Melissa Wiley's Blog, page 195

48-Hour Book Challenge Update

Well, the arrival of the Catching Fire ARC played right into my hankering to jump into the Challenge. Instead of gardening, running errands, and cleaning house during the baby’s naps today, I read. Clocked a little more than 4 hours of reading time since 7 a.m. You know how in every runners’ marathon there’s a weathered, smiling, sunvisored gal trailing way behind the pack, fast-walking instead of jogging, knowing she’s going to come in last but just doggone happy to be there? That’s me.

Total re

The 48-Hour Book Challenge

It starts today. I soooo want to participate. But, um, hello, Huck! And Rilla and Wonderboy. Sure, my three older girls would be totally into the idea of a super-duper reading marathon for the weekend, but my little ones have other ideas. Besides, we’ve got a birthday to celebrate on Sunday. Happy 14th, Jane my love! Would you mind babysitting all day so I can read?

So, okay, not my season of life. Maybe next year. (:::laughs uproariously:::)

But lots of people are participating and it’s not too l

To Have and to Hold

My monster TBR-pile woes are well documented on this blog. I’ve already accumulated more books than I can read in a lifetime. The trouble is, people keep writing new ones. And then other people go and read them, and write captivating posts about them, and next thing I know, I’ve spent the clothing budget on books we don’t have room for, and my library hold list is, well, an embarrassment. Seriously, ma’am, you think you’re going to get through all those in three weeks? Let’s face it, you and I b

Honey, I Don’t Even Know How to Spell It

Rilla says, terribly aggrieved, “Wonderboy was saying luddle-luddle-luddle to the baby.”

(You know, that sound you make when you stick your tongue in and out really fast.)

Me: “Well, the baby probably liked it!”

Rilla: “But he was saying it WRONG.”

Hephaestus, Probably, Because He Always Seemed Kind of Sweet

I love the way Beanie talks to me about books. She peppers me with questions sparked by her own deep immersion in the narrative.

“Mom, how would you feel if your best friend betrayed you and then he fell off a cliff?”

“Mom, if you were the child of a Greek god, which one would you rather be the child of?”

“Mom, how would you like it if you had only one eye and you were a really ugly Cyclops?”

Any guesses what she’s reading, by the way? (It occurs to me that first question may well be a spoiler. If s

Notes on E-Reading

A few more e-reading notes of the thinking-aloud sort, if you don’t mind.

E-readers I’ve tried:

Classics. My favorite platform so far—best looking, most book-like text, fun page-turning effect. Obvious drawback: limited book selection. 99cent download. No cost to download additional titles as they become available.

Stanza. Very nice reading experience. Easy-to-use search function offers huge selection of free and for-purchase books (including Project Gutenberg catalog). Customizable text display (f

How Does E-Reading Affect the Reader?

I continue to ponder the question of whether e-reading causes me to react to books differently than I would if I’d read them in a traditional paper format. Today I finished my first Kindle download. I don’t have a Kindle, but I do have an iPod Touch, and there’s an app now that allows you to download Kindle purchases to your iPhone or Touch. I’ve been wanting to try it, curious about how the Kindle format would compare to e-readers like Stanza or Classics. Jen Robinson’s review of The Chosen One

Carnival Time

The May Carnival of Children’s Literature is up at Into the Wardrobe. (Isn’t that an awesome blog name?) Tarie has done a beautiful job of presenting a whole lot of interesting kidlitosphere reading for your enjoyment. So go enjoy!

Jog My Memory?

I’m trying to remember something. When I was a kid, I had a set of books—puzzle books, I think? They were big, magazine-sized, but with sturdier covers, card-stock maybe. Cartoony illustrations. I don’t remember much at all about the content, except that it was funny and I loved it, and in each issue there was a page dedicated to one of the United States, riffing on the peculiar or comical names of towns and cities in that state. Like Friendly, Iowa (was it Iowa? I can’t remember) or Normal, Okl

Reading Notes: May 2009

So what happened to my reading this month is Harvest Moon.

I often get letters from people wondering how I manage to read so much. I think my typical response to this question tends to be weak on substance because I don’t really know what I’d be doing with the bits of the day during which reading happens, if reading weren’t happening. Cleaning closets, perhaps? I’m pretty sure that’s how I used to explain it: our closets are very untidy, because I read a lot of books.

But now I can speak more defi