Today is National Book Lover’s Day is August 9

book lover words with an illustrated short pile of books

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…

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Book Review: The Line Tender

book cover

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…

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Book Review: Virgil Wander

book cover

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…

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A 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…

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Twin 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…

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Write 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…

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Bookstore Postcards

picture of the box set of 100 bookstore 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…

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November is NaNoWriMo

woman at desk with typewriter and stacks of paper

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.…

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The Shape of Ideas Sketchbook

Shape of Ideas book, doodles, drawing

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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