Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

7.11.2010

I Love Libraries - Part One



She performed all across Europe... making more money in one month than some people make in a year....

but, beauty, youth, and careers fade....
so, when her British husband left her, and her five children became alienated from her,
a friend suggested she move from England back to her native America.

She did so, living briefly in San Diego, Kaysville, then to the Idaho town where I met her when she moved in our neighborhood.

She lived on a very limited income in government subsidized housing. Her income fluctuated according to the dollar/pound ratio, and she counted her pennies, living very frugally.

She loved to read....but certainly couldn't afford to buy books on her limited income.

TA DA! Enter the local library....

Every two or three weeks, I would pick her up, and we headed to the library, where they had an unlimited supply of her favorite Barbara Cartland romance novels. I would help her find ones she hadn't read before or perhaps ones she wished to read again. She might also venture to read a book by another author, as long as she had several Barbara Cartland to fall back on in case she didn't like the other authors. And, the library had plenty of books to keep her well supplied.

Sometimes we would head to the Deseret Book snack shop to get a piece of her favorite bumbleberry pie.

She'd tell me stories from her growing-up years and I marveled at the remarkable stories she told.

Then, I'd drop her off at the side door of her complex, with a promise to see her in two weeks.

She would be so appreciative, knowing she had a boatlaod of books to read over the next few days....realizing she could never afford to buy all the books she loved to read.

And, so, I'm very grateful for the concept of libraries; providing books for all of us who love to read, but who certainly could never afford to buy all those many many books.

12.11.2009

A Look at Favorite Christmas/Holiday Books




Okay, so I've read them lots of times before.

In fact, every Christmas.


They still make me laugh, bring a tear to my eye, and remind me of what the season is really all about.


As a middle school librarian, I loved reading picture books to the fifth graders each day.

They would run in, sit in the kiva, and I'd read a book before they went to look for their own books to read.


One of my all-time favorite picture books to read to the fifth graders during the Christmas/Hanukkah season is this delightful book. In our small Idaho town, there was only one family that I knew of who celebrated Hanukkah, but I wanted to expose the students to other cultures, religions, so it was fun to tell the students about Hanukkah, what it meant, and how important it was to the Jewish people, just as Christmas is important to the Christian.

I hadn't actually thought about this book for a long time, but my daughter is friends with a person who celebrates Hanukkah, so I was reminded of this delightful book.




(Kristi, it's coming soon in the mail to a mailbox near you.)

9.14.2009

New Convert (not a blog on religion)


Beverly told me about it first.

So, I Googled it.

Then, I wanted it: I felt I HAD to have one.

RAH said it seemed like a waste of money, and that good old books would never be replaced.

But, my dear, awesome children went in to get me one for Christmas; I love, love, love it! I mean, what if you are on a long trip out in the middle of the desert in Arizona, and there are no bookstores nearby, and you've just finished the book you have?!?!?

What is one to do then, I ask you?!?!

The answer - download an e-book on your incredible Kindle!!!

Well, that is exactly what I thought and have used it for....

Now, picture this.

RAH and I are in a room visiting relatives; everyone is sleeping - except us - there is no tv, no computer, nothing except my Kindle. RAH - out of boredom - says, "Show me this thing." And, so I show RAH what I use it for; books and looking up words in the dictionary when I read.

Then RAH - always the techno wizard - pokes around and discovers so much more that can be done with this gizmo. Like looking up things on Wikipedia...who knew??!?!?!? RAH also discovers lots of public domain and inexpensive books, like the entire works of Dickens for four dollars!!! Or like buying a book for 99 cents that gives all sorts of short cuts and other uses for this incredible little hand-held device which I adore.

So, then, RAH asks, "Do you think we might need to have TWO Kindles?!?!"

He's converted.

9.11.2009

Scaramouche


Sword fighting...

A really bad villain...

An interesting hero....

A beautiful heroin...

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution...

A surpise ending!

Ahhhh, Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

Thanks, Merrill Jr. for the recommendation..

PS Still loving my Kindle...thanks, kids!

8.12.2009

Library Lover

"One hundred and fifty dollars? That seems a bit steep for these two old books!?"


"Yes," the owner of the used-bookstore replied, "but they are out of print, making them very valuable."


Fast forward one-half hour....


"Could I see your card please?

"These will be due in two weeks, and if you need to, you may renew them for additional time."

And, I may add; it's absolutely FREE!

So, that's one just reason why I love libraries!


8.06.2009

Feeling Grateful for America




Some books are no fun to read; but they are significant, nonetheless. They teach us the evils of war and dictatorship. Such is the case with the two books pictured here.
Each of these true stories is told by a person who lived through unimaginable horrors and systematic slaughtering of a peoples in their native countries. In each book, I was left aghast at the evil that one man and his followers can inflict.
LEFT TO TELL : is the story of the short-lived (thankfully) Rwandan genocide
Beginning on April 6, 1994, and for the next hundred days, up to 800,000 Tutsis were killed by Hutu militia using clubs and machetes, with as many as 10,000 killed each day.
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER: is the story of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge advocates in Cambodia:
About 1.5 million Cambodians are estimated to have died in waves of murder, torture, and starvation, aimed particularly at the educated and intellectual elite.
After reading these two books, I was overwhlemingly grateful for America; in spite of its problems and its politics. I know we face very very tough times ahead, and that we have corrupt officials, but I cannot foresee a tragedy of the magnitude in each of these books.
I was also overwhelmingly grateful for FOOD! Both of these women describe hunger that constantly gnaws at them.
I'm glad I read these, but now, it's time for some light summer reading...how does Amelia Bedelia sound?

DEVASTATION!

 Jenni called Sunday night to talk to Allen. She told him the women in our family do not feel comfortable around him.  He tells them they ar...