Quote Six from My Book of Quotations

"Civilization only works when citizens are either committed to stability or afraid of the consequences of instability."

from Lord of the Dance

by Andrew Greeley

A Must Share from The New York Times

"Teach the Books, Touch the Heart"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/taking-emotions-out-of-our-schools.html?_r=1

A must read for lovers of reading, teachers of literature, librarians, and Bookladies.

Quote Five from My Book of Quotations

"...the banks of the Mississippi River, the book mark of the American continent."

from Tales from Margaritaville

by Jimmy Buffett

I have a collection of bookmarks. Many have been gifts, which I suppose is appropriate for a librarian and book lover. There is one of Mexcian silver brought to me by a coworker after a trip to Mexico. A recent thank you gift from a high school friend is a miniature Persian carpet. There are two which look like Japanese girls in kimonos that came from Okinawa when my son was stationed there in the Air Force. I have a leather one that was given to me by a group of teachers from England who were touring our school system. There are the ones we made of our library cat, Tigger, and sold in our library. One handmade by a church child reads Angles, Angles, Angles [sic] and shows appropriate winged creatures which look much like the ghosts in Pac Man. There is a homemade one made using black construction paper and a Thomas Kincaide picture cut from a calendar. There is a book thong that I purchased myself. Some that are much treasured came from our school's participation in the International School Library Bookmark Exchange and are from Hong Kong, Canada, Nigeria, and India. One came from Spain, one came from Israel, two were cross stitched by friends and given to me. Some were freebies picked up at public library or

displays at museums and parks. One is in Dutch, one was a contest winner at our school, and one

was sent to me after I shared about my collection at a Junior Friends of the Library meeting in a nearby city.

Some are in use and some are in a treasure box. I recently passed on to my granddaughter one I had as a child a linked metal one of the 10 Commandments.

I think Jimmy Buffett had it right about the Mississippi. Either get a map or get on Google Earth and take a look!

National Poetry Month

Read a poem,
recite a poem,
listen to a poem,
listen to someone else read a poem,
watch someone else read a poem,
write a poem,
put a poem in your pocket,
put a poem on the bulletin board at your local market,
mail poems to your friends,
begin your club meeting with a poem,
read a hymn like a poem,
put your poem to music,
subscribe to a Poem-a-Day,
search for poetry on youtube.


Can you think of more ways to share poetry this month?
Write them in the comments section of this post.

Quote # 4 from my Book of Quotations

Another one from Andrew M. Greeley's Patience of a Saint


"Civilization leaves those who more or less keep its rules at the mercy of those who do not."


This one was probably copied down in 1991 when I started the book. That was 21 years ago. How much more true do you think it is today in 2012?

Book of Quotes.....# 3

Happy Easter. Today is resurrection Sunday. He is Risen. He is Risen indeed.

"And joy, Grandfather would remind me, joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God."

From A Ring of Endless Light
by Madeleine L'Engle

Quotation Two from my Book of Quotes

This is also from Andrew Greeley's Patience of a Saint


"Husband and wife are sacraments of God for one another, the best hint each will ever have in this world of what God is like."


note from self "at least that's how it's suppose to be."

Book of Quotes

In 1991 I received a journal. I began that year writing down quotes from books that I read. Last year 2011, twenty years later I completed that first journal and began the second. Thought I might share these words on the blog. Maybe a quote every few days.



The journal ends with these my words: "This book contains sentences, paragraphs, and phrases that over the last 20 years I collected as I read. Words that spoke to me because of their beauty or their truth.

I am not the same person as I was at the beginning of this volume. Outward appearance and experiences both have changed me--but the words speak to the core of who I am and where I am and perhaps where I am going." June 26, 2011


First Entry

"The Lord God, to tell you the absolute truth, is a comedian."
from Patience of a Saint
by Andrew Greeley

Is it time?

Is it time to rethink the purpose of this blog? The blurb reads "thoughts on reading and happenings in school libraries." I am no longer in a school library and have been floundering in my retirement. I enjoy not having to get up early every day but have missed the interaction with the students and teachers. Two library related part time job offerings have come my way, but as a have begun to "draw" my social security there are limits to earnings I can have.

So what now is the purpose of Bookladyspeaks? I can write reviews and opinions of books I am reading. But lots and lots of people do a better job at that than I would do. Rethink, redesign etc, etc.

Am currently reading No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club Diary of a 60th Year by Virginia Ironside. Wanted to share some words from it.

"I don't want to be young and stimulated anymore. .... I want to start doing old things, not young things. Like slowly starting to give my property away, instead of spending my time trying to acquire it. Like seeing everything from a distance, rather than closeup and personal.....Like realizing that this civilization, like all civilizations, will one day come to and end. Like being able to spend a day doing nothing instead of feeling obliged to cram it with diversionary activities to avoid guilt and anxiety. Like realizing that if I can't understand an idea or a concept, it's not my fault but the fault of the person who's trying to put it across. Like being able to see things with a historical perspective and really understand that what goes around comes around."


Having trouble with the idea in bold print! So although I've not entirely reached Virginia's place yet, I really no longer have much insight into "Happenings in School Libraries". So if you see a different slant beginning to appear in Bookladyspeaks you'll know why.