Answers To Your Questions - Books, Books and More Books

Several friends chose questions from yesterday's "book questions" list, so I'll spend today answering those. My anniversary date was actually very nice. DH and I brought the jewelry buffer home to its' new location in the workshop, and we were very busy with interesting customers at the shop (all of whom were extremely patient with me, since I was the only person working the sales floor). For my anniversary gift, DH promised me a dinner out at a restaurant of my choice this weekend (probably Olive Garden since I'm, craving Italian - all your fault, SeaIvy - LOL). He also promised to pay half of the cost of my head tattoo. Since I estimate that tattoo might cost as much as $1000, that's a very welcome gift. It also means he's approving the tattoo which will make my life a lot easier. Now ... on with the questions. 

Bookshelves. I have bookshelves in almost every room in my house, even
a small one in one of the bathrooms. I always have a book at hand too,
since I usually read e-books now and almost always have my phone handy
to read another page or ten. (This bookshelf is NOT mine - mine are a bit
better organized than this.) 

Shirebound chose: 

24. How many bookshelves do you own? Are your books organized in any way? (AND)

37. Have you read a book in a different language? What was it?

We have bookshelves in every room in the house - Sharon's room has three, the bedroom has one, the computer room has one, the den has a wall unit, the craft room - well, you've seen the shelving that he's built. There are also several others that stand from floor to ceiling creating a barrier between his crafting area and mine. Then we come to The Library. This room, a study and library, has shelving on three of the four walls, and one of the shelves actually swings open revealing a second shelf behind it (it's designed for paperbacks only). So yeah - a LOT of shelves for two people who adore books. 

I know I read the adventures of Till Eulenspiegel in German when I was young, but I wasn't entranced by the story. I've also read one or two books in Spanish, but I'm not really stellar at other languages, so my reading in them is minimal at best. 

There is nothing better for a child than reading a book. Books open the
universe of different thoughts, worlds, and interests to an open mind.
Encouraging reading is the BEST thing any parent can do for a child. 

cairistonia7 asked: 

50. What book got you into reading?

To be honest, I don't think it was a specific book, just a general feeling of frustration that Dad was doing something else and couldn't read to me, and Mom was also busy. So I sat down with a book I somewhat knew and started working out how to read on my own. Dad was quite surprised, sure I had just "read" it because I had memorized it, but we tried out some other books and I was able to work with them too. I took to reading rather like a duck takes to swimming and never looked back. 

My copy of "Atlas Shrugged" is old, tattered, and
held together with rubber bands. It's much older
than this edition, but that's OK, I'm older than
this edition too. 

greghousesgf asked: 

6. What is your favourite stand-alone book?
16. What book made you laugh?
26. What is your favourite non-fiction book?

My favorite stand-alone book? That's a tough one. I automatically turn to Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" because I've read it to death, but since it is somewhat in a series, I can't. So I'll go to my long-time favorite, also read so many times, Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". I know a lot of people have problems with her philosophy, but the book is a masterpiece and I've read several copies into tatters. 

I rarely read books that make me laugh - I don't like humor in books as much as I love angst and hearts clutched. I'm honestly unsure if I have a single book of comedy on my multitude of bookshelves! No ... I'm thinking and thinking and I'm not coming up with comedy at all. So, I guess that's a question I honestly can't answer. I do like some compilations of comics, that may qualify. I have a few "Peanuts" compilation books from my younger days. 

My favorite nonfiction book is any of Andy Goldsworthy's amazing books. I've pictured "Passage" below. If you're not familiar with him or his art, take a look. It's drop-dead gorgeous. 

So there you go - some answers for you. I'm open to more questions if you want, or we'll all discover a new tangent together for tomorrow's posting. In the meanwhile, have a truly excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Books, To Be Read Lists, and Libraries

We're creeping through the month. Samhain is next week, and then it's November! I'm also creeping along - and trying to get something accomplished on my holiday cards each day. Yesterday morning I finished the first image on the cover, now I need to move onward to either the interior or the top heading for the cover. I'm uncertain about which direction I want to move next, so it's just as well I have a day at home today to work on the envelopes instead. If everything works well (my initial test was "meh") I'll have a nice decoration on the back of the envelope. If today's second test also turns out "meh", I'll scrap the initial idea and look for a different direction or a different material to work with. 

Since I'm talking about books, let's look at some libraries. This is
the Geisel Library in California. Great architecture with
lots of light through those windows. 

I made the mistake - well, not so much a "mistake" as a "giving in to temptation" - of revisiting a three-book series by a favorite author over the past week+. I don't regret the time spent with my nose in her books. Far from it - I certainly wouldn't waste my time reading them if I didn't enjoy them. I was reading them because I wanted to revisit the backstory for her current books four and five - four which I read earlier this month, and five which just got released a few days ago. It's been wonderful to dive back into her world, but the only books of hers on my TBR list were books 4 and 5, so my list keeps growing. 

I've had photos of the Kansas City library before, although this is one
of the nicer photos. I'm not sure if the library is in the Missouri or the
Kansas side, though. It could be either/or. 

I never mind having a long TBR list, though. I actually had one point earlier this year when there were only three or four books on my TBR from this year, and a few carry-overs from earlier years. I was almost panicked, but by the time I got to the bottom of those few books, the list had grown once again. It jumped a LOT, a week or so ago. I had more than 20 ebooks stacked up in my Barnes & Noble shopping cart. It took a while to enter all of those titles into my list after I checked out. Now I'm happy. I have a lot of fun books to work through on that list, and a few that I will move up the pile to be priority reads - just because - LOL. 

Here's a library I hadn't seen before. The Beinecke Rare Book and
Manuscript Library at New Haven, Connecticut, is one I'm unfamiliar
with, but it looks really interesting. I'd love a look at this building and
how it functions. 

Do you keep a TBR list? There's something wonderful about checking books off the list and looking back at the end of each year. Maybe it's a good thing there's still 2+ months left in the year, I'll be able to check off more books. I'm wrapping this up and moving along. It's my "day off" and the schedule is crowded, as usual. Have a fabulous Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Banned Books Week #2 - Five More Books to Consider

Today I continue with the second half of the top ten challenged and/or banned books of 2016, and again I ask you to consider reading one (or more) of these. I've read several of the ten books I'm spotlighting, and recommend them highly. Here we go ...

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green.

Better known for his novel "The Fault In Our Stars", John Green's novel "Looking for Alaska" won the Printz Honor award. This young adult novel was challenged and restricted because of one sexually explicit scene that was felt might lead young readers into "sexual exploration". Wow. Kids exploring sexuality. Doesn't that come with the hormones of the teenage years?

"Big Hard Sex Criminals"  written by Matt
Fraction and illustrated by Chip Zdarsky. 

This is a compilation of adult comics by two award-winning artists. It was challenged and banned and deemed to be too sexually explicit by library staff and administration.

"Make Something Up: Stories You Can't
Unread" by Chuck Palahniuk. 

This is a collection of adult short stories and received positive reviews from Newsweek and the New York Times. It's been challenged for profanity, being sexually explicit, and being "disgusting and all around offensive". I don't know about you, but I think I might want to read something that is thought to be "all around offensive".

The "Little Bill" series, written by Bill Cosby. 

The #9 book in the list is unusual for several reasons. First, it's a series of books. Second, it wasn't challenged because of the writing or the material. It was challenged because of the author. Librarians wanted to pull the series off the shelves because of the criminal sexual allegations against the author. The books themselves look really fun and like something that would be enjoyable for a kid to read. It's a shame that Bill Cosby threw his life into the toilet the way that he did.

"Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell.

If there is a book on this list of ten I'd recommend without a second thought, it's this one. One of seven New York Times Notable Children's Books, and a winner of the Printz Honor, this book was challenged on offensive language. "Eleanor & Park" was my introduction to this author and I found it beautifully written and characterized. It dealt with some really hard situations and managed to deal with them beautifully.

So there you have it - ten banned or challenged books that are well worth putting back into your school libraries and possibly into your own hands for a good read. I haven't read all of them, and I doubt that I will, but I have read several and really enjoyed them. Of course, the list of banned books extends back into time, so there are thousands of choices out there. Why not treat yourself to reading a banned book this week in honor of Banned Books Week.

Have a wonderful Tuesday. Chickie gets the day off today to make up for her working on Monday last week, so I'll be on the sales floor a bit more than usual. Oh well, such is the breaks. Enjoy your day!

Banned Books Week - Have You Read Any of These?

September 24-30 is Banned Books Week. If that doesn't make you, as a reader, stop and think for a moment, maybe it should. Books? Banned? Absolutely! Because books have power. That written word, that storyline, those characters - they can dig into a person's soul, crack open a dusty and rusted corner, and with the application of perfect pressure, can let in light. Today I'm featuring the Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016. I've read some of these, and there are others in this group that I think I'll add to my TBR list. Why were they challenged? I've included basic descriptions of why beneath each cover.

Today and tomorrow I'm featuring the books most often challenged, restricted or
banned in 2016. Below the cut you'll find the top 5, numbers 6-10 will be
featured on Tuesday's blog. 

Here we go ...

The #1 challenged and banned book of 2016 is "This
One Summer" written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated
by Jillian Tamaki.

1 - Although it won both the Printz and Caldicott Honor awards, it was targeted as banned or restricted because this graphic novel includes LGBT characters, drug use, and profanity and was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.

"Drama", written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier,
lands in the dubious #2 spot. 

Although it won the Stonewall Honor award, this graphic novel ended up on this dubious list because it included LGBT characters, was deemed sexually explicit, and was considered to have an offensive political viewpoint. Once again, books are considered political weapons, and isn't it curious that the top two in the list have LGBT characters?

"George", written by Alex Gino landed at #3 on the list. 

"George" won both a Stonewall Award and a Lambda Literary Award, but was removed from library shelves because it included a transgender child and the "sexuality was not appropriate at elementary levels". I know adults for whom this level of sexuality would be inappropriate, and third grade advanced readers for whom it would be just fine. Let kids make up their own minds about what is and is not appropriate.

"I Am Jazz" written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated
by Shelagh McNicholas. 

No awards here, but Jazz is well known for telling her own story though the televised media. This picture book memoir was challenged because it portrays a transgender child and because of language, sex education, and offensive viewpoints.

"Two Boys Kissing" by David Levithan

This book quickly rose in the ranks of top LGBT books, but it's been condemned and banned from many libraries because its cover has an image of two boys kissing and it was considered to include sexually explicit LGBT content. Despite that, it is included on the National Book Award longlist and is a Stonewall Honor winner.


I don't want to get too graphically heavy, so I'll put books 6-10 on the list in tomorrow's blog. On the list of ten books, half were restricted or banned because of LGBT characters or connotations. Challenged books results in the book being banned from the library, school district, or city library system 10% of the time, and books, if people are quiet about them, can slowly make their way into the dusty stacks of the 'never read' and then the trash. Do you care about books? Are you passionate about reading? Why not let an author know that their words mean a lot to you. Make their day! Also, pick up one of the books I'm featuring over these days and read it. Support that author's right to tell his or her or their story.

Have a wonderful Monday. We're getting some rain, so the beastly temperatures of upper 80's into the mid-90's that we had yesterday are finally down to mid-60's. A lot more comfortable.

Planning - Optimist or Pessimist?

Summer only started and I'm already planning my autumn. Crazy! Maybe it's the heat affecting my mind? No ... it's that desire I have to put everything in order and have things progress in a predictable manner. It's me trying to control my future once again, when I know that's almost impossible to do. But I'm going to continue trying, because I'm an optimist (years of practice and turning my back on the dark side).

Although the past is part of what makes you, the past isn't
what controls you. That final control is really up to you, and
I consciously choose to look at the bright side and attempt
to find the beauty in the world and in other people. 

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Do you have a positive or a negative outlook on the world? When stuck in traffic, do you look at the surroundings and try and notice the beauty around you or do you growl at the cars moving at a pace that a snail could easily beat instead? Sometimes looking at the bright side of things takes concentration and a determination to find something positive in a bad situation. I'll notice the small things like the birds flying overhead, the song playing on the radio, or the small gophers that line the freeway greenspace, watching the cars pass by with wonder and a shake of their furry heads.

There are so many amazing things that nature shows to us - such
beauty that it can take your breath away. When you focus
on the anger, the beauty often passes by unacknowledged. 

When I look at huge tasks (such as getting our library into a reduced and organized state or working on getting our retirement into a position of possible reality) I try to reduce the huge tasks into smaller, more achievable slices. This allows me to work on them a little bit by little bit and achieve something large through nibbles. I admit that working at nose level can distort the big picture. It's the danger of that type of focus.

Planning an event or, in this case, a visitor and
the next year's schedule, can be daunting. Eat that
cake one bite at a time and it's more manageable. 

Yet, here I am, planning months ahead, giving myself deadlines for the achievement of certain tasks. Some things are scheduled far in advance and I have to work within those dates - the State Fair dates are determined years in advance and the Renaissance Festival will start in August and end in October. My BFF Sharon has emailed to confirm that we will once again be sharing the long Labor Day weekend with sore feet, hot weather, possible thunderstorms, and more memories to add to our long experiences together. Yeah - sometimes planning can be a good thing! Now to get more done on that library today so that she might actually have a place to sleep when she arrives in September. Have a great Wednesday, all!

Longer...Slower

Everything today happened, but a little bit slower, with a little bit more traffic, and a lot more bother. I got my 3500+ words written on NaNo, but not until I went to the Library this evening for 1-1/2 hours of quiet writing time plugged into a Classical music shuffle on my iPod. My computer is acting like it's made from tar - pokey and slow. It took more than 20 minutes just to shut down earlier today.

This is one of the downstairs computer benches. There are two others upstairs and 

I think at least one more downstairs. Lots of computers at any rate - LOL.

This morning I had breakfast with Meghan, her son Sebas and Chickie. Traffic was crappy, so we ended up dropping Sebas off late for daycare. I was running about a half hour late on my laundry, got to the grocer about a half hour late, and didn't even get a chance to start my NaNo writing until about 1:00 pm this afternoon. Everything was going slower than normal today. But there were very good things too.

My life was like that of a tortoise today.

I got to see a lot more of the Desktop Meme of friends. I have loved each and every one of the ones I've seen, and they are so indicative of the people whose electronic personalities they dictate. Those of you who haven't posted your Desktop Meme, please consider doing so. It's been a real joy seeing all of them. That's it for tonight - short and sweet.

Hide and Seek, Negative and Positive

So apparently the economy is doing better and people are back out and shopping again.  But you could fool me.  If I had the store dollars to base an opinion on, I'd say that we are one step from dropping into a hole.  Monday (yesterday) was one of the worst sales days we've ever had in the twenty-five year history of the store.  Wassup With That????  Things need to make a serious turnaround, and quickly.  There is a small bead show in the area this weekend, but usually that one doesn't impact our sales.  I know we have the selection and our prices are really good.  I can't figure it out.  *sigh*

On the other hand, I got my second pair of hi-tops delivered yesterday.  I will try them on this morning and see if they fit better than the first one.  The first pair was too big - too much toe room.  If this second pair fits better/correctly, I'll send the first pair back and I can start the design process.  So that's one good thing that happened yesterday.

Another good thing is my maps.  I ordered six maps yesterday morning from the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado.  These are the detail maps that I will be using for my NaNoWriMo story.  I won't know exactly where I'll put them until I get them I really don't have a lot of open wall space to devote to them) but they were quire inexpensive and will help clarify routes, etc a lot in my mind.  I also found out that three books I needed for some background information are available through the Denver Public Library, so I'll be putting in an interlibrary loan request tomorrow to get those into my hands.  The books are short, so getting all of them at once (if I get really lucky) won't be a problem.

And tomorrow I get to join my friends Chickie and Meaghan for breakfast.  I may not be fortunate in business but I am extremely fortunate in my friends and my employees.  Chickie has been a friend/employee for twenty years and Meaghan only worked two years for me, but we've been friends ever since.  Both of them are quite a bit younger than I am so they also make me feel young (on good days - LOL).

Oh, and my Denver Broncos pulled out a win last night against the San Diego Chargers!  WTG Denver!!!!  Whoop!

TGIF and E-Books

I really need a Friday, and here we are, back to Friday again! Call me happy about that (visualize me running through a field of daisies, happily cavorting with the little animals and avoiding all bugs and mud). Friday is a wonderful invention. It's really too bad that I have to work on Saturdays so that my true Friday is really Saturday - LOL. Confused yet?

So, deciding to return to basics in my quest to improve my writing, I am reading two different books that basically are classes and exercises in creative writing. I'm actually quite happy with the books, and I would like to read some of the supplementary materials and novels recommended so that I can get a clearer idea of what is being discussed in the various chapters. I was hoping to get the source materials through my local library's E-book lending program because it seemed reasonable to just borrow a book temporarily, read it and then return it. And because I wanted to keep carrying a bunch of books to a minimum, I wanted an E-format to just load onto my NookColor. Badda bing, badda bang.

A beautiful picture by Estelar on Deviant Art 

But no. No such luck. The amount of E-books available for checkout is mega limited. And the library only has a single copy and it is "checked out" (although how you can check out something that is digital and limit the copies is a bit mind-boggling in itself). Now, I can see in the future that there will be a national library consisting of E-books, because that only makes sense. But why the heck can't I have one now! So, I gritted my teeth and put paper copies on hold. *sigh* I would really have preferred the E-version.

The new Denver Public Library building is so kewl. 

And Sharon - I really need a DPL card. How can we make this happen? Can you claim me as your daughter or something? Or give me your number so that I can check out E-books on your card? Talk with me, GF.

Responses and Determinations

Wow. Lots of interesting responses to yesterday's post about my return to the library and decision to attempt NaNoWriMo in November. A lot of support and interesting perspectives. My friend who is a published author of books for children and young adults was totally supportive telling me to write what I felt, that all of the rest would follow. On-line friends helped out with YA forum links and confirmation that 50,000 words is not out of the realm of a YA novel at all. So I think I'll forge ahead with my research and see what happens with that. If I can't get the plot ironed out in my head, at least the salient points of it, I won't do this, but if I can meld the research and the plot in my head and outline, I probably will.

Writing this story will be a means of exorcising some ghosts for me. I'm not necessarily going to be writing this for publication as much as writing this because I need to get this written. It's a plot bug that crawled into my head several years ago and has kept on growing and growing until it simply has to be excised. The least painful way for me to do this will be by writing it. But as with all historically-based things that I have done, I have to do the research.

Writing anything is like a roller coaster ride, the elation of the storyline that sits there and begs to be told are the uphill portions, the actual process of writing it though, the angst and the annoyances, well those are the downhill portions. You need both parts to have a successful ride, and in many ways it is the downhill parts that you live for. I found a marvelous quote today that I will share with you. "The test of an adventure is that when you're in the middle of it, you say to yourself 'Oh, now I've got myself into an awful mess; I wish I were sitting quietly at home.' And the sign that something's wrong with you is when you sit quietly at home wishing you were out having lots of adventure." - Thornton Wilder

A Trip to the Library

I am now the proud possessor of a library card. OK, I know - I read like a maniac, I write, I do research, why haven't I had a library card before now? Well, I have and I haven't. Throughout my life I have had either library cards for my local libraries or was a student accessing the student libraries of the various colleges I attended. The Denver Public Library was my friend, especially when I was researching various presentations that I made on World War II. The librarians were great and the collection was deep, they also had a 2nd floor room with typewriters (yes, this was in the dark ages before computers) where I could put quarters into a timed meter and type up my notes. Much easier, and it meant I didn't need to check out a bunch of books, drive them 90 minutes north of the City to the town where I attended college, and then have to return them back to Denver before their due dates. A pain, so the typewriters were a god-send.

So on Sunday I determined that it was time to get a library card again. I had one when I first moved up here, but then we started buying a lot of used books, and I am someone who likes to read and re-read books multiple times, so owning books is really my preference. But there are some books that I'm interested in owning temporarily in e-book format, and I'm doing some research for an original novel idea that I have and am hoping that I can get some of those materials through the library. We have a really nice library nearby, newly remodeled and expanded. I am beginning to realize, however, that I am living in the wrong state to really get what I need for research stuff. I'll be talking with my friend Sharon who is closer to the source and is a librarian. How lucky can I get?

So, I'm researching, and I'm reading, and I'm thinking about an original novel for NaNoWriMo with one exception that keeps cropping its head into my vision. I want to write this book if I can figure out the proper hook for it, but I want to write it as a young adults book, not an adult novel, and that usually means a word count less than the 50,000 NaNoWriMo requires. So, it's a quandry. Do I write what I want beginning November 1? Or do I write something totally different that I can write as an adult novel and shelve the book I want to write until another time? In the meantime, I checked out three books - one children's book that I quickly read yesterday, noted what I liked and didn't like and will return later this week, and two books on drawing and illustrating techniques. If nothing else, I can always draw....