Books for all

Over the life of this blog we have talked a lot about books and what they mean to both Golden and I … and this post will be no different. For those that follow me on Twitter, and why wouldn’t you with gems like this …..

….  you might have seen that I have been chosen as the Mighty Little Library’s honorary librarian of September. Now the Mighty Little Library is a free book loan and exchange box that’s been up since say July in Oneonta, Alabama. 

The little library even has a light on the inside for you nighttime readers who need your fix but wanna do so in your jammies. All the library asks is that if you borrow a book and love it keep it or return it to find your next love. If you decide to keep it bring back another one that someone else might get to enjoy. 

   

It has children books, adult themed books, mysteries, science fiction and even some comic books and magazines. It’s awesome and fantastic and a great way to try out a new book without spending extra monies at the store. There's even a notebook where you can request specific kind of books guys! I mean honestly! How cool is that! 

So when I was named Honorary Librarian of September I started thinking about the kind of books I’d stock it with. But the key to a library like this is it can’t just be books that you love or books that you grew up with. Sure those have their place but one really has to stop and think about the area that the library is in, the people who would be frequenting the library and books that would appeal to them. Like Oneonta is a very Hispanic heavy community. Many languages are going on in that town at any given moment in any store. So my first donation to the Mighty Little Library was some Spanish language books that I thought would be interesting. Cause that was lacking in the library and the people that stock it were asking for some. 

I chose the following books: 

Spanish Short Stories for Beginners: 20 Captivating Short Stories to Learn Spanish & Grow Your Vocabulary the Fun Way! Which I picked cause it sounded like a good book with a few different stories that those just learning the language might enjoy as well as those who speak it well. I mean it’s 20 short stories what’s not to love about that?! That’s 20 books in a single book guys .  . . . I mean no brainer right!?

Yo no soy tu perfecta hija Mexicana by Erika Sanchez (translation “I am not your perfect Mexican daughter”) which I got after reading a review about how compelling the story was and how it captivated them. I also thought it might be a story a little girl in the town of Oneonta might need to read right now. Heck a parent of that little girl might need to read it to.

 

Juliet Respira Profundo by Gabby Rivera (translation: “Juliet takes a breath”) which I bought after watching a video with the writer talking about the book. It just sounded like a fun read and well if that’s not what this library is about then I don’t wanna know.

My second set of donations were brand new copies of my all time favorite book series “My Teacher Is an Alien” a 4 part books series that frankly made me want to write as a child. God Bless Bruce Coville and his amazing brain. Each book in the series is told from the point of view of one of the “main” characters, and while the stories pick up exactly where the last book left off they are all stand alone stories but to read only one is a disservice to you as the reader.  These books were imaginative, funny, and really made me think as a kid that A. we weren’t alone and B. it’s embarrassing what we are doing if we think about others who may be watching. It’s a fantastic book series that tackles bullies, kids needing to use their voice, adults needing to listed to their voice, and just how amazing this planet could be in the hands of people that aren’t humans. I re read this series often, usually when I’m in a funk and need to be reminded that the world could be a better place or when I just need an escape in to this world with Peter, Susan and Duncan. It always amazes me that no matter when I read it it seems to fit the time period that I’m living in and that my friends is what “timeless” is all about.

 I love thinking about the things that I’d put in this library and donating to it. I also love that it’s a thing. I can’t tell you how much I would have loved having a library like this as a child that I could walk up to browse and return to often with no need for a card or a ride to the actual library. The Mightly Little Library was born during the Covid Shutdown which incidentally resulted in the shutting down of schools and thus cutting kids off from their books sources (let’s face it not everyone has several bookshelf's full of books to browse). I would encourage you to follow the library and support them in anyway you can by donating books or just RT their posts as they try to provide a little inspiration, encouragement and love into the world.

Here’s to you Mighty’s Little Library may your pages never get dog eared! Next time I'll talk about more adult themed books that meant something to me cause let's face it this blog is nothing else but a depository of book lists for the young and young at heart! 

Marcy

  

Other posts that might interest ya about reading from this Blog ..... 

 https://saywhatmg.blogspot.com/2020/03/aitah.html

 https://saywhatmg.blogspot.com/2019/11/thankfulness-challenge-favorite.html

 https://saywhatmg.blogspot.com/2014/09/ill-read-what-i-want-to.html

 https://saywhatmg.blogspot.com/2014/11/thankfulness-challenge-day-10.html

  

 

 

Thankfulness Challenge – Favorite Childhood Books

As a kid, I loved being read to, I loved reading on my own, I loved everything about reading. From the smell of a freshly opened book, going to the book store or library and browsing the shelves looking for that perfect book, and finishing one just to start another. My favorite day of the year was the Scholastic Book Fair I would get so excited when they’d pass out the order forms and when my mom and I would sit down to fill it out. I would save my money all year long for that one order form. No matter what I did or how much I saved it was never enough but mom would always come through. 

My nephew came out of the womb wanting to read. He’d sit on the couch book in his lap flipping the pages and making up the best stories that never existed. I only wish I had pulled out a camera and recorded them. A lot of times I couldn’t understand what he was saying but he was so enthusiastic about it I loved every second of it. One year he was determined to read the most books in his class and get as many AR reader points (or some jazz like that) in a single year. That was a fun year. See they had to read a book, tell their teacher they read it and then take a test on what he read. His score would result in points. I loved suggesting books, helping him find others, reading them with him so he’d have someone to talk to about it before taking the tests.

So just like with the video games post I thought I’d share some of the books that he and I bonded over when he was a child incase you are looking for some Christmas ideas prior to Black Friday shopping. 

 

http://www.littlegoldenbooks.com/

Little Golden Books. I love the Little Golden Books series, I have a ton of Little Golden Books on my shelves. I like the original books like Tootle, The Little Red Caboose, The Shy Little Kitten, The Fire Engine Book and also love the Sesame Street, Disney versions that came out. Like the Monster and the End of this Book featuring Grover, and a few years ago they released “Everything I need to know I learned from a Little Golden Book” which I got for Christmas from several family members. For the record don't bring me some weak ass Little Golden Book without the gold foil spine all that will do is piss me off. 

My all time favorite Little Golden Book was and will always be The Poky Little Puppy, which by the way was the on billionth LGB printed in 1986. It’s my all time favorite book from my childhood. As a matter of fact whenever a friend has a baby I give them this book as part of my baby gift. That book is all kinds of brilliant. It’s five little puppies who dig a whole under the fence and explore the world around them only to get in trouble when they get home. They do this several times throughout the book and the way they see the world and things around them was brilliantly done. A great way to talk to kids about consequences of actions that kind of thing.

https://www.berenstainbears.com/
The Berenstain Bears. There is a Berenstain Bear Book for literally every occasion. God Bless Stan and Jan Berenstain. The hours of enjoyment that the books have given me are too high to count. From having a Messy Room, to Bad Habits, to telling the Truth, to having a new Baby, table manners, trouble at school, going to a doctor for the first time, dealing with bullys,  learning how to deal with strangers, and mom getting a new job, and moving and going to the dentist, going to school for the first time. Literally every single thing has a Berenstain Book to give to a kid to make their situation a little easier to deal with.

Literally anything by Dr. Seuss. I loved the play on words, the fact that he could make up this world in his head and it all worked at the end of the day. I love that there is a book that people have started giving for graduation gifts, Oh The Places You go. So many fantastic stories, and of course I love me some How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Horton Hears a Who, There’s a Wocket in my Pocket, Oh The Thinks you can Think, and I wish That I had Duck Feet. So many great options you can’t go wrong with any of this books. 

Pierre – or as we called it, “I don’t care, my names Pierre” My mom gave me this book cause I had gotten into a habit of saying I don’t care. The book is all about a little boy who answers everything by saying I don’t Care and the consequences of it from it. At one point he is asked if a Lion could eat his mom (or something like that) and he says I don’t care and the Lion eats his mom. It was quite traumatic at the time. I love that book.

You can’t go wrong with any book on this list much less any other book on the planet. Reading is important no matter the book just the aspect of giving an actual book and even better reading the actual book with the recipient.

Marcy

@beaslma

Thankfulness Challenge – Guilty Pleasures

I spend a lot of my day in an organized chaos. At work I’m pulled in several different directions in a very short timeframe, then at home I’m helping to take care of my parents. It’s like a second job, they would both hate to hear me say that but that’s how I feel. So on those rare moments that I have the time to enjoy some Guilty Pleasures here’s what I go for …. 

• Chips - Of the potato variety. I like flavored chips, like sour cream and onion or BBQ but I also like tortilia chips, corn chips, Doritos, cheese curls, cheese balls, really anything with a crunch. Anything that I can snack on while working, or while watching TV.
• Games on my phone – I’ll admit these are definitely a guilty pleasure cause even on those times where I say I’m not paying for anything I usually end up buying something to get through a level that’s stupid hard. Sometimes I spend far too much on these games, but they are fun. Until they aren’t then I just download a new game and move on. I get real obsessed with the games then one day will forget that it exists then 6 months or a year later I’ll accidently click on it and I’m right back into my obsession.
• Books – I love books, of all kinds. Children’s books, young adult books, adult books, comic books, autobiographies, fiction, mysteries. All of it. I used to want to be a writer. I guess in some ways that dream still exists but often I look around the shelves in my room and realize that I’ll likely never write something as good as those and instead of writing pick up a book and get lost in someone else’s imagination.  
• Pepsi – ok let’s be real ….. WILD CHERRY PEPSI …. I take a sip of Wild Cherry Pepsi and I can immediately feel my blood pressure go down, the world shift back into focus, and I can take on anything ahead of me. It shocks me how people don’t embrace this drink. Don’t get me wrong Sweet tea, Coke and regular Pepsi do the trick in a pinch but if I’m standing in front of a cooler I’m going to reach for Wild Cherry Pepsi before I reach for anything else.
• Sleep – Sleep is a definite guilty pleasure cause lately I’m not getting any of it. I am averaging about 3-4 hours a night and that’s a GOOD NIGHT. It is usually closer to 2 hours every other night if I’m being honest.
• Movies – I love going to a movie theater. I love the popcorn, picking out seats, sitting in a room with a bunch of other people and having an experience together. I wish I did this more often. I really want to see the Mr. Rogers movie coming out this month, there’s another one with Chris Evans I saw advertised the other day that I’d also like to see. However I know me I won’t. Then they will be in the stores and I’ll buy the DVD and never watch it. So maybe movies are not my guilty pleasure. 

This is a short list and I’m sure there are more and I’m just not thinking about them at the moment. A guilty pleasure is something that makes you happy but it’s also something that doesn’t happen daily so you enjoy it when you can. Maybe I don’t fully understand guilty pleasures. Ha! 

Marcy

@beaslma

Thankfulness Challenge - Day 10

It is the weekend and I feel like it's the only time that I'm allowed to breathe at my own pace.

Breathe In….. with the good.

Breathe Out….. with the bad.
Repeat.

Not only are weekends important because they allow me the chance to go into emergency shut down and reboot my body and mind for the next week but this past weekend was extra special. Sunday was my mom’s birthday! My mom has done millions of mom things that have made me who I am today. Growing up I received rules and home training like others kids but my brother and I also had a list of rules that existed for literature. It's probably some of the best lessons that she passed on to her children and now she’s doing the same for her grandchildren. She instilled in us a sense of reverence when it comes to books and we were always encouraged to read. Most people find God behind the stained glass windows of a church, but I do most of my worshipping in the hushed tones and antique smells of a library.

So maybe it's not so surprising that reading has become one of my quick escape hatches from the real world, into the Inner Realm of Golden. I love it when I can get so lost in a book, that I experience a kind of culture shock. When I look up and realize that the world I'm reading about isn't the world that surrounds me. It can be sad to realize these people that you have invested such time, laughter and tears with aren't really even people but fictional characters. It can be especially heartbreaking if you have been with these friends through a series of books. It leaves you with a kind of literary hangover and you have to wait a while before you start another book to allow yourself time to heal.

My mom taught me that no matter what you think about a book, even if it is in direct opposition to your personal beliefs you do not destroy or throw away a book. That is someone's art. If it is offensive to your taste then pass it to someone else. Art forms are not mandated to be pleasing to all. This is a lesson I constantly find myself repeating to my niece as she grows.

So for this day I am thankful for books. I'm thankful that I have always been encouraged to read and that I have had access to books. I am thankful for the relief from reality that they have provided me throughout my life, thankful to my mom for passing on her passion of books and hell even to Levar Burton for his contribution to literacy in little Golden's life.

Golden's favorite books, you know those that help me checkout of reality include ...

1. To Kill A Mockingbird -Harper Lee

2. Harry Potter Series -JK Rowling
3. Shadow Hunters series -Cassandra Clare
4. Much Ado About Nothing -William Shakespeare
5. Calvin & Hobbes comics -Bill Watterson
6. The Princess Bride -William Goldman
7. Wicked -Gregory McGuire

These are books that I could, and often do, read repeatedly. Maybe if you are looking for book-cation™ from reality you can check one of these out and transport yourself to another place, time, and reality.

The bottom line is put down the remote, put down the cell phone and READ it does a body and mind good!

-golden (@theonlygolden)

Thankfulness Challenge - Day 8

Shopping with a purpose other than just to get the “right gift!” has always made me a happy consumer. A lady at work was selling coupon books and if her “kid” sold enough books she could win various prizes. The kid wanted some sunglasses that had windshield wipers on them. To get them she had to sell at least 10 books of coupons. When that little girl got her windshield wiper glasses and walked down the halls of our office proudly showing them off and thanking everyone who bought a book it was the best 20 bucks I’ve ever spent. To me shopping is more than just buying something to have a purpose behind the buy is what makes shopping enjoyable to me.

I’ll be honest I hate the physical act of shopping. I hate driving around town, getting out of the car, walking into a store wasting and hour or so of my life finding nothing that interest me and getting back into the car to do it again after a 10-15/30 minute drive to the next destination.  I hate spending all day long in and out of stores with very little to show for it. I only physically shop when I have to. Shoes for instance, I have never mastered the art of buying shoes online because my feet are stupid. They swell at weird times in the day and a size 8 shoe at store A in the morning is not the same as a size 8 at store B in the afternoon and forget about a size 8 at store C needless to say it’s a frustrating process for me.

However I excel in online shopping. I like going through a site and seeing what they have and knowing that at that moment I can click a button, purchase it, and have it winging its way to my house in a matter of minutes. Online shopping is by far the greatest thing that’s come out of the internet. I love having access to artist, writers, and musicians no matter where I live. Let’s face it there are some items that can only be bought while you are walking down the street in New Orleans but the internet has allowed those people to sell their wares to anyone as long as you stumble across the link for it.

One of the best places to shop online is Amazon.com and last year it became an even better place to shop with the establishment of AmazonSmile which allows you to pick a charity that will receive money from every purchase made. It changes nothing about how Amazon works it just connects it to a charity that will benefit from me sitting on my butt while listening to music and shopping. What more is there to love? I’m going to be buying the stuff anyway and now someone else is able to benefit from me buying Pete and Pete Season 1. I’m thankful Amazon Smile gives consumers an opportunity to support a charity , giving them a boost that they weren’t expecting, so that they can continue to spread good in the world. It’s the true definition of Win .. Win.

The AmazonSmile foundation donates .5% of the price of the purchase to the organization selected. Any group registered as a 501©(3) organization with the IRS can sign up with the AmazonSmile site. Consumers can chose from one of the spotlight charities or you can search for your own organization.

I personally chose Kids Need To Read, and organization located in Mesa, Arizona who works to create a culture of reading for children by providing books to underfunded schools, libraries in support of literacy programs and disadvantage children throughout the United States. I think all kids should have access to books. Books transport you to another location, they suck you in and you can’t help but fall into a trance. There is NO FEELING in the world like falling into a fantasy world while sitting in your own chair. I can remember reading a book during my high school years and sobbing at 3am because of the ending was both devastating and perfect for the story I had been reading all day long. I’ve been known to completely ignore the world around me and miss a plane because of it. I’ve been known to unpack clothing to fit in another book for a vacation. Bottom line… Reading is awesome.

So I like to give a little boost to Kids Need To Read as I shop at Amazon and if you don’t pick them that’s fine but as you do your holiday shopping this year and plan to use Amazon please pick one. It takes zero time to select a charity truly the hardest part is picking one that you want to support. The site remembers your choice and when you click an external Amazon link the site will ask you if you'd like to see the same item through the Smile section of the site connecting you back to your charity.

 

The best part is that you are able to support a charity all year long, not just during the holidays or a yearly donation to the charity. Millions of people use Amazon every day, every hour, and if each of those people used Amazon Smile think of how fantastic that would be for the charities on the list. So check it out and talk to your friends and family about using this resource on the site.

 

Resources: 

http://smile.amazon.com -- for when you are ready to get your shopping on. Use this site to get the process started.

http://kidsneedtoread.org/ -- If you want to learn more about this awesome organization.  

https://org.amazon.com/ -- If you know of a charity that wants to research this foundation more.

Happy Shopping!

-Marcy

I'll read what I want to!

It amazes me how different my brother and I are I mean let’s check the facts…. We have the same parents; We were raised in the same house; We went to the same schools; We had a lot of the same teachers; Being only 3 years apart we even hung around the same circles of people.

However with all those facts we are still polar opposites; if I were to list all our differences it would take to the end of eternity. Well ok not that fucking long, but still you get the point, the list would be quite impressive in size. With all our differences, the easiest way to separate us is that he is the type of person who has more movies than books, and I am the type that has more books than movies.

This doesn't mean that I don't like movies. Absolutely untrue, I LOVE movies! They are my means of escape, my way of checking out of reality. But books. I'm IN love with books! I admit it…I’m a Bibliophile. There I said it. Books have been my life-long companion. My magic carpet. My professors. They have supported my soul when there was nothing else to lean on. I am an insatiable book slut! I even love the smell of them.

So next week is a holiday of sorts at least for people like me. It combines books, for the nerd inside me, and rebellion, for the my gooey badass center. It's Banned Books Week! In case you, like Marcy didn’t know, Banned Books Week is a national celebration of the freedom to read. It creates awareness to the fact that even in these modern times, books are still actively censored, challenged and banned in the United States with most people not getting a say in which books are banned or allowed.

This year, Banned Books Week will focus on the freedom to read comics and graphic novels! Banned books, check! Comics, check! Graphic Novels, check! How can it get any better?!

I will be spending my week reading books off the ALA banned books list and encouraging others to rebel against the man and do the same! Check with your local libraries and see if they have a book challenge list or a censored/banned list. Support the freedom to read. Support the art form. If you have a comic shop, a book store or even the world's smallest library, make a display, plan an event. Explain to your wee ones why we should have the right to decide for ourselves what we choose to read. Then make sure they understand exactly why that freedom is important and that there are some countries and people who don’t have that freedom!

I hope you all celebrate this literary holiday and enjoy your freedom to stand up! So have fun you rebellious book whores and read on!

-golden @theonlygolden

How creepy is this .... but yeah that's how reading feels!

Helpful links (non endorsed or even approved by us:

http://cbldf.org/librarian-tools/cbldf-banned-books-week-handbook/

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks