Jealous

It's the end of the semester, and there are some major projects going on here at Uni.  While working in the library I see groups of students sitting around and discussing/studying Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.  Earlier in the semester I saw students toiling over (and gagging over) Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.  Students are also working on Banned Books Projects, reading texts of their own choosing.  I've seen Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird among others.

 All I can think is, how lucky they are.

How lucky they are to be discovering these great works for the first time!  I remember the first time I read each of those novels, and they changed by life.  Before those, I had read Christopher Pike, Paul Zindel, and Roald Dahl...lots AND lots of all three.  They kind of WERE my reading life.  And, there is nothing wrong with these three great YA authors and others like them.  They are fantastic, entertaining, and made me that covert reader with the books in my lap during class.  But, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Shelley, Dickens, Bronte, Wharton...they are the ones that sent my literary heart through the roof, and kept it in the clouds of epic words, devastating romances, and gritty realism, and may my heart never find its way back down to the dark doldrums of life without great classics.

*sigh*  I think I need to discover a new classic over break.  You know what?  I've never...read...Jane Eyre.  I know.  I can't believe it either.  I think I know my new assignment for this holiday.  Maybe if a classics kindred spirit sees me reading that for the first time while having a coffee break in the 'Bucks, they'll be jealous of me.

P.S.  Want the tee-shirts I've "advertised"?  Check out Litographs:Books on T-Shirts.  You won't be sorry.  Well, your bank account probably will be, but not you! 

Winter Reads

All of a sudden it's winter in these here parts.  We're bundling up, most are cursing the light snowfall that's already occurred (not me!), and it's the perfect time to talk winter reads.  Cause, seriously, what is better than curling up with a good book, a hot cup of something, and a fleece blanket?  Not much, I can tell you that!  (I'm just sad I don't get to do that too much anymore.)

At the beginning of the semester I saw a bulletin board on Pinterest with the title "I Read a Latte!"  Of course, I've had it in the back of mind to use once it got chilly.  I thought I'd save it for January, but it was just too good not to do now.

Here's the method...I found several lists of winter reads--Goodreads, other Pinterest boards, and my own mind (ETHAN FROME!  THE SHINING!  LITTLE WOMEN!).  I used these as a starting point.  After creating a list of chilly reads (that included MANY genres!), I made sure we had the books on the list in our Uni Library.  Then, the real fun began!  I hunted down book covers of the titles, and I got to make them into lil MUGS!  That's right: MUGS!  For lattes...GET IT!?!

Because I was too cheap to buy new border, I just used a book border I already had.  I justified this to myself, because the title is "I Read A LATTE," so a border with a lot of genres present makes sense.  (I do really wish I had a border with snowflakes, though.  But, like I said, not a lot of cash what with kids' birthdays and holidays coming up.)  The final touch was procuring Starbucks cups this morning for the board.  Those were free (as they should be with all the money I spend there). 

This is one of my favorite boards yet.  I hope you like it, too!