Summer reading

 Our library has had a summer reading program for years.  The first time I was aware of it, I think the first year they did it, Christina (child # 2) was between kindergarten and first grade, and jumped from beginning reading to third-grade level to walk in the door of her first grade classroom in the fall.  Having the chance to go pick out books and bring them back to tell a real live person about them was key.  Because they had trouble with staffing and finding enough volunteers in the more populous branches--we went to the main library downtown--they eventually downscaled the process to just take a written log, and so Carole did not have the same immediacy and it didn't zoom her along on her reading progress; but still it was pretty great.  The final prize if you read enough books over the summer was a free day at the zoo with a mayor's award ceremony.

The kids are all grown and the kids' summer reading program is long since history around our house, but last summer they opened up an adult program.  Only one report counts per week, and the requirement is five different weeks out of the eight to win a tote bag and a chance for an iPad.  Last year it said that every adult who participated past the minimums would get a movie pass to the local art house theater, and that's what I wanted.  I didn't worry about timing, because I thought that was a guarantee, so when I moseyed on in before the end, I found that they had run out--a lot of participation--and I was out of luck.  I got the bowling pass, which I didn't want, and a bitty spiral notebook.  This year, I am going to be ready at the earliest allowable date and get my tote bag!  I'm sure someone else will get the iPad, but I would love that too.

When you log in and post a book review, you have a choice of whether to make it 'public' or not.  I have picked up a couple of books because of seeing them in the lists. As of last night, there were 512 reviews posted.  I ran through some of them, and found this gem. (Patrons names are not included in these postings.)


Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
by Jenny Lawson
While parts of this book are heartbreaking, the rest had me laughing so much my husband made me read in another room. The author's dad reminded me so much of my own - they had attack turkeys while we had attack geese, her dad was a taxidermist with an odd sense of humor while mine just cut the tails off road-kill skunks to make paint brushes. (True story!) I'd love to listen to this on CD, but I'm afraid of laughing myself off the road.

Doesn't that make you want to find this?  Laughing? It sounds like a real lark.  Not to mention hoping to encounter this person with a singular background someday.  Get the skinny here, the reviews don't require registration in order to read them (go down to where it says "reporting on books").  Have a fun browse!


(oh, if you see references to a book being a "blind date"--they have a table of books wrapped in plain paper with check-out codes attached which you can take, sight unseen, read or at least try out, and then write a notecard of your response to them, which they will post on a wall.  Categorized as "love at first sight,"  "dumped," or "will try a second date," and why.)

Comments

  1. Don MeyerJuly 11, 2012 at 8:26 AM

    Oooh, reading contests! My late wife was a speech teacher in the elementary school district, and kept saying how important reading was to good speech. She would (and I do) heartily approve of reading contests for both children and adults.

    Maybe you'll win the iPad.

    ReplyDelete

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