Friday, September 27, 2013

Feature and Follow - Favorite Reading Spot

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I read when I can these days, mostly in bed just before going to sleep. When I have free time I really like being outside.
 
Here's a photo I took recently from a perch where I sometimes catch a few chapters. I liked the cloud curling around the crescent moon in the bright sun.
 
What do you think?

Friday, September 20, 2013

Feature and Follow - Favorite Picture Book



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This is a fantastic question!

My favorite was The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper:



My daughter's favorite was Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown:



And, of course, anything by Dr. Seuss:


What do you think?




Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Throwback Thursday - Twilight



Five years ago the hottest selling books were Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, with all three volumes in the top 20 for the year. Although no one can call any of them classic literature, they told a compelling classic story of young love with serious obstacles, from family to species. The story grew with each volume and the readers anticipated the next volume breathlessly. It was an excellent phenomenon and kept a lot of people reading.

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Never Too Fond of Books!

Here’s how it works:
  1. Pick any media (or non-media item) released more than 5 years ago. Remember to keep it book-related!
  2. Write up a short summary (include the title, author, and cover art, if applicable) and an explanation of why you love it.
  3. Link up your post at Never Too Fond of Books.
  4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list – or some other classic!
Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing what you choose to remember!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Guest Review - Transitions



Today, I am very pleased to share Dr. Sheri Lindner's review of my most recent short collection of poetry. I have been privileged to make Dr. Lindner's acquaintance at poetry readings on Long Island.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Schroeder’s book of poems, Transitions, catalogues many types of transitions—those that occur in nature, in the growing up of a child, in the parent-child relationship, and in the shifting perspective of the author.  In each of these types of transitions, Schroeder reflects facets that sometimes stand in opposition to one another.  A poem describing the destructiveness of Storm Sandy is juxtaposed with one detailing the almost unnoticed shift of summer into fall.  Wistfulness of one season’s ending is off-set by eager anticipation of the next season’s appearance.  The  parental desire to protect is counterbalanced by the parental desire for one’s child to be able to bear the knocks that might come his way.  Schroeder’s impulse is always to pull us beyond the focused worries that consume us and out into the world where beauty and significance exist.  He never belittles one over the other, but holds both in tension, understanding that that is the real reflection of our lives.  This is captured most exquisitely in the lines from his poem “Winter Dusk”:  “Grim gray clouds streak by in tatters/a few brown birds snag what matters.”

                                                                         -Sheri Lindner, Ph.D.

                                                                Author of Opening Eden’s Gate
Transitions is available at Smashwords.com for $0.99 for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and many other formats.



Dr. Sheri Lindner, a former teacher of English, is currently a clinical psychologist, and is also a poet and essayist interested in the processes of development and maturation as they are reflected in Biblical stories and children’s literature.  Her writings have appeared in Jewish Currents, The Reconstructionist, Reconstructionism Today, Kerem, Jewish Women's Literary Annual, Poetica, Performance Poets Association Literary Review, Matzoh Ball Soup, Soul-Lit, The Ritual Well, and The New York Times. Dr. Lindner was awarded First Place in the 2013 Nassau County Poet Laureate Society poetry contest for her poem "Return." Opening Eden's Gate is available on Amazon.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Feature and Follow - Casting My Favorite Book

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I would cast relative unknowns, someone quirky enough to be able to get into the character without needing to fit into any kind of "history" they had in other films. And, I think, the story is the important part - that is why I would be making it into a movie, because I liked the book!

Oh, what book, you ask? I'm thinking one of Piers Anthony's Xanth books would make for a very entertaining movie. Plenty of multi-faceted fantastic creatures with attitude with enough of a plot to string the story along with just enough realism to give teeth to the fantasy.


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Throwback Thursday - Phyllis A Whtney



Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!
Here’s how it works:
  1. Pick any media (or non-media item) released more than 5 years ago. Remember to keep it book-related!
  2. Write up a short summary (include the title, author, and cover art, if applicable) and an explanation of why you love it.
  3. Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
  4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list – or some other classic!
Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing what you choose to remember!

Mystery on the Isle of Skye

One of my favorite authors growing up was Phyllis A Whitney. I read all of her Juvenile Mysteries but my favorite was Mystery on the Isle of Skye. An orphan travels with relatives to Scotland where distant relatives and new surprises await her.

The book mixes the deep history of Scotland, including clan feuds and Bonnie Prince Charlie, modern (for then, it was written in 1955) influences, and a rich landscape as Cathy and her two Scottish cousins track down mysteries old and new.

The book is well-written and has many levels of plot and subplot carefully intertwined. It was/is a marvelous read.

Have you read any of Ms. Whitney's books?

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Feature and Follow - Bookshelf Tour

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Here are two of my 5 shelves. Of course there are the thousands of books I have as part of my online used bookselling business; sometimes I pull one of those to read. Organization? The ones for sale are carefully organized; my "personal" books, not so much.



Throwback Thursday - Thieves' World


Thank you Mandi Kaye! I love the Throwback Thursday meme (maybe because I have so much throwback! :-).

My Throwback is a delightful series of stories set in the same corner of the same world - the city of Sanctuary in the Rankan Empire. From there the variety is immense. The original series of 12 anthologies were all edited by Robert Asprin (and many by his wife in concert - Lynn Abbey) and included contributions from many authors, including such heavyweights as Marion Zimmer Bradley, C. J. Cherryh, Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Chris Morris, and Janet Morris.

They were published over eleven years from 1978 to 1989 and spun off 7 "official" novels and 6 "unofficial" novels and three more anthologies.

The books can be read independently but I would strongly recommend reading the first anthology first, as it sets the basics of the milieu on which all the stories are set.

Original Anthologies:

  Thieves' World (1979)
  Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn (1980)
  Shadows of Sanctuary (1981)
  Storm Season (1982)
  The Face of Chaos (1983)
  Wings of Omen (1984)
  The Dead of Winter (1985)
  Soul of the City (1986)
  Blood Ties (1986)
  Aftermath (1987)
  Uneasy Alliances (1988)
  Stealers' Sky (1989)

Drop a comment on something that you'd recommend!