is also vintage from 2010, adapted by Annie Auerbach, illustrated by Adrian Molina, and designed by Tony Fejeran. (What's the difference between illustrated by and designed by?)

Next is "Walt Disney's Santa's Toy Shop" illustrations by The Walt Disney Studio, adapted by Al Dempster. It has one copyright date of 1950, but I know this one is newer. "Disney's The Lion King" is next, adapted by Justine Korman, illustrated by Don Williams and H. R. Russell, from 1994. "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" adapted by Teddy Slater, illustrated by Ric Gonzalez and Ron Dias, from 1991.

Lastly, I found "Chicken Little" retold by Stella Williams Nathan, illustrated by June Goldsborough, and this one is from 1973. "Thumbelina" by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Jan Palmer, from 1994. "The Little Red Caboose" by Marian Potter, pictures by Tibor Gergel. This book has copyright date 1953 but it's newer also. The last book is "Precious Moments - Put on a Happy Face." This one is by Debbie Wiersma, illustrated by Samuel J. Butcher and it's from 1992. It's probably my least favorite, I was never a Precious Moments fan, but maybe my son or others will be interested in it. It's in good condition and I can't pass up a good Little Golden Book.

Linking up with The Penny Worthy Project, Thrift Share Mondays, Thrift Score Thursdays, and High on Thrifting Thursdays.

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Board Books A to Z - A

I'm starting a series on the board books that my son loves to read. Today I'll start with our board books starting with the letter A. How fun!

First, "Abby Mallard: Fine Feathered Friend," part of Disney's Chicken Little series. I believe there are four books in this series, but we've only found three. Another great find, "Animal Alphabet From Ape to Zebra" by Sesame Street. This is a cute alphabet book featuring Elmo and the other characters from the show. Then, "A Pilot Flies Her Plane," a Read and Sing Along book. We found this one at the thrift store complete with the CD with 12 bonus songs! My son loves this book.

Second set of books are two little Disney books, "Alphabet" and "Animals." I found these little board books (along with two more in the series) in the Target dollar section. As you can see from the Alphabet book, we started the baby on them a little too soon, and he started eating the corners. Great books!

Last, "A to Z" by Sandra Boynton. I love her books! Then of course, "Dr. Seuss's ABC - An Amazing Alphabet Book!" Dr. Seuss is awesome! Lastly is one of my very very favorite books, "Another Monster at the End of This Book" by Jon Stone, illustrated by Michael Smollin. This and the original are just fun to read. I haven't found the original in a board book yet, though, so it was neat to find this one I could read to my son now. (We also have this app for iphone which my son loves also.)

All of these books were found at thrift stores (except for Dr. Seuss, that was a gift). How awesome is that?

Participating today in Read Aloud Thursday at Hope is the Word!

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

WWW Wednesday & Teaser Tuesdays & More

I'm reading my way through "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. This weekend was birthday party for my neice, and tax weekend, so we've been really busy. Then on Monday, I put together six freezer meals for the family to enjoy. These meals were pretty "vegetable intense" so it took a lot of preparation (peeling and chopping sweet potatoes, chopping bell peppers, and the like). It took one and a half hours to prepare and put the meals together. Now all I have to do is clean the kitchen. So, here I am writing a post! HA!

Meanwhile, I've been digging through YouTube, so I thought I'd share some cool bookish videos I found.

The Joy of Books - An awesome video that had to take a lot of time! Also watch their other video, Organizing the Bookcase (and watch the other items on the side table).

A to Z of Recommended Reading - in case you can't think of something to read...

My Bookshelf - It's more epic than you think - Cute little video for the music alone.

The Keys to Life by Will Smith - possibly a teeny bit simplified, but good info for kids

And you cannot afford to miss Christopher Walken reading Where the Wild Things Are - Classic!

Even though it's Wednesday, here's my entry into "Teaser Tuesday" from Should Be Reading:

"I won't let him throw me away again. It's already happened too many times, with him, with my friends." from pg 417, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

Finally, here are my answers to WWW Wednesdays from Should Be Reading:

1. What are you currently reading? "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.



2. What did you recently finish reading? "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson.

3. What do you think you'll read next? Wow, great question! I have lots of books waiting for me. Maybe "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski, or "Spoken from the Heart" by Laura Bush.  I recently read "Decision Points" by George W. Bush and enjoyed it. What should I read???

Enjoy your day and your current book!

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - A Review

 

Gilead - A Novel

by Marilynne Robinson

Set in Gilead, a small town in Iowa that, in the novel, has been hit hard by war, depression, and drought. This book takes place in the 1950's.

The main character, the narrator in this case, is John Ames, a fictional Congregational minister. Also included are John Ames Boughton (Jack), Old Boughton, John's wife and son.

The book is a narrative written by the father/minister (John Ames) to his young son. The Reverend has found out that he has a heart condition (he is in his seventies) and decides to write to his young son during the last few weeks or months of his life. The minister's best friend (Old Boughton) has a son whom he has named after the minister, John Ames Boughton, who is nicknamed Jack in the book. Jack has had a questionable past, and comes back to town, creating conflict all around.

This book is hard to read in the sense that there is mostly just narration of events that took place in the narrator's past and present. There's not a lot of dialogue (there is some, but not a lot), and there are no chapter designations, although the book is divided into pretty small sections based on the narrator's thoughts. (I love chapters, it's easy to remember "I'm on chapter 4!")

The main story is about the family's interaction with Jack who has just returned to town after a long absence. We find out why Jack has been gone so long (which had been a mystery) and what his plans are for the future. Jack interacts with John's wife and child, and John continually wonders what Jack's intentions are, and tells about Jack's past.  

The book is very good once you get to the end. If you can hang through the narration, you will be pleased. I recommend this book very highly, and I would definitely be interested in reading the author's other novels.

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

A Serendipitous Thrift Store Visit

My sister and I recently took a quick visit to the local Savers. I really enjoy shopping at that store, and I think she does too! 

I looked through the children's book section, and found a few nice books. I kept my selections to just five, since the everyday special at Savers is buy four, get the fifth book free. Here's what I found:

"Eency Weency Spider" written by Margaret Wang and illustrated by Claudia Rueda, Copyright 2005 by Piggy Toes Press. (Also designed by Treesha Runnells and Laurie Young.) This book is a larger version of a book we already have the my son loves! There is a button at the top right that is supposed to play the music, but that doesn't work. It's okay because my son knows the song quite well already. This version has a few more pages with new verses.

"Jigsaw Forest" is a "Soft-to-touch jigsaw book" illustrated by Sanja Rescek, Copyright 2007 by MacMillan Children's Books. It's a board book with slightly thicker pages (making me think I'm missing a page). But the pages are thicker because each page has a simple two piece fuzzy puzzle of each animal.

"The Little Engine That Could - Hide and Seek!" by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrated by Sonja Lamut. The Little Blue Engine tries to find all of his friends who are hiding.

Little Golden Books!

"Disney's Goof Troop Great Egg-Spectations," adapted by Janet Gilbert, illustrated by Don Williams, painted by Jim Story and H. R. Russell. Copyright 1992. My son sleeps with a Goofy stuffed toy, so I'm hoping he'll enjoy stories about Goofy.

"The Little Golden Book of Hymns," Copyright 1985. This edition is compiled by Elsa Jane Werner and E.D. Ebsun, illustrated by Frances Score Mitchell.

As we were getting into the car, I noticed a woman approach my sister. (I had noticed her earlier inside the store because her dress was really pretty.) She said that she had noticed that we bought books, and she is a children's book author, and wanted us to have her book. She handed us a book and a photograph of her with her information on it. Here's the book and the photograph:

The book is a board book called "I'm a Manatee Happy to be ME!" by Leslie Campa. You can find information on her at her website, LLButterflybooks.com. This books is an adorable board book that describes how a manatee is different than the other animals of the sea.

This is a sweet book about accepting others who look or act different than we do. The book is beautifully illustrated by Matthew Aragon, and I believe it will be a welcome addition to our library.

Thanks so much Leslie for your kindness! I remember thinking as I drove away, how serendipitous that thrift store visit was! It was a last minute decision, not planned, just spur of the moment. And if we hadn't gone, I'd never have heard of this book and this author.

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

I'm participating in Read Aloud Thursdays, The Penny Worthy Project, Thrift Share Mondays, and ...

Cover Crazy

Turning the Pages has a great meme called Cover Crazy.  When I found this meme I knew I just HAD to participate.  I LOVE picking a book by it's cover.  One of my recent finds is this week's Cover Crazy. 

 I saw this book at a book sale and it was so pretty I had to have it!  It's the first in a series (part two comes out in August 2012).  I haven't started reading it yet, but boy is it pretty!

Linking up with Cover Crazy today.  Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Thrifty Finds - Poetry

I haven't been able to go to the thrift store this week yet, so I thought I'd share some past finds. Since it's National Poetry Month, I thought I'd share my poetry finds. These books have been purchased within the last 2 years, with the exception of just one.

First, "The Ice Cream Store" poems by Dennis Lee, pictures by David McPhail. This is a cute hardback published by Scholastic in 1991. These are cute silly rhymes for kids.

Second, "Can You Dig It? and Other Poems" Unearthed by Robert Weinstock. This is a darling (although dark) poetry book about archeology, dinosaurs, and ancient people. It's a fun read.

Third, "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. Not sure if this is technically poetry, but a nice find anyway!

Fourth, "Six Great American Poets - Poems by Poe, Dickinson, Whitman, Longfellow, Frost and Millay." There are Six Volumes in this set. I bought this at a thrift store years ago, and have treasured it since. It is a "Dover Thrift Edition," a new book set published specifically for the thrift stores. I think I paid two or three bucks for it.

 Fifth is "When We Were Very Young" by A.A. Milne, with decorations by Ernest H. Shepard, coloured by Mark Burgess. This hardcover was published in 1989 by Methuen Children's Books in London. This is a lovely edition to any library.

Lastly, but certainly not least, my favorite of all, "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa. This version was published in 2002 by Backpack Books. Can you believe I bought this for $1? It's in perfect condition, although there is no dustcover (not sure if one ever existed). But I was so excited to find this book!

Can't wait to see your thrift poetry finds! Enjoy your day and your current book!

Teaser Tuesday

It's Teaser Tuesday!

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!

Here's my Teaser!

"Loud voiced shout int he street and both our eyes dart toward the window.  We are quiet, stock-still." 
~ p. 169, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

 Enjoy your day and your current read~!

Library Sale & Goodwill Finds

This week I heard about a library sale in a nearby city.  I'd heard that children's books were $.25 each, which is what prompted me to go to the sale. Sadly, that information was wrong! Which was okay because I didn't find but one children's book. Not sure if I love library sales for children's books. The kids books seem so torn up, doesn't seem worth it. None-the-less, here's what I got at the library sale:

Children's Books:

Big Bird's Guessing Game About Shapes - this is a board book in pretty good condition, not bad for $.50.

Hardback:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Year 2) - this was such a nice copy, I got it for $1, and so now I have to find Year 1 and start reading them.

Paperback:

Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas - have read this from the library, loved it, so I picked it up for a couple bucks.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - I know nothing about this book except for seeing a copy of it around, looked in good shape so I picked it up.

Then I picked up three books by Sarah Dessen, my daughter's favorite author, Lock and Key, The Truth about Forever, and Someone Like You.  You're welcome, daughter!

The bunch was a tad pricey at $13, but they're all books I like or will at least read, so it's worth it.

Now onto Goodwill half price day today.  Here's the low-down:

I still have to learn more about taking pictures of my books (i.e. bright light on the top book), but here we go anyway.

Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever - a cool book with lots of pictures and words.  (Later, I started looking through my Little Golden Books and found that I have a Little Golden Book of the Best Word Book Ever, but it's called Best Little Word Book Ever.

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis, illustrated by Laura Cornell - I have a couple other books by Jamie Lee Curtis, she writes pretty well for kids. I loved those books so I picked this one up today.

Who's Home? An Animal Lift-the-Flap Book by Neecy Twinem. This is not a board book, but it is a life-the-flap book and my son loves those. He'll enjoy this one when he's older.

Little Golden Books - Tootle, My First Counting Book, The Poky Little Puppy, Little Golden Picture Dictionary, The Color Kittens (this is an older version than the one circulating now, from 1994.), The Three Little Pigs (this one is old, from 1973, in relatively good condition), and Barney The Best Christmas Eve. My son loves Barney, hence this purchase. I don't think any Barney books or any paraphernalia will ever become collector's items, do you?

And, last but not least, I found Laura Bush's personal memoir, Spoken from the Heart, a hardcover in relatively good condition.

Less than $8 for all of this, not a bad shopping trip! What have you found this week? Linking up to Flea Market Finds, Thrift Share Monday, and The Penny Worthy Project.

Happy Easter! Enjoy your day and your latest book!

The Kite Runner Book Review

The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

I picked up this book at a Goodwill not long ago and finally got to read it.  It was a good novel, and I learned a lot about life in another country and culture.

Setting - Kabul, Afghanistan, and the San Francisco area, United States

Characters - Amir, his father Baba, Hassan, and his father Ali (Ali and Hassan are servants to Baba and Amir), as well as Baba's good friend Rahim Khan.

Problem/Conflict - Baba treats Hassan more like a son than Amir, Amir resents this and is always trying to win his father's affection. Hassan and Ali are Hazara and are therefore looked down upon. An incident in the boy's youth changes their relationship as well as the outcome of the story.

Main Events - Amir and Hassan grow up in the same household as best friends.  Amir gets to go to school, Hassan cannot.

Later, Amir accuses Hassan of theft (to lighten his own guilt), which forces Hassan and Ali to leave the household and the country.

Baba and Amir sneak out of the country when tensions grow high in Afghanistan. They move to America where Amir meets and marries his wife/

Amir is asked to return to his country to make amends for something Amir did when he was just a boy/

Conclusion - Amir is able to make amends although the road is treacherous. The ending is good but not certain if that's possible.

Overall I really liked this book. I found it engaging and easy to read and the fact that the boys grow up in Afghanistan was very interesting to me. I'd give this 4 books out of 5, only because there was a little bit of violence near the end (involving an eye, which grosses me out so much!!!). Other than that, it was a great read. I can't wait to read Hosseini's other novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Probably another factor that made this book so good is that the author is actually from Afghanistan, actually lived there.  He became a citizen of the US after moving here at age 15, and is now an author and a physician. 

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

55 Reading Questions - Part 5 and a New Book Club

55 Reading Questions - Part 5

• 44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel? Pride & Prejudice done by the BBC - so accurate and the characters are just how you think of them in your head, and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is divine.
• 45. Most disappointing film adaptation? Can't think of one but I know there was one a while back, just can't remember what it was :(
• 46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time? B&N probably $40ish.  Used book store or thrift store?  $30ish
• 47. How often do you skim a book before reading it? Never
• 48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through? Maybe just too tough to understand
• 49. Do you like to keep your books organized? Not necessarily but I like to keep them on the bookshelves.  I have some sort of order but the more I get the less they stay in that order
• 50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them? I like to keep them if I liked the book.
• 51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?  No, just haven't made time for a few.
• 52. Name a book that made you angry. Ack!  Can't remember one right now!
• 53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did? Dracula - was better than I thought it would be.
• 54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t? The Hundred Years of Solitude - seemed to just go on endlessly :(
• 55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? Inspirational romance

This new book was in my mailbox this week (since I ordered it from Amazon).  My sister-in-law and I will be reading it together - a mini-book club!  Can't wait to read it.  I used to read the author's blog back when it was on Blogger, but now she has her own website and has written at least two books, check out her site here at Angie Smith - Bring the Rain. She has such a great story so I know this will be a great read. Feel free to join along!

What will you be reading this holiday weekend? 

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

55 Reading Questions - Part 4

55 Reading Questions - Part 4

• 31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? I don't have any qualms about such
• 32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose? Again, it's hard to read when you don't understand, so I'd say none.  Since I don't speak any other languages well enough to read.
• 33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? Anna Karenina
• 34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin? Wuthering Heights is tough, but I have started it a couple of times, can't stay with it :(
• 35. Favorite Poet? Robert Frost
• 36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time? (see Part 1 answers) not many
• 37. How often have you returned books to the library unread? Many times
• 38. Favorite fictional character? Elizabeth Bennett (duh, isn't she everyone's?)
• 39. Favorite fictional villain? hmm good question.  Does this mean a villain that I like, or one I liked to hate?  Either way, can't think of one.
• 40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation? Easier books, inspirational romance maybe
• 41. The longest I’ve gone without reading. Years and years.  When I was young (after the Nancy Drew stage) I really didn't like reading.  Then, later in life, I decided that I would start reading again, and read several classic books.  I enjoyed them so much that I try to read them often, but life gets in the way and sometimes I forget to read.
• 42. Name a book that you could/would not finish. Wuthering Heights
• 43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading? The baby!

Enjoy your day and your favorite book!

55 Reading Questions - Part 3

 
55 Reading Questions - part 3!

• 21. What will inspire you to recommend a book? Someone generally should ask, but if I find a book that's especially meaningful, I'll recommend such
• 22. Favorite genre? Don't have one really, but I focus on classic literature, sometimes YA.
• 23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did)? More children's books, like Lord of the Rings, Nancy Drew, and Madeleine L'Engle.

• 24. Favorite biography? Benjamin Franklin
• 25. Have you ever read a self-help book? Yes, have read some about what we eat
• 26. Favorite cookbook? bleh, I just find my recipes online, they should be easy and quick
• 27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)? (hehe) The Kite Runner

• 28. Favorite reading snack? dark chocolate and coffee
• 29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience. Can't think of one
• 30. How often do you agree with critics about a book? Well, not sure about this, but I usually disagree with critics on movies so probably disagree a lot.

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

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