Rose, on Reading in Public

(Photo taken at The Allis in Chicago, IL) My husband and I had a cute little apartment in a southwest suburb of Chicago.  At this point, my husband had just started a new job at a restaurant in a neighborhood just west of the river, and so would start and end everyday with an hour…

Read What You Love

Here’s a question for my readers: Have you ever set a numbered reading goal?   I have.  In 2017 my goal was to read 50 books and last year it was to read 100.  I reached 50 books… both years. I know, I know, I only reached half my goal last year.  And even though…

Reckless: The Petrified Flesh Book Review

    “The mirror will open only for he who cannot see himself” [Cornelia Funke]   Reckless: The Petrified Flesh begins similar to one entering a dream.  Rather than filling it with prologues, backstories, and character descriptions, Funke invites all who open this dark fairytale to dive down the rabbit hole and right into the…

When Entering a Dream

“For in dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own.” [J. K. Rowling]   I invite you, dear reader, to muse with me: Why is it, as grown-up readers, we long for backstories, prequels, character bios, and author explanations?  Why is it that simply reading a book is not enough?  There is a…

A Speaker for the Books

  “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” [Ray Bradbury]   September 24 through September 30 is Banned Books Week this year.  For those who are not sure what Banned Books Week is, from the American Library Association it is summarized as the following: “An…

Wildwood Has Wildwords

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” [J. K. Rowling]   When I opened to the first page of Colin Meloy’s Wildwood, I knew an adventure was about to take place!  The first sentence alone emits so much curiosity that the reader grips the edges of the book as a…

Under a Book’s Spell

A book is a journey, and readers be warned: those who enter through these terrific tomes must be prepared for a long, sometimes emotional, sometimes stressful, but always exciting expedition.  

You’re a Reader, Harry

    “There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” [J. K. Rowling]   Finally, here we are, at my Harry Potter blog week!  Do you know how hard it has been to not write every single post on…

Lights. Camera. Read. (Part Two)

  “We have an obligation to read aloud to our children.” [Neil Gaiman]   If you are tuning in to this post, please note that this is a part two to my post on Sunday.  Please click here to catch up!   This past month I read Holes by Louis Sachar to our summer campers….

Lights. Camera. Read. (Part One)

  “There are worse crimes than burning a book.   One of them is not reading them.” [Ray Bradbury] This summer I have been working with our summer campers (ages six to twelve) on literacy.  And I don’t just mean, getting the kids to read, but providing these wonderful, imaginative, unique personalities with reading and…