Picture Books that (Might) Make You Laugh and the 100,000th Little Free Library is Installed

 

I've read over 200 picture books so far this year. I'm a judge for Fiction Picture Books again for the Cybils Awards, and most of the books have been in that category. 

You'd think that picture books might lose their charm with me, but, no, I'm always amazed to find another wonderful story. And a goodly portion of the wonderful stories this year have been stories that make me laugh. 

Here are some picture books with a bit of fun that I've read this year.

Friday Night Wrestlefest by J. F. Fox

A Book for Escargot by Dashka Slater

Animals Brag About Their Bottoms by Mai Saito

The Button Book by Sally Nicholls

Soaked! by Abi Cushman

We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison

Everyone's Awake by Colin Meloy

No Fuzzball! by Isabella Kung

Snail Crossing by Corey R. Tabor

The True Story of Zippy Chippy: The Little Horse That Couldn't by Artie Bennett

Mootilda's Bad Mood by Corey Rosen Schwartz, Kirsti Call, and Claudia Ranucci

Have you read any of these?

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...85% read

Devotions by Mary Oliver...85% read

How to Draw Your Beautiful Ordinary Life...70% read

I finished my 28th Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon this weekend.

I read for 16 hours.

I finished 23 picture books.

I participated in 5 mini-challenges.

I visited 15 blogs.

Good Thing #1:

I'm on the front page of the newspaper this week.

Some of us from our naturalist group planted trees at the county park.

Good Thing #2:

Our book club met outdoors to discuss 

the Gulf Coast Reads book, Gods of Jade and Shadow.

Good Thing #3:

The 100,000th Little Free Library has been installed.

LFL #100,000 stands at 

the Association for the Advancement of Mexican-Americans in Houston.

Little Free Libraries will share 36 million books this year.

(My LFL, if you are curious, is #2924.)

How are you doing?

Please share any good book recommendations you might have for me.

I'm happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.

It's Time for Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon: Pandemic Version

 

PRE-READATHON PREP

It's time for Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon. Have you read-a-thon-ed with us in the past? Or is this your first time? Either way, I'm glad you are joining in. 

This is my 28th time to try to read for 24-hours straight. How many times have I read for all 24-hours? you may ask. One time. Exactly one time. Yes, I do love to read, but I also love my sleepy time.

It's about twelve hours before start time, and I'm prepping for the 'Thon. How do I prep? 

I've got a huge stack of Cybils-nominated books. Plus a few extras. And an audiobook. 

Do you think I have enough books?

List of Readathon readers. I like to stop by and say hi.

Here's the Books Read Database.

I've found some yummy snacks. 

BINGO board is ready. Get your own copy here.

I've got this post all set up for the 24-hours. I've banned interruptions amap.* 

HOUR 1-3

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Alvin, Texas.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Old Rock (Is Not Boring)
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Coffee. And oranges. 
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! Reader, blogger, (retired) librarian.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? It's my 28th readathon. I plan to do exactly what I always do...read and blog. Good luck, everyone!

Books read? 

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

Like the Moon Loves the Sky by Hena Khan

Home Base: A Mother-Daughter Story by Nikki Tate

I Promise by LeBron James

How Long is Forever? by Kelly Carey

Every Little Letter by Deborah Underwood

Snacks eaten?

Coffee. Blueberry yogurt.

Blogs visited?

Bonnie's Books

True Book Addict

Jenn's Bookshelves

Falconer's Library

Joystory

I also knocked on some other doors, but no one was home. 

Still sleeping, I guess. 

I'll try again later.

HOUR 4-5

Poetry Writing Class on Zoom.

HOUR 6-7-8-9-10

Books read?

Superluminous by Ian De Haes

Tiara's Hat Parade by Kelly Starling Lyons

A Whale of a Mistake by Ioana Hobai

The Haunted Lake by P. J. Lynch

Feliz New Year, Ava Gabriela! by Alexandra Alessandri

Evie's Field Day: More Than One Way to Win by Claire Annette Noland

A Stopwatch from Grampa by Loretta Garbutt

Mars' First Friends: Come On Over, Rovers! by Susanna Leonard Hill and Elisa Paganelli

Down Under the Pier by Nell Cross Beckerman

Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale With a Tail by Leslea Newman

The Blunders: A Counting Catastrophe by Christina Soontornvat

Kid Coach by Rob Justus

Ronan the Librarian by Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie

A Family for Louie by Alexandra Thompson

Love is Powerful by Heather Dean Brewer

Snacks eaten?

Yet more coffee.

Hot & Spicy Crackers

Hershey's bar

Blogs visited?

Silencing the Bell

Library Chicken

Bibliographic Manifestations

Amy Henchey

Fortified by Books

Mini-Challenges?

Spell Your Name With Books

HOURS 11-12-13

Books read?

Awestruck: How Embracing Wonder Can Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Connected (pp. 1-65)

Snacks eaten?

Pizza. It's supper time.

Blogs visited?

Once Upon a Chapter

astireadathon

Jenn and the Cats

Maggie Hemlock Books

Reading, Writing, and Random Musings

Mini-challenges?

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? Awestruck.
2. How many books have you read so far? 21 books.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Really, nothing but the sound of chainsaws trimming our trees.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? It's been a quiet and peaceful day.

HOURS 14-15-16

Books read?

Awestruck: How Embracing Wonder Can Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Connected (finished)

Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang

Snacks eaten?

Water

Blogs visited?

Nancy's Bluebonnet Reading Highway

Carol's Notebook

The Unapologetic Bookworm

Richard's Readings

TAwrites

HOURS 17-18-19-20-21-22

HOURS 23-24

BINGO!

Closing Survey!

1. What hour was most daunting? I always get sleepy after 9.
2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read! 23. See above.
3. What was your favorite snack? That Hershey bar.
4. What was your favorite facet of the day? Getting all those Cybils read.
5. Wanna volunteer for our next event? Of course!

*As much as possible. I will be taking off two hours to attend my poetry writing class midday. And sleeping when I can't stay awake anymore.

Books You Recommended to Me that I Would Like to Recommend to You: The Pandemic Edition

I am not myself.

I don't know how you are doing but I suspect you are probably a lot like me. With all the insanity going on around us (I don't even need to name it all, do I?) there are some days I can barely function.

I've had some books recommended to me that have helped. Really helped. Helped a lot.

Here are some books you recommended to me during the pandemic that I would now like to recommend to you.

The Readers' Room by Antoine Laurain

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

A Bad Birdwatcher's Companion by Simon Barnes

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Wildlives: 50 Extraordinary Animals that Made History by Ben Lerwill

Weather by Jenny Offill

You Matter by Christian Robinson

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style

Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Discussions

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Thank you for your recommendation. Have you read any good books during the pandemic that you'd recommend? Please share them in the comments.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

Voting and Planting Trees and The Twilight of Democracy

 

We had temperatures in the 90s most days last week (hot!), but a cool front pushed through on Friday...we look forward to a weekend in the 80s.  

Three excellent reads, all timely, all somewhat bleak: Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum; Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen: A Novel by Sarah Bird; and Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney. 

I've been listening to The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See by Richard Rohr. So far, I've listened to the whole book twice, and I've started it again for the third time. Powerful stuff. 

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...85% read

Devotions by Mary Oliver...85% read

How to Draw Your Beautiful Ordinary Life...63% read

Authors Julia Alvarez and Sigrid Nunez spoke at Inprint this week. Two wise women. 

I wrote posts:

Super Long Book Titles

Cookbook: Secrets of Great Second Meals

We did lots of Texas Master Naturalist work last week. We collected data for the Pollinator Citizen Science Project. We attended the Texas Master Naturalist State Convention, held on WebEx. And we planted trees at the nearby county park. 

1. Mail-in ballots are only allowed in Texas for a few reasons, and masks are not required in the voting booths. I had no other choice; I took a deep breath and got in line and voted in person on the first day of early voting. 

2. My Christian meditation class.

3. Pecans from our backyard.

I'm happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.

Cookbook: Secrets of Great Second Meals: Flexible Modern Recipes that Value Time and Limit Waste

What might I be called? Some would say thrifty. Others might call me economical. I've even been called cheap (in a good way, I think). 

All of these are true. I know how to live big on very little.

Secrets of Great Second Meals is perfect for someone like me. 

Look at the opening paragraph of the book: 

"Hey, have you checked your refrigerator today? Are there any enticing offerings chilling in there? Some rice from takeout the other night? Maybe a few chunks of rotisserie chicken? Or half a bundle of herbs you bought a few days ago and need to use soon? That stuff is golden: those odds and ends are the seeds of your next glorious meal."

I like this, too: 

"I take uncommon delight in putting together memorable meals out of the morsels in my refrigerator: it's creative work with just a hint of virtue embedded in it."

Some important ideas author Sara Dickerman shares: the secrets of great first meals; how to reanimate (her word) stored food; and when to throw things out.

Here are some facts I learned:

1. The number-one source of leftover chicken in the country is probably supermarket rotisserie chicken. But it's easy to make something similar for your own leftover chicken.

2. Always throw fruit that's on the brink of over-ripeness into the freezer---especially bananas.

3. Look this one up if you often have bits and pieces of leftover cheese: fromage fort.

4. Cook in batches large enough for a future meal, and then recombine them in a different manner for a different meal. Cook simply the first time and add complexity later.

5. A dozen eggs in the house is the best possible setup for a delicious second meal.

6. How do you make something out of nothing? The author shares egg moves, soup moves, salad moves, and carb (bread, tortillas, pasta, rice, or potatoes) moves. 

7. The author notes that she tries to "rethink the classic casserole mentality." For example, "no canned soup was injured in the making of this cookbook."

Okay, but what about recipes, I can hear you ask. Does this cookbook have recipes? Judge for yourself:

Black Bean Tacos with Mushrooms and Scissor Salsa

Meatball Frittata with Mozzarella and Tomatoes

Mustard-Kissed Chard and Gruyère Galette

I love to read cookbooks that inspire my creativity like this one. 

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Super Long Book Titles

In the past, I have noted The Wackiest Titles of Books as well as Odd Book Titles.

Let's see what super long book titles I can find. 

The prize goes to nonfiction books. Apparently nonfiction authors can ramble.

A Beginner's Guide to Paradise: 9 Steps to Giving Up Everything So You Too Can: Move to a South Pacific Island, Wear a Loincloth, Read a Hundred Books, Diaper a Baby Monkey, Build a Bungalow, and Maybe, Just Maybe, Fall in Love

Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems

Why Do Men Have Nipples?: Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini

A Working Stiff's Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember

Somewhere in America: Under the Radar With Chicken Warriors, Left-Wing Patriots, Angry Nudists, and Others

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

We also see some authors of fiction who are not concise.

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Especially old authors of fiction. Daniel Defoe was, apparently, one who loved long book titles.

The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrate by Daniel Defoe

The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu’d Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Years a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her brother) Twelve Years a Thief, Eight Years a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv’d Honest and died a Penitent by Daniel Defoe

Children's book authors seem to have forgotten how short that space is under TITLE on your book log.

Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerd

Hank the Cowdog: The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse

My Mama Says There Aren't Any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins, or Things

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

This might be the longest book title I found:

A Reviving Cordial for a Sin-Sick Despairing Soul, in the Time of Temptation, Being an Account of the Miraculous Preservation of the Author's Bodily Life from Many Imminent Dangers; and Of the Way in Which the Spirit of God Effected (sic) the Deliverance of His Soul from the State of Nature to the State of Grace to Which is Subjoined, the Only Refuge of a Troubled Soul in the Time of Tribulation and Affliction; or the Mystery of the Apple-Tree, Explained and Laid Open, in Two Discourses from Cant. ii. 3. 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.