scaifea's thread #11

Welcome to thread XI!



Below you’ll find an explanation of my reading habits, which, I warn you, is a bit crazy. Usually I have about 10-15 books going at once, one each from the following groups (and occasionally other books slipped in there, too):

1. A book from the 100 Banned Books book (at least currently. As soon as I finish this list, I'll replace it with another, and oh, I've got tons of lists).

2. A children's book, for Charlie's library. I'm trying to collect books from various award lists, and I like reading them before reading them to Charlie or deciding to add them to Charlie's shelves. For this category, I’m currently working through three lists:
a. 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die
b. The CYOA books
c. The Newbery Honor books
d. Cooperative Children's Book Center list

3. A book from the Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List, in chronological order.

4. A book for the Presidential Challenge. Books for this category are read in chronological (presidentially) order.

5. An audio book, which I listen to as I knit/sew/otherwise craft/drive.

6. A list I'm working through together with my best friend, Rob: The Hugo/Nebula/WFA/Bram Stoker (and other) lists (combined, in chronological order)

7. For this category, I cycle through 7 different stacks:
a. A book from my shelves which I haven't yet read
b. Agatha Christie's bibliography (in chronological order)
c. Neil Gaiman's bibliography (in some order other than chronological (don't
ask)).
d. Christopher Moore's bibliography (in chronological order)
e. Stephen Fry's bibliography (in chronological order)
f. The NEH Timeless Classics list
g. The National Book Award list (in alpha order by title)
h. The Pulitzer list (in alpha order by author)
i. John Boyne bibliography (in chronological order, sort of)

8. A read-aloud-to-Charlie-at-bedtime book.

9. An unread book from my shelves.

10. A book from my Classics shelves.

11. A book from our Science Shelves corner.

12. A book on Buddhism or from the Dalai Lama's bibliography.

13. Book-a-year challenge: Two years ago, along with a few others in this group (*cough* Paul *cough*), I made a year-by-year list to see how far I could go back with consecutive reads. I've decided, again, to follow Paul's lead and try to fill in some of those blanks, and so I'm adding an entry here to my lists.

14. An audiobook for the car.

15. A full-on re-read through Shakespeare's stuff.

16. This slot is reserved for books that just grab me and shout that they need to be read Right Now.

And on top of these, there will be a multitude of picture books and easy readers, which Charlie and I read together. I've decided again this year also to list our re-reads, but I'll just list them each day and not number them.

So, now you've got a glimpse of just how neurotic I am.
Please feel free to post comments, recommendations, or whatever else strikes your fancy. And Happy Reading, everyone!



What I'm reading now:
-Memoirs of Hecate County (Banned Books)
-The Arrival (1001 Children's Books)
-Water of the Wondrous Isles (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy)
-Franklin Pierce (Presidential Challenge)
-Moby Dick (audiobook)
-The Gods Themselves (Hugo, Nebula, Locus awards)
-The Centaur (National Book Award)
-E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs (Charlie's bed-time book)
-Don Quixote (an unread book off of my shelves)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (from my Classics shelves)
-Introductory Astronomy & Astrophysics (from the Science Shelves)
-The Light of Asia (Buddhism list)
-Far from the Madding Crowd (books by year, 1874)
-The Kalahari Typing School for Men (series that my mom wants me to read so we can chat about it)
-Five Days at Memorial (from the Read Soon shelf)
-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (everyday audio book in the car)
-The Sonnets (Shakespeare re-read)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Books Read:

JANUARY

1. The Quaint and Curious Quest of Johnny Longfoot (Newbery Honor book) - 8/10 = B+
2. Slaves of Quentaris (audio book/1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C
3. Runner of the Mountain Tops (Newbery Honor book) - 7/10 = C
4. The Blue Cat of Castletown (Newbery Honor book) - 8/10 = B+
5. Princess Academy (Newbery Honor book/ audio book) - 8/10 = B+
6. Olive's Ocean (audio book/Newbery Honor book) - 7/10 = C
7. The Wanderer (audio book/Newbery Honor book) - 8/10 = B+
8. The Terrible Two (potential Charlie book) - 9/10 = A
9. The Puppy Place: Scout (Charlie's bedtime book) - 8/10 = B
10. A Daughter of the Seine (Newbery Honor book) - 8/10 = B
11. Roller Girl (Newbery Honor book) - 8/10 = B+
12. Abe Lincoln at Last! (Charlie's school library chapter book) - 8/10 = B+
13. How I Live Now (audiobook, 1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10 = B+
14. The Terrible Two Get Worse (loaned to me by a school librarian) - 8/10 = B+
15. Ella Enchanted (audiobook, Newbery Honor book) - 8/10 = B+
16. Echo (Newbery Honor book) - 9/10 = A-
17. Bone Gap (Printz award winner) - 9/10 = A
18. The Ghosts of Heaven (Printz Honor book) - 8/10 = B-
19. George (Stonewall Award winner) - 9/10 = A
20. The Return of the Native (audiobook for the car/book-a-year challenge, 1878) - 9/10 = A
21. Hoot (audiobook, Newbery Honor book) - 8/10 = B
22. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (1001 Children's Books) - 9/10 = A
23. Magic Tree House #17: Tonight on the Titanic (Charlie's school library book) - 8/10 = B+
24. The War That Saved My Life (Newbery Honor book) - 9/10 = A
25. Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Abraham Lincoln (public library book) - 8/10 = B+

FEBRUARY
26. Crenshaw (public library book) - 8/10 = B+
27. Noah Barleywater Runs Away (Charlie book) - 9/10 = A-
28. The Midnight Dress (Blind Date with a Book) - 8/10 = B+
29. Twilight (audiobook, 1001 Children's Books) - 9/10 = A-
30. Don't Break the Balance Beam! (public library book) - 8/10 = B
31. Hattie Ever After (sequel read) - 8/10 = B
32. A to Z Mysteries: Secret Admirer (Charlie bed-time read) - 8/10 = B
33. A Good Night for Ghosts (Charlie's school library book) - 8/10 = B+
34. The Brilliant World of Tom Gates (audiobook) - 8/10 = B-
35. Zachary Taylor (Presidential Challenge) - 8/10 = B-
36. Books Can Be Deceiving (series I'm reading with my mom) - 8/10 = B+

MARCH
37. The Magic Tree House: Leprechaun in Late Winter (Charlie's school library book) - 8/10 = B
38. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (school library book) - 8/10 = B-
39. Bink & Gollie (school library book) - 8/10 = B+
40. The Magic Tree House #3: Mummies in the Morning (school library book) - 8/10 = B
41. The Spoonflower Handbook (just because I wanted to) - 9/10 = A-
42. The BFG (Charlie's bedtime read) - 9/10 = A
43. Circus Mirandus (audiobook) - 8/10 = B+
44. Mr. Pants: Slacks, Camera, Action! (Charlie book) - 9/10 = A
45. Hour of the Olympics (school library book) - 8/10 = B
46. Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday (Charlie's school library book) - 8/10 = B
47. The Puppy Place: Patches (Charlie's bedtime read) - 8/10 = B+
48. Black Boy (Banned Books list) - 9/10 = A-
49. The Religions Book (Charlie book) - 8/10 = A
50. The Boy Whom Swam with Piranhas (Charlie book) - 9/10 = A
51. Blizzard at Black Swan Inn (CYOA list) - 8/10 = B
52. The Nest (audiobook) - 8/10 = B+
53. Belle Prater's Boy (audiobook/Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
54. Pax (potential Charlie book) - 8/10 = B+
55. Fleece Navidad (series I'm reading with my mom) - 9/10 = A-
56. Dandelion Wine (NEH Children's Classics list) - 10/10 = A+
57. The Crystal Cave (Mythopoeic award list) - 8/10 = B+
58. The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket (Charlie book) - 9/10 = A

APRIL
59. Stay Where You Are and Then Leave (Jeffers/Boyne bibliography) - 9/10 = A
60. The Naming of Tishkin Silk (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B+
61. Minn of the Mississippi (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B
62. High Tide in Hawaii (Charlie's school library book) - 8/10 = B
63. The Apple and the Arrow (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B
64. My Side of the Mountain (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
65. Rascal (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
66. Millions (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B+
67. The Magic Tree House #10: Ghost Town at Sundown (Charlie's school library book) = 8/10 = B+
68. Davy Crockett (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B-
69. To Be a Slave (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B
70. Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King (Charlie's bedtime read) = 10/10 = A+
71. Serafina and the Black Cloak (book fair purchase) - 8/10 = B+

MAY
72. Detective Gordon: The First Case (CCBC list, easy reader) - 8/10 = B
73. Grimpow (audiobook/1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10 = C
74. Magic Tree House #24: Earthquake in the Early Morning (Charlie's school library book) - 8/10 = B
75. Enchantress from the Stars (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
76. To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Hugo Award) - 9/10 = A-
77. Millard Fillmore (U. S. Presidential Challenge) - 8/10 = B-

The Charlie, Mario & Tuppence Toppers:

Lookit me, all first and everything! (Mario looks a little like the morning after the night before...what's she been up to?)

And the Bonus Question:

Well, we've been chatting about first cars and dream cars, so maybe let's do that with houses/places we've lived...

Choose to answer any of the following that pleases you:

1) What was it like where you grew up? Apartment? House? Rural or city?

2) What is your favorite of all of the places you've lived?

3) Name an element/feature that simply must be included in your Dream Home (no need to list 'large library' - we all know that already, eh?).

>3 laytonwoman3rd: Hi, Linda! Mario is feeling the side effects of Benadryl, I suspect. She's on it for a few days to get the allergies under control and then hopefully we can take her off the medicine and just use baby wipes on her paws every time she comes inside to keep the symptoms down (oy with the poodles, already).

Happy new thread, Amber.

I grew up in a small village about 6 miles from a medium sized city. Small village school, middle school a forty minute walk from home and a High School a short bus drive away. Childhood not idyllic but not half bad either.

Happy new one, Amber! My favorite place to live is right where I am at - the Pecan Paradisio. This is my favorite house and my favorite setting. Although living in Indianapolis was also fun, but I would choose my pecan trees over the big city every time.

Happy new thread, Amber!

1) I grew up in a rural area of New York, where NY, CT, and MA all meet. But it was an easy train ride to New York City, so best of both worlds, I guess. I'm definitely more of a city person now, though.

2) Hands down, my favorite place to live was Washington, DC.

3) In my next house, I really want a mud room (not common in Texas). I want a place to immediately hang my jacket, put down my bag, and drop the mail, so all of that doesn't end up in the kitchen like it does now :)

I "grew up" (until I was 11 or 12) in a very rural place in Northeastern PA...on a dirt road pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Lots of grass and trees and rocks, and a perfect little creek down the bank across the road. And I walked to a one-room school where I attended through 5th grade. (NO, I am not making any of this up.) Then we moved "to town", a very small village with one general store/gas station owned by my aunt and uncle who lived upstairs over the store. (My grandmother lived in an apartment in the back.) I guess that would have to win for the favorite of all the places I've lived. The house came on the market a few months ago, and there was a brief moment of "should we buy it and retire there?" before sanity and sense prevailed.

My dream home would have a large, well appointed kitchen that did NOT feature those awful dark laminate cupboard facings that have been in every apartment we ever lived in since we got married, AND in the house we live in now. When I win the lottery, they're gone, baby. And a mud room would be very nice as well. Or a kitchen door to the outside. Or both.

I've lived in the same house in a largish city for 26 years come this September. Considering I'll be 30 this September, I don't really remember living anywhere else. I live in a big Tudor-style bungalow built between April and September of 1940. (The address is not in the 1940 Census, but is in the 1941 city directory, and the first residential tax assessment took place mid-1940, which is how I narrowed down the month range.) It still has the original oak floors and plaster walls, along with the family room and kitchen expansion added in the 1970s.

I simply must have a big kitchen in my house. The current house has a kitchen that is 22 feet long and features a center island that's about 12x4 feet. I don't know how to cook in small spaces, since we have boundless counter and cabinet space. I would like a better pantry setup, though. Ours is under the basement stairs, which is a nice use of the space, but the stairstepped ceiling means playing Tetris with the canned goods.

Actually, my dream home has to be an older home. I visited a friend who was housesitting a million dollar home in a gated community here in town last year, and the subfloors of that house creaked and popped like nobody's business when you walked on them. And the house had bland beige vinyl siding and bland beige paint all over the interior (this was the original paint from when the house was built). My house may be barely worth six figures and not in a stylish neighborhood, but the building quality is noticeably better. And my walls were originally painted actual colors. (They still are painted colors, just not the original colors. Lead paint is icky.)

Happy New Thread, Amber!

I grew up in Ann Arbor, where the U of Michigan is. I had 3 uncles in town who played sports there, so I was surrounded by a lot of maize and blue. Great town to grow up in; I could walk to every school I went to.

After college in the Boston area I lived in Santa Barbara and NYC, then moved to Chicago, where I'm now in my favorite place to live. Love our house, and with our having just added more bookshelves, I love it even more.

For me, the one essential is lots of light from outside coming into the house.

Happy New Thread, Amber! No worries about the Trivia Crack game. I would never get frustrated with my pal. Smiles...

That Tuppence Topper, almost looks like a painting.

>6 PaulCranswick: Your childhood setting sounds absolutely lovely, Paul. Does your mom still live in the same house?

>7 Crazymamie: Mamie: Where did you live in Indianapolis, if you don't mind my asking? I've several friends who live in various parts in the greater area, so I know a little bit about the place.

>8 katiekrug: Katie: How great to live an easy train ride away from someplace like NYC?! I'd love that.
I would not love, however, living in DC. I just don't have the constitution for it. (Oh lordy, what a pun, eh? Purely accidental. I'd apologize for it, but, well, I kinda like it, so I'll let it stand, apologies be damned!)
I like the idea of a mud room in theory, but I suspect that it would drive me bonkers because I wouldn't be able to let myself believe that that stuff belonged there - I'd constantly be fretting that the things left in the mud room weren't in fact in their proper places. (I have issues; I'm aware.)

>9 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: I grew up katty-corner from an old one-room school house and dreamed wonderful dreams of it being my actual school, so that I could walk there every day, just across the road, come home for lunch,... (I had an hour's bus ride in the morning and another hour in the bus after school - I hated it.)
And I so, so miss the large, light-filled kitchen we had in Ohio. Oh gosh, I miss it. Our current one is not tiny, but not big, and it's also the darkest room in the house. Not pleasant.

>10 casvelyn: It's neat how you came to know exactly when your house was built!
I agree about the large kitchen (see my response to Linda above), and I also agree, to an extent about older homes being cooler. Those new house all seem to look alike and have no personality; I want a house with some sass. On the other hand, most of the older houses Tomm and I have looked at have serious issues that our budget can't properly address (or the creepiest basements you've ever witnessed - nopenopenope).

>11 jnwelch: Oh, Joe, Ann Arbor is *gorgeous*! I LOVE that town! Also, Grand Rapids is a favorite. You've lived in some pretty great places, friend. Here's hoping I can get to Chicago some day for a meet-up with you and the Chicago crew sometime...

>12 msf59: Mark: Thanks for your patience with this spacey game player. It's much appreciated. And thanks! I think, though, were I to paint that particular portrait, I wouldn't include the detail of our central vacuum system. Ha!

>7 Crazymamie:, >13 scaifea: Wait, Mamie used to live in Indianapolis? How did I miss that? I live there (here?) now, just north of Southport on the southside.

>14 casvelyn: Oh, cool! I knew you were in Indiana (I think I knew that...), but didn't know it was Indy! I grew up about 45 minutes due west of Indianapolis, just 5 miles from I-70.

Hi amber!

We moved a few times when I was a kid, but we never changed cities, so I've always lived in small-town Ohio. When I was a child I lived in a farmhouse that looked like it would be found way out in the country, but was actually right off a busy road. Then we really did move out in the middle of nowhere, a small house that was up on a hill. It had a huge driveway that took me a couple minutes to walk down to go to the bus, and that driveway ended on a 1-lane road with dubious pavement and no lines. It was also on the hill behind my grandmas and aunts houses, so I was always around my cousin. There was a pond, and a bunch of trails though the woods that surrounded the area. I mostly stayed inside and played Nintendo at that point, though. :P

My dream house is something that is cabin-y. I don't think I'd actually want to live in an actual log cabin, or any kind of cabin, due to all the inconveniences, but I love these modern cabin-esque interiors with modern amenities. Places that look like this, this, this, or this. There is a TV show on DIY network called Barnyard Builders, and they occasional show the interiors of various houses, and I ALWAYS think they look amazing. :)

Realistically, I'd prefer something low maintenance, and I don't think wood falls under the category.

(Also a Camaro int he driveway *cough cough*)

>16 Ape: Stephen: Whoa, those interior house shots are pretty amazing! I like cabin-y in looks but not in reality as well. And no actual woods for me, either (snakes - gah).

>13 scaifea: No when my parents divorced she moved out. Around fifteen years later my sister bought back the house and she and her family now live there.

I've never lived within city limits, so it is what I'm used to. I would say snakes aren't a big deal, but I guess I have seen a fair few over the years...

I forgot to mention what I would want in terms of functionality. A garage. A big one. Seeing my car rust out because it's parked in the weather (and on an unpaved surface) I absolutely appreciate what a garage can do for preserving vehicles. I sort of dream of a separate house-sized garage so I can do my own car repair and have all that extra space to save the parts I take off after I realize I don't know how to put them back on.

>13 scaifea: - Would you not want to live in a city generally, or is it DC specifically you don't have the constitution for (ha!)? I loved DC because of the history, the internationality of it, the amazing food, always interesting things to do, and yet it never felt overwhelming to me, which New York can be sometimes, despite my familiarity with it. Also, it's such a lovely city and nicely walkable :) The worst part about living there were the hordes of tourists, of course, but one learns how to avoid them!

>13 scaifea:, >14 casvelyn: I lived in Indy in the late 80s, early to mid 90s. So, before I married Craig, I lived in apartments on 82nd Street (Lakeshore Apartments), up in the Castleton area - LOVED that! After we got married we bought a condo off of 38th Street - on Oceanline East Dr. It was in "The Islands" community, which was new at the time.

Happy new thread, Amber, lovely pictures of Charly, Tuppence & Mario.

I grew up in a lot of different places, born in a village east of Rotterdam, from 4 to 7 years in a city west of Rotterdam, then a village near Utrecht, hated it there was bullied for all those years, found some comfort with the dogs in the neighborhood that I walked regular (wasn't allowed one myself). When I was 15 my siblings had left and I moved with my parents to The Hague.
At 19 I moved to Rotterdam and lived there for nearly 25 years.

If I could cope with the big city, I would move back to Rotterdam, but sadly I cant anymore.
My dreamhouse is an appartment/penthouse with for me a large balcony with lots of flowers, an own room for both Frank and me, a nice all equipped kitchen for Frank & of course the large library :-)

I grew up all over the place, but my favorite place to live was Lexington, Kentucky, where I lived when I was in library school. It's the perfect size town for me: big enough to have culture and amenities, not big enough to be intimidating. I'd move back there in a heartbeat, but since lots of other people feel the same way, competition for library jobs in the area is pretty fierce. So I just go back for visits every now and then.

The feature I've wanted in my dream house since I was a little girl is a window seat. There's just something about the idea of curling up and reading in a cozy little nook that really appeals to me.

Happy new thread!
I grew up in Orange County, Ca., just a five minute drive from Disneyland. Back then, O.C. was definitely a suburb. There were lots of orange orchards and a few strawberry fields. We felt like we were in the most boring place on earth. : )

>18 PaulCranswick: Paul: Oh I love that your sister and her family live there now! My parents still live in the house I was born into and I just can't bear the thought of someone else living there when they're gone, although it's inevitable.

>19 Ape: Stephen: Oh, yes, snakes are a Big Deal. And growing up on a farm I saw lots of them. Ugh. UGH.
But I get you with the garage thing: when Tomm and I got married we rented a house with an attached garage and that was the first time I experienced that particular luxury. I thought I was living the good life! And I haven't been without one since.

>20 katiekrug: Katie: Well, I lived in Columbus, Ohio for years and didn't mind it so much, with a few exceptions, but that city, although fair-sized, is structured in such a way that I didn't mind it - lots of little sort-of-separate areas (which, come to think of it, is probably how lots of cities are organized...). I've been to DC a couple of times and it just felt so crowded and hectic, and I don't do well in that sort of scene. I do want to take Charlie there soonish, though, for all of the history and museums and such - he's a HUGE fan of Lincoln (and the idea of the presidency in general), so he needs to see that ginormous statue and all that.

>21 Crazymamie: Mamie: Oh, very cool! Weird to think that we lived kind of close all those years and didn't know that we would know each other. (Oh, that's deep, man.)

>22 FAMeulstee: Hi, Anita! Gosh, but doesn't your living history sound exotic to the like of me! Love it.

>23 foggidawn: Lexington sounds wonderful! I've never been. And yes, a window seat is on my list, too!

>24 mstrust: Hi Jennifer! The O.C., eh? That's where Tomm is right at this moment, in fact (he flies home tomorrow). I've been there only once, for a conference, and I browsed the shopping area of Disneyland (Charlie was 1 at the time and clearly needed authentic Disney swag), but didn't venture into the park itself. I contented myself with sitting in the lounge/check-in area of the California Adventure (is that the name of that thing?) Hotel for extended periods of time, reading - holy moly that place is gorgeous!

Look what was waiting for us at the pizza place tonight!

>27 scaifea: Now that is seriously cool.

My favourite place is where I live right now but could use a bigger kitchen, like the one that I had after my last house was renovated. But this place has a lot more room for my books. I live in a suburban city close to a river and a shortish bus ride away from Vancouver.

I grew up all over the place - I think I moved something like 10 times before graduating from high school. Of course, since then I've probably moved another 15. (Both would be more if you include changing living situation/house but in the same city.) But when I was growing up, maybe half the time in apartments and half the time in houses. Mostly rural-ish - small towns, nothing larger than 100,00 people and most considerably smaller.

Favorite place of everywhere I've lived? Ghent, probably. I would definitely move back there if we had the opportunity.

An element/feature that simply must be included in my Dream Home: A room that has great windows and terrific artificial lighting that can be all mine. Art needs good light!

>28 Familyhistorian: Meg: I know, right?! I don't think I mentioned before that this pizza place is owned by one of the school librarians. She knew we were coming in last night, so she made the little sign for Charlie and then gave him a tour of the kitchen! So cool.
Your living location sounds lovely! I've never been to Vancouver, but I'd love to some day. (*cough*meet-up!*cough*)

>29 ursula: Ursula: Whoa, you have moved a ton, lady! I've only moved, um, let's see..., nine times in my life, and I'm including college moves in there. I'm not a fan, really. That packing business is the pits. Of course, it likely goes without saying that I've never been to Ghent (I've not been a lot of places at all) - what do you love most about it?
And yes to the good lighting in a dream house! That one thing that I do absolutely love about the house we're in now: we have all kinds of sky lights, which is so wonderful!

On the agenda for today:
I've got a couple of odds and ends to finish up round the house today (prepping the fruits and vegetables I bought for the week on Friday for Charlie's school snacks, maybe one quick load of laundry, order a birthday present for Tomm's soon-to-be-3-year-old niece, and getting started converting my CV into a resume for this possible library gig), and then I'll spend the rest of the day baking and cooking, likely. I want to make some cake doughnuts, some Lemon Butter Cookies, and I found a recipe to make DQ ice cream that Charlie and I are going to try. Then gluten-free lasagna-type casserole for dinner tonight. (Tomm's coming home! WOOT!)

On the reading front: I started Davy Crockett yesterday. *sigh* Am I a bad person because I'm just not interested in early western settlement stories? I'm having trouble paying attention.
And again last night, no bedtime reading because I finished up Henry V. Oh crackers, but that St. Crispin's Day speech. Ugly crying occurred, again - I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Sharon Creech compared winning the 1995 Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons to getting the meatball in a plate of spaghetti."
Oh, gosh, but I think I love Sharon Creech. Her books are such fantastic jaunts and she just seems so quick and clever and kind - and excellent combination of qualities, I think.

What We Read Yesterday:

-There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight by Penny Parker (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B+
And we finished up:
67. Ghost Town at Sundown by Mary Pope Osborne (Charlie's school library book, 73 pages)
These Magic Tree House books are excellent beginning chapter books for kids at Charlie's reading level, but golly, they're not exactly easy for me to read aloud. Charlie and I take turns (he'll read half a chapter and I'll read the rest), and the cadence and phrasing throw me off every time; they're excellent for kids just getting comfortable with reading because the sentences are short and simple, but there's no natural flow to it and I find it really hard to make it sound smooth.

Joe, if you're reading this, I'd love to know what YBH - a consummate reader-aloud - would have to say about reading such books out loud. I *did* enjoy making a cowboy voice for the Slim Cooley character, though. Ha!

Morning, Amber! Happy Sunday! Looks like a beauty today. I have some chores to do, inside and out but I have most of the afternoon, reserved for books and some baseball. Enjoy the day.

>33 msf59:. Morning, Mark! It sounds like you have a good day planned!

Happy Sunday, Amber! 1) What was it like where you grew up? Apartment? House? Rural or city? Till I was nine, I lived in a very old house on the outer skirts of Cleveland, Oh. Loved walking to Woolworths with my "nana" or taking the rapid transit to downtown CLE and have lunch with her at Mills Restaurant.

2) What is your favorite of all of the places you've lived? My current home. Semi-rural, tons of trees, wonderful community and excellent reading spots, either by the little lake/beach or on our deck.

3) Name an element/feature that simply must be included in your Dream Home (no need to list 'large library' - we all know that already, eh?). nooooo question about it! A wrap around porch including a swing for reading, for cuddling, for drawing in neighbors. Sipping wine, sharing coffee and watching my little corner of the world unfold before me.

>30 scaifea: I have indeed moved a lot. And with the international moves, although we have a storage unit still with some stuff in it, I haven't had more than a few suitcases and a few boxes' worth of stuff (which has stayed in California) for the last few years. It's ... interesting. I'm already starting to look around the apartment and sigh about having to winnow things down again to fit into those same suitcases.

And Ghent, well ... it's a beautiful city, reasonably large (250,000 people) but definitely feels small. It's walkable and bikeable, and has enough things going on to make it interesting. It's a bit of a quirky city as well, which is maybe not specific to that city but more to the Belgian penchant for the absurd in general.

>35 Carmenere: Lynda: Tomm's parents grew up in Parma - is that anywhere near you?
And the wrap-around porch is one of my dream features, too! LOVE that idea, for all of your reasons.

>36 ursula: Ursula: That sounds both exciting and deeply troubling to a homebody like me - ha!

67. Davy Crockett by Constance Rourke (Newbery Honor Book, 256 pages) - 8/10 = B-
I fully admit to skimming some of this one. *shrugs*

68. To Be a Slave by Julius Lester (Newbery Honor Book, 156 pages) - 8/10 = B
A collection of short, first-hand accounts of life as a slave. Intense, but important.

Hi Amber, happy new thread my dear. Hope you have had a good weekend.

As to the bonus question:

I was brought up in the mining village of Old Sharlston, I had a 200yard walk to the Infant and Junior school and won a scholarship to Normanton Grammar School which was two and a half miles away and we had a special school bus to pick us up. My dad worked at the mine and we lived in a Council house but I had a good time growing up as an only child. Dad didn't want me to follow him to the mine unless I did a trade so when I left high school I started as an apprentice Electrician.

I met Karen in April 1982 and we were married in July 1984 during the year long miner's strike, I had my 21st, stag do and got married within three weeks. We moved into our first house in the nearby village of Walton which was a miner's village but the mine closed in 1980.

My dream house would have to have a library (that is a given) but what I really would like is an art studio.

>39 johnsimpson: John: Pardon the ignorance, but is a Council house, then a company house?
And I love the idea of an art studio, of course. I LOVE the sewing space I have now - it's huge! It nearly fits all of my sewing machines in it - ha!

>40 scaifea:, Hi Amber, a Council house is a house built by the local council and rented out to residents. After the war hundreds of thousands of council houses were built with big housing estates, some were brick built, some were breeze block built and others were pre-fabricated. As a young boy during school holidays I remember the rent man coming round to pick up the weekly rent.

>41 johnsimpson: John: Oh! Okay, then - thanks!

1) What was it like where you grew up? Apartment? House? Rural or city?
Suburb of Cleveland, Brook Park

2) What is your favorite of all of the places you've lived?
As much as I like our current home, I often think of our first house: a victorian home with 4 bedrooms on the second floor, walk in attic with solid red oak timbers overhead, a 15x16 dining room with oak floors, outlined in mahogany strips, with plate rails and cut glass window that sprayed rainbows over the dining room each morning. The living room was 28x12 across the front of the house. Connecting the living room, upstairs, and kitchen was a stair that went from the kitchen and the living room to a landing with a stained glass window. There was a big front porch with a swing, and an enclosed back porch that can be used as a breakfast dining area. There were two bay windows in the house, both going up two floors, one built into the foundation. There was tons of storage in the basement with built in shelves as well.

3) Name an element/feature that simply must be included in your Dream Home (no need to list 'large library' - we all know that already, eh?).
Bay windows, cut glass windows, stained glass windows. Ideally, a round tower with a room on each floor that has multiple windows overlooking a valley or the sea and velvet draperies that can cut the room off from the rest of the house.

Happy Sunday, Amber!

>37 scaifea: Cool, Amber! Parma is on the west side of Cleveland, I've always been an east sider about 25 miles away, the Cuyahoga River acts as the great divide. I do know Parma well though as I spent many hours walking Parmatown Mall when I was a teenager. To my understanding it's now only a shadow of what it used to be. :0(

Hey Amber! Hope you and the gang had a nice weekend.

I grew up in the same small city that I live in today. It was a little more populous back when I was young and It was definitely less crime ridden, drug ridden and poverty ridden than it is now. And I grew up in the same house that I live in now. It is certainly not my dream house.

My dream house would be my grandparents' farmhouse and if I could add one feature it would be either a window seat or big porch. Probably, now that I think about it, it would have to be the window seat as I don't see how a porch could be added to the house as it was before it was sold. It's all useless dreaming. The house belongs to other people who've completely changed the place and it only exists in my mind now.

>43 jjvors: Jeff: Another native Clevelander! Cool. Tomm's family still live scattered all over the city and suburbs.
And your first house sounds pretty amazing!

>44 jnwelch: Happy Monday, Joe!

>45 Carmenere: Lynda: Those big malls seem to be starting to be a thing of the past; I'm not certain that it's exactly a bad thing, but seeing the huge buildings standing empty is pretty sad.

>46 Fourpawz2: Charlotte: The one good thing about living away from my parents is that I'll not have to witness someone else living in the house in which I grew up, when the time comes. It'll still break my heart, though. Gah, so selfish of me, I know, but still.

On the agenda for today:

This morning I'm meeting with a rep from Usborne Books this morning to talk about the possibility of switching over the school book fairs from Scholastic to them next year. Then it's home to the treadmill, a bit of cleaning, work on the CV-to-resume conversion and possibly some work on the Latin book. Before picking Charlie up from school I need to swing by the bank and the library, too. Leftovers for dinner tonight, I think.

On the reading front: I read a few pages in The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian before Tomm and I started watching the second Captain America movie (which is, so far, second only to the Hulk movie as the worst of the franchise so far: over-long capture-the-ship scene at the beginning, over-long car chase scene (I can't stand car chase scenes), and Cap is so, so whiny. Gah. (I'm so not Team Cap.)).

The book calendar offers up a Monday author quote: "Beauty is not caused. It is."

And the Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Susan Cooper wrote Over Sea Under Stone after seeing an advertisement for a writing contest which called for a family adventure contest. The book was the first in a series that included The Dark Is Rising (1974 Newbery Honor Book) and The Grey King (1976 Newbery Medal)."
Ooof, but that's a great series! It's sitting on Charlie's shelves and I can't wait for him to read them someday!

What We Read Yesterday:
-The Little House
-Chapter 20 in Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

Morning, Amber! Another warm day but rain will be moving in. That is okay, as long as it waits until...after work.

Enjoy your day, my friend.

Happy Monday, Amber! Wow! Usborne Books vs Scholastic! That's news as I didn't know there was a competitor out there. I look forward to finding out how the meeting goes.

I may have missed some earlier discussion, but CV-to-resume conversion? What type of job are you looking for now?

>50 msf59: Morning, Mark! Fingers crossed that the rain holds off for you today.

>51 Carmenere: Lynda: Honestly I think Usborne will be better for this school, since next year it'll only house pre-K and Kindergarten. Their books are pretty amazing, although a tad more expensive.

>52 _Zoe_: Zoe: I'm not *looking* for a job, really; I'm being courted pretty heavily for a part-time library position at Charlie's school. So, I'm applying. I'm still not 100% certain that I'll take it if they offer it to me.

Is anyone else having trouble with LT lately? Yesterday and again this morning it periodically will refuse to load for me, although all other websites seem to be working just fine...

>53 scaifea: Ah, okay. It's nice to have opportunities just appearing for you, regardless of whether you want them or not!

Happy Pre-Tuesday, Amber!

I liked that Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper, and others she's written. A family favorite is her King of Shadows, which has a Shakespeare premise to it.

>55 _Zoe_: Zoe: It's a pretty nice position in which to be, for certain.

>56 jnwelch: Joe: Oh, thanks for that - I've not read any of her other stuff (crazy, I know), and that one sounds great!

Morning, Amber!

>58 Crazymamie: Morning, Mamie!

Usbourne is a favourite of mine - I had (still have!) illustrated Romans, Vikings, Castles and Egyptians in a bumper hardback edition that I loved. Best present ever. Although now I see they have lift the flap versions, which I find very tempting when buying small people gifts.

Whelp, The Hollow Crown has put Shakespeare back into my brain to the extent that I can't help but start on a binge. So, I've added one more category to my Current Reads list - I'm starting on a re-read of all his stuff. Sonnets first. This is going to be excellent.

>60 charl08: Charlotte: They have amazing books, no? Charlie has a bunch. My only, slight, reservations about making the switch is that they're a bit more expensive than Scholastic, and we have a range of incomes among our school families, and that they only sell their own books (so no Step Into Reading books, or popular picture books, that sort of thing). We'll see how the meeting goes.

I'm a bit late but happy new thread, Amber!

I grew up in a bungalow-style house in a suburb of Edmonton and lived there from 2 until I moved out at 25. My parents have a massive backyard and although I'm not hugely outdoorsy, even I appreciated it as a kid. :)

I do love my current apartment. I'm on the fourth floor of a high-rise in downtown Edmonton. The apartment is super quiet (yay for concrete construction!), I have a decent view, and I can walk to work. Also, I'm just a few blocks from the gorgeous legislature grounds.

>60 charl08: That makes sense. Sounds like a good argument for some discount coupons to me (easier said than done I guess).

>57 scaifea: re: trouble loading LT, you might consider clearing your browser cache and if that doesn't do it, clear your cookies as well (I always hate clearing cookies because then I have to log into all my favorite sites again).

>48 scaifea: Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising hit my radar back in the Lloyd Alexander days, but, sadly, I never read the series. Do you think it is worth a read for an adult?

>61 scaifea: Shakespeare has been on my brain recently as well. I am thinking of finding the be Othello performance I can on dvd. I've never seen it before.

>63 MickyFine: Micky: Ha! When I saw your post I at first thought, of course, that the photo was of your dream home! It's lovely that you live so close to such a spectacular view, though.

>64 charl08: Charlotte: The meeting went well and I'm pretty excited about the switch, honestly. They're books are amazing and will be a great fit for our kids, I think. And they're not, in fact, as expensive as I thought!

>65 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura - I'll give it a try!

>66 brodiew2: Brodie: Oh, yesyesyes! I didn't come to The Dark Is Rising series until I was an adult, and I love them lots. You should definitely seem them out.
And oooh, Othello is a great one, of course.

Back from the meeting (which went well, see >67 scaifea: above) and a quick trip to the library, where the director came out to ask me if I'd be willing to join the library board of directors...

Hi Amber, your question is quite timely for me as we sat down with a realtor yesterday and the two things that I put on my wish list were a large, walk-in shower and the master bedroom on the main floor. Pretty obvious these items are due to my arthritic knees!

My dad was in the Navy so we moved a lot, but the house I loved the best was in Victoria, B.C. It bordered a park and my Dad put together a teenager's retreat in the basement where I could entertain my friends. I even didn't mind sharing a bedroom with my sister!

>69 DeltaQueen50: Judy: Oooh! Walk-in shower!! YES!

Gosh, my dream house is getting fancier by the minute, you guys...

>68 scaifea: That's pretty flattering. Being on the board could be a bit of work but it has the potential to be super rewarding (I say based on my knowledge of what library boards have done at libraries I've worked at). Apparently all the libraries want you! :)

1. We moved a lot when I was growing up. Several cities in Oregon, then to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I went to college in Texas then moved back to Oregon.

2. Oregon will always be 'home'

3. Big kitchen with a big island that is open to the family room.

>71 MickyFine: Micky: I'm both flattered and slightly nervous, to be honest. I'm happy to do it, of course, but I'm hoping I'm not getting in over my head. We'll see. We're a small community with a smallish library, so I doubt that it'll be too overwhelming...? I hope...?

>72 SuziQoregon: Oh, Grand Rapids! I love that town!
I've never been to Oregon, but very much want to visit sometime.
And your number 3 is just what we had in our house in Ohio. I miss that place tons sometimes.

>68 scaifea: Brilliant on both counts. (If you have the time I guess).

>73 scaifea: It really varies from board to board. Based on things you've shared about your library in the past, it sounds like they're in healthy shape so it should be a fun experience. :)

>61 scaifea: I've been contemplating a Shakespeare reread, but not sure if I'm ready to dive in yet. You may drive me to it when he starts showing up on your list of reads.

>68 scaifea: Go, you! I'm sure you would do an excellent job if you decide to take it on.

>74 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte!

>75 MickyFine: Micky: I think you're right that it may be pretty fun. I do so love our library here.

>76 foggidawn: Woot for Shakespeare! I may also force Tomm to endure as many productions as I can find on film, including many re-watches of old favorites.

>73 scaifea: Based on my past experience, it's also important to know what kind of support the library has from the city council/mayor or whatever form of local government you have. We have an absolutely awesome library staff where I live, but no one on the city council or mayor even has a library card, so you can imagine how much support we get for funding requests.

>78 rosalita: Julia: Interesting. I guess I'll be finding out, eh? They're in the process of building a completely new library right now, so I'd say that the community is behind our library.

On the agenda for today:

Treadmilling, a bit of cleaning, some laundry, finishing up my cover letter, and then I'll go into school for my Tuesday afternoon volunteering. I'm not sure what's for dinner yet - possibly eggs and toast?

On the reading front: I started reading Serafina and the Black Cloak which is very cool so far, and I read a chapter in Introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics last night after watching another 30 minutes or so of Captain America:The Winter Soldier.

The calendar book today: The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhorn. Sounds like it may be interesting - anyone read it?
Also, yesterday's quote was from Emily Dickinson.

And the Newbery/Caldecott trivia: "Katherine Paterson became a foster mother for two months. She wrote The Great Gilly Hopkins (1979 Newbery Honor Book) as a confession that she 'treated her foster children like Kleenex' - as something to be discarded."
Whoa. Well, then. I admit that I'm intrigued to read that one, now.

Morning, Amber! I read The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress and it was a good one. Lawhorn was one of the Booktopia Asheville authors. I think she has a new book out too...

>81 msf59: Mark: Oh, excellent! Thanks!

What We Read Yesterday:
-Grandma in Blue with Red Hat by Scott Menchin (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B
-Chapters 21 & 22 of Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

Morning, Amber. We love having breakfast for dinner.

The Newbery/Caldecott trivia for today is heartbreaking.

Morning, Amber!

>84 Crazymamie: Morning, Mamie! Breakfast Dinner is great, isn't it?
And yes, it *is* heartbreaking - I'm very curious about the book now, of course, too.

>85 jnwelch: Morning, Joe!

Happy Tuesday, Amber!!

>87 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda!

1) I grew up in a mobile home on a 9-hole municipal golf course, a couple of hundred yards from the ninth green. (My dad was the greenskeeper.) It was great: we'd wander all over the course, playing in the rough and the water hazards.

2) (1) is hard to beat.

3) I've always wanted a bay window, for the same reasons as you'd want a window seat only for lingering all day. Or all week. A dungeon would also be cool, just to say I have one and that Mrs. swynn makes me sleep there, but I'd settle for a bay window.

>89 swynn: Steve: Ha! That's a pickle, between the dungeon and the window...
And I love the idea of having an entire golf course as a playground! Much better use for it, I think.

>81 msf59: I recently read her new book, Flight of Dreams, it was very good! I haven't read The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress but it's on my list!

Hi there, Amber! I love breakfast for dinner as well!

>27 scaifea: aw, that is lovely. :)

Love, love, love Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series, especially the eponymous second book, one of my few 5 star books/perfect stories. Also came to them as a young adult (20s).

I grew up on a 6 acre farmlet across the river and a quarter mile away from a town of 1000 in central Kansas. It was an old farmhouse. At one point, the kitchen had been added across the back of the entire house, and the only second story room was directly above it (the rest was a closet tucked in under the roof of the original building and the attic beyond it). That room became mine when my sister was born when I was just turned 8, and it had 15 windows (7 on the east side, 3 each on the north and south sides, they completely took up the walls, and two little ones on the west side, up above the roofline of the original part of the house. I loved that room with a passion, especially during thunderstorms and even in the winter (no heat, and was I happy when electric blankets became available when I was in high school!). The house was nothing special otherwise, but that room and the barn's hayloft, where I tamed numerous generations of barn kittens, will live on in my memory forever.

1) I grew up in Oakland, California, mostly in the 60's. I will always be a city girl.

2) Favorite is our current home, in Portland, Oregon.

3) I have always said that I refuse to live anywhere that is not within walking distance of a coffee shop and a bookstore.

I have moved around a lot. Between moving houses and changing schools, I had 7 years in a row of new schools as a kid. An overview includes: Born in NJ, a little time in Toronto Canada, MA about 5 times including college, Wilton CN, Edina MN, Minneapolis MN, and finally Portland OR. That doesn't count mini-moves within states. I have lived in OR for 20 years now and I love it out here! I just miss my family. I don't have a "must-have" in a house. Each one has been very different, but they just have to feel bright and welcoming.

My gosh I'm so far behind again.

I grew up in Sydney, well not right in the city but the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, (we moved around the suburbs a little bit over the years).

My favourite place was Bondi, we were 7 blocks from Bondi Beach. My friends and I used to spend every weekend in summer walking along the cliffs between the beaches and swimming in the ocean.

Funnily enough we are building a house now, hoping that when it's finished it will be my dream house, it is open plan living so kitchen, dinning and family room is one huge open area, plus the huge walk in pantry (that's the big necessity for me, apart from the library of course).

>93 ronincats: What a great memory, Roni!

Morning, Amber!

>91 Dianekeenoy: Morning, Diane! Thanks for the tip on Flight of Dreams - I'll keep an eye out for it!

>92 LovingLit: Megan: I know, right?!

>93 ronincats: Roni: I remember you praising the Cooper series before - it's amazing, isn't it? I really need to track down more of her stuff at some point.
And your childhood home sounds wonderful, although I admit that my first thought was how cold that room must have been in the winters - ha!

>94 banjo123: Rhonda: I have a friend who grew up in the Bay area then - from his stories, it was a pretty great place to be.

>95 Berly: Kim: Seven years?! Whoa.

>96 fairywings: Adrienne: Oh, a walk-in pantry sounds like heaven! I want one now.

>97 Crazymamie: Morning, Mamie!

On the agenda for today:

Treadmilling, a bit of cleaning, possibly some laundry, menu-planning and grocery listing for next week and some work on the Latin book. Mujaddara for dinner tonight, I think.
Oh, and Charlie lost *another* tooth yesterday - that makes four total in April! That tooth fairy must be getting a bit bedraggled at this point...

On the reading front: I read a bit more of Serafina and the Black Cloak, which is perfectly creepy so far (i.e. creepy but not scary), and a bit of The Light of Asia (which, of course, isn't creepy at all) last night before Tomm and I finished that second Captain America movie, which, to channel Ms. Parker, wasn't just plain terrible - it was terrible with raisins. Gah. Next up: Guardians of the Galaxy.

The calendar book today is one that's been waiting on my Read Soon shelf long enough that "soon" has sadly come and gone, I'm sorry to say: One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B. J. Novak.

And the Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Many people asked Robert C. O'Brien why he picked rats as heroes in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1972 Newbery Medal). He replied that he couldn't remember."
This one remains one of my very favorite Newbery books - and one of my very favorite childhood reads. Love it.
And Happy Birthday to Ludwig Bemelmans, born on this day in 1989!

What We Read Yesterday:
-Cats vs. Dogs by Elizabeth Carney (Charlie book, easy reader) - 8/10 = B
-Skippyjon Jones
-Chapter 1 of Earthquake in the Early Morning
-Chapter 23 of Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

Morning, Amber! I am enjoying a day off. The vacation is inching closer...

I listened to One More Thing: Stories on audio. It was very short and a lot of fun, with many guest narrators.

>101 msf59: Morning, Mark! Oh, I bet it's a great one on audio! Very cool.

Good morning, Amber! Wow! 4 teeth snatched by the tooth fairy! Hope he/she stops for awhile otherwise it will be cream of wheat Charlie will be gumming for dinner and not Mujaddara. I've never had mujaddara come to think of it. Is it relatively easy to prepare?

>103 Carmenere: Lynda: Ha! I know, right?! His smile is particularly adorable right now, though.
Mujaddara is very easy to prepare, and very tasty. I'll try to remember to post the recipe later on today.

Morning, Amber!

I loved Mrs. Frisby and the Rats, too. I feel like I also saw an animated movie of it many years ago.

I'm very curious about that B.J. Novak collection. I remember it getting positive reviews.

>105 jnwelch: Morning, Joe! Yep, I loved the Mrs. Frisby movie, too, when I was a kid.
And I'm hoping I can manage to get round to the Novak soonish...

>105 jnwelch:, >106 scaifea: Uh-oh! Rant button pushed ! Warning, danger, Will Smith, danger!

The movie may have been adorable on its own, but it RUINED the book. The book is science fictional, dealing with important issues of emerging intelligence and survival, with hard decisions made that raise significant questions to think about. The movie is feel-good fantasy with magic and emotion substituting for intelligence and hard work. Do I feel strongly about this?

ETA Every bit as bad as having Sara Crewe's father be alive at the end of the story in The Little Princess, totally negating the whole value of the book!

Rant over.

Oh! Oh! 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is *so* much fun! Hope you enjoy :)

>99 scaifea: Whenever I think of 'The Secret of Nimh' film I inevitably jump to 'Rikki Tiki Tavi'. I remember the cobras being pretty scary as a kid.

>100 scaifea: So, how have you enjoyed Joyce's Nicholas North?

>107 ronincats: Roni: Ha! So sorry to bring about a rant for you! I'm pretty easy-going when it comes to movie versions of books; they're never going to be the same, so, meh. In this case, I loved both on their own terms.

>108 katiekrug: Katie: I'm excited about this one - I love Chris Pratt. Have you heard that Nathan Fillion will be in the second one?!

>109 brodiew2: Brodie: Oh, nopenopenope. I have an intense fear of snakes, so I've avoided that one.
But we LOVE the Joyce books here at Scaife Manor - this is maybe my 4th time reading it and the second time we've read the series aloud with Charlie. So beautifully written and the story is so imaginative.
And there's another movie that's essentially nothing like the book(s), but which I love anyway, again, for its own reasons...

Well between you and Mark I have requested One More Thing: Stories on audio from the library. Sounds fun.

>11 jnwelch: Juli: Woot!!
*high fives Mark*

>110 scaifea: - I just heard that yesterday. Can't wait!

>133 scaifea: Katie: WOOT!

I'm just gonna leave this little nugget right here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Q_Ioj6AhQ

And this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkbVX8WWO7c

(Fat chance getting me to stop sighing...)

He does have the perfect voice for sonnets.

Well, I blink and your "new" thread has over 100 messages :)

1) What was it like where you grew up? Apartment? House? Rural or city?
Always houses, always small town, suburban western Massachusetts. And what I'm calling "small" ranges from 7,000 (where I live now) to 15,000 (where I work & grew up), to give you a rough idea, so not so small that everyone knows you and your business but small enough that there's a definite community when you're involved in civic things. (For example, I've worked at the library long enough that one time when I went to vote the poll worker asked me to return some library books for her - she was president of the Friends.)

2) What is your favorite of all of the places you've lived?
That's a tough one because I've loved different things at different places. The house I grew up in from 3-10 was a cape and had these great, huge rooms in the 2nd floor. They also connected with rafters which made for great (though against the rules) fun crawling between the girls' and boys' rooms.

The house we moved to in the next town over had a larger backyard perfect for t-ball games and had a crabapple tree I loved climbing, as well as a second story deck off the back that allowed for eating outdoors in nice weather.

The one I moved to when I moved out of my parents' house had a pool. The one I'm in now did have a library (up until recently when the folks I rent from needed a 1st floor bedroom and now use that room) and has a lovely deck and screened-in 2nd floor porch.

3) Name an element/feature that simply must be included in your Dream Home (no need to list 'large library' - we all know that already, eh?).
Like Stephen, on the very practical side I definitely want a garage. I hate removing snow from my car and it's wonderful just to get right in and not having to worry about that or frost and not to have to brave the elements walking to my car either.

I would like to have a reading/writing (just journaling, nothing too fancy) area somewhere, whether an office or nook in a library.

Hi Amber.

>117 mstrust: Jennifer: Amen, sister. Check out The Love Book app, if you want more of his dulcet tones reading love poetry to you, along with several other lovely voices.

>118 bell7: Hi, Mary! Well, I kinda love the sound of all of those houses, honestly. Ha! And yes, an attached garage is definitely a luxury.

>119 johnsimpson: Hi, John! Feeling better, I hope...

Hi Amber, I feel a bit better but Karen doesn't look too good, think she may have picked up a bug bless her. Hope you have had a good day my dear.

Happy New Thread, Amber!

1) What was it like where you grew up? Apartment? House? Rural or city?

Definitely city! I was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, which is immediately across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan in NYC, as you can see in the photo (JC is in the bottom half, Manhattan is at the top left, and in the distance behind it is Brooklyn). Jersey City has roughly 250,000 residents, which is a drop in the bucket compared to NYC, but large compared to other cities in the NYC metropolitan area.



We lived in one apartment building for a few years after I was born, then moved to another building when I was still a toddler. We moved to suburban Philadelphia after my father's department (as an civilian electrical engineer for a U.S. Navy R&D facility) was transferred from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Warminster, PA, and after a year and a half of living in a townhouse apartment they bought their first (and only) house, which they have lived in for 40 years as of last month.

2) What is your favorite of all of the places you've lived?

Hmm. That's a tough one. Do you mean the actual apartment or home you lived in, or the neighborhood/city? Atlanta is definitely out, even though I've lived here since 1997. I lived in New Orleans for three years, and Pittsburgh for four, in addition to what I mentioned above. I loved the apartment building in Pittsburgh that I lived in, which was a 1920s building with four apartments on each of its four stories. The building and the apartments had a lot of character and was very well built. Let's see...oh, yes, here it is:



I loved my neighborhood (Shadyside), and my neighbors were very nice. So, yes, Pittsburgh is the place I liked best.

3) Name an element/feature that simply must be included in your Dream Home (no need to list 'large library' - we all know that already, eh?).

Hmm...I don't need much, as long as it's cozy and comfortable. I'll say a decent sized kitchen, with plenty of space to cook, oddly enough. I have more room than my parents do in their kitchen, and even though the size of their kitchen is larger than mine I feel a bit cramped and confined when I cook there.

>122 kidzdoc: Morning, Darryl! I've been to Pittsburgh, but only once and long enough ago that I don't remember much about it. I do love the looks of that building, though! And I agree that a large kitchen is essential. The one we have now isn't a big as the one we had in Ohio, but it'll do, I suppose.

On the agenda for today:

I'm meeting up with a friend/fellow mom at school this morning - we're going thrift story shopping right after dropping of our boys at school. I'm excited because I love hanging out with Angela and we haven't had a lot of time to do that lately - I miss it! I'm not sure how long we'll be, so I don't know what else I'll have time for before school's done, but if I have time, I'll hop on the treadmill for a bit before picking Charlie up. Tonight is his school music program, and we're all excited about that, of course. Oh! Must iron his little suit (and hope that the pants still fit!)... I did remember to get him new chuck taylors to wear with it, at least.
Not sure what's for dinner just yet - possibly some sort of Indian chicken dish...

On the reading front: I listened to some Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the car and some Grimpow while cleaning (it's been a good while since I've listened to either - I've been on a music-instead-of-books kick lately), read a bit more in Serafina and the Black Cloak, which is turning out to be a good little yarn, and a couple of chapters in Far from the Madding Crowd last night before hitting the hay.

The calendar book today: The Plum Tree by Ellen Marie Wiseman, which seems to be a romance between a German woman and a Jewish man during WWII. Anyone read this one? Thoughts?

And the Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "The mother of Virginia Sorensen (Miracles on Maple Hill, 1957 Newbery Medal) said her daughter's first sentence was 'Tell me a story' and her second was 'I'll tell you a 'story.''"
Adorable! And I can believe it! Sorensen is a wonderful story-teller, and Miracles on Maple Hill is excellent!

What We Read Yesterday:
-Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson (Charlie's school library book, picture book) - 9/10 = A-
-Little Red Henry by Linda Urban (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B+
-Chapter 2 of Earthquake in the Early Morning
-Half of Chapter 24 (it's a long chapter) of Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

Morning, Amber! Not So Sweet Thursday! The weather is a bummer. I hope the rain does not interfere with my rounds.

Have a good one.

ETA: Keep in mind we have a T.C. game going. Just sayin'...

Morning Amber! >115 scaifea: >116 scaifea: Oh he does have a smoooooth way of reading Shakespeare!

I haven't begun The Hollow Crown. I need a rainy day for this!!

>126 msf59: Mark: Yeah, we have a slight chance of rain all day here, too. Gah.
And thanks for the nudge - ha! I'll try to remember to get round it it today.

>127 Carmenere: Lynda: It was a chilly, rainy day here yesterday, but somehow I stayed warm listening to Hiddleston reading Shakespearean love poems to me... *ahem*

Morning Amber, hope you have a lovely day my dear.

Morning, Amber!

OK, another BB with Miracles on Maple Hill.

Your continued Magic Tree House journey with Charlie brings back so many good memories of reading them with our son.

Here're my answers to your housing questions.

The first house I lived in was in a rowhouse in a small town, surrounded by other small towns, outside of Reading, PA. My mother grew up in the town. Her dad bought a newly constructed bungalow-style house in around 1928, when the town was just beginning to be developed. My grandfather died in the '30s, and when the house was sheriffed in the '40s because my grandmother couldn't pay the taxes, my uncle bought it. His family lived there until his widow moved into assisted living quarters at about the age of 100; she died at 104. (They had the same telephone number from the time the house was first occupied until it was sold in the early 2000s. 2-1862. I've long thought that was cool.)

The building that was the elementary school that I first attended had been the high school from which my mother graduated. It's gone now, replaced by six single-family houses.

The cross street at one end of our block was the border between our little town and the neighboring town. My dad worked in a hosiery mill just two blocks away; he could walk home for lunch. He had a fatal heart attack in the house. My mother sold it in 1953, and we moved to Pittsburgh. The house I lived in is still standing, and it is in exemplary condition outside.

 

My first home as it appeared around the time I was born (left). That's my sister on the porch steps. At right is the house as it looks today (70 years on).

Okay...other residences. We lived in half a double outside of Pgh for several years, then an apartment in Reading, then a rented farmhouse just outside of Allentown, then an apartment in Allentown. When I got married, Judi and I bought a rowhouse in Allentown. In 1975, we bought an old house in the rural township we still live in. Twenty-five years ago, we built what has to be our dream house. I can't really imagine living anywhere else.

>129 johnsimpson: Thanks, John - it's been pretty great so far!

>130 jnwelch: Joe: Oh, you haven't read Miracles?! You're gonna LOVE it!! I can't wait to see what you think of it!
And I just today found a whole stack of Magic Tree House books at a thrift shop that Charlie didn't have - he was so excited when he saw them.

>131 weird_O: Bill: I love the Then-and-Now photos of your childhood home - it's lovely!
So, what are the things about your current house that makes it your dream home?

How's this for dapper?

Wow!

(They still fit!)

Oh. My. goodness. Charlie looks fantastic!!

>134 ronincats: Roni: Ha! Yes! Relief.

>135 lauralkeet: Laura: You'll get no argument from this quarter...

All he needs is a briefcase and an assistant!

Pretty dapper looking dude!

>137 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: Ha!

>138 Familyhistorian: Meg: I know, right?! He cleans up quite nicely, really.

On the agenda for today:

Grocery shopping this morning, then home to the treadmill for a bit before heading down to Dubuque to have lunch with Tomm and some of his work colleagues. Chicken in Tomato Sauce for dinner tonight, I think.

Charlie's music program last night was adorable, of course, and he had a blast. It's so fun to see them all dressed up and excited, the dears.

On the reading front: Well, yes. Nothing to report here, I'm afraid. I was gone thrifting the entire school day, then there was the program last night and then I was too pooped to read in bed (instead we started watching Guardians of the Galaxy). Better luck today, then, eh? I did, though, pick up a couple of books for myself at the thrift shops:
-A Monster Calls
-The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (which, technically, will be Charlie's once I've read it)

The calendar book today: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, which is already safely ensconced in my wishlist.

And the Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Cynthia Rylant has almost no memory of writing Missing May (1993 Newbery Medal). She simply let Summer, the main character, start talking."
I haven't read a Rylant book that I didn't love, including this one.

Morning, Amber! Happy Friday! Great shot of Charlie! He is such a fashion plate.

Ooh, Eleanor & Park. You have to get to that one. It's a special book.

Morning, Mark! The funny thing is, he doesn't ever want to get dressed up, but once I've wrestled him into the fancy pants, he loves 'em.
And yes, I need to get round to Rowell soon!

>133 scaifea: Stylin'!

>143 kidzdoc: Darryl: Ha! Definitely!

>133 scaifea: woe hoe! look at that little man! If I didn't know he was missing 4 teeth, I'd say he's 9 years old. Just adorable!!

Oh, Charlie is looking mighty fine! Morning, Amber! Happy Friday!

>133 scaifea: Mighty dapper!

Morning, Amber!

Walklover, seasonsoflove and I all loved Eleanor and Park. Fangirl is good, too. I want to read her new one.

>145 Carmenere: >146 Crazymamie: Thanks, ladies! And Lynda, slow down!! He's not that old yet!! Sheesh.

>147 jnwelch: Joe: Thanks for the Rowell tips - I'll be interested to see what you think of her new one.

>133 scaifea: Oh so dapper. And tall - wow!

>149 bell7: Mary: Yep. The unfortunate part of Charlie being one of the tallest in his grade, always, is that, of course, he's always in the back row, top riser. No front row photos for this momma...

#133 Awesome pic! He's so cool!

I'm having a fight with Will at the moment. He's decided to refuse ANY new clothes. Which is awkward to say the least. I hope he grows out of it before he grows out of his clothes :/

Oh and bonus qs... I grew up on a farm, Jersey north coast farm land - yeah that's my best place. But by the time we brought this house and after everything we'd managed through - all I wanted was a parking space.

>133 scaifea: Nice. Gotta love the Converse. Is there a Doctor in the house?

>133 scaifea: Charlie looks most excellently handsome. And I double plus approve the converse as dress shoe.

>151 BekkaJo: Bekka: Oh, man, that's a tough one. Charlie's generally pretty laid back about clothing, except for the dressy ones, of course.
And I really want to visit Jersey some day - it's up there one the list!

>152 brodiew2: Brodie: One of my biggest parenting regrets so far is that I never carried out my intention of making Charlie a 10th Doctor Halloween costume when he was wee. Long coat, striped suit, chucks and all. How adorable would that be on a 3-year-old?! Gah. I also REALLY want to make him a Willy Wonka costume, but he won't go for it. See, I want to dress as Charlie Bucket and make him Willy Wonka - how cool would that be?! But, no. GAH.

>153 lycomayflower: Thanks, Laura! Converse are the *only* dress shoes, really. I mean, honestly.

At my brother's wedding all the groomsmen wore Converse sneakers, which they loved.

>154 scaifea: One of my biggest parenting regrets so far is that I never carried out my intention of making Charlie a 10th Doctor Halloween costume when he was wee.

Guess you'll just have to have another, then.

*ducks and runs*

>155 MickyFine: Micky: Very cool!

>156 rosalita: Julia: *SNORK!!*
That thought is so very far out of my realm of cognition that it took me a full 45 seconds to even decipher what you were saying! "Another what? I don't get it... Oh wait...OH! Oh, hell no. Nopenopenope."

>133 scaifea: - WOW! What a handsome guy!

>157 scaifea: Now I'm picturing you as whatshisname in The Princess Bride: "INCONCEIVABLE!!!"

:-D

>154 scaifea: Or, just make him a 10th Doctor costume now.

>159 rosalita: Excellent pun, Julia!

>158 SuziQoregon: Thanks, Juli!

>159 rosalita: Julia: Oh, well done, lady. Well. Done.

>160 brodiew2: Brodie: If only he'd wear it. All that work and he'd just look at me like, "You're kidding, right?"

>161 MickyFine: Micky: I know, right? We should bow before the master.

>161 MickyFine: >162 scaifea: Thank you, ladies! I must confess that I was pretty pleased with that one myself. They don't usually fit so perfectly on multiple levels.

Happy Saturday, Amber!!

>164 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda!

On the agenda for today:

Tomm and Charlie are off this morning to the school parking lot - Tomm is trying to teach Charlie to ride his bike without the training wheels. I'll be interested to hear how that goes, honestly - neither party involved is known for his patience, and Charlie especially gets super-frustrated when he can't do something right the first time, and he really struggles with this bike business.
Later we'll head to Charlie's gymnastics lesson, then it'll be a day of weekend chores: Tomm will mow, I'll work on laundry, bills, organizing the week's worth of photos, possibly some baking, although that may wait until tomorrow. Coca-Cola Pot Roast with potatoes and broccoli for dinner tonight, I think, and possibly Baked Fudge for dessert.

On the reading front: I listened to a bit more of The Hitchhiker's Guide (with which I think I'm nearly finished and it's as excellent as always), finished Serafina and the Black Cloak (more on that one later) and read a couple of chapters in The Kalahari Typing School for Men, which is as charming as expected.

The book calendar weekend author quote: "I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves."

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: Emily Neville owned a cat named 'Cat' while she wrote It's Like This, Cat (1964 Newbery Medal)."
Ooof, that's a good one, folks, but be warned: there's at least one super-sad scene in it that I can recall from reading it as a kid...

What We Read Yesterday:
-Scaredy Squirrel
-Bedtime for Frances
-Chapter 3 of Earthquake in the Early Morning
-And we finished:
70. Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce (Charlie's bedtime read, 228 pages) - 10/10 = A+
This is the second time we've read this one aloud at bedtime and we love it just as much as before. Amazing story-telling, gorgeous language - I love exposing Charlie to such imaginative tales and letting this kind of beautiful writing just wash over him. I'm excited to continue the series (the second one will be a re-read, too, in preparation for reading the others aloud, which somehow we didn't get round to the first time).

71. Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty (book fair purchase, 293 pages) - 8/10 = B+
Serafina knows that she's different - very different - from other children, and for that reason she and her father secretly live, hidden away, in the basement of the famous Biltmore estate, where her father works as an electrician. Serafina roams the mansion at night, acting as the Chief Rat Catcher, and one night meets up with something right out of the stuff of nightmares. She then spends the rest of the story trying to solve the mystery of who the monster is lurking those halls, and in the process she makes an unlikely friend and inadvertently solves the mystery of who *she* is as well.
A solid story with good characters, although the writing could be better. A fun little read, nonetheless.

Morning, Amber! Oops. Afternoon, Amber!

You can tell we're going slow so far this Saturday. We're going to head over to our neighborhood independent bookstore soon. Hope you have a good weekend at Scaife Manor.

>166 scaifea: Harriet Tubman? Just a wild guess, since I can't come up with any books she would've written.

>167 scaifea: Ohmygoodness I love Scaredy Squirrel!

Happy weekend, Amber.

Good luck to Charlie on the bike riding! It brings back memories of teaching Banjo, jr. I am glad that's over!

>169 jnwelch: Afternoon, Joe! I won't make it to my favorite bookshop today, but I'll be sure to do so soon.

>170 bell7: Mary: Yep, Tubman is right!
And yes, we're pretty big fans of Scaredy Squirrel here, too.

>171 banjo123: Rhonda: It went pretty well this morning, I guess, and they're planning on going back tomorrow morning.

Well, it's been raining here off and on all day, so we changed our plans and decided to have a lazy movie day. It's been wonderful, I have to say.

Awww, Charlie is so adorable in his dress-up clothes and his Converse tennis shoes. We went up to Kansas City two weeks ago for Griffin's First Communion. He could hardly wait until he got the green light to put his suit on. I should post a picture on my thread. Our oldest son didn't want any help riding a bicycle. He practiced until he was covered in scrapes and bruises, but was so proud of himself when he mastered it. He was in Kindergarten. Molly got a balance bike for her 3rd birthday. I didn't know such a thing existed. Very cool.

Amber, I think you should take the library board position. You would be perfect for guiding the purchase of new books. Have you applied for the school librarian job yet? The universe is telling you something...

>133 scaifea: Wonderfully dapper (I am not looking at the plimsolls) - where is the pool cue?

Have a lovely weekend dear lady.

>133 scaifea: Charlie looks fantastic. He also looks like he's going to be too tall for those pants before you know it. *grin*

1) My parents moved a Lot while I was growing up. We lived in 7 houses in three different states by the time I graduated high school. My favorite was the one we lived in for my high school years. It was an old farm house out in the middle of avocado, lemon, orange and grapefruit trees. The smell of lemon and orange blossoms takes me right there. We had a huge enclosed patio with a ping-pong table and a boxing bag and my friends loved to come hang out because we had no near neighbors and didn't have to be quiet.

2) What is your favorite of all of the places you've lived? My favorite is where I live now. Who can beat 5 minutes from the beach on an island in the South South Pacific?

3) Dream Home -- right after that library is the laundry/mud room with room for all the gum boots, towels, dirty clothes, and gear that comes home with kids and pets. I have a pinterest board...

>174 Donna828: Donna: Wow, no, Charlie is definitely not the kind happily to suffer cuts and bruises. Ha! Good for your oldest! And I'll have to look up what a balance bike is...
I don't know about the library board position - I haven't heard anything yet, but if I take the library job at school, I may want to wait until joining the board. Too much at once and all. We'll see. I did indeed apply for the job, so we'll see where that goes - I can't so much as enter the school building these days without some staff member (or ten) excitedly asking me if I've applied. So at least I have their support...

>175 PaulCranswick: Paul: Cool cue? Ha!
Happy Weekend, friend!

>176 nittnut: Jenn: Yes, those pants have done their duty, I think, and will now be passed on.
I love the description of living amidst lemon and orange blossom scents! Beautiful!
And I LOVE the mud room photo - we NEED that little shower for our bath-shy dogs...

On the agenda for today:

Everything that didn't get done yesterday, which is, essentially, everything. We had a wonderfully lazy day yesterday, watching Avengers with Charlie (he only had to hide his eyes for the ginormous wormy things at the end), eating popcorn, playing card games and reading. Perfect way to spend a rainy, chilly Saturday. But that means that today I've got to hustle a bit to get the weekend stuff done: laundry, bills, photos, baking (I want to make some pan rolls, some Lemon Butter Cookies, a Cinnamon Chunk Coffee Cake for Charlie and me to have for our breakfasts this week, and then the Baked Fudge for dessert tonight, which didn't happen yesterday, either). I think we'll use the pan rolls to make roast beef sandwiches for dinner, from yesterday's dinner leftovers.

On the reading front: I listened to a bit more of Grimpow, which I feel is likely a pretty good story, but I just can't seem to get into it much, and I read a bit more in Five Days at Memorial, which is getting more and more intense and insane - it's unbelievable the stuff that went on down there, eh? And I started reading Detective Gordon: The First Case, which is a cute chapter book for kids.

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Ellen Raskin based the character of Angela in The Westing Game (1979 Newbery Medal) mostly on herself."
Whelp, that clinches it - I need to re-read this one, again. The Westing Game is one of my very favorite books OF ALL TIME. I read it over and over and OVER as a kid, and I've read it more than a few times as an adult. It's The Business, folks. Seriously. So, so good.

Happy May Day, everyone, and Happy Birthday to my very best friend, too, who is at the moment finishing up a chef intern at Disney World!

What We Read Yesterday:
-Sona and the Wedding Game by Kashmira Sheth (public library book, picture book) - 9/10 = A
The story of a little sister of an Indian bride, and how she (the sister) follows the tradition of stealing the bridegroom's shoes at the ceremony.
This is an excellent way to introduce kids to a little bit of another culture, and Charlie was fascinated - he loved it. I've started a list of books that I want to order for the school library, should I happen to get the job, and this one is definitely going on the list!

-Chapter 4 of Earthquake in the Early Morning
-Chapter 1 of E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!

Jeez, we've got to get you and our daughter together, Amber, so you can both enthuse about The Westing Game. It's one of her favorites of all time, too, maybe THE favorite, and I'm pretty sure she still re-reads it once a year.

I'll pass on that trivia.

Hope you're having a good Sunday.

>180 jnwelch: Joe: Ha! I love the way she thinks!

>181 scaifea: She thought the Westing Game trivia was "awesome." :-)

>182 jnwelch: Joe: Woot!

Hey Amber! Sounds like your rain day was lovely! I know you have things to do but I'm secretly hoping you have another rain day.

>184 Carmenere: Lynda: Ooof, no such luck, I'm afraid. Worked my tail off and got through all of the chores, plus a bunch of baking, but now I'm completely knackered.

Ha. I read your book as The Wrestling game, and had decoded it was about a girls' sporting competition. Obviously not.

I like your list for the library. How many books so far?
Also cake for breakfast sounds very good to me.

Wow. I blink and your new thread is 186 posts long. And I think I left about 80 unread from your last. Crikey! I can't keep up! Both pics of Charlie (topper and Dapper Dan) are precious. I especially liked the sun spots in the topper.

What a great three-part bonus question. It brought up lots of lovely memories.

I was born in Chicago and lived my first 4 years at my grandparents' 2-story bungalow on the southwest side in a relatively old neighborhood (houses built in the 20s and 30s; not many little children) before moving to a brand new ranch-style brick bungalow in a new subdivision even further to the southwest, just this side of Midway Airport. It was a 3-bedroom place (my parents had the middle bedroom and us 5 kids shared the other two), with a full unfinished basement. Lots of kids in that neighborhood, and lots of fun things for kids to do. Riding bikes, hunting for tadpoles and frogs and snakes at the swampy area by the railroad tracks a few blocks away, hanging out in a treehouse, skating at the park across the street in winter when they'd flood an area so we could have an ice skating rink. Some summer days, we were out from sunup to sundown and even later if there were fireflies to catch or our parents felt like sitting on the front porch. Life was sure different back in those days.

As an adult, I think my favorite place was the house we lived in when my daughter was born and I was able to be a stay-at-home mom for 5 years. It was on a cul-de-sac in the San Fernando Valley of L.A., with some of the best neighbors ever. Out back there was a pool and an area further back where I had a big garden. Surrounding the pool was lush tropical shrubbery, a rose garden, and a Myers lemon tree with a statue of naked David amongst its low-hanging branches.

I also loved living in the old restored Subway Terminal Building in Downtown L.A., with its marble and fine wood and rooftop garden and hottub with its amazing views of downtown and points east and south. On really clear days, you could see Long Beach!

My "Dream House" would have to have a big plant-filled solar-heated sunroom where Nickelbird and I could hang out all year long.

Oh dear, I'm so far behind. Wishing you a great start into the new week, my friend.

>186 charl08: Charlotte: Ha! Yeah, not so much a sports book, I'm afraid.
And, well, I just started the list a few days ago, but it has 20-30 books on it so far. Mostly books that a just sat down and listed right at first, since I'm already really familiar with the collection and know what it has and doesn't have, and I've been ruminating on the books I think it should have for a goodly while. If I do get the job, my biggest personal challenge will be maintaining the non-fiction section, of which I have the least interest. "What do you mean you want more books on snakes? There are already 3 books over there on the wretched things!" I mean, honestly, what do pre-schoolers and Kindergarteners need non-fiction books for?! Ha! (Kidding, of course (but not really about the snakes)).

>187 Storeetllr: Hi, Mary! Life isn't so different in some areas - Charlie was out nearly all day yesterday playing in the cul-de-sac and our and the neighbors' various back yards, even though it was chilly all day, riding bikes, playing various ball-type games and generally just running round and having fun. I'm pretty sure he was asleep before his head hit the pillow, too.
Your past homes sound lovely, too, especially the naked David one...

>188 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! Happy Start-O'-the-Week to you, too!

Good Monday to you, Amber!

On the agenda for today:

It's Teacher Appreciation Week, so I have some PTO business to attend to for the next three mornings (making sure the various treats being donated by parents get to the teachers' lounge and sorted out). But then it's a day at home, hopefully: treadmilling, a bit of cleaning, some work on the Latin book. Ham and Bean Soup for dinner tonight, I think.

On the reading front: I finished listening to Grimpow yesterday while baking, finished reading Detective Gordon: The First Case (more on those later), started reading Enchantress from the Stars and read a few of Shakepeare's Sonnets (which are a lovely as I remember them being - what a charmer that William was, eh?) last night before watching more of Guardians of the Galaxy with Tomm (which is turning out to be a pretty good little movie, I have to say - Groot and the Racoon are adorable).

The calendar book for today: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, which I'd not heard of before, but which sounds pretty interesting (magical realism, it says, is involved, so I'm in). Anyone read this one? Thoughts?

The Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Phyllis Reynolds Naylor wrote the first draft of Shiloh (1992 Newbery Medal) 'at break-neck speed.' She said the writing was 'as though Marty himself were perched on the arm of my chair telling me the story in his own way.'"
Well, you know how I feel about animal books. This one, though, was good, as far as they go.

>190 Carmenere: Morning, Lynda!

What We Read Yesterday:
-Chapter 5 of Earthquake in the Early Morning
-Chapter 2 of E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!

>178 scaifea: - I started The Westing Game last night! Not sure how I missed it as a kid...

>194 katiekrug: Katie: WOOT!! Oh, I hope you love it as much as I do!

Good morning, Amber!

I was not a fan of A Tale for the Time Being; I read it only because it was chosen for the Booker Prize longlist a couple of years ago, and I gave it two stars. Other LTers liked it much better than I did, though.

>196 kidzdoc: Darryl: Oooh. What didn't you like about it?

>197 scaifea: From what I remember, the narrator was an angst-ridden teenage American girl, which is probably my least favorite demographic group to read about. The novel tried to combine multiple elements, including (I think) Buddhism, quantum mechanics, and Japanese culture. It was an incoherent, tedious and far too clever slog, and I could barely stomach reading it.

>198 kidzdoc: Darryl: Well, then. *ahem* So, not great, eh? Ha!
Thanks for that, though. I may give it a pass, then.

>199 scaifea: It has an average rating of 4.07 stars on LT, so my view of it is not in line with most people. As I've said before I'm not a fan of contemporary American literature, so I wouldn't automatically take a pass on it based on my opinion.

>200 kidzdoc: Darryl: How about this: I'll put it on my Check Out from the Library But Don't Buy list...

>201 scaifea: That novel may have been the book that Rachael (@FlossieT) and I disagreed about vehemently (but playfully) when we met in Cambridge (UK) a couple of years ago. Our tastes in overlapping books align almost exactly, but not with that one. She loved it, and I...didn't. Your mileage may (and probably will) vary with it.

OH! The Westing Game!!! I LOVE that book! Now I might have to reread it. Again.

Morning, Amber!

Morning, Amber!

I can be a counter-balance to Darryl re A Tale for the Time Being. I loved it. I will say, it took until about halfway through to get that way for me, when the angst-ridden American-born teenager Nao returns to Japan and meets her Buddhist nun, feminist great-grandmother.

I'd be with Darryl's friend Rachael on this one. I remember Ellen liked it a lot, too.

>204 jnwelch: Yep. The fact that Rachael was so high on it made me think that I just didn't get it, or give it a fair hearing. Feel free to ignore my comments about it, Amber.

I am a bit miffed that you threw me under the bus in favor of Rachael, Joe. You haven't met her yet (but hopefully you & Debbi will in September)! ;-)

>191 scaifea: I did read Ozeki's My Year of Meats, which I thought was better than average but didn't knock my socks off. I liked it enough that I do intend to read A Tale for the Time Being eventually, though. I like magic realism, so I might like it more than the other one.

>205 kidzdoc: Rachael's got such a nice name, Darryl. How could I resist? I hope we do get to meet her in September. We're confirming the trip today with our flat owner and the airline.

I was with you on The Siege of Krishnapur. Does that help any?

>207 jnwelch: Ha! I certainly have nothing bad to say about Rachael (and even if I did I would get an earful (or a smack in the head) from her and Fliss, although Rachael's husband Rupert might come to my defense).

I'm surprised that we haven't managed to arrange a meet up with Rachael and Fliss when we've both been there. I generally see each of them at least two or three times on every UK trip, either in London or Cambridge. Fliss is probably more of a theatre addict than I am, and we always see one or two plays at a time.

I requested time off to correspond with the dates you mentioned. I probably won't get formal confirmation until some time in July, but I'd say it's all but certain that I'll get my request.

Ah, good. You liked The Siege of Krishnapur. All is forgiven, then.

Don't make me take sides between you and Debbi, though. I'll always side with the more homicidal member of the Welch family.

>208 kidzdoc: She has that effect on people, I know, Darryl. :-)

>202 kidzdoc: - >209 jnwelch: Darryl & Joe: Ooof, I'm in a pickle here. I don't want to throw *anyone* under any buses! Sheesh.

>206 ursula: Ursula: But I *do* love magical realism. Lots. Hmm... PICKLE, I say!

>203 Crazymamie: Oh, yay, Mamie!! Now I'm feeling that I need to squeeze in a re-read, too!

>210 scaifea: We're both very resilient, Amber. Gumby guys.

>210 scaifea: Oh yeah, I wasn't clear at all. I meant that the 2nd one has magical realism, so I might like that one more than I did the first one. Hopefully that makes sense this time around. :)

>178 scaifea: I don't remember The Westing Game at all. I will have to check it out if it is, as you say, The Business. :-)

>212 jnwelch: Joe: Ha! Good to know.

>213 ursula: Ursula: Yep, it was clear!

>214 brodiew2: Brodie: Oh, do! Because it totally is!

A fan of Ozeki here. But can't really remember much about why.

>191 scaifea: Just read that for book club (review ). I enjoyed it but found it perplexing.

hi Amber. Found and starred your thread!

>216 charl08: Hi, Charlotte! Noted.

>217 lycomayflower: Laura: Aha! I *knew* I'd read a review of this book somewhere recently! Gah. Memory is not my strong suit. Thanks for that - you've made me decide that I'd better read it, because I suspect I'd like it lots.

>218 connie53: Hi, Connie!! I'm so glad you're here!!!

72. Detective Gordon: The First Case by Ulf Nilsson (CCBC list, easy reader) - 8/10 = B
A cute little story that emerging readers (slightly advanced, perhaps) would likely enjoy.

73. Grimpow by Rafael Abalos (audiobook/1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10 = C
Meh. I just couldn't get into this one at all. Nothing about it interested me, I'm afraid, and it even had Knights Templar in it, for sobbing out loud. Gah.

>133 scaifea: Wait, stop the clock! How did that tiny little guy grow so quickly? It does seem like yesterday when you were showing us his photos and he was a wee one!

>221 Whisper1: Linda: I know, right?!

On the agenda for today:
A bit of PTO business at school this morning, then home to the treadmill, a bit of cleaning and some work on the Latin book before a quick trip to the library and the vet's office (to pick up more medicine for Tuppence) and then in to school for my Tuesday afternoon volunteering. Leftovers for dinner tonight, I think.

On the reading front: I read a bit more of Enchantress of the Stars, which I think is going to be pretty good, and a few pages in Memoirs of Hecate County, which is good despite being a short story collection (Mark, I think you'd like this one lots).

The calendar book today: Five Days at Memorial, which I'm already reading! Ha!

And the Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Mavis Jukes (Like Jake and Me, 1985 Newbery Honor Book) didn't plan to be a writer while growing up because she 'grew up in the '50s, when girls didn't know that girls grew up to be anything.'"
I haven't read this Honor Book yet - anyone else?

What We Read Yesterday:
-Chapter 6 of Earthquake in the Early Morning
-Chapter 3 of E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!

Good morning, Amber! Have a good (mushroom free) day today.

Morning Amber! I often see you working on the Latin book and I think I must have missed how that came about. Is it something you're making for Charlie?

I so enjoy your trivia regarding Newbery books. A few years ago, I was on a quest to read all Newbery's. I put that aside for a while. Perhaps it is time to return to that goal.

May I ask where you find all these interesting tidbits?

And, I am excited to be one of the first in your new thread. Usually there are 200-300 messages by the time I visit.

Happy Day to you dear Amber!

Good morning Amber, the decorating has begun.

>225 kidzdoc: Morning, Darryl! Ha! Every day is a mushroom-free day at Scaife Manor...

>226 Carmenere: Morning, Lynda! I'm co-authoring a new beginning Latin textbook with a fellow classicist. So that's what the 'Latin book' is all about.

>227 Whisper1: Linda: I get the trivia from Newbery and Caldecott Trivia and More for Every Day of the Year. And I really enjoyed reading through all of the Newbery winners - I'm now working through the Honor books and I've found more really good ones in the process.

>228 johnsimpson: Morning, John! WooHoo to decorating!

Good morning, Amber!

I also enjoy the book of the day (Five Days at Memorial - great; glad you're reading it) and the Newbery and Caldecott trivia. You've lengthened my YA/middle grade reading list quite a bit this year. I just finished The Island of the Blue Dolphin, which of course was very good. I can't tell you how many years I've thought about reading that one, and I'm glad I finally did. Walklover and I are also working our way through the Little House on the Prairie series. We're in the middle of Farmer Boy right now.

"she 'grew up in the '50s, when girls didn't know that girls grew up to be anything.'" Wow. I mean...I'm glad she learned otherwise, but I grew up in the '50's, and I ALWAYS knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. It changed frequently, but even as a little girl someone was always asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Probably helped that my mother was a professional woman (bookkeeper, executive secretary, bank vice-president by the time I was in high school). But we lived in the boonies. The sticks. The middle of nowhere. A very special place, apparently.

>230 jnwelch: Joe: Oh, I'm so glad that you liked The Island of the Blue Dolphins! That one captured my imagination so wonderfully when I was a kid. And the Little House books are some of my childhood favorites, too.

>231 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: I do suspect that it has no little thing to do with one's parents, eh? And I'm a firm believer in the idea that The Sticks is an excellent place up in which to grow.

>231 laytonwoman3rd: I'm with you on that one, Linda. I always knew that I would be part of the world of work even though my mum was a stay at home mum. I'm not sure if that knowledge came from my mum or my dad. He was always pushing me in school and she always let me know there were more important things than housework.

>229 scaifea: Wow! You're co-authoring a textbook! You never cease to amaze!

Afternoon, Amber!

>231 laytonwoman3rd: Well, I spent most of the day with my mother, and I shared that bit of information with her. Predictably, her response was a slightly more ladylike version of "That's B.S.!" Of course my mother was always one to do what she took a notion to do. She worked summers through high school, saved her money and put herself through business school in Syracuse (a totally unknown place to her at the time) working as an au pair (although they called it a "mother's helper" then) during the term for her room and board. I don't know what she would have done with me if I had been a slouch---disowned me, probably! (She denies that.)

>233 Familyhistorian: Meg: I did, too, but I know where mine came from - my mom, who got married right out of high school, stressed to me from Day One that I could do whatever I set my mind to, and she was determined that I would be self-sufficient (she stayed in her first marriage much longer than she would have, if she had thought that she could support herself and her sons without him).

>234 Carmenere: Lynda: Ha! Well, I don't know about amaze... it's amazing that I can be such a dingaling most of the time, at least.

>235 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie!

>236 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: What a strong lady your mom is! I like her already.

Well, folks, I have an interview for the librarian position on Monday. So we'll see how that goes.

>238 scaifea: Good luck on the interview!

>238 scaifea: I hope they make your decision an easy one.

>238 scaifea: *applause!* The interview will go well, I'm sure. So, what Lynda said in >240 Carmenere:.

>238 scaifea: Good luck!

Thanks, Rhonda, Lynda, Linda & Micky!

On the agenda for today:

Treadmilling, laundry and work on the Latin book. Not sure what's for dinner tonight just yet...possibly fried rice...

On the reading front: I read a bit more of Enchantress from the Stars, the plot of which is getting pretty interesting, and a few pages in The Water of the Wondrous Isles.

The calendar book today is already on my wishlist, because I so enjoyed The Namesake: The Lowland by Jumpa Lahiri.

And the Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "Nancy Willard asked the Provensens to draw William Blake in A visit to William Blake's Inn (1982 Newbery Medal and Caldecott Honor Book) to resemble to actual man."
And this is, again, one of my favorite of the Newbery winners. I'm a great admirer of Blake and so I love the idea of a children's book that introduces him to young ones, plus the illustrations are lovely. When I bought a copy for Charlie's shelves, I also bought a collection of Blake's poetry to go right alongside it.

What We Read Yesterday:
-Awesome Dogs: Golden Retrievers by Chris Bowman (Charlie's school library book, easy reader) - 8/10 = B+
-The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
-Chapter 7 of Earthquake in the Early Morning
-Chapter 4 of E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!

Morning, Amber! Wishing you the best of luck on Monday.

Morning, Amber!

I need to read some more Jhumpa Lahiri. I just finished When Breath Becomes Air on the train. Weird to start the day teary-eyed - although I'll be sure to blame it on the ventilation system.

Oh yay an interview! I can't wait to hear about it.

>246 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie!

>247 jnwelch: Morning, Joe! Oooh, that one is on my list - I'll need a ventilation system to blame as well, I suspect...

>248 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura!

Two others that we read yesterday, which I forgot to add to the list up there:

-The Thank You Book by Mo Willems (Charlie book - the newest Elephant & Piggie book!) - 10/10 = A+
LOVE Elephant and Piggie. Love them. So, so much.

-Rules of the House by Mac Barnett (Charlie book, picture book) = 9/10 = A-
We also love Mac Barnett here at Scaife Manor, although he can be hit-or-miss. I liked this one, but I'm holding off on reading it with Charlie - there's some possibly scary stuff for him in it (household items coming to life and threatening to eat the kids who are staying there - yikes).

Woot! Look what came today! I now have a COMPLETE SET!!

OH! That'a truly lovely! And congrats on completing your set!!

>252 Crazymamie: Ha! Thanks, Mamie! I'm more excited than I likely should be.

beautiful book, Amber! TSofW is one of my all time favorite books.

>251 scaifea: Ok, I'll be the first to demand a picture of all those gorgeous editions together on your shelves. ;)

>250 scaifea: I'm new to Mo Willems, but I loved his illustrations on The Story of Diva and Flea.

>254 Carmenere: Lynda: I know, right? Those Penguin Drop Caps are gorgeous and I'm a sucker for such obvious marketing ploys.

>255 MickyFine: Micky: Well, then. I guess I need to find a shelf that will fit all of them together! Right now they're doubled up on one. I'll see what I can do...

>256 brodiew2: Brodie: Oh, Brodie, you're in for a real treat if you're just diving into Mo's stuff. Diva and Flea is my least favorite of his stuff, so see what you've got to look forward to!?

Gorgeous book. And the complete set? Wow.

>258 charl08: Charlotte: Wow, indeed. I'm excited.

Good morning, Amber. Wishing you a lovely day.

>260 Ameise1: Morning, Barbara!

On the agenda for today:
Packing for our trip to Indiana, menu-planning for next week and putting together the grocery list so it'll be ready for me Monday morning, possibly some work on the Latin book. I'll pick Charlie up a little early from school this afternoon and we'll head for Indiana straight from there. We'll be back Sunday afternoon. Dinner on the road today, Mcdonald's is a likely candidate.

On the reading front: I read a bit more of Enchantress of the Stars, which is really turning out to be quite clever, I think. I'm enjoying it, at least. No reading last niht before bed - instead, Tomm and I started the second Avengers movie. Hoo, it's pretty good so far. (Ruffalo is just adorable as Bruce Banner. Love him.)

The book calendar offers up a mid-week author quote: "Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species."

And the Newbery/Caldecott Trivia: "E. B. White's notes on Charlotte's Web (1953 Newbery Honor Book) include a detailed description of how to care for pigs, facts about spiders, and possibilities of what words Charlotte would weave into her web."
Neat! I wonder what the other possibly words were...

What We Read Yesterday:
-The Thank You Book
-If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
-Chapter 8 of Earthquake in the Early Morning

Safe journey.

Thanks, Barbara!

Morning, Amber! Just a quick check in. Hope all is well. Have a safe trip to see the folks.

Safe travels!

>266 msf59: Morning, Mark!

>267 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda!

Morning, Amber! Wishing you safe travels today!

Morning Amber! Hope you enjoy your trip to Indiana!

>269 Crazymamie: >270 The_Hibernator: Thanks, ladies!

Have a good trip!

*humming Back Home Again in Indiana* Hope it's a wonderful trip.

>272 lycomayflower: >273 laytonwoman3rd:: Thanks, Ladies!

I'm on my way out soon; I'll only have my iphone in Indiana, so I won't be posting much until Sunday afternoon or Monday. Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

Safe travels and have a lovely time!

Have a great trip!

Safe travels and lots of fun!!

>274 scaifea: Then I will get in early and wish you a lovely weekend, my dear. Safe travels to Indiana and back.

Have a great weekend in Indiana with your family, Amber!

Happy Friday, Amber!

Looks like you've put together a wonderful book collection. I'm another one hoping you can figure out a photo of the whole set.

Hi Amber, have a great weekend in Indiana my dear, sending love and hugs to you all.

Amber, have a wonderful weekend and good luck on your interview!

I wonder if Charlotte's Web is in part responsible for my love of words... I always loved that image of the barn animals finding words that would be useful for weaving into the web.

Hi Amber. I am slowly working my way through threads. Looks like the last time I stopped by was early April - yikes! OMG the garage door opener story....thank goodness for rescuers. When I was home visiting my folks back in March their garage door got stuck in the open mode. Not the nail-biting experience you went through and between four of us we were able to figure out how to fix the darn thing, which is embarrassing in itself: the garage door would not go down because a broom handle had some how been dislodged from its usual spot against the wall and was in the path of the sensor that stops the door from closing. A good feature to have but when it takes four adults 30 minutes to figure out what is wrong.... well.... kind of embarrassing. ;-)

What a lovely tradition you have created around the tooth fairy idea for Charlie! What a wonderful way to pass on your brother's coin collection.

I love how school photos have that more relaxed look about them. Charlie's 1st grade photo is wonderful. My nephews have recently graduated from high school and the graduation photo selection is really impressive. They do a series of "cap and gown" shots as well as a number of more casual shots to choose from. As much as the "cap and gown" shots are easily identified as graduation photos, my choices were more casual shots for both boys.

Going to your current thread question(s), my dream house would definitely be urban. Some type of converted warehouse space with lots of brick/iron work and a deck/balcony area as large as the indoor square footage (for all my gardening ideas). I actually have the layout of the floor plan all mapped out in my mind - right down to the walk-through pantry/dry goods area between the entrance way and the kitchen and a fabulous two-way fire place between the main living room and the master bedroom. With the vaulted ceilings a warehouse has, my "library" would wrap around the main living space on an upper catwalk accessible by two ornate wrought-iron circular staircases. The plumbing would be designed to environmentally save/reuse water when possible. For example, the kitchen would have two separate sinks: one for washing fruits and veggies - with the water going into a tank system to water my garden - and the second sink where the 'grey' water would be recycled for use in the toilets. I have the idea.... I just need to track down the property to make the idea happen. ;-)

Hi, everyone! We're back home now, safe and sound, and had a wonderful time visiting my family. I'll get round to individual responses tomorrow; for now, here's what got read:

74. Magic Tree House #24: Earthquake in the Early Morning by Mary Pope Osborne (Charlie's school library book, 75 pages) - 8/10 = B

75. Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl (Newbery Honor Book, 228 pages) - 8/10 = B+
A good story, fairly nicely told.

76. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer (Hugo Award, 211 pages) - 9/10 = A-
A very cool story, quite well told. A little on the strange side, but in a very good way.

77. Millard Fillmore by Paul Finkelman (U. S. Presidential Challenge, 161 pages) - 8/10 = B-
Meh. I'm really having trouble telling this particular span of presidents from one another. Gah.

Also Read:
-Lillian's Right to Vote by Jonah Winter (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B+
-A Crow of His Own by Megan Dowd Lambert (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B
-Rodeo Red by Maripat Perkins (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B

Hi, Amber. Good luck on your interview tomorrow!

I'm late in answering your house questions, but here goes:

1. I grew up outside of the limits of a small village in eastern Ohio, Wintersville, Ohio, which is essentially a suburb of Steubenville, Ohio. Steubenville is located on the Ohio River and is named after Ft. Steuben, the fort that was located there. It has been known as the most polluted city in the US (due to the steel mills); "Little Chicago", due to the crime, corruption and gambling; and the birthplace of Dean Martin. Wintersville was very much a rural, blue-collar town, with little to do and no culture what-so-ever. My mother still lives in the same house my parents owned when I was born. It is a 3 bedroom, red-brick house built in the late 1950's. I lived in a very secure neighborhood, where all the neighbors were like family, kept an eye on each other's children and no one every locked their doors. So, growing up had its good and bad points. When I was about 5 or 6, my parents bought a summer cabin on a nearby lake (Tappen Lake), and we lived there during the summers. I would get up every morning, put my bathing suit on and play all day in the lake (when I wasn't reading) and take my bathing suit off when it was time for bath and bed! That was definitely great when I was in elementary and early middle school, but harder when I was older as I missed my friends. Mom still has the cabin, as well.

2. Wow - my favorite place to live is a hard one. I have liked different places at different times. I guess I probably like where I live while I'm living there! My first apartment when I was in my second "senior" year at college was a real dump, but I liked it because it was the first time I had ever lived on my own with no one else. My second apartment was brand new, and really cool, and would probably have been one of my favorites if it weren't for my roommate. Then there was the first house that I built, which was a small 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, but perfect for me and my cat! By the time it was built, I was dating Ed and he moved in about a year after I did. We also built the house we live in now, so I guess it's my favorite.

3. I have thought about my dream home quite a bit - hopefully, I can win the lottery someday because I'd never afford it otherwise. Yes, it would definitely have a large library. I think that what I would most like to have in my dream house would be European style furniture and woodwork (modern European furniture -- mid-century modern.) Think Charles and Ray Eames, Marcel Breuer, Le Courbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, Arne Jacobsen, etc. And lots of abstract expressionist art prints (I do have quite a few of those now.) Of course, I would like to design the space and all of the rooms would be very, well, roomy! Also, necessary would be lots of fireplaces, a wooded area (but not too far out of the way) and near a lake where one could ski (or at least a pool in the backyard) and a bathroom for each bedroom (4-5 of those.) Mom always said I should marry a millionaire because I had expensive tastes.

One thing I always wanted when I was very young was a closet filled with board games. My neighbors had one of those and I thought it was the greatest thing. I can proudly say that we now have a closet that is overflowing with games! So, step one of my dream house has already been completed!!

Thanks, everyone for the travel well-wishes - we always have a lovely time, and I don't even mind the drive. It's 6-7 hours, but on roads that are far from heavily trafficked, which makes it just fine.

>280 jnwelch: Joe: I'm working on an idea for the books display...

>282 bell7: Mary: I love that book so much, but I admit that the bit about Charlotte sending Templeton out to search for words has always bugged me a bit - if she's so smart, why does she need him to find the words for her - shouldn't she already know them? Anyway, I know it's necessary for the story to be the way it is, but still, even as a kid that irked me. Ha!

>283 lkernagh: Lori: Ha! I've had the garage door sensor bit happen to me, too - and it too about the same amount of time to figure it out! Sheesh.
And thanks for the photo compliments - I couldn't believe how well those school one turned out! I'm happy that I've had so much practice taking photos of Charlie, because I'm pretty sure that I'll do his senior photos myself instead of shelling out a bunch of cash for someone else to do them. They can be pretty fun these days.
And wow, you really have your living space all planned out - god for you!

>285 rretzler: Robin: Thanks for the good luck - I'm still more agonized over whether I'll take the job or not, instead of about the interview itself... We'll see...
And wow, you have *your* dream house planned out, too! I'm behind on that, apparently. We, too, have TONS of board games and have a Family Game Night once a week. Love it!

On the agenda for today:
Grocery shopping this morning, then home to work on the Latin book a bit before the interview, and then home again for a few odds and ends chores before picking Charlie up from school. I need to start a new thread at some point, too, I think. Leftovers for dinner tonight, likely.

On the reading front: I read a bit of Memoirs of Hecate County last night, and although I generally don't like the idea of short story collections, this one is a bit of alright so far. I also listened to a fair amount of Moby Dick on the way to Indiana and back, and I have to say that this podcast version is *amazing*! I'm absolutely loving it so far, for the variety of readers and, of course for the story and the gorgeous writing itself.

The calendar book for today: Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse, which is, apparently, another thriller. Shocking. Anyone read this one? Thoughts?

And the Newbery Caldecott Trivia: "William Pene DuBois wrote The Twenty-One Balloons (1948 Newbery Medal) while serving in the army. He submitted the manuscript to a publisher on the day he became a civilian again."
Neat! Oh, I *loved* this book as a kid! I should go back and read it again someday - my own copy is sitting on Charlie's shelves.
And Happy Birthday to William, born today in 1916, who shares his birthday with J. M. Barrie (1860) and Eleanor Estes (1906)!

Sounds like a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend, Amber! Wishing you all the best today at the Library thing.

>288 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda!

What We Read Yesterday:

-Ace Dragon Ltd. by Russell Hoban (public library book, picture book) - 8/10 = B+
-Chapter 5 of E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!

Morning Amber! Yes, I am back. It looks like I have a million threads to catch up with. Fortunately, I took a "cushion" day off, to get a few things done, which will also include something called reading.

Hope all is well.

>291 msf59: Morning, Mark! I'm insanely behind on the threads, too, having been in Indiana since Thursday. Ooof.

Glad you're loving Moby Dick! I hear that's a hard one.

>293 The_Hibernator: Rachel: I'm not finding it difficult at all, really, and the story is excellent.

Ah, wait until you get to hear all there is to be said about whales in Moby-Dick, Amber. Drove me crazy - but then, that's really just a short putt, rather than a drive, as they say.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go - that's a really good one, isn't it? He wrote some creative stuff when he was young.

I've just started the YA book Salt to the Sea, and it's very good so far.

>295 jnwelch: Joe: I've waded through (oof, pardon that one, please) some of the whale details already, and I think it's easier to swallow (ha! another one! apologies) via audiobook, maybe.
And yes, To Your Scattered Bodies Go has such a great premise. I really enjoyed that one.
I'll keep an eye out for Salt to the Sea, too.

The new thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/223149

>284 scaifea: Hello scaifea! I see that you are reading Magic Treehouse. That volume appears to be about the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906. My older son (9) never got into MTH, but my younger son is really enjoying them. My older son has enjoyed the I Survived series which also did a story on the Earthquake.

Pardon me asking, but I see that you are reading a number of children's picture books. This has been a passion of mine, reading them to my kids. Do you have young kids. I apologize for not know this or digging further back to find. I have gotten a real kick out of find Trickster tales from different cultures. They are to read as long as the Trickster isn't doesn't win the day by nefarious means. More often the not, the poor trickster loses due to his own arrogance, selfishness, or or greed. One of my favorites is Foxy!. It is so much fun.

Have a great Monday!

To Your Scattered Bodies Go" - is the start of my favorite PJF series. I really liked them. And yes, PJF is very strange. He makes Vonnegut seem normal.

I'm amused by your comment on Millard Fillmore and and the pre-Civil War Presidents. Most of them, except for Polk, were really bad. They really set the gold standard for poor Presidents. Yet the US survived. That gives me hope for today.

Have you read "A History of the United States" by Paul Johnson? He's my favorite historian and he had very interesting stories about each of the Presidents.

>298 brodiew2: Brodie: I have a Charlie, who is 7 years old, and I volunteer lots in his school library. Since becoming a mom I've fallen back in love with picture books and try to keep up with award winners and such. And I'm right there with you on the trickster characters - I've always loved them! Loki and Irish folklore version of the Devil are my favorites, I think.

>299 jjvors: Jeff: The Farmer book was very enjoyable - such a great idea for a story. I may someday come back and read the rest of the series, although for now I'm content with just that first one.
And yes, there's a string of sub-par, to put it mildly, presidents along in there. I'm trying to slog through it - if I can make it to Lincoln, I'll be alright.