At the end of 2016, we took a family vacation to Arizona. Like all good vacations, I prepared a little reading list for the trip. The Books While we were traveling, I read Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin and Turtle Dream by Gerald Hausman. There were little pearls of word wonder in both books…. Read more »
Book Review
A Little Free Library – Finally!!
We finally have a Little Free Library in Tyler Park! About a year ago, I was in Minneapolis, MN, for a volunteer conference. While I was there, roaming around the very flat city, I walked by my very first Little Free Library. I had heard of these delightful book boxes, but never seen one. As… Read more »
Why Did This Book Win a Newbery Medal?
I’m working my way through the Newbery Award winners, and while I’ve read some books I really loved, there are some serious duds in the list. So far I have to say Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon and Ginger Pye are real disappointments compared to some of these books. While I gave both of… Read more »
Read All the Newbery Medal Books, March 2016 Update
We’re into March of 2016 and I feel like I’m finally starting to tackle my “read all the Newbery Medal Books” project. I was stalled at the beginning of the year because I wanted to finish Ulysses. While that book is an excellent but very long read. Then in the process of researching the biology… Read more »
Reading Newbery Award Books
So I’m going to try and read as many Newbery Award books as possible this year! What is the Newbery? It is an award given to children’s literature by the American Library Association. Here’s the blurb from the website: “The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by… Read more »
Books That Made Me Laugh
Recently I posted about books that made me cry. Frankly, I don’t mind crying during a book, I feel like it’s a good thing when a writer can make me care so much that I cry. But I also love when a book makes me laugh. Not just say “heh” in my head but actually… Read more »
What Books Made You Cry?
What books made you cry when you read them? For my oldest son, I think the first book that made him cry was the story of Ivan, a gorilla kept in a cage at a mall. In this book, it was the death – and treatment after death – of Ivan’s one friend that brought… Read more »
Reading Goals for 2015
In 2015 I plan to read 100 books. While that total number of books may seem high for some people, but the goal itself seems straightforward, right? Wrong. Debate 1: Does it count as having read a book if you listened to an audio book? It turns out people don’t actually agree on what counts as… Read more »
New Ebook Released: “Thanks! 100 Wonderful Ways to Appreciate Volunteers”
I’m so pleased to announce that the new version of Thanks: 100 Wonderful Ways to Appreciate Volunteers is now available on Amazon. This ebook is a handbook full of concrete suggestions for any volunteer manager or leader who needs creative, thoughtful ways to show their gratitude for the hard work volunteers provide. I’ve been on both sides… Read more »
Good Book Trailers
I love the idea of book trailers and hope one day I’ll have one for my as-yet-unpublished books. In the meantime, I’m very proud to share the excellent book trailer for Defective, a book written by my Pennwriters critique group partner Susan Sofayov. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but this trailer had… Read more »