Archive for March, 2011
S4L Book Club – The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
I’d like to return to Becca’s first question: Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe books have been praised for their combination of apparent simplicity with a high degree of sophistication. In what ways does The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency have the appeal of simple storytelling? In what ways is it sophisticated? What does it suggest about [...]
Education Today
Edited to fix the link. Thanks for the heads up. Our friend, Becca, works in public education. She called my attention to an important blog post, and I’d like to point all of you to it. I tend to flounder about wondering how best to steer the Needle and Thread: Stitching for Literacy program. I [...]
S4L Book Club – The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Has everyone read The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman? Discussion starts next week, so there’s still time. In fact, Kat, from Cross Eyed Kat, is leading the discussion, and she tells me that we can watch and listen to Neil Gaiman read The Graveyard Book himself online. Why don’t you pull up a needle and [...]
Who Stitches for Literacy?
Valerie at One More Stitch in Aiken, SC, is collecting bookmarks for the 2011 Challenge. Meet Brooke and Chris, two stitchers who are contributing to that collection. Hello. My name is Brooke Nims, and I’ve been a cross stitcher most of my life. I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida. I live in Aiken, SC, with [...]
Looks and Lines We Love
Super Mo, our Needle and Thread: Stitching for Literacy 2011 Bookmark Challenge Super Model dons a pair of moon bookmark earrings. Love that look! Last week, I shared Mike’s favorite novel opening from a Charles Dickens Christmas story. This week, I’m going to share three passages from A Christmas Carol which I have long loved. [...]
Collectors’ Bookmarks
I like the title “Collectors’ Bookmarks” oh-so-much better than last week’s “Old Bookmarks,” don’t you? This week’s bookmark is kindly shared by Lauren Roberts, Editor-in-Chief of BiblioBuffet, an extensive website on Writing Worth Reading, Reading Worth Writing About®. I love that tag line. I recommend making a cup of tea before visiting that link because [...]
Super Mo’s Family Reading and Stitching
Maureen is our Needle and Thread: Stitching for Literacy 2011 Bookmark Challenge Super Model. As with beauty pageant participants, Maureen has a platform which she aims to promote while serving her term as our Super Model: Family Reading and Stitching. Throughout the year, we’re going to follow Super Mo as she does her modeling things, [...]
S4L Book Club – The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Mma Ramotswe becomes a private detective without any formal or even informal training. She does buy a manual on how to be a detective, which I found pretty funny. What do you think of her doing that–just up and calling herself a detective one day, and hiring herself out? Would you ever do something of [...]
Speed Reading, Reading Better
Bookmark by Super Mo. Do any of you have experience with speed reading? I’ve always dismissed it as rather silly and unnecessary, thinking it might turn a peaceful relaxing activity into something exhausting and possibly aerobic, but now I’m having second thoughts. Proponents of speed reading claim it improves reading comprehension, and some even say [...]
S4L Book Club – The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
While reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice recently, I noted some similarities between her writing and Alexander McCall Smith’s. Both write books that focus on people more than events and deal with how our behaviors effect others and our relationships with them. The books themselves are not similar, but the “feel” somehow is to me. [...]
, by Elizabeth Strout.
by Kathryn Stockett
