Books
Today is National Book Lover’s Day is August 9
Monday, August 9 is National Book Lover’s Day! Next to letter writing and mail, I am all about books! I usually have 2-3 books going at a time including a fiction book (general fiction, mystery, or sci fi), a nonfiction book, sometimes a young adult or middle grade novel, and often an audio book. Here…
Read MoreBook Review: The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power
The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power is a thoroughly researched book on street addresses. Author Deirdre Mask explains the how, what, and why of having an address. Most of us take having an address for granted. But what about the homeless people and areas of the world that…
Read MoreBook Review: The Line Tender
5 out of 5 The Line Tender is a middle grade novel about Lucy Everhart, 12, whose mother, a shark expert, had died five years previously. Water and sharks play a mercurial role in the story as Lucy comes to term with another devastating loss. What drew me to this book? The cover with its…
Read MoreBook Review: Virgil Wander
5 Stars (out of 5) I started reading Virgil Wander on loan from the library and before I had completed the first page, I knew that I was going to purchase my own copy. I was already in love with Virgil based on his name, Virgil Wander, and the beautiful star-filled cover evoking small-town America…
Read MoreA Visit to the Twin Cities Book Festival
Earlier this month, I attended the Twin Cities Annual Book Festival which I had talked about in this blog post as a prelude to the event. We had other plans going on that Saturday so I was only there for about an hour and didn’t get a chance to see any authors who were speaking…
Read MoreTwin Cities Book Festival
The 19th Annual Twin Cities Book Festival is this Saturday, October 12. Held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, this annual event is the largest single-day book event in the area. There are hundreds of exhibitors including authors, illustrators, and publishers. Some of the bigger names this year: Faith Sullivan (Cape Ann, Ruby & Roland) Leif…
Read MoreWrite Back Soon: Adventures in Letter Writing
For an interactive, colorful, and engaging book on letter writing, consider picking up a copy of Karen Benke’s Write Back Soon! Adventures in Letter Writing (2015). Benke offers a plethora of ways to send mail including: Remember when (reliving a memory shared with a friend) A list of fun things to include with your letter…
Read MoreBookstore Postcards
I hadn’t planned to get the World’s Greatest Bookstores: 100 Postcards Celebrating the Most Beloved Bookshops as I have so many postcards already. But when the set of 100 postcards went on sale for $10, how could I resist? Apparently, I couldn’t and now I am sending out more postcards than ever to justify my…
Read MoreNovember is NaNoWriMo
November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where participants commit to dedicating time to writing their novel (or memoir or any other type of book, from what I understand). The goal is to write 50,000 words between November 1-30. I’ve considered doing this and think it would be a fun challenge, as well as productive.…
Read MoreThe Shape of Ideas Sketchbook
I am on a mission to improve my drawing skill set, or, as I like to call it, my doodling. I’ve never been confident of my drawing ability and don’t have an eye for the horizon line and other drawing concepts. However, I do realize that the key is practice and that’s where The Shape…
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