We received this gem in the mail this week from my mother-in-law. Nothing excites a kid more than seeing their own name in a book and Lost My Name is a company that is responding to this need with personalized books. Young readers of all ages can choose from a large selection of books where they are the star of the story. Visit their website at https://www.lostmy.name/en-US to see their library of titles and place an order for your own budding bibliophile.
What are you reading?
One of our favorite spots to visit when we travel to my husband’s hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina is the Edward McKay Bookstore. It is a used book shop that also offers movies, music and assorted bookish novelties. My mother-in-law is always willing to take the kid off of our hands so that we can go and stroll the aisles without distraction. Bibliophiles rarely leave a store like this without buying something, especially when most of the stock is secondhand and deeply discounted. Our grand total this trip was under $20.00. This is what we purchased…
For the kid we purchased A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle. We just added two hermit crabs to the Pinkelton household so we thought was fitting. Carle’s stories always have a good lesson to learn and the pictures are beautiful. Cost for us – $5.00.
Joe is always looking for books on food and drink to add to our culinary library. On this trip he picked up Imbibe! by David Wondrich. Through a combination of recipes and stories this book entertains and builds your cocktail creative capabilities. While I hate to take money away from writers, this book was originally $23.95 and we paid $3.25 for it.
When I saw a copy of Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck on the shelf I automatically picked it up. I’ve been in love with Ephron’s style since I saw When Harry Met Sally so many years ago and have yet to read this story. Sometimes you need to read some fluff to reset your brain. I am just beginning to find the time to read this book, and I know that I will need some lighthearted fluff to enjoy when I am done. Second hand price $6.00.
How could I not buy a book with the title Mennonite in a Little Black Dress ? I know I said that the Ephron book was the fluff that I needed, but I am still recovering from a Canterbury Tales class I took in college back in 1993. Fluff options are important in my world. Cost for this one…$3.00.
There you have it folks. Four more books for the already bulging shelves at Chez Pink. I do promise to the KonMari worshippers out there that if these books don’t bring us joy I will cast them off for others to love.
Do you have a favorite used bookstore? I’d love to hear about it.
I have recently been consumed with important things (the job, the kid, the husband), and wasting time with not so important things (lying on the sofa, fall decorating, lying on the sofa), and have neglected my cool things (blog and social media). Also during this time, the list of books I need to read has grown. There were so many writers at the Decatur Book Festival last month it will take me until next year’s festival to read all of their work. That list will be coming your way in a future post.
Early this week my old roommate, blogger, and foodie Ed stopped by for drinks and a heaping helping of Korean food from K BBQ Takorea. After we stuffed our bellies with bibimbop and pork buns he told me that there was something I MUST write about on my blog. Actually he told me about two things and they are both right up my bookish alley.
The first thing is a kick ass app that basically speed reads books to you. It is called Flash Reader. With this app you are able to import books from your Kindle library, set your preferred font size and the number of words per minute estimate you read, and the story appears one word at a time on your screen. I know it sounds strange but you have to download it to believe it. The experience that I have using it is akin to hearing a song’s individual notes one at a time and that making the music even richer and more engaging. Yes, I know that sounds strange too. Just go download it. The app is free and compatible with iPhone, iPad and iTouch devices.
The second bit of awesomeness he told me about are the Zombie Fallout, A Shrouded World, and Book of Riley book series by Mark Tufo. The crazy thing is Ed is kind of over zombies. He has walked away from The Walking Dead as he thinks it is a whole lot of gore porn now and that they have really gotten away from the psychological and societal aspects of the show which made the characters so compelling. With that in mind I was surprised he was so excited about these books. But after telling me that the books cover parallel universes and the zombie apocalypse from a dogs perspective, I knew that I needed to start reading Tufo’s work also. If you find this sort of randomness intriguing visit Tufo’s website .
However, before I dive into the un-dead, I need to finish the book I am currently about the living. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is about moments, and time, and fate. It is the story of an older woman reading the diary of a younger woman and it has been a joy learning about these vastly different souls and the written pages that tie them together. I highly recommend it.
What are you reading??
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
My favorite books to read are ones where one or more of the characters is just a wee bit weird. Let’s just say that I can relate to that personality trait and I found those types of characters in spades in this novel. Blackberry vines, a trip to Antarctica, and mean mommies set the tone for this wacky comedy/mystery. I found this gem in a Little Tiny Library in our neighborhood and I will be returning it there to be enjoyed by the next person as soon as I learn exactly where Bernadette has gone.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Of course my husband is reading something sci-fi and awesome. This Ray Bradbury classic was written in 1950 and is an episodic tale/collection of short stories telling the story of the human colonization of Mars. Many moons ago I read Fahrenheit 451 and loved it but haven’t read anything else by this sci-fi genius. I am a big fan of this type of story telling and look forward to reading this one after I find out what happened to that chick Bernadette.
The Ultimate Book of Vehicles by Anne-Sophie Baumann and Didier Balicevic
My son calls anything on wheels a vehicle. “Look at all of those vehicles! There are three red vehicles!” I think it is one of his favorite words. Vehicle is not a word that I knew when I was four years old, but somehow he does. That being said, this book is one of his favorites because it is full of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and many other moving things. To add to the “moving” theme, this book is a pop-up/pull tab lovers dream come true with dozens of moving parts for kids that make the pages come to life.
Maria Pinkelton 