The Sunday Salon: Summer Reading

I could have named her Summer Reading.

She was born in July and has had a book in her hands ever since. I passed by my window the other morning and captured this photo. I took it through the window screen because I didn't want to disturb her. She might have flown away like a startled bird (or said, "Mooommmm, what are you doing?" in a voice that communicates You are so weird, mom.)

We are having a great time reading together. She's a few weeks shy of 9 now, so many of the books I love to read are just perfect for her, too. We read Louis Sachar's HOLES together recently. This is the first book we've really been able to dig in and discuss together. Ah, bliss! Then we watched the movie together. Now, she and her little sister are acting out scenes from the story. I remember that my sister and I did that once, too, only we re-enacted LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. Do you remember doing that when you were younger?

For many reasons, I'm looking forward to this summer. But one of them is a summer reading list I hope she and I complete together. Here's a list of my favorites on our summer reading list.

HOLES by Louis Sachar
WONDER by R. J. Palacio
WALK TWO MOONS by Sharon Creech
BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo
THREE TIMES LUCKY by Shelia Turnage

What's on your summer reading list?

TSS: Frightening Book Cover Edition

Is there anything scarier than a three-handed femme fatale? (Can you find the three hands in this book cover photo?)

I don't know. I attended a Halloween party last night and the costumes were incredibly inventive. They included Betty Draper. A gold-digger. Two pirates. A wizard. A Wall Street protester. And....one night stand.

Hope you've had a terrific week. I finally finished Charles Frazier's NIGHTWOODS and simply loved it, especially as the tension and drama ramps up at the conclusion.

I also finished a terrific middle-grade book titled CALL ME HOPE by Gretchen Olson. It features a young girl's introduction to The Diary of Anne Frank and the impression the lessons of that story impart on her as she struggles with a challenging home life.

And in writing news, I'm feverishly working on the edits to my own book for my editor. It is pure joy to write THAT sentence!

What new books have captured your attention this week?

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Posts from this week: The Writer's Clock

The Sunday Salon: Shakespeare as you've never seen

Happy Sunday to you all. I haven't done a Sunday Salon post in ages. I've been writing and, well, missing out on all the summer blogging fun. Plus, it's mind-sappingly HOT here in Texas. I've curled up with more than a few glasses of peach tea and a nice stack of books with my girls this summer. In fact, if the measure of a good book is one that you are still thinking about a week later, then it must be said INCENDIARY by Chris Cleave is a good book. Great, in fact. The main character (an unnamed woman reeling from the bombing death of her husband and son by Osama Bin Laden's henchman) is so raw and emotional that I won't soon forget her. Plus, the book is written in epistolary style - one long letter from the woman to Osama himself.

Have you read this novel? Did you like it?

On a lighter note, this is MUST SEE funny, short video featuring impressionist Jim Meskimen performing a speech from Shakespeare's RICHARD III in more than a dozen famous voices.




Read more Sunday Salon posts here.

The Sunday Salon: Why call it a "book"

Happy Sunday to everyone. It's a very hot day here in Texas. After a big Sunday meal, we are all settled in for a nice long read, which will unfold into a nice long nap and then a dip in the pool. But first, this blog post.

Who knows why our mind gets set on certain questions and ideas, but this week I sought out the answer to a seemingly simple question: Why do we call books - books? It's possible one of my children tossed out this idea. In any case, I went in search of the answer. Here's what I found:

The origin of the Latin word for book, liber, comes from the Romans who used the thin layer found between the bark and the wood (the liber) before the times of parchment. The English word comes from the Danish word for book, bog, meaning birch tree, as the early people of Denmark wrote on birch bark.

So there you have it. Now you, too, can impress your friends at summer cocktail parties with your vast knowledge of all things books. Maybe I'll run into you there and as we sip a cool margarita or sangria, we can not only talk etymology, but what we're reading now. Hey, I'll go first. I'm reading Beach Music by Pat Conroy. You?