Book Beginnings ~ The Story by Maraniss

Oh Happy Thursday! Got a UPS delivery that made me wanna shout with joy to the world! My order arrived from Amazon containing two hardback books that I know I want to keep in my library. Am I unfaithful to my Nook Reader? No, we can all get along. So, I have started Barack Obama The Story by David Maraniss. I love reading Maraniss, a historian whose writing reminds me of James Michener--another favorite. No detail is left unturned---uh, kind of like a stone. oh well. So I am beginning with The Story and citing it below for "Book Beginnings on Friday" hosted at www.rosecityreader.com

"Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name."


"On Thanksgiving morning in 1926, the Dunhams set out from their home in Topeka, traveling down U.S. Route 75 on a forty-five-mile ride through autumn countryside. Five people were in the car: the parents, Ralph and Ruth Armour Dunham; their two young sons, Ralph Jr. and Stanley; and Ralph Sr.'s brother, Earl, who worked with him at an auto garage."


And me, the reader is in the car also, wondering how this forty-five-mile trip is going to lead me into President Obama's life story. And, thus far, the ride is fascinating. 

Saturday Snap ~ Glass Sculpture

This magnificent sculpture hangs in the Visitors Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Artist Dale Chihuly created it with 928 blue and clear glass spirals and goose neck shapes. It weighs 2300 pounds and is six-feet wide and 20+ feet in length. It is absolutely spectacular to view with the light glinting off the glass shapes. For more information visit http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/media/fact-pages/ridgway-visitor-center.aspx 

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot, post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post at http://athomewithbooks.net/2012/06/saturday-snapshot-june-23/

Saturday Snapshot ~ Lantern Festival

This magnificent dragon greeted us at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis when my DH and I went to see the Lantern Moon Festival. We rode the tram through the gardens enjoying grand, colorful  displays.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post at  http://athomewithbooks.net/2012/06/saturday-snapshot-june-16/

Yarn Along ~ Shiprock Bears

Our church is gathering supplies for the Covenant Education Center day care/elementary serving infants through fifth grade children in Shiprock, NM, in the Four Corners area. I decided to use some stash to make little bears for the children. The pattern is clever, quick, and simple! Sign me up! I can make a pile of these to send although I only have a pile of three at the moment.

As I created a little eight-row leg on six stitches, I read The Book Lover by Mary McFadden, an enchanting story about two "bookie" women and their lives. The author and the independent book seller cross paths and the book flows wonderfully from there. A major storyline is the demise of small bookstores and the perils in pursuit of becoming a published author. It intertwines in beautiful settings and is a delightful read.

Meanwhile, on the crochet front, after you've made two legs, crochet across both and, wham!, you're working on the body. OK?  Stay with me here. The remainder is made in one piece by increasing for arms, decreasing back, doing the head and so on.


To finish, you fold the little creature in half, sew or crochet around, leaving an open space for stuffing. Turn the bear inside-out, stuff, and close. Add a tightly tied bow to define the head and embroider the face. Finish in about two hours.

 Since I want these to be machine washable, I am stuffing them with yarn. My neighbor brought a couple bags of very old, questionable yarn in a variety of types and colors. Her sister in Chicago gave the yarn to her after collecting it from garage sales. So, you get the idea. I'm glad to be able to use it as stuffing in making these little bears for the children. The free pattern is "Becky's Bear" at http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/beckysbear.html

It's Wednesday! What are you reading? What are you knitting?

Join in at Yarn Along and let us all know!

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Teaser Tuesday ~ The Seduction of Water

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!     http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/

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"I notice Hedda's lifted eyebrow and realize I've just let her know that I've had contact with Aidan, but I go on nonetheless. I have a feeling she's the last person who'd go to the police right now."
---from The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman

 
This book is such a good story with interesting bits from several genres that add to the complexity of the plot as well as to the pleasure of reading.

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Saturday Snap ~ A Mountain Greenery

 This little building sets near a landscaping business southeast of Steamboat Springs. Isn't it an inviting, fairy-like abode? Note the plants on the roof. I spent the week in Steamboat with my sons and their families and felt a bit sad about all of us going our separate ways. This vision cheered me.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post at  http://athomewithbooks.net/2012/06/saturday-snapshot-june-9/

From The Book Lover by Maryanne McFadden

http://www.rosecityreader.com/
"...share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires...."

:::::::

"She slipped out of bed while her husband slept, careful not to wake him. She'd hidden the letter in a stack of coupons and circulars in the basket on the counter, where she knew David would never look." 

---From The Book Lover by Maryann McFadden

My initial impression was curiosity about this marriage because of the wife's sneaky behavior. This is not a novel about marriage, but about the book world. I am reading slowly so that I can thoroughly enjoy this story of books and two "bookie" women.



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http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/2012/05/friday-56_17.html

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.

" She got up and went to the bathroom, her legs trembling so badly that her feet danced on the cold tile floor as she sat...."

---From The Book Lover by Maryann McFadden

 

Secondary ~ Booking Through Thursday

https://btt2.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/secondly/#comment-25266

Favorite secondary characters? (Note the plural) Click the image to link to the responses.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Among my faves is Louise Penny's "cast" of characters in her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series:

• artists, Clara and Peter
•  Reine Marie Gamache
• inspector, Jean-Guy Beauvoir

are but a few of the secondary, engaging characters who inhabit the environs of Three Pines, a quaint Canadian village. Penny writes deeply psychological portraits of the featured characters in each book. Humor coexists with fear as secrets are revealed and a murder is, ever so cleverly, resolved.