September 2013 ⋆ Lovely Bookshelf

Facebook Posts: Troubleshooting Thumbnail Images

When sharing my blog posts on Facebook, sometimes the list of thumbnails to choose from is a bit buggy. On too many occasions, the images in my post don't show up in the list of available thumbnails at all. I click the little arrow to flip through images to attach to my post, and see only my blog header and images from my sidebar, nothing else. So frustrating!When I take the time to find, create and/or include images in my posts, I want to use one of those images as the thumbnail for my corresponding Facebook post. I hope this fix will help some of you who are facing the same problem.Ready? Here we go!1. Look at your post in…

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September 30, 2013

Fiction / reviews

Sad Robot Stories by Mason Johnson

I've heard so much about the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (CCLaP) from my fellow bloggers. When I stopped by the website recently, I found Sad Robot Stories. Post-apocalyptic sci-fi in a novella format? Right up my alley! Our narrator is Robot, who'd always wanted more for himself than the monotonous tasks typically assigned to his mechanical species. He's easy to love: He'd become part of a human family, and when human life was extinguished, he appeared to be the only one left grieving. He's also a little peculiar, having adopted the speech mannerisms of the humans he remembers. With humans gone, Robot is forced to determine how he's going to deal with the drastic and tragic changes…

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September 29, 2013

children's books

Small Fry Saturday: The Giant Cabbage: An Alaska Folktale

Small Fry Saturday is a meme inspired by The Well-Read Redhead, showcasing books our children enjoy.This week's pick is:Title: The Giant Cabbage: An Alaska FolktaleAuthor: Chérie B. StihlerIllustrator: Jeremiah TrammellPublisher: Sasquatch BooksReleased: March 2003Source: my personal library (gift from a friend)Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsSynopsis (from Goodreads):Moose discovers a very big cabbage in his garden that could win first prize at the Alaska State Fair. But there's a problem--it's so huge he can't lift it! An old Russian folktale inspired The Giant Cabbage, but this contemporary version showcases Alaska with vivid illustrations, adorable animal friends, and verbal twists and turns.C's godmother went to Alaska this summer and brought back this book. (She finds the.best.books! Remember Z Is For…

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September 27, 2013

Fiction / reviews

Review: A Million Heavens by John Brandon

Title: A Million HeavensAuthor: John BrandonPublisher: McSweeney'sReleased: July 2012Source: publisher (giveaway)Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsSynopsis (from Goodreads):On the top floor of a small hospital, an unlikely piano prodigy lies in a coma, attended to by his gruff, helpless father. Outside the clinic, a motley vigil assembles beneath a reluctant New Mexico winter—strangers in search of answers, a brush with the mystical, or just an escape. To some the boy is a novelty, to others a religion. Just beyond this ragtag circle roams a disconsolate wolf on his nightly rounds, protecting and threatening, learning too much. And above them all, a would-be angel sits captive in a holding cell of the afterlife, finishing the work he began on earth,…

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September 26, 2013

Uncategorized

Dr. Seuss and the Art of Musicality

My local music teachers association had its first meeting of the year last Saturday. Our guest speaker was violist Hillary Herndon (pictured right) from the University of Tennessee School of Music. She presented a fascinating and interactive program titled Dr. Seuss and the Art of Musicality. This program was outstanding! My mind has been whirling all week with further thoughts and ideas. There are so many applications and considerations from a variety of perspectives: that of a musician and a music teacher, but also a reader and a listener. Herndon often asks her students to find excerpts from literature to bring back and read aloud in front of the class. They are told to present their readings in character. She found…

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September 25, 2013

Fiction / reviews

Review: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Title: The Dog StarsAuthor: Peter HellerPublisher: Vintage ContemporariesReleased: May 2013Source: my personal libraryAmazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsSynopsis (from Goodreads):Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life—something like his old life—exists beyond the airport. Risking everything, he flies…

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September 23, 2013

Fiction / reviews / Short Stories

Review: Safe as Houses by Marie-Helene Bertino

Title: Safe as HousesAuthor: Marie-Helene BertinoPublisher: University of Iowa PressReleased: October 2012Source: publisher (NetGalley)Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsSynopsis (from Goodreads):Safe as Houses, the debut story collection of Marie-Helene Bertino, proves that not all homes are shelters. The titular story revolves around an aging English professor who, mourning the loss of his wife, robs other people's homes of their sentimental knick-knacks. In "Free Ham," a young dropout wins a ham after her house burns down and refuses to accept it. “Has my ham done anything wrong?” she asks when the grocery store manager demands that she claim it. In "Carry Me Home, Sisters of Saint Joseph," a failed commercial writer moves into the basement of a convent and inadvertently…

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September 18, 2013

Fiction / reviews

Review: Swimming in the Moon by Pamela Schoenewaldt

I'm excited to be a part of the blog tour for Pamela Schoenewaldt's Swimming in the Moon. Thanks to TLC Book Tours for supplying me with a review copy. This tour began September 3 and finishes up September 23; be sure to check out the complete tour schedule and read the reviews posted on other stops for other perspectives!Title: Swimming in the MoonAuthor: Pamela SchoenewaldtPublisher: William MorrowReleased: September 3, 2013Source: publisher (TLC Book Tours)Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsSynopsis (from Goodreads):Lucia D'Angelo's voice is nothing like her mother's. She's no nightingale with the gorgeous tones, tender and passionate, peaking and plummeting as dramatically as her moods. Yet in the rough world she's chosen, Lucia's words may truly change lives. In 1904, fourteen-year-old Lucia…

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September 16, 2013

children's books

Small Fry Saturday: Sometimes Just One Is Just Right

Small Fry Saturday is a meme inspired by The Well-Read Redhead, showcasing books our children enjoy.This week's pick is:Title: Sometimes Just One Is Just RightAuthor: Gayle ByrneIllustrator: Mary HaverfieldPublisher: Abbeville KidsReleased: April 23, 2013Source: publisher (NetGalley)Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsSynopsis (from Goodreads):A lighthearted story about an only child who learns to appreciate being "just one." In this winsome story, a likeable young narrator explores the perks and pitfalls of being an only child. Comparing his situation to that of his cousin, Nico, who has many siblings, the narrator realizes that having a household full of brothers and sisters is not always as fun as it seems. Even though he is the only child at home, he has many…

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September 13, 2013

nonfiction / reviews

Strings Attached by Joanne Lipman & Melanie Kupchynsky

Title: Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great ExpectationsAuthor: Joanne Lipman & Melanie KupchynskyPublisher: HyperionExpected Release: October 1, 2013Source: publisher (NetGalley)Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsSynopsis (from the book's website):If you’re lucky, somewhere in your past is that one person who changed your life forever. The one who pushed you to dream bigger and to reach higher, and who set you straight on what matters in life. Perhaps it was a coach, or a professor, or a family friend. For Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky, that person was a public-school music teacher, Jerry Kupchynsky, known as Mr. K -- a Ukrainian-born taskmaster who yelled and stomped and screamed, and who drove his students harder than anyone…

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September 11, 2013