Author: readitorweep

Kitty Cats

readitorweepLeave a comment

If you are a cat lover and somehow missed The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory, which was written in 1989, take a couple of hours to read this charming story. I picked this as my Christmas read for 2007. My husband and I adopted a kitten this year, so I’ll probably be reading more cat books. Cleveland narrates the tale of the piteous stray cat he rescues on Christmas Eve. His story about the cat he soon names Polar Bear will make you laugh and touch your heart. I loved the description of how Mr. Amory “talked” Polar Bear into taking a pill.
~Ann

News that is Newsworthy!

readitorweepLeave a comment

Librarians and books… making headlines left and right!

First, there was the fabulous tidbit in the Plain Dealer’s PDQ section. A New York librarian won ESPN Zone’s Ultimate Couch Potato Competition! Stan Friedman was able to watch 29 consecutive hours of sports without getting up or falling asleep! It’s hard to know if that’s something to admire or if that’s scary. Forget that it’s sports for a minute. Do you think you could do anything for 29 hours without a break? I know I couldn’t. Stan’s prizes are: “…a 42-inch Olevia LCD HD TV, a DreamSeat recliner, a year’s subscription to ESPN The Magazine, a year’s supply of ESPN Zone game cards, $200 in ESPN Zone gift certificates, and ESPN Zone’s Ultimate Couch Potato trophy featuring a real, live spud. ” Nope. Still couldn’t do it. Go Stan! You are a fine example of the willpower of a Librarian. We salute you!

Even more important than beholding the strength of will in a Librarian? Awards for VIB’s (or Very Important Books) were passed out this morning. The Newbery and the Caldecott winners, among others, were announced at American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Philidelphia. To read the full details, check this out: Press Release from ALA. I love this stuff, even though my list of books to read just got a little bit longer…

Stacey

Read Along With Jane

readitorweepLeave a comment

When I saw that PBS was going to air adaptations of Jane Austen’s works on Masterpiece Theater I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for me to read along as I’ve never read any of her works, much to the shock of many of my Jane-loving co-workers. Persuasion was the first to air, so I started it last week with a little trepidation. I needn’t have worried, as I couldn’t wait to turn the pages to find out how sensible and stoic Ann Elliot was going to end up with her true love Frederick Wentworth. Filled with characters as farcical as Ann’s preening father and as mysterious as her cousin Mr. Eliot, this was Jane’s final novel and left me hopeful for second chances. On to Northhanger Abby! (Though I am not too enthusiastic about the Gothic element, I will forge ahead!). ~ Dori

Are You Still Hungry?

readitorweepLeave a comment

If you are still hungry after reading Stacey’s post, I just spotted another new “food” book. The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone. The flyleaf of the book says “When James Beard Award-winning author Laura Schenone undertakes a quest to retrieve her great grandmother’s recipe for ravioli, she finds herself on an unforgettable journey. Her original goal was simple enough: to learn to make an authentic old family dish. But things get more complicated as she reunites with relatives, digs up buried family stories, and finds conflicting ideas about the past and what is true.” Enjoy! ~Ann

Food for Thought

readitorweepLeave a comment

I love reading non-fiction books as much as I like reading fiction books, they just feed different needs. Like books about food. Or strange hobbies. Or odd careers. Of course you have to be careful when you read books about real people and things because you might wind up thinking, “Me too!”

Here’s one example. Let’s talk about the book Candy and me : a love story by Hilary Liftin. I could totally identify with Hilary’s love of candy, the one difference being her sweet tooth is ginormously large and mine is wee tiny in comparison. I enjoyed her remembering the candies of her youth and her raposodising over the candies of today. I did not enjoy the power her words had over me. I read about her love of Circus Peanuts and then had to try them for myself. I mean, how can I convincingly tell of my love for candy if I haven’t tried all the good stuff out there? So I bought Circus Peanuts because Hilary loved them. It gets worse. I love them now too! They’re squishy -but firm- and pleasantly sweet -but not too sweet. Yummy!

Another book that was persuading me overeat? American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America’s Back Roads by Pascale Le Draoulec. Do you see a trend? I do. But again, Pascale had my undivided attention at her first bite of pie. Pascale was moving from California to New York and decided to make it a road trip/adventure. Her mission? To find great pie everywhere she went. She fulfilled her mission and made me dream about Strawberry Rhubarb pie for weeks! Plus Key Lime pie and Banana Cream pie and Cherry pie…

Hungry for dessert? Me too…

Stacey

Welcome to Our World of Words!

readitorweepLeave a comment

This isn’t really new thing for us to do, but it is a new way for us to share it with you. What are we sharing? We’re sharing our sundry thoughts about words when they are strung together to make sentences that are connected to make paragraphs that are cobbled together to help us think about new things… Or in other words, we are about to embark on a new way to share our love of words and what they can create!

We aren’t going to use this as just a source for book recommendations. Why recreate our fabulous database The Reading Room? That being said… you might find a title or two that interest you, but that’s not the focus here.

Instead we wanted to find another outlet for our obsession -words! We’ll be talking about things like the upcoming Newbery Awards on January 14th. Or maybe someone will want to discuss where to go to find the most literate communities? We know Rocky River would be top 10 if they included small cities, but for the larger cities? Well we could check America’s Most Literate Cities to find Minneapolis trumps them all! Who knew? If you’re curious, Cleveland is no. 13 which is one better than last year’s no. 14

Or maybe you’ll want to check in with us to see why we’re reading what we read? Why did I check out a copy of Touchstone by Laurie R. King? Okay, that one’s easy: 1) it got a good review and 2) it’s about The Great War which I find interesting. You get the idea though, right? Alright, that was slightly dull but next book might have more “oomph” behind it! Don’t you feel the anticipation building?

So, that’s our plan for today. I’m sure there will be somethings we try, we love, and keep doing. I’m also sure there will be things that we try, we don’t love, and stop doing. Stay tuned for all the excitement to come!

Stacey