Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from my little Frankenstein!

Yes, I know Frankenstein monster costumes are
inaccurate literature-wise.
No, I don't care. Isn't he cute? :)

Fascinated by all the other kids at our library's
Halloween parade

A few of the costumes might have been a little scary...

We carved a pumpkin last night and today we'll be greeting trick-or-treaters, watching Hocus Pocus, and hanging out with our little monster. Have a great day everyone!

So this happened yesterday...

I've been reading to my son practically since he was born. He has no idea what I'm talking about yet, but I still love doing it and I think it's important. Over these past six months, he started grabbing for the pages and little by little he seems to (maybe?) be actually looking at them -- or at least the colors and the motion as I flip them.

When he was a teeny tiny newborn I used to hold him while reading, but he's been so wiggly the past few months, we started lying on the floor so I could hold the book above us and let him move around. Last night was the first time he really sat with me in my comfy reading chair and the pictures my husband snapped make this bookish mom's heart happy, so I had to share :)

We've (OK, I've...) been on a Halloween book kick, so here we are reading The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree he got from his Godmom. I must admit I feel like a kid again myself rediscovering picture books. I know they are not every adult's cup of tea, but I just love these stories, even though they are aimed at audiences 25+ years my junior. Maybe I'll change my tune when my son gets old enough to ask me to read the same book for the thousandth time, but for now I'm exploring a whole world of stories I've barely touched in a few decades and it's just plain fun! :)

Baby Books to Make a New Mom Cry, Part 2

Back in May, I shared some of my favorite baby books -- the ones that were getting me all choked up as a brand new mom. I've found a few more since then that I absolutely adore, so thought I'd share this next batch. The waterworks don't turn on quite as easily these days, but I still love some of these more sentimental stories. I'm enjoying them while I can -- before my little guy is big enough to pick what I read to him, that is!

Baby Love, by Angela DiTerlizzi

When the World Was Waiting for You, by Gillian Shields

Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You, by Nancy Tillman

Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney

If I Could Keep You Little..., by Marianne Richmond

* * * * *

What are your favorite books to read to the little ones in your life?

A Bookish Decorating Project, #2

A while back, I shared my bookish decorating project for my son's nursery. Before I ever even started working on that one, I had another decorating project in the works for our living room, a.k.a. my "library room." My basic idea was a *collage* of favorite bookish quotes with some bookish artwork/prints mixed in. I already had a bunch of matching frames in different sizes, so I started filling them in one by one based on what fit in best where...

So what's in the collage?

1. Five of my favorite bookish quotes printed out on white cardstock in various fonts:

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you know, the more places you'll go" ― Dr. Seuss

“And every book, you find, has its own social group--friends of its own it wants to introduce you to, like a party in the library that need never, ever end.” ― How to be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran

“I always order the banned books from a black market dealer in California, figuring if the State of Mississippi banned them, they must be good.” ― The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” ― Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J.K. Rowling

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”― C.S. Lewis 

(Note: I have since read the book of essays by C.S. Lewis where I believe this last one is taken from. It seems wherever I first read it had the wording a bit off, but I'm leaving it for now. The message is the same regardless!)

2. Two illustrated quotes printed from Goodreads' monthly newsletter:

"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." ― Jorge Luis Borges

"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" ― J.K. Rowling

3. A copy of my UK Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone cover.

4. An illustrated postcard of The Elephant House, the cafe I visited in Edinburgh, Scotland where J.K. Rowling wrote parts of Harry Potter.

5. A print that came with my collector's edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Here's what my reading corner looks like :)

As you can tell, it's a bit Harry Potter-heavy :)

Has anyone else ever tried any bookish decorating projects? I'd love to hear about them!

Baby Books to Make a New Mom Cry

Now, I don't actually mean that in a bad way. Some of my favorite baby books so far have been the sweet, sentimental ones. And thanks to the postpartum hormones (WAY crazier than the pregnancy hormones, in my experience anyway!) my eyes were rather leaky while reading them to my little man. Whether I was outright bawling, just getting a little misty-eyed, or something in between is directly related to how far removed I was from delivery when I read them. Proceed with caution if you're trying not to trigger the waterworks (is such a thing even possible?!), but I highly recommend all of these wonderful books for any little one's library.

I Love You Because You're You 

by Liza Baker, illustrated by David McPhail

I Love You as Big as the World

by David Van Buren, illustrated by Tim Warnes

Love You Forever

by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sheila McGraw

On the Night You Were Born

by Nancy Tillman

Bunny Roo, I Love You

by Melissa Marr, illustrated by Teagan White

The Runaway Bunny

by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd

Corduroy

by Don Freeman

A Bookish Decorating Project for the Nursery

I can't believe my son is 3 weeks old already! I know that is not really a lot of time, but it just feels like it's flying by already. As my due date approached last month, I kept myself busy with projects around the house and I had some serious nesting going on. One of my favorite projects was decorating the nursery. I knew from the beginning I didn't really want to do a "theme" where we bought perfectly coordinated sets from a baby store, but I definitely wanted to add some bookishness to his room.

I mentioned a while back that I wanted to do this wall art project and frame pages from favorite childhood books of mine and my husband's. But in the end, I had a really hard time tracking down the books my husband remembers and I truthfully couldn't come up with a favorite of my own -- I remember loving story-time with my parents, but there wasn't any one book that stood out in my memory. So, since an unofficial animal theme seemed to be forming anyway after we chose the bumpers for his crib, a lamp for the room, and received an adorable bookcase at our baby shower, I decided to go with three different children's books/series that feature animals: Make Way for Ducklings, Humphrey the elephant, and Paddington Bear:

Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey

Humphrey books, by Sally Hunter

Paddington Bear books, by Michael Bond
(Top two frames)

Paddington Bear books, by Michael Bond
(Bottom two frames)

I am thrilled with how this project came out and it really was very simple. I already had the frames because I got a great deal on packaged sets back when I first started hanging pictures around our house and still had a bunch leftover. This nursery project actually filled up the remaining frames I had, so that was a few less piles of "stuff" laying around our house which is always good! Then all I had to do was buy extra copies (some new, some used) of books I already bought for the baby and knew had artwork I loved and would fit in the frames. I tore out the pages I needed, trimmed them to size, framed them (some with mats, some without), and hung them up.

My Dad was quite impressed with the project and had me send him these pictures so he could show them off (in addition to baby pictures of course -- he's afraid the people at his office are going to start avoiding him!) I highly recommend this project for any book lover looking for easy DIY wall art for a baby's room -- or any room! And the best part is that you get to go book shopping first :)

Where I Disappeared To...

I can't even count how many times I said to myself, "OK, today I will post a baby update..." and it just didn't happen. Someone so small sure keeps me busy! So here I am, finally sharing the happy news of our little man's arrival:

Our first day home -- my favorite picture of us :)

I actually went into labor at 3AM on my due date -- of course I didn't really think it was the real thing at the time, but as the night wore on, it became clear that it was indeed "baby time" as my husband liked to call it. He wasn't born until the morning after my due date, but everything went rather smoothly as far as giving birth goes, so I won't complain. My recovery hasn't been nearly as bad as I feared it would be, but having a newborn has definitely been an huge adjustment -- a wonderful one, but not always easy.

I had a week with both my mom and husband home with us followed by another week with my mom when my husband went back to work. This is my first week home alone with the baby -- I will admit I was really nervous, but we are doing well so far. He's a pretty happy baby unless he is wet or hungry and he loves to snuggle. I already can't picture my life without this little one and we just love him to pieces :)

What I've Been Up to Lately + Some News!

Anyone who has been gracious enough to read this blog regularly has probably noticed I've been a bit MIA lately. I was never one to stick to a schedule or post every day, but one post each for the months of September and October is pretty light, even for me. I've missed blogging, but I also must admit I've really liked the freedom not blogging has given my reading (re-reading! chunksters! no review books!) And as much as I like writing, I don't particularly like how much time it takes me to write posts I am proud of and willing to share. Being on a bit of an unplanned, unofficial hiatus has helped me read more books this year than ever before in my life (unless you count my middle school years when I could inhale several Nancy Drew mysteries in a weekend, but I wasn't keeping track then!)

I know that most of the pressures associated with blogging are self-imposed and I can let go of those pressures and still blog if I want to, but I'm honestly not sure if I do want to. That is something I am still thinking about, so this isn't actually a goodbye post -- not yet anyway! There have a been a lot of things happening in my personal life that have bumped blogging to the bottom of my priority list and I am happy to say these have all been good things, they've just given me a different perspective and changed my focus -- #1 on the list being:

Yep, we're having a baby! I'm due in April and have so far been one of those lucky b*tches who hasn't been nauseous or throwing up for the first trimester. We've been telling people in stages and I must say, it's been the best part of this whole experience so far. For both sides of the family, this will be the first grandchild and also the third great-grandchild for each of our grandmothers so there has been a lot of excitement and distraction these past few weeks (months actually!)

If I really look at my life lately, trying to maintain the healthier habits I started before getting pregnant, sleeping more because I've been so damn tired, and also carving out more reading time have been taking up the time I used to spend blogging -- I can't say I regret any of that even one tiny bit though. I have to enjoy the sleep while I still can, right?

I know many moms continue blogging as their creative outlet, I'm just not sure yet if that will be the right thing for me. I love the community and I've still been reading many of my favorite blogs, but quite a few of the bookish gals who started around the same time as me have also cut back or gone on breaks, so it's been easier to let go than I ever imagined it would. I plan to keep this space open and post if and when the mood strikes, but I'm not going to make any grand promises. Inspiration hasn't been striking lately, but can't say for sure that it's gone for good. I'd love to do a round-up post of the bazillion books I've been reading over the past few months, but the list keeps growing so it does feel a bit daunting. I will most definitely still be around on GoodReads though no matter what happens here!

I am grateful for all the lovely people who've visited this space over the past few years and the bookish internet friends I've made -- it was hard to keep this news a secret for so long (especially when a few people were wondering where the heck I disappeared to!), but I'm glad I am now able to share it. I hope you have all been well in my absence and thanks for listening to my rambling today :)

Judging a Book By Its Cover: Classic Holiday Editions

I admit it, I'm a total sucker for cover design. I've come to realize I have a particular soft spot for special editions of classics. I am occasionally disappointed to remember I already own an earlier edition of a particular book when I see some dazzling new version is being released. The rate at which I have accumulated classics far outpaces my reading of said classics, but I think I can live with that. They are just so darn pretty on my shelves! And they remind me of the infinite possibility still awaiting me in the form of books yet to be discovered for the first time. (How's that for a glass-half-full explanation of my bulging TBR shelves?!?)

Anyway, this morning I found out about the beautiful new Penguin Christmas Classics thanks to an announcement on their Facebook page and it was love at first sight -- I want all of them!

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

The Nutcracker, by E.T.A. Hoffmann

A Merry Christmas & Other Stories, by Louisa May Alcott

The Night Before Christmas, by Nickolai Gogol

Christmas at Thompson Hall & Other Christmas Stories, 

by Anthony Trollope

I am not the kind of person who likes to rush the holidays. I don't like to skip over Halloween and Thanksgiving in a hurry to get to Christmas, but I have to say I'm glad I found out about these now. Now I have some time before December rolls around and I am ready for all things Christmas to decide if I want to add them to my collection. Wouldn't these make a fabulous bookish Christmas gift?!

* * * * *

But to get a little more in line with the current date on the calendar, I thought I would also mention some other Penguin Classics I've been pining over: the Penguin Horror Collection -- perfect for Halloween!

American Supernatural Tales, edited by S.J. Toji 

& Guillermo del Toro

The Raven: Tales & Poems, by Edgar Allan Poe

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories, by Ray Russell

The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories, 

by H.P. Lovecraft

I currently have American Supernatural Tales borrowed from the library, but am sorely tempted to pick up a copy of Frankenstein which I don't have and would like to re-read. And maybe a few of the others too, though I'm not as much of a fan of the last two listed here, from a strictly visual perspective.

So, I'm curious -- does anyone else have a particular line of classics they love? I am partial to Penguin in general (Threads and Clothbound and Drop Cap, oh my!) but there are so many other fabulous ones out there -- which ones are your favorites?

NOTE: This is not a sponsored post, I just really like these editions! I couldn't resist talking about these books after I found out about them :)

Re-Reading Harry Potter: The Sorcerer's Stone

I'm so glad I decided to re-read this series! This is at least the fourth time I have read the first book -- there was the first time, the time I re-read it for a college class, and the time I re-read it right before my wedding (comfort reading to escape the wedding-planning-craziness? Yes, I do think so.) There may have been an extra time or two I don't specifically recall though, it's gotten hard to keep track!

I've read a lot more widely since I first discovered these books, so I'm always a bit afraid they won't live up to my memory of them. But I'm happy to report those fears were completely unfounded. The first book was just as magical and wonderful as I remember even as more years have passed and I've gotten older. For me, when a story stands up to so many re-reads, that is the mark of a great book and a true favorite. There's not too much else I can say that hasn't been said before, so I thought I would share a few of my favorite quotes.

* * * * *

The line that started it all...

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” 

The wisdom of Albus Dumbledore...

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

“The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”

“As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.” 

“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” 

And a couple of bookish quotes from my girl Hermione...

“Oh, HONESTLY, don't you two read?”

She was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms. “I never thought to look in here!” she whispered excitedly. “I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading.” “Light?” said Ron.”