From the category archives:

Reasons

In Praise of Idleness

February 4, 2012

I have long advocated leaving children alone with no easy distractions (television, computers) so that they can experience boredom, a constructive, fertile boredom that is not to be confused with the trapped boredom one can feel in, for instance, an uninspiring classroom. What a gift when a parent says, “Go find something to do,” instead of [...]

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The Joy of Books

January 12, 2012

Found the above on this delightful site with the silly name sent to me by my sister-in-law (thank you!). The photos on the site make me want to pound the table and say, with Sally, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” (I heart bookshelves.)

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Reading is Not Optional

January 10, 2012

Walter Dean Myers is being sworn in today as the new Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, an ungainly title, but a great job. His stated theme for his time in the post is, “Reading is not optional.” On NPR this morning he talks about his life, reading, and some of the initiatives he hopes to [...]

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happy holidays

December 31, 2011

are spent like this:

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Spies of the Balkans; Alan Furst, 2011

December 20, 2011

I have a terrible weakness for buying books in airports. A foolish habit, because I’m always carrying too much weight as it is, but the truth is, I don’t spend much time in new bookstores. I live deep in the boonies and I don’t enjoy shopping as a hobby; unless I need something specific, or [...]

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In Memoriam

December 19, 2011

So many friends and family members have experienced the death of someone near to them in this past year, and are still in the first year of mourning. Marge Piercy’s poem “Kaddish,” an interpretation of the Kaddish spoken by Jewish mourners during the first year after the death of a close family member, also seems [...]

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The Weirdstone of Brisingamen; Alan Garner, 1960

December 17, 2011

Christopher Middleton, in The Telegraph, tells you anything you might need to know about The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, and talks with Alan Garner and other writers about the effect it’s had on over 50 years of readers and writers. I will add this, though Middleton mentions it: most claustrophobic scene in all of fiction! Well, [...]

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truth is where you find it

December 15, 2011

I’ve been meaning to post this since late summer, when I went not into the dark mysterious den of a fortune teller swathed in scarves and jewelry, but into a candy store. Wondering, as one does from time to time, what life held in store for me, I purchased a package of Fortune Gum, seven [...]

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Joan Bauer Girl Power

December 11, 2011

Recently I read in quick succession three books by Joan Bauer handed to me by my daughter as she finished them—Hope Was Here, Rules of the Road and Best Foot Forward. While these books are not of the era of books I like to promote, being of this century, they are worthy of note.
When I [...]

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Reading aloud in Advent time

December 10, 2011

I’ve been silent for weeks here, finishing NaNoWriMo (52K, baby!) and then, guess what, having so much fun on the current novel that it’s all I want to work on in those wee dark morning moments I secrete away for my creative delight. And by the way, I wasn’t having much fun for the first [...]

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