Read it or Weep

Reading Health Day July 10, 2008

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”   ~Joseph Addison

    The latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary will have about 100 new words and expressions. The words are added basically by how much they are used in publications ranging from newspapers to technical manuals. Webinar (live, online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments), netroots (grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet, especially by blogs), pretexting (presenting oneself as someone else to obtain private information) and Mental health day (day that an employee takes off from work to relieve stress or renew vitality) are a few of the new words or phrases that have been added. If Merriam-Webster can add Mental health day to their dictionary, why can’t they add a Reading health day entry? A Reading health day would be a day when an employee takes off from work to read and read. Wow! Wouldn’t that be great? I will do my part to get this phrase into the dictionary someday by practicing it a lot! I look forward to taking many Reading health days!  

 Happy Reading! ~Donna

Woes of an Obsessive Reader July 5, 2008

I didn’t realize that I was an obsessive reader until this past week. Sure, I love to read and I look forward to summer for more time to leisurely read a variety of books and to “catch up” on some of the reading that I saved to read when I would have more time. I enjoy reading Christmas stories in July….but I never considered myself an obsessive reader…. I am a bibliophile, a lover of books. However, I questioned my sanity just a little after last Wednesday.  I was at the library and perusing through the new books to see what I could check out to read over the long 4^th of July weekend and I began to panic when I didn’t see anything at that time that I hadn’t read already or that I would want to check out to read. Oh no! Would I have enough to read over the weekend? It was then that I took inventory of the books that I was reading. I had a book in my purse to read (I always have a large enough purse to carry a book). I had several books in my car to read (in case I get stopped at a train crossing). I had a book in my bathroom, one in the bedroom, one in the living room and one in the kitchen. I had several different books at my mother’s house. I had my secret stash of romance novels (I always pick up romance novels since I love the happy endings and I can devour 2 or 3 in one sitting). I had my collection of children’s books to read because I had stopped at the school library. How could I think I would not have enough to read? But here I was….driving over to the local Barnes and Noble store to use my discount coupon to buy a new book (it was on my long list of books to read and it hadn’t come into the library yet). Oh well, I may be obsessive but I am a happy reader! 

     By the way, I loved The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. I didn’t have to add it the Reading Room Database since Carol added it before I could. Here’s the link to the book in our Reading Room Database  http://readingroom.rrpl.org/itemdtl.asp?bid=6934. I’m recommending now Bobbie Faye’s (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels by Toni McGee Causey. It’ fun and of course, I love it!

Happy Reading!     Donna

Happy Birthday America! July 2, 2008

 This is one of my favorite poems and I think it is very appropriate to share as we celebrate Independence Day on July 4. Here it is:

 I Hear America Singing

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of the mechanics-each one singing his,
as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work,
or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat-
the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench-
the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song-the ploughboy’s, on his way in
the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother-or of the young
wife at work-or of the girl sewing or washing-
Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day-At night, the party of
young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.

-Walt Whitman-

 ~Donna~