Po(sey) Sessions

Each month I will be giving special attention to a young adult author and read as many of their books as I can manage.  This month’s pick is Kate DiCamillo.  This multiple award winning author is known for her simple and easy to read stories.  While her books are available to young readers they have enough depth to delight grown readers as well.  There is something about her stories that is ready made for sharing between generations. One of my pet peeves is something I call The Great Divide.  In elementary school reading is all fun and games and in high school it is all vocabulary words and literature tests.  One of my personal passions is seeing the divide bridged by exposing kids to literature at a younger age and keeping fun in the classroom at an older age. DiCamillo’s writing seems to achieve this. DiCamillo’s youth played a significant roll in her future as a writer.  She was a voracious reader with a deep, vivid imagination.  And this c...

I usually don’t do Resolutions.  There is part of me that finds them quite pointless.  I like the renewing effect that facing a new year creates, but we shouldn’t be changing ourselves one day a year. It should be a constant transition to being a better us. That being said, I have created some goals for my reading and blogging.  I have been wanting to create a more balanced reading list in order to expose myself to more genres and authors. And blogging is also great at helping record personal goals and add extra fun into the experience.  So here they are. 1. Any subscriber to my blog would know I am a HUGE fan of young adult literature.  As a result of this passion I have decided to feature a YA author monthly on my blog. My goal is to read as many books of that author as I can get my hands on in the month and also do some interesting features on each author. 2. A few years ago I read Boys and Girls Forever by Alison Lurie. It is a collection of essay...

Author Linda Thieman agreed to stop by and tell us a little bit more about her story and her writing process. This author of Katie and Kimble: A Ghost Story will be joining us again later in the month for an interview and you can expect an upcoming review from me as well. Be sure to leave any questions you might want me to ask in the comments. Linda has put a lot of effort into making her book interactive for kids with coloring pages and other extension materials. Please visit her blog which is link at the end of the post. __________________________________________ Kimble: The Character Development of a Ghost by Linda Thieman In my opinion, one of the most rewarding things about writing the Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story series, or any series by any author, is the ability to create one’s own little world. It’s a world that the writer can keep coming back to again and again to build settings and characters. In the case of the Katie & Kimble chapter book series...

I have seen on various blogs people talking about the books they are getting in the mail . I don’t review (officially) very many books so it is a real treat when I get some books in the mail. I thought it would be fun to celebrate that fact. I have been wanting to put some pictures of my books on the blog for a while, but all I have is a really crappy webcam. So, you are just going to have to suffer. I was lucky enough to have Chelsea send me six books. Chelsea sent me a copy of our January young adult book club pick so that I would be able to participate. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson has a beautiful cover and I am very excited to read it. The chat for this book will be on Dec. 29th. Feel free to contact me for more information or check out Chelsea’s blog . I have been told I will really enjoy this book and now I am trying to decide whether to jump right into it or wait until closer to the chat to read it. I really love talking about books in a g...

Well, it is the last Sunday Salon of 2008. Though I have not participated as much in the latter part of the year, finding this group has been a great experience. I love talking about and sharing experiences with books. Looking back it has been a very successful reading year for me and in part that is because of blogging and fellow book bloggers. Thanks to all of your for sharing your insights and expereinces. I am curious to know how you enjoyed 2008 and what you will be doing in 2009. What was the best book you read in 2008? What are your reading goals for 2009? How has The Sunday Salon impacted your reading experience? Is there one book you read in the past year and enjoyed that you would have never read without the encouragement of your fellow bloggers? What is one of the things that motivates you to read? The best young adult book I read in 2008 was easily Wake , though there were other great young adult books I read, this book had a uniqueness that I really found refreshing. ...