I Guess I'm Home

I have had a library card for as long as I can remember. I can still picture the library in the city I grew up in; it was a big old brick building in park in the middle of the city.

I found it comforting to be in the library in the winter when the frigid wind blew snow into drifts outside.The blanket of quietness inside the library warmed me from my earliest memory.

On summer days when it was too hot to play outside, the peace of the library was a cool haven away from the summer heat, filled with books that could take me places I could only imagine.

Sometimes, the library came to me in the form of a bookmobile that parked just down the street from where we lived. I always visited the bookmobile and stocked up on a fresh stack of books that I could lose myself in for a few hours.

I started taking my children to the library when they were infants; they grew up going to the library. Whenever I wanted to learn about something new, I went to the library. I learned to quilt by reading library books; I learned about my Mennonite heritage by reading library books; I learned how to take care of cats by reading library books; I learned what it meant to have faith by reading library books.

When we moved to the Pacific Northwest three years ago I stopped going to the library. Every time we drove past I would say "Oh, I have to sign up for a library card" but I never fot around to it.

Until today.

Something prompted me to turn into the parking lot of the library this afternoon, to walk through the tree lined courtyard, to open the glass doors, and to go inside. I walked up to the counter, told the lady I wanted to sign up for a library card, filled out a sheet of paper, showed her my ID, and just like that I held in my hand a brand new library card.

Card in hand, I walked through the library getting a feel for where everything was. The familiar Dewey Decimal numbers posted on the ends of the shelves directed me to the sections I once spent so much time in. My body remembered the library-posture of tilting my head to the right to read the titles on the spines of the books. My mind recalled the hours I spent in a library browsing, reading, forgetting everything else except the books.

I checked out three books from section 305 (They have self-checkout now!) and as I left the library with my books in my arms, my walk seemed a little bouncier, and I seemed to breathe a little easier.

Having obtained a library card I guess I am officially planted here for now.

I guess I'm home.

And the winners are.....

Three books and three winners to announce today!

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World is leaving my house and going to CJ's house, Then She Found Me is going to my daughter, Laurinda, at Seasons of Life, and Mary is going to receive The Blue Cotton Gown.

Happy Reading, all!

Book Giveaway!

The weather has finally turned warm and the sun is shining! I'm feeling the pull to the lawn swing in my back yard where I hope to spend many hours with a good book over the next few months.  The problem is that to make room for new books I have to get rid of some of my current books.  So, I have decided to have a giveaway!

I read Leaving Microsoft to Change the World while I away from home on a business trip.  John Wood and the Room to Read organization he founded is an inspiration.

Then She Found Me  by Elinor Lipman is the story of a birth-mother and the daughter she gave up for adoption thirty-six years ago.  Is there any doubt that I would have related to this one?!

I read The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife's Memoir by Patricia Harman as part of a memoir challenge of reading four books in four months.  I couldn't put this one down.




There are the books; here are the rules.  To be entered into the drawing, become a follower of My Own Velvet Room if you're not already one, post a reference to my blog on your blog if you have one, and leave a comment here letting me know which book you would like if you are chosen.

That's it!  I'll draw for the winner on Tuesday!

Book Review...and Manderley Video

My review of Anne Lamott's Imperfect Birds was just posted on the Story Circle Book Reviews site. I found it to be a riveting read that sent me to bed early every night until I finished it! (I do most of my reading in bed.)

I fixed the Manderley video clips on my previous post as well.  Take a relaxation break and see what prairie serenity looks like!

Signs?

I am the Distribution Editor for Story Circle Book Reviews which means I have the pleasure of receiving books from publishers, which I then send out to a member of our top-notch review team to read and review.  (By the way if you are looking for something good to read be sure to check out our site!  It's your ultimate source for reviews of books written by, for and about women.) 

I had to smile when I opened the package that was waiting for me when I arrived home today.  Hay Fever: How Chasing a Dream on a Vermont Farm Changed My Life. 

Do you think it's a sign?!

And the winner is.....

Thank you to everyone who graciously participated in my informal survey to find out a bit more about who is reading my blog and why.  This information will be helpful as we prepare for the upcoming Stories From The Heart conference. 

A highly scientific method was used to select a name from those who commented (writing your names on pieces of paper, tossing them on the floor, closing my eyes and picking one) and Jeanette, from Audience of One was selected to receive the incentive award!

Jeanette, please select a book from the recent reviews posted at the Story Circle Book Review site with my thanks for participating.  Send me an email with your selection, and I'll get it off to you.

A Place Called Home

I don't believe in coincidence; I believe that everything happens for a reason. And so, when one experience seems to touch upon another in my life, I take notice.

My daughter and I had a conversation a few days ago about what place and home means to each of us.

I spent my early years in Saskatchewan, and the vastness of the prairie landscape and the endless skies say home to me. Though I haven't on the prairie for over thirty years when I am there I feel planted and filled with a peace that eludes me the rest of the time.

My daughter was born in British Columbia and she longs for the mountains and rivers of that place. She misses the long, hot, dry summers and refuses to call the prairie landscape where she now lives her home. The Rocky Mountain range that she can see in the distance constantly calls her to return.

Yesterday I started reading Together, Alone by Susan Wittig Albert. (I highly recommend it, by the way.) Susan talks about her own attachment to place and home in the Texas Hill Country where she lives and writes with her husband.

There is, in these whispers of place that I am sensing, a message for me. Like Susan Albert says in Together, Alone, "To hear it, I have to be patient, and still, and silent."

The Shack

A number of months ago, The Shack was recommended to me by my BFF. (thank you, Wanda!) I promptly bought it, and it joined my stack of "to-reads". Yesterday afternoon, I picked it up and went out to my favorite summer place, my lawn swing, and sat in the sun and read.

I could not put it down.

This book challenged my thinking in many areas. It made me think about things in a way that I hadn't before. It made me cry. It gave me a renewed sense of hope. It made me feel loved.

If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to pick it up. It's a quick read that could very well change your life.

Book Review - The Unbreakable Child

I have just reviewed Kimmi's book for Story Circle Book Reviews.

If you haven't read her book yet, you're missing out on a story of strength, faith, and character that will inspire you to rise above whatever hardships you may face in your own lives.

I encourage you to check it out.

P.S. Guess who is one of the newest Editors for Story Circle Book Reviews! It's a dream come true! If you are looking for something good to read, take a look at our site where you will find a wide variety of books written for, by, and about women.

Becoming Whole

I just finished Linda Joy Myers' book Becoming Whole: Writing Your Healing Story. My copy is a little rough around the edges now, filled with Post-It tabs, highlighted passages, and pencil annotations. I know that I will return to this book again and again.

Linda writes about the psychology surrounding writing one's memoir, and the healing that the process can bring. She offers practical advice on ethical issues that may arise if one is writing about sensitive family issues.

The third section of the book is called Writing the Memoir and it was the section that spoke the loudest to me. As Linda shared her process of writing a memoir, I heard that little voice in my head speaking. Memories and ideas for the memoir that I am working on spoke loud and clear.

The Appendix also has useful questions for one to consider as one delves into the past. As I read the questions, things that I had forgotten surfaced and I am certain that as I go back and reread the sections I will find more nuggets that I had forgotten.

If you are writing a memoir this book is a must-read. If your genre is more fictional there is still plenty of information in this book that you will find helpful.

That's it for now. Excuse me, I'm going back to reread the sections that I highlighted in my own autographed copy.

Four sentence book review

I was delighted to find out yesterday that my four sentence review of Anne Rice's Called out Of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession was selected as the January winner in the SCN HerStories Memoir Challenge. Pop on over and check it out!

I couldn't resist the temptation to share another picture of Makiya Rose, whom I'm now referring to as my "Strawberry Shortcake Girl" due to her red hair. We don't know where that came from but it sure looks
good on her!

We have also noticed that she looks quite a bit like her grandma as a baby. What do you think?

Book orders

One of my favorite memories from my school days, was when we woul get to bring home the Scholastic book order forms. I would spend days poring over those order forms trying to make the right choice. It was similar to the way that I pored over the Christmas Wish Book every year, only better, because it involved books!

Once I made my final selection, and Mom approved, she would fill out the order form on the back and I would return it to school with the money to pay for the book. Then the waiting started!

I remember the excitement I felt when the books came in. Those of us who had placed orders would receive the books in plastic bags with the order form we had filled out attached. Oh how happy I was to hold a new book!

I still remember many of the titles of those books fondly. I fact, I still have some of the books. My children enjoyed reading them, and I hope that little Makiya will some day too.

Do you remember any of these books?

The Ghostly Trio by Nancy Woollcott Smith
Old Charlie by Clyde Robert Bulla and Paul Galdone
Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors by Lavinia Derwent, Joe Lasker, and Eva Moore
Barrel of Laughs by by Edna Mitchell Preston
The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Reading

I have always taken enormous pleasure in reading. I have a habit of having more than one book on the go at one time. Last year for Christmas my husband bought me the Sony eReader. This is an amazing device! I can carry around so many books in this little device, and more dangerously, I can purchase them instantly from the online book store. I don't read all of my books on the eReader, for me there is no substitute for an honest-to-goodness book in my hand.

Here are the books that I currently have in progress (some on, some not on the eReader):

1. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
2. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
3. Hannah's Gift by Maria Housden
4. The Elements of Style (yes I'm one of those bookish people who actually read these things. As I child I read the encyclopedias my parents bought for us as well.)

Yesterday, I pulled out The Year Of Fog by Michelle Richmond from by bedside table. I'll be starting that one soon too.

What book(s) are you reading?