55 Reading Questions - Part 2

55 Reading Questions part 2!

• 11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone? Not sure what my comfort zone is, so I'd say often!
• 12. What is your reading comfort zone? Again, not sure!
• 13. Can you read on the bus? Yes - I can read while riding in a car too without a problem
• 14. Favorite place to read? A big cozy chair on a cold night with a fire going and a cup of hot coffee, or the beach!

• 15. What is your policy on book lending? I'll lend a book to whoever asks...no problem.  I try to buy my books cheap (obviously) so that I don't have to worry. 
• 16. Do you ever dog-ear books? Not usually.  I'll try to find some kind of bookmark to use instead
• 17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books? Not usually, but I do sometimes underline a good quote
• 18. Not even with text books? What's a text book?  Seriously, it's been so long!

• 19. What is your favorite language to read in? It's hard to read a language you don't understand, so I'll say English
• 20. What makes you love a book? A great story or plot, an agreeable ending, and the ability to keep my interest in the first few lines. 

Enjoy your day and your latest book! Tomorrow I'll answer more questions and showcase some Easter books we have purchased recently.

Photo Credit

55 Reading Questions - Part 1

I think this week will be a bit lean on the finding books front, I've decided to do some spring cleaning this week.  For me, that means actually cleaning...hehe.  The house just gets so wrecked by living in it!  Why can't my house just stay clean?  The never-ending question!

My goal is the cleaning schedule from The Fun Cheap or Free Queen and can be found here.  We did lots of laundry yesterday so I'm ahead of the game, and I've already vacuumed today!

Meanwhile,  I thought I'd answer these questions I found on Tumblr (another addiction of mine!)  So here goes...

55 Reading Questions

• 1. Favorite childhood book? Nancy Drew.  Trying to get my daughter interested, but how can poor old-fashioned little Nancy Drew compete with Twilight and the Hunger Games?  Well, at least she is reading!
• 2. What are you reading right now? I am listening to "The Great Gatsby" while I work, and reading "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson.  Very good read but it's a bit slower than most since there's hardly any dialogue. 
• 3. What books do you have on request at the library? Here's my issue, I don't have any books on hold right now.  I have a bad habit of putting books on hold and then not picking them up. 
• 4. Bad book habit? See question 3!
• 5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? See question 3!  None checked out at the moment unless you count The Great Gatsby which I have checked out from the Greater Phoenix Digital Library.
• 6. Do you have an e-reader? I do have a Kindle - which my daughter has at the moment so she could read The Hunger Games.
• 7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? I usually read one at a time, but if you count what I listen to and read, then more than one.
• 8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?  I have been reading more, mainly because I have so many books (and keep buying more) and I feel guilty that I haven't read many of them. Also, I enjoy reading it's just hard to find the time with a toddler running around.
• 9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far)? Here's where you find out that I haven't been such an avid reader this year.  I have read The Kite Runner, and that's the only one I've finished.  So far, it's my least favorite.  (Of course, if you count children's books, that's a whole other post!  I've read tons of children's books!)
• 10. Favorite book you’ve read this year? Hehe, see question 9.  The Kite Runner would be my favorite book read this year.

We'll spread this out through the week.  Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Book Sale!

Yesterday I woke up early to go to a book sale!  All paperbacks were $.50 and all hardbacks were $1.00.  The sale started at 7am, so I left the house at 6:30am.  I got there at 6:50 and there were already people looking at books.  Here's what I got!

Children's books:

"You're Only Old Once! A Book for Obsolete Children" by Dr. Seuss.  Technically not a kids book.  My dad had this book and loved it so it brings back some memories!

"The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein.  For $1.00!  Nice!

 Other books:

"How to Draw A Radish and Other Fun Things to Do at Work" by Joy Sikorski.  This looks like a cute and fun little book for learning to draw and other things!

 

"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis.

 

"Prayer Finding the Heart's True Home" by Richard J. Foster.  Has anyone read his other book, "Celebration of Discipline?"  I read it long ago and it is soooo deep!

 
"One Called Away - A Memoir - Answering Life's Challenges with Unshakable Faith" by Brenda Warner with Jennifer Schuchmann.  Nice find for fifty cents!

 

 
"Ernest Hemingway Complete and Unabridged."  Four novels are included in this hardcover:  "The Sun Also Rises," "A Farewell to Arms," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and "The Old Man and the Sea."

 

 "Benjamin Franklin - An American Life" by Walter Isaacson.  I love reading about Benjamin Franklin, so this looks like some good reading.

 "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold.  I haven't seen the movie, so no spoilers please!

  "The Things We Do For Love" by Kristin Hannah.  I know nothing about this book or author, just looked like a good book.  Anybody pick books just from the cover?

 

"Bet Your Bottom Dollar - A Bottom Dollar Girls Novel" by Karin Gillespie.   A review snippet placed on the front of this book says this:  "Use your very last bottom dollar, if you have to.  Just BUY THIS BOOK.  You will laugh yourself sick and love every minute of it."  (Jill Conner Browne, The Sweet Potato Queen.)  So, I used fifty cents and bought it.  I hope it lives up to this hype!

 

"To Have and To Hold" by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller.  Another book purchased because of a pretty cover!

"The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory.  I just flipped through the pages of this book and realized that the previous owner/reader must have smoked.  :( boo~!

And last, but not least, "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck.  I have read this before, but this was a nice copy that I wanted for my library.

What a great booksale!  I got some really great stuff.  Now to fit it all on my bookshelves!  Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Kid & Baby Sale

We were able to visit a huge kid sale yesterday held at our church.  Surprise, surprise, I bought a couple of books!  And a few other things for the baby:

The stuffed frog was impossible to resist for $1!  He's so cute!

I also bought "Daddy and Me," a Lift-The-Flap Book by Karen Katz.  Yay, adding another to our series!  One of the flaps is missing, but the baby would have done that anyway so no biggie.

"Is Your Mama a Llama?" by Deborah Guarino and illustrated by Steven Kellogg.  I actually have this book in paperback, but I love to have board books too - more reading to the baby.  The other day Daddy let the baby play with a couple of Dr. Seuss books (paper pages) and he started to rip the pages.  He's 15 months old and not ready for paper pages yet!

And, last but certainly not least I bought "Another Monster at the End of This Book" by Jon Stone and illustrated by Michael Smollin.  I have this book in Little Golden Book format, as well as the iPhone version on my iPod.  And now we have it in board book style.  Nice!

I also bought a pair of sandals for the baby for summer, and a cute Curious George stuffed toy that my son loves. 

Hurray for baby sales!  Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Saver's Haul - Edition II

I signed up for a Saver's Club card online this week.  The site said that when you sign up and pick up your card you are eligible for 25% off your entire order.  Sign me up any day for a sweet deal like that!

Also, every Thursday is 25% off everything!  Savers, you are my new favorite for during-the-week shopping!

Here are my purchases:

Four hardcover books -

1.  "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell - an Educator Classic Library book, complete and unabridged from 1969.  The book is larger than most novels, but has various definitions in the margins, making it perfect for school-age kids.  Love it!

2.  "The Great Ice Ship Bear - Eighty-Nine Years in Polar Seas" by Polly Burroughs.  This book is from 1970 and previously belonged to the Benson Elementary Library in Benson Arizona.

3.  "Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Nervous Lion" with text by Nick West and illustrated by Harry Kane.  This is such a cool looking book with the fancy inside covers.  It was copyrighted in 1971 and includes illustrations every few pages.

4.  "The Trumpet of the Swan" by E.B. White.  It's a book club edition but copyrighted in 1970 and it's by E.B. White.  'Nuff said. 

For kids books I found these:

1.  "Yummy Yummy!  Food for my Tummy!" by Sam Lloyd and illustrated by none other than Jack Tickle!!  Of course, I LOVE the pictures! and the book is in good shape. 

2.  "Whose Tail Is This?" a lift-a-flap book.  I was so excited to find this in good condition because a few months back I had found "Whose Nose Is This?" in brand new condition at a Goodwill and my son loves it!  I have high hopes for this book!

3.  "Elmer's Friends" by David McKee.  A cute little board book with a story about a patchwork elephant.  Simple and perfect for a 15-month-old!

4.  "Baby Animals on the Farm" - a First Little Golden Book.  I suspect that the First Little Golden Books are going to be harder to find since they probably got played with pretty roughly by the little ones these books were intended for.  This one is in perfect shape so I'm thrilled to have found it. 

This is a great find for a mid-week shopping trip!  Have you found any great values in books?

How Fast Can You Read?

Take this test to find out how fast you can read...I scored at 305 words per minute, above average for adults, but below 11th graders.  Clearly, I need work, I better start reading more.  How did you do?

Source: Staples eReader Department

Enjoy your day and your latest book!

Savers Haul

I mentioned previously that we had gone to Savers, and took a picture with my digital camera.  I usually take pictures with my iPod, but wanted to try the camera to see how the picture would come out:

Pretty good picture, eh?   I also took the picture with sunlight and took a much closer picture, but I think it turned out pretty good.

Here's what I got for a little over $7 -

Board books - "Dumpy and His Pals" by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton, illustrated by Tony Walton.  Yes, Julie Andrews from "The Sound of Music" is one of the authors of this book!  This is a cute and simple story about several trucks in the neighborhood and how they help us.

"Where Is Baby's Belly Button?" by Karen Katz. We actually already had this lift the flap book but the baby had torn out all the little flaps in the book, so this one is in nice good condition and for $.69 we can start all over.

"Counting Kisses" by Karen Katz.  I enjoy the books by Karen Katz, they are cute and my son has enjoyed all the ones we've got so far.

Little Golden Books - "The Nutcracker," "Just A Bad Day," "Richard Scarry's Best Little Word Book Ever!," "Alvin and the Chipmunks - Alvin's Daydreams," and "Sesame Street Puppy Love."

I also found two Dr. Seuss books - "Dr. Seuss's ABC" and "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish."

Another of my favorite series of books includes "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" by Laura Numeroff.  These are great little cause and effect books.

The last book is called "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear" by Don and Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood.  Sometimes I pick up a book with such pretty pictures inside, not too many words, and I just buy it for the pretty-ness of it.  Some children's books are just works of art and I enjoy having them in my home.  I think that it will not only instill a love of reading, but maybe also a love of art in my children.

Enjoy your day and your latest book!