Something Old Something New

In this day of living green, recycling has become more important than ever. Recycling can mean so much more than hauling bins of paper and bottles to the recycle center each week. Reusing is a form of recycling as well. HGTV actually built and decorated a completely green home which they gave away this month. Sadly I wasn’t the lucky winner, but there was a lot to be learned about living green.

I suppose purchasing second hand books would be a way to recycle, although, I have to admit, I have never thought of it that way. Used books aren’t just trash to be hauled away, but treasures waiting to be found. The library is another great location for a treasure hunt. In my city, the treasure box is as endearing as the treasure. The Farnsworth Public Library has a history of it’s own since it was dedicated on this day 105 years ago!

I thought everyone thought as I do about the joy of browsing through classic and out of print titles, so imagine my surprise when I came across this this Guardian Books Blog post by Chas Newkey-Burden, an author who hates second hand books. Not only used books, but library books as well! Oh horror!

Now you may not find it odd that an author would hate used books, or even a bookstore owner for that matter. After all, don’t they lose money when customers purchase used books or even pick them up at their local library? Surprising enough, I don’t think so.

Growing up, I spent endless hours at our local library finding the perfect titles to spice up my summer. I soon became the type of reader no single author could possibly keep up with. Visiting the library or used book store is the perfect way to discover new authors. Of course, when my favorites release a new title, only a new book store can help me. I can’t possibly wait for someone else to read the book first!

What about you? Do you adore or abhor used books? Do you feel the same way about the library?

Romance Anyone?

This week I have been closely following a story by fellow blogger and Wisconsinite, Barbara Vey about a poll on MSNBC called “Do You Read Romance Novels?”

It sounds like an innocent enough question, doesn’t it? So, why are romance readers across America outraged? Read Beyond Her Book and let me know what you think.

Everyone needs a little romance in their life, my only question is why do they have to muddy the covers up with so many words?

Bon Voyage!

We have been getting a lot of rain here in Wisconsin. Well, not me personally, but more in the south. For me it’s just enough to keep the sun away and the mood bleak. I thought of something that was able to bring a smile to my face, though.

Two of my kids have been visiting relatives this week. Now I can finally get rid of all the unwanted items in the house without guilt. When they get home, I can tell them the two turtles and two cats joined the rest of the animals on the ark! They can’t blame me for that, can they?

Seriously, though, what is there to do with all this rain? I’ve found myself spending a lot of time reading. Currently I am reading our book club selection, Can You Keep a Secret . This is definitely the perfect selection to lift anyone’s spirits. Another laugh out loud hit from Sophie Kinsella .

My daughter read the Pretty Little Liars series and now she has me hooked, too. Finally some of the mysteries are revealed in book four, Unbelievable. Ky finished in a day or two and then was disappointed because she couldn’t share her excitement. Now I know how she feels. I finished while she was away and now am anxiously awaiting her return so we can finally discuss who “A” is. Sara Shepard has been stringing us along for almost two years, so it was both thrilling and a little depressing to find out. Luckily, there will be four more books to continue with the characters we know and love and/or hate.

I began the week engrossed in Little Face by British author Sophie Hannah. This psychological mystery starts strong and had me from page one. In my mind the story could go one of two ways, so I devoured the story to see which direction it took. Although I enjoyed the journey, the end was like returning from a trip visiting relatives. I dump the dirty laundry out of my bag in exhaustion and don’t care enough at the moment to sort through it all. Maybe one day, but more likely it will be forgotten forever as I move on to the next journey.

What about you? Have you read anything you loved or were disappointed in this week?

...here I come!

Summer is finally here. How do I know this? Is it because the sun is shining with a high in the 80’s today? Is it because the kids will be out of school in a couple more days or because we have more customers parading around in shorts? No. The Stanley Cup has been awarded! Hooray Red Wings ! They had me worried for a game or two but they pulled through. For me a sure sign of summer is the end of the hockey season. At least for a couple of weeks until the youth summer hockey league begins.

Another sign that summer is here is our annual Copperfest celebration which began today. This is an event I have looked forward to every year since I was a little girl. I anticipated the freedom of wandering aimlessly, absorbing the sights and sounds – the music of local bands blaring through the night, the first fireworks of the year, the warm butter dripping off the cob and down my arm. It was truly a weekend to be cherished. But what did it mean?

It recently dawned on me that I had no real idea why Oconto celebrated Copperfest each year. How is that possible? It is not only possible, but in my experience quite common that we tend to overlook the great destinations all around us. I have not been to Copper Culture State Park since elementary school and my only memory of this visit was rolling down “Susie’s Hill”. As far as I know my children have never explored this Park or Museum. How many other great local destinations have we overlooked in our hurry to escape this city, county, or state for our summer vacations?

With gas prices out of control, this will be the perfect summer to find all of those local hidden treasures. Next stop, my backyard!

And the award for the best parent goes to....

Can you imagine spending two months in a canoe? How about two months with a sixteen year old? Add those two factors together and that doesn’t sound anything like my dream vacation! Steven Faulkner is a much better parent than I will ever be.

Steve felt like he was losing touch with his sixteen year old son – something I can relate to, although he handled it much differently than I. Instead of showing up at whatever location his son and his friends were hanging out at to become “one of the guys”, Steve took his son on a two month canoe trip. Instead of screaming until he was blue in the face, he taught his son about French explorers Joliet and Marquette as they followed the same route taken in 1673. Steve even brought his son home after the expedition! How tempting would it be to encourage him to spread his wings by leaving him at any one of the many stops along the way?

It’s not all my fault that I am not and never will be the parent Steve Faulkner is. My children are not and never will be the son Justin Faulkner was. For this thousand-mile voyage in a sixteen-foot canoe, the Faulkners brought along only a few supplies and a couple of books to read together. My kids would rather swim home after an hour of canoeing than to go any longer without their cell phones, I-pods , computers, and their posse of friends. And to be seen with mom? No way!!

Tomorrow Steve will be at BayShore Books to sign his book about this adventure, Waterwalk: A Passage of Ghosts . How will I react to meeting this icon? Do I bow at his feet or simply hand over my children?

The List

I need to make a list. There are numerous books and movies about people making lists of things they need to accomplish before they die from the Bucket List to 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. The book I am currently reading, Where the River Ends includes a husband trying to help his wife complete her list before it’s too late.

I am a list person. I make lists for everything – things I need to do, bills I need to pay, books I want to read and books I’ve read . I do not, however, have a Bucket List or a list of places to see or things to do. I suppose at one time I did, although it has never been put down on paper.

Get married – check
Have kids – check, check, check
Live on the water – check
Jet Ski from Oconto to Door County – check
Open a bookstore – check
Have a cup of coffee with Stephen King , Dean Koontz, James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks – the emails are sent so I expect this to occur any day now.

I have been racking my brain to come up with four more things to add to my list, but it is a struggle. I’m one of those fortunate people who can’t think of anything I want (other than maybe a second pair of pants which I can actually get buttoned) or anything I want to do. I’m running out of time, though. I have to come up with four great ideas and they need to be impossible to achieve. After all, if this is a list of things to accomplish before I die, do I really want to finish them anytime soon?
What about you?

Do you have a list?

How many things on it have you accomplished?

Are you willing to share?

Hug Him and Squeeze Him and Call Him George

Summer is here! So maybe it is only 60 degrees out and the kids are still in school. Today my college student will be home bearing gifts of laundry and stale chips. I am as yet undecided how I feel about his return. Each Friday night before his visits home the past nine months I could hardly contain my excitement. “I will hug him and squeeze him and call him George”*!! By Sunday I still have not received a hug or even seen him for that matter. I know he arrived safely because twenty minutes before we are ready to drive him back to college he dumps out a garbage bag of laundry that he needs washed before we can leave.

He is ready for a break from his studies, though. He called me just the other day to place a book order. During the school year he is so busy he can’t find the time to read. When he does, he feels he should be reading something for school, not his own enjoyment. When he arrives home, I will have his copy of Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes waiting for him. Nothing like a little light reading over the summer.

His brother just finished the latest by his favorite author, Neal Shusterman . He is searching for something short to read since he only has a couple of weeks left of school. This son just can’t find the time in his busy summer schedule to read. It is amazing how different two children in the same family can be.

So, my question for you is – do you read more or less during the lazy summer months? And, what do you read - something light and enjoyable like a romance or something deep and life changing?

* Just a little fyi - Did you know this popular phrase is actually a reference to John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men?