Member: SaintSunniva

Oh dear, I can't believe Dostoyevsky was really that slangy in his writing. It would seem out of character! Surely the translator was just a bit of a yahoo. Speaking of which, I should check my email... ;)

posted by muumi at 10:34 am (EST) on Apr 23, 2013

Our Nepi beata is Cecilia Eusepi. She seems to have been a lovely young woman, although I am certainly missing a lot when trying to read her life story in Italian. :D

You have St Benedict Joseph Labre nailed. The perpetual pilgrim. It seems he once swung by Castel Sant'Elia (3 km from Nepi, you can see one town from the other across the valley, although the ancient footpath has fallen into desuetude and these days you pretty much have to drive), on his way north from Rome, and shortly thereafter, somewhere up in Umbria (I think it was) he met a Franciscan friar who felt a calling to the life of a hermit. "Well!" says St Benedict Joseph. "I have a hermitage for you!" and directed him to Castel Sant'Elia's shrine of Maria Sanctissima ad Rupes (Our Lady of the Crags) which was a very ancient place of prayer abandoned by the Benedictines around the time of the Muslim invasions (I suppose the order was regrouping). For several hundred years the shrine had been maintained by the townspeople as best they could, but since to get there they had to descend a steep path to their basilica which for some reason was in the valley at the bottom of a cliff and not in the walled city (one of the old residents told Sara and Stefano that by the time a funeral procession got to the cemetery with the coffin, the coffin-bearers felt as dead as the deceased!) and from there, climb up a steep cliff to the sanctuary... I imagine they probably did a clean-up once a year right before having Mass on the feast day. So Brother Rodio liked the suggestion, moved in to the hermit's quarters at the shrine and spent the next 25 years whenever he wasn't busy saying the Office of the Hours or whatever hermits do, excavating a lovely set of stairs through living rock so the people of Castel Sant'Elia can stroll leisurely down to the sanctuary from the top of the cliff they live on.

posted by muumi at 7:45 pm (EST) on Mar 25, 2013

No, never Otranto, never been on that side of the country. You do know we have an actual beata from Nepi though, just beatified last year? Plus the St Benedict Joseph Labre connexion. Love it. I hope they get on the case of his friend Brother Rodio.

You did tell me about Alice Thomas Ellis but I have not yet seen any of her books.

xxoo

posted by muumi at 12:08 am (EST) on Mar 24, 2013

Wow, her "faith journey" (for want of a better term - do you have a better term?) is as improbable as mine. Maybe. :D

posted by muumi at 9:16 am (EST) on Mar 1, 2013

No, I'm not familiar with Alice Thomas Ellis (did I even get the name right?) - tell me more!

posted by muumi at 7:29 pm (EST) on Feb 27, 2013

thanks for your comments. Like you, I wasn't sure what to do with my copy, so I thought I'd have a little fun with it. It seems to be a popular review, against which this one doesn't quite match up. :-)

http://www.librarything.com/work/2415468/reviews/23972620

posted by danielx at 8:03 pm (EST) on Jan 29, 2013

Puffins were and are published by Penguin, in Harmondsworth, England (the number of times I've had to type that when listing books!). Scholastics were distributed chiefly through school book clubs (I think now through bookstores too, especially Scholastic Apple) and are published in New York and Toronto. The things you remember when you sell books.

posted by muumi at 5:00 pm (EST) on Jan 21, 2013

I think this take is fair enough. In China, both Buddhism and Catholicism are imported religions. Taoism would be the indigenous faith, along with Confucianism.

posted by muumi at 9:20 am (EST) on Jan 12, 2013

Boswell's Life of Johnson is chiefly just a string of anecdotes, you could read it without disturbing your TBR pile. Dip into it here and there. Very good stories, but I get the feeling Boswell was a bit of a creepy stalker type (sort of funny, but poor Johnson. otoh, Johnson's social skills were so poor that maybe it didn't really register with him... although he did get annoyed with it, even in B's narrative you can tell.)

Yes ABC is a graphic novel. The chief theme is accepting yourself as who you are, where you come from. THere are three threads, two of which take place in the USA, and one of which is adapted from Chinese folklore and popular literature. It's a very interesting twist on the story of the Monkey King and the Journey to the West, which i have read in translation and excerpts in Chinese... I have a couple graphic novels on that come to think of it. One in Chinese. Anyway there's that getting comfortable with being a monkey bit... and quite a sweet Catholic twist as well. You'd notice that the culmination of the Journey to the West has the companions meeting a family with a newborn baby (in Chinese Christian folk belief, a Chinese representative did show up with the Magi - there's a candidate for it, a famous astronomer who was mysteriously unheard of for three years - NOT Monkey's Master Chen!) -- and you'd be up on your Bible enough to notice that He Who Is is described in familiar terms... in Chinese folklore, there's a deified Buddha in that role.

posted by muumi at 9:18 am (EST) on Jan 12, 2013

Well done on the covers!

I don't know whether it was the Italian setting of Divorce Islamic Style that was more familiar, or the legal/illegal immigrant situation (my brother in law & his family were illegals for years, in a rather more standard suburban middle-class fashion; the overcrowded centre city apartment full of young single men nowadays would be associated with human smuggling but in 1980 I saw a bit of that with the boat people from Vietnam), or maybe the dirty tricks in the war on terror, which we do see over here as well. A slightly disturbing book but I did enjoy it. The Senegalese with his sacks of illegal knock-off merchandise is certainly to be seen on pretty much every street corner in tourist areas, that's very much Italian atmosphere for sure.

posted by muumi at 12:29 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2013

F.O.B. = Fresh Off the Boat. Slang used by immigrants (I've heard it in Asian circles but it's not limited to Asians) - in financial/shipping terms it means something else.

posted by muumi at 1:31 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2013

I don't think we can do that. People would just combine them, drat it all.

posted by Collectorator at 2:29 pm (EST) on Jan 5, 2013

I'm the one who has a 55 year old copy of the How and Why Book of Knowledge - I know exactly how early childhood books get such a grip on you. And my sister and I and our single set of Childcraft, well, best not to speak of it. I hope I wasn't offensive!

posted by muumi at 10:23 am (EST) on Jan 5, 2013

Jackets are not important (on baked potatoes, they are important; on books, they are nice) but "Best in Children's Books" are too generic. I wouldn't have sent them to you, promise. ;)

posted by muumi at 1:06 am (EST) on Jan 5, 2013

If you think buying bunches of vintage children's books is a problem, you can send them to me... please!

We're going to Toronto tomorrow for our friends' annual Epiphany party. The Magi are planning to make an appearance. I've got panettone in the oven that we're taking with us.

posted by muumi at 12:39 am (EST) on Jan 5, 2013

I'm sure that if there are no extant copies of a book on LT, the cover disappears. Don't know if it comes back if another copy is added. Personally, I refuse to lose the effort I put into listing a book and uploading a cover: I simply put them in my GONE collection and remove them from My Library.

posted by muumi at 11:42 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2012

Yes, I suspect my tally is about the same, at least 9/10 of my early listed books needed a custom cover and I provided them all. I listed well over 2000 books in 2007 and well, that was a LOT of covers. BUT that was Tim's given reason for not handing out the badges for so long - it was going to be unfair to early uploaders. Meh, just upload another 6 and you'll hit 50 and have a silver medal just like me. I doubt either of us will make gold anytime soon; we simply are not going to upload 500 books, that's for sure! I still think it's far and away better than not having a badge at all: that said "Your efforts are unimportant", this says "We didn't manage to pay attention until it was too late, but we think you did a Good Thing, so thank you!"

posted by muumi at 11:39 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2012

Well, yes. New Year's Eve on Library Thing is about as quiet as it gets. I'll turn on the tree lights and go all festive. Then I'll run around the house again and collect a few more anonymous books.

The problem I'm seeing is if I did not upload a cover, *I have no idea what the book is*! No memory whatsoever. I *knew* at the time that cover images were important. Memory of a sieve, I have.

I got credit for 272 covers... likely because I joined a year later than you so I was behind in my cover uploading and was a bit more active when they started counting. I'd be surprised if either one of us scanned less than a thousand covers. 44 for you? Hahaha.

Happy new year!

posted by muumi at 10:47 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2012

So I'm looking at my statistics to see if there are any books I can do covers for. Not that I can exactly, I have scanner issues in that the computer attached to the scanner has a hard drive stuffed to the point of meltdown and I hesitate to actually scan anything until I get stuff hooked up differently!! But before the badges, I was already making a stack with a sticky note on top - COVERS FOR LT!

posted by muumi at 9:44 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2012

We got badges for uploading covers! Too bad they didn't start tracking who uploaded what cover till recently, because I know our numbers would be a lot higher. I have over 3000 books with custom covers and I'm sure I uploaded the majority of those covers myself. Same as you. Can't complain, after all recognition is a "thank you" and that's always welcome and satisfying. Plus, that's one reason Tim didn't want to start giving out badges for covers - it wasn't going to be fair to people who uploaded huge numbers of covers in 2007 and 2008 (and - wow - 2006 for you, you've been on LT longer than I have!).

Congratulations on long-awaited recognition. :)

posted by muumi at 9:40 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2012

That is mysterious. Especially since with the scarcity of the book, I really doubt that those people own actual copies.

posted by muumi at 7:22 pm (EST) on Dec 14, 2012

I've never seen the book either! Pink Maple House. Anyone own it on LT?

posted by muumi at 6:57 pm (EST) on Dec 9, 2012

That is a treasure of a review! I have to agree that Sandburg's "Rootabaga Tales" in general lack a certain aura of didacticism and sanctity (and we must ask *what* is the deep significance of the prune eyes?). Perhaps I am not literally ROFLOL, but definitely snickering audibly. :D

I was disappointed in the Hare with the Amber Eyes. Like the reviewer of the Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll, I had certain (possibly unrealistic) expectations based on the title, which were not met within what I considered a reasonable number of pages. I wanted netsuke, and pictures of netsuke, and instead I got a lot of family history and not even particularly exciting family history. The story, for me, never started and within the first hundred pages or so I simply got too bored to keep on reading. You'll have to let me know your take on it.

posted by muumi at 10:49 pm (EST) on Nov 23, 2012

That is so kind of you to offer - thank you. I already do have a copy of 'The Silver Cradle.' As it is a Texas-related book, however, I may be able to find another worthy home for your copy. Please let me know if this would be of help.

posted by CalicoGal at 2:21 pm (EST) on Jul 15, 2012

I haven't added any new covers, but I did change one yesterday, so I guess it is fixed. I have several that I scanned but I didn't edit them until last night; I'll probably put them up today. I have a bunch of miniature books to photograph too - unfortunately miniature photography is not one of my strengths, or my camera's!

posted by muumi at 9:25 am (EST) on May 28, 2012

Hi! Fortunes of Peace did turn out to be part of the Luxembourg/Napoleonic War series. I am so pleased to have found it.

I noticed tonight that the ability to add/edit book covers has been suspended! Many people might not have noticed, but they couldn't sneak it by you or me. Tim's explanation says it should be back shortly. I miss it!

posted by muumi at 12:47 am (EST) on May 26, 2012

The Meriol Trevor book I found is Fortunes of Peace. I *think* it's part of her Napoleonic War series, but I could be wrong. It's so obscure that I couldn't find anything about it, except that I certainly don't have it. Come Walk with Me is even more obscure. It's by a local woman, she talks about having received the blessing of our former parish priest at our church before leaving on pilgrimage. You can order the book from her new through a Canadian Santiago website, or hope to pick one up in a local thrift store. Next time I see one, I'll keep you in mind. ;) Little Known Museums - which is part of a series!! 'scuse me while I go add the series to LT, lol - is absolutely marvellous. I think I hunted down the Littlest Known Museums of London myself in 2001 (the Canal Boat Museum is absolutely wonderful and Sir John Soane's Museum is surreal) but it was a lot of research and I'd love to see what the book has in it else.

Who is the author of Sanctus? I haven't heard of it at all, now I am going to have to hunt it down!

posted by muumi at 10:10 pm (EST) on Mar 9, 2012

Really? Oh I HAVE to read Saga of Saints!

We have an Italian community in our city Sarnia that celebrates the feast of San Rocco with a 3 (or maybe 4)-day mission (because they no longer have a parish of their own, so they get a priest to come in) and a Sunday procession. I go to ALL the Masses and the homilies are usually awesome (in the most meaningful sense of the word) and John comes along to the Sunday Mass. Since he doesn't understand Italian that's already a lot for him. I only get the gist, but frankly, if I can get one or two really profound ideas from a homily, I'm very happy and usually I get a lot more than that.

They have started having a Michaelite priest come in for San Rocco in August and Santo Rosario in October. Several years ago they used to have an Indian priest visit. He said he learned Italian when he came from India to help with an Italian/Indian parish in Toronto. His Italian, all the Italians said it was perfect. He joked that people ask him what part of Italy are you from and he says "Sono Siciliano!" Being from India of course he is even shorter and darker than Sicilians. Very amusing. We do miss him, but the Michaelites are now in our diocese so it works out very well.

Off to look up Saga of Saints...

posted by muumi at 10:20 pm (EST) on Feb 9, 2012

PS did I tell you I bought a ticket to leave in March - I'm going to Italy for Easter!! I love my Italian parish so much. Michaelite Fathers, from Poland. I don't think you have that order in the USA? We are SO blessed to have them in Canada. And Italy. I'm afraid I may be learning to expect Italian to have a Polish accent, I think they speak beautiful Italian but how on earth would I know??

posted by muumi at 12:06 am (EST) on Jan 27, 2012

If "Witness of St. Ansgar's" was the kind of book you liked, it probably wouldn't be in my "gone" collection. ;)

It wasn't memorably bad by any means, but to me it wasn't a keep-and-treasure kind of book either.

Guess what I found tonight at a book sale, Around the Year with the Trapp Family. It has the liturgical year! and customs! and music! I love it. Seeing the prices on ABEbooks ($50-150) I am rather tempted to sell it. But I think I will collect and treasure it for awhile first. If I put it at the end of my books-to-list, it should be safe for years to come. XD

posted by muumi at 9:13 pm (EST) on Jan 13, 2012

Book Depository is about to become a company like Amazon. Exactly like Amazon. Amazon bought them! :( Very sad!

posted by muumi at 1:39 am (EST) on Aug 1, 2011

Just finished. Well written, moving story.

posted by RickLewis at 11:41 pm (EST) on May 31, 2011

Not as yet. It's moving up in the stack.

posted by RickLewis at 12:11 pm (EST) on May 26, 2011

Thank you for the recommendation!

posted by femmedenoel at 10:53 pm (EST) on Mar 6, 2011

Gosh, haven't looked at those maps for years. I used to have them on my wall when I was a teenager. I think the England and Wales map has counties. I will have to dig them out when I'm back home.

posted by Rivendell at 2:45 pm (EST) on Nov 8, 2010

Are there any companies like Amazon? lol! Book Depository just sells books, and they're the only seller (they don't have other small booksellers under their aegis), and they only sell books that are in print (if it's well and truly out of print they refer you to abebooks, if they think it might come back they offer to notify you), but other than that it's very much like Amazon. You can get almost anything that's in print, including a lot of books from the UK that Amazon.com doesn't sell. www.bookdepository.co.uk

posted by muumi at 12:23 pm (EST) on Sep 21, 2010

Eye on the Hebrides is SO gorgeous. Much better than I had even hoped. I'm going to order another copy for my daughter. I got mine from The Book Depository in Guernsey - they have free shipping worldwide and their prices are often competitive with Amazon, or they have books that Amazon doesn't have.

posted by muumi at 12:05 pm (EST) on Sep 21, 2010

LT has such comprehensive statistics. Apparently I have uploaded 305 books this month (so far, and I venture to think that's the bulk of them. Maybe another few dozen, 100 at the outside. I hope). But in August 2007 I uploaded 1566 (was I mad?) and in September 2007 another 817. What was going on (or not) in my life? Perhaps no coincidence that my last child-at-home started university that year.

Still, this month is already in my top 5 LT listing months. O_o

posted by muumi at 11:41 pm (EST) on Aug 25, 2010

P.S. haven't uploaded the Père Castor pics yet so it actually looks sort of boring. Wait till Thursday. :)

posted by muumi at 7:22 pm (EST) on Aug 25, 2010

Adding books is a lot easier now than when we put most of ours up. The new OverCat gives good data, few of the books need to be entered manually (even some of the unique books come with pre-filled data) and there are a lot fewer covers needing to be uploaded. I almost felt as if I had been a pioneer until I came across one early user on a forum saying that he was still catching up on covers since he joined LT and uploaded the bulk of his books before you could upload your own covers!

There is so much more data now! But even so I took time today to add two new - no THREE new series! My favourite is the Père Castor animals series (look under Quipic the Hedgehog) - gorgeous artwork, and real lithographs - wish I had them ALL. :D Also added the series for Steven Kellogg's Color Mysteries (picture books my kids liked) and Picture History (Clarke Dutton).

Sort of fun once you get into it.

posted by muumi at 7:21 pm (EST) on Aug 25, 2010

I've put away hundreds of books. There is already room to sit on the sofa again. I moved David (ds)'s laptop in here to work on the LT aspect. But this laptop has the worst keyboard!

posted by muumi at 12:20 pm (EST) on Aug 24, 2010

I know that it's hard to keep up one's Chinese when not actively studying it. I hope Maria finds some way of doing so.

The prove-you-can-support-yourself thing is nosy, but it's also standard practice when you're staying for more than a short vacation. Felicity had to do that to get her visa for Britain too.

I've had a chance to look closely at the Scottish map. It's a treasure! All the tartan setts so a person could actually weave them!

posted by muumi at 12:59 pm (EST) on Aug 21, 2010

It's fun to hear from you, even if only once a year. :)

So glad the review was helpful to you. Definitely one of our family's favorite books.

God Bless!

posted by alivanmom at 10:59 am (EST) on Aug 14, 2010

Nice to have found someone else who enjoyed it! You are probably right. I try and make my reviews as accurate as possible but can't remember the details now...

Incidentally I have just read a really great book, Surveyor by GW Hawkes. I haven't reviewed it yet - will try to get to it soon - but very highly recommended, especially as we seem to share the same tastes ;-)

posted by wandering_star at 10:50 am (EST) on Aug 1, 2010

I could totally join the SCA if they had valid Latin Masses. What fun is the Middle Ages without a Latin Mass?! (That is actually what I said when someone invited me to join. LOL!)

Oh, you just added an Eamon Duffy book. I was very impressed by his book about the English Reformation. Let me know how you like the one you have.

posted by muumi at 11:24 pm (EST) on Jul 29, 2010

Hi there,

I hope you manage to track down a copy - I think it's a great book.

wandering_star

posted by wandering_star at 8:45 am (EST) on Jul 19, 2010

Cool! Thanks for the compliment! Hope you enjoy the blog as well. God bless!

posted by 19vatermit64 at 11:58 pm (EST) on Jul 17, 2010

Hello again,
A book club reading catholic women authors! How wonderful! And two (at least) of them being Norwegian.... Who else do you read? I have actually not read Matlary, until now, i.e. except from her writings that from time to time figures in the newspapers. When I saw your comment I had just borrowed Matlary´s "Why I became a catholic" at the library. It is for the upcoming vacation. Funny coincidence! Best regards Mikalina

posted by Mikalina at 4:03 pm (EST) on Jun 29, 2010

Well, I still don't have a job, but I'm in good company--lots of others don't either. Since I was only working part time, I haven't been as drastically affected as some have. And I've had a few interviews. I figure that if I actually get a job in this economy, it's a big accomplishment, and I can get a job in any economy.

Sorry for not replying sooner. I don't visit librarything as often as I used to, and sometimes forget to scroll down to the comments. I've been on this site for 3 years and am still learning things about it.

posted by ainsleytewce at 4:07 pm (EST) on Apr 14, 2010

I just discovered the letter section of this web site. I apologize for not resonding earlier. It never occurred to me that I could or should write anyone else about his or her collection. I have not read the book. I am in the process of cataloging an entire library, most of which I have not read. Do tell me why you like it, please. I shall use your comments to try and persuade a child with that type of interest to broaden his or her reading experience. Best regards, Peyton

posted by SVIS at 2:56 pm (EST) on Feb 8, 2010

Hi! Thanks for your comment!

I really liked Fire in the Blood too. It's a different kind of story from Suite Francaise, but I really like how it's told, with an understated sense of mystery. And when I read about Madeleine's family in Suite Francaise, I thought about Fire in the Blood - you can sort of see another story forming in the story-writing process.

posted by Kryseis at 8:26 pm (EST) on Sep 13, 2009

My daughter likes to talk about palimpsests. She came across the word when in (home) high school. When they used to scrape the ink off old parchment and reuse it, so that underneath a copy of the Psalms there could be a book of Greek poetry, or St Augustine, and scholars can read them by the traces. So I meant it to indicate that my library on LT represents my now library superimposed over my library of various times in the past and all existing simultaneously.

I just read China Court by Rumer Godden and time in that book (or maybe I should say in that house) seems to all happen at once. I liked that effect, too.

posted by muumi at 6:55 pm (EST) on Sep 7, 2009

I'm continuing to release books into the wild. I think the "gone" catalogue is going to work best for me, given that my former books are in all kinds of genres and by many different authors. The "your collection" catalogue will still be accurate. True, my LT collection will not be a mere snapshot of my books at this point in time and space, more of a palimpsest. But that is fine with me.

Besides, if I actually delete the books my reviews disappear. I also wonder, does LT keep the covers if you added a book and cover and then delete the book? What if it's the only copy? (Admittedly, in that case one might want to keep it for the scarcity alone - one out of how many books on LT? I went to find that number and discovered that I can't get to LT's own homepage, as long as I am logged in it insists on sending me to my own LT home.)

posted by muumi at 8:26 am (EST) on Sep 7, 2009

SaintSunniva,
Maren, her daughter died just before wwII, and Anders her beloved eldest son was one of the first norwegian soldiers to die during the same war. She was never close to her second son, Hans Undset Svarstad. He married Christianne Neraas in 1951, 2 years after her death. (Christianne had acted as a kind of secretary to the PR department for the norwegian political nazi party, and there was no lost love between them). I do not know of any decendant from the pair - Bjerkebæk S.U´s home, went first to Hans, then to her daughter-in-law, and then to one of her nieses (sister´s daughter) who eventually sold the place to the norwegian state in 1983. In 1997 the cultural department started a restauration of both houses and the garden (she was a keen gardener, and loved house plants), and it is now a museum. (www.maihaugen.no/en/bjerkebak/) M.

posted by Mikalina at 2:36 am (EST) on Aug 30, 2009

Hi SaintSunniva!
Skille´s book is a biography, i.e. it does not mix in hidden literary criticism. As far as the chronology of Undsets life goes - it is good, and I was at least left in awe, wondering how she had time to write at all, given the wide responsibilities she took to be hers. (she wrote mostly at night). I enjoyed the book! I was touched by the relationship to her daughter, and pleased that the difficult relationship to her artist husband was treated neither sentimentally nor sensationally.

(If you like Undsets novels, you should try her essays, she is razor sharp. Her themes ar catholicism, history and politics. Her battle (newspaper debate) with Knut Hamsun (another Nobel prize winner) in the late 20ties and through the 30ties is famous. She started to delineate nazism for what it was before the ideology had got a name anyone new of).
Enjoy your new book! Mikalina

posted by Mikalina at 5:13 am (EST) on Aug 28, 2009

Thanks for adding the cover the General George the Great, appreciate that!

posted by lernerarchives at 8:26 am (EST) on Jul 28, 2009

I think the current location of the coverless books is new, which would explain your difficulty. It's behind the new statistics/memes button -- and then the bookcovers link at the left side of the statistics page.

posted by muumi at 11:41 pm (EST) on Jul 26, 2009

Indeed I do have this most excellent book, one of my all-time favourite novels. With Shute and some of the other prolific novelists I have switched the common practice at Library Thing and listed the books I do *not* have; that way I can print and present a want list to second-hand book dealers.

posted by Toolroomtrustee at 12:19 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2009

No, I haven't read it! Let me know what you think about it when you get ahold of it. :)

posted by muumi at 11:42 pm (EST) on Jul 18, 2009

I think the collections feature is unwieldy. Especially the way you have to select books one page at a time and click through two screens. That would be annoying if you were doing one book at a time (ie. at time of cataloguing), unless I have missed some shortcut in the process. I can't see myself making collections except for very specific purposes: I've done a "gone" collection for books I no longer own. Why delete them and waste the effort of uploading pictures, tags, and reviews!

posted by muumi at 7:55 am (EST) on Jun 29, 2009

I bought Elegance of the Hedgehog in the airport in Rome this week! I tend to buy new books I wouldn't maybe pay full price for otherwise, just before I get on the airplane, if I'm short of reading matter.

Another Early Reviewer book I didn't get was at the Rome airport bookstore too. They also had Dewey (the cat), I was sorry afterwards that I didn't buy that one because the other book I had bought turned out to be a re-issue of a book I had read under another title. However, I didn't own it already and it was a good book, so I didn't mind much aside from the fact that it wasn't a NEW book to read on the plane!

China Witness (which I'm barely into, but is excellent) is from a large, indie French bookstore in Montreal, as is Stolen Innocence. We left for Montreal 32 hours after we got home... 12 hours on the train each way... need books... although I mostly knitted and chatted with my husband and looked out the window, there's still a good amount of reading time.

The rest of my recent additions are mostly secondhand thrift store or library sale finds which I've finally decided not to sell. Flying O'Flynn was from the library stacks (Historical Collection, Reference Loan Only) in a big city library -- !!! How could they toss it?! I decided to keep it since it is a 1958 Canadian children's fantasy, rather scarce, and decidedly undervalued on the internet... not to mention it's an enjoyable story... and then found that the only other copy on LT is in the collection of Harry_Vincent whom we both know (I believe I Go By Sea was probably his, if you got it recently). It's a small world.

posted by muumi at 4:57 pm (EST) on Jun 24, 2009

You're right, the tags worked fine for me. If I wanted to see my knitting books for instance. Of course, I sometimes forgot whether I tagged the books "knit" or "knitting" so I had to use both tags to be sure. This way the collections are accessible to people viewing our profile, although I think they would be more legible if they were in columns instead of lumped head-to-tail in a list.

My using multiple tags to make sure my collections would appear properly when I called them up did contribute to my coveted position in the Top 50 Taggers. I'm probably still there although I have slowed down adding books; I was about #25 last time I checked. :)

I see 5 of the last 6 books you added are books we share. And I'm STILL not in your top 10 similar libraries! I must need to buy more books!

posted by muumi at 5:44 pm (EST) on Jun 23, 2009

I haven't started on collections -- I've been in Italy the past 3 weeks and not near my books!! -- and not sure why LT is so excited, probably it was difficult programming in some way I don't understand or took a lot of bandwidth for some incomprehensible reason and required workarounds....

Collections-by-owner is a good idea. I might do collections-by-room? I have those tagged already. :)

posted by muumi at 6:08 am (EST) on Jun 18, 2009

So thinking about it as an atmospheric, folkloric kind of thing would help understand the book. And knowing something of Austrian folklore (which I don't think I do, unless some of the children's books I've read incorporate it without my realizing) would help even more. Thanks.

posted by muumi at 7:46 am (EST) on Jun 3, 2009

Hey, you don't need to explain why you love the book! From the jacket reviews, obviously you are in good company. So far, it's not clicking with me, but I'm not disliking it, just a bit confused. Once I figure out what the author is trying to accomplish ... not exactly genre, but where she is going, it might all suddenly resolve into a clear picture.

posted by muumi at 5:06 am (EST) on Jun 2, 2009

That was just an example of what kind of puzzlement I was in. It didn't really matter what happened in that case... it could be expressed vaguely as "Father had an encounter with evil and emerged shaken" but I wasn't at all sure of the details, what objective events occurred. The encounter on the mountain is a bit more important to the plot, and when Matthias (is that his name?) disappears after the rebellion, his mother's self-recriminations started to make me wonder whether it was consummated, whether it was consensual, and who was his father. Heck, up until that point I wasn't even sure whether she even kept the assignation. I can see leaving one of these questions in mystery, but all three just confuses me. (And what on earth happened to the would-be lover?) As I say, it's the exact same sort of thing my friends used to say to me when I loaned them my Chas. Wms. books (have you ever read any of his novels btw? In pity of the confused readers Thomas Howard has written a guide to the novels so nobody needs to suffer any longer. Ignatius Books publishes it. It's in my LT.). Having heard it from them, I'm entirely willing to give Grimming as many chances as it needs, but it's slow going.

Let me know about Far Pavilions. I see it around all the time & wonder. It looks pretty good but a huge time committment to read.

posted by muumi at 12:47 pm (EST) on Jun 1, 2009

(I had written a reply before and was about 90% done when Firefox closed without warning! Try again...)

You were so enthusiastic about The Door in the Grimming that I thought I should try to find a copy. So far I am about halfway through it and I find it rather confusing because a lot of the time I can't figure out what is really going on. However, a lot of people make the same complaint about Charles Williams who is one of my three favourite authors, so it can't be that I am entirely obtuse. There is just something about the way the author (or translator?) expresses things that my mind doesn't seem to fasten upon. Examples: is the oldest son legitimate, was she raped, or what? What on earth was happening with the old witch and the priest?

I should get more specific later, when I get home to the book again. I am in Italy now.

posted by muumi at 2:27 pm (EST) on May 30, 2009

I know I know -- I was the same way as a teen/ young adult and I could just see my(former)self in TC's outraged prose (me: "Hey! I resemble that remark!)...

Glad you liked the reviews. I usually use the comments space for provenance ("Bookswapped from such and such a person") but several times recently have used it for my impressions that I didn't really have time to put into well-reasoned prose to make a proper review. So some of my reviews are still lurking. :)

posted by muumi at 4:50 pm (EST) on May 19, 2009

Oops - should have said homeschool *used* book sale. It was a deal I couldn't pass up. :)

posted by alivanmom at 1:15 pm (EST) on May 15, 2009

Re: Cuisinaire Rods item, no, not really. Just went to a homeschool book sale last weekend and picked up some goodies that looked worthwhile. It's the sort of thing my kids will sit down and play around with as a break from their normal routine.

posted by alivanmom at 1:14 pm (EST) on May 15, 2009

Learnabout... Pets is indeed a Ladybird publication. Copyright 1977 Ladybird Books Ltd.

posted by slemmons at 10:19 pm (EST) on Apr 19, 2009

Oh how cool! You have those? I saw them once when I was living in Brussels. Ok, I have to keep browsing your collection :)

posted by avarberg at 1:29 pm (EST) on Apr 17, 2009

I'd like to believe that it is in Ethiopia as well. It is Hancock's best book, and he lays out a very plausible case, which most people dismiss by just basing it off of the Kebra Nagast. I haven't actually read The Templars' Secret Island yet, but you get the whole spiel in The Holy Place: Saunière and the Decoding of the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château by Henry Lincoln.

posted by tuckerresearch at 12:30 am (EST) on Apr 7, 2009

Well done on the Ladybirds! There may be more than one "subseries" (if that's a word) there, but that can be arranged later. I haven't done any series lately myself, so don't take me too seriously on that!

posted by muumi at 11:37 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

To answer your question about the Matthew Wards, the historian and the musician are two different people. I watched a clip on You Tube about the musician and compared it to the picture of the historian Matthew C. Ward on the back of my book. No match.

posted by ArmchairWarrior at 1:55 pm (EST) on Mar 29, 2009

It has something to do with her serene and loving nature, and something to do with her pocketbook.

And maybe something to do with her umm, ample figure.;)

posted by muumi at 12:03 am (EST) on Mar 13, 2009

The moomins are, collectively, the family in the Moomintroll books. I identify strongly with Moominmamma. She's my hero. ;) I'll have to see if I can't find one to send you -- which could be difficult, as virtually the entire series are those books that we need four copies of, one for each child and one for me; but I'll see.

posted by muumi at 8:20 am (EST) on Mar 12, 2009

You're so right, it is. Finnish for moomins. That's why I looked at it and said, now there's a typo I could live with!

posted by muumi at 4:27 pm (EST) on Mar 11, 2009

Thanks much, and especially for your prescient use of my Ontario address -- I changed to a smaller PO box yesterday when it came up for renewal, $60 less per year! I'll be watching for it.

And speaking of typos, I derived my screen name from an attempt to sign an email to one of my daughters "Mummy" -- !

posted by muumi at 8:28 am (EST) on Mar 11, 2009

No I haven't -- obviously I'll have to look for an opportunity.

posted by muumi at 2:46 pm (EST) on Mar 10, 2009

Greta Garbo? Was THAT where Father got that idea about Confession being good for the soul?? ROFLOL!

posted by muumi at 12:17 am (EST) on Mar 10, 2009

I've heard really good things about Geraldine Brooks from the members of the 75 Book Challenge Group. I'll have to add Nine Parts Desire to my wishlist! I always find it exciting to learn about talented writers who are married, very romantic and a nice ideal to live up to.

posted by allthesedarnbooks at 11:26 pm (EST) on Mar 9, 2009

Glad you're enjoying Confederates in the Attic! I'm actually reading Horwitz's Baghdad Without a Map right now, and really loving it, too. I think he's going to be one of my new favorite authors!

posted by allthesedarnbooks at 11:11 pm (EST) on Mar 9, 2009

Well, she could have been ranting at me too, I left home at 16 and was a horribly rebellious teenager both before and afterwards, but why are we going there? ;)

posted by muumi at 9:33 pm (EST) on Mar 9, 2009

Yes, paperback. Also a copy of her autobiography "On Growing Up Tough", which I am only a few chapters into, but I think you would greatly appreciate her take on the tyranny of liberalism. (Illustrated through childhood experiences.)

posted by muumi at 8:53 am (EST) on Mar 8, 2009

I found Grandmother and the Priests at the St Vincent de Paul store today!

posted by muumi at 3:43 pm (EST) on Mar 7, 2009

I totally agree with your friend by the way. I want to visit Ely! The fens come up so much in English fiction, there are many other books resonating in vague memory, but The Dean's Watch all on its own is sufficient reason to visit that beautiful cathedral.

posted by muumi at 8:08 pm (EST) on Mar 4, 2009

I googled Torminster and the first references are to the books and the next few are to a fictional character by that name, so I think Torminster probably is a made-up name denoting cathedral (minster) on a hill (tor). It's the sort of name that should be in England, and could be in England, but I think it isn't. DW is definitely in Ely and Ely is real, and Ely Cathedral is real (it's beautiful, I just googled it) but how close E.G. sticks to real geography I have no idea. Probably pretty closely because if you invent geography for a real place-name people will write indignant letters and tell you how wrong you are, and that has to be annoying. :) It seems Ely although it rises above the flat and marshy fens, doesn't have a tor (rocky outcrop -- apparently a tor, strictly speaking isn't just any hill) so I guess that it can't be a direct inspiration for the town of Torminster, although the cathedrals are probably similar.

It could well be, as you suggest, that E.G. had in mind King Arthur's Glastonbury Tor as it might have been if a Cathedral town had grown up at the ancient site of the Abbey. It has different and humbler legends (founded by a pious swineherd and his miraculous pigs iirc) but it's quite a magical place nonetheless.

posted by muumi at 8:06 pm (EST) on Mar 4, 2009

The boy who leaves his gypsy foster-family to go to Oxford in Towers in the Mist is Faithful. The family at Oxford is a large one and I don't remember all the names. The more I think about it, I wonder if Elizabeth I actually makes a walk-on appearance in the book.

Right, of course it's not the "same" Dean in the books b/c DW is Ely and the C of B three are Torminster. But Torminster is a made-up name, isn't it? Is it modelled on a real city? Perhaps Ely?

posted by muumi at 9:43 am (EST) on Mar 4, 2009

Dean's Watch and Towers aren't exactly a trilogy in the usual sense. I think the publisher just packaged them as such. They have a sort of Cathedral town "feeling". But they take place in different cities, in different centuries!

Dean's Watch is pretty clearly Victorian, probably early or mid, but like many of EG's juvenile books, takes place in a somewhat timeless environment. I'm pretty sure that Towers in the Mist is much, much earlier -- Elizabethan even?? Am I thinking of the right one? NOT the book had Hugh and Henrietta in it?

Yes, Hugh and Henrietta were in City of Bells which was even more timeless than The Dean's Watch. Possibly Edwardian or perhaps late Victorian. That's part of a Torminster trilogy which actually has the same characters in it and takes place in more or less the same place and time, as well as being packaged in the Cathedral trilogy. C of B "feels" rather like "DW" and you could almst believe it's the same Dean, but I feel TM is very different from either.

Then she has the WWII books - Castle on the Hill and well, I guess WWII happens in between book 2 and 3 of the Damerosehay trilogy, and other 20th century books like Scent of Water and Rosemary Tree; and The White Witch is English Civil War, so after Towers; and Gentian Hill is late 18th/early 19th century (think Napoleonic Wars and the heyday of the British Navy); and Green Dolphin Street is early settlement of New Zealand, I guess that's mid-19th century. I'm not too sure about Island Magic, but I think late Victorian. The children's books have fantastic elements that make them very hard to fix in time, but Linnets and Valerians is pretty clearly Edwardian (rather E Nesbit) or possibly late Victorian with a parent in India and all.

That pretty well covers the lot, I think.

On a completely unrelated note, I "won" an Early Reviewer book this month, Kitchen Linens. I love it!

posted by muumi at 12:07 am (EST) on Mar 4, 2009

I do like The Brendan Voyage! We used it as a homeschooling read-aloud for our Icelandic unit.

Hmm, anything new and Hebridean. They're not exactly falling into my lap unbidden these days. I requested a bunch of titles from my library and they found *one*, Sea Room, which was excellent -- but it looks like I'm going to actually have to buy some of my wishlist new! I haven't actually added anything tagged "hebrides" to my library since last July!

posted by muumi at 11:29 pm (EST) on Feb 28, 2009

I love your library! We share over 200+ books. Your collection is so large! I can't wait to go through your book list and see lots of new titles that I think my family would enjoy reading. :-)

posted by McAllisterHomeschool at 10:20 pm (EST) on Feb 26, 2009

That one sounds like it would actually be worth reading. One of my daughters had a roommate in uni who was a major DS (fiction) fan, kept pressing books on her, even gave her a couple (which I read). It seemed like DS may not have written multiple books so much as recycled a few plots... but we lost interest too soon to be absolutely sure. :D

posted by muumi at 7:30 pm (EST) on Feb 23, 2009

1/10 of the books you run into are books you might meet once in a lifetime? Or less often, considering how many lifetimes are represented in the LT collections? No *wonder* that in handling hundreds of thousands of books, I seldom see the same book twice (except Danielle Steel, Dan Brown, and THEIR ilk. :P)

Mathographics shouldn't be hard to find though, as these things go, being a Dover reprint. If it didn't weigh a ton, I'd just send you mine. :D It looks like a fun workbook, and I wish I had the time to do it right now. Sometimes I miss homeschooling a LOT. I got to educate myself in all sorts of ways.

posted by muumi at 1:25 am (EST) on Feb 23, 2009

I couldn't resist checking the answer, and I had to remove yet another from the list -- I still have 433 ultb's. Some of them seem questionable, but I haven't been able to discover books to combine them with yet.

posted by muumi at 2:29 pm (EST) on Feb 22, 2009

Wow, the Combiners have been busy again! I had to remove the ultb tag from another 15. Some of them are just new books though -- I noticed a friend whose taste in books is much like mine who added a book I like, and a new LT member who added a couple more. But it was about time I checked that tag!

posted by muumi at 10:57 pm (EST) on Feb 19, 2009

It looks really good! The Tall Book of Make-Believe is a really attractive book, I had forgotten about that one.

posted by muumi at 1:05 am (EST) on Feb 7, 2009

The Tall Books sounds like a reasonable name for the series. :)

posted by muumi at 4:36 pm (EST) on Feb 6, 2009

The Tall books were beautifully done, and I think a series would be an excellent idea, because people (well. okay. me. but other people might be like me) would like to know how many of the books there are. So much easier to look for the rest of the books when you know they exist.

posted by muumi at 11:41 pm (EST) on Feb 5, 2009

Ah! Thank you for mentioning him, no I have not read Takashi Nagai, I shall have to try him out.

Catholic and Japanese. . . I should like to see the Church flourish more in Japan, there would be some great results.

Of course I have read plenty of non-Catholic Japanese authors, and the more famous books such as Natsume Soseki's works.

posted by Shinwa at 7:50 am (EST) on Feb 5, 2009

Well, if I made someone laugh with my review, maybe the pain I felt trying to read the book was worth it. I think in the future I will avoid Victorian era satire.

posted by mariacle at 11:00 am (EST) on Feb 3, 2009

I see you've 'Damien the Leper' in your library, I have always loved that rare classic. :)

posted by Shinwa at 4:01 am (EST) on Feb 2, 2009

There's a funny bit in Sweeter the Juice when the author's husband is told "but you can't board -- there is already a Dr Haizlip on board the plane... oh wait, he's in tourist and your reservation is first class!" He's introduced by the stewardess to the "other" Dr Haizlip, who turns out to be white, but their families are from the same town. That would be Uncle Cornelius, conjectures the "other" Haizlip (who seems pleased to meet a new relative, no matter the colour or connection), he was a bit of a rascal. Meanwhile his wife is staring out the window, or in any direction where there isn't a black Dr Haizlip, trying to ignore the situation, much like your tour guide.

posted by muumi at 12:59 pm (EST) on Jan 31, 2009

I haven't read A Beautiful Mind yet. Out of the books I picked up in Michigan I read The Sweeter the Juice, and reviewed it. It was the same kind of thing you describe -- I gained understanding, but not exactly "enjoyment". Not the same reason, I imagine. The author is often rather hostile and I found that personally uncomfortable. Very well written book, extremely interesting, but I doubt I'll want to reread it.

Today I did light reading. Friday Night Knitting Club. We're snowed in here so I missed my real, Thursday night knitting club. Hoping our neighbour can plow out the driveway tomorrow, and hoping the tractor mechanic can get our tractor going Monday so life can get back to what passes for normal in the 21st century. Normal in the 19th century would be, stay snowed in.

posted by muumi at 9:54 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2009

I've never heard of Ellis Dillon, no. I would have thought if I'd seen any books involving islands and mysteries I would have picked them up. I have Newfoundland island mysteries, Maine island mysteries, Hebridean island mysteries -- I'm going to say I have probably never actually seen any Ellis Dillon books. Maybe now I'm looking, they'll appear.

posted by muumi at 10:13 pm (EST) on Jan 27, 2009

Oh I do like Ursula Moray Williams! I like the Little Wooden Horse which is the only younger children's book of hers I've read, and I like her YAs. I'm just tidying up Boy in a Barn (with picture). It looks interesting. It seems to have two strands of story: a young pilot crashing just on the wrong side of the Austrian border during WWII, and his family returning years later to the place where he hid.

Some books just shouldn't be ultb's. When I buy books, I'm often looking for resalability and I am quite good at picking scarce books, but I'm often shocked how little monetary value a quite scarce book with lots of intrinsic value can have. A lot of really great YA books are in that category, this is just one example. I tend to keep those. :)

I remember the Childhood of Famous Americans books well from my school days in California and Wisconsin, but don't see that many of them showing up here in Canada. I don't think I have any in my library. Big job entering the series!

posted by muumi at 11:00 pm (EST) on Jan 16, 2009

I do see your point of view. It definitely is not a VB itself. But there is a certain amount of utility to having it on the same "shelf", perhaps especially from the point of view of people who have books in the VB series and would like to know what's out there. I'll keep thinking about it.

I have been doing a lot of knitting lately... with all the traveling first and now with the extreme cold keeping me largely away from the (unheated) stair landing where I keep my computer and in front of the woodstove just to keep warm. Today has been very windy with snow drifting deep across our (300-yard-long) driveway. I can log on to the internet from my son's old laptop but the keyboard is sort of wonky and I keep having to go back to put in letters that it missed out. My own typing is bad enough without this! So I am 75 rows into a lovely mohair shawl for my sister. I think I am bonding with the project. It's going to be hard to send it away when it's done.

posted by muumi at 12:11 am (EST) on Jan 14, 2009

It *was* a really good sale, at least from the point of view of my own reading habits. And others' -- I am going to have some for bookswapping. I was extremely pleased to find a lone copy of Fellowship of the Ring in the early Ballantine PB edition (pink, with the weird cover art). That's the edition I had in the late 60s, until I read it to pieces, and Fellowship being the first volume naturally got read more by everyone, which is probably why I so often see the other two volumes and can't remember seeing a decent copy of that edition of Fellowship in many decades.

Not appropriate to put the teacher's guide with the series it guides? What's your reasoning, and do you feel strongly enough about it to actually remove it (if so I shan't go putting it back in, life's too short)?

posted by muumi at 12:15 am (EST) on Jan 13, 2009

Hello
Thankyou for your comment. I checked [the worm ouroboros] and I don't know where that 'etc' came from! When I re-entered it with the isbn it came up as[the worm ouroboros: a romance] and LT still thinks that only I have it, but that can't be right. I'm still not quite clear on this combining lark - but I'm sure that it is the same book.
I must admit I haven't read it yet - I bought it because I saw it 2ndhand, and remembered that CSLewis mentions reading it. One day I'll get round to it!
I must add that I'm in awe of homeschoolers - it's all I can do to get mine to do their homework properly! But we do score some brownie points for our boys' good history knowledge!

posted by Goldengrove at 10:02 am (EST) on Jan 12, 2009

Btw I added the Ignatius Press teacher's guide for Vision Books to the series, because it published as an addition to VB (even the same format and advertised with the VB in the catalogue) and seemed to belong. Does that seem right to you?

posted by muumi at 10:07 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2009

I've seen discussion of the lead regulations irt books on booksellers listserve and mbs; it sounds unenforceable and it seems there has been some resolution that will be acceptable. Worse though, I have seen some concerns raised about small businesses that manufacture things like diapers, stuffed toys, wooden items for children, or import similar items from the EU (that already has very stringent safety requirements) and it does sound like a lot of people could go out of business if the regs are not changed. Poorly written law.

Found another copy of St Pius X at a booksale yesterday; I see you have one already as well as Fr. Marquette. There was St Margaret Mary (yess!) and Frances what's her name and the sisters of charity (ALL those first-nuns-of-their-order in the USA books are SO similar I might just sell that one!) too. I also found a LOT of Taylor Caldwell, about 4 or 5 books iirc... and Frances P Keyes, including one duplicate which I thought was a new book but was merely a new title. Interested in either?

posted by muumi at 9:54 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2009

AAcck. Posted without trying. Nothing to request in Canada. In November and December I got nothing, but was disappointed in not being able to ask for a few I really liked the look of and further disappointed by not getting the ones I liked enough to request. However, I loved my October ER win. I actually bought 2 extra copies (the publisher had a 30% off and free shipping promotion for Christmas) for gifts. :D

posted by muumi at 1:26 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

I know LT fits books out with ISBNs when you choose Amazon data and click on an edition that was published with an isbn, or when you choose an Amazon cover that came with an isbn. Does it do it at other times too?

I have gone and deleted incorrect isbns on the edit book page, but never checked to make sure it didn't put them back. In the case of the Amazon covers, I'm pretty sure it would put them back, but otherwise I don't know.

Did you find the ER list for January quite thin? I saw one or two I wouldn't mind requesting if I were in the USA I think, but nothing that actually disappointed me not to be able to request. Not a thing to request in Can

posted by muumi at 1:22 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

No idea on Assignment to the Council! Not even which council?

I wouldn't know where to run down HOw to Live on Nothing if I wanted to find it fast, but as far as I can recall it is pretty typical frugality etc. of the 1970s and was useful at the time. For more up-to-date information I think I'd recommend The Tightwad Gazette books. I was a serious selfsufficiency wannabe back in the day, but my idea was always to spend next to nothing on essentials so as to have money to spend on books and art. And art supplies. So when someone said I was quite frugal, in all honesty I had to deny it. :) But my son claims he never had a new pair of shoes until he was 12 (he forgot all the cheap canvas shoes from the budget store, lol) and if he said the same about jeans and shirts that would be fairly accurate too. However, the homeschool was supplied with really good books and math manipulatives and science stuff... Lego technic galore... :D

posted by muumi at 12:44 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

We of Nagasaki -

thanks - I have a cover for it, but believe me, it is deteriorating badly.

posted by kate545 at 10:28 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2009

Hello!

Yes, it's the same. Mine is the 7th edition, revised and reset.

Good point about what to call "reverts" like you - maybe we do need a new term! No longer a "baptized pagan" (JPII's term), but not really a revert. Cradle convert - cravert for short? :D Just thinking out loud . . .

posted by amilburn at 2:27 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2009

MLK is clearly and correctly a Landmark book by the illustrated cover, but it's also a paperback, so probably it is a late publication as you suggest, and there may be more. But if we don't have a list, there's nothing we can do about it!

posted by muumi at 10:06 am (EST) on Jan 9, 2009

You ARE a busy mom. My hat is off to you!

Yes, yes, yes...read East of Eden. If you like strong storytelling and loveable characters you will love that book. I have read it so many times!

And thanks for your book recommendations. I have never heard of either one of them...but I will definitely take a look!

posted by coloradoreader at 7:00 pm (EST) on Jan 8, 2009

Thanks for the info on Alan Thomas. I see from the link that he has several books published. I wonder how they differ? Also, I thought it was interesting that the article said that homeschooling was viable until age 14. Oops, we're there already! ;-)

posted by morningsidefamily at 4:26 pm (EST) on Jan 8, 2009

Impressive! Are they all in English?

posted by Schmerguls at 7:15 am (EST) on Jan 7, 2009

Hi, thanks for your message. Undset's "Elleve år" and "Tolv år" are not the same work. Elleve år (eng.trans. "The Longest Years") was published in 1934, "Tolv år" published posthumously in 1998. The latter is an unfinished continuation of Elleve år, written in the forties. It's probable there exists omnibus editions that contains both; I wouldn't know. But "Elleve år" and "Tolv år" should not be combined.

posted by geitebukkeskjegg at 3:23 am (EST) on Jan 7, 2009

Hi Amy,

Thanks for your comment about Joker One. It was a magnificent book, wasn't it? FOUR SONS? You ARE a saint. I have two sons---sometimes my husband and I joke that it feels like we have 17 kids!

Donnell

posted by coloradoreader at 4:10 pm (EST) on Jan 5, 2009

This time I'm a little faster in answering.

I've looked into the first chapter, and it's truly a translation, so our books are actually the same work.

If you need any more information, just tell me :-)

Greetings,
DigiTalk

posted by DigiTalk at 3:55 pm (EST) on Jan 5, 2009

Happy new year and sorry for my late answer. You asked about "Ferien mit Oma", because you have "Traveling with Oma" and suspected that this may be the same work.
Honestly, I don't know for sure, but as it's the same author, I strongly suspect also, that you have an english translation.
I translate it's covertext for you, so that you can check if it matches the content of your book:
"The six children of Pieselang can be really satisfied with their Oma (Grandma): nothing can scare her - no thief, no horse which enters though the door suddenly. They don't have to fear boring holidays."

posted by DigiTalk at 7:09 pm (EST) on Jan 3, 2009

You have a CK silver badge, second from the left in your little array, and you're pretty close to getting a gold badge yourself. :)

The Landmark series looks fabulous. You must have done a lot of research to track down all the titles. I wonder what is the MLK book (that someone put in the series before we got started)?

posted by muumi at 6:13 pm (EST) on Jan 2, 2009

Here is what I have read by and on Sigrid Undset:

324 Kristin Lavransdatter The Bridal Wreath - The Mistress of Husaby - The Cross, by Sigrid Undset (read 24 Apr 1947) (Book of the Year)
2412 Sigrid Undset: A Study in Christian Realism, by A. H. Winsnes translated by P. G. Foote (read 28 Sep 1991)
2414 The Master of Hestviken: The Axe The Snake Pit In the Wilderness The Son Avenger, by Sigrid Undset (read 10 Oct 1991)

You will note Kristin Lavransdatter was Book of the Year in 1947. I, frankly, liked it much better than The Master of Hestviken. Have you read anything by her I have not?

posted by Schmerguls at 1:40 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2008

Excellent find on the Background Books! Getting close to that CK gold badge yet? I have about 50 to go. ;)

posted by muumi at 9:13 am (EST) on Dec 31, 2008

I had a similar problem with Advent/Christmas decoration. Partly from being away during November and barely getting back a few days before Advent with a lot of other stuff to catch up on and partly from missing my kids and fighting depression the whole month. I got the Advent wreath out on time and gradually a few calendars (I actually own something like 90 calendars and usually have them all over the walls). Finally put up a "tree" (30 inch feather tree wannabe) a few days before Christmas. And I skipped building hills for my Santon creche! I did get out quite a few of my Nativity scenes though. Back in the day when I could have decided to start collecting Fontanini figures, I bought whole Nativities from various parts of the world instead. A lot of them are miniatures (they were cheaper to buy and easier to display -- in fact a lot of them are 2"-4" and hang on the tree). This year I got a tiny one from the Black Forest (75% off again, :D, and it was only 15$ in the first place like this one http://shop.therainforestsite.com/store/item.do?itemId=34516&siteId=221 only more rustic, and freestanding) and sadly passed up a beautiful handcarved miniature marked down from $300 to $75... :( still too expensive... Your African creche sounds absolutely *wonderful*.... as in... where can I see one???

I don't own any of the Background series that I know of... and the book you linked to looks really interesting but I have never seen it.

Now I am going to enter my books... and maybe even read a little. :)

posted by muumi at 11:02 pm (EST) on Dec 30, 2008

I don't know of a disambiguation field for a whole series. All I can think of is either change the name of the series to "series name a / name b" for each book...

OR in each book's CK at the bottom use the dis-whatsis field for a note

OR ignore the whole thing because Credo is the name that most (probably all) of us know it by, and anyway, LT allows for a book to be in multiple series and if someone feels very strongly about "junior bios" they can create a series for that.

I would go for the third solution myself, but maybe I just had a long day. ;)

Guess what I did in Toronto! My daughter wanted a nativity set. So we discussed what was available and she decided on Fontanini b/c they are widely available, completely unbreakable, and reasonably attractive. And I searched and searched online and found a site that sells them "bulk", no boxes, free shipping in USA. Only could get holy family and 3 villagers (2 shepherds) but I found a slue of sheep at the thrift store so they had a decent creche this year. And I had searched and searched and even eBay never had half-price pieces, nor was any discount to be found in Italy. WELL. I went to a sale at the Anglican Book Centre knowing that they carry Fontanini and hoping they would mark it down after Christmas. It was unprecedented in over 25 years of ABC sales. Most of the Fontanini was 75% off and the rest was 50% off. I bought everything they would need (Magi, animals, angels) and a few extras (villagers, St Francis). (Skipped the stables b/c too big to carry, and easy to buy in Italy.)

I don't often feel this good about a shopping story, but this was such a blessing.

I got a couple of good Catholic books at a deep discount too. Off to read them now -- after entering them on LT of course. :D

posted by muumi at 10:04 pm (EST) on Dec 30, 2008

I have read these books by Bruce Marshall:

234 The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith, by Bruce Marshall (read 2 Feb 1946) (Book of the Year)
307 Father Malachy's Miracle A Heavenly Story with an Earthly Meaning, by Bruce Marshall (read 7 Feb 1947)
323 Yellow Tapers for Paris, by Bruce Marshall (read 18 Apr 1947)
627 Vespers in Vienna, by Bruce Marshall (read 25 Sep 1960)
4427 The White Rabbit, by Bruce Marshall from the story told to him by Wing Commander F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas, G.C., M. C. (read 14 Apr 2008)

Each year I pick the best book read by me in that year. In 1946 Bruce Marshall's TheWorld, the flesh, and Father Smith won that designation

posted by Schmerguls at 5:01 pm (EST) on Dec 30, 2008

Oh, and mega congratulations on the Credo books!

posted by muumi at 8:45 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2008

Good luck on your commendable resolution. Look at me. I'm away from home and logging in on an unsecured wireless network (really they do mean to provide wifi here though, so it's quite okay). Fortunately I don't have any of the books I bought yesterday right here or I would probably be entering them now. :P

posted by muumi at 8:43 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2008

You're right, it doesn't. I have no idea why. LT is mysterious. Can you go into my library and search?

posted by IreneF at 9:04 pm (EST) on Dec 29, 2008

I think you do have to add a book to a series from the book's "main" page. That is where the CK entries can be made. Nuisance that you cannot do series entry from the "edit" page while adding your own book, isn't it? I did all the series stuff *before* I entered my own books, pretty much. I didn't have the courage to enter nonexistent books for the purpose of completing a series (thus, one book I own that is part of a series of 6 is the only entry in that series! -- if the other 5 were truly wishlist books I might add them too, but the one I have is about Italy and I am just NOT interested in Disney World and Washington DC!) but it does seem a rational kind of thing to do.

I'm glad you have the Credo Books information -- but yes by all means let your arm rest up before you use it, though! You don't need to get your Gold CK Helper badge all in one night!

I'm off to bed now and travelling tomorrow -- so I get a rest too. Sort of.

Good work, pat yourself on the back if your arm still can reach... ;o)

posted by muumi at 11:10 pm (EST) on Dec 28, 2008

It's still showing - but you have to scroll down her page.

Cheers-

vintage_books

posted by vintage_books at 11:01 pm (EST) on Dec 28, 2008

I read your post left on EdithRight's profile about Arthur Szyk.

I want to direct you to (Rabbi) Irvin Unger at Historicana http://www.historicana.com/ and his Szyk website located at: http://www.szyk.com/ and the Arthur Szyk Society located at: http://www.szyk.org/society.html

I've known Rabbi Unger for years, but only socially. He is the foremost expert of Szyk, and can be found spearheading Szyk art exhibitions and doing presentations around the world.

We also have the Szyk Andersen Fairy Tales in common. :)

Cheers-

vintage_books

posted by vintage_books at 8:01 pm (EST) on Dec 28, 2008

Oh well done! I put in my Vision books and filled in some of the gaps from back-of-the-book and there weren't that many left by that time all right. Do you have any clue about the Credo books -- aka Catholic Digest Junior Bookshelf? I have two so far, both unnumbered, but one had a number in the "editions" field so I used that.

We are SO going to get that CK Helper Badge -- bwahahaha!

posted by muumi at 2:53 pm (EST) on Dec 28, 2008

Somebody has already done Great Stories of Canada series! I was just going to enter Father Lacombe -- no need.

posted by muumi at 10:24 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

I had dinner... and emailed my stepmother... and I have a STACK of Vision books so I might make a start.

There are two OTHER stacks of Vision Books downstairs. ;o)

posted by muumi at 10:14 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Real Books now -- wow! I'm off now. Really.

posted by muumi at 9:26 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

I REALLY should go now. Haven't had dinner yet, for one thing. And there is this cramp in my shoulders... :P

posted by muumi at 8:54 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

But they do look nice don't theY? :)

posted by muumi at 8:52 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Oh I'm sorry. A bit obsessive-compusive here. Once I did one...

Well, it's a good thing they weren't cream puffs, or I'd be SO sick.

:(

posted by muumi at 8:52 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Yes -- I just put 100+ Landmark Books in a series! (I also found two random North Star Books and stuck them in a series!) I am ready to stop now. :P I had a list of all the Landmarks through 72 in the back of one book -- the numbers were given but not the authors -- so I looked up the titles and often only one book had that title, if not I either grabbed the book that had LANDMARK or some variant or guessed by author or number of copies -- nearly always guessed right. Then I found one person had listed a LOT of Landmarks by *L-# so I got those into a list and went through 73-122 (unfortunately, or fortunately for my endurance cos i REALLY need a break, there were quite a few missing there)!

Good on ya (as my Aussie friend says) for starting World Landmarks. If you do a search for "world Landmark" in works, you get 99 results. Lots with numbers!

posted by muumi at 8:13 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Terrific job on the series! The pictures may or may not show up. It is up to LT and I really don't know how the "system" works -- on what it bases its "decisions". Some combining may help. Or not! I am up to Landmark #63 and it really needs somebody to go back through and combine, not just titles, but authors as well. Later. :)

posted by muumi at 7:45 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Somebody entered ONE book as a Landmark Book, so the series exists, but it needs a lot of work! I just entered a second one -- fortunately you don't need to own the book to enter CK information. What fun!

posted by muumi at 6:42 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Vision Books would be an excellent series to work on! I haven't got as far as the bookcase with my VBs, so it hasn't occurred to me yet, but definitely, go for it! The way it works is, under CK, there is a line for series. You enter Vision Books (book 1) on that line (or whatever book number you have). The covers are something LT adds when it creates the series page. You don't have to do anything for covers, series page, etc. Just fill out that one line of CK and let LT do the rest.

Did you really say that LT doesn't have a Landmark Books series? I am going to take a look at that! I happen to have a LB on my desk right now.

posted by muumi at 6:39 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

http://www.librarything.com/series/An+Illustrated+History+of+the+Church

and another one that I didn't create (actually "begin" is a better work, as LT creates the page automatically once you make an entry in the Series field in CK), but was checking recently:

http://www.librarything.com/series/Fell+Farm

and another one that I started:

http://www.librarything.com/series/Magic+Windows

and one that I didn't start, but put in some work on:

http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Warrender+Saga

Hope that helps!

posted by muumi at 1:56 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

Not that I am that prompt in general, I'm a procrastinator by nature, but I sort of needed to create the Series listing right when I had the books in hand and was doing the entries. The Series feature itself is easy to use -- if you remember that Illustrated History of the Church and An Illustrated History of the Church are NOT going to be the same -- ask me how I know that :P! It is the actually figuring out which order to put them in that gets a bit complicated. Also with this particular series the author question is difficult (several are listed by the actual author, some by translator, and at least one by series editor) so it's sometimes hard to find the work to connect with the series.

I think that some Combiner has been at work though, because most of the books have only one Work page -- and that must mean that someone has combined the authors at some point, although not very consistently.

posted by muumi at 12:32 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

I'm trying to do the series thing with the Illustrated History of the Church. Whoa! That can get confusing. :)

posted by muumi at 11:10 pm (EST) on Dec 26, 2008

I just found a copy of GatP online in ITALY -- thought how nice, I can send it to Sara, she's always longing for something in English to read, and I can read it when I visit.

Fail.

First off, it's translated into Italian "dall'americano" (from the American, LOL). Secondly, it's $63.

There are cheaper copies. :D

posted by muumi at 7:31 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2008

Oh, thanks for explaining it.

All About well that is another whole series as I bet you know. ;)
I own those too.

posted by ChristineMM at 7:16 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2008

I know of Taylor Caldwell: she was so prolific and so popular "back in the day" that it's hard *not* to come across one of her books at any given booksale. I've just never seen or heard of that particular one. Thanks for the title -- it's sometimes easier to find a book when actually looking for it!

posted by muumi at 2:02 pm (EST) on Dec 22, 2008

Hi,

Thanks for the comment. I really like the Alan Thomas book, and old homeschooling books generally. I searched for it on the web and ordered it because I read it while visiting "High Desert Home." The quotes you posted on the power of informal learning are typical of why I like the book.

What article did you find about him, and what new book does he have coming out? I think I'll Google it when we get back from our Christmas trip.

Merry Christmas!
Laura

posted by morningsidefamily at 11:17 am (EST) on Dec 22, 2008

I've never read (or seen, or heard of) Grandmother and the Priests either! I'm amazed what I learn here on LT.

posted by muumi at 8:30 am (EST) on Dec 22, 2008

The first Eileen Dunlop book I ever read was A Flute in Mayferry Street and I became an immediate fan of hers but I have never heard of Saints of Scotland. I have 4 of her books: in addition to AFiMS I have Robinsheugh (aka Elizabeth Elizabeth), Fox Farm, and House on the Hill. Scotland in general -- and the Highlands and Hebrides more specifically -- is definitely another of my interests. I feel quite at home in Scotland -- it is a lot like Canada in many ways (probably not the least of which is the number of Scots in Canada! the cultural borrowing from Scotland is major here).

posted by muumi at 11:35 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2008

Hi, I wasn't the one who put the original info in on the Bees book but I did go and edit my information.

I don't quite understand the LT system when I correct data in my book's entry does it correct everyone's or does it just edit my own info? Do you know?

posted by ChristineMM at 11:02 am (EST) on Dec 20, 2008

I've got two volumes of An Illustrated History of the Church (both unique on LT), and it's quite different in size and format from the God's Hand in History book. But a similar concept.

All things considered, it's amazing that we share only 10% of our libraries.

posted by muumi at 11:22 am (EST) on Dec 15, 2008

>Which Catholic history series is it you haven't heard of?
>Your ultb tagged books are also pretty interesting. I notice you *also* have a unique book by Eric Kelly. Sad, that, for a Newbery author!
>I've never read River and Empty Sea, so if you ever, ever come across another copy.... ;)
>I used to be quite fluent in Chinese. I majored in Classical Chinese & wrote my senior thesis on Classical Chinese linguistics. Unfortunately, it's not something that stays with a person indefinitely and I don't read Chinese very well these days. Lack of practice.

About uniqueness. Many of the Catholic pamphlets probably could be combined with something, but it is sometimes hard with books that don't have an author. For the present, I'm content to leave them unique and let someone else do the work when they get around to it. :)

posted by muumi at 10:18 pm (EST) on Dec 14, 2008

SaintSunniva,

The book Jeanette Eyerly won the Christopher Award for was Escape from No Where. I read several of her books as a young person and I would have to say she probably was my favorite author at that age. I did not know until a few years ago she was from my home state. She actually served on the board at the Iowa Comission for the Blind and wrote a book about blindness called Seeing Summer. She was probably one of the first authors to address drugs, teen pregnancy at that time. I wonder if those books would seem dated now. I remember her books fondly.

Dara

posted by dara85 at 8:31 pm (EST) on Dec 11, 2008

Oops, busted. Yes I was up at 2 am -- that's the problem when you run into a snag and think "if I stop now, I'll never figure out where I was to get started again!"

I got over to Michigan today. Thanks for the dust jacket!

St Margaret was a surprising find in a thrift store (one of those Ladies' Auxilliary type thrift stores where you never expect to find anything good, or anything affordable) in Half Moon Bay, California (a town where a lot of stuff is unaffordable). I've never seen any other books in the series. Too bad!

posted by muumi at 1:21 am (EST) on Dec 11, 2008

I just uploaded a cover for Margaret - A Patron Saint Book. With any luck it will be the same as the cover of your book. :)

posted by muumi at 12:50 am (EST) on Dec 10, 2008

I haven't heard of a Misericordia Reader. Can I assume they are about mercy?
The power edit is the best tool for tagging. I hope to see you in the ultb stats soon. I update them about once every couple of weeks.

posted by misericordia at 2:14 pm (EST) on Dec 9, 2008

Welcome to Unique Library Thing Book group. Nice big library you have. Are you planning to use the ultb tag? I see you already have help badge so I assume you know how to power edit. Thanks for joining our group.

posted by misericordia at 8:05 pm (EST) on Dec 8, 2008

I have read these books by Antonia White:

2647 Beyond the Glass, by Antonia White (read 11 Sep 1994)
2651 Frost in May, by Antonia White (read 29 Sep 1994)
2661 The Lost Traveller A Novel by Antonia White (read 9 Oct 1994)

The first book in the trilogy is The Lost Traveller, the second is The Sugar House, and the third is Beyond the Glass. Unfortuantely I read Beyond the Glass (because it was the only one I could find in a Sioux City library)first, so when I read The Lost Traveller (which I obtained through inter-library loan) I knew what was going to happen in The Sugar House, having read Beyond the Glass. I strongly recommend you read the three books in order. I have never read The Sugar House because I had read Beyond the Glass, which spoiled, I thought, The Sugar House for me.

I was much impressed and caught up by Antonia White in 1994.

posted by Schmerguls at 10:42 am (EST) on Dec 1, 2008

Thank you for dropping by and leaving me a message?
What are you reading at the moment? I am reading a couple of books by Anne Fadiman, among others! I tend to read five or six books at a time. I see you have Flannery O'Connor as one of your favourite authors. I am getting the Complete Works for my birthday at the end of December. What have you read of hers?

- TT

posted by TheTortoise at 3:51 pm (EST) on Nov 20, 2008

I didn't know that book, thx. I worked for Phyllis in the 80s, primarily in the area of education. She's an absolutely wonderful woman and one of my heroes (or heroines :) I fell in love with homeschooling there and planned to do that some day, but God had different plans it seems. Married at 40 in 2001 we thought we'd have kids right away, but they didn't show up. Finally went to the doc and found out I was premenopausal and it was too late. Told God we'd welcome a miracle, but that of children doesn't appear to be one He's granting. So, atm, no kids and no homeschooling. But I have high respect for those who do -- Bless you.

Susan

posted by suslyn at 5:58 pm (EST) on Nov 19, 2008

You're good! That was it: My Life For My Sheep A Biography of Thomas A Becket by Alfred Duggan

I had "my life for my sheep" right but it gave me nothing. Nor did Thomas or canterbury, but Becket was the key :)

Thanks for adding me :) What a compliment. I don't know (or really care either way--that's meant in a nice way!) what your politics are, but one of the most fascinating current Catholic figures out there, in my opinion, is Phyllis Schlafly. Her biography is a pretty good read too: The sweetheart of the silent majority : the biography of Phyllis Schlafly by Carol Felsenthal.

posted by suslyn at 5:28 pm (EST) on Nov 19, 2008

I'm a Christian biography fan. One of my favorite is of -- oooh I'm so frustrated! I've had this window open half an hour trying to remember the title and spent 15 minutes searching. My copy is in storage in France and most of those books aren't on LT. The real kicker is I was thinking of it (title and all) just yesterday. Archbishop of Canterbury? martyred when England when C of E... 'My life for my sheep'?

Just thinking I might find this kind of comment very annoying! LOL If you do too feel free to delete it. Sorry for the nonproductive ramble.

Cheers,
Susan

posted by suslyn at 8:55 am (EST) on Nov 19, 2008

Re: your post today in the PC group.

I hope your kids enjoyed Wall-E. I will always remember it as the film that my oldest actually enjoyed, inasmuch as he is very sensitive to loud noise, and movie theaters are a big problem for him. Most of the movie is very quiet, with nary but a few bleeps and blips...

Regards,
Maki

posted by Makifat at 8:33 pm (EST) on Nov 15, 2008

Thank you for thinking of me! I've got to look through your books! I've updated the two covers and I've added you to my watch list.

Good night,
Andrea

posted by AndreaandSamantha at 8:49 pm (EST) on Oct 29, 2008

I don't think that is the same book we have, but the editions of Bilibin tales are pretty confusing -- I'm glad I'm not his bibliographer. I do have a Tale of Tsar Saltan by Bilibin/ Pushkin but in the edition of Russian Fairy Tales I have (early 1980s) it doesn't mention an author or I can't remember one anyhow (note that the French translation of the exact work gives the author as Collectif!). A story by story comparison or a look at the fine print would be necessary I guess.

I thought you were up too late too, until I realized you are two time zones to the west of me. oops. G'night. I'm still not half packed, leaving for Italy tomorrow after Mass.

posted by muumi at 1:31 am (EST) on Oct 26, 2008

What a coincidence! I just bought Mystery at Boulder Point today at the library sale. I'll upload it right away and get a picture. If you like it that much, I'll consider it a keeper. ;)

posted by muumi at 6:54 pm (EST) on Oct 24, 2008

Thanks for greeting me and telling me about the book covers now available. It was very kind of you to tell me about the covers. I come on Library Thing only sporadically and am still working on adding all my books (maybe if I quit going to book sales I might catch up - you think?) so I might not get to doing covers very soon, but I will eventually (one can hope).

posted by buriedinbooks at 11:19 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2008

Hi AMy,

Yes, my Ball Blue Book has that same subtitle.

Blessings,

Mary Ann

posted by maryanntherese at 10:51 pm (EST) on Oct 9, 2008

Thanks so much. It's a great room to hibernate in. I took a quick look at your books and plan on looking some more. Intriguing. Andrea

posted by AndreaandSamantha at 10:17 am (EST) on Sep 10, 2008

I am pleased you find my library interesting. I am in the process of adding "reviews" for as many of the books therein as I can--these are based on comments I made to myself right after reading the book. They are not profound, but they are honest reflections of what I thought of the book I read.

posted by Schmerguls at 11:59 am (EST) on Sep 7, 2008

Thanks for the classification book cover! It is tons of time and work to get covers for all of our books isn't it?

posted by homemommy at 9:22 pm (EST) on Sep 1, 2008

I guess they deleted that link because they just brought in a cover-locating thingie (technical language and me, not a good mix, lol) on the Statistics page. Click on Statistics and Library Statistics page comes up, but at the top there is a link to Book Covers and you can find the information you want.

posted by muumi at 1:24 pm (EST) on Aug 13, 2008

I hope I didn't overwhelm the Canadian History for Canadian Kids group and scare everybody away with my excessive enthusiasm.

I just added an Ann Bridge book that you also have -- noticed that you have several but because of your omnibus edition and I suppose just the general difficulty of finding Ann Bridge books, this is the first we have in common (and you have a cover picture, but mine's an old orange Penguin, so I have to scan my own this time). I've read more of Ann Bridge's books than I actually own. I especially enjoy the Julia novels. Bridge readers are pretty scarce so it's nice to find another, and yet another similarity in our libraries.

posted by muumi at 2:00 pm (EST) on Aug 11, 2008

I don't think I can resist a group called Canadian History for Canadian Kids. I used to do workshops for our homeschool group on teaching Canadian history with good books. :D

posted by muumi at 12:52 am (EST) on Aug 10, 2008

Hi SaintSunniva,
It does sound like we have similar circumstances! I do have six kids, love being Catholic and love books, but am not homeschooling any longer. I'm finding LT to be quite a draw also. It's pretty fun!
Therese

posted by trixwith6 at 10:35 pm (EST) on Jul 31, 2008

I was interested both by your library and your webname, Sunniva is really a popular name here in Norway because the St. apparently came here from Ireland and landed somewhere on the Norwegian coast . . . sorry I've forgotten the details, have to look it up again.

posted by DollyBantry at 5:06 pm (EST) on Jul 28, 2008

I have several books by Virginia Kahl - I fell in love with The Duchess Bakes a Cake when I was 4 years old, and yes, I've tried to get a copy of that particular book for each of my children. I'm short one though. I guess I need to start looking for a copy for my youngest child!

Barbara Cooney is an excellent illustrator and I like her books also, although I don't have very many.

Cordially,
Laura

posted by LauraLLD at 4:45 pm (EST) on Jul 26, 2008

I love "The Little Juggler" and Tomie DePaola's book "The Clown of God." I'm always weeding through our library to discard those books we don't read or use. One only has so much space, right? I'm looking forward to the day when all my children take their favorite books from my library to start/make their OWN libraries!

posted by LauraLLD at 12:39 am (EST) on Jul 26, 2008

Thanks for the cover to Merry Hearts & Bold!

I see that you're a Catholic homeschooler; you might enjoy the following blogs by Sally Thomas, a writer who is also a Catholic homeschooler herself!

http://fineoldfamly.blogspot.com/

http://saintdanielstylite.blogspot.com/

posted by echo at 9:08 pm (EST) on Feb 17, 2008