Dancing with Ana by Nicole Barker

Stars: ***1/2 The Golden Road Press (2009) Teen Fiction 170 pages Summary: Beth has a great life, a loving family and three best friends. B...

Two new pieces in my Etsy shop

Columbia River I just added these mixed media works, Columbia River and camping with bears .  At the moment, I'm enjoying working on sm...

Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool by Hannah Friedman

Stars: ***** HCI Teens (2009) Teen Nonfiction (Memoir) 264 pages Summary: Hannah Friedman's life sucks. So she sets out to change it. Af...

In My Mailbox Monday - Mar 29

This is the day when I highlight all the new books that have come into my house since the last time I participated. In My Mailbox is hosted...

How it all began

My mother dropped by yesterday with a box of memorabilia.  Included in the box were my class pictures from elementary school.  Here's my...

Spiked Scorpions & Walking Whales: Modern Animals, Ancient Animals and Water by Claire Eamer

, Stars: ***1/2 This is the second similar book by Claire Eamer. I've reviewed Super Crocs & Monster Wings as well. Summary: Follow...

Week in Review (Mar 21-Mar 27)

Here's what happened this week: In My Mailbox Monday - Mar 22 Straight Talk for Teenage Girls by Annette Fuson The 5 Love Languages by G...

Juggling, Cooking and Acting Immature

Juggling for the Complete Klutz and John Cassidy and B.C. Rinbeaux Stars: *** This is actually the 30th Anniversary edition of Juggling for ...

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui

Stars: ***** Three Rivers Press (2010) - division of Random House Memoir 188 pages Summary: Nujood is married off at age 10 to a man three ...

Booking Through Thursday - On Friday - "Break"

Oops.  I forgot!!! Yesterday's Booking Through Thursday Question Was: Do you take breaks while reading a book? Or read it straight thro...

Vending machines that dispense art

I first heard about Art-o-mat when I was teaching in Eugene many years ago.  A fellow colleague told me about a vintage cigarette vending m...

Books with an Environment Theme

Earth Hour is tomorrow at 8:30pm. Don't forget to turn off your lights and electronics for at least a on hour span to help conserve ener...

Amtrack it from Portland to Seattle

The beautiful ceiling in Portland's historical Union Station, which opened in 1896.   While the kids were away for a couple of days, my ...

Cake Wrecks by Jen Yates

Stars: *** Summary: Jen Yates of the Cake Wrecks blog has made a book. The book isn't just the blog content regurgitated but has never b...

My Story: The Great Plague: A London Girl's Diary 1665-1666 by Pamela Oldfield

Stars: **** Scholastic Canada (2001) Children's Historical Fiction 156 pages Ages 9-12 Summary: It's 1665 and Alice is looking forwa...

Free Hans Wilhelm Children's Books in PDF Format (Out of Print)

At Children's Books Forever you can download in PDF format a bunch of Hans Wilhelm children's books that are currently Out of Print....

Six months and counting

My first blog post showed a photo of my work table.  This is how it looks today (just organized, of course). It's been an incredible jou...

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

Stars: ***** As I mentioned in my first post about The 5 Love Languages , I received this book as part of a tour but it didn't arrive in...

Straight Talk for Teenage Girls by Annette Fuson

Stars: **** Author House (2008) Teen Nonfiction 125 Pages Summary: Straight Talk for Teenage Girls is information to help teen girls make be...

In My Mailbox Monday - Mar 22

This is the day when I highlight all the new books that have come into my house since the last time I participated. In My Mailbox is hosted...

Portland/Brooklyn Artist Series, Week 6: Justin "Scrappers" Morrison

For our final week of the artist series, I interviewed Portland artist Justin "Scrappers" Morrison .  I first met Scrappers in my ...

Unique sketchbooks

While we're on the topic of sketchbooks, here are a few items I have been eying. clockwise: Death in Art journal , the time is now  Book...

Week in Review (Mar 14 - 20)

Here's what happened this week: April Read-a-thons In My Mailbox Monday - Mar 15 I'd Like to Thank My Crew All A Twitter by Tee Morr...

Giveaway: A Pocketbook Gallery!

There is much to celebrate in the next week and a half- the start of Spring, six months of blogging, and my birthday! It seems the perfect t...

Exploring new ideas

I'm a homebody, but my mind often thinks about lands elsewhere. A theme that I have been studying recently is exploration.  Two new piec...