Category: Book Stuff

FINALLY!  It is that time of year again…. the weather is turning nice…  the draw to be outside during these beautiful days is overpowering.  This is the start of the season  that the TV is turned on very little, and even sitting in the house playing on the computer is hard to do when the outdoors is calling.

For me – this is a huge reading time.  I love nothing more than to sit on my back deck in the sun and read.  And – as always, my “to be read” list is taller than me.  Here’s a sample of what I plan to be reading over the next few months:

The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis:   The true story of thirteen women who took a risk on an expensive diamond necklace and, in the process, changed not only themselves but a community.

The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan :   In 1967, Bashir Al-Khayri, a Palestinian twenty-five-year-old, journeyed to Israel, with the goal of seeing the beloved old stone house, with the lemon tree behind it, that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Ashkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next thirty-five years in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967. Based on extensive research, and springing from his enormously resonant documentary that aired on NPR’s Fresh Air in 1998, Sandy Tolan brings the Israeli-Palestinian conflict down to its most human level, suggesting that even amid the bleakest political realities there exist stories of hope and reconciliation.

Clutter Free Christianity:   It’s time to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of what it means to please God. In this liberating look at the core principles of faith, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals the truth about what God wants from you-and what he wants to do for you-as he points you toward a revitalized faith centered on becoming more like Jesus Christ. You’ll learn how to partner with God in the process of spiritual transformation as you choose to follow Christ in forgiveness, obedience, trust, contentment, service, and prayer.

The Power of a Praying Wife: Today’s challenges and pressures can make a fulfilling marriage seem like an impossible dream. Yet God delights in doing the impossible if only we would ask!

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince (re-reading for the July release of the movie)

Rebecca: With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten—a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house’s current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim’s first wife—the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.

Have to share, it was incredible!  They had so many books this year they did not even put them in alphabetical order by author… actually made it more challenging but I think I was up to it.

Oh the books – the beautiful books…. beautiful hard cover books for 50 cents – that’s right – 50 cents!  I cruised through the whole thing quickly scanning titles and then went in for a second lap – more detailed this time as I dug in boxes under the tables, read jacket covers and breathed in that great book scent.  Wall to wall people and wall to wall books…. 

I was in line to check out when I discovered I had completely missed the oversize paperback section and spent another 20 minutes there. 

When I finally checked out, an hour and a half after I had stepped in – I had 23 books!  $11.50!  The price I would be lucky to get for our hard cover book!  What a rush!!!

Stay tune this fall when the Library sale hits again!

Ok… I almost hate to share this…. but the Bookie in me (my definition of a book junkie as well as the name of my book club) has to put the word out on this little known blog so I don’t feel selfish.  : )

The Brainerd Library book sale is Friday March 28th and 29th at 9 am each morning.  There I said it. 

For those of you who have never experienced this sale that takes place every Spring and Fall – here are a few guidelines from a book sale pro….

1. Ladies, leave your purse in the car or at home.  Grab cash or check and stick it in your pocket.  You are not going to want to be lugging anything around while you dig through piles of books by your favorite authors and favorite topics.
2. Stretch.  You may laugh… but not only are there stacks and stacks of books lined up on long tables…. but there are more books under the tables in boxes all categorized and ready to hit the tables if they have a chance.  It has not been beyond me to crawl under these tables and plow through the boxes.
3. Patience.  My past experience has been a packed area in the room to the right of the library and by packed I mean wall to wall people all doing the same thing you are doing.  (For that reason, you really can’t get upset with them).

That’s about it.  Enjoy!  Oh – and for those of you who have books to donate, they are still accepting books and if you feel the need to feed my habit and others like me…

Bless you.