Bantam Rahman’s The Library Bus tells the simple story of Pari, an Afghan girl who’s about 5 years old. Pari’s mother drives a bookmobile to villages and refugee camps where girls have no schools.
It’s a cute story to introduce children to Afghanistan, but I’d like more character development. Even small children have distinct personalities.
The story with its charming illustrations is worth a read.
Reading is one of my favorite pastimes and it’s this week’s inspiration for Sepia Saturday. Look what I found on the theme.
Source: Nationaal Archief, Flickr Commons, 1951
I didn’t know ostriches liked to read.
Mennonite Archives, Flickr Commons, n.d.
Florida Memories, Flickr Commons, 1940
Woman in Sarasota reading (with schadenfreude) of the harsh winter weather up north.
I started wondering about what artists have done to portray reading. Here’s what I found.
“The Reader,” B. Morisot, 1888
Reading, Picasso, 1932
Nurse Reading to a little Girl, M. Cassat, 1895
To see more Sepia Saturday posts from this week, click here.
I’ve made up a reading challenge for myself. I have done Goodreads.com‘s challenges where I read a certain number of books per month. This time I’m adding some themes and other specifics to spice things up.
January – read a memoir and another book that’ll help me change my outlook (i.e. achieve a resolution)
February – read a 19th century novel and a religious book
March – read a book written by a Russian author
April – read a play by Shakespeare and commentary in a Norton Classic edition
May – read a detective story
June – read a book of historical fiction
July – read a travel book
August – read a humorous book
September – read a book by a Japanese author
October – read something scary
November – read a book a friend has recommended
December – read a children’s book and a story or book with a Christmas theme
By serendipity, I just discovered this smart, engaging woman’s vlog on books and writing. Farah lives in the UAE and is articulate, perceptive and oh so knowledgeable about current books.
After the first video I watched (above) I immediately subscribed. Then I watched her talk about writing and bonded with her because as a screenwriter, I am concise with description and context and get right to the dialog.
According to her Good Reads account she reads 100 books or more a year. Wow. I envy that. I have to update my Good Reads, but I aim for 26 books a year.
Above Farah talks about the 5 classics she wants to read this year. Some she probably finished by now.
Here’s my list of classics I have read this year:
Despite my best intentions, I can be rather tsunkodoko. My reading list gets longer and longer. I am loving the two novels I’m reading Alexander Dumas’The Count of Monte Cristo and Ernest Poole’s The Harbor, but the end of the semester has made me put The Forest by Edmund Rutherford down.
1. Who is the editor of School Library Journal?
The Editorial Director of School Library Journal is Rebecca T. Miller. I found this by going to slj.com and when I didn’t see a masthead on the About Us page, I looked for a column since many periodicals have a column by the editor and this is no exception.
“Rebecca T. Miller.” (2014). School Library Journal. Web. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/author/rmiller/ on March 21, 2014.
2. I need a review of The Lightening Thief by Riordan.
I first searched Book Reviews Online and found 14 reviews for this novel and more for its other formats, e.g. audio book and graphic novel.
I also checked New Yorker and found they published a review as well:
Diones, Bruce. (2010). “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” New Yorker 86.3: 14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
I loved the ease of use of Book Reviews Online, but they don’t list reviews printed in newspapers and magazines, which can have value. This bibliography seemed accurate and worth returning to.
3. I need to find a library that holds the work Avvisi di Costantinopoli that was published in Venice in the 17th century.
I searched worldcat.org and found that Harvard University has Avvisi di Costantinopoli, which was published in 1684 in Venice. Even though I trust World Cat since our text and professor recommend it, I searched Harvard’s library and it is there, available for in library use.
4. I am looking for a copy of Pride and Prejudice in Romanian. Can you help me?
Using World Cat OCLC, I found that the following libraries have Jane Austen’s classic in Romanian.
I looked on AddALL.com, but there were no copies available in Romanian. Amazon.com has the Romanian Thesaurus Edition of Pride and Prejudice. Depending on my library’s policies, I might offer to acquire the book through Amazon. I tried Project Gutenburg Europe for a copy to download, but that site seems to be abandoned.
I trust World Cat OCLC, “a network leader,” because it’s widely used and recommended in our text and by several professors.
5. Is there really a publisher by the name of “Small Beer Press?”
First I searched Literary Marketplace’s database and found no listing of them. Then I searched Yahoo and did find Small Beer Press. They only accept paper manuscripts and queries and they promise to read all submissions, thus I think they’re a very small organization.
Small Beer Press: http://smallbeerpress.com/category/books/
Literary Marketplace: No listing. See link below:
http://www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/publishersorglist.asp?Name=S&publicationid=1&xsectionid=1&whichpage=3&pagesize=50
6. I really liked Neil Gaiman’s ‘Good Omens. What other authors or titles might I like?
I used Novelist to find some books that this patron might like. Under similar authors, my search yielded nine titles. The first five are: Gil’s All Fright Diner by L. Martinez, Shades of Grey by J. Fforde, Sacre Bleu by C. Moore, Gravity’s Rainbow by T. Pynchon and four more. The Author Read-alikes included Michael Chabon, Steven Milhauser, Clive Barker, Charles DeLint, Stephen King and four more.
I like that each author or title is followed by a succinct explanation for the suggestion as well as the person who provided the suggestion. I consider this source reliable because my professor recommends it and both the UICU and Northbrook libraries subscribe to it.
Reader’s Online Advisory offered five authors that Gaiman fans might enjoy. To find title read-alikes, I had to click on Gaiman’s name and then the title. The sidebar didn’t offer this choice so at first I didn’t think Title read-alikes were availab.e
“Neil Gaiman or Good Omen Read-alikes.” (2014). Novelist. Web Retrieved March 24, 2014.
“Neil Gaiman or Good Omen Read-alikes.” Web Retrieved March 26, 2014.
7. Does the 11th edition of the Guide to Reference Books recommend the Bopp & Smith text used in this class? Speculate as to why or why not.
It lists this book, but doesn’t recommend our text but it does list it. I thought I’d see if it recommends other reference texts and I found the page (see next page). My best guess is that as a text, this isn’t a book that a library would seek to acquire for its collection or that some of the contributors may be editors for this guide.
My favorite source this week was Novelist because I could spend all day reviewing the various recommendations. It is easy to use and intriguing. I thought the Literary Marketplace had a poor, outdated web design also it didn’t yield Small Beer Press.
Book Journey‘s author ” love[s] being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling me how many you visited.”
I’m almost finished with Madame Bovary, which I’m reading for my book club for the third time. Expect a review soon. I started We, the Russian novel that inspired George Orwell to write 1984. It’s very cool.
In nonfiction I’m reading a biography of a real life Cora Crawley from Downton Abbey. It’s American Jenny: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill, the American who married Lord Churchill and whose son Winston became Prime Minister.
Finally, I’m reading Beyond the Mushroom Cloud by my friend Yuki Miyamoto. It’s an excellent book that makes you rethink forgiveness, remembrance and the atomic bomb.
Welcome to It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling me how many you visited. **You do not have to have a blog to participate! You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.
I’m reading The Devil in the White City, nonfiction account of Daniel Burnham‘s work creating the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and H. H. Holmes fiendish serial murders and Moby Dick. “Call me Ishmael.” Diving into this classic due to the promptings of my book club. Both are wonderful so far.
1. What is your age (ranges okay) and gender?
45-54, F
2. Please estimate the percentage of both fiction and nonfiction you read, totalling 100% (e.g., “10% fiction and 90% nonfiction,” or “100% fiction, 0% nonfiction”). If the only nonfiction books you read are purely reference works like cookbooks and how-tos, please indicate 100% fiction, but add “and reference NF.”
25% Nonfiction, 75% Fiction
3. How many books do you read per month?
Used to be a few, 4 perhaps, now it’s one play and a fragment. It’s so chaotic here, I have a kind of ADHD thing going on.
4. Name three formats in which you read, from greatest to least (e.g. “print books, audio books, e-books,” where the format you read most often is print books).
print books, print books, print books
5. Name the three primary ways, in any order, in which you find reading materials. You may speak broadly (“blogs” or “personal recommendations”) or specifically (“Bookslut blog” or “my sister’s suggestions”).
General list of classics that resides in my head, my book club, NPR
6. Please list three words that most describe why you read (e.g. “comfort, education, escapism”).
Inspiration, knowledge, stimulation
7. Do you buy or borrow most of your reading material?
borrow
8. Would you say you have less time, more time, or about the same amount of time to read as you have had in the past? If less or more, why (briefly)?
A lot less. As I’ve mentioned above, I’ve moved to a very hectic, ADHD inducing culture. There’s a frantic pace and a constant noise from the construction. I just can’t concentrate.
9. Please list your five favorite “genres,” (nonfiction included) using whatever names you call them by. Please also list your favorite title in each genre.
Classic fiction – Pride and Prejudice tied with The Adventures of Augie March, philosophy – The Enchiridion, humor – Anne Lamott‘s work, travel writing – anthologies, spiritual – currently Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard
10. What was the best book you read in 2011? The worst? (READ in 2011; not necessarily published in 2011.)
Worst – Peer Gynt, I generally put down a book I really don’t like
Best – Hmmm, Brideshead Revisited
And I think we’ll stop there. There’s so much more I want to ask but I’ll wait until next year.
OmoresOtempora
smkelly8
![Zographus regalis cuprea [Cameroon]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52783978513_e3da275118_s.jpg "Zographus regalis cuprea [Cameroon]")
Xingu, Volume 2 
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