 A few recent books fresh off the printing press: If you are interested in the history of the wine grape in America, you will like The Wild Vine. Not California but rather Virginia is home to the first truly American wine grape, Vitis nortoni. The first American wine grape was called by the very poetic name, [...] Searching desperately, I hope there is an old magazine in the pocket of the seat in the car, if all else fails at the least a flyer ad, something to read. I have to read. If I have just minutes to wait for someone to finish a class or a sport, I want a book [...] “You learn to write by writing. It’s a truism but what makes it a truism is that it’s true.” After the initial moping by my students and the initial screeching by the teacher, we came to an understanding; the first draft of their thoughtful essays was not to be confused with being the final draft. I was [...]
“You do not know me yet. My son Thomas, who is publishing this book, tells me, it is customary at this place in a novel to give the reader a little taste of the story that is held within these pages. As your storyteller, I am to convey that this tale [...]  Most of my wonderful loot.
The library book sale happens only once a year and on a grand scale. I mark my calendar and wait with great excitement for it to come round. They have loads and loads of culled library books and most of them for only a quarter. That [...] I knew unequivocally that I was a pack rat. I had to get a grip. But every time I thought I would clear out a drawer, a closet, or, heaven forbid, an entire room I would declare everything way too essential and valuable to cull. So, I mostly spent that time wandering helplessly through my [...] I just read a book that made we want to sit and sob.
North Korea today is a country of deep darkness, full of evil leaders and hellish life. This book covers life in North Korea all the way up to June 2009; the horrific life that [...] This is a great chapter book for small children. It is about an old man who is carving a Jesse tree on the door of a church and a young annoying boy comes to see what he is doing. The boy eventually worms his way into the cranky man’s heart. A Jesse Tree is a [...] Long ago my mother was a home economics teacher. She hated teaching. When she got the opportunity, she bailed and became an export administrator for Hewlitt Packard. But first she was a student going back to school while we four children of hers were in elementary school. If we had a snow day and she [...] 
I have so few magazine subscriptions, that I cherish the ones that do show up in my mail box. Then I save them for as long as I can before I tear into them. When Domino Magazine went belly up (I’m still sad about it!) Lucky Magazine started coming as a replacement, [...] It won a Caldecott Honor. The pictures are spectacular. I was pretty excited about this book. I got it just the other day in the mail and debated wrapping it up and giving it to the kids for Christmas but thought better of it. I wanted to read it and couldn’t wait till Christmas. I [...] “I can’t wait to go to Seattle this weekend so I can sit in the car for a really long time and read my book” – Matthias Huuunh!??? This from the boy who was hard pressed to ever read anything, I mean, a paragraph was really pushing things and suddenly I find him laying on his [...] Have you ever totally worn yourself out with an apology? Have you ever thought, and thought, and thought about why was it exactly that you were motivated to act in that certain way that resulted in you being a total JERK! Oh, I was so tired that I snapped, or I was PMS-ing, or you know I [...] I think my day is pretty typical of many women. Your To-do list probably has many of the same things mine does, which include things like washing, ironing and putting away other people’s clothing, cleaning up after them, buying their food, preparing their food, etc etc. etc. Sometimes at the end of day, you can’t think of one [...] The Charlie Brown Holiday Collection. I think this will be the movie we'll watch this week for our movie night. I think I'm as excited as the kids to pull these out of the closet and start watching them. Because we enjoy them so much, I just bought the whole boxed collection on [...]
OK, are you ready for something a little more challenging than my usual Monday morning posts? Try to get your mind around this! This book totally fascinated me. Math captivates me, though I can not grasp the depths of it and this book covers an aspect that I can not [...] “We want life to be trouble-free and entirely enjoyable, to be devoid of risk and suffering and death. We cover reality with smiley faces and shallow clichés. We talk about thinking positively or thinking good thoughts and everything will just be fine. This is, at best, immaturity. If we refuse to grow up to a [...] I am sad to say I photographed the whole process of making chicken in my own little kitchen, but somewhere in the mahem of the last couple months the photos got lost in cyberspace. So this is all I can offer, some stranger's photo off flikr. Making home made chicken stock is one of [...] This cover was too beautiful to not photograph. I makes me wish I had an amazing camera, a gorgeous fuzzy quince, and about an hour to devote to photographing it.
Our new reading book, "Supper of the Lamb". Another beautiful cover I can't resist.
Eric and I have really gotten into food. Not that you [...]
When it comes to Jane Austen, I was like someone who’s been eating home made bread all their life and doesn’t appreciate it until they’ve tried a slice of wonder bread. I had read Austen when I was young and watched the BBC 6 tape Pride and Prejudice enough times to use the dialogue in daily conversation with [...] |
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