One Million Books: The Quilt

First, I have to show off my new ironing board designed by Michael Graves for Target. It was a little present I got for myself with some Christmas money.

Our superintendent has challenged the students of our corporation to read one million books this year. The unofficial start for the project was October 1st and I challenged the students in my building to make a strong start by offering to let them sign the back of this quilt once they've finished a book.

The center design for the quilt is based on the poster designed for the One Million Books Challenge. I fused the fabric for the letters and the open book motif.

The border will represent stacks of books. I will write the titles of books my students have read on them and they will sign the back.

My goal is to get the top all pieced, take the back to school so the students can sign it, and then have it quilted on a longarm before the official kickoff at the end of January.

Reading Meme

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for memes. The Booklist blog came up with this one and it was on the ALA e-newsletter today, so I'll feed the librarian portion of this blog today with my answers.

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
Actually there are two, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I've owned them since babyhood.

2. What is your current read, your last read, and the abook you'll read next?

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, Fever 1793, and then I'll probably finish President Obama's Dreams from My Father.

3. What book did everyone like and you hated? Often, I avoid popular, airport type stuff. I never read Jonathan Livingston Seagull or Love Story, for instance, so really nothing I can think of.

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't? War and Peace.

5. Which book are you saving for "retirement?" Remembrance of Things Past.

6. Last page: read it first or wait until the end? ALWAYS wait until the end.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside? I read my husband's because I'm usually mentioned in them; otherwise, skip totally or skim quickly--not that interesting.

8. Which book character would you switch places with? Elizabeth Bennett, of course.

9. Do you have have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)? Yes, my Welsh copy of Dylan Thomas' Under Milkwood because it was purchased at a Welsh bookshop in Wales right after I'd visited Laugherne and I'd acted in a production of it.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way. I got a copy of Henry Miller's book Sexus from Long's Bookstore in Columbus, Ohio that came from the men's restroom.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person? I gave my copy of the Jean-Christophe trilogy to my friend Diane because she cried when we talked about reading it in college.

12. Which book has been with you to the most places? An antique book of Celtic mythology has been to the United Kingdom twice, to New York, Boston, Columbus, Crawfordsville, and now Greensboro.

13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad ten years later? The only think I hated was Moby Dick and it still hasn't won me over. You've heard of "chick flicks", well, this is a guy book.

14. What is the strangest item you've ever found in a book? A piece of pizza. I'm a middle school librarian, need I say more?

15. Used or brand new? I'm not picky. I love books and book stores used and new.

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses? I couldn't say. I've never read anything he's written.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book? No

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

Jane Eyre.

19. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take? There's not really a single person. I listen to lots of people's advice.

Worry

I'm a list maker and a worrier. In these troubled times, I almost need to make a list of all the things I should be worrying about to make sure I don't short change anything. The economy is tanking, the polls in the presidential race are all over the place, we keep sending our young people to war for causes that seem remote ( but mostly senseless) at best, retirement seems a faraway fantasy, and on and on. At some point last summer, I decided to adopt a philosophy of life that got me through raising two children who were only 19 months apart: take it one day at a time. I try not to borrow trouble. I do what I can each day. I try to keep our family finances in order. I voted early in person. I go to work and try to do the very best I can by my students and staff every hour that I'm there. I clean a little each weekend at home and try to stay ahead of the laundry mountain in the evenings. I'm also reading much, much more than usual and besides just the enjoyment factor, I know why. I can truly lose myself in a book. Outside worries do not intrude on my mind when I'm reading. Besides improving my mind, I'm also protecting it from the ravages of worry. Good stuff all around. This weekend, I must get back in the studio and begin work on Christmas gifts, but that, too, affords a measure of respite from anxiety. Idle hands are the devil's playground and in my life, that devil is anxiety. You won't see me empty-handed these days.