13th hour

just finished another 80 pages of LaPlante's "Silent Scream" - it's getting better but I'm not sure I can keep up with all of the little twists

time fore tea!

Hour 12 Challenge

1. What are you reading right now?  LyndaaPlante's "Silent Scream"

2. How many books have you read so far? just this one - almost done

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? "Waking Up In Eden"

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? nope - it is my only free day this week

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Oh yeah - I fell asleep for a couple of hours - the start time for me was 9pm and I had a really long day at work

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?  How diverse the challenges are

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No - you guys continue to delight me

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?  I would definitely arrange to not work on the day that the readathon starts so I could get a could chunk of sleep in before it starts

9. Are you getting tired yet? no now (see #5 above)

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? I need more ideas to get me up and moving - it seems to help between the long stretches of reading

SUMMARY: 

read 125 pages (just finished Chapter 16)

consumed: one cup of tea and a large cookie

Book Cover Challenge

For this challenge we have to show book covers that embody certain adjectives such as

DISTURBING

VIBRANT

 BEAUTIFUL

MOVING

SCARY

Reading Is Fundamental Reading Challenge

for this challenge we needed to post pictures of children reading and add a link to the Reading Is Fundamental site.  I have a bunch of photos that I took at my school's book festival and finally have the time to find them and get them posted here.

oh..... I managed to consume a big bowl of Special K but didn't read a thing this hour

woops

I was a lot more tired than I thought - looks I fell asleep for a couple of hours just like last year.  It doesn't really matter because the whole idea is to just have some fun.  Looks like I need tog et reading and make up for lost time.  Apparently I read 17 pages since my last checkin and I ate a small thing of strawberry yogurt -  Time to get some breakfast (it's 6am here) and get going on the day

Hour 7

Well I managed to drift off to sleep after finishing anther chapter (it is after 3am here right now)  so I didn't get much done last hour
SUMMARY
Read: 18 pages (through Chapter 12)
Consumed: nothing but some sweet dreams

Hour 6

Starting the sixth hour of the readathon and not too much to report - ready to start Chapter Twelve of "Silent Scream" and feeling a little sluggish.  I will need a pick-me-up sometime soon.  I like the idea of one of the mini-challenges which requires creating a slideshow from pictures of you reading - I'll see if I can muster up the energy for that one.
SUMMARY:
Read: 44 pages (through Chapter 11)
Consumed: half a bag of sour neon jelly beans (thanks for the care package Mallie!)

Hour 5

Wowo - where did the time go?  One of the mini-challeneges was to try and make a sentence from the book titles in your stack.  Here is the result

"In a perfect world, the Puzzle King, waking up in Eden, silent scream"

so much for that here are my stats
SUMMARY:
Read: 56 pages (through Chapter 8 f Silent Scream)
Consumed: finished my second cup of tea

Hour 4

I was busy doing mini-challenges last hour so I didn't get too much reading  done.  Think I will get serious this hour so I can feel like I have accomplished something
SUMMARY:
Read: 20 pages (finished Chapter 5 of "Silent Scream"
Consumed: started second cup of tea
Background: Streaming NPR - might need to switch to music

Hour 3????

Wow Hour three is just starting which I really can't believe.  I finished another couple of chapters and am thoroughly enjoying the read.  Our challenge for hour 2 was to post about how we settle in and those things that make us comfortable for the readathon. I'm basically reading on my bed because I have so little furniture.  My life in South Korea is a little Spartan but if I get bored with the bed I will move to my floor mat or later on when the sun comes up I will sit out on my porch.  One of my most important companions is the mug from which I drink my tea and it happens to be sitting on the bookcase next to my bed in this picture.  I just noticed that my Nancy Pearl Librarian Action Figure is carefully posed with her shushing finger to her lips

SUMMARY HOUR 2
Pages read 48
CONSUMED: 1 cup of tea and a package of  Lemon Planks courtesy of my newly arrived care package from Mallie

Hour 2

Just finished the first hour of the readathon.  For my first selection I'm reading Lynda LaPlante's "Silent Scream".  I have to confess this is the first book of hers that I have read and I'm hooked.  I managed to finish the first two chapters of this thriller which is set against the backdrop of a movie set. This is one of the books that I won in the last readathon.
SUMMARY:
Read 48 pages
Consumed: too many pizza-flavored Pringles and a glass of apple juice

back to the book....

Hour 1

Well the readathon has started.  My stack is full of the books that I won in the last readathon so I'm guessing by now if you are a new reader that I have done this before.  In fact this is my third readathon.  It's 9pm on Saturday (I'm in South Korea) and I have just woken up from a nap so I feel somewhat refreshed and ready to go.  My advice to newbies is to pace yourself.  Alternate very easy reads with something as little more challenging.  Get up and walk around every hour.  Keep track of your liquid refreshment because it is easy to become dehydrated.  Three quick facts about me and then I am off to read
1) I'm a former librarian turned English teacher in South Korea
2) I used to own a bookstore
3) I'm hoping to finally get that novel written this year

cheers and happy reading

Readathon

Well the readathon is starting in a few hours and I just got home from work. I managed to stop by the store on my way home and stocked up on milk and junk food and as I arrived home the third and final box from my good friend Mallie arrived so now I have enough food to take care of the Korean army.  I have my stack of books ready to go and think I will start with a short nap. Reading starts at 9pm here

Is it really April?

Where did the time go?  I've been so busy with the new school year and making a quick trip back to the States at the end of January that I have totally neglected my book blog.  Since I last posted anything, Apple introduced their new I-Pad which may well do for books what the Ipod did for music - kill the sales of physical media.  But what do I know?  I bought a Sony reader for my son who is in the Peace Corps in Africa but I haven't settled on what e-reader will be the best for me.  The Ipod is quite expensive and would cost what a decent new laptop would cost.  Besides that it places too many restrictions on its users in terms of ownership of purchased texts.  I don't like the Kindle either for the same reasons.  If I only want to read a text and not own it, I can easily download them from my public library.  But if I spend money on my books, I expect to be able to keep them, trade them, sell them or lend them to a friend.

So here is a quick roundup on articles that caught my eye recently:

Craigmod has an interesting perspective on the transition in the book world that is taking place right now.  As a book designer he lauds the passing of the disposable book

We’re losing the dregs of the publishing world: disposable books. The book printed without consideration of form or sustainability or longevity. The book produced to be consumed once and then tossed. The book you bin when you’re moving and you need to clean out the closet.

What I appreciate is that he thinks that this is the time to start talking about what books really should be

I want to look at where printed books stand in respect to digital publishing, why we historically haven't read long-form text on screens and how the iPad is wedging itself in the middle of everything. In doing so I think we can find the line in the sand to define when content should be printed or digitized.

Speaking of the Ipad, I have seen a brilliant idea for an Ipad stand that doubles as a bookend - now why didn't I think of that!

If you want to calculate the relative "greenness" of an Ipad over a printed book, check out this piece in the New York Times. After some fancy ciphering it turns out that

 the impact of one e-reader payback equals roughly 40 to 50 books. When it comes to global warming, though, it’s 100 books; with human health consequences, it’s somewhere in between.

And last but not least, how about this great story about President Obama stopping by his favorite bookstore - been a while since we could talk about the President and bookstore in the same sentence!

Time to get my reading stack ready because tomorrow night (9pm for me) Dewey's 24 hour Readathon starts and I want to be ready! Perhaps I can finally start on the big pile that I won during the last readathon!

Sherlock Holmes

Last summer after I ran away from home, I traveled around the UK for six weeks.  On my last night there, before heading to South Korea, I finally visited 221b Baker Street, one of my lifetime ambitions.  It was late and I had spent the day running around London trying to get the last of things on my checklist.  I remembered passing the pub on the coach trip into town so I grabbed my handy bus timetable and soon found myself in front of the one of the most famous addresses in literary history, if not the world!. 

Imagine my surprise when a strange man offered to take my picture in front of the building and then offered to buy me a pint at the Sherlock Holmes Pub next door.

He claimed to be the night caretaker at a local mental institution (I swear this is true) and wanted to work on his technique for picking up women.  I figured it was a public space with lots of witnesses and I wasn't foolish enough to follow him anywhere and I helped him introduce himself to a bevy of young ladies at the bar (My god - where do I find these people?)  Anyway he was charming, paid for the beer and showed me where to catch the fastest bus back to the hostel where I was staying.  And that is my silly Sherlock Holmes London adventure!

Happy birthday Mr. Holmes - we are in good company!

I have a birthday this week and instead of gifts and silly cards I want all of my friends to lend money via Kiva. In particular I found a lady in Nigeria who is a bookseller. I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Angela Ugdeze in Nigeria. She still needs another $950.00 to complete her loan request of $1,000.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on this link to make a loan to Angela Ugdeze too.


It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Brushing off the dust

I'll see how long this lasts...ok.. I'm going to try and keep this as my book news and interesting stuff posting locale because I see great things that I only seem to post on either twitter or facebook and I want to keep my posts in a more organized manner

NPR - I'm an NPR junkie - can't help it but I've been listening so long that now that I am in South Korea I am thankful for the fabulous broadband connection that this country is known for - NPR streams whenever I am at home and at school when I don't have to teach - my bloglines account is full of feeds from favorite shows and I download the podcasts to listen to on bus trips - and best of all, NPR loves books, so expect to see lots of links like today's gem

"Is it possible to love books too much? Writer Allison Hoover Bartlett thinks so, given the reaction she often gets to her new book, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much." "I can't tell you how many people have picked up the book and read the title and said, 'Huh! That's me,' " Bartlett says. "Some people care so deeply about books," she adds, "they're willing to do just about anything to get their hands on the books that they love."

Bartlett has written a fascinating account of rare books dealer Ken Sanders and his interactions with book thief John Gilkey. It reminds of the time I worked on the Stephen Blumberg case with the FBI which was captured in the video "The Omaha Project - A Rare Book Adventure"- as I like to say interesting stuff!!!

I read a lot of other blogs and one of my favorites is "Words and Pictures From Old Books" which is exactly what it says. I will probably use lots of clips (like this lovely T) to illuminate my postings.

If you are planning on beginning the New Year with a little house-cleaning, here is an article about how to weed your books. I found it easier to run away from home when I found homes for my books.

I just chatted online with one of my longtime book-reading buddies from the old Gorpies group and she recommended reading J. Maarten Troost's "Sex Lives of Cannibals" and I remembered that he was on my list of must-reads so now I need to track down all three of his books.

This year I plan on actually doing a lot more reading and keeping a better log of my reading habits. I got this idea from one of my favorite blogs "Naked Without Books" and heartily recommend following one avid bookreader as she devours the printed word in South Korea!

End of the Year Essay

I had to submit an essay about teaching in Korea to the local Ministry of Education and I though I would post it here because it also sums up the last half of the year which is when I totally neglected my blog. Among my New Year's resolutions (ha!) I plan on being more diligent with my updates.
==============================================

2009 was once of the most exciting years in my life and one full of many exciting changes and profound personal developments. I decided to leave my home, family and friends behind in America and travel halfway around the world to begin my new career as an English teacher. I took the summer off to attend the London Rare Book School, conduct historical research in England and Scotland and to spend time with my extended family as part of the International Gathering of the Clans in Edinburgh. By the end of August I found myself in Youngyang, South Korea, eager to begin my new teaching assignment at Il-wol Elementary School.

Settling into my new life in a country where I didn’t know the language and couldn’t even understand the signs was a little overwhelming. I spent my first week in quarantine because of the H1N1 concerns so I spent most of my time walking around Yeongyang watching the farmers during the pepper harvest. Mrs. Park was very generous in setting up my apartment and escorting me around the first. She was also very helpful in navigating the paperwork, introducing me to the other teachers, and even helped me set up a bank account. In fact everyone that I met was very kind and helpful to this new stranger in their town and school.

I wasn’t really sure what was expected of me at first and as a new teacher I was very nervous about exactly how I would handle a class full of children who spoke little English. In particular I was scared about having to teach the after-school program at the two branch schools as I knew I wouldn’t have the safety of the textbook to use. With the encouragement of Miss Woo, I was able to think of the various themes that needed to be explored and also saw that I was worrying too much about details instead of just relaxing and enjoying the time with the children.
In September I started teaching at the YES Center and was grateful for the opportunity to meet English teachers from the other schools. They helped me understand the way things are done here and reassured me that they all went through the same awkward adjustments. They were also very helpful in showing me how to do things like paying bills, getting a taxi and taking a bus. Harry Tritt and his wife took me on one of their trips to Daegu and showed me how to get around by bus and subway.
In October, the teachers went on an overnight trip to southern coast and I was able to experience my first stay in a Korean hotel. In addition I joined in the hikes to visit some temples and traditional villages. I think American schools could learn a lot about team-building by such group excursions. We seemed to enjoy each others company and even though I really had no idea what was going on most of the time, everyone was very kind and made sure that I participated in all of the activities.
By the end of October I was feeling really confident in my teaching and found that the children responded well to the lessons that I had prepared. I spent many hours doing research online and gaining tips and lesson ideas from other English teachers. I learned how to create flashcards, games, and teaching tools joined several online teaching forums which helped me expand my basic skills. I think my hard work paid off as the children seemed to show more confidence in their use of English and were always glad to see me and try out their language skills. They particularly enjoyed the games and each week it became a challenge to find new activities to keep them interested. Students stretched their imaginations with role plays and my insistence on their talking English in the classroom. I stretched my imagination by using my inability to use Korean as a tool for teaching. Together we seemed to find a common ground that bridged any cultural divide.
One of the most exciting events at our school was the Book Festival. In my former life I was either a librarian or a bookseller and I was so excited to see so much time celebrating books and families.
It was thrilling to see such excitement surrounding reading and to see children enjoying themselves as they made bookmarks, created a newspaper or read books with their family members. Everyone made a leaf to go onto the book tree that celebrated their family. The evening culminated in a Golden Bell game and wonderful closing ceremony.



Because the school year is different in South Korea from anything that I knew in either America or England, I suddenly found that my school year was ending just as I was hitting my stride. December brought a flurry of activity around the end of the school year as sixth graders were preparing to finish their time at the elementary school. In fact our last week of school culminated in an overnight trip for all of the children to Gyeongju. Here we visited a museum and tombs which were very educational for me. I was particularly fascinated with prehistoric rock art on display and can’t wait to share them with one of my friends who is a scholar in this field. I think the children were more excited with our afternoon at the amusement park although they also enjoyed our evening visit to the jimjilbang.


As the year draws to a close, I am happy with my decision to change careers and experience a new culture. I have adjusted to the different foods, picked up a little vocabulary, and made many new friends.



Perhaps best of all, I begin every day at the school with young children squealing “Hello Fiona teacher” and grabbing my hand as I walk down the hallway.

It has given me a renewed sense of purpose and made me feel at home in “The Land of Morning Calm”.

Final Hour

down to the last hour of Dewey's Fall Readathon and time to fill out the survey

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? the one where I fell asleep - Hour 4

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I just started Alexander McCall Smith's "44 Scotland Street" and may just stay up reading it - it comes in small chunks and really grabs you - wonderful writer

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I really don't know - this is my second readathon and for me it is was so different but then I missed the 6 hours when I was asleep

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Great cheerleaders and lots of small, easy mini-challenegs

5. How many books did you read? 3

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Pride and Prejudice
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
44 Scotland Street

7. Which book did you enjoy most? 44 Scotland Street- hard to put down

8. Which did you enjoy least? What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - it was okay and I'm glad I read it - Carver is considered a modern master and I don't remember reading anything of his before

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? n/a

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I would definteitely read again as long as it fits into my schedule

2 down

Just finished Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" so my total is 2 books and 376 pages....a lot less than last readathon but then I was here for the whole 24 hours and didn't fall asleep after three hours

time to start Alexander McCall Smith's "44 Scotland Street" which I picked up this summer when in Edinburgh.

1 book down...

Just finished "Pride and Prejudice" for the readathon and wonder why it took me so long to finally get around to reading Austen. What fun... must do more some other time.

So my pathetic total so far is 1 book, 217 pages...would have been a lot more but I fell asleep about three hours into the readathon


Next up...Raymond Carver's "What we talk about when we talk about love"

oh, and that would be me just now sitting on the balcony, reading

Kiva

My "charity" as such for the Readathon is Kiva which is a microlending organization. I like the microlending principle and would much rather invest in people instead of just giving a handout. It's also very good because it cuts out the administrative waste that you find in so many charities. I'm starting with a base of $100 but will increase it by $10 for every comment that gets posted here. Thanks for reading

Mini-challenges for the readathon

first we had to get up and dance to something on our music player - I chose Virtual Insanity because we used it during the silent rave at Denver's Union Station. I like to use it to get motivated t do housework.

Next we had to list 5 childrens books

easy one for me

Alice in Wonderland
The Wind in the Willows
I am Papa Snap and these are my favorite No-such stories
The Old Woman Who Named Things
Kidnapped


I could go on and on but I really need to finish Pride and Prejudice

Dewey and the Readathon

I never knew Dewey but have heard about her from many bloggers. This readathon has been carried on in her memory by so many of those online friends of hers. This is such a great idea and I only wish that I could have introduced her and her friends to my book friends, Gorpies, which was an offshoot of the old Books & Literature chatroom on Yahoo. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

Music to read by

Another challenge involves posting the lyrics to songs that you like to read by. The only one that quickly comes to mind is by Carole King but I prefer Rod Stewart's version - I'm humming now and need to get back to reading

So Far Away


So far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It will be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know that your just time away
Long ago I reached for you and there you stood
Holding you again could only do me good
Oh how I wish I could
but you're so far away

One more song about moving along the highway
I can't say much of anything that's new
But if I could only work this life out my way
I'd rather spend it being close to you
but you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It will be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know you're so far away
So far away, yeah you're so far away

Traveling around sure get's me down and lonely
Nothing else to do but close my mind
And I sure hope the road don't get to own me
There's so many dreams that I've yet to find
But you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It will be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know
you're so far away, you're so far away
You're so far away, you're so far away
Oh I need to get in touch with ya baby
You're so very, very, very far away
You're so, so far away

Yoga break

Time to take a mini-challenge break that involves yoga. After looking at Jehara's blog I decided to try the legs-up-to-the-wall pose she first suggested. Wow...I had no idea I could still do stuff like that. Next I tried the downward-facing-dog and really felt the stretching. Finally I did the corpse pose and really felt rejuvenated. Now to finish Pride and Prejudice

Halfway through?????

So the readthon is officially at the halfway point and a survey has been posted, so here goes

1. What are you reading right now? Still reading Pride and Prejudice

2. How many books have you read so far? this is my first - I fell asleep - aarrgghh!!!

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? 44 Scotland Street - I picked it up in Edinburgh this summer and haven't had a chance to start it

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Nope - this is my one day off this week

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I fell asleep shortly after midnight and missed a big chunk of reading time - fortunately it left me refreshed to jump in for the rest of the day

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? The number of folks participating

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? This is such a fun event and I enjoy the diversity of activites - I think you all are doing a fabulous job

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I would definitely pick out a lot of short tiles and get lots of rest before starting - I had to work and had just come back from a two-day trip - no wonder I fell asleep

9. Are you getting tired yet? no any more

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? pace the food and drink and eat lots of healthy stuff not so much junk food

RIF challenge

one of the current challenges from the Readathon is to post something that appeals to the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) campaign. I treasure this picture of my son Chris (now 25) reading Hop on Pop from our time in Omaha.

Thanks to my friend Debbie I have a copy of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish that I use with one of my favorite first graders here in Korea. I tell the other teachers that I learned to read courtesy of Dr. Seuss and there is no reason that Korean children can't enjoy him too.

Well...that was interesting

Yikes...I fell asleep sometime after midnight and just woke up...I missed a lot of reading time but I did get my location in the great collective map so I need to gear up and finish "Pride and Prejudice so I can fix breakfast

happy reading

Hour 2

I'm well into Pride and Prejudice and really enjoying it. The challenge for this hour involves tweeting with the hashtag #readathon and I have done my duty. A screenshot will be added in a bit. During the first hour I managed a cup of tea and three lovely Crown "Coffee tea & charming" cookies - you have to understand that in Korea things are packaged in unusual ways with "interesting" English used sometimes at random.
Here are the questions from the website

Where are you reading from today?

I'm starting with "Pride and Prejudice"... not really sure after that

3 facts about me …

I've been a librarian and bookseller but now I teach English in South Korea
My best friends online are a bunch of chatters from the old Books & Lit room in Yahoo chat - we first chatted in 1996 and have our own group now called "Gorpies"
Before I sold off everything that I owned, I estimated that I have 50,000 books in storage leftover from my used bookstore

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
I have about 10 and assorted e-books

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
I only hope to complete the 24 hours - not sure if I can because it starts so late for me

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?
I did this last Spring for the first time - just sit back, relax, have lots of tea and enjoy the read - don't stress over how many pages you actually read and keep a stack of easy stuff for the last couple of hours

First Hour

It's evening here in Yeongyang and I am somewhat tired. A long day of teaching English to indifferent students coming on the heels of a two-day trip to the South coast of Korea with the other teachers at my school. I'm not sure how I will do in this readathon but I'm sure going to try and make it through. Last Spring I did all 24 hours but it started early in the morning as I then lived in Denver. As I recall we have a Spring snowstorm and I was glad to have a reason to huddle under the covers.

When I landed here in August all I brought with me was two suitcases with clothes and a few books. Thankfully my predecessor left behind a few books in the apartment and I have chosen one as my first book. It may come as a shock to some of my book-loving friends, but I am about to confess publicly that I have never read any Jane Austen novel (that I can remember). It's not that I don't love her style and haven't seen just about every tv or film version of her books, but for some reason she is on my list of famous writers I am pretty sure I have never read. So, I am picking up "Pride and Prejudice" to start the readathon. The copy in the apartment is a slightly abridged version with a Korean translation so I have downloaded the original and will read it on my laptop. I'll be back in an hour with a page count and food update.

Cheers...and happy reading

Read-a-thon

blowing off the blog dust and gearing up for Dewey's Read-a-thon which starts tonight. I moved to South Korea at the end of August and have been too busy starting a new job teaching English to bother with the blog. Now that I have too much free time, I need to get busy writing again

Turnbull Stuff

The Turnbulls will be gathering July 18th in Hawick, Scotland - will you be there?

43 Things

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a

Traveling Reinventing Romantic

and I think that there is an element of truth in that description

Blue Books / People's Pocket Series

I have had several people comment or ask questions about a small, incomplete set of books that I have. My last posting for the Read-a-thon noted that I was reading one for my last book. Kent State University Library has a collection of them and their description of of the publisher is reprinted here:

Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (1888-1951) began publishing his "Little Blue Books" in 1919 in order for classic works of literature to be available for a much lower price than usual, at five or ten cents each. His association with the Socialist party led him to buy the Socialist paper Appeal to Reason along with their printing press, which he used to publish a number of his books. The books became widely popular, and by 1949, over 300,000,000 had been sold. The series includes over a thousand titles spanning a wide range of material, from novels to philisophical tracts to advice manuals. The first several hundred books include mostly previously published pieces, but the series later expanded to include original works as well. Some of these are edited versions of more extensive pieces and some are completely original.

I have discovered a Facebook page for collectors, a fabulous collecting site, another collectors page, some for sale, a curious bio about the couple and an online edition of his novel "Dust", and, of course, a Wikipedia article.

I often wondered why I was drawn to them and then saw that Harlan Ellison remembers them from his mis-spent youth. Guess I'm in good company.

I'll be posting my modest collection on E-bay shortly as I clean out stuff from my apartment

Hour 24

just finished "Paperback Thriller" by Lynn Meyer - meh!
and Miraculous Revenge by George Bernard Shaw (People's Pocket Series)

current tally

8 books
1214 pages (slow reader - easily distracted) yeah !!! I made it past 1000
7 cups of tea (hmm...isn't that a book title)
1 Peach mango green tea Crystal light
1 bowl of Honey bunches of oats with peaches
1 small pizza
graham crackers with peanut butter
1 orange chicken dinner
1 banana
1 apple blossom with cream (gotta get that freezer cleaned out)
Many pieces of Hersheys all Natural Extra Dark assortment

Here are the challenge questions for the last hour
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? that would have been around hour 20
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Don't have a clue
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? It depends how large you want this to be but better publicity might have helped
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I was skeptical about many of the challenges but they really kept me focused and gave me a break each hour
5. How many books did you read? 8
6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan
Dr. Ebenezer's Book and Liquor Store by Gerald Rosen
Help I'm a Prisoner in the library by Eth Clifford
How to Travel with a Salmon by Umberto Eco
Rab and His Friends by Dr. John Brown
Exploring the Book of Kells by George Otto Simms
Paperback thriller by Lynn Meyer
Miraculous Revenge by George Bernard Shaw
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
The Longest Trip Home - it had me in tears by the end
8. Which did you enjoy least?
Paperback thriller - it was dated and pretty boring for a thriller
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I would probably do this again and would just like to read but probably do it for charity

I'm going to finish out the hour by reading from my collection of Little Blue Books

Hour 23

only 2 more hours to go - I was going to chuck out the book I'm reading because I'm finding it a bit tedious but did a quick google only to find out that it is included in a study on feminism and the crime novel - so I guess I'll plod along and finish up the exploits of Sarah Chayse and the mystery of who has burgled her office

I'm not doing the challenge this hour because it is for those readers who are doing the readathon for charity - maybe next year

Hour 22

this is insane - why am I still up trying to read?? what was I thinking?? just as I was about to nod off the BBC news at the top of the hour came on and I decided to check for the hourly challenge - apparently we need to write a silly limerick

so here goes


There once was a Denver book reader
Who thought that she had it within her
To summon the power
For twenty-four hours
To read without being a sleeper

Now I will try and finish my book

Hour 21

I really feel like I am starting to fade but I'll try one more challenge. This hour we are supposed to blog about Dewey who started the Read-athon. I never got to know her while she was alive but after poking around a bit on her website, I have to say I would have loved to have known her. I am especially taken with the Weekly Geeks which is a good way to keep readers on task and clean up unfinished business. Dewey must have been the mother hen and I'm only sorry that I came to the party a little to late to know her.

I think that is all I have in me for now

Hour 20

woohoo - I made it this far so I might as well keep going

from my stack of unread books I have chosen "Paperback Thriller", a piece of 1970's crime fiction that I suspect is not all that good

I'll let you know more next hour (javascript:void(0)assuming I am still awake and reading)

the challenge this hour was for people who have participated in all four of Dewey's Read-A-thons so that lets me out for another hour

back to the book

Hour 19

I just finished "Exploring the Book of Kells" which does have some lovely illustrations - a charming little book

ok - this hour the challenge is to visit three readers and post comments on their blogs - watch out because here I come

Blondie Rocket
Samantha
Deborah

then I have to go and find something new to read

current tally

7 books
1012 pages (slow reader - easily distracted) yeah !!! I made it past 1000
7 cups of tea (hmm...isn't that a book title)
1 bowl of Honey bunches of oats with peaches
1 small pizza
graham crackers with peanut butter
orange chicken
banana
apple blossom with cream

Hour 18

the challenge this hour is to post about books we have re-read.

For the readathon, the only one one which is a reread for me is Dr. Ebenezer's Book and Liquor Store by Gerald Rosen. I first encountered this book in 1980 and have cherished it ever since, often sending it to my friends who are also booksellers. It is a weird, funky, San Francisco hippie tale about a burnt-out scientist who runs a book and liquor store (look for my earlier posts) - it's really quite silly but I have read this book probably once a year since 1980 - I love it because it made me think about the kind of bookstore that I would have one day - while I didn't sell liquor in mine, I did have a cast of characters like Doc did, characters that I dearly miss since closing my store some four years ago. Is it any wonder I used for one of the first challenges?

Other books that I reread include "Parnassus on Wheels", "The Wind in the Willows" and Kafka's "The Metamorphosis". They are old friends to me and I find some nuance that I missed before every time that I read them.

Hour 17

I just finished Umberto Eco's "How to Travel with a Salmon" - I like the blurb on the back

"Imagine an urban Garrison Keillor, raised on Kafka, schooled at the Sorbonne and utterly indifferent to cats and you've got a fair picture of Umberto Eco"

I picked up a small book that I have had in my possession for many years and decided to read it - Rab and his friends by Dr. John Brown - a sweet little piece written by a Scottish doctor about a dog and his master - here is the description of my copy, printed in 1908 by T.N. Fouls

Little Prose Masterpieces Series
Each volume of this series measures 5 1/2 by 2 3/4 inches. Printed on fine hand-made paper. tastefully decorated, with large initials in red, and in Japanese vellum wrapper, 6D net

I loved is so much I scanned the cover for everyone to see

the current tally is

6 books
940 pages (slow reader - easily distracted)
6 cups of tea (hmm...isn't that a book title)
1 bowl of Honey bunches of oats with peaches
1 small pizza
graham crackers with peanut butter
orange chicken
banana
apple blossom with cream

Hour 16

the challenge for this hour gave us a choice, the first of which dealt with Peeps. Now my natural inclination would have been to take anything to do with Peeps but alas, I am Peepless. Instead I had the most fun trying to guess accents. I love this site and if it wasn't so late for me I would try and do it all over again. My score was a pretty pathetic 28 although I managed to pick up some bonus points by guessing the city as well as the country. Some of the clips were too short for me to be really sure but I found it an incredibly useful site which I hope to be able to use when I move to South Korea to teach English.

now to finish off Umberto Eco

Hour 15

I'm halfway through Umberto Eco's (the Name of the Rose) "How to travel with a Salmon" - what fun - this collection of essays are garnered from his culture columns - they runt the gamut from traveling with a salmon and his frustration with the hotel's computer to his justification for building a personal library. He has given me the perfect retort to those people who look at all of my books and say "Have you read all of these?" "No, these are the ones I have to read by the end of the month. I keep the others in my office"

this hour's challenge is do something creative to express the day - I'll have to think about that one

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update - here is my entry for "You know you're participating in a Read-A-thon when..."

Hour 14

I'm finished with Doc Ebenezer - I love this book and if you need a copy you can easily find one online

ok the challenge this hour has to do with Non-fiction books. Tammy wants to know:
What is you favorite non-fiction book and why?
What genre(s) do you enjoy and are there particular writers that you would recommend to others? If you don't read non-fiction, why not?

I am a huge fan of non-fiction and as a matter of fact my next book to read is a collection of essays by Umberto Eco. I generally love history, science and biographies. Non-fiction authors that I have recently read include John Baxter (A Pound of Paper), John Grogan (The Longest Trip Home), Nicholas A. Basbanes (Patience and Fortitude), Paul Collins (Sixpence House) and Lawrence Goldstone (Out of the Flames) - I love books about books

so my score so far is
3 books
654 pages (slow reader - easily distracted)
3 cups of tea (hmm...isn't that a book title) add another cup
1 bowl of Honey bunches of oats with peaches
1 small pizza
graham crackers with peanut butter

Hour 13

before I post my answers to the new challenge here is another quote from Dr. Ebenezer

He has often said that your twenties are when you find out there are walls in the world and throw yourself against them in your rage. Maturity is when you see there are also doors, and then you accept the walls and begin to walk through the doors.

ok here are the questions

1. What are you reading right now? Dr. Ebenezer's Book and Liquor Store

2. How many books have you read so far? this is my 3rd

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I have a collection of Umberto Eco essays I want to try and read

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? nope -a snowstorm canceled everything that I had already planned to do

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? the only interruptions were doing the challenges - I live by myself

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How quickly the time flies - I can't believe that I have been doing this for 12 hours

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Hard to say - some of the challenges will only work for the first couple of people answering them (like the first line one)

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I would plan a better collection of books in advance - really break them up for style and length

9. Are you getting tired yet? not yet

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Keep the teapot full - it seems to work for me

Hour 12

wow - nearly halfway through - the challenge this hour was to join Bookcrossing and let Debbie at Readerbuzz know your id and pick three books from her list - that was a cinch since I've had a bookcrossing account for a long time but really hadn't used it since I took the crazy cross-country trip to see the Pirates and visit Dennis which is when I started this blog - funny how things come full circle isn't it?

so my score so far is
2 books
430 pages (slow reader - easily distracted)
3 cups of tea (hmm...isn't that a book title)
1 bowl of Honey bunches of oats with peaches
1 small pizza
graham crackers with peanut butter

time to rummage for something interesting

Hour 11

well I needed a break so I did a quick read of "Help! I'm a prisoner in the Library" - cute story of two girls who wander into a library during a snowstorm and get locked in - silly and lighthearted but good on a snowy readathon day. For this hour's challenge we are supposed to write a letter so I think I will write one to the girls locked in the library

here is my letter

Dear Mary Rose and Jo-Beth:

I know you girls were scared when your dad left you in the car but what were you thinking when you left the car to look for a bathroom? I mean, couldn't you have just squatted outside the car and then quickly gotten back in and locked the doors like your dad said? I know you were scared of Miss Finton at first, but did you have to eat her chicken? I don't care if the power was out, it would have taken a long time before the food would have gone bad. I'm glad you have a new baby brother but I hope you teach him to do what your dad says so he will stay safe.

fiona
ps next time you want to visit a library you can come to mine

(to the girl in "Help I'm a prisoner in the library)

Hour 10

I'm about halfway through Doc Ebenezer (It's a quick read if you have read it before) and had forgotten some of my favorite passages - time to share

"When I first thought of the store, I figured a guy would come in with a problem and I could listen to him and recommend Plato or the Buddha or Sigmund Freud or whatever. But then I realized, with some people, their problems are so bad all you can recommend is Johnny walker and come back tomorrow and we'll try to start again"

if you have ever had your own store you can appreciate the comings and goings - ting-ling

the challenge for this hour has to do with Books crossing over to TV - think I'll pass on that one although I have another three hours to complete it

======

update to answer the challenge

I'm not big on series books although I got initially hooked on the Sue Grafton's A is for Alibi ... and so on. She got pretty boring by the letter J - I think they would make a good series for TV

The books that I love that need to be made into movies include "Parnassus on Wheels", "Eat, Pray, Love", "The Rule of Four", "The Shadow of the Wind"

I don't watch a lot of TV any more but the series "House" might make for good medical thrillers a la Crichton

Hour 9

well that was wild - I'm trying to finish up Grogan's book and I hear my sister on the radio - she was the Wait wait Don't Tell Me contestant and somehow or another I missed her post about it

anyway I finished "The Longest Road Home" and have to tell you that it was a wonderful book. It is about Grogan's relationship with his father and life in a crazy Catholic household. The last third of the book deals with his father's illness. Somehow or another much of what he had to say hit home for me as I am preparing to make a trip home to visit my folks before I leave the country. My dad is starting to fade and is getting ready for a knee replacement and somehow or another I am overly concerned.

so my tally is 1 book, 334 pages, 2 cups of tea and 1 walk - time to start book number 2 "Dr. Ebenezer's Book and Liquor Store" by Gerald Rosen (I've read it before but haven't touched it in a long time)

I'm not bothering with the challenge because everyone else has posted the correct answers to the first lines - I sort of expected/hoped to see "Mother died today or was it yesterday" but alas, it was not to be.

Hour 8

this is a pretty easy challenge and I will get it out of the way so that I can finish my book


Jessica at the Curious Reader wants to know stuff about our local library. This is great because as we all know, this is National Library Week. Rather than answer about the library where I work, I think I'll talk about the library that I use.


1. What is the name of your local library? What city is it located in?
I go to the Blair-Caldwell branch of the Denver Public Library. A pic is posted in my walk post..

2. How often do you go to the library? If you're a regular, do the staff know you?

Lately I have been going there almost daily. I am on a movie and book marathon before leaving the country and I can order what I want online and it gets to the branch which is right by the light rail station that I use almost every day. The staff may not know my name but we chat about my selections in music and movies

NOW I MUST FINISH READING MY BOOK!!!!

3. Do you browse while you're there or just pick up items you have placed on reserve?

It is a fairly small branch that is always crowded. I browse for music and movies and then am always surprised that something I requested has arrived when I go to check everything out.

4. What is your favorite thing about your local library?

It is a clean, well-lit building that houses an incredible research collection and assorted community rooms. It really is the heart of the Five Points neighborhood. I love my library even when the bums outside give me a hard time.

Hour 7

so here I am, up to my knees in tears having finished Chapter 30 of Grogan's book (this is the chapter in which he describes the box he built for his father) when I remember that another hour has passed and there must be a new challenge - of course!! now we have to talk a walk and take pics and post them on our blogs - yikes!!! it's already quarter after so I dashed out the door with my camera and umbrella and did the literary tour of Fiona's neighborhood (at least what you can see in 3 square blocks)

First off, it snowed in Denver yesterday and now it has turned to rain - the great big piles of white fluffy stuff are turning into soggy mush. So please bear with me. I will do some initial posting, make the link necessary and then come back and finish the post.

The first pic is facing West from my front porch. If it wasn't raining you would see the Rocky Mountains.




Next I am facing East across a vacant lot - I just wanted to show the snow





Going East another block I am seeing the famous Sonny Lawson ballfield, made famous by Jack Kerouac who spent a lot of time in this neighborhood. Two days ago this park was full of springtime softball and lots of bums - I forgot to mention this would be the Kerouac Literary Tour of my neighborhood

Turning North along Welton Street I had to show you my favorite haunt, the Blair Caldwell branch of the Denver Public Library - everyone should have a fabulous library within walking distance of their home.



Continuing North a couple of blocks I wanted to capture the heart of the Five Points neighborhood and favorite Jazz haunt of Mr. Kerouac, the famous Rossonian Hotel and bar.



At this point I figured I was running out of time so I headed West towards Curtis Street, turned South and hit the Puritan Pie Company that Neal Cassady wrote about. Neil and Jack spent a lot of hours hanging around here.


Across the street is the site of Neal's boyhood home, now an ultramodern collection of lofts.


And then looking back across the street you have the building where Neal's father had a barber shop.


Later I'll add pics of some of the other Kerouac haunts in Denver.

Hour 6

this hour's mini-challenge involves creating a comic that has something to do with the readathon. Well that counts me out as I lack the artistic gene. Instead I will post a link to one of my favorite comics, Unshelved, the most recent of which seems appropriate for today

Hour 5

well the challenge this hour had to do with posting Youtube videos of something funny - I couldn't resist adding the first episode of Black Books

ok - back to Grogan

Hour 4

This hour the challenge was to visit three blogs and post comments. If you want to see my comments cruise by the following blogs

Rhinoa
Anna
Lissa

manga - eccentrics - knitters - quite the eclectic crew we have here

I'm on my second cup of tea and loving Grogan's tale of growing up in a Catholic family in the sixties and seventies - I am about to embark on his college years - for those of us who lived through similar times it is a sheer pleasure to know that somebody remembers what it was really like

Hour 3

I lied - I couldn't get the challenge out of my head so I picked up one o my favorite books that I haven't visited in some time, Dr. Ebenezer's Book and Liquor Store by Gerald Rosen.

Here is the blurb:

Dr. Ebenezer's Book and Liquor store is a touching and wonderful comic novel about the search for love and purpose in trying times. Dr. Ebenezer, a disillusioned nuclear scientist, gives up his family and career and embarks on a quest for truth in the back streets of San Francisco, a world of unorthodox ideas and unconventional sex. His unique emporium, a combination book and liquor store, provides a haven for people in search of knowledge and comfort. Odd characters drift in and out of his store and his life - a showgirl turned poet, a one-legged hippie alcoholic, a Japanese-American waitress trying to reconcile her Western upbringing and her Oriental heritage, a mad biologist fired from his teaching job for biting a student.

and now my tableau



I'm going to add that I took a look at the next challenge and have to say that I didn't recognize any book from the cover clips - I need to read more books!!

Hour 2

Well I got some more reading done but I was distracted by the Hour 2 challenege which was to create a tableau for one of the books in my pile - every technology failure that one can imagine has taken place so I think I will skip this one - back to Grogan

Hour 1

I'm starting with John Grogan's (Marley & Me) bio "the Longest Trip Home". I've been putting this off but we are reading it for our book club next week.

Where are you reading from today?
I'm in Denver. Right now it's very early, snowing outside and I'm in bed reading while listening to NPR - I love Saturday mornings

three facts about me
I'm a librarian
I've been a bookseller
I've also been a pizza delivery expert

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
I don't have a specific number but I have an apartment full of unread books

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
no specific goals because I have never done this before

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?
I'm a newbie so I don't know

Dewey's Read-A-Thon

A snowstorm gives one a lot of time to stay indoors and curl up with a good book..or several good books. Tomorrow morning (6am MST) the 24 hour read-a-thon starts and everything that I had previously planned to do has been canceled. Guess I have no excuse to ignore that stack of books just waiting to be read. It's not too late to sign up and there are prizes to be won.

CPSIA, Libraries, Testing...I'm so sick of this

A wonderful blog post from a part-time librarian about the costs of testing, even in light of the post-1985 ruling

Total library inventory: 34,668
Total est. juvenile inventory: 10, 601
Percentage of juvenile inventory: 31%

Estimate of inventory pre-1985: 75% or 7951 units

Now if we have to test pre-1985 inventory at $500/book: $3,975,375

please read her entire eloquent post - I just even more depressed now

Gee...another Friday another CPSIA PR piece

ok I admit it, I was busy having fun this weekend and didn't look around hard enough for the late breaking CPSIA news on Friday. Seems those fun guys over at CPSC have issued rules that

will not impose penalties on manufacturers, distributors or importers of children’s products made with natural products, some children’s books, and dyed or undyed textiles used for children’s apparel under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

The CPSIA limits for lead and certain phthalate compounds in children’s products take effect Tuesday. Retailers must not sell items intended for children under 12 that contain more than 600 parts per million lead, or more than 0.1 percent phthalates.

Joseph Martyak, CPSC chief of staff, said Feb. 6 that the commission decided not to enforce on such products as wood and cotton that rarely contain lead. The commission is still drafting rules covering these items, but decided an enforcement stay was a common-sense approach.

However, the stay does not include articles made of leather, vinyl or polyvinylchloride (PVC), including zippers or metallic thread. The stay is limited to books published after 1985, since printing inks bearing lead were banned that year.

So do libraries have to remove all children's books published prior to 1985 or not? And since enforcement is really in the hands of the State AG's, there is nothing to stop them from going forth with prosecutions. AARRGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

If it's Friday after hours it must be time for late-breaking news from CPSC

Everyone should know by now that news that you want to bury should be released late on a Friday afternoon and our friends at the CPSC didn't let us down. Today they announced a one year stay of testing related to CPSIA but they really didn't let anyone off the hook. They make it clear that they expect retailers to comply with the law but basically they won't require testing until the mess can be sorted out.

ALA is reporting that an announcement will be made on Monday regarding libraries but they have no indication that a blanket exemption for books will be made.

The fight goes on...the issue is still very much alive ... I'm tired

Today's CPSIA News Round-up

CNN has a story on CPSIA and Libraries

"While we understand the process the CPSC must carry out in order to ensure this law is properly enforced and that the safety of our nation's children is protected, we believe the commission is wasting time and resources by zeroing in on book publishers and libraries," Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association Washington office, said.

Publisher's Weekly is carrying a summary on the request for exemption for books

The CPSC General Counsel has said the Commission would issue a statement interpreting the impact of the Act on schools and libraries—separate from any statements about books as a whole—possibly in the first week of February. The Act is retroactive, meaning that testing would be mandated for all books on store shelves and in libraries and schools, even if manufactured or shipped prior to February 10.

Cute story from local Fox Affiliate with a little boy who wants his books

Daniel Awerbuck says that he would choose a book over a video game any-day. He often comes to the Monterey Public Library and reads books for hours on end. The library says that the law will affect forty thousand children's books that were checked out over ninety thousand times last year. Library Director Kim Bui-Burton say it would be a huge loss to the community and children.

An interesting take on CPSIA and print-on-demand industry

We are a book publisher who thanks to your newsletters have become aware of the benefits of using print-on-demand when introducing new titles or reprinting slower selling titles. Since most of our titles are for children the CPSIA legislation will make it impossible to use print-on-demand for books designed for children 12 and under. At that time third-party testing of at least one book from each and every print run is mandatory. The cost ranges from $120 and up. Your articles project large increases in digital print. How will the loss of the children’s book market affect digital print companies? Are digital printers looking at ways to address this problem?

I could go on and on but quite frankly I need to get some lunch and digest all of this