That's a book?

Happy Thursday, friends.

I'm curious. What would be your reaction to the following sentences?

"Did you find an odd box with pieces of paper inside? It might be a book! Some of them still have real pages—and I'll show you just how to read one."

These are the words Abilene Christian University student Hilary Commer uses to describe a video she created for her Intro to Visual Media class. In the video, she tells people who are used to reading books only on e-readers or on apps exactly how to go about reading a "real" book. Part humorous and part serious, this video is both entertaining and maybe a little sad for those of us who grew up with—and still love—traditional books.

What do you think of Commer's video? Do you prefer to read one type of book over the other?



Wishing you all a fantastic Thursday. ☺

B is for Books

Happy Tuesday!

Today's bit of inspiration comes from books—and specifically from this short video about them created by director, editor, and cinematographer Sean Ohlenkamp. Not only does the video inspire me to continue writing in the hopes of one day seeing my own books on the shelves, but I'm also inspired by the artistry of the stop-motion animation Ohlenkamp used in the video's creation. I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do!



Also, my haiku for the Pulitzer Remix is up. You can find it here. If you have a chance, please check it out. I'd really appreciate it!


Wishing you all a happy and creative Tuesday. ☺

Let's talk about books!

Today I'm linking up with Booking Through Thursday, a weekly meme about books and reading. You can find out more here.

Today's question is a simple one: What are you reading right now?

As usual, I have a couple of books going. The first is Ted Kooser's Pulitzer Prize-winning Delights & Shadows. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that Kooser, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, is my favorite poet. He writes what many people describe as "accessible" verse, always finding new and creative ways to look at the ordinary, simple things in life. I've read this book before—it's a wonderful collection—and my favorite poem in it is one I've mentioned before, "Tattoo."

I also enjoy this one, "A Room in the Past," which is found in Kooser's One World at a Time. Here he is reading it:



If you're interested in reading some poetry, Delights & Shadows is wonderful—although in my opinion, you can't go wrong with any of Kooser's books.

Another book I'm reading right now is the irreverently titled Sh*tty Mom by Laurie Kilmartin, Karen Moline, Alicia Ybarbo, and Mary Ann Zoellner. It's a somewhat funny (in my opinion), tongue-in-cheek parenting guide. My local library was featuring it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Would I recommend it? Eh...I'm not sure. There have been moments when I've laughed out loud while reading it, but overall, I think it's just mildly amusing.

A book I do recommend, however, is a young adult novel I finished earlier this week: Every Day by David Levithan. It's about a person who wakes up each morning in the body of someone else, which, because it's the only life the character has every known, seems to work out fine—until, that is, love becomes a factor. The tagline says it all, I think: "Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl." It's not my usual genre, but I found this book to be moving and well-written, and I definitely recommend it.

So that's what I've been reading lately. What are you reading? What do you recommend?


Wishing you a wonderful Thursday!

Sunday inspiration

Happy Sunday!

My inspiration pick for the day is this creative stop-motion video about something most readers and writers probably spend some time thinking about: organizing their bookcases.



Our house is pretty small and has been taken over by toys, so most of my books have ended up in boxes. How do you organize your bookshelves? By color? Size? Author's last name?

Have a great day!

Hello, Monday

Hello, tulips. There's a reason you've become my favorite flower. 

Do you remember? (Here's a hint.) ☺

 Hello, Pinterest and ideas for fun kids' crafts.

Puffy Paint recipe from One Crafty Mumma.
Artwork by my kids.

Hello, cup of tea. This season makes me think of you.

Hello, new stack of library books. You make me happy.

 

Hello, Monday.

Hello, new beginnings and new chances.

 

Hello to a beautiful week. ☺


What are you saying hello to today?
 

This post was inspired by Lisa Leonard. Be sure to check out her great blog, found here.

Currently...

I've seen this fun idea on several people's blogs this week—like here at Katy Upperman's and here at Jessica Love's—so I thought I'd take the opportunity to post my own "Currently..." update today.

Photo by Elisa Xyz,
Courtesy of Public Domain Pictures

Loving: The two hours of quiet time I have each day when my daughter takes her nap and my son is at school. I'd forgotten how peaceful the house could be.

Reading: Jen Lancaster's memoir Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide
to Why It Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? I've read all but Lancaster's newest memoir—I'm on the hold list for that one—and have loved them all. She's laugh-out-loud funny, and I can never resist her crazy, extra-long titles!

Watching: Greek. I'm almost finished with season one and can't wait to watch the rest. I'm well past my school years, but I still love watching shows about college. Those were the days!

Is it time for my catnap yet?
Photo by Teodoro S. Gruhl,
Public Domain Pictures

Thinking about: The fact that I've been too tired to write since my son started school. I've been getting up at 5 a.m. to pack his lunch and have a cup of coffee. Then it's go, go, go all day until I collapse into bed at night. One of these days I'll get it together enough to write during that two-hour span when my daughter naps, but so far all I've wanted to do is take my own nap.

Anticipating: The season premiere of Gossip Girl. (October 8!)

Wishing: That I could figure out an important plot point in my WIP.

Making me happy: The fact that my son LOVES kindergarten. ☺


How are you doing today?

50,092 words for the win!

Happy news on this Wednesday: I crossed the Camp NaNoWriMo finish line last night!

I ending up writing just over 50,000 words in twenty-eight days. My project, a family history memoir, is nowhere near complete, but I'm happy to have made such a significant dent in it. My cabinmates were supportive and encouraging, and we had a lot of fun writing together. Although I've participated in NaNoWriMo many times, this was my first experience with Camp Nano. I'll definitely go camping again!

Also on the writing front this month: I bought two new books: Now Write! Nonfiction and The 3 A.M. Epiphany. I'm looking forward to reading the first one because it contains several writing exercises pertaining to memoir and creative nonfiction, which I'm certain will be helpful as I finish my Camp NaNo project and look toward revising my own memoir. The second book looks great as well. Its focus is fiction, which I'm eager to start writing once again. I have to—those voices in my head need to get out!

So that's been my month in a nutshell—"camping" and reading. How was your August? Did you read anything great? Do a lot of writing? What's been keeping you busy?

For the love of books

Happy Saturday!

Today I want to thank two wonderful bloggers for the awards they've given me recently: Jaime at Awakenings and Reflections presented me with the Liebster Blog Award, the Kreativ Blogger Award, and the Versatile Blogger Award, and Krista at The Jelly Beans of Writing handed me The Booker Award. Thank you both so much!

This is the first time I've received The Booker Award, so I thought I'd focus on that one today. Here are the rules:

1. This award is for book bloggers only. To receive this award, the blog must be at least fifty percent about books. (Reading or writing.)

2. You must share your top five favorite books.

3. You must give this award to five to ten other book blogs you adore.


Like most of you, I read a lot. I have a master's in English literature and am rarely without a book in my hands, yet I find it very difficult to list my five favorite books. I like so many, and my favorites change depending on my state of mind and stage in life. Since it's impossible for me to list my top books, I decided to give you a list of several books I love instead, presented in no particular order:

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
3. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
6. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
7. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
8. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
9. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser

There are so many more, but these are the books on my mind at this moment. If you ask me tomorrow—or even in an hour—the list might be very different.

Now it's my turn to present these awards, and since I've seen them circling the blogosphere pretty frequently lately and no longer know who has already received them, I'd like to give them to all of you! Take all four or pick and choose (just grab them from my sidebar).

Finally, speaking of books, I found this wonderful YouTube video showing what happens in a bookstore after hours. Enjoy!



Have a great weekend!

B is for Books

I love to read. When my sister and I were kids, we would stay at our grandma's house in town for a few days in the summer, and we'd always walk to the library, then carry home stacks and stacks of books, which we'd devour in no time and then crave more. I still read like that, which is probably why I don't get as much sleep as I should. Every year I set a reading goal. Last year's goal was 104 books, and I read 108. This year I've set the bar at 110. I'm reading number 27 now.

The push and pull

Today's 100 words:

I stayed up too late reading again last night. I never mean to--I know how deeply tired I am and how much my body and mind crave rest since my first child was born five years ago. Before, I used to drink coffee in the mornings because I liked the taste. Now I drink it because I need it to push me closer to awake. Still, as anyone who reads knows, it's hard to put a good book down--no matter the time, no matter how tired, no matter the push/pull of reading love and need for sleep.

Stream of consciousness--and a good thing

Today's 100 words:

I feel out of sorts, not myself, like something isn't quite right, and I don't know if it's only the respiratory infection I've had for a couple of weeks or the ear infection I was just diagnosed with or the fact that ever since the end of February, everything in my life has been go, go, go when all I want--all I need, really--is to rest, to relax, to take some time to breathe and just be because honestly, I don't know how much longer I can go on this way at this pace: too fast, so fast.

As much as I've felt strange lately, I was able to push those feelings aside yesterday when my little boy, only five years old, ran up to me in the library, a book clutched in his hands. It was a "big kid" book meant for much older children--no pictures, chapters, lots of words--but he was so excited to check it out, so excited for me to read it to him bit by bit. We started it yesterday, and although I'm not sure he has the focus yet to really concentrate on such a story, I'm so proud of him for wanting to try, and I'll never forget the excitement on his face and the look of pride in his eyes as he clutched that book. I guess it's true that there's always a silver lining if one looks carefully enough.

It's gotta grab me

Today's 100 words:

I used to feel as though I needed to finish every book I started. In the past couple of weeks, however, I've probably given up on at least five books, and of the three books I started yesterday, I think I'll continue with only one. (Admittedly, that was an odd reading day.) I pick up books based mainly on their back covers, and as we all know, sometimes the writing doesn't deliver on the blurb. As I've gotten older, I've decided that if a book doesn't grab me in the first thirty or forty pages, it's not worth my time.

On books and time

Today's 100 words:

Last Wednesday, I took my kids to the library, as I try to do at least once a week. They wanted to go to the one they call the "tent library" because it features a small tent in the children's section that they both love to play in. While there, I picked up a huge stack of books for all of us and was excited to find a novel that I'd been wanting to read for a while. Now I look at my tbr pile and dream of the moment I'll have time to sit down with my new books.

What will their dreams be?

Today's 100 words:

It was my mom who told me that I should be a writer. I guess she saw something in me way back when I was young and spending much of my free time scribbling away in notebooks. It's been my own dream for just as long. Now I look at my kids and wonder what their dreams will be. Will my daughter's love of animals turn into a career as a veterinarian? Will my son's love of trains and cars and singing factor into his future plans?

Both of my children love books. Will they be writers, too?

Shopping

Today's 100 words:

As I browsed the shelves at Barnes and Noble this past Christmas season, I saw an older gentleman with an armload of purchases. He stopped near me for a second before spotting some books piled on the floor. He hurried over to them, grabbed the one from the top, glanced at the cover, flipped through the pages, nodded, and then added the book to his stack. I wondered: Had he been searching for that book, or was it one of those desperate, gotta-find-something purchases I saw so many make when I worked retail? My money's on the latter.

A necessity

Today's 100 words:

I love to read. Each year I resolve to read 104 books, a manageable two books a week. In 2005 I started keeping lists of the books I read, and although so far I've never met my goal, I've always come close, reading anywhere from 95 to 102 books a year. This year I expect to succeed, as I've already read 86 books. I can't imagine my life without the escape that reading provides, can't fathom being unable to immerse my mind in someone else's life and forget about my own. For me, reading isn't a luxury; it's a necessity.

On loving books and needing to eat

Today's 100 words:

I love my books and don't part with them easily. Even if I didn't particularly enjoy some of them, I still want to own them and often wish I had every book I'd ever read. What an amazing chronicle of my life that would be, to see all of my books from infancy through old age, all bearing testament to the kind of person I was at each stage: the things I enjoyed reading about, my favorite authors, the way my reading tastes changed...

(In graduate school, I sold The English Patient so I could buy lunch.)

Weeding my bookshelves (and book boxes)

As much as I hate to do it, I've finally decided that I have to give away some of my books. I no longer have room for them, especially as the kids get older and their things take up more and more space in our tiny house. I'll keep my favorite ones, of course, but I plan on donating most of the others to the library or to the Salvation Army.

Have any of you ever weeded your bookshelves? I feel like I'm giving away my kids...

Another memory: lazy weekends

I've been thinking a lot about my childhood this weekend, and this morning I wrote this one-sentence, 100-words exercise about lazy weekend mornings: 

 

I remember many lazy weekends when I was a child, mornings spent in bed, reading my favorite books and listening to the hum of the household around me--Mom and Dad talking in the kitchen, my sister in the living room, her spoon clanking against her cereal bowl, the Road Runner's beep-beep blaring from the television--and I would keep reading, forgetting about breakfast, forgetting sometimes about lunch, as I immersed myself in someone else's reality, someone else's life, until from a kind of fog, I would hear my mother calling me, jarring me back to my own reality.

"Books are a refuge..."

"Books are a refuge, a sort of cloistral refuge, from the vulgarities of the actual world." ~ Walter Pater, English author

Like most writers, I've always been an avid reader. When I was a child, I used to spend lazy summers walking from my grandma's house to the library and back, arms laden with books, and I remember how excited I was to dive into those stories, to immerse myself in the words. I still feel that excitement and anticipation each time I pick up a new book--that wonder about where the story is going to carry me and that eagerness to become lost in the characters and their lives.

Every January since 2005, I've set a reading goal for the year. For the past several years, my goal has been to read 104 books, an average of two per week. The closest I've gotten was 102 books in 2005. However, even though I now have children and therefore considerably less time to read--I read mostly at night, choosing to stumble through my days on only four or five hours of sleep--I still average about 100 books a year. So far this year I've read thirty-three, and I'm nearly finished with number thirty-four.

I try to read a wide variety of books, and every year, I inevitably reread some of my favorites--Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, for example. More often, though, I prefer reading books that are new to me, books whose stories are still a mystery. And although I once used to read a book from start to finish, regardless of whether I was enjoying it, now I don't hesitate to set aside a book that doesn't hold my interest. In January, I wrote one of my 100 words entries on this topic:

I've learned as I've gotten older that life is too short to read bad books. I used to finish every book, regardless of how uninteresting or poorly written it was. Recently, however, as I've grown more conscious of the passage of time, I've realized I just don't have enough life to read anything but the best. I once heard that people should read as many pages as their age subtracted from 100 before passing on a book. In my case (age 38), I should give each book a 62-page chance. Sometimes even that seems like a waste of time.

Books are a refuge, just as Pater said. They've saved me so many times when life was bleak and I longed for an escape, a way out. A break. They've taken me to places I may never go and introduced me to the kinds of people I may never have the privilege of meeting in "real" life. They've made my life richer and more meaningful and have also taught me so much about the craft of writing, about how to engage readers and become a better storyteller. There's no doubt that my life would be emptier without books.

What about you? Tell me about your love of books, about what you read and why. What have you discovered about yourself as you've turned the pages?