When crisply cool fall weather starts to set in, I always find myself longing to light a bunch of candles and curl up in bed with my kitty and a good book. Below are some ideal candidates for the next time the urge strikes you.
read more from "Fall Reading Inspiration"

A couple weeks back I was able to sit down with Megan Crane for lunch and our inaugural author interview. She spoke with me about her current and upcoming books, her writing process and well, just about everything. If you haven’t yet had the chance yet, check out her latest book, Frenemies. This is one that any woman can relate to.

Lucky for us, she’s a great gal and up for anything…twice! Turns out we had nearly finished our interview only to realize that it didn’t record. So on we went to take two. It’s around 20 minutes long. I apologize in advance for the background noises and the shoddy editing (this was my first attempt at editing with Garageband).

Hope you enjoy it.

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As you might expect, if 5 year old Kristin met 32 year old Kristin, we would have little in common. Dark hair, yeah, and some self-esteem issues, probably, but on the whole, the person I am now is so different from the Me then we’re hardly recognizable. Except for one thing: now, as then, there’s a really good chance you’ll find my nose in a book.

It’s funny – ask my family what I was like when I was younger, and that’s what they’ll say – “your nose was always in a book!” For whatever reason, I took to reading early, and have spent much of my life in literature. Looking back, my book exploits are both dorky and cute: the way I would “sneak” reading under the covers after I was supposed to go sleep; the piles of books I’d take out of the library while on vacation!; the way my family had to stop me from reading when I did the MS read-a-thon, because people pledged a certain amount per book, and I was going to cost them too much money.
read more from "In a Book"

With the fifth installment of the Harry Potter movie franchise – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – in theaters right now, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — the seventh and final book of the series poised to hit shelves on Saturday, the excitement of people across the country – young and old – has reached a fever pitch. Order of the Phoenix grossed $44 million in its first day of release, the highest opening Wednesday gross ever for a movie. Deathly Hallows is the number one seller on Amazon and has sold more pre-orders at Barnes and Noble than any other title in the chain’s history. Midnight release parties have been planned. The internet is rife with rumors, speculation and spoilers, some credible, and some not so much.
read more from "Pottermania is Gripping the Nation"

Three of these five selections are female-centric, but don’t make the mistake of writing them off as mere chic lit. These authors are adept at creating realistic, compelling characters and weaving together thoughtful stories that will stay with you long after you’ve finished the final pages. They are light enough to relax and entertain you, but meaty enough to let you settle in and escape. I’ve also thrown in a non-fiction selection and one novel focusing on family life in Australia during the middle of the last century. Regardless of the genres you generally enjoy or where you plan to pick up a book this summer, I think you’ll find something appealing in this list.

read more from "Perfect Summer Reading"

 

While Memorial Day is traditionally a time to celebrate those who have given their lives in military service to the United States, it only makes sense to treat it as an opportunity to honor the current troops for their dedication and sacrifices.

 

There are many options for supporting the troops and their families. Here are just a few of them.

 

• Send them your paperbacks and magazines:

 

If you have paperback books or magazines around the house, consider sending them to the troops. Visit the website Give Books or Operation Paperback to learn where to send your items and any other information you might need to know to participate.

 

• Volunteer with your local USO location:

 

There are many opportunities to assist the USO as a volunteer. To find the nearest USO location and learn how you can volunteer, visit the USO website at the following link: USO.

 

• Send a care package:

 

There are easily hundreds of groups out there offering to help you send care packages to deployed soliders.

 

Here are just a few of the options:

 

Operation USO Care Package

Treats for Troops

Any Soldier

 

• Adopt a troop or unit:

 

Adopt a Platoon is one group that facilitates adoption of individual soldiers and groups and promotes other special projects to meet pressing needs.

 

To adopt a troop, you must make the committment to send him or her one card or letter a week and at least one care package a month. You can adopt up to four troops. There are programs that allow companies, religious organizations and civic groups to adopt entire units of soldiers.

 

You can also offer one-time support for holidays or other special campaigns promoted by Adopt a Platoon. Right now the group is asking for donations of sunscreen, bug spray, anti-itch cream and other related items as part of its Don’t Bug Me summer campaign.

 

You can find more information about all of these options at the following link: Adopt a Platoon.

 

• Donate to the American Legion American Legacy Scholarship Fund:

 

This program provides college scholarships to the children of servicemembers killed in service to our country on or after Sept. 11, 2001. More information is available at this link: American Legacy Scholarship.

 

• Support Fisher House:

 

Fisher House provides a place to stay for the family members of sick or injured troops being treated at military and VA hospitals all across the U.S. I don’t need to tell you how stressful it is to have a sick or injured loved one, so this is a great way for us to make that time a little easier for their families. Visit the following link for more information: Fisher House.

 

 

Regardless of your political affiliation or thoughts about the our involvement in Iraq, I think we can all agree that we support our troops and they deserve to be reminded that we care about them.

 

If you have other ideas or suggestions for what to include in care pacakges, please share them in the comments.

 

Lawyerlee

 

A book a week. Reading at that kind of pace might sound impossible, given our hectic lifestyles, but that’s exactly what many members of Constant Chatter are doing.

 

It’s not clear who started the 50 Book Challenge, but it has been widely embraced online. LiveJournal.com and LibraryThing.com both have communities devoted to the challenge. Bloggers from Salon.com to Bookslut.com have written about their efforts to tally up fifty titles in one year. Constant Chatter has jumped into the fray as well, with nearly twenty users committing themselves to the challenge and logging in books as they read.  You can join in here.

 

Why has this challenge taken off and inspired so many people? Is it the love or reading or the love of competition? Perhaps a little bit of both.

 

While most readers are plodding along at the rate of one or two books a week, one LibraryThing.com user claims to have read 51 books in January 2007 alone. That’s the thing about the internet—you can make any outrageous and superhuman claim you like! Since I do need to show up at my job and sleep occasionally, I’ll stick to reading a book a week.

 

In doing this challenge, I’ve found that it’s very important to vary the kinds of books you’re reading. I just read two long, dense books back to back (Suite Francaise is 448 pages and The True History of the Kelly Gang was 14 hours on audio book), so now I need to read something a little lighter and shorter to stay on pace. I’m working on The City is a Rising Tide, which is only 197 pages. Of course, then I did a silly thing and bought The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, which clocks in at a whopping 528 pages. I may have to follow that with something really easy, perhaps Shopaholic and Baby, which can likely be read in a single day.

 

Whether or not I end up reading 50 books this year, the real accomplishment will be in reading far more than I read last year. Reading is good for the mind and soul, and each book I read stays with me long after the last page has been turned.

Rosebud

For many people, the growth of the internet has made libraries somewhat irrelevant and certainly less convenient. I love libraries. I grew up across the street from my town’s library and spent many a fine summer day sprawled out on the floor of the young adult section, reading the latest Sweet Valley High book. I also spent quality time at the library in college: pre-internet years in which you had to actually get research material from a book. And the stacks were a very popular place for hooking up…or so I hear.

However, since college I haven’t gone to a library much. Okay, I haven’t gone at all. Why go to a library when any book you want can be yours with the click of a mouse?

Well, as my Amazon.com credit card balance soared to amazing heights and the bookcases in my house filled to overflowing, I began to rethink the way I read. I got online and discovered that my local library has a website that allows you to search their card catalogue and tells you which books are currently on their shelves. I was amazed to discover that they have all the new fiction releases. For some reason I’d assumed a library wouldn’t have the most current titles—but they do!

So, instead of spending $25 for a hardcover version of The Undomestic Goddess, I took myself down to the library, got a free library card, and borrowed the book. Amazingly enough, I can also renew the book online if I don’t finish it on time. Why has it taken me so long to rediscover the joys of a public library? When all of these great titles are free just down the street, I think my days of buying books online may be over. If you love to read but haven’t been to a library in a while, you might be surprised how much they have to offer.

Have you ever wondered where all that info you had in your head went? You know what I mean – all the little facts about history, phoenics, science, algebra (see, I told my teacher I would never use it). You learned all that stuff throughout school but since you don’t study it or use it on a daily basis, the details are a little fuzzy.

I got to thinking about this the other day when my husband and I were ‘helping’ his nephew with his homework and a couple of times we had more trouble with the assignment than him! And he is 12. That was troubling.

Well, in comes a new book “The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, And Roam Confidently With the Cultured Class.” Like all the inspirational devotionals out there, this one will nudge that long lost part of your brain that still knows how to conjegate verbs and how to solve that quadratic equation.

But why is it important to remember how to do those things? It pushes us to use parts of the brain that we may not engage in our daily activities. Problem solving, crossword puzzles, and other activites that engage our minds has been shown to help prevent or slow the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Probably not something many of us on the board think about regularily but it is something we should be concerned with. Both for ourselves and our parents.
While these are not exactly the same they are interesting and along the same lines as far as learning things: 100 Words to Make You Sound Smart and The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do. There are also books of various games and teasers to help you keep that brain in tiptop shape: Smart Games: Wizard Workout Word Games: Superchallenging Wordplay, Strategy, and Perception Puzzles or maybe something like Aerobics of the Mind Cards: 100 Exercises for a Healthy Brain.
And as an added bonus, if you buy from Amazon through the CC link (they don’t just sell books), you will help out CC as well as get your daily fix of knowledge! Maybe next time DH’s nephew needs help, I will know what he is talking about!

Although I was told numerous times during my pregnancy that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my reading when the baby came along, I’m finding that to be false. I’ve got an abundance of time on my hands while nursing so I’ve caught up on many of my chick-lit books that have been gathering dust on my bookshelf.

The one thing I am faced with though is how to keep up with my reading addiction. I enjoy supporting authors and purchasing books from various bookstores, but justifying spending the money on a book versus spending the money on my new baby girl is hard. I know what you’re thinking; I could just pick up the book from a local library. Sure, I could do that but until the library in my town is finished being built (it’s completion date is set for December of this year), finding the time to load up the baby to travel to the nearest library fifteen minutes away, unload the baby and browse the books is next to impossible.

I’ve finally found a solution, thanks to the fine folks at paperbackswap.com. This family-owned website is dedicated to book-loving individuals who, like me, have books gathering dust on their bookshelves. To get started, all you have to do is list nine books into the system and in return, you are given three free book credits to you started in the trading. For each book you successfully mail, you earn a credit, which can be used to request another book from another member. The more books that are posted, the more chances there are of having someone request your books. It truly is a shared system!

Paper Back Swap also makes it extremely easy on it’s members (especially new mothers, like me). When a member request a book from your list, you simply print the wrapper that already has the person’s address, your return address as well as the amount of postage needed. It even has an option for delivery confirmation for a few extra stamps. When the wrapper is printed, the member can wrap the book with the information already on it, add stamps and voila!

I highly recommend this site. It’s fun to get ‘free’ books in exchange for the ones you have already. So, take one trip to the post office to buy a roll of stamps, take a gander at the listed books and start reading!