Latest Additions March 8, 2010
Posted by stacey in Fiction.Tags: Latest Additions, The Reading Room
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It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood! So sunshiny! Doesn’t that just perk up your mood? Yeah, me too! I’ve got five books that have recently been added to The Reading Room for you to enjoy. Are you ready?
The Cradle by Patrick Somerville
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Dewey: The Small-Town Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
So that’s one a day like the doctor ordered and I give you permission to take them outside for some extra vitamin D! (Also on the doctor’s to do list?) Just be careful not to drop you book in a melty snow pile and don’t forget your sunscreen!
—Stacey
Read Across America Day March 3, 2010
Posted by Donna in Thoughtful Ramblings.add a comment
March 2 is a great day to celebrate! Besides being the birthday of the wonderful author and illustrator, Dr. Seuss, it is also the National Education Association‘s Read Across America Day. The goal of the NEA is to have every child today reading in the company of a caring adult. I read today with children. Did you?
“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”
Women’s History Month March 2, 2010
Posted by carol in Thoughtful Ramblings, Uncategorized.Tags: Women's History Month
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March is Women’s History Month!
2010 marks the the 30th anniversary of the National Women’s History Project. This year’s theme is “Writing Women Back Into History.” Here are a few cool facts about women in United States History:
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The first women’s rights convention met in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.
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Wyoming Territory was first to grant women the vote in 1869.
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Edith Wharton was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1921 for her novel The Age of Innocence.
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Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an airplane in 1928.
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Madeleine Albright became the first female Secretary of State in 1997. In 2004, Condoleezza Rice became the second woman (& first African-American woman!) to hold that position. Five years later, in 2009, the former Senator (and First Lady) Hillary Rodham Clinton became the third female Secretary of State.
That’s just a taste of what women have done (so far) in this country. For more information on women’s history month, check out these resources:
http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history-month
http://www.nwhp.org/whm/index.php
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/studentnews/02/28/women.history.discussion.activity/index.html
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/heritage_month/whm/index.html
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=25053835@N03&q=womensday&m=text
Of course, women are vital to society every day of every year, but it sure is nice to have a month set aside to do some in-depth research on your favorite woman artist, writer, politician, musician, engineer, scientist…well, you get the picture. So, c’mon, celebrate this March by learning a little something about the history of women. ~Carol
Oscar’s Literary Inspirations March 2, 2010
Posted by Dori in Fantasy, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Uncategorized.add a comment
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there are a ton of literary connections among the Oscar nominations this year. Four of the nominees for best film at this year’s Oscars are based on books: Precious – based on the novel Push by Sapphire; The Blind Side - based on The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis; An Education – based on the memoirs of journalist Lynn Barber; and Up in the Air – based on the book by Walter Kirn.
Nominees in several other categories have literary influences as well, such as these in the best performances categories: Julie & Julia, based on the book by Julie Powell; Invictus, based on Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the Nation by John Carlin; The Last Station, based on the book by Jay Parini (and about Leo Tolstoy to boot); The Lovely Bones, from Alice Sebold’s best-selling novel; and A Single Man, based on the book by Christopher Isherwood.
Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox, both based on award winning children’s books, are nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. Costume and Art Direction bring us more: Bright Star is about the life of John Keats and Sherlock Holmes, well, no need to explain. Coco Before Chanel is based on her biography entitled The World of Coco Chanel: Friends, Fashion, Fame. The latest in the Harry Potter franchise makes a showing in the category of Best Cinematography.
Even a couple of the films nominated for Best Foreign Film have their roots in the written word: The Secret in her Eyes, an Argentinian film, is based on the novel La pregunta de sus ojos by Eduardo Sacheri; and the oddest connection is that a Harvard anthropogist’s book about the legacy of violence in Peru inspired the film The Milk of Sorrow.
If I’ve missed any, let me know. Otherwise, that’s a wrap! – enjoy the Oscar’s this Sunday!
~ Dori
Latest Additions March 1, 2010
Posted by stacey in Fiction.Tags: Latest Additions, The Reading Room
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Okay. So, honestly? I know I tried to banish the snow too soon. I know it, but it’s still hard to watch all that snow fall and not think of my broken shovel. I guess I’ll have to get a new one now and not later like I was hoping. Sigh. On the bright side? Wow, what toned arms I’ll have this spring! Like a body builder or something! It’s hard to build that kind of muscle turning the pages of a book -even if it’s a really big book. Shoveling? I’m going to think of it as Mother Nature’s way to give me a free workout for my arms! Thanks Mother Nature! (psst! Mother Nature? You can stop now… really…)
Wouldn’t you rather tone your arms with a book instead of shoveling? How about one of these Latest Additions to The Reading Room?
Ruby’s Spoon by Anna Lawrence Pietroni
The First Annual Grand Prarie Rabbit Festival by Ken Wheaton
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Now. This time, let’s all think Spring…
— Stacey
