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Melissa Howard's BlogPosted by Melissa Howard "A book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind and hand." Geraldine Brooks If Geraldine Brooks is correct, digging into a good book can yield as much dirt and as many interesting pieces of debris as one could possible want without covering the reader in grime. Posted by Melissa Howard Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the popular Little House on the Prairie books. While intended for children, there is much we can all learn from these classic stories Information About The Author Laura Ingalls Wilder on Homekeeping: A Feminine View of the Dignity Found in Everyday Duties Once Upon a Pioneer Time: Fairy Tales by Laura Ingalls Wilder Reviews of The Little House on the Prairie Series Little House on the Prairie
Experiencing Little House on the Prairie Thanksgiving: Little House Style Posted by Melissa Howard The following quote by Franklin Delano Roosevelt gives a compelling argument for the importance of reading. Normal 0 "A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns." Franklin Delano Roosevelt If we want to remain thinking humans with the capacity to make decisions and converse intelligently with those around us. We must read. Posted by Melissa Howard Time Magazine pays tribute to Twain as a humorist and crusader in its annual Making of America Issue. The articles include "The Seriously Funny Man," "Mark Twain: Our Original Superstar," and "Man of the World. " The on-line version of Time includes a series of fourteen portraits of Twain through the years that are thoroughly enjoyable. Posted by Melissa Howard "A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight." Robertson Davies If Davies' analysis of what makes a truly great book is correct, then the subject matter must be safe enough for children and be conveyed with simple plot and plain language. However, the characters and the psychological underpinnings should be sophisticated enough to hold an adult reader's attention. Are there books that fit this description? I would suggest that if adults would consent to reread books from their childhood that they think of as children's books, they might find it is true. Some American books that I think meet this criteria are the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, The Time Quartet by Madeleine L'Engle and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) by Mark Twain. Posted by Melissa Howard Book Reviews Posted by Melissa Howard Laura Ingalls Wilder’s fictionalized account of her childhood as presented in the series of books known as Little House on The Prairie and the television show inspired by the books is an icon of American history and literature. Every year in Walnut Grove, Minnesota the community gathers to celebrate the television series (which supposedly takes place in Walnut Grove), the books, and the life of one of America’s most famous pioneers, Laura Ingalls Wilder. The location of the dugout described in the book On The Banks of Plum Creek can still be visited. A museum that celebrates both the books and the television series is located in Walnut Grove. It features historical buildings, some items from Laura’s life, and memorabilia from the stars of the television series. Every year the Wilder Pageant is celebrated in Walnut Grove. During the extravaganza there are performances of pageant that reflects Laura’s life in Walnut Grove. If you have young children who love the stories or if you yourself love these timeless classics, pen the pageant in on your calendar: July 11-12, 18-19, 25-26, 2008; Performances at 9:00 pm. Call for tickets 888-859-3102 Posted by Melissa Howard Yes, when I get big and have my own home, no plush chairs and lace curtains for me. And no rubber plants. I'll have a desk like this in my parlor and white walls and a clean green blotter every Saturday night and a row of shining yellow pencils always sharpened for writing and a golden-brown bowl with a flower or some leaves or berries always in it and books . . . books . . . books. . . .Betty Smith Reading is a wonderful escape. An escape so delicious that people imagine special rooms or situations for escaping into. I love the idea of a roaring fire, in a cozy room lined with shelves, and with over-stuffed furniture pulled into a semi-circle in front of the fire with a large-low table with stacks of books at center-stage. A large glass of iced-tea would be leaving pools of condensation on whatever coaster I place it on and I would have a lap blanket for days when I want to feel cozy. Mostly I read at the kitchen counter with a large glass of iced-tea leaving wet-spots all over the counter. The kind of spots that I forget to wipe up, which later soak into the mail that I throw on the counter or the recipe that I am experimenting with. Like Jo, we all find our way to enjoy our books even if our dreams never come true. This was Jo's favorite refuge, and here she loved to retire with half a dozen russets and a nice book, to enjoy the quiet and the society of a pet rat who lived near by and didn't mind her a particle. Louisa May Alcott Posted by Melissa Howard Reviews of Novels Reviews of Short Story Collections The Quiet Little Woman: A Christmas Story Louisa May Alcott’s Christmas Treasury: The Complete Christmas Collection Check back to find more reviews as this list grows. Posted by Melissa Howard “A good bookshop is just a genteel black hole that knows how to read." Terry Pratchet My husband and father are both deeply enthralled with a certain fantasy writer (not the one whose quote you see). As a result, every time my Dad visits, they make a run to Uncle Hugo’s and eccentric and truly wonderful bookstore near us that specalizes in science fiction/fantasy books. “Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?" Henry Ward Beecher My parents visited on Memorial Day weekend and so they took a run to Hugo’s on Saturday. When they returned Dad disappeared. My Mom asked my husband if he was hiding how much he had spent. My husband happily reported that my father had only spent forty dollars this time. My father was deeply dissapointed in my husband for undermining his position. "book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. it is not a hobby. those who do it must do it. those who do not do it, think of it as a cousin of stamp collecting, a sister of the trophy cabinet, bastard of a sound bank account and a weak mind." Jeanette Winterson Bookstores are a tantalizing temptation for a book lover. Every book can be justified if you are a book lover. Books have inherent value and therefore buying them is an acceptable expenditure, if you are a book lover. As a result, bibliophiles can justify buying books that they know they will never read simply because... If you love a bibliophile, you might be wise to do as my husband does. He drags me away from bookstores. Posted by Melissa Howard "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis Everyone has their favorite beverage. Mine happens to be iced tea so Lewis’ quote resonates with me even though I know he was referring to the good old British cup of hot tea. However, it got me to thinking, what do other people drink while they read a good book? I know that many people like to mix coffee and books, it is not uncommon to see a person in the corner of the coffee shop with their coffee and a book sitting there for all the world to see but completely unaware of those around them. The presence of coffee shops in bookstores also indicates that this is a popular combination. My local library has added a coffee vending machine at the request of its patrons. It seems odd to me but if people are more willing to the library when coffee is available, then so be it. I wonder if there are people who like to grab a Samuel Adams when they sit down to read or perhaps there is someone who likes to imbibe Glenlivet while consuming their favorite mystery author’s latest book. It would be cool to go to a bar and see people curled up on couches in front of a roaring fire devouring a good book instead of ogling the opposite sex. It doesn’t seem entirely improbable either since bars are frequently the location for poetry readings. It is fascinating, isn’t it? I wonder if you could use reading and drinking combinations to create a personality profile. Hm. Maybe I am onto something. Posted by Melissa Howard Some people reserve reading for a special time or place. Some like to read on a bench at the park, others like to read with a cup of coffee at a table at their favorite bookstore, some snuggle up with a book on the couch, and still others like to read themselves to sleep. No matter where you read, it is an act of solitude. What location changes is whether the solitude is only mental or if it is physical as well. Do you read in a busy location, knowing that someone could break into the solitude and destroy the moment or do you read in physical isolation so that your experience in a book is complete? Leave a comment or take the poll. Share with others what your ideal reading experience looks like. Posted by Melissa Howard You started the book because it was a classic or because it seemed interesting when you picked it off the shelf at the library. After twenty-five pages, you put it down. Several days later you pick it up again and read ten more pages. You keep picking it up because it haunts you. The haunting by this book isn't because it is so compelling. It isn't. You've already decided it is the stupidest book you've ever read but you keep picking it up. Leaving a book unfinished is like leaving food on your plate. Some starving child in Africa wants your food and some illiterate child in the ghetto wants your book. You must finish. In steps Sarah Nelson, she writes "Allowing yourself to stop reading a book - at page 25, 50, or even, less frequently, a few chapters from the end - is a rite of passage in a reader's life, the literary equivalent of a bar mitzvah or a communion, the moment at which you look at yourself and announce: Today I am an adult. I can make my own decisions." Alleluia!! Posted by Melissa Howard Today is the birthday of James Norman Hall who co-wrote Mutiny on the Bounty with Charles Nordhoff. Hall was born April 22, 1887 in Colfax, Iowa. During WWI, Hall was a fighter pilot. During his time in the military, he met fellow pilot Charles Nordhoff. Following the war, both men began careers as writers and in 1932, they co-wrote the historical novel, Mutiny on the Bounty. The book was popular as raw material for movies. Three different films were made from the successful novel. Loafing is the most productive part of a writer's life. ~James Norman Hall Posted by Melissa Howard Ninety years ago, today, Clifton Keith Hillegass was born in Rising City, Nebraska. A voracious reader from early childhood, Clifton was a gifted student and popular with his peers. However, he quit college just short of getting a master’s because he did not write the required thesis. In 1946, Hillegass became manager of the wholesale division of Nebraska Book Co. During his work with there he met Jack Cole who sold a line of study guides in Canada. The guides were called Cole’s Notes. He offered Hillegass the opportunity to reprint them and sell them in the United States. Hillegass decided to accept the offer and borrowed $4,000 to start his business. He reprinted the study guides, changing the name to Cliff’s Notes, which he later changed to Cliffs Notes when he broke all business ties with Jack Cole. In the first year, he sold 18,000 study guides by 1964 he was selling 1 million guides per year. Cliffs Notes are written with the understanding that students aren’t looking for an in-depth analysis of material. What students want is something that gives them the information they need to understand and pass without extraneous information. Hillegass said it this way "Someone involved in 20 years of teaching Shakespeare often has too specialized a knowledge. Eventually we found that the best Notes were written by graduate students.” Many colleges view Cliffs Notes as cheat sheets but Hillegass always maintained that they were supplemental study aids. Until Hillegass sold Cliffs Notes, every study guide had the following statement "These notes are not a substitute for the text itself or for the classroom discussion of the text, and students who attempt to use them in this way are denying themselves the very education that they are presumably giving their most vital years to achieve." Posted by Melissa Howard Eighty-two years ago today (April 16), the Book of the Month Club sent out its first shipment of books to nearly 5000 members. The selections were either Lolly Willows, or, The Loving Huntsman by Sylvia Townsend Warner. Within twenty years of the initial shipment, BOMC’s membership had reached 550,000. Many in the literary community were concerned that the book club would result in cookie-cutter literature with no imagination or variety. However, no one can argue with the success of founder Harry Scherman’s brainchild. His intent was to create a “standard brand” that established itself “as a sound selector of good books and sells by means of its own prestige. Thus, the prestige of each new title need not be built up before becoming acceptable.” BOMC has succeeded not only financially but also in achieving its goal of creating a label of prestige. Thanks to the book club, many renowned authors have had their start with books published through the club, including Margaret Mitchell with Gone with the Wind (1936), John Steinbeck with Of Mice and Men (1937), J.D. Salinger with The Catcher in the Rye (1951), and Harper Lee with To Kill a Mocking Bird (1960. Posted by Melissa Howard A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe. Madeleine L'Engle Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the inheritance of generations and nations. Henry David Thoreau Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself. George Bernard Shaw There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life. Walt Disney Properly, we should read for power. Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand. Ezra Pound Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind James Russell Lowell A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy. Edward P. Morgan In the highest civilization, the book is still the highest delight. He who has once known its satisfactions is provided with a resource against calamity. Ralph Waldo Emerson It is time to browse through the precious books that have meant the most to you that you may rediscover illuminating phrases and sentences to light your pathway to the future... Wilferd Peterson Reading is the royal road to intellectual eminence...Truly good books are more than mines to those who can understand them. They are the breathings of the great souls of past times. Genius is not embalmed in them, but lives in them perpetually. William Ellery Channing Read Humourous Quotes About Books and Reading Read a variety of Quotes About Books and Reading Posted by Melissa Howard “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." Groucho Marx "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." Groucho Marx "book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. it is not a hobby. those who do it must do it. those who do not do it, think of it as a cousin of stamp collecting, a sister of the trophy cabinet, bastard of a sound bank account and a weak mind." Jeanette Winterson "In the shop window you have promptly identified the cover with the title you were looking for. Following this visual trail, you have forced your way through the shop past the thick barricade of Books You Haven't Read, which are frowning at you from the tables and shelves, trying to cow you...And thus you pass the outer girdle of ramparts, but then you are attacked by the infantry of Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered. With a rapid maneuver you bypass them and move into the phalanxes of the Books You Mean To Read But There Are Others You Must Read First, the Books Too Expensive Now And You'll Wait Till They're Remaindered, the Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback, Books You Can Borrow From Somebody, Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You Had Read Them, Too. " Italo Calvino "Professors of literature collect books the way a ship collects barnacles, without seeming effort." Amanda Cross For more quotes about books read my blog post Quotes About Books and Reading. Posted by Melissa Howard Essays about Poe's Work in General The Moral in Edgar Allan Poe: Poe's Philosophy of Composition and the Implied Moral Summaries of the Short Stories The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar Allegory in Edgar Allan Poe Allegory in Masque of the Red Death Teaching Resources for Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe: Online Lesson Plans Critical Articles About Poe's Short Stories For Whom Does Poe’s Bell Ring?: The Connections Between Edgar Allan Poe and John Donne Isolation and Community in Poe: Comparison and Contrast Between Edgar Allan Poe and John Donne Posted by Melissa Howard Popular summer reading often includes light, easy reads that don't require a lot of concentration. However, why not pick some literature that fits the theme of summer? Pick some outdoor literature and expand your appreciation of this beautiful creation we live in. Ron Watters, from Outdoor Book Reviews: A Guide to Outdoor Literature, has a suggested reading list of great Outdoor Literature. Use it to select some outdoor literature for your reading list or explore the site further for more great ideas. Posted by Melissa Howard Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings is hosting his second annual book challenge titled Once Upon A Time. His very poetic introduction to the challenge deserves quoting: Four small words. Combined together they wield a power unmeasured–the power to take one on a journey, the power to transform a life, the power to inspire and comfort, the power to connect a large group of diverse people over a common theme. Once Upon a Time… It is a beginning, but written as such denotes an ending as well. This happened before, in another place, at another time, with people who no longer exist, or may never have existed in the first place. If his description intrigues and charms you go to his blog, Stainless Steel Droppings, and check out the Once Upon A Time II reading challenge. Posted by Melissa Howard If you are anxious for spring flowers and need something to do during the showers, try this fun book challenge hosted by Connect the Plots. Esther of Connect the Plots has created Another Bloomin’ Challenge. The challenge is all about reading books with the name of a flower in the title. Esther has created four levels of difficulty for this challenge: Bud-vase, Nosegay, Bouquet, Garden. You can sign-up at the host blog, Another Bloomin’ Challenge. Posted by Melissa Howard Have you ever developed an interest in a rather obscure subject and been frustrated by not being able to find any books written on the subject? Do you enjoy researching your family geneology? Do you just like to find out about random things? Do you like out of print books not just to collect but to actually read? You need to check out Google Book Search. The testimonies alone make for fascinating reading but to find obscure books is even more exciting. Posted by Melissa Howard To celebrate its 40th year the Man Booker Prize has created a one-off prize. The prize will be The Best of Booker Prize in which all books that have received the Booker Prize will be eligible. The initial cut will be made by a panel of judges who will create a short list of six books. The short list will be announced in May when voting will be opened up to the public. It does not specify who the voting public will be. The voting will, however, take place at The Man Booker Prize official website. I for one hope that it is open to Americans and that we can have our say regarding what we think is the best British book. ;) Posted by Melissa Howard If you want to add more current books to your reading list or if you want to read reviews of the most recent releases, check out the The Pub's reading challenge The Pub '08 Challenge. This reading challenge encouragages readers to focus on books first published in 2008. Posted by Melissa Howard ukaunz at listology kindly reproduced the actual list from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die: A Comprehensive Reference Source, Chronicling the History of the Novel Preface by Peter Ackroyd, General Editor Peter Boxall. The list is interesting and might be worth checking out if you haven't looked at it. If the idea of attempting to read a list of 1001 books that someone else suggests as worthwhile appeals to you, then check out the group at Shelfari. There are people who've joined together to attempt reading all 1001 books. i. Posted by Melissa Howard The Book A Month Challenge (BAM) is a straightforward challenge. It offers a theme for every month and participants simply have to read a book that pertains to the theme and then post a review either at the BAM blog or on their own blog. Posted by Melissa Howard The American Speed Reading Corporation offers courses in speed reading and enhanced comprehension. Their site offers good overview of their services and a test that you can take to measure how fast you currently read. Once you've taken the test, you read a list of suggestions and take the test again to see how much you've improved. It is a fun personal challenge even if it doesn't convince you to purchase the coursework. Posted by Melissa Howard A blogger named Wendy has decided to open a challenge blog for those interested in reading books from the NY Times Notable Books lists. There are no ‘formal’ guidelines. However, readers are allowed to join the blog and Wendy encourages them to post reviews on the Notable Books blog. Posted by Melissa Howard Reading challenges are popular among readers who blog. It is a fun way for readers to encourage themselves to read many books in a certain category. I recently came across a particularly fascinating reading challenge at the blog Classical Bookworm. She proposes that since the UN has designated 2008 as International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), a book challenge be held in honor of the event. She suggests that readers read books about our “dynamic planet” and outlines some different ways to approach the challenge. Posted by Melissa Howard Whenever a celebrity puts his name on something it draws a crowd. It is mutually beneficial for both the celebrity and the bookstore if the celebrity attends a book signing. Why not joint the fun and attend the book signing of your favorite celebrity. To find out about celebrity signings near you check out Celebrity Book Signings & Events at geocities. Posted by Melissa Howard Wesley writes that while we would like to think that our era of technology makes our life unique “truth, it feels the same to be alive today as it did a thousand years ago.” Peek at Wesley’s article. Perhaps it will challenge you to pick up a classic. |
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