The big difference between the school year and the summer is that along with reading children’s books, selling books, scouting for books, packing books and listing books I add reading adult books to my list of literary mania. Some I read for pleasure, some are professional and some are both. Summer is my time to explore new authors and come up with new lessons to for the upcoming school year.
Persephone Books
In the new author department, I’ve actually discovered a new publisher - Persephone Books of London, England. In their own words: “ Persephone prints mainly neglected fiction and non-fiction by women, for women and about women. The titles are chosen to appeal to busy women who rarely have time to spend in ever-larger bookshops and who would like to have access to a list of books designed to be neither too literary nor too commercial. The books are guaranteed to be readable, thought-provoking and impossible to forget .”
I came across Persephone while prowling Amazon – Persephone is responsible for the re-appearance of one my favorite authors, Noel Streatfeild. I’ve all her children’s books and while I knew she started out as an adult author I’ve never read any of her gown up books. So I’m most ways through Saplings, which I’m thoroughly enjoying, though it’s odd to read a sex scene written by an author I avidly read as a child. Sort of the same feeling one gets when one realizes that yes, one’s parents did actually “do it” !
I have since bought a few more of their offerings and I’m delighted with their choices. The books are also physically very attractive, with sturdy silver covers and unique endpapers.
In the professional books section, Judy Freeman, who is every school librarian & school teachers best friend produced a new 4th edition of her hefty tome Books Kids Will Sit Still For. I stumbled across the first and second editions at a library sale so now I have a full set. It's a companion of Books Kids Will Sit Still For 2. Not only does she include the most detailed book lists and bibliographies on the planet; for good measure, she includes a hundred or so pages of lesson and activity ideas. It is an entire library programs wrapped up in 900+ pages!
The Librarian & Teacher Bible
When I am not reading I am listing books. Summer time is catch up time. It’s when I start hauling the boxes of books purchased at the spring Friend of the Library Sales out of the garage and getting them into my auction program. Summers are always slow on E-bay so I put them in the hopper and upload them when the holiday buying season begins in September.
Books, Books, Books!
So, can one overdose on books? Maybe, but it hasn’t happened yet!
4 comments:
No. Overdose not possible. :)
Oh yay! A new Books Kids Will Sit Still For! I was just looking through the first two volumes a few weeks ago for curriculum ideas for next year. I *love* Judy Freeman.
My only problem with reading her books is that they make me feel so inadequate! The kids at her school are really, really lucky to have her.
You can never have or be around too many books. It just doesn't happen. ;)
Love your blog. Very well written.
First, Noel Streatfeild! Ballet Shoes! Skating Shoes! She was even mentioned in You've Got Mail, one of my guilty little pleasures.
Second, if you can OD on books, then simply bury me under a mound of 'em, and be done with it.
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