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Last night I finished Beholding Bee. Such a fresh idea, so well-written. It made me think about an idea I was noodling in a whole new way. I love that about books!

I don't keep books on my nightstand because I'd never fall asleep if I read in bed. But I do read earlier in the evening, when staring at the computer gets to my eyes. I'm currently re-reading some humorous MG stories, as research, including books by Wendy Mass and Carl Hiaasen.

And I also loved Beholding Bee!

The One and Only Ivan, Three Times Lucky, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, and Be-yond Ba-by Talk (a linguistic guide to your child's first few years). And on my Kindle, Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. Determined to finish that series before Luke turns one!

Oy! I have such a stack!

Me too. And this is Kimberly Fusco, right? I heard her editor, Michelle Frey, talk about her first book, TENDING TO GRACE at a conference in 2005. Kimberly had met Michelle at a conference one-on-one, and Michelle had said she'd look at the manuscript again with some work. I was fascinated with the way Kimberly buckled down and committed to the manuscript -- which led to an eventual sale.

Have you read that book? It's beautiful.

Love that books keep you up!

Reading is always research in some way. I love that I can both study and enjoy at the same time.

Lots of goodies! I haven't read THREE TIMES LUCKY yet, though I heard Sheila talk at the Decatur Book Festival. I'm three or four book in to Gabaldon's series and have a feeling I'd need to pick up that book of characters she has before I start up again.

By the way, how's motherhood treating you??

Jumping in here to say Tending to Grace is gorgeous! Did you know Kim wrote it as poetry first? That's why the language is so spare and luminous.

No! But I know she added Grace's stutter to the storyline after her critique with Michelle. It truly made the story.

Well, I must thank you all for making my day! We lost power tonight for several hours and my husband was reading to my daughter and me by candlelight - the new Schneider Award recipient, A Dog Called Homeless - the power came on and I saw these comments about BEHOLDING BEE and TENDING TO GRACE. I feel blessed to be a writer, and blessed to meet such talented people. And yes, each chapter in TTG began as a poem and I found the courage to write about stuttering because I was (and sometimes am still) a stutterer. And somehow I've become a rather fearless public speaker because I found a voice. Amazing how a little writing can transform your life. Thank you!

Hello and thank you for stopping by! I feel blessed to have heard your story (I met Michelle Frey at IRA last year and shared how much it meant to me) and to have read your work. You are an inspiration.

Can't wait to pick up A DOG CALLED HOMELESS.

Powerful!

A Japanese author I'd love to read!

Wow!

This is the only Endo book I've read, but let me tell you: ten years later, it is still with me.

Such power in such a short post. :)

I love finding books at the library. One of the sad things about blogging is that I have so many books to read for interviews that I don't get to the library to just look for books that much anymore. But it's how I've found some of my favorite authors.

I do, too. There's something very satisfying about discovering on the library shelves a book you've never heard of and falling in love.

My daughter and I listened to THE GRAPES OF WRATH all the way to California and back. We still have about 10 hours to go. It's another Steinbeck classic. I had forgotten how rich and insightful his writing is.

I can't drive through Santa Rosa without thinking of the Joads (they lost a ball bearing there...which always confused me. Did their tires have ball bearings?0.

I Love EAST OF EDEN, though I did not love THE GRAPES OF WRATH.

Funny story. The second time I read this, I was visiting my parents. I just got to the part where Aron was cutting wood and got the Mark of Cain cut on his forehead. Not five minutes later my dad walked in with the SAME gash on his forehead! He had been cutting branches.