Sunday Salon...October 20, 2013

Our Purple Mountain Ash tree has been very busy dumping its leaves.

Weather: It was foggy until the early afternoon today and yesterday. It is definitely fall-like weather. We stood and watched our tree drop its leaves today.

WLMA conference in Yakima, WA: I attended the Washington Library Media Association conference this past Friday and Saturday. I met two favorite YA authors: Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why) and Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray); attended a session called "Sex in the Library" and another about how to use Between Shades of Gray to teach history. In addition, I went on a winery tour (after hours) with a few other librarians. Eastern Washington is wine country and we tried some good ones. See my post tomorrow with more about the conference.

A closeup of the leaves from above tree  piled on the lawn. I love this tree for the varied colors of the fall leaves.

This past week: we were "homeless" staying in a hotel for three nights while the floor at our house was sanded and stained.  On Friday Don helped the movers bring our stuff back into the house from the garage where it was stored. I unpacked all the books and the food yesterday when I got home from Yakima. (You can tell my priorities, ha!) Don has hooked up the electronics, hung up the curtains, and rearranged all the furniture. Note his priorities verses mine, electronics verses books! Today we hung up all the pictures and unpacked some of the glass objects that need to be tucked in to the china cabinet. this may take us weeks to get everything put away.

Books read this week:

• Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler. I conducted an email interview with him and posted it. Please take a look at the interview here. I liked the book and think it has a lot to say to teens and parents today. I was very impressed by how quickly Aaron responded to my request for an interview.
• The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. The book club selection for this coming Wednesday. There should be plenty to discuss.
• Far Far Away by Tom McNeal. I actually finished this book the week before but I completed the review this week.  Please take a look. This is a new favorite book.

Currently reading:

• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black.  Sandy and I started this audiobook on our way home from the library conference. It is a Mock Printz selection. Vampires galore.
• In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters. Another Mock Printz selection.

Tomorrow: I am keeping my fingers crossed that the district server will be back up. It was down Thursday and Friday. My daughter subbed for me Friday. What a frustrating day for her. (Nope, system still down, books are piling up everywhere. Kids are grumpy because they can't print or use the Internet. Teachers are cluelessly sending kids to the library to do above tasks even though they know they can't print, either. Sigh.)

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus