First Lines: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." ~ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Featured Fridays: First Book
Do you remember your first book? I certainly don't. I've read too many.
I do remember going to the library and checking out stacks and stacks of books. And my sisters teasing me by calling me a bookworm. I wore that moniker proudly and I still do.
Though I still love to go to the library, I love owning copies of my favorite books.
This is where First Book comes in.
First Book is a non-profit organization that aids in distributing books to low income or at-risk communities.
Best Nine
Instagram goes crazy this time of year with everyone's Best Nine. You haven't heard of it? It's the nine most 'liked' pictures you've posted over the year.
And in this quiet morning (it's the day before Christmas as I write this, and, no, I'm still not ready), I started thinking about a different 'Best Nine'. What am I proud of this year?
Featured Fridays: Casa Youth Shelter and Robyne's Nest
It's been cold here in Southern California. Freezing, in fact. Or...I guess what the Bookworm girls and I call "California Freezing" or "California Cold" because we are scientists and we know that it's not technically freezing here.
I will tell you that I've never been truly cold at night. Unless by choice via camping. I know that there are many people and homeless families sprouting up all around this area. And there are teens too.
Now that I work in a private practice I don't see these teens. But they're out there, running away from something, or taking care of themselves for some time now. And I'm always torn about how I can help.
The Best Bookworm Gift List Ever (For now)
It's the time of gift giving and somehow, even though I'm somewhat prepared, the holiday season always runs away from me. Even though I've done most of my shopping (Yay for online shopping!), I know there are some last minute consumers out there.
Here is my list of the BEST GIFT IDEAS FOR BILBIOPHILES....so far.
My Heart is So Full
Our house isnāt ready for Christmas. My stack of cards, unaddressed, is still sitting there. We donāt have our tree up yet because weāve been sick. Our stockings arenāt hung by the chimney with care. (Though Mr. Bookworm has taken our Christmas boxes down from the attic.) And though we have lots of presents, none of them are wrapped. There is no guarantee of any of those things actually getting done this weekend eitherānot with us being sick. And thatās okay.
The only thing that MUST get done today is the movies. Because weāre off to see The Last Jedi today.
Featured Fridays: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
Featured Fridays: I'm featuring a non-profit organization every Friday for the nine Fridays leading up to what would have been Macy's ninth birthday.
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is an organization that provides volunteer photographers to document the life of infants who are born still or who live for a only short time.
First Pages: Gift Ideas
Last year I posted a 12 Must-Have Picture Books for the 12 Days of Christmas. The list contains some classics and some newer ones, but they are all picture book 'must-haves' for any young bibliophile (or older ones too). My friend suggested that I make a list for older kids that other people could reference for great gifts for different age groups.
Well, I don't feel exactly qualified to do so. Why? Because while I have read thousands of picture books, I am not as well read in early chapter books, middle grade books, or YA books. So I may curate a list with some input from some other knowledgeable friends, but in the meantime, I thought I'd place all my First Lines novels in one place along with book summaries in case you might want to gift one to a friend or family member this holiday season.
Featured Fridays: Caring Bridge
I posted a letter to Macy on my Caring Bridge site on her one year birthday. At the time of my pregnancy with her, it was my lifeline to my supportive family and friends.
I wanted to share what was going on with us, but I did not want to have to say my story over and over again. So I did what I do best: I wrote about it. I wrote and wrote, and so many people sent me messages of support, either on Caring Bridge itself, or by email, or in person. Or even verbal messages through my sisters and parents.
Rainbows
Every since Mini Me was little, we've talked about different types of families. We've talked about families with just one parent, with two parents that are boys or girls or one of each, and with different households.
Let's Cook a Treat
Every so often, Mini Me will check out a cookbook. For a very long time. We're terrible about hoarding our books and keeping them too long. This time around we've been hoarding Let's Cook a Treat: A Step by Step Guide, which is from the DK family of books.
I don't normally post our crafting or cooking processes because I don't come up with new recipes or craft ideas. I tend to do a mish-mash of craft ideas I've heard of, unless I'm problem-solving a costume. But since the holiday season is coming up, I'll tell you that this book was great for baking with a 7 year old!
Featured Fridays: St. Joseph's Perinatal Comfort Care Program
Featured Fridays: I'm featuring a non-profit organization every Friday for the nine Fridays leading up to what would have been Macy's ninth birthday.
I didn't know the logistics of what it would be like to give birth to a baby who may or may not survive the birthing process. Enter the St. Joseph's Perinatal Comfort Care Program.
First Pages: Zita the Spacegirl
"'Finders Keepers! Hee Hee!'
'Grabbing my notebook out of my hands isn't finders keepers. Zita?'
'This wasn't here yesterday."
'It looks like a meteoroid.'"
First Pages: The School for Good and Evil
"Sophie had waited all her life to be kidnapped. But tonight, all the other children of Gavaldon writhed in their beds. If the School Master took them, they'd never return."
Thankful and Gratitude notes
On the way home from our Thanksgiving celebration with the family, I realized that we forgot to say what we are thankful for. Traditionally we write what we are thankful for anonymously and then place them all in a bag. The gratitude notes are then read out loud.
Since we forgot, the four of us stated our thank yous in the car.
First Pages: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
"Far away from here, following the Jade River, there was once a black mountain that cut into the sky like a jagged piece of rough metal. The villagers called it Fruitless Mountain because nothing grew on it and birds and animals did not rest there."
Special Delivery Book Anniversary and Selfish Holidays
Celebrating the 5 year book anniversary of Special Delivery:
What's Special Delivery? It's a children's book that I wrote when Mini Me was two years old and I was pregnant with Macy, my daughter who lived only briefly. One sleepless night I couldn't get these words out of my head as we were figuring out how to tell Mini Me that her sister was likely going to die.
Eventually, for Macy's funeral, we had five books printed at a local shop. And then, in 2012, we received a grant from Sappi Ideas That Matter to have the book published so that we could distribute them to other families, free of cost.
First Pages: The Fault in Our Stars
"Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death."
Unicorns versus Goats
I'm keeping with the unicorn theme for the next few book recommendations, thus locking in my other moniker as Dr. Unicorn/the Unicorn doctor. :D This time we're talking about Bob Shea's Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great in which a unicorn takes on a goat in a fight. Sort of.
First Pages: If I Stay
"Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that's true."