Snow time like spring

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.  ~Hal Borland




 I know we'll get spring eventually.  I just know we will.  I know this snow will melt.  I know it.  But sometimes knowing things and feeling things are two different things.  It feels like this winter will never end.

I don't hate winter.  I like the snow and the little bit of hibernation that I feel justified slipping into.  But, it's now April 17th and we're on another round of 3-9 inches of snow in the forecast.  Maybe it's just my Facebook newsfeed full of complaints about the weather that is bringing me down.  

I need to stay away from my window, my computer, and the local weather reports for the next two days.  I should keep my nose in my book, only surfacing occasionally to eat and make more coffee.  I'm suffering a bit from cabin fever.  But if I just keep my head down, I can escape into a book and forget about the LONGEST snow melt EVER.  Did I mention that this book takes place in Virginia (the state, not the northern Minnesota city)?  It's a lot more green in the book.  

I'll just keep my head down.

Eventually it will stop snowing. 











Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson

Reader's block

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.”
― Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I spent the weekend without a book to read.  I had a few magazines that I read from cover to cover, and a couple of guide books for Vancouver, British Columbia that I read through.  I saw stuff in the magazines that made me want to shop and some places in the guide books that I'd like to visit.  I  didn't stay up late reading either.  I missed having a story to dive into. 

I'm currently suffering from reader's block.  Usually this happens after I've read something really great and I just need to let the story steep for a while.  This time I'm suffering from reader's block because I haven't read anything riveting in a couple weeks.  I've read some good books, but nothing that I had trouble putting down.  It's been months since I read something like that.  The past few books have been a bit more dry, a bit more factual, a bit less fun.  Interesting?  Yes.  Worth reading?  Yes.  But, too much of one thing makes me bored.  Now I'm kind of off books and I need something really great to get me back to reading.  The problem is, I don't know exactly what I want.  I want to make sure it's something I can immediately get sucked into.  If I have to read fifty pages before I get into the story I may find myself thinking that reading is boring.  I know that isn't true. 

I may have to pull out the Terry Pratchett books I've been saving.  I saved them for a time when I would need a book other than a library book.  A time when I'm traveling.  I may not be going anywhere anytime real soon, but I think this is an emergency.  It's either that or another read of my favorite book, Beginner's Luck by Laura Pedersen.  It's been a couple years since I last read it, and I think one of my copies of the book just came back after being loaned out to a friend.  Either of those books will get me back on the reading track.  Either of those books will cause me to read past a decent bedtime.  EXACTLY what I'm looking for!

I like to think that if you hate reading, you just haven't found the right book.  I know it's true.  If you think reading is boring, you haven't been reading the right books.  Sure, there are a lot of boring books out there.  But there's something for everyone out there, you just have to find it.  If you don't know where to look, come and ask me--it would be my pleasure to find something for you!

“This book was written using 100% recycled words.”
― Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters

SPAM and the changes because of it

I get spam, therefore I am. ~Alicia Wikstrom




Lately we have been noticing a large increase of SPAM on our site.  The first couple of times it was amusing, but it isn't any more. So for right now we decided to lock up our comments.  You can comment, but now we will preview them before they're published.  Just to keep the riff-raff out.  I'm sure the real people who read this won't mind that much.  It's been a while since we've had a real comment anyway.  Please leave us your comments, but be aware that they won't show up right away.

SPAM belongs on a sandwich more than it belongs here.  I'm not even sure about the sandwich thing.  Apparently I loved them when my great-aunt Alice would make fried Spam sandwiches for me when I was a wee toddler.  My family is eating Spam for supper this evening.  The girls had commented to my husband that they'd never eaten it, so he decided to make some for them.  I'm missing out, but I asked him to take a Spam picture for me so that I can share it with all of you who read this.  We'll see if Spam sandwiches become a regular in the meal rotations. 

 " Haul them off! Hide them!
The heart winces
For junk and gimcrack,
for jerrybuilt things
And the men who make them
for a little money,"
~Richard Wilbur

I'd like some chocolate.

"Look, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates."  ~Fernando Pessoa

“Happy Valentines Day to those who have found love, in whatever shape or form, and to those who are still hunting, don’t give up. If you feel bad, send yourself a card. You must be worth it...”  ~Jeanette Winterson

It's Valentine's Day!  A day for flowers, chocolate, and expressions of love.  Or like.  Or maybe just some chocolate the next day when it's all on sale.  

I have three girls.  They all had valentines to make.  For the past four years or so, I haven't bought valentines.  I did for a couple years, but I just couldn't see spending money on some pieces of paper that the kids were going to look at for a second before discarding because there was no candy attached.  So, the girls make their cards.  I have no idea what the parents of the kids in their class think about us.  I would guess they think I'm a nut.  They're partly right.  I am nuts; but more than that, I'm cheap.  We have paper, crayons, markers, pens, pencils, tape and glue.  And the kids have time.    

I like making cards.  I used to buy them, but this way I can get a card that really says what I think & feel.  Instead of spending time finding the card that says the right thing; I make my own that says exactly what I feel, although much less poetically.  Sometimes I just find a quote I like and use that.  I always do some artwork on the front of the card.  I feel like it's more personal.  I may not have words, but I can create something.  They might not be great, but they are cheaper than Hallmark.  It takes some time, but I've got time.  I just spend an hour less doing something else.   I'm sure I won't miss too much online during that time.  My book will wait.  The dishes can soak.  The laundry can sit in the dryer and get a little more wrinkled.  

I like getting cards that people have spent time making.   I understand that my husband isn't an artist.  I understand that he isn't a poet.  I appreciate the efforts he goes to when making me a card.  My kids have varying degrees of creativity and interest in making cards.  I appreciate the effort they put into them.  I think they have fun.  I don't think they mind that they're the only kids in class who make their own valentines.  They seem to be proud of the fact that they make the cards themselves.  This year I didn't help them.  At all.  I might have helped one of them track down the list of kids in their classroom, but that's it.  

And that's just the way I like it.

I'll pick up a heart shaped box of chocolates for myself on Friday when they're on sale.

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt." ~Charles M. Schulz

Beautiful Creatures available for download

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
“Elton John?”
“Close. Ernest Hemingway. In his own way, sort of the rock star of his time.”
― Kami Garcia, Beautiful Creatures
 

I've been reading more than one book at a time lately.  Except that one of those books is an audio book.  I got the recommendation from a friend of mine (Thanks, Ann!) and decided to download the audio book instead of reading the actual book.  It's a young adult novel,there are witches and other supernatural creatures, and I knew I wouldn't have to finish reading  one book to move onto this one when I found the audio option.  I have not minded the long car rides I've had to take lately, and the apicoectomy I had this morning was a breeze all because I had a book to listen to.

 What is Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl about?  Teen casters, the yearning to break out of a small town by a restless teen, the longing to find a home, the fight between light and dark, young love, funny old women, the powers that can be found in a library, and a dog.  That's really just the tip of the iceberg.  There's more to it than that.  It's a perfect escape book.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that, with some laughs thrown in for good measure.

It's so great to have books available for download with your library card.  If you don't like them, you don't have to beat yourself up over money wasted.  Which is what I would have done if I had paid for The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht instead of getting it for free with my library card.  Even though I didn't like The Tiger's Wife, I thought the narrator did a great job reading it.  Beautiful Creatures is even better.  You can tell the difference between the main characters and it's just one guy reading the story.  There are also some sound effects added to enhance the story.  It's really been hard to quit listening, in much the same way that a really good book can be hard to put down.  This is my first experience with an audio book like that. 

Teen books are fun.  I now have a new series to recommend to other readers who like this type of book.  And by "this type of book" I mean anyone with a penchant for the mystical, and anyone who loves young adult fiction.  Also, anyone who thinks librarians are heroes.  Because, they are.  Aunt Marian is a great librarian.  At least so far.  I'm not done with the book yet. 

The movie opens the day before Valentine's Day, and although I probably won't make it to the theater to see it, I'll be sure to check it out once it comes to the library.  If you hadn't heard of the Beautiful Creatures series of books, now you have.  I look forward to reading the next three books in the series.  Now that you know about them, you can check them out for yourself!

     
 “I'm just the librarian. I can only give you the books. I can't give you the answers."
- Aunt Marian in "Beautiful Creatures”
― Kami Garcia

Winter chills bring thoughts of summer reading programs

We need society, and we need solitude also, as we need summer and winter, day and night, exercise and rest.
--Philip Gilbert Hamerton

 

It's freezing outside.  Which means it is time to start planning the summer reading program.  This will be my fourteenth summer running the program, and I need to breathe some new life into it.  Switch things up a little bit, and hopefully attract some more kids.  

Attendence over the past few years has remained small.   Some kids grow out of the program, and few return to take their places.  I'm not great at promoting the summer reading program.  I've done it for so many years already, and have never really succeeded in drawing extra kids through the library door.  I would not make a great salesman.  So, we're doing some work to come up with new ideas.

In the past few years, I've started the summer reading program shortly after school gets out.  Bigger libraries do this with great success.  But, we aren't a bigger library.  With a town of less than 500 people, there aren't all that many kids, and right after school gets out is when there are a lot of other really great programs and activities for them.  Maybe that will help.  

For many years we've had a library store at the end of the program.  Each 15 minutes of reading equals one library dollar to spend at the store.  The kids love it, but it doesn't necessarily encourage six weeks of reading.  Many of them cram some book reading into the last week of the program.  This year we're thinking about giving the kids prizes at each level of reading met.  Read for two hours, you get a prize.  Continue reading for another two and you get another.  We're also toying with the idea of getting credit for attending story hour and credit for bringing in the book logs and getting them stamped for some extra prizes.  Big libraries can't do that, but since we're so small it would be an option.

The thing about small libraries is that you know most of the kids that walk through the door.  You know their names, ages, and have a pretty good idea of what their home lives are like.  You know which ones need the most help with reading.  You know what kinds of books they prefer.  You know what games they play on our computers.  

At a small library you build relationships with these kids.  Granted, it's only for a short time.  Sometime in their teens they don't come through the door on a regular basis anymore.  Sometimes you don't see them until they bring their own children in.  You do your best to provide them with some tools for a successful life while you have the opportunity.  You impart on them the belief that public libraries are a wonderful thing.

It's really only the beginning of the planning stage, but we've already brainstormed quite a few new ideas.  It should be a fun year.  The Dig Into Reading theme translates to one thing for me, WORM ART!!  One of my most favorite projects!  I can hardly wait to share this painting technique with a few more kids.  What the rest of the six week program will bring is still up for discussion.  

Here's hoping we can bring a breath of fresh air to our summer reading program.  Maybe we can bottle up some of this below zero windchill and pull it out in July. 

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

      

New Comment, old story

We live in an increasingly sophisticated world that makes it difficult to make simple comments on stuff. There are too many people on both sides of the border who are taking advantage of circumstances and the situation.
Arlo Guthrie
 

I love it when people comment on this blog.  I like the feedback, I like the shared stories, I like the shared ideas.  For every post I do, I hope for a comment or fifty.  Lately, I've been getting a lot of comments.  Usually not on the current posting though.  More often than not, it's on the Smooth Seas or What Happened After the After School Special postings.  Those comments don't make it onto the actual blog.  Sometimes, the comments are quite flattering.


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Oh, sorry to hear about the security problems with your Tropical Fish Food website.  I'm really not a great person to ask about that kind of stuff though.  I just write the postings, I don't get too involved with anything else.  Good luck!


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fas·tid·i·ous [fa-stid-ee-uh s, fuh-] adjective 1.  excessively particular, critical, or demanding; hard to please: a fastidious eater.  2.  requiring or characterized by excessive care or delicacy; painstaking.

I'm not sure I'd say that it's fastidious to read this.   Perhaps you were talking about how hard it is to read it instead of referring to the care I take in composing the blog.  Nuts.  Now I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.

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I think it's great that you want to know more.  There are all kids of ways to find out.  Maybe you want to ask someone a little more local to you, since I assume you're typing from Canada.  I never knew you could grow coffee there.  You learn something new every day! 

There is always a link attached to some website or another.  I usually delete them right away from my emails, but I knew I was going to write this post, so I've been saving them up.  

It does take a lot of effort to make a comment.  It seems that perhaps some of these comments were made by people who get paid to post comments along with links to various places.  

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So, thank you to anyone who has ever made a comment.  I know it takes some effort to make them.  I would also like to thank anyone who has never made a comment.  Thanks for reading this and hopefully enjoying the Marble Public Library blog. 
  

 “Observing and commenting, it is a piece of cake.
Experiencing and sharing, that is a piece of work.”
― Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

You'll never get a book deal with that resolution.

“If the real world were a book, it would never find a publisher. Overlong, detailed to the point of distraction-and ultimately, without a major resolution.”
― Jasper Fforde, Something Rotten

Did you make a resolution?  I didn't.  I couldn't think of any that I haven't already made and failed at.  Which got me to thinking.  If I often make some effort to come up with a resolution at this time of year and then repeatedly fail at these resolutions, maybe I need to rethink my strategy.  

On that note, here are my resolutions:

1.  I will never turn in a library book on time again.  Ever.  Those fines help (very indirectly) pay my wages, and I need to support the library by paying them.

2.  I will spend more time sleeping.  Or, at least sleeping when I should be awake.  Naps are not okay.  I need to sleep until the morning is almost over.  To accomplish this, I need to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.  Preferrably long enough that I only get a few hours of sleep before lunch.  Which makes napping in the afternoon a bad idea since I would have only just gotten up. 

3.  I will get more screen time.  

4.  I will cut down on the amount of time I spend cleaning and organizing my house.  One person should only do so much.

5.  I will read nothing but romance novels.  But just one per month.

6.  I will gaze into every sunny sky looking for a dark cloud.  Not just figuratively either.

7.  I will eat more butter.  I love butter.  I will eat more of it.

Maybe that's all a little too tongue in cheek and just invites trouble.  I should probably stick to some of the same resolutions my sister came up with.  Things like:

1.  I will put my pants on the right way.  If the tag is in the front, I will switch them around.

2.  When I wear socks I'll wear one on each foot.  Unless it's super cold outside and then I might wear two socks on each foot.  At no time when I wear socks will I have zero socks on my feet.

I'm fond of the one about socks.  Maybe I'll just keep it simple and stick to that one.  You'll notice that it says nothing about the socks having to match.  That should make it a resolution that is much easier to accomplish.

It's fun to make resolutions, I'm just not any good at keeping them for very long.  At least not the ones made around the first of the year.  But maybe if I break any of these resolutions I won't feel too guilty.  I might even be happy about it.

“May the New Year bring you courage to break your resolutions early! My own plan is to swear off every kind of virtue, so that I triumph even when I fall!”
― Aleister Crowley, Moonchild  

Step right up

A book is a gift you can open again and again. ~~Garrison Keillor


I went to one child's holiday program yesterday.  I was happy to hear the principal  tell the audience that the gift of books is a great thing.  I couldn't agree more.  She said that if you need suggestions you can ask your child's teacher.  But, you can find more resources than just your child's teacher!  Librarians are a great source of help.  At least we try to be!  Ask someone who works in a bookstore.  Chances are if these people can't think of any books off the top of their heads, they'll know where to look to find what you're looking for.

If you have a child who hasn't discovered the joy of reading, they may not have found the right book yet.  Maybe they aren't great readers.  Either way, it's a fun thing to start reading together.  It's amazing how much people enjoy listening to a story.   Don't worry about if the book is going to challenge your child, if the book is an AR book, if your child is going to learn anything from it, or if it's considered a "good" book by some higher power.  What you're looking for in a gift book is one the gift recipient will not hate. Granted, if you are shopping for a book hater, that might be a pretty tall order.  But, there is more than just one kind of book out there.  Take a look at Manga or Graphic Novels, audio books, activity books, how-to books, an almanac, a book of world records, a comic book.  If there are words in there somewhere, it's a book that they'll have to read.  If there aren't any words in the book, they'll have to make up their own story.  If it's an audio book, there is only the joy of the story.

I had to go to the bookstore yesterday to find a few books.  (I know I talked about this a week or two ago,) I had no idea what to get for a couple of my children.  They read a lot.  I don't always know what they read.  I have some idea of the types of books they like.  I also have some idea of the books I like.  So, when I'd come to a likely candidate, I'd take a little time and read the first few paragraphs.  It took a little while to find a couple that I thought they might like, but here's hoping that I got it.  If not, the bookstore is local and they're pretty good about making exchanges.
  
If your wallet is not in favor of you spending even more money on something that you aren't sure your child will enjoy, I can recommend the for sale pile at your local library.  Many libraries have them.  I know the Coleraine Public Library has books for sale in their basement.  I was there this morning, and picked out a few.  I know the rest of my family is each getting at least one book, so I made sure that I'll have a new book to crack open as well.  Maybe it isn't exactly new, but it is new to me!     


Books are a great thing to get children for Christmas.  They have many days of Christmas break to get through and it wouldn't be too good for their brains to do nothing besides look at a screen.  (Or a bunch of screens as the case may be.)  At some point in time they will get on a parent's nerves and then the parent can say, "Go outside or go read your book."  Maybe they'll choose to do both.  Maybe you'll get to sit with them while they drink their hot cocoa and read a chapter or two of whatever book they got for the holidays.  See?  They're a bit worn out from being outside, and now they might quiet down a little while you're reading.  Win, win.  Mom got some quiet time, and now she's unwittingly fueling their little brains.  Even more of a win, you all get to enjoy some quality time together enjoying a story.  And that is a memory few kids forget.

So, step right up and get a book for your loved one.  It will be money well spent, even if you didn't spend very much.   

“Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it's much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!”
― Neil Gaiman

12.12.12 days of Christmas

Lists are the butterfly nets that catch my fleeting thoughts... ~Betsy Cañas Garmon




Twelve twelve twelve.  The day we've all been waiting for.   Doomsday?  Lucky day?  To me all the date really signifies is that we only have 12 more days left until Christmas eve.  It means I need to work on my Christmas cards, finish my shopping, bake some cookies, wrap some gifts, bake some more cookies, and listen to Christmas carols until my ears bleed.

Bah, humbug, indeed.

But, today is the day we celebrate the number twelve.  I remember turning twelve.  It seemed a huge mile marker.  In the spirit of that feeling of joy, here is a list of twelve things I love. These twelve things are listed in no particular order beyond what I thought of next.

1.  I love the library because it has all kinds of good stuff to entertain and enlighten me.  And it's all free.  Unless I'm really late returning something, and then they just take the money out of my checks.  Just kidding!  They just pay me a reduced rate to balance things out.

2.  I love to go snowshoeing.  I will love it even more after we get some more snow.  We have about three inches.  Three more would be great.  We might get more this week which caused me to shout a hip hip hooray when I looked at the extended forecast this afternoon.

3.  I love getting Christmas cards from family and friends.  I would love to get cards from enemies too, if I had any and they cared to write once a year.  I like to see how everyone's family has grown over the year, and I like to look at the pictures on the cards and read the messages printed inside.  We've gotten many already, and it should be only another week or so until I get mine sent out.

4.  I love gingerbread men.  I love them.  I love the red hots and raisins they are decorated with.  For the past couple years, when my family gets together for our Christmas, I make gingerbread men and let the kids decorate them.  I really should take pictures.  Some of them are so full of red hots it's crazy.  This year I got some new cookie cutters.  Ninjabread men.  My nephews LOVED it, and so did everyone else.  The ninjabread cookies are gone, and it's now time to make more.  

5.  I love book club.  I have two book clubs.  One with my friends, and one with the library and my library friends.  The library club meets the last Wednesday of every month (except Nov. and Dec. when we meet a week earlier so as not to cramp our holidays).  I love meeting with people and discussing a book we've all read, or at least looked at the cover of, or thought about reading.  Neither of my book clubs is very strict when it comes to that.  Library book club meets next week.  We're reading A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg.  My other bookclub meets at some yet to be named date next month and we're reading Henry's Sisters by Cathy Lamb.  I love my book clubs.

6.  I love reading to kids.  I should amend that.  I love reading books that I've picked out to kids.  It's so much fun to introduce a child to the wonders of books.  I love it when I get to introduce them to some of  the authors and illustrators that are great at their craft.  Mo Willems is my favorite author/illustrator to read to any kid.  If you haven't had the chance to read a Mo Willems book, do so as soon as possible.  They are delightful.

7.  I love the relationships I have encountered while working in libraries.  I love the kids who come in on a regular basis and know what I'm like and seem happy to see me.  I love the patrons who come in on a regular basis and chat with those of us working behind the desk while they peruse for their next book.  I love that I know what some of them want before they do.  I love leading them to books that they wouldn't have picked up on their own.  I love talking to them about what they just finished reading and what they want to read next. 

8.  I love chocolate.   

9.  I love traveling.  I will go just about anywhere given the opportunity.  I love seeing new places.  I love exploring new places.  Hot, cold, sunny, rainy, snowy, it doesn't really matter too much.  Generally I bring a book with me so that I have something to do while traveling and it's a good back up plan for inclement weather.

10.  I love finding the quotes for these blog postings.  I also love finding the pictures and/or videos.  Usually the post leads to the quote, but sometimes it works the other way.  Sometimes I start with one and then have to change it to something else.  Sometimes the pictures spark more ideas than what I already had.  Sometimes a pictures says it all.  Sometimes it just hints.  It's fun to search for inspiration.


11.  I love cutting out snowflakes.  While I was coming up with the final two things on this list, I cut out a few snowflakes.  After I finish the posting, I'll hang them on the windows in the library.  They'll join the other four I made last week.  The two boys who were in here last week when I hung them up with impressed with my mad snowflake cutting skillz when they saw my yoda flake.  Yes, I love making snowflakes.  All it takes is paper and a decent pair of scissors.  

12.  I love all colors.  When asked what my favorite color is, I always answer with, "I don't have one, I love them all.  Except maybe puce."    I love mixing paints.  Blue with yellow, add a little white, then a little brown, then a little more yellow and see what you get.  I love how the colors change from one to the other, and leave spots of half mixed in between.  It's not so much the destination as the journey when I'm mixing colors.  The journey from blue and yellow to a sage-y green is fun.

And there's my twelve things for the twelfth day of the twelfth month in the year two-thousand-twelve.


A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway, and followed our merry pipers home to town.
Patrick MacGill