I read everyday and still can't get through or to all the books I want to read! And it's not even close! How about you?

I want you to meet Ann Fay Honeycutt. She lives on a farm in NC in 1944. When her father goes off to fight in the war, Ann Fay is left to fill his boots. I want you to see her standing there in her overalls ready and willing to fill in even while she knows the job is just too big. When you meet Ann Fay, you'll learn about farming and what a wicked beast that beautiful wisteria can be. I want you to meet her family, neighbors, and friends. Some with hearts big and brave enough to love through all kinds of heartache. Some with hearts that seem small and scared. All I can say is thank goodness for Junior and Bessie! Make sure you have a box of tissues handy. If you are like me, you will laugh quite a bit with Ann Fay, but there are times when you'll have to sort through the heartache with some tears. The tissues will come in handy then.

Finally got mine!

This gem came across my facebook feed. It's only an IOS app. BUT I've read several books already on my iPad that I don't have in my library. Some of the books have a read aloud feature and there is a timer on the books so kids can't go through them too quickly. I've mainly examined the picture books and have read some that I would not have otherwise. The only thing they ask in return is for you to let parents know about them. That can easily be done on our school webpages. If you have an apple device, give it a try! See my other recommendations on where to find books.

I Need a Hug! by SpanPress My rating: 4 of 5 stars Read this to the kindergartners. We read half the book one week and I had students asking me in the hall what would happen to red bug! They loved it! View all my reviews

I haven't felt well the past couple of days. Something in the vertigo camp. Light headed verging on dizzy. I've been horizontal more than vertical. Had to miss a conference on Smart Notebook. That was terribly disappointing, and it means I'll have to do more digging on my own. I did finish the Longmire book. It was good! Very good!   The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I got this book because of the TV show which I really enjoy. Usually, I read a book before watching related items. I didn't even know Longmire was a book, so that didn't work out so well for me this time. I knew the book would be good. It had to be for the show to be so entertaining. What I didn't know was that the book would be great! The show is just a little tiny candle flame compared to the bonfire of the book - the story, the humor, the characters. Loved it all. Can't wait to start the next one! View all my reviews

How cool is this!? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400"] Around the World in 80 days![/caption] Books about Town 2 July - 15 September 2014 Books about Town is coming to London this summer! Find all 50 unique Book Bench sculptures, designed by local artists and famous names to celebrate London’s literary heritage and reading for enjoyment.

Dr. Seuss for the Classroom on Pinterest Several links are videos for books.

I'm not a series person. I do read them, but I can't say I've found any that I really look forward to reading. Well, I think I've found one in The Lunar Chronicles . I read Cinder earlier in the month and thoroughly enjoyed it. In Scarlet , we find out more about Cinder and Kai. We are introduced to some new characters including Scarlet and Wolf in addition to a captain who is really a cadet. I wondered a little at the beginning where Meyer was going with Scarlet, but she tied it up nicely well before the end. Well, maybe not so nicely as I still felt hanging and wishing I had the next book in my hand when I got to the end. Anxiously awaiting the next installation of The Lunar Chronicles.

I downloaded Three Cups of Tea (from the NC Digital Library ) to listen to on my drive back and forth to Winston.  So, it's good and positive. It seems extremely self-serving, but, call me Pollyanna, I do like to think there are people like that in the world with nothing on their agenda other than making the world a better place. When I got home, I started doing some digging and the first thing I found is Jon Krakauer's Three Cups of Deceit . Oh my goodness, I could tell from the experts that this was not going to be good. Very disappointing. More digging; more disappointment. Everyone involved seems to be under indictment. The stories are at best a gross exaggeration or at worst, blatant lies. So at first, I tried to listen to some more of the book and as good as the story is, I just can't finish it. Now I'm wondering what to do with the copies in my library. Of course, the advertiser in me thought about making a display called "Fact or Fiction" with this b...

I started reading Argo today. So far, it's been very engaging. Perhaps part of its fascination is because I vaguely remember the incident. I remember my mother talking about the Shah like he was some kind of rock star. I was a teenager and for sure didn't care about all the political (or other) implications. I don't think this book will be sitting around long waiting for me to finish it.

I picked Cinder up at the last book fair. I didn't plan to read it myself, but I was between books and kept thinking about that quirky cover. This is a futuristic twist on the old classic and it was really good. Ended rather abruptly making me wish that the next installment was already in and not just on order, but it's one I'm going to claim first dibs on.

I put off reading The Hunger Games forever. Them never being in the library had something to do with that. One day, I realized they were all in and there were no holds on any of them. I grabbed them. Easy read, very engaging. Although by reading them all at once I was growing slightly bored by the end. The movie arrived on Netflix, so I watched it yesterday afternoon. Not nearly as engaging as the books, but good enough I didn't walk out of the room to go do something else in the middle of it.

I've started a new blog - more library/education in nature - An Uncommon Bookshelf . Please visit! It will take a while to round it out. Right now, it only has book reviews on it. The rest will take time (and summer school is almost finished!).

I see these lists periodically on Facebook. What's different about his one is they are the books that shaped America. Library of Congress Lists Books That Shaped America When the list is 100 books you should read before you die, I've usually read a fair amount of them. I can't say that about this list. What would you add, take off? What do you agree or disagree with? When you take the survey, be prepared with names of books that aren't on the list already.  

You might get a new audience if you can make that book relate to some kind of best seller. To Lure ‘Twilight’ Teenagers, Classic Books Get Bold Looks I'm really glad to see it happen. When I was a teen, they put glossy photos on these same books and I read them to find some really good stories. Hoping this works with another set of teen readers.

Most of the people I know are loaded up with books and never have enough room to put them. Here's a very nice home library (and I am green with envy!).

Lady Almina And The Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy Of Highclere Castle by The Countess of Carnarvon View all my reviews I've read through chapter 7 now. Very interesting book.

This last semester in grad school has started pretty smoothly. I've got things all worked out for my practicum and have a good bit of the YA lit class under my belt. One of the YA lit requirements is to do a book talk of six books united by a theme. After finding a spot and discussing it with the teacher, she'd like for me to do Sci-Fi / horror as an introduction to Frankenstein. I've been perusing titles, but before I spend too much time looking at the unknown, I was wondering if you had any YA title suggestions that might be off the beaten path.

I am about to enter my LAST semester of the MLS program. I'll be taking the practicum (110 hours mainly after school and on Saturdays - please pray that I do not become more unglued than I already am), and the not so anticipated Young Adult materials course. One thing I've discovered is that the Young Adult sections in the libraries round these parts are more than a bit skimpy. The required books for the course are: Crank by Ellen Hopkins - Book of poetry about a girl who goes to visit her father and gets hooked on crank. All the pitfalls are amazingly graphic. The poetry was hard to get into, but once I did, it really flowed. Beastly by Alex Flinn - Teenage retake on Beauty and the Beast. Pretty good. What Happened to Cass McBride by Gail Giles - Snotty girl disses guy who kills himself. Brother kidnaps her. Story is told from several points of view. Great twist at the end. Nicely done. Deadline by Chris Crutcher - Boy gets medical death sentence and decides to liv...