Storytime

Does anyone else need to have a reading stash? I'm not talking about books in the house, I mean hopefully we all have those. And this house has bookcases of them, most I have read several times, but there are a few that I have yet to read...waiting for the day... But I'm talking about that pile of books on the bedside table. And it has to be a pile because what happens if a book is a dud? You must have several to choose from...don't you? Usually my bedside table looks like this... A few months ago I was given two big bags of books...mostly detective stories. Colin Dexter aka Inspector Morse the majority. It was my intention to simply read these...no more books from the library. My bedside table looked like this... For a few days. Did I mention most of the books are old? I thought I was coping fine...until I found a book at work....then (at recommendations from staff I trust) I ordered a few books that I KNEW would take weeks if not months to arrive. U...

My name is Vicki and I have books. We have books. Lots of books. Books in bookshelves, books on top of bookshelves, beside bedside tables, on top of bedside tables. Books on desks, on shelves...books in cupboards. Books in the kitchen, in every bedroom, in the lounge room, the dining room. In fact if I go to your house and discover no books, I don't know if I can trust you. I mean, really...not one book...what sort of person are you? However the tidiest selection of books are in daughter's bedroom...or the visitor's bedroom. Everyone from my sister, nieces, nephews, friends and their kids, but mostly grand daughter...this is where they stay- hence the collection of picture books. (won't mention the two bags of books under the bed in this room.....I've just started delving into these and therefore no room..as yet...for them) The books in cupboards are in a mess, but because they are in cupboards I really don't care. Unless I REALLY need that book....

I'm a slow one for watching all the big movies...in fact I usually wait till all the hype has gone down, and then quietly order it in from the library and watch it about six or seven months after it made it BIG. I'm also not one for following 'what has to be seen'....(so often a let down)....which of course gives me ample time to read the book. I'm still amused when people ask 'that was a book first?' In a lot of cases, yes it was. And a lot of readers have read it, loved it, lived it, cried and smiled over the characters. We invested in these people created from some author's imagination...and then we watch the movie. And we cringe, we wail...we say 'but he's ' she's nothing like that'.....'you've missed this entire section out'....and 'what have you done!' Sometimes they get it right....sometimes the movie adds an extra depth to the stories we have loved. But I personally feel that most times there ...

One of the perks of working in a library is the free and easy access to books. SO many books. Books and books and books. The only problem is knowing when to stop...because in reality we all know that we can't read everything that's out there. And the truth is, so much is just bad. Rubbish. Horrid...in fact I shed a tear for the trees that died for some works to be published. But we all know that, as in everything, it is so individual. All down to taste. So how do I choose what to read next? So many ways...so many venues. Firstly I'm a trolley picker...in fact there are folks who come into the library and only choose books that are on trolleys, because in their view 'if someone has already read it, it must be okay.'  Let me tell you, that is not necessarily true. But...I do pick from trolleys. I often see something returned and say yep I want that, often to be placed on hold. I also do roam the shelves, not as often as I used to, there is just not ...

Last blog I talked about the horror of being half way through the year and having achieved nothing .... a lot ...a small amount of what I had planned for the year. My writing group had a meeting and we actually looked, briefly I admit, at our goals for the year and where we were with them. It was good to know that I was not alone in my putting off..or procrastination...or whatever I would like to call my inability to get things accomplished. Mind you several of my group were able to say that they were 'well on track' and had their goal sheet, complete with ticks and notes. Did make me feel worse, however I have no one else to blame but myself. So after carefully looking at my goals- and I only had five this year- unfortunately they are big ones. And I think this is often where I become lost....I lose sight of what I am aiming for because it is too large or too far away or even 'gee a year is a looooonnnnnnggggg time'. But what if I break it down into piec...

Yep we know it's winter. The days are long and grey, it's been wet and windy, a bit of wild weather and lately it has been damned cold as well. Most of us are struggling to stay warm, even when the winter sun lures us outside (under false pretences I must say, it is still damned cold!).  The trees are bare, the grass is lush. The world has slowed. As does my writing. There is something about winter that tells me to take it easy. Which is quite absurd as there are plenty of places to send pieces, lots of competitions out and about and none of the publishers (those that are still willing to take unsolicited manuscripts) have closed for the Christmas / New Year period. That is all to come. So why do I feel so inclined? Is it a case of SAD....seasonal affective disorder? Is it pure laziness? Is it a case of losing the old mojo and wondering how the hell to get it back? Truthfully....it's a bit of all of the above. Mostly laziness I fear. And ...

With a huge sigh of relief, the school holidays are done and dusted. As usual the library was smoking....kids, parents, toddlers, elderly, middle-agers, seniors, teens...you name them, we had them in. And as usual Youth staff rocked with lots of programs. I am used to the toddlers and small fry....this is my usual area of experience but I jumped at the chance of running a teen craft program. The idea was to create pictures using string and glue. Inspired, I had printed out examples of portraits created using wire...as well as ones using string and ribbon as we were set to use. Now with littlies, they just get in there and create. They think everything they do is fantastic and are eager to colour and paint and glue and cut (especially the cut) anything and everything. I wasn't ready for the 'I can't do this'. After much cajoling, urging, showing, inspiring, motivating and generally telling them yes you can....work began. One parent stayed, a father, and he s...