The Wednesday Letters

How well do we really know our parents? That's the premise of this novel. When Jack and Laurel Cooper die on the same day, their three kids come home for the funeral and find the letters that their father wrote to their mother every Wednesday.

The contents of the letters surprise and shock the kids.

I love the idea for this book because I'm a letter writer, too, and it didn't disappoint.

And the neatest part? At the back of the book is an envelope with one more letter that the reader gets to open and unfold and read.

I'd definitely recommend this fast-paced book to everyone.

100+ Reading Challenge

J-Kaye's Book Blog is hosting a 100+ Reading Challenge for 2009. It begins on January 1, 2009 and runs until December 31, 2009. I've never participated in a challenge before but this one sounds easy enough so I thought I'd give it a try.




1. First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader 391 pages 1/10

2. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich 310 pages 1/12

3. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See 250 pages 1/16

4. Knit Two by Kate Jacobs 320 pages 1/23

5. Foreign Body by Robin Cook 436 pages 1/28


6. The Night Stalker by James Swain 345 pages 2/3

7. A Child Called "It" by David Pelzer 157 pages 2/5

8. Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs 325 pages 2/11

9. Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper 370 pages 2/24

10. Midnight Rambler by James Swain 347 pages 3/3

11. Ordinary Genius by Kim Addonizio pages 3/9

12. Takeover by Lisa Black 337 pages 3/11

13. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 531 pages 4/2

14. Live a Little by Kim Green 364 pages 4/6

15. Cross Country by James Patterson 403 pages 4/14

16. Still Life by Joy Fielding 369 pages 4/18

17. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch 4/24

18. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 371 pages 5/1

19. Night Walker by Heather Graham 300 pages 5/10

20. The Beans of Egypt, Maine (audio) by Carolyn Chute 5/8

21. The Associate by John Grisham 373 pages 5/17

22. Population 485 by Michael Perry 200+ pages 5/23

23. Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross 372 pages 5/30

24. Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook 273 pages 6/1

25. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline 337 pages 6/6

26. Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich 309 pages 6/10

27. Intent to Kill by James Grippando 311 pages 6/15

28. Cry Mercy by Mariah Stewart 411 pages 6/21

29. Persephone in America by Alison Twonsend 109 pages 6/22

30. Ballistics by Billy Collins 107 pages 6/23

31. Simple Genius by David Baldacci 530 pages 6/27

32. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 288 pages 6/28

33. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 300+ pages 7/10

34. Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult 346 pages 7/19

35. Peony in Love by Lisa See 370 pages 7/28

36. Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay 293 pages 7/30

37. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 483 pages 8/12

38. The Weight of Water by Heather Gudenkauf 364 pages 8/16

39. Dark of the Moon by John Sandford 371 pages 8/28

40. Long Lost by Harlan Coben 366 pages 8/30

41. Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich 308 pages 9/3

42. The Help by Kathryn Stockett 500+ pages 9/9

43. Dead Until Dawn by Charlaine Harris 300+ pages 9/15

44. Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo 321 pages 9/19

45. The Angel's Game by Carlos Luiz Zafon 531 pages 9/25

46. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister 240 pages 9/28

47. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See 306 pages 10/06

48. The Last Child by John Hart 373 pages 10/14

49. Relentless by Dean Koontz 300+ pages 10/20

50. The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer 290 pages 10/24

51. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult 476 pages 10/27

52. The Road by Cormac McCarthy 284 pages 10/31

53. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris 300+ pages 11/3

54. Push by Sapphire177 pages 11/7

55. Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman 279 pages 11/10

56. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout 271 pages 11/21

57. Run for Your Life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge 373 pages 11/24

58. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner 359 pages 12/4

59. this world we live in by Susan Beth Pfeffer 239 pages 12/5

60. Homeschooling by Greg and Martine Millman 259 pages 12/11

61. 13 1/2 by Nevada Barr 311 pages 12/18

62. Julie and Julia by Julie Powell 307 pages 12/27

Sunday Salon

We just got back from an overnight in Phillips, Maine up near Sugarloaf Ski Area. Our friends are renting a ski lodge there for the week. It rained after we got there creating icy roads so we didn't go skiing but still had a nice time visiting, playing Pictionary, and watching videos.

I'm still working on The Wednesday Letters. Good book!

No school this week so, hopefully, I'll have plenty of time to read.

Hooray!

Christmas is done! I felt like a zombie, yesterday, doing, doing, doing!

We did have fun, though! Lots of laughs and jokes.

Kylie got three new Maisy books and was thrilled.

I finished Say Goodbye a couple days ago. Very good story! And an ending that was surprisingly satisfying.

Hope everyone is breathing a sigh of relief now that the madness is over. I know I am!

Holiday Prep

Hunkering down for a Nor'easter. Good time to read if I had the time!

I'm still working on Say Goodbye and enjoying it but with Christmas preparations, I don't have much time to read. I'll be glad when the whole hullabaloo is over! We still have two more days of school, too. God forbid they should give us a whole two weeks for vacation! Obviously, men make up the calendar because they have no idea how much work women have to prepare for the holiday. Sorry, just frustrated and spouting a bit!

Happy reading and holidays, everyone!

An Amazing Novel

Good morning. Hope the sun is shining where you are. It will be here in NH today but right now it's below zero. The sun isn't very far away and I'm sitting in the lavender dawn.


I finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle Friday night around midnight then it took me about an hour to get to sleep because I just kept thinking about it. There is so much more to this story than just plot.

It reminds me of the begonia plant I have in my kitchen window. It's been taking its time to blossom: one flower opening slowly at a time, releasing it's beauty until now when the whole plant is covered in blooms.

The more I contemplate this novel, the more I get out of it. Take the names, for example. They play a major role since it was Edgar's job from the time he was little to find the perfect names for the dogs his family raises. He took it very seriously, combing the dictionary for words that would convey the pup' personalities.

And even Edgar's last name is significant: saw and tell. One we do with our eyes and the other with our mouths. Only, Edgar can't speak. He is mute although his hearing is fine.

On the back cover the book is described as part Hamlet and I couldn't help making comparisons. Hamlet's uncle is Claudius and Edgar's uncle is Claude. Hamlet's mom is Gertrude and Edgar's mom is Trudy.

Then there is the writing. I was so impressed with the simple yet fresh descriptions. All the words fit the character of Edgar so well. At one point as dusk approaches, he says that a few stars started volunteering. Surprising perfection!

I'm glad I took my time with this one to allow the treasures to present themselves one exquisite flower at a time.

Good morning. I'm sitting here in my cozy living room while outside the clouds are hanging low. We might get a dusting of snow during the day. Fine by me! Sounds like a good reading day. It will be especially welcomed after yesterday's Christmas shopping and wrapping.

I'm still working on Edgar Sawtelle and really enjoying it. The writing is simple and exquisite. It's so beautiful that I almost have a lump in my throat all the time. It's the type of book I want to savor so am in no hurry to finish.

Happy reading, everyone!

Lots of Laughs and Lots of Books

What can I say about this series? Stephanie Plum is, by far, my favorite character, ever. I like to let a couple months go by between reading these books and I know that I've almost caught up, but, every time I travel to Trenton, I just enjoy myself so much.

I can't tell you how many times I actually guffawed while reading this book!

I mean, how often does that happen?

The students in my first block class asked me, today, how many books I've read over the years and if I had kept a list of them. Unfortunately, I haven't. Then I got to thinking; say I started reading at age 10 and I'm 60 now, so that's 50 years of reading. I've easily read a book a week so 50 X 50=2500. I know I've read at least that many and probably many more!

So, during my planning block, I decided to go through the book cases in my room to list the books I've read. I only had time to do one book case and here's a list of what I've read from it:

1. Coma by Robin Cook
2. Through Violet Eyes by Stephen Woodworth
3. One False Move by Harlan Coben
4. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
5. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
6. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
7. The Lost Years by E. V. Thompson
8. Tales of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
9. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
10. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
11. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
12. Spring Fancy by LaVyrle Spencer
13. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
14. The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
15. High Five by Janet Evanovich
16. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
17. 4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
18. Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti
19. Mystic River by Denis Lehane
20. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
21. The Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti
22. Lovey by Mary MacCracken
23. Split Second by David Baldacci
24. The Ditches of Edison County by Ronald Richard Roberts
25. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
26. The Last Juror by John Grisham
27. Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz
28. The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
29. Channeling Mark Twain by Carol Muske-Dukes
30. Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
31, The Footprints of God by Greg Iles
32. Back Spin by Harlan Coben
33. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
34. The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
35. Scruples by Judith Krantz
36. Wish You Well by David Baldacci
37. Flashback by Michael Palmer
38. Awakening the Chrysalis by Mary Durant
39. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
40. The Shelters of Stone by Jean Auel
41. Tangled Web by Judith Michael
42. Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

A Couple Good Books

This was so good! Well written, likeable characters, believable situations, and a little history lesson all wrapped up in one book.








This is two books in one volume. The students in one of my classes are reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Ages 13 3/4 and are actually enjoying it. They "get" most of the humor.

When I was in the school library, I saw that this book contains the sequel, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole so picked it up and finished it last night.

Adrien is just a riot. He's so naive but thinks he's an intellectual. His home life is a mess and how he keeps his nose above the fray is so entertaining.

Good Morning

Well, another week bites the dust! They are just slipping away so fast!

It's 7am here in NH, ten degrees, but the sun is hitting the mountain outside our house and the whole thing looks like a bowl of chocolate icecream with marshmello sauce dripping down over it.

I'm still wroking on The Wednesday Sisters. It starts in 1967 with five women meeting in the park on Wednesday mornings. At first they just talk and watch their kids but eventually, they begin writing. It follows these women as they traverse the changing landscape of feminism, sexuality, and politics.

I'm enjoying it especially because of the musical references and the look back at all the happenings. I remember those events like when the astronauts walked on the moon and the San Francisco Peace March, etc. so it's a walk down memory lane.

The characters are likeable and the pace moves right along. I'm about three quarters of the way through so should finish it soon.

Have a good reading day, everyone!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Another rainy Sunday here in northern NH. Good! I can curl up with a book and not feel guilty!

I've read other Anita Shreve books and loved them but this was one I just could not get into. I honestly didn't like any of the characters and had a hard time feeling empathy for them. It is well written but...

I didn't even finish it but skipped ahead and read the last chapter. I'm glad I did that!

Now, this book was great! It is light hearted and serious at the same time. Charley is Charlotte Webb and she writes a fluff column for a Miami newspaper. A woman on death row contacts her to write a book about her crime.

The writing is fast paced and I was never bored.

Kylie "Reading" Grammy a Story

A Maisy Weekend

The clouds are hanging low here in NH but in our house it's sunny because our almost-three-year-old granddaughter, Kylie, has come to play with us.

We went to Wonderland Book Store and picked out two new Maisy books. This one has stickers that you have to place on different beach scenes. Even though Kylie loves stickers, she isn't crazy about this book. I think it's because there is no story to it. Once the stickers are put into place, there really isn't much to do with it.

This is her new favorite! Maisy and Talllulah are playing hospital. Panda is sick so they have to take his temperature then Maisy puts him to bed. On her way back downstairs, she's going too fast and crashes into Tallulah. Nurse Tallulah has to wrap her nose in a bandage.

We've read this one at least ten times. Kylie is always saying, "Can we read Maisy and the temperature?"

As far as my own reading this weekend, it's pretty much nonexistent. I'm still working on Testimony by Anita Shreve. The first chapter was riveting but after that it was kind of blah for awhile. Fortunately, it has picked up now that I'm about halfway through.

Enjoy your reading, everyone!

Made in the USA

Lutie and her brother, Fate, are on their own. They head to Las Vegas and try to survive. You can imagine what Lutie has to do!

Luckily, someone is watching over them and how they save each other makes for a very enjoyable book.

A Good Read

Happy first Sunday in November, everyone! For some reason November feels like a reading month to me. The weather is generally lousy (around here, anyway) and I spend more time indoors.

I spent late yesterday afternoon and most of the evening reading Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts. It's the type of book I just couldn't put down. Lutie is 15 and her brother, Fate, is 11. Their mother is dead and their father is an alcoholic jerk who left them with his girlfriend and took off for Vegas to make his fortune. When she dies unexpectedly and wanting to avoid foster care, Lutie and Fate take off in the dead girlfriend's car to find their father. Their adventures in Sin City are something else!

I have to go to a baby shower this afternoon (Hate those things! If they start with the stupid games, I'm outa there!) so I don't know how much reading time I'll have, but I'm determined to carve out some to finish this book.

Finally!

I don't know why I coudn't get into this book. There was just something missing in the characterizations. Every time I picked it up, I had a hard time figuring out who the people were.

Sherry Moore is blind but if she touches the hand of a dead person, she can "see" the last 18 seconds of that person's life. The premise sounds so intriguing but...I don't know...I guess there just wasn't enough about Sherry herself. There were so many characters that I couldn't keep them straight.

I'm glad to be done with it!

Memory Lane

It's 2:15 on Sunday morning. I woke up an hour ago and couldn't get back to sleep so got up to read for a bit. It's stormy out and I can hear the rain hitting the windows.




This was a quick read but diffferent and enjoyable. Anna is the middle child of three girls. She's shy and practically invisible. How she deals with this invisibility and overcomes it makes for an interesting young-adult story.

I'm glad my former student lent it to me. Thanks, Elise!

I'm slogging through Last Breath and am almost ready to abandon it. For some reason, I just can't get into it.

With retirement looming and a home in Florida to pay for, I've decided not to buy any more books (except when I get gift cards!) but to make use of the library instead. So, one afternoon this week I visited the library in town for the first time in about 30 years. Unbelievably, they still had my old registration card from when I was about 6 years old. It was a mess with several addresses so the librarian decided to make a new one for me and I asked her for the old one to use in my visual journal. I got a kick out of my signature and business address! St. Patrick's is the elementary school I attended. Here's a picture of the page:






















These are the three books I picked up at the library this week.

Here Comes Winter!

It's 7 am here in northern NH and the temperature is 20 degrees! There is a layer of frost on everything and just about all the leaves are off the trees.


It took me all week to finish this book and it wasn't because I didn't like it; I was just so darn tired from closing camp, reorganizing things at home, teaching school, and attending meetings. Finally, yesterday afternoon I had a chance to sit and read for an hour and managed to get through it without falling asleep.

This is one fast-paced book that takes place in the space of twenty-four hours. The thing with Iles's books is that his characters are so very human. They make mistakes and do things that make me squirm but I can't help liking them anyway because they never forget to be noble in spite of their downfalls.

Last night while the Red Sox game was on I started The Woman in the Wall by Patrice Kindl. This young-adult book was loaned to me by a former student who has difficulties with reading. She comes in to school to visit every once in a while and just gushed about how she loved this book. It didn't look that appealing to me but I felt that I should give it a try. I read about half last night and should get it finished tonight.

And, you know what? She was right; I'm enjoying it!

Today, my husband and I are going to North Conway to ride on the lunch train. Our daughter is in charge of the food service and she made reservations for us. While I've been typing this post, the sun has come out and turned the morning into a strawberry so it should be a beautiful trip.

Golden Reading Time

Another sunny Sunday here in Maine. This is our last weekend at camp and I'm glad the weather is gorgeous. I'll be hitting the beach one last time until next May. Sad, sad, sad!

I started this book while I was sitting on the beach last Sunday. The temp was in the high 50's and windy. I had a windbreaker on over a fleece and wrapped my towel around my legs. BUT, I couldn't leave! The book just grabbed me and wouldn't let go!

I read over half of it right there and it was a delightful fairy tale. I finished it in bed later that evening. I like a quick gulp of a read like this once in a while.

The following picture was taken Wednesday night when my daughter came up to visit with our granddaughter, Kylie. She just loves books and snagged Grampy to read a story to her.

Brrrrr

Good Sunday morning everyone, looks like we're in for a sunny day here in southern Maine. It's chilly, though. When I got up at 7 am, it was 38 degrees.


I finished this book last night in bed. I can see why the kids at school like it so much. It's a cool story about forbidden love and vampires . And I can understand why parents also approve of it because the message of control and abstinence is loud and clear.

Stephanie Meyer did an excellent job of blending the two together.

So, today I get to begin a new book. One of my tenth-graders gave me Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson so I'll probably start that. She said she really enjoyed it.

Happy reading!

An Award!

Thanks to Dar at Peeking Between the Pages for this award! It feels good to be part of the reading blog world!




Finished this book earlier in the week and it was fast-paced and exciting. I loved the way Lisa Scottoline wrote what the main character was thinking in italics and how it compared with what she actually said. That aspect gave this book a humorous edge.

If you are looking for something to read in a weekend (or less!) try this one and you'll be happily busy the whole time.

What's it about? A law professor goes to a prison to help the inmates and ends up in the middle of an escape plot.

You can escape with this book, too!

A New Book of Poetry

It's foggy and rainy here on the coast of Maine this morning. Hurricane Kyle is just supposed to graze us later. A good day to read!


I'm still working on Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline and have about a quarter left. It's a very exciting and fast-paced book.


Yesterday, I had to buy some cards so decided to go to the Nonesuch Bookstore since half of the store is a Hallmark store and the other half is the bookstore. This little book of poems caught my eye. It's about a journalist, Thomas F. Flynn, living in Manhattan who was riding his bike to work on the morning the World Trade Center was attacked and decided to head toward it. These poems are his way of writing an eye-witness account. I've only read the foreword and introduction so far and am looking forward to the poetry.

The Keepsake

I just love how Tess Gerritsen manages to keep death fresh!

In this novel the murderer preserves his victim's bodies to make them look like they're ancient mummies. Very interesting how it was done.

This book features some old favorites(Maura Isles, Jane Rizzoli and her partner) along with the main character who has a hidden past, of course.

In a way the book was predictable, but the historical background was fascinating. Definitely worth the read.

The Last Sunday of Summer!

I'm sitting on the couch in a puddle of morning sun. It's only 48 degrees here on the coast of Maine, but is supposed to warm up later. I'm hoping to ride my bicycle to the beach this afternoon to read for awhile.

I'm still working on The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen and am about half way through. I'm enjoying it but just haven't had much chance to read this week.

Pass the Kleenex!

I'm so glad I didn't finish this book at school in front of a class during Silent Reading! That would have been very embarrassing!

I really enjoyed the characters in this book; I want them as my friends! And I definitely want Dakota in one of my classes!

I haven't knitted for years but this book made me want to take up the hobby, again.

Even the cover is tactile. I kept running my fingers over the yarn expecting to feel its softness. Instead I felt the raised title and the name of the author. (No relation, unfortunately!)

If you haven't read this yet, go for it! But be prepared to spend a whole weekend with these girls.

SUNDAY SALON

It's a cloudy, spitty day here in northern NH.

I'm really missing my own computer!

Since I have my annual start-of-school cold, I went to bed early last night and read for a couple hours. I am sooooo enjoying The Friday Night Knitting Club!

There is nothing like a good book to help make you feel better!

Computer Woes

My computer crashed Wednesday night. It's presently in the hospital and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a full recovery! Thus, no image of the book. I'm using a school laptop and it doesn't have the features I'm used to. For example, if I pull up an image from Google, I can't right click to save it. Idon't get it!

Anyway, I finished 12 Sharp by Janet Evanovich and, as usual, I guffawed embarrassingly several times. Once I was in front of one of my classes during Silent Reading. Of course, the kids wanted to know what was so funny but, since it wasn't school appropriate, I couldn't tell them.

The other time, I was sitting in the beauty parlor waiting my turn with tears running out of my eyes, trying to control my mirth.

These books are just too much fun!

A Quick Book

I finished this book last night and it was a light read. The ending was kind of a let down, though, since I'm used to more action from Grisham. All in all, I enjoyed it and would recommend it for anyone who likes football and food!

Italy, Here I Come!

Good morning. I see little patches of blue through the pine trees this morning after Hanna went through during the night.

Yesterday was cloudy and foggy but I biked to the beach anyway and sat on the sand in my nifty seat reading Playing for Pizza by John Grisham for a couple hours.

This is a light-hearted tale of a failed, down-on-his-luck football player who ends up playing in Italy. It's not Grisham's usual but enjoyable, just the same. The food descriptions are the best part. It makes me want to visit Parma.

A Sci-fi Pick

This isn't my usual genre but I enjoyed it! It was comical and I even burst out laughing at one point.

Matt Fuller accidentally creates a time machine that will only go into the future and each time it time travels, it's 12 times longer than the time before. He gets into all kinds of jams and has to keep jumping forward.

It's good that the writing is light hearted because the view of the future is quite bleak. All in all, it makes me glad to be alive in this era!

Labor Day Weekend

Good morning Sunday Saloners! I was up before the sun today. My husband left to go tuna fishing and I couldn't get back to sleep so decided to get up and enjoy a little peaceful time.


I finished this book at the beach on Friday. Very cool story! It takes place in the present and in the 1830's. How the two eras connect makes for a fascinating read.

I especially enjoyed learning about the medical practices of almost 200 years ago. Cleanliness was nonexitent and diseases and infections ran rampant through hospitals. Childbirth was so dangerous.

I think I've read all of Tess Gerritsen's novels, now, and am looking forward to her next one. She knows how to tell a good story!

My Week

It's been a busy week with teacher workshops, preparations for the start of school next Tuesday, and visiting my mom who is still in the hospital but mending nicely.

So, I've been reading the same book all week and am just about done.

This morning Sunday Scribblings posted "Somewhere..." as a prompt and I came up with the following poem about reading:

Somewhere

Every time I pick up a book
somewhere becomes real.

Each page is a wing;
each word a footstep.

Somewheres sit on my bookshelves,
a line of geographies.

Today I’m going to visit
the Boston area in two eras

as I finish The Bone Garden
by Tess Gerritsen, who is from Maine.

Tomorrow, another somewhere
will whisk me away.

Horror, anyone?

Gautami has started this no-obligations meme.


1) When did you first encounter horror stories? About 30-40 years ago I started reading Stephen King's novels

2) What kind of horror stories work for you? I like ones that begin in normal everyday life but then get ghostly so that it seems believable.

3) Do you believe in ghosts? Yes

4) If yes, have you encountered any ghosts? When/Where? We used to have one living in our home. He was friendly. See here.

5) Have you been scared out of your pants reading one? No, but my heart has skipped a few beats here and there!

6) Can you read horror stories after midnight and alone? Yes, except usually my eyes are too tired, dammit!

7) Can you recommend a few horror story authors? Dean Koontz, Stephen King (his early stuff)

The Summer Comes to an End

Good morning! I have only two more days left of summer vacation. Can't believe how fast it went.





This is the last of the Myron Bolitar novels. I accidentally read the last two out of order but still enjoyed them. I'm going to miss Myron, Win, Esperanza, Big Cyndi, and even Myron's parents!

Booking Through Thursday

BTT this week is asking us about our earliest library memories.

I started reading voraciously in the fifth grade. This was back in the late 50's and I was allowed to walk to the library by myself. I was ten years old and the library was at least a mile away!

But so worth it!

It was my second home. I can remember staring at all the books there and feeling so rich.

Most of the time I'd stay a couple hours just running my fingers over the spines and pulling a book out occasionally to look it over, taking my time to pick out the four I would check out.

Sometimes I'd sit and begin one right there delaying the time when I'd have to return home to do my chores or homework.

I wanted this place to be my bedroom.

But, alas, I'd eventually leave,

walk through the vacant lot between the fire station and the bowling alley,

become a tightrope walker as I balanced on the train tracks,

cut through a yard near my elementary school,

stop at Bob's store for a York Peppermint Patty,

take a shortcut by Julie's Cafe,

cross more train tracks,

meander up a wooded path hoping the old men who lived in shacks weren't outside,

emerge onto Wight St. and walk up the sidewalk for awhile,

then cross the heavily-travelled route 110 onto Fifth Avenue

and I'd be back home from the library.

It's a blue sky golden day here on the Maine coast. My husband and I are going to take a motorcycle ride to visit friends at Lake Sebago so don't know how much reading time I'll have.

What a treasure this book is! I don't think I've ever read such a beautiful book about the Nazi atrocities.

It's a series of letters from some of the inhabitants of Guernsey to a writer in London. They're mainly supposed to write about the Occupation but their daily lives and quirky, wonderful personalities shine through.

I so want to be their friend!