Another visit to the Little Free Library

Over Thanksgiving break I was with my family again at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, where I once again stopped by the Little Free Library on the Loop to see what there. I donated my most recent review book, Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel: A Graphic Novel by Anya Ulinich. It's fun to think about who might read it next.

Little Free Library is a wonderful thing. Is there one in your neighborhood?

A Little Free Library Discovery

Last week I vacationed with my family in Wrightsville Beach, NC, which is my favorite place to read a book. It rained all week so I got a lot of reading in. Between showers one afternoon I was out for a bike ride. There's an adorable house just off the main road and for the first time I noticed a Little Free Library had been installed in front.

If you're not familiar, Little Free Libraries are bigger than a birdhouse and smaller than a dollhouse. They open and inside people leave books for others to borrow and enjoy. I first heard of them a few years ago but hadn't yet found one to visit.

This particular Little Free Library is just off "the loop," a two-and-a-half-mile sidewalk for running, walking and biking. Therefore, this Little Free Library boasts the clever name "Little Free Library on the Loop." Inside it are a guest book and information on the Little Free Library program.

I went back the next day and donated my extra copy of The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

When I went back again the following day, my book had already been borrowed. I love this, and I want one!

It's Monday! What are you reading? (Holiday week edition)

 

It's a short week around here, which gives me a little more time for reading. I'm feeling ambitious. Here's what I'm reading this week:

In the car on audiobook: The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant.

On my iPod: On Folly Beach by Karen White.

For review (coming soon): 

The Awakening of Miss Prim: A Novel by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera (in time for its publication date July 8)

Wedding in Provence: A Novel by Ellen Sussman (publication date July 15)

And pulled from my stack that I've been looking forward to reading:

Hiding Edith by Kathy Kacer

Call me Zelda by Erika Robuck

Guests on Earth by Lee Smith

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

What are you reading?

This event is hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. 

Summer Beach Reads

I recently saw an article posted on Facebook from NPR called "You Call That A Beach Book? Really?" and the title alone had me chuckling. I've spent two weekends this summer at the beach. On the first I started a book that had been patiently waiting for me to pick up ever since I brought it back from Germany called Dearest Vicky, Darling Fritz: The Tragic Love Story of Queen Victoria's Eldest Daughter and the German Emperor. The second weekend I finished The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (I loved it, by the way) and Watermelon by Marian Keyes (a great, funny beach read) before starting another book I'd been waiting to read.

So maybe The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961-9 November 1989 doesn't sound like what some people would choose to read unless their grade depended on it, much less on vacation, but I was happy to have some uninterrupted time to get into this book. While it's long, it's also turned out to be a great, interesting, informative read about a time in history that I know almost nothing about. I vaguely remember seeing footage of the wall coming down. I had just turned 11 three days before that happened. Later when parts of the Berlin Wall began traveling around the world, a piece came to the N.C. State Fairgrounds and my parents took my sister and me there to see it. After seeing parts of the wall for myself in Berlin earlier this year, I'd been waiting for the right time to enjoy the full story, and while sitting on the beach seemed like a great time to do so.

My sister gets married at the beach in September. Things are busy, busy at work right now, so I know by then I'll be ready to escape my matron of honor duties for a bit and read on the beach. I'm eyeing a few books on my self as potential beach reads. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, The Weekend by Bernard Schlink and Literary Life by Larry McMurtry all look like good contenders.

What do you like to read when you're at the beach or on vacation?