The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin

It might not come as a surprise to you, but I love the written word. I love reading and writing and crisp clean pieces of paper. In fact I have, at the moment five full book shelves in my house (big bookshelves--not little ones) as well as numerous other books spread higgledy-piggledy through the bedrooms, living space and kitchen. As can be construed by this little obsession I have, I try to instill that same love within my children. Vicbowin has been easy. In fact I can't keep up with her . She reads numerous books at the same time. She reads the same books repeatedly. She checks out at least four books from the Library at a time. She talks her friends into reading the same books. AND she's at a seventh grade reading level (I'm sure I've mentioned that before). But beyond reading Vicbowin also loves to write. She has her own blog (generally used to brag about the books she's read), she has piles of notebooks full to the brim with her ideas and drawings...

Text message from me to Ralexwin: "I'm going to go to Barnes & Noble, speak now or forever hold your peace." * * * When I walked in my heart nearly skipped a beat. A smile crept across my face and I felt slightly giddy. It had been nearly two years since I'd been inside a BIG book-store . Two years! There were books everywhere on wall to wall shelves. The crisp smell of new paper invaded my nose, and the slow hum of whispered voices and muted music rang through my ears. I wanted to spend the rest of my life wandering down aisle's and through worlds, but there were people waiting on me. I sighed, I had come here for a specific purpose. It's really the only way I can go into a bookstore of that size. With a purpose. It's dangerous not to. It's expensive not to. I walked with determination, making a bee-line for the section I wanted. Something caught my eye. 'Ooh, what's that?' I veered off course... just for a second...and ...

Vicbowin has always wanted to be a zoologist . Okay, there was a time she wanted to be a crane driver, but that was when she was little. Anyway. She told me last night that she was thinking it would be fun to be a librarian. This was a revelation that came as no shock to me since my oldest girl child is an avid reader. No, no. Avid is an understatement. Voracious would be a better word. They are having a reading Olympics at school. If the kids read 250 minutes a week they get a gold medal. On Monday she read 120 minutes. I was wondering if there was a platinum medal she could go for. But there's a problem... You see I've been trying over the years to build up my supply of children's and young adult books so that my kids will have good books to read. The problem is SHE'S READ THEM ALL! Yes.... all. You want a list? Okay. Magyk by Angie Sage Flyte by Angie Sage Physik by Angie Sage Harry Potter #1 Harry Potter #2 Harry Potter #3 (I won't le...

This was one of those Facebook tagging games... but I kinda liked the idea. So I stole it! (mwahahaha) Simply list 15 books that have had a lasting impression in your life. ::cracks knuckles:: Easy peasy. 1. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 2. Case of the Vanishing Boy by Alexander Key 3. Black Stallion 4. Exodus by Leon Uris 5. The Princess Bride 6. Dangerous Summer by Carolyn G. Hart 7. Boy Scouts to the Rescue 8. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli 9. Profiles in Courage by JFK 10. A Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh 11. Book of Mormon 12. The Great and the Terrible Series by Chris Stewart (I know... that's totally cheating) 13. West with the Night by Beryl Markham 14. Persuasion by Jane Austen 15. Petersburg by Emily Hanlon Is that all? Can't I write more?

The kids have parent teacher conferences coming up this month which also means that the school's are having their annual book fairs. Yesterday the munckins brought home the mini-catalog with some of the more popular books (and prices) displayed inside. I perused through it and found this little gem of literary genius. *crickets chirping* That's right--they forgot to talk about the rabid llamas. I guess you write whatever you can when you're trying to get kids to read. Perhaps it's an exciting book for a little person but that description is lacking. It makes me think of a movie Ralexwin and I saw once (can't remember the name) about a cruise ship that's hit by a wave and flips over. The captain of the boat announces that they've become the victims of a 'rogue wave' and goes on to explain that rogue waves are fast, deadly and virtually undetectable. At this point in the movie we both started laughing. I can imagine the writing style: "I want to m...

I guess I had plans for doing more book reviews than I really did this month, but that's the way life goes. I thought I'd stick another one in here at the end, just to round things off. This is a book I picked up out of curiosity. I'd seen the movie and was surprised to see that the book was marked as a memoir. So I spent the $1 the library was asking and immediately fell in love. Just holding this book in my hands brings a desire to open it's pages. Frances Mayes is an exceptional writer, the type who can turn something as mundane as remodeling a house into a 280 page experience one is not soon to forget. She beckons the reader to come into her world of sunny outdoor markets and friendly summer dinner parties. It reminds me a bit of my own journal, a hodge -podge of thoughts, experiences, ideas, interesting bits of information, magazine clippings, and more. This book contains everything but the clippings. This is the kind of writing I want to do. I find it difficult...

Okay, seriously guys, if you are reading this blog entry because you didn't even know there was a book... I might actually cry. The movie is excellent, worth raising your children on (as I have done), but if you want the full story you've got to go pick up the book. It's written by the same guy that did the screen play so it follows the story better than any book/movie combo I've ever come across, but with more depth. You get Inigo's back-story, you get Fezzik's back-story (why was he in Greenland?). You get a much better picture of Buttercup and Wesley's relationship. I laughed so hard at this book that I nearly peed my pants (so it's probably good I read this book for the first time before I had children). There's only one downside, and that's the commentary. The literary tool that Goldman uses to unfold his tale is rather unusual in that he pretends to be abridging a classic work of an obscure author (S. Morgenstern). It's creative, I...

So I didn't have a theme for February. I guess I was being lazy (or sick or something) but as I lay in bed thinking I decided I would do some book reviews of my favorites for you all. So here I go! Perhaps the most well known work by Dodie Smith is "The Hundred and One Dalmatian's ," but I've never read that one. What I know (and love) this particular writer for is her book "I Capture the Castle." Set in diary form, this is the story of a teen girl on the brink of everything. Except that it's been awhile since her dad paid the rent on the castle they tenant, and her eccentric family doesn't seem to care that he's been locking himself away for long hours without explanation. Things are only compounded when the heirs of their long lost landlord pop in for an unexpected visit. Cassandra is the diaries owner and most avid patron. In its pages she unfolds the moments in adolescence when childhood is swept away by the concerns and cares of an adul...

Tell us about the last book you read. Hmm, the one I'm almost done with? Or the one I just finished? How about I just tell you about a book I have read recently that I really enjoyed. "These Is My Words," is a book I've stumbled across several times in the past few years but had never picked up and read. Finally my little sister (emarfar) ended up with a copy of it that I gladly stole from her just before I moved to South Dakota. (hehehe) And do you know what I found out? That book is incredible! I was riveted, I fell in love with the characters and their daily plights, I couldn't put it down. I consumed it in less than a week. So what is in this book that I find so captivating? It's the journal entries of a woman growing up in the Arizona territory and according to the back of the book it is based on a woman in the author's family line. Sarah is the woman and she's got this man that's in love with her that she's absolutely oblivious to...

I began to write more voraciously than ever before. I wrote poems, stories, and songs. I wrote in a journal, in my notebooks at school, even on scraps of paper strewn throughout the house. Through words I was able to create the picture of a girl trapped between custody battles, fist fights, abusive boyfriends, and bad choices. Some days all I could bear to do was scratch holes into my paper, scribbling furiously trying to release the emotions trapped inside of me. I spent most of my money on notebooks, diaries, and anything else that held a blank page. Then, in what I know to be the singularly greatest event in my life, my mother sent me to live with my brother. She had done everything in her power for me and was still losing. So it was, that at the age of seventeen I packed my bags and, without a word to my friends, left determined to change my destiny. * The apartment is a tiny one bedroom, my space inside it even smaller. I've got the fold out couch and this little closet stuff...

Least favorite subject, hands down, is fourth period literature with Mrs. Oakleberry. No one ever seems to listen in here. She’s a plump woman, and her name always makes me wish she wore wild clothes like the teacher in The Magic School Bus books, she's odd enough. According to rumor, the woman doesn’t own a television. I can’t imagine what she does for fun. Today she announces a new section, poetry. Everyone groans, I groan. Mrs. Oakleberry smiles and pulls out her book, we follow suit. Her voice is loud and clear seemingly unaware of the chatter around her. With the first words of “The Highwayman” she holds me captive. My ears ring slightly as my eyes focus on the dark and distant moors, the moon rising across a ribbon of road. And the highwayman came riding. Riding, riding, The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door. * It was in that moment that I discovered poetry. Words sang in my soul once more and after many years I picked up books again, drinking in the rhythmic...

The smell of dust and summer surround me as I lay encased in the swinging arms of our bright-red Brazilian hammock. A breeze drifts through the cloth, cooling me, moving me slightly. The dog wanders over and sniffs at me curiously trying to discern the red cocoon dangling in her territory. The house is silent. No one is yelling. No one is home. It isn’t odd to be left alone; I enjoy it, look forward to it. I look forward to the undisputed use of the hammock, the uninterrupted hours where I can disappear into a world more dangerous than my own. I turn a page of The Case of the Vanishing Boy; Jan is hiding in a van scared; he blinks and is transported to safety. I wish I could close my eyes and leave, close my eyes and go somewhere else. A squirrel scurries across the ground. The dog barks. I move my hips a little to get the hammock moving again; Jan is hurrying along the hedge, avoiding lights, avoiding danger. He’s so strong, I wish I were strong. Our car pulls into the driveway, a...

This is my first TTA entry. See previous post to learn more, and if you want to join the group it's over in my list of blogs (which you should all go check out... especially Baldy's Blog) Anyway here we go. One of my favorite authors is Brandon Sanderson, he's great and the worlds he creates are amazing. In his book Elantris, he describes a world where the magic has broken and those who once wielded it are now doomed to an eternity of pain. They don't heal from their wounds, they don't die. The first sensations of a stubbed toe, or a sliced finger stays with them forever. Building upon each other until at last the person's mind cracks. The other day I stubbed my toe pretty bad, I though at first that it might be broken (I'm a little more confident today that it's not... but we'll see) and the pain was enough to make me nauseous. It made me remember that book.. What would it be like to feel that immediate pain forever? The power that comes with feelin...

My sister was beside herself when she came home last night, she'd been perusing through garage sale ads in the newspaper and had found one particular announcement. A local second-hand store was having a book sale, if you could fill a suitcase with books you could buy it all for $2.50. So today my sister, my kids and I all loaded into the truck and drove down. An hour, and two sore backs later, we could be seen dragging our $5 worth of books across the parking lot. I have an addiction, well, I have many addiction's really but books are at the top of the list. I recently had to go into the doctor for some abdominal pain, as is routine he asked me a list of questions to discover my current health. "Do you smoke?" "No." "Do you drink alchohol?" "No." "Do you use any recreational drugs?" "No." The doctor smiled and without breaking stride asked: "Do you have any vices at all?" "I read to much." He laughe...