books

" . . . I don’t look forward to a future in which my Kindle (or whatever device inevitably succeeds it) is the only book on the shelf. But it’s a future I’m fairly convinced is awaiting us, and it’s one that I, as a consumer, am playing my part in advancing us toward. There are moments when I wish I could follow the lead of Borges’ retired librarian and bury my book of sand on some obscure shelf in a library basement and just forget all about it. But then I realize that the thing is just too useful, too crazily convenient a tool to not embrace. And then I tell myself that it’s not possible, anyway, to shelve the advance of technology, and that history is filled with examples of beautiful things being supplanted by more efficient versions of those things.

Author On the Bookcase
Alan Cheuse

I'm so thrilled to welcome Alan Cheuse -- writer, professor, NPR book reviewer -- to On the Bookcase! I met Alan at the 2011 Virginia Festival of the Book, again at the 2011 Gaithersburg Book Festival and then at the St. John's College The Art of the Book. We keep bumping into each other!  

What does the word "browsing" mean to you? A computer term? Alan shares his idea of browsing -- "a form of dreaming."

The Pleasures and Necessity of Browsing 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a browser. But it didn’t begin for me with books.

Did anyone read Enid Blyton's books growing up? Some of her books included the Famous Five series (21 novels, based on four children and their dog), the Five Find-Outers and Dog series (15 novels, five children regularly outwit the local police) as well as the Secret Seven (15 novels, a society of seven children who solve various mysteries).

I loved her books! My British grandmother sent them over to me from England.

A new unpublished manuscript has been found. YAY!

Last weekend, I attended the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) in Washington, DC. But, some people call it Awesome Writers' Party! It was a blast. Panels, workshops, readings -- all about writers and their craft. I had the honor of hanging with some great writers.

On Thursday, I had dinner with a fun and talented group of women writers.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of The Printed Page and is being hosted by Rose City Reader during the month of January.

I received one big box of Advance Reader's Copies from Viking Books!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read, Open to a random page, share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page, and share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Whatever prize I brought out of the woods, my mother could match with a book from the library. She read so many books that she was famous among the librarians in every town she entered.

I love cats and books! This video is about a book called Kittens by Davis Gibbon. The video is narrated by a very cute little girl. I have to post this.  Enjoy!

Author On the Bookcase

Heather Barbieri

I'm thrilled to welcome Heather Barbieri, author of The Lace Makers of Glenmara. to On the Bookcase. Heather tells the story of her grandmother, Esther, and her mother, Michelle, and the joy of reading they shared with her. As a result, Heather's childhood was filled with books as Heather read from "quiet corners—behind the Christmas tree (the lights were particularly magical to read by) or the sofa (not on the sofa, behind it, right by the heat register)"

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Heather!

"Who instilled a love of reading in you? A teacher? A parent?

Marriage and the new British political alliance?

Off to BEA (NYC) via Acela Express train from Baltimore Washington Airport Station to Penn Station. On the train up, I am finishing up My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Olivera. Great reading group pick -- American Civil War, the horrors of war, medical history, nursing, women's lives, a little romance.

Then, onto Damaged: A Maggie O'Dell Mystery by Alex Kava (July, 2010)  Here a summary supplied by the publisher.

On Pensacola Beach, the Coast Guard prepares for a Category 5 hurricane that has entered the Gulf of Mexico. When the air crew patrols the waterways, they spot a huge fishing cooler about a mile offshore. Drug traffickers have been known to dump coolers with smuggled product to avoid detection and pay fishermen to retrieve them. But when the crew open this cooler, they’re shocked by what they find: body parts tightly wrapped in plastic.