It’s just about dinner time here in Utah, so I wanted to share with you a to die for yummy vegetable side dish which I just gobbled up after making it and my husband begged me to make more just a week later.  In my interview with picture book author Kim Norman, she shared with us roasted vegetables including carrots, potatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes to which I added parsnips and red pepper.  It’s the easiest thing ever.  Basically chop, chop chop, drizzle with olive oil (I used a garlic flavored oil), sprinkle with kosher salt (I didn’t have any) and cook in the oven.

The progress:

This was actually my first time having both parsnips and turnips (I know!) and they were so delicious.  I’ve made this at least twice now and the flavor is unbelievable.  Thank you so much Kim!

So what do you think?  Let me know if you make this one (likely after you’ve recovered from the 24-Hour Read-a-Thon).  Recipe details again.

Links of Interest: Maw Books interview with Kim Norman, Crocodaddy book review (which by the way is nominated for a Cybils),Kim Norman website.

15-year-old Sam has always been defined as the pastor’s daughter.  But not all is well behind closed doors.  Citing the pressures of being a pastor’s wife, Sam’s mother is an alcoholic who after one too many DUI’s is now in treatment.  But it’s not a fact that Sam wants her friends (who often don’t invite her along to less questionable activities – you know – the whole being the pasture’s daughter thing) to know about nor is it something that Sam and her father openly talk about with each other.

It is during this crisis in her family, that her community faces a crisis of its own.  A young girl in the church has mysteriously gone missing and no one is free from suspicion including her own father and the girl’s older brother, whom Sam has always crushed on.  This family and community crisis shakes Sam to her inner-core where she also experiences her own personal crisis – one that questions her faith, hope, and belief in something that is bigger than she is.

Although the events of this beautiful novel are huge – alcoholic parent, missing girl – it is also so quiet.  Sam is a character that feels so real.  Does she really live in those pages?  It can’t be possible.  She’s out there somewhere.  Living.  Breathing.  The questions that she asks herself are ones that any teen struggling to learn to identify who they are in the world will relate too.  Scratch that.  Not just teens.  Heck, even I found myself relating to Sam in my life right now and supposedly I’m supposed to have it all together right now.

Sam asks herself this question:

Do I believe?

I believe just enough that Jody is alive that I think we should keep looking.

I believe just enough in my mom to try to make a garden for her to work on when she gets home.

I believe just enough in my dad that he’ll have an explanation even if that explanation is that he’s only human.

I believe just enough in myself to know that even if I start in a new school I’ll be okay.

I believe just enough in forgiveness that eventually we’ll be a family again.

I believe just enough in God that I’m praying right now that Nick means what he says.

As a side note, I loved that Sam wanted to create the perfect garden for her mother to take care of.  As a gardener myself, I understand how gardening can heal.  How the creation of something can bring one hope.  When I garden, I’m basically telling myself that I’ll be around to reap the benefits of my work.  I have faith and hope in the plants and my ability to bring forth something that will bloom into something beautiful for me to enjoy later.  Gardening is an activity that while is enjoyable in the moment is one that is always looking to the future.  Sam wants to create a xeriscape garden:  a garden which can thrive on very little care.  Which I can’t help but think is how Sam thinks of herself, her mother, and her family.

Sara Zarr lives locally to me and it’s been my pleasure to be able to chat with her on numerous occasions.  I love that blogging has bridged that gap between author and reader for me.   The beautiful thing that I loved about Once Was Lost was that the author completely disappeared in the narration.  I did worry that knowing the author behind the book would taint my reading of it.  There’s nothing worse than hearing the author’s voice instead of  the characters.  But I completely forgot about Sara except that I had to keep reminding myself that  this amazing story came out her head.  How do people do that?  Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised because Story of a Girl and Sweethearts, are very popular books for teens, but I was in awe of the talent and the story that she’s able to tell.

Once Was Lost has a little bit of it all.  A mystery to pull you along, a family in crisis, a young teen discovering her identity and even a bit of romance.  But mostly it’s a novel about faith and how to hold on to that faith when the world we know comes crumbling down around us.

I was able to attend Sara Zarr’s launch party at The Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City on release day for Once Was Lost.  Tons of fun as always as so many other local authors came out to attend the big day.

I captured some video to share with you! In this video Sara talks about how the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart (which happened in our SLC community) inspired the writing of Once Was Lost:

Sara talks more about the writing process for Once Was Lost including how the safe return of Elizabeth Smart and Sara’s own therapy changed the outlook of the book:

And last, Sara reads from Once Was Lost (no spoilers – she reads from beginning of book):

Sara is doing a fun video tour of current book tour, I was thrilled to catch a one second image of myself in her last video!

Links of interest:  Sara Zarr website, more book blogger reviews, Maw Books reviews of Story of a Girl, Sweethearts, interview with Sara and  breakfast smoothie recipe.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher:  Little, Brown Young Readers.  October 1, 2009
Hardcover, 224 pages.  ISBN 0316036048
Once Was Lost is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

For me, writing is something that I’ve explored throughout my life, but not in a passionate and serious way. At times, poems and essays just spilled forth from me without my intellectual purpose or thought process saying, “Ok, I am going to write now.”

My first two books, “The Sudan Project: Rebuilding with the People of Darfur” and “Benny The Baffled Behemoth” started as an idea that just poured forth and compelled me to work and shape them into what I saw in my mind that they could be.

There are additional books on the way that were the result of the same process: passion, drive, and purpose compelling the process of bringing forth a new work.

What I find is that my passion to make a difference often provides the drive I need to put everything else aside to tell the story before me, the story then offers me a specific purpose to promote that which I am passionate about.

In the case of both books mentioned, my purpose was to educate kids about an idea or circumstance and then to share some of the profit with an organization that can benefit from additional resources to make a literal difference for children in the world.

My two charities that I am supporting currently through the books are The Sudan Project (www.thesudanproject.org) and Heart For Africa (www.heartforafrica.org).

The Sudan Project is providing clean water, child protection services/education, and agricultural development guidance to the people of Darfur as they attempt to move on and resettle in less war torn areas of Southern Darfur.

Heart For Africa works with children in multiple countries as they provide HOPE: hunger services, orphan services, poverty services, and educational services. In fact, Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in Africa at close to 42%. Heart For Africa is building a self-sustaining community for orphans that will provide for these hundreds of thousands of orphaned children. It is estimated that at the current death rate there will be few adults in the country in the next two decades. The life expectancy in Swaziland is 29 years old.

Since 2008, I’ve been able to give back almost $1000 from the sales of these two books. It is a drop in the bucket compared to the need, but it was more than I had to give before writing these books!

I am excited to say I have a new book on the way, titled “Night the Jallys Roam”, that is part fiction story and part non-fiction information about the benefits of micro-lending business development programs in Jamaica with ACE (www.acexperience.org). I get to travel to Jamaica in November as we finish the final development of the project and prepare it for publication in January 2010.

I challenge all writers. Write what you are passionate about. Follow your drive in your writing. Fill your books with purpose.

Melissa Leembruggen is the author of The Sudan Project and Benny the Baffled Behumeth.  She serves as the president of Clay Bridges Communications and can also be found on Twitter @ClayBridges.

I’m thrilled that Amy from My Friend Amy asked me to guest post not only about the friendships we create through blogging but also about the wonderful community that we have here in Utah.  Go check it out at the Book Blogger Appreciation Week blog.  I must admit that I have no shame in promoting the awesome book bloggers we have here.  There are more than 30 of us now.  Not kidding.  Go forth, read the post, comment, and visit them!

(P.S.  If  you are a Utah blogger – I would highly recommend promoting the post!)

Book Bloggers Appreciation Week (BBAW) is an annual celebration to recognize the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to the promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading.  BBAW is happening right now!   To fully participate in BBAW visit the official blog.

And really, in all honesty the past three months have not been up to par.  I pretty much postponed all of my features and didn’t conduct a single author interview.  And you can see that I’m really behind on my book reviews.  I’d like to blame it all on the warm weather and vacations.  I’ve just been playing a lot more than I have been blogging.  I’d like to get back into the swing of things around here while trying to find a balance in my personal life.

As always, skim this post and see if you missed anything interesting and for me, it’s nice to do housekeeping every once in a while.

Summer Books Read & Reviewed

Fiction

• The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
• The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine
• A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman
• Wife of the Gods, An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery by Kwei Quartey
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross Review
• Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy
• Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

Young Adult Fiction

• Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
• Feathered by Laura Kasischke
• I Know It’s Over by C.K Kelly Martin
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (a preview of sorts and a gushing on release day)
• Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis
• Gym Candy by Carl Deuker
• Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer
• Love, Lies, and Texas Dips by Susan McBride
• Love You, Hate You, Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

Middle Readers

• Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look
• Dork Diaries: Tales from a NOT-SO-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
• Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight
• Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
• My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville
• Chess Rumble by G. Neri
• Charlotte’s Rose by A.E. Cannon
• Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem
• Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
• Dessert First by Hallie Durand
• Long Shot by Mike Lupica

Picture Books

• Travels with Tarra and Just for Elephants by Carol Buckley
• 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy in Collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
• Unite or Die, How Thirteen States Became a Nation by Jacqueline Jules, Illustrated by Jef Czekaj
• Heroes by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
• Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully by Julianne Moore, Illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Non-Fiction

• Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic
• First Comes Loves, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
• That Went Well, Adventures in Caring for My Sister by Terrell Harris Dougan
• Tone Deaf in Bangkok and Other Places by Janet Brown
• I Am a Star, Child of the Holocaust by Inge Auerbacher
• Picking Cotton, Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo
• The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Holmes

Guest Posts

• Guest Post: Interview with Kaleb Nation, Author of Bran Hambric
• Guest Post from Hannah of WordLily: Author Recipe, Leslie Patricelli’s Espresso and Cardamom Rub
• Guest Post and Giveaway: On Quotes and Inspiration by Kathryn Fitzmaurice, Author of The Year the Swallows Came Early
• Guest Post, Carol Hampton Rasco: Parents and Youngsters Together for Stories, Songs, Rhymes, and More at RIF.org
• Guest Post: Marsha Jacobson on Reading With Feeling
• Guest Post: Thomas Fortenberry on Judging Literary Contests
• Guest Post: Book Chick City on Launching a Blog and Her Ever Increasing Obsession With Books

Vlogs

• Video Chat: Being Overtaken By the Number of Books Read But Not Yet Reviewed
• Why Read Book Blogs?  Three Book Bloggers Vlog the Answer
• The BookExpo America Box Arrival

More Posts During June

• Do Some Picture Books Teach Our Children Irrational Fears and Behaviors?
• The Utah Book Bloggers Summer Social – Photos of a Few of Your Favorite Bloggers and Authors
• Book to Movie Trailers – Upcoming Releases I’m Excited About
• Technical Difficulties – I Might Be Back Up
• Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author of Angela’s Ashes, Dies at Age 78
• On Book Borrowing: Do You Lend Out? I’ve Got Questions!
• Why Do I Own Books When I Rarely Reread?
• World War II Rationed Chocolate Cake from Mary Ann Rodman, Author of Jimmy’s Stars
• Nerds Heart YA Book Tournament: I Know It’s Over vs. Feathered
• Do Books Make You Cry? Or Am I the Only One With a Heart of Stone?
• Ten Reasons Why Book Blogger Appreciation Week is So Cool!
• Talking Library Fines – Somebody Please Make Me Feel Better
• The Nerds Heart YA Tournament = Awesomeness
• Twilight Fans! A Graphic Novel is On It’s Way!
• Tomato Aspic from Mary Ann Rodman’s, Jimmy’s Stars – Perhaps Our Nastiest Author Recipe to Date
• Catching Fire Preview
• New York Times Bestsellers – August 2nd
• New York Times Bestsellers – July 19th
• New York Times Bestsellers – June 14th
• New York Times Bestsellers – June 7th
• Reading and Blogging Review for April & May

Flashback:  The Maw Books Blog a Year Ago

What was I reviewing a year ago: So according to my monthly review report from last summer, I reviewed way to many books to list here.  But a few of that are worth highlighting are: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, We Are On Our Own: A Memoir by Miriam Katin, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson, Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast,   Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Escape by Carolyn Jessop.  Last summer I interviewed Mary Ann Rodman, author of Jimmy’s Stars, Sara Zarr, author of Sweethearts and Story of a Girl, and J. Scott Savage, author of Far World, Water Keep.

Challenge Updates

I finished four challenges this summer:

I finished the Support Your Local Library Challenge hosted by J. Kaye by reading 51 out of 50 library books.  I should have signed up for a larger number.  LOL   I still have a stack of unreviewed library books as well.  Out of curiosity, I’m going to continue to list library books, just to see what I get too, but this one is officially finished.  Thanks J. Kaye for a great challenge!

1. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look
2. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (since purchased)
3. I Hadn’t Mean to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson
4. Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
5. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
6. Feathered by Laura Kasischke
7. I Know It’s Over by C.K Kelly Martin
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (since purchased)
9. On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
10. The Sisters Grimm, The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
11. Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
12. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
13. Always by Ann Stott, Illustrated by Matt Phelan (since received as gift)
14. There’s a Wolf at the Door: Five Classic Tales Retold by Zoe B. Alley, Illustrated by R.W. Alley
15. Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
16. Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbot
17. Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
18. Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell
19. Alvin Ho:  Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
20. Snow by Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated by Lauren Stringer
21. Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
22. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
23. Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki, Illustrated by Steve Rolston
24. Chiggers by Hope Larson
25. Fade by Lisa McMann
26. The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith
27. The Lightning Thief, Book One of Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
28. Jellaby by Kean Soo
29. Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
30. Holbrook: A Lizards Tale by Bonny Becker
31. My Brother, The Robot by Bonny Becker
32. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
33. Mary Veronica’s Egg by Mary Nethery, Illustrated by Paul Yalowtiz
34. A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
35. An Ant’s Day Off by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Nina Laden
36. The Christmas Crocodile by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by David Small
37. Ella the Elegant Elephant by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
38. Ella Sets the Stage by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
39. Ella Takes the Cake by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
40. Ella Sets Sail by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
41. Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
42. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, Illustrations by Kadir Nelson
43. Be Water, My Friend: The Early Years of Bruce Lee by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
44. Passage to Freedom, The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
45. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
46. The Voice That Challenged A Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman
47. The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, Illustrated by George Ford
48. Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grime, Illustrated by Bryan Collier
49. Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman
50. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
51. Frogs by Nic Bishop

Themed Reading Challenge hosted by Wendy at Caribousmom wrapped up in July.  Dang.  I wish I had the full year for this one because I’m definitly not stopping especially considering that I still have 4 books in my to be reviewed pile that would count for the challenge and several more in my TBR.  My theme was to read books from my local Utah authors.  This challenge wrapped up with 5 out of the 4 required books reviewed.  So officially it’s completed but this will be an ongoing challenge for me.

1. The 13th Reality, The Hunt for Dark Infinity by James Dashner
2. The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith
3. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
4. That Went Well: Adventures for Caring for My Sister by Terrell Harris Dougan
5. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

I also finished the Non-Fiction Five Challenge hosted by Trish at Trish’s Reading Nook which was to read five non-fiction books between May and September. Easy enough for me.  I’ve got at least that many sitting in my review pile.

1. That Went Well, Adventures in Caring for My Sister by Terrell Harris Dougan
2. Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
3. First Comes Loves, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
4. Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic
5. Travels with Tarra and Just for Elephants by Carol Buckley

Susan at Color Online hosted the Color Me Brown Reading Challenge in August which encouraged participants to read and review POC books.  I was late to the game but thrilled with the challenge.  During August I reviewed three books which qualified for the challenge:

1. A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman
2. Wife of the Gods, An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery by Kwei Quartey
3. 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy in Collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

This summer I hosted my very first challenge!!  The Bloggiesta wasn’t a reading challenge but rather a 48-hour blogging challenge and if I say so myself, I think it went fantastic!  Thank you to everybody who participated.  I’ll be doing it again.  If you missed it, you can check out the following links:

• Bloggiesta Wrap-Up
• Bloggiesta: The Finish Line!
• Bloggiesta Pinata Time!
• Bloggiesta: In Which I Reveal the Sad State of the Maw Books Blog
• Bloggiesta! Let’s Begin the Festivities!
• Bloggiesta! The Unveiling of a New Upcoming Blogging Event

And it now seems a distant memory but this summer I also participated in my first 48 Hour Book Challenge hosted by Pam at MotherReader. It was awesome and I can’t wait to do it again.

• 48 Hour Book Challenge – It is Finished!
• 48 Hour Book Challenge – 12 Hours to Go
• 48 Hour Book Challenge, Hour 21-ish Update
• The 48 Hour Book Challenge – And It Begins

Still plugging away on the following challenges.   Click to be taken to my list and then to be taken to challenge blog.  So far I have resisted from signing up for anything else.

• A-Z Author & Title Challenge – Runs all of 2009.  11 of 52 books completed. Must read faster!
• Dewey’s Books Reading Challenge – Runs all of 2009.  1 of 5 books completed.
• New Author Challenge – Runs all of 2009.  70 out of 75 books completed.
• Read Your Own Books Challenge – Runs all of 2009.  22 completed – open ended.
• War Through the Generations Challenge – Runs all of 2009.   6 out of 5 completed.  Not willing to wrap this up yet.
• Diversity Rocks! Challenge – Runs all of 2009.  23 out of 40 completed.

Awards

Thanks everybody!  As many of you know (or may not know) I don’t pass on awards (the pressure!) but I like to give you recognition in return for your thoughtfulness and kind words.  Do check these kind bloggers out!

• Mari from Bookworm with a View passed on the Kreative blogger award.  Her latest review of Love, Greg and Lauren makes me wanting to go out and pick it up.

• Mark from Absorbed in Words also passed on the Kreative blogger award.  Although it seems like I should totally know about this challenge, but Mark pointed me to the China Reading Challenge which is one that I just might not be able to resist.

• Tif from Tif Talks Books also passed the Kreative Blogger Award.  Tif just changed her blog design after some discussion about it on Twitter.  Go check it out and tell her what you think!

• Tam from Bailey’s and Books passed on the Let’s Be Friends Award.  Tam has been blogging for three months now (really? seems like you’ve always been on my radar!) and I highly recommend that you check her out.  Plus, she’s a freelance photographer.  Double p0ints!

• Emily from Emily’s Reading Room and Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World Of Books both passed on the Humane Award which recognizes bloggers who are kindhearted.  I could say the same thing about both of these awesome bloggers.  I’ve been able to meet Emily as she lives locally to me and she’s just as cool in person on her blog as she is on her blog.  Sheila has hit the blogging world with a whirlwind.  I don’t know how she does it.  Everywhere I go, she seems to be one step ahead of me.

• Amy from Park-Avenue Princess passed on the Humane Award as well.  If you are not following Amy, you are missing out on one of the most inspiring bloggers ever.  Her enthusiasm is amazing and I get a little thrill every time she comments on my blog.  Love ya Amy!

• Melanie from Melanie’s Musings passed on the Promixidade award.  Melanie’s a teen in Florida and she has a horse!  Sorry, I think that is pretty darn cool!  Melanie has been blogging since May and to tell you the truth, blogging teens are pretty awesome.

• Desert Rose Booklogue passed on the Literary Blogger Award which recognizes blogs who energize and inspire blogs by going the extra mile.  What a hard month over at the Desert Rose blog, as she’s recently lost both her father and her father-in-law.  Go pay her a visit and check out the great books she’s reading.

• Grace from Books Like Breathing (love the name of that blog!) passed on the infamous Zombie Chicken Award which still makes me giggle.  Grace’s favorite author is Jane Austen and she has over a hundred of Austen books and its sequels.  Hmm . . . this is making me wonder if I should pick up an Austen book.  I haven’t since high school.

• Jenny from Take Me Away awarded the Bookin with Bingo.  Seriously, just look at Jenny’s about page.  I have no clue how she even manages to read and blog.

• Natalie from The Book Inn passed on the Humane Award.  Natalie’s family just got a puppy.  Need I say more?

Carnivals

Send me your book review links! I’m hosting!

For those of you who may not be familiar with carnivals, a carnival is a blog event where a host collects links from participating blogs and then rounds them up on their blog.  If you are a blogger, carnivals are open to anybody to submit their links and if you are a reader, carnivals are a great source to find great new blogs and book reviews.

Narineh at The Novel World will be hosting the the next Bookworms Carnival which will focus on banned books.  I neglected to send in a link of my own but I love the theme (I plan on reading banned books later this month), I recommend that you check it out as soon as it’s posted.

I’m thrilled to let you know that I will be hosting the next edition of the Bookworms Carnival!! The theme is book reviews about Africa, set in Africa or with an African theme (not books simply written by an African American though).  So if you review books and you have a review that fits that criteria please send them to me by September 25th!  After that come back here for a great round up of book reviews!

Other Items of Note

• Book Giveaways. Lots of books were given away over the summer!  And yes, many of them are still sitting here, so if you have not received them yet, don’t lament.  I’m just lame.  And slow.  Congrats to Melissa at The  Betty and Boo Chronicles, Janssen at Everyday Reading, Melissa at One Librarian’s Book Reviews, Haley, couchpotato, Carol M., Hannah at Word Lily, Nicole at Books and Bards, Nicole from Linus’s Blanket, Melanie from Melanie’s Musings, Nan from Nan’s Corner of the Web, Avis from She Reads and Reads, Kristen from Bookworming in the 21st Century, Drea from Book Blather, Cindy from Cindy’s Love of Books, Melissa from One Librarian’s Book Reviews, J.C. from The Biblio Blogazine, Pam from MotherReader, Joanne from The Book Zombie, Amy from Haiku Amy, Liyana from Liyanaland, Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books, Jennie from Biblio File, and Jacqueline from The Undercover Book Lover who all won something over the summer.

• Blogging Tips Group on the Book Blogs Ning. So if you are new around here (or not) I wanted to remind you about the Blogging Tips group that I moderate over at the Book Blogs Ning.  I know a lot of people have been frustruated from the spam but I wanted to ensure you that I’ve got our group under control.  Visit often for great blogging tips from getting advice about your theme, putting buttons on your blog, or how to best conduct an author interview.  I want the forum to benefit everybody so feel free to contribute!

• Utah Book Bloggers Summer Social One of the highlights of the summer was the social that the Utah Book Bloggers had with many of our local Utah authors.  I’m very fortunate to live in a location with such a strong literary presence.  Check out this post for all the details and links to all the Utah book bloggers.

• Not subscribed at all? As you can see from this recap, there is always something going on.  Although I admit that it’s usually more.  Don’t miss any of it by receiving updates via email or through your favorite reader.  Also follow me on Twitter.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW)

Tomorrow is the kick off of Book Bloggers Appreciation Week (BBAW) which is an annual celebration to recognize the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to the promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading. The week spotlights and celebrates the work of active book bloggers through guest posts, awards, giveaways, and community activities. The theme for the week is Celebrate Books!  It all starts right now and everybody, bloggers and non-bloggers alike, are encouraged to participate.

During this next week, I will be supporting BBAW through daily themed posts on my blog, perhaps a giveaway, visiting and discovering new bloggers, and writing a guest post for the BBAW blog about the awesome community of Utah bloggers.  On Wednesday I’m really excited to be contributing to a special Blog Talk Radio hosted by Miriam Parker of Hachette with Amy from My Friend Amy, Kathy of Bermuda Onion, Kate of Babbling About Books and More, and Adam of Letters on Pages!  I’ve never done anything like this before so be sure to check in on Wednesday at 9pm EST on the Blog Talk Radio site or check back here where I’ll post the recording the next day.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something but as it’s the middle of the month already and I wanted this posted on the 1st, I’m going to hit the publish button.

Let the madness begin!

First, many thanks  to everybody who entered and your enthusiasm in answering the questions that I put forth to enter.  Such fun to read.  These are great books and I’m thrilled to share them with you.

_______________________________________________

For The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows giveaway I enjoyed finding out if you had a book club or not and if so, what the name of it was.  Congratulations to these five lucky winners who will receive a copy of the book from the publisher Dial Press.

• Melissa at The  Betty and Boo Chronicles
• Janssen at Everyday Reading
• Melissa at One Librarian’s Book Reviews
• Haley
• couchpotato

_______________________________________________

I also enjoyed the quotes that you shared on Kathryn Fitzmaurice’s guest post about inspiration quotes. The winner of a signed copy provided by Kathryn is  The Year the Swallows Came Early is . . .

Carol M.!

She shared the quote: “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”  Charles M. Schulz

_______________________________________________

I’m excited to be participating in this giveaway for 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy sponsored by Peachtree Publishing.  It’s a beautiful book and I think everybody should read it.  The lucky winner is. . .

Hannah at Word Lily!

Congrats.

_______________________________________________

My signed copy of the The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was my post popular giveaway this month with more than 200 people tallying more than 1370 entries.  I LOVED reading the answers to the question:  If you lived in a graveyard who would you want to make sure was buried there?  I was oddly surprised that the majority said their grandfather.

Many of you wanted this signed book BADLY but there can only be one winner and it is . . .

Nicole at Books and Bards!

_______________________________________________

Congratulations to all the winners!  This summer has been crazy and I  have a huge stack of books from last month to still mail out.  Winners send me your mailing addresses.  Thanks all!

People are sometimes surprised when they come to my house.  I’ve got two boys, a husband, and a very charming dog, and there are pictures of them around if you look hard enough to find them.  But mostly, the frames in my house contain quotes from my favorite books, parts of poems I’ve fallen in love with, and even single words that seem essential.  I hang them on walls or stack them two or three deep against things.  I move them from room to room, wall to wall.  Every so often, when I come across a new line or paragraph in a book I’m reading, or a poem that touches me, I’ll type it up on my computer and insert it into a new frame.  I usually keep it on my desk at first, and then as time goes by, and I’ve read it enough that I can let it go; I’ll find a place for it.  I’ve been doing this for over twenty years now, way before I ever started my serious writing.

Inside those frames are the words and phrases that inspire me every day, the things I was trying to write but someone else beat me to it.

Thank you Kathryn!  Here is your opportunity to read more of Kathryn’s work by entering to win a signed copy of The Year the Swallows Came Early.  To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and share one of your favorite quotes.  Something, like Kathryn, you wish you had written.  Giveaway is open internationally and will close on August 17th.  Good luck!

Have you ever wished you could remember just how to do a certain finger play…maybe This Old Man?  Or wanted to have an online read-along story for you and your children to enjoy?

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) has a free educational website, in English and Spanish, to help parents and caregivers develop the language skills of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. RIF’s Leading to Reading (Semillitas de aprendizaje) is a fun and interactive online resource featuring stories, games, music, and other engaging activities for adults to experience together with young children. Both sites are accessible at www.rif.org.

Since language develops far more rapidly during the first five years of life than any other time, it is important that parents read and interact with their young children as often as possible. This site encourages children to discover the joy of reading at an early age.

The RIF Leading to Reading site is organized into three easy-to-navigate sections:  babies and toddlers (ages birth-2), preschoolers (ages 3-5), and grown-ups. Motivational mascots, Riffy and Rita, guide users throughout the site with “click” and “hear” navigation. Other features of the site include:

• A wide selection of animated and audio children’s stories;
• Finger play videos such as Itsy Bitsy Spider and I’m a Little Teapot;
• Interactive videos introducing children to age-appropriate subjects such as animals, art, and geography;
• Nursery rhymes and lullabies such as All Around the Mulberry Bush and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star;
• Online coloring and doodling;
• Sing-along songbook;
• Grown-ups section featuring expert Q&A, a RIF Leading to Reading video with literacy tips and activities, book search, and parent and caregiver journals.

The RIF Leading to Reading website is compliant with all Internet safety guidelines and is advertising free.

What’s happening at RIF?

Check out my blog, Rasco From RIF.

Carol Hampton Rasco is President and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. and in addition to her blog may be reached at Toll free: 877.RIF.READ and Twitter as @rascofromrif.

Sometimes our greatest parenting moments are the ones that we take for granted the most. Reading to or with our child is one of these. It is a wonderful opportunity for closeness and teaching. It is often the one time in the whole crazy day of parenting that we can take a breath and enjoy the gift of our child.

A parent’s embrace is like food for a child’s soul. Reading books allows for this in the most natural way and many times parents and children look forward to reading together for this experience alone. I know I do!

Reading a book also presents parents with the most amazing opportunities for parenting – especially where feelings are concerned.

While we are beginning to understand the importance of teaching our children how to manage their feelings, in the midst of feeding, dressing, homework, and activities, we often forget to focus on this.

Increasing our children’s feeling vocabulary, accepting their feelings (positive and negative), exploring these emotions and helping them learn how to manage them are the ingredients for developing their emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence, which is strongly linked to future success and happiness, is something more and more parents are paying attention to.

The book you or your child chooses to read is far less important than where the reading takes you. My experience is that children are drawn to books that explore feelings in some way. Let the book be the platform for discussion. Children don’t need much encouragement. Given half a chance, they will happily discuss how the book makes them feel or how the character in the book feels.

As a parent you can expand on their comments with your own. Here are some ideas:

• Give your children time to explore their feelings at their own pace and come to their own conclusions.
• Restate what they say, but put in some more feeling words.
• Provide some “what if” scenarios such as “What if the mommy had said…?” or “What if that was you, how would you have felt?”
• Share your own stories. Children love to hear real stories, especially things that happened to you or how you felt as a child. It’s sometimes fun to replace reading a book altogether and relate one of your childhood stories instead.
• Share your feelings. Children learn best by example. Parents are their best models and hold the greatest power for teaching.
• Relax and enjoy! Teaching anything in a warm and loving environment always gets the best results.

While any book that speaks to your child is great, I’d like to suggest a few based on what my kids have enjoyed:

• Boom… Boom… Boom…: A Story to Raise Your Child’s Emotional Intelligence by Marsha Jacobson.  This book is a wonderful story about a little girl facing her fears. This fun-to-read story uses the power of storytelling to teach by example. A young girl’s adventure with her mother paints a picture of what emotional intelligence should look like. Children absorb the subtle, yet powerful messages and teachings with ease.
• Thomas’s Snowsuit by Robert N. Munsch (Annick Press, 1985) – My husband and I immigrated to Canada in 1987 with our two toddlers. The whole snowsuit experience was new and not welcome at all! This book got us through. We, along with our kids, felt comforted to know that we weren’t alone in our feelings.
• The Franklin series focuses on many different situations that children can relate to. Parents can really get stuck into the feelings that are evoked by these stories.
• The Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park has been some of my daughter’s favourite books to read. I think it’s because Junie B. is a real little girl who doesn’t always do or say the right thing. It is a great series for teaching the value of learning from our mistakes.

Visit Marsha Jacobson at her website and follow on Twitter.  Are there any other books that you would add to that list?