My To-Be-Read Pile is so Huge I May Live Forever

My To-Be-Read Pile

Okay, so I might have a little bit of a book fetish. My son told me a year ago that I couldn't buy anymore books until I got through my existing pile. My pile was smaller then. What can I say? Christmas happened. And he didn't say I couldn't check out library books during that period. After the Christmas before last came and went he just gave up. My daughter doesn't even try to keep up.

Husband's pile

I think my ever growing pile started to make my husband feel a little competitive. He gestured to his a few months ago and challenged, "I think my pile might have yours beat." I just laughed at him.


So today I finally decided to face my book addiction. For thirty minutes or more I went through all the bookcases in the house collecting books I hadn't read. I carefully piled them by size on top of my desk. I was hoping just to make one tall stack. I soon realized it would be a safety hazard to do that. So I broke it down into two stacks. I even sat my e-reader next to the pile. Ebooks count after all. In fact, they've helped feed my addiction because they don't require shelf space and are sometimes less expensive. Sometimes, they're even FREE. (Imagine me sucking in air here in excitement)

Finding all my books was harder than I expected and after I took the picture and started putting them all back in their various bookshelves I discovered I'd missed a couple.

Goodreads, libraries, e-readers, they've all fed my book addiction until is now seems like its rampaging beyond my control. I need to learn to read faster. So I've begun reading multiple books at one time. I also tell myself whenever I enter my favorite bookstore (Joseph-Beth), or the public library, I can't get anything. Then I see the bargain books section. Or Goodreads sends me an update on new releases for my favorite authors (don't ask who they are, that list would be too long) and I look it up on my library. Yep, most of the time they have it. And if it isn't in the physical library its on the KY Unbound library website. Is there no mercy???

I keep telling myself and others that reading is important for my job. How can I learn to write better if I don't read, A LOT? Heh. I think I've got that part of my job requirement covered.

For those of you in the same boat here is more pressure. Hollywood keeps turning those books you've been meaning to read into movies. And friends and librarians post lists or put up displays of some of these books so you can read them before the movies come out. Good grief.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/books-to-read-before-they-hit-the-big-screen

All of these sounded good and will probably be added to my want to read list.

What about you? Do you have a book fetish and if so what feeds it?

Oh, and if you choose to accept the challenge to read all 14 books listed on buzzfeed, let me know and tell me how it went.

I'd love for you to follow my blog and share in my love err--uh--I mean pain.

Where does time go, Percy Jackson, and other summer musings...

Mine and my daughter's fairy garden

Where has summer gone?

My son's hotwheels garden

Today the newest Percy Jackson movie Sea of Monsters came out. When I first started seeing the previews for it I thought, "Hmmm, looking forward to that, but not what comes right after."

For those of you without kids or who don't read a lot of children's fiction, Percy Jackson is a series written by Rick Riordan about a young demi-god. The stories are fun, full of adventure, and the characters are great. If you have a hard time getting into the mindset of a middle grader then this is a great series to read. I would also recommend listening to the audio books to actually help you hear the voice of this character.

A boy and his dog enjoying staying up late

But I digress. Probably because I don't want summer to be nearly over. I know some parents are a little relieved when school starts back. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. I say unfortunately because it would be much easier for me if I could be. Instead I tend to feel older and sad that my playmates, err, children had to go back to work and the real world.

Abby as Belle in Beauty and the Beast Jr.

As a writer I get to stay home and make-up my own schedule.

So having them around to do research with, (i.e. imaginative and essential role play and dress-up games) makes my job all that much more fun. Hey, I write for children. I'm allowed to be youthful this way. I have to be for my work's sake. Don't judge me. : P

Now they have to grow up a little bit more by starting third grade and seventh grade. I get to ride that wonderful emotional roller coaster known as puberty again with my seventh grader. (yeah)

Next week I will have to pull up my own big girl pants for them and let them go back to school with a smile, a hug, and a wave. SIGH. At least I'll still have my cat and my dogs to play with.

And our turtle, Ted. I wonder how Ted would feel about wearing a tutu???

Test your Skills and Strengths at Plot vs. Character Writing

Are you better at plotting your stories or do you find crafting you characters more fun and easier to do. Check out this site and take the test to see which is your strong suit.

Blockbuster Plots-Plot Lines Test

There are Safe Organic Means to Control Garden Pests

As the spring gardens wind down many gardeners now face the problems unique to the summer garden crops, INSECTS and INFECTIONS! Not that spring gardens aren't susceptible to these tiny predators and infections. They are, but not to the extent that the warmer garden crops often face.

This year all the rain has been welcome for keeping my plants watered, without as much work on my part, and for keeping temperatures more moderate this summer. What I didn't foresee was the fungal infections it would cause in my tomato plants. Early blight caused me to have to trim back a lot of my foliage on my plants to help keep them alive, so I wouldn't lose all of my nice little green tomatoes. But now the tomatoes are very exposed to insects. Before they are even fully red, I have to pick them so they don't rot on the vine because the insects have already eaten half of them. I came home this week to find at least a half dozen of my tomatoes, that should have been nice red globes ready for picking, were instead eaten over and ready for composting. It was a sad a frustrating thing.

In discussing means of controlling these problems with other gardeners at my local farmers market I noticed one key reaction from most when I mentioned the word SPRAY.

The fellow gardeners would draw back in alarm and cut in frantically with, "We don't use sprays. We are all organic."

Now this dramatic response is understandable, especially if you are selling produce to the public under an organic label. The requirements to get an organic growers label for you produce is rigorous and time consuming. An overhead conversation about said growers using sprays or pesticides that aren't organic would be a problem.

However, there are many organic powders and sprays available that you can use in your garden to combat both insects and fungal infections.

Neme oil is an organic spray alternative that can be used to help combat fungal and some insect and mite infestations. There are also insecticidal soaps that are safe to use against insects. Many you can make at home yourself using dishwashing soap and water in combination with herbs and spices to help repel bugs. These homemade remedies are a fun way to experiment in the garden, to see what works best, and are inexpensive to make using common household products. Bionide is a natural pesticide that we have used in our demonstration garden to combat predatory insects, and it was safe to use in close proximity to our honey bee hive. As the name implies it is a biological spray made from sulfur and pyrethrins that targets specific pests and infections. Some bionide sprays also contain neme oil. Other forms of this product are available in powder form.

To combat powdery mildew on summer squash plants you can sprinkle baking soda on the leaves. The infected leaves will die back allowing for healthy leaves to grow in and replace them. Another powder that is organic in nature to help eliminate insect pests is diatomaceous earth. It is a powder made from diatom fossils which are created from hard shelled algae. To help combat plant infections, you can sprinkle a copper sulfate powder around their base. There are also spray dilutions that can be used on plants and trees. Epsom salts are also good for preventing infections in plants while also fertilizing them. It can be sprinkled in the hole during planting and around the base of the plant once signs of infection have been spotted.

I am sure there are a plethora of other products that can be safely used in organic gardens to help control pests and infections in plants. Of course, all this rain makes using sprays and some powders problematic. But next time you hear the word SPRAY keep these in mind and don't lump all sprays and powders together. There are safe organic alternatives that aren't synthetic broad spectrum pesticides. While I agree that overuse of pesticides is a problem for beneficial insects and the environment, not all sprays or powders are evil or harmful for beneficial bugs or the environment. By researching safe, natural, sources for pest and disease control you can prevent the loss of those wonderful veggies you worked so hard to grow.

Becoming...Junebug

Last week during one of my never-ending road-trips to shuttle my kids around I decided to let my imagination run wild. I became my character Lolly from my novel-in-progress, Junebug.

As my car sped down the winding country road through tree tunnels and past cornfields, I left my windows open to the summer air, that wasn't as hot or as humid as usual for July. Lolly didn't care if her dark, curls frizzed out in the wind. She luxuriated in the wild freedom of the air blowing through the windows. Lolly laughed as the small mini-cooper her dad let her barrow for the day whipped up and down hills and around curves. Past the small stone bridge by the old grist mill it sailed up and into the air.

Image courtesy of scificincinnati.com

Lolly felt like she was flying. There was nobody with her to tell her to stop, nobody there to warn her not to use her powers frivolously. As she continued on she realized the car actually was flying. The realization caused her to bounce back on the pavement with a jolt that would have her father shaking his head over the damage to his suspension. Lolly knew she should be sorry, but a smile tugged at her lips and she couldn't regret a moment of it.

I was Lolly in my mind. Don't worry, I didn't break any speed limits. ;) Unfortunately, my car didn't really fly over the dips and curves in the road either.


But it broke up the monotony of a everyday task for a moment and gave me more insight into my character and her motivations. Most of all, for that moment I had fun in my own headspace and enjoyed the fun of creating without it feeling like actual work. Lolly, or Junebug, as her dad calls her, was really alive for that brief span of time. She was there with me laughing at her momentary freedom, and wild excitement of just being. It was glorious.

Fun Link to Find out What Kind of Reader You Are

Here is a fun web link that uses the Linnaean classification chart to determine what kind of a reader you are. I'm a cross between a book Hoarder on the chart and a Free Range "It's Complicated" Reader, just because I do have traits from other categories on the classification chart. Enjoy!

What Reader Species are You?

These are the Hamster Wheel Days of My Life

I really, really enjoyed June, for two reasons. First, it is my birthday month, so by default it is one of my favorite months of the year. Second, for this summer at least I didn't have any commitments like, kids camps, swim lessons, or other obligations other than gardening and writing, to worry about for a whole month. So I was a little depressed when it was over. I knew that the summer would pass that much more quickly once the busy time of July approached.

I know I shouldn't complain. I was the one who looked up theatre camps for my daughter to participate in during the summer. I was the one who signed her up for one that lasts for three weeks in Louisville, which is close to my parents farm. I was the one who then decided to sign up my son for swim lessons that last for two of the three weeks my daughter is in her camp. So I go from dropping her off, to going back to the farm to pick up my son and taking him to swim, to then drop him, off eat lunch, and then go back to Louisville to pick up my daughter from camp. All of this was my doing. And I'm not sorry I did any of it. My daughter is going to get to be Belle in Beauty and the Beast Jr. at the end of performance camp. My son has learned a new swim stroke that he can practice to make him a stronger swimmer. These are all good things and they are enjoying their time in camp and swim lessons. But in the midst of all the running and chauffeuring the time speeds by for summer and they will be getting ready to go back to school once July is over. I manage to eek out writing time despite all the running. I'm enjoying being back on the farm with my family and getting to be in the countryside where I grew up. I just wish that the trade off for my kids personal growth didn't seem to make the time pass faster. I know other parents when they have a moment to draw breath, often feel the same way. Our babies grow into toddlers, who become school children, and all too soon young adults. I was told by a friend recently to bask in this time of running and doing for my kids, because all too soon they won't need me so much anymore.

So while I may feel that I am running on a hamster wheel of life, I try to take time at the end of each day to look at my two cute kids and be grateful. Grateful that my kids are healthy and active in things they love, and thankful that I did get one whole month during the summer to live life at a slower pace. Now its time to cook supper, unwind a little bit, and do it all again tomorrow. ;p