Hello everyone! Taking a break this week to enjoy my son being home from college. Which means I'm back to making lots of food, LOL. Love it! Love him to pieces! Here are a couple of photos I took of The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles. Part bookstore. Part art gallery. Lots of cozy nooks. … Continue reading Family Downtime & The Last Bookstore
When I first heard Maggie Tokuda-Hall talk about her book based on her grandparents, I knew I had to have it for my own library. It's a true story about how love can miraculously be found under the most trying of circumstances. Take note of the armed guard in the tower outside the window of … Continue reading Love in the Library – Perfect Picture Book Friday
In 2015, I sat in a darkened auditorium in a hotel in Los Angeles, wanting to throw up. I had word poisoning. What was the source? The messenger's message. In that dark room, Shannon Hale, a keynote speaker at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference, was turning the spotlight on gender bias. … Continue reading Who Are You? Gender Bias – #KidLitWomen
There's an ongoing discussion in the kid lit world about why boys don't want to read "girl books," meaning books that star female protagonists or feature fairies or princesses on the cover or in the title. Is this "preference" intrinsic, or are they steered away from such interests, starting at a very young age? Shannon … Continue reading Reading Gender Into It – Children’s Books and Beyond
Umberto Eco died on February 19, 2016. He was a brilliant man who wrote fascinating books. He also had an encyclopedic memory. Here's a brief interview filmed by David Ferrario. In the interview, Eco discusses memory, computers, and a terrifying future. For those of you with serious book envy that may trigger a Pavlovian response, … Continue reading Umberto Eco – On Memory, Books, and Computers
In the spirit of improved public health, a librarian friend sent me a link from "Library Link of the Day" that contains an extremely high "ewwww" factor. Body Fluid Alert!!! My own take on this subject? I think library users have more robust immune systems than the average person. However, I will support any argument … Continue reading One More Reason to Buy Books
I knew someone like Penelope Lively could explain why I hoard books (see post "Revealing My Boo--ks" to give you an idea of just how bad it is) in an NPR interview (via Literary Man's link): http://literaryman.com/2014/03/18/why-do-you-keep-all-your-books/ I feel so much better now that I have a "rationalized justification." It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
First, let me say, I sometimes get carried away by flying monkees. Now here are some of my shelves: OK, take a breath. You're in this for the long haul... I've shown you a bit of my world. Will you show me yours? Call of the Siren and I would love to go a-gawking. Cheers! … Continue reading Revealing My Boo–ks (some of them)
You've heard a similar "request" yelled during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, right? Please don't respond with THOSE kinds of photos. This is a PG-rated blog. Instead, Nick (Call of the Siren) and I want to see the books on your shelves. We want to take a dip into your psyche and expose your literary soul … Continue reading Literary Mardi Gras: Show Us Your Shelves!
Dear Presserheads (what do you think of this newly-coined term?), Thanks to friends who are taking care of our place and our living greenery, on Saturday morning our family is boldly going where thousands of tourists have gone before. We will be flying in to San Jose, Costa Rica, and then hopping a bus to … Continue reading I’m Off!
Jilanne Hoffmann 