Newt and I went to one of our favorite used book stores this week. They’ve moved things around a bit and expanded some sections. Now there is an entire section for vintage school books. If I’d had the time, space and budget, I’d have brought the lot of them home with me. Since I don’t, I’ll just have to go back again to visit, and maybe smell them a little. There’s something about an old book, it just feels good.

What I’ve Been Reading

It not an old book, but still amazing. I’m reading a super awesome, as yet unpublished manuscript. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

What I’ve Been Reading to Newt

Since Halloween was this week, we’ve spent a little time with some creepy classics:
Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
We’ve made reading The Raven a Halloween tradition the last couple of years. This year, we added in The Tell-Tale Heart. It wasn’t long ago, that we’d read Skeleton Hiccups and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. Where has the time gone?

What Newt and I Have Been Listening To

Mary Emma & Company
This is the fourth in the Little Britches Series. Ralph and his family have moved from the ranching community in Colorado back to Boston. We miss hearing about Ralph’s ranch work, but following the family as they try to adjust to their new life and learn to support themselves in the city is fascinating and inspiring.

What Newt is Reading

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
Newt read this to prepare for next week’s History’s Heroines Club and I looked through it when she finished. Not only is it well written, but the illustrations are amazing. The illustrator, Brian Selznick, used only sepia-tones, giving an old-fashioned patina to the images. They are warm and rich and full of emotion, a perfect match to Pam Munoz Ryan’s well-written account of this amazing woman. We both really enjoyed it.

Good Owners, Great Dogs and Puppy Training for Kids
I hope they work…