12 Cats Who Are Serious About Reading (from BuzzFeed)

I can't resist reposting this gem I found on BuzzFeed this morning. It's 12 Cats Who Are Serious About Reading and it's adorable!

To view this article (posted on August 2nd), click here and enjoy a giggle.

National Doughnut Day

Hooray! It's National Doughnut Day!

It started almost 100 years ago with a group of female volunteers ("lassies") who worked with the Salvation Army, giving out doughnuts to World War I veterans. Over time it morphed into a global celebration and, nationally, doughnut shops are spending today giving away free, delicious doughnuts!

Click here to see what doughnut stores are giving out free doughnuts in your area!

According to this article Lamar's Donuts, a chain based in Kansas City, Missouri has provided us with the following fun, doughnut facts:

* More than 10 billion donuts are made every year in JUST the United States.

* The hole in the donut’s center appeared in the first half of the 19th Century and allows the donut to cook more evenly.

* The Guinness World record for doughnut eating is held by John Haight, who consumed 29 donuts in just over 6 minutes. Woah!

Click here to read all of the doughnut facts!

Everyone's E-Birthday!

Happy eBirthday to you! YES, YOU!

Mo Willems is the creator of today's holiday (everyone's eBirthday) and talks about it on his blog today. It all started many years ago:

In error, somebody once posted on some website that Mo Willems was "an Italian who was born on May 24." This is not the case (He was actually born in February), but for some reason, it stuck. Since then, Mo Willems has been recieving birthday wishes in his fan mail every May 24th for years! So he decided to declare it his eBirthday! But not only his eBirthday-- Everyone's eBirthday! So today, we can all consider ourselves Italians (or eTalian) who were born May 24! And we can have a birthday ice cream!

So have a great eBirthday, everybody!

Favorite Toys

Somewhere in the midst of Internet link-clicking, I stumbled upon this beautiful set of photos of children with their toys from around the world. Taken by photographer Gabriele Galimberti, these photos depict kids with the toys they treasure most from countries like the USA, Italy, Iceland, Botswana, Costa Rica, India, Australia, and many others. Ultimately, I think it reminds us that kids are kind of the same anywhere you go, but according to the photographer, the way each of the children played revealed a lot about their countries. “The richest children were more possessive,” he said, “At the beginning, they wouldn’t want me to touch their toys, and I would need more time before they would let me play with them. In poor countries, it was much easier. Even if they only had two or three toys, they didn’t really care. In Africa, the kids would mostly play with their friends outside.”

This got me thinking about my most prized toys as a kid. I grew up in Long Island, New York in the 80's and early 90's. There were a few clear standouts: Magic Nursery Babies, Care Bears, Puppy Surprise, Maple Town figurines, Littlest Pet Shop, and Yum Yums. Were these toys important to any other kids of my generation? What were your most favorite childhood possessions?

Do you want to read more about toys of yesterday and today? Here are some books you may want to reserve:

Toys of the National Toy Hall of Fame: A Celebration of the Greatest Toys of All Time! by Scott G. Eberle and Strong National Museum of Play

Toys by Kevin Cunningham

Toys: 100 Years Ago by Allison Lassieur

Totally Tubular '80s Toys by Mark Bellomo

Turning Vintage Toys by Chris Reid

The History of Toys: From Spinning Tops to Robots by Deborah Jaffé

Or for more on photographer Gabriele Galimberti, check out his website.

Laura's Book Club #3

Book club happened again!

It was held in its usually-lately format where we each recommend a book or two and discuss the books we read last month.

Last month I chose to read Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods, which, aside from sometimes being a little too non-fictiony, was actually kind of light and funny and had a good set of interesting (albiet real and non-fiction) characters. I'd recommend it, for sure!

Also, the photo to the left is our snack spread this month, which has the usual selection of fruits, nuts, and cheeses.

Anyway, here are my two recommendations for the month:

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

This is a prose-y book that follows the life of 16-year-old Bobby when he is thrown into single-parent, teenage fatherhood. After the baby’s mother, Nia, suffers from irreversible brain damage, Bobby is left to try to find a balance between school and friends (who don’t comprehend his new parenting role) and his beautiful, breathtaking love for his baby daughter, Feather.

The book alternates between “then” (before Feather) chapters and “now” (after Feather) chapters, making Bobby’s whole progress and simultaneous regress a mix of beautiful, touching, happy, and sad.

This book won the 2004 Coretta Scott King Award and the 2004 Printz Award. If I had my own book award, I’d give it to this book too.

How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers

This short story collection by Dave Eggers does what many other Dave Eggers books do:

1. Gives us a deep look into complex, compelling, and troubled characters brains.
2. Analyses funny, thought-provoking, and sometimes awkward social situations.
And 3. Takes us on a descriptive and beautiful journey around the world and, specifically, to countries we’d probably never even consider visiting (so much Africa!)

These are some of my favorite things to read about and each story, as many Dave Eggers books are, is absolutely beautifully written.

Other books recommended at book club:

Forever by Pete Hamill

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Staub

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon

Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Walking Dead by Tony Moore

A Box of Matches by Nicholson Baker

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

January First by Michael Shofield

Anyone read any of these?

Laura's Book Club #2

Book Club met again this past Sunday and I figured I would again share my two recommendations, as well as the books recommended by my friends. Hope you enjoy! (Remember, many of these are adult titles!):

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book, written with precise detail and told in alternating perspectives, is about a circus, open only from sunset to sunrise, that arrives without warning and leaves without warning. It's called Le Cirque des Rêves, and from the outside, it is an exciting, magical, fanciful place comprised of numerous, smaller, black-and-white striped tents, as opposed to one gigantic one.

Behind the scenes, however, the circus is a different story. There's a fierce competition involving Celia and Marco, two illusionists who have been trained to compete since childhood, and who’s coaches, Hector Bowen and Chandresh Christophe Lefevre, in fact, have been battling in this kind of fashion for years.

The rules, goal, and game play of their competition is hazy at first. The two illusionists have no idea how to win or even make moves, but eventually they figure out what to do, and learn that the entirety circus was designed specifically as a stage for their battle. Then there's the other problem: the deep, passionate love that Celia and Marco have found in each other.

Even while in love, the game must go on, and pretty soon, everybody who's even visited this circus's fate is on the line.

The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang & Derek Kirk Kim

This graphic novel tells three stories that perfectly border the line between fantasy and reality.

In the first story, "Duncan's Kingdom", set in a lush medieval Europe, Duncan, a brave prince, is embarking on a quest to win the hand of a fair lady... except there are peculiar and wrong-seeming details that seem to pop up in his dreams and around him, such as a modern Snappy Cola bottle. In a smooth transition between fantasy and reality, suddenly Duncan's world is confusing and may or may not be what he thought it always was.

The second story, "Gran'pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile", seems like a witty, anthropomorphic, statement about capitalism and religion. In Frogsville, USA Gran'pa Greenbax, a rich and greedy frog has a dream: to be able to dive into a pool of money and not hit his head. Unfortunately, this is not so easy. After a lot of trying, his lackey, Filbert, discovers a giant smile in the sky. This lets Gran'pa Greenbax start a new religion and make more money, getting him a step closer to his pool dream. But, as things are with evil people, the situation is just not straightforward.

In the last story, "Urgent Request", a very regular (if not somewhat frumpy) lady starts receiving the notorious Nigerian Prince emails. With a combination of kindness, hope, and naiveness (I know that's not a word but I don't know the correct noun form of "naive"), she answers the emails and even sends money to the prince. Is he real, maybe? Or not? This, again, considers what reality and fantasy really mean.

Each story in this book is quick, yet touching and beautiful. And, even though the stories are short, the characters are deep, complicated, and easy to connect with. The whole book can be read in an hour and will leave you thinking for days. I think this would be good first graphic novel for non-graphic novel readers who are secretly afraid of them.

Additionally, here is the list of the books recommended by my friends:

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen
How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley
Girlchild by Hassman Tupelo
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
What is the What? by Dave Eggers
Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quiñonez
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

If you're interested in reading or recommending any books from/for my book club (and you're an adult!), leave me a comment. We can book-chat online!

Laura's Book Club #1

My best friends and I have a monthly book club. For our first official meeting we all read an old, but somewhat classic book called The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Or, at least we were supposed to. As it turned out, my one friend (Angela) was the only person to actually finish the book! We just weren't that into it! Despite this, we managed to hold a successful book-chat, however we decide that we should change the format of Book Club.

Book Club, now in its current state, involves each of us bringing two or more book recommendations to our group and then reading whichever of these we'd like for the next month's meeting. This way we don't get bogged down reading something we're not that into and, no matter what, we know there's at least one other person in the group to book-chat with.

Our next meeting is this Sunday but I thought, perhaps, I'd share my recommendations from last month here, in case any of you were looking for something to read. However, beware, because not all of my friends are into YA and children's literature (Some have actually grown up and moved on to adult books!) these books will run age-level gamut, as well as the genre gamut. Check your library, if you're unsure about whether or not you should read any of these recommendations.

And without further adieu, here's my recommendations for last month:

The Lost Girls: Three Friends, Four Continents, One Unconventional Detour Around the World by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

This book opens up with Jennifer, Holly and Amanda, three close friends in their late-20’s, who are on vacation in at Iguassu Falls in Brazil, discussing all the dreaded work that they have to face once they return to NYC. Jokingly, they discuss what it would be like to take off of work for a whole year and just travel around the world.

Then…they do it!

Not long after their vacation in Brazil, the three of them meet up to discuss turning their year-long dream trip into a reality. They save up for a year, sketching out an itinerary of all the places they want to visit, including how much time and money they’ll spend at each location and how much this trip will cost them regarding their careers and personal relationships as well. Not really knowing what’s in store they find themselves heading to their first stop- Peru.

In chapters that rotate between the three of their perspectives, Jennifer, Amanada, and Holly cover foreign bugs, bathrooms, people, language barriers, miscommunications, exercise, food, scenery, boys/dating, self-discovery, and pretty much EVERYTHING I like to read about. From the people they meet, to the new things they try, to the arguments and laughs that they have with each other, I think it’s the self-reflection that really makes this book so relatable for women in their 20’s and 30’s (like us!). This is the kind of book that sticks with you for a long time after you put it down. A warning, however– this book will cause extreme travelust.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

It's the late 1970's, and Miranda (who’s 12-years-old and living in New York [I’m sorry, I’m a children’s librarian but I swear this book is AMAZING]) loves A Wrinkle in Time. Except for the fact that her mom is preparing to be a guest on $20,000 Pyramid, life’s pretty normal for Miranda. But then there are a few weirdish events. For instance, first, her best friend Sal, for what seems like no reason at all, is punched in the face and then decides he doesn’t want to be her friend anymore. Then, she starts getting a series of mysterious notes. As they arrive, Miranda realizes that the sender seems to know things before they happen. They are found in weird places and they are all strange, cryptic, and seeming to allude to future. For example, one note says "I am coming to save your friend's live, and my own."

The book is a quick read but also a page turner. It reads like realistic/historical fiction, but then teases you with a bit mystery too! It’s like a puzzle, the kind of book where every single word is a clue until you get to the end.

Additionally, here are a few of the books recommended by my friends at Book Club last month:

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Keep by Jennifer Egan
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Milkrun by Sarah Mlynowski
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Birds of a Lesser Paradise by Megan Mayhew Bergman
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

If you're interested in reading or recommending any books from/for my book club (and you're an adult!), leave me a comment. We can book-chat online!

25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the World

That's the Amsterdam Public Library pictured above.

I know I do these kinds of posts pretty frequently, but if you're any kind of library-lover at all, I hope you appreciate these beauties as much as I do. Flavorwire is the latest to post beautiful, international libraries. However, this batch is especially good (and nearer and dearer to my heart) because they're all public libraries! Have you been to any of the ones that they've listed? I've been to three of them.

Read their article here: The 25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the World

More Beautiful Libraries from Around the World

A few months ago I made a post called 10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels. Well, library-lovers, today we can admire more of these international beauties. This time we'll look by continent, thanks to MentalFloss.com.

First, they've listed 15 Spectacular Libraries in Europe. This list includes 1 library in Ireland, 2 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Spain, 1 in Portugal, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Switzerland, 3 in Austria, 1 in Germany, and 2 in the Czech Republic. Take a look at the link above and just scroll through the pictures. Is your library this beautiful? Have you ever been to any of these landmarks?

Next, there are 11 Fabulous Libraries in South America. This includes 2 in Brazil, 1 in Chile, 3 in Peru, 1 in Costa Rica, and 4 in Columbia. Click the link above and look at how beautiful these structures are both inside and out. I would love to sit down in any of these, but especially the EPM Library in Colombia. That one looks so cozy.

Lastly, and closest to home, they've looked at 10 Amazing North American Libraries. These have 2 located in Canada, 2 in Mexico, and 6 in the USA. Click the link above and see if you've been to any of these famous libraries. I've been to the Central Library of Vancouver, Canada and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Library, USA.

These all look so beautiful! What's the nicest library you've ever been to?

Happy Hunger Games Day!

Has anyone seen The Hunger Games yet? How did it compare to the book? Was it too scary for little kids? I'm seeing it tonight at 9:00 pm and I can't wait!

While you wait for your chance to see the much-awaited movie, why not play Hunger Games games!?

Scholastic has created two of these: The first is called "Trial By Fire," where you can find out if you're ready for the Hunger Games and test your abilities to see if you'd be able to survive the real thing. The next is called "Tribute Trials," where you can see if you can survive being in an arena like the one in the Hunger Games, then try to discover how you might improve your chances.

Click here to play!

And let me know when you've seen the movie!

Waiting for the Hunger Games...

With the Hunger Games movie coming out in just THREE days, Figment.com has created a few funny charts to keep us entertained while we wait for the big night.
Click here for the rest of the Hunger Games related charts and graphs.

It's almost here! And if you haven't seen it yet, get yourself pumped up with this trailer:


May the odds be ever in your favor!

Happy Leap Day!

It's Leap Day!... or, February 29th. I don't know about you, but I find having a bonus day kind of exciting!

Here are some fun facts about Leap Years:

2012, as well as all leap years, consists of 366 days, as opposed to 365. Leap Years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. It takes the Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (a tropical year) to circle once around the Sun. However, the Gregorian calendar (ours) has only 365 days in a year, so if we didn't add a day on February 29 about every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year. That means that after only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days!

Leap years can't just be decided at random though! In the Gregorian calendar, there are 3 criteria that must be met to be a leap year:

1. The year must be evenly divisible by 4.
2. If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless...
3. The year is also evenly divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.

Don't worry if this doesn't make sense. Someone's already done all the work for us, but did you have any idea there was so much behind it? I sure didn't!

Julius Caesar introduced Leap Years in the Roman empire over 2000 years ago, but the Julian calendar had only one rule: any year evenly divisible by 4 would be a leap year. This lead to way too many leap years, however this issue didn't get corrected until the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar more than 1500 years later.

So, that leaves one more question...where does the word "leap" come in to play? This is another complicated explanation but in a normal sequence of years, a calendar date (say February 28th) falls on Monday one year, Tuesday the next year, then Wednesday the year after that and so on. But every fourth year, thanks to the extra day in February, we "leap" over the expected day of the week. So February 28th was a Monday last year, a Tuesday this year, and will be a Thursday in 2013. We "leaped over" Wednesday! Get it?

Happy Leap Day! Enjoy the extra 24-hours!

Merrylands Central Library

Ask me where I've disappeared to. Go head, ask.

I've been away in Australia!

While I was gone, I had the pleasure of visiting a few area libraries, including the Merrylands Central Library, which is a regular, not-too-fancy library slapped in the middle of suburbia, about a half-hour outside of Sydney.

Here I am at the library's MASSIVE entrance, looking super excited to get inside and see what a library on the other side of the world looks like!

I learned that the Merrylands Central Library is part of a library system called the Holroyd Council, which operates the Merrylands Central as well as two other branch libraries.

Inside, the library resembles a combination of a big city library and a small town library, with lots of open space and natural light, but book collections that are substantially smaller than an American library's counterpart.

Here I am in the children's nonfiction section, taking a look at the collection.

If you find libraries on the other side of the world (literally) as interesting as I do, take a look at BootsNAll's list, "10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels" and make an effort of visit one of THOSE libraries.

Or why not visit the Holroyd City Library website and marvel at the similarities and differences between American libraries and Australian libraries right from home?

Dancing Books

How about some dancing books? Watch this video and see it happen!



The video (on Yahoo) was made by Sean Ohlenkamp and his wife, who spent many sleepless nights moving, stacking, and animating. I love it!

10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels

You may or may not be a seasoned traveller, but world-wide, "libraries are often distinguished architectural landmarks and can provide deeper insights not only into a country's literature, but also its culture and history as a whole," (according to Bootsnall.com). Plus, libraries are almost always free and open to the public. So why not take a visit in your travels?

BootsNAll has compiled "10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels" to keep an eye out for as you go.

Have you been to any of these? You can start by taking a look at them online.

Vancouver Public Library (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

Royal Danish Library (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Austrian National Library (Vienna, Austria)

National Library Singapore (Singapore, Singapore)

Law Library of the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)

Great Court and Reading Room, British Museum (London, United Kingdom)

Philological Library of the Free University (Berlin, Germany)

Lello Bookshop (Porto, Portugal)

Bibliothèque Nacionale de France (Paris, France)

Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid, Spain)

I've been to so many of the cities listed above, but only one of the libraries! I wish I could go back in time; these look so beautiful.

Happy travels!

Mo Willems Holiday Gifts

With Hanukkah starting last night and Christmas just 4 days away, Mo Willems has given us a few fun, printable gifts for everyone on his blog!

There's a Pigeon bookplate (just click to enlarge, print, fill out, and enjoy!) and the Holiday Knuffle Bunny Desk Bunny (with detailed instructions included). So cute!

To get your Mo Willems gifts, click here.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Alternate Uses for Halloween Candy!

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooo, it's Halloween! The one day a year where anything goes, crazy outfits, candy for dinner, and ringing the doorbells of strangers.

But what about tomorrow? And what about all that leftover candy? Here are 10 fun ideas you might want to consider when the novelty of just eating it has worn off (or made you a little nauseated):

1. Make one of the awesome ornaments seen here. All you need is some colorful hard candy, some cookie cutters, an oven, and a little creativity.

2. Make a mosaic with it! Use sturdy cardboard as your base, cover it with colorful construction paper, then glue on candies (go for the colorful ones!). When you're done, cover it with spray shellac to prevent the candy from getting buggy or rotting.

3. CandyExperiments.com is awesome! Check out some of their fun experiment ideas and donate your candy to an afternoon of science fun.

4. Make Apple Candy Bar Salad or one of the other delicious-sounding recipes on this Squidoo page.

5. Save it to make miniature (and edible) cornucopia for Thanksgiving this year by filling sugar cones with a mix of candy corn, M&Ms, Runts, etc.

6. Chop up the chocolate bars and freeze the shavings so you have a year-round ice cream topping on hand.

7. Operation Gratitude (which sends care packages to US troops overseas) is looking for candy to send to Iraq! This is a copy of their current wishlist, and as you can see, Halloween candy is on it! Scroll down their list for information on donations and shipping. Or see if a dentist near you is participating in Operation Buyback.

8. Try making this candy corn fudge. It's easy and looks delicious.

9. Save some pristine candy to attach to wrapped gifts. All presents are more exciting to open when there are a couple of fun-size candy bars taped to the ribbon.

10. Make your own blizzard in the blender! Try crumbling your Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, or all three and placing them in a blender with vanilla ice cream to create a homemade blizzard or flurry.

And of course, there's always the chance that you might just wind up eating it.

Happy Halloween! Be safe trick-or-treating!

Peeta Vs Gale

If you're a Hunger Games fan, you have to read this funny (yet, thought-provoking) post on the Figment Blog... presenting:

Peeta Versus Gale!

The two are pitted up head-to-head in the categories: Chemistry, Grand Gestures, Better Meal-Maker, Battle Royal, and Better Babysitter. Click here to read the post and find out who is the overall winner, the overall better choice for Katniss!

"They’ve vied for Katniss’s heart and divided loyal fans into brutal, warring factions. We’re here to settle the score between these two Hunger Games hunks. And our choice is definitive."

And if you haven't read any of the Hunger Games series yet, click here to put book 1 (The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins on hold!

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Arrrr you ready for Talk Like a Pirate Day this year? It's September 19.

This year Talk Like a Pirate Day falls on a Monday, which is GREAT news because you have the whole weekend to brush up on your pirate speak! Luckily, Mango Languages has you covered. Just type in your library barcode and password, and you'll be able to start learning Pirate immediately and for free (or almost any other language, for that matter: Dari? French? German? Hebrew? Thai?).

Talk Like a Pirate Day began on June 6, 1995 by two guys named John Baur and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket). They were playing racquetball and, for some reason, started talking to each other in pirate slang. By the time they had finished their game, they were in full-out pirate lingo and it was then that they decided that "what the world really needed was a new national holiday, Talk Like A Pirate Day." Once it was deemed September 19th, it was celebrated privately for several years by its inventors. That is, until 2002, when John Baur just so happened to come across columnist Dave Barry's e-mail address. Surprisingly, Dave Barry thought it was a great idea and became convinced of the holiday's potential. And that's when he wrote his Miami Herald article.

Looking for some good books on pirates? Try these:

Piratepedia by Alisha Niehaus
Throughout this book, we make 27 stops around the world, learning all kinds of interesting facts about pirates, complete with pictures of artifacts, maps, and even movie photos. This book covers everything. There’s even an interactive pirate map game tucked into a secret back pocket!

Real Pirates by Clare Hibbert
In this collection of over 20 true pirate stories, we look at tales and facts from the Caribbean, Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, as well as a quick look at some other useful pirate facts.

Everything I Know About Pirates by Tom Lichtenheld
Want a humorous take on everything from tying pirate knots, to creating your own pirate name? This book covers educated guesses about pirate facts!

The Golden Age of Pirates by Bob Temple
“You live in a time of discovery, adventure, and travel.” You are living life at sea, and it’s dangerous, yet rewarding. There are lots of important decisions and, in this book, you get to make them. Choose your own adventure in this action-packed pirate story!

And for more official information on the fun holiday, check out the official Talk Like a Pirate Day Website.

Arr me hearty, a fine gentleman o' fortune be ye!
(Translation: Great my friend! You're a fine pirate!)

I learned that one on Mango Languages!

Celebrity Home Libraries

To the left... Oprah's home library.

The Accredited Online Colleges blog has compiled photos of 20 beautiful celebrity libraries. Aside from Oprah, the list includes famous names like Rod Stewart, Diane Keaton, Woody Allen, Ralph Lauren, and Sting.

Now if only we could see inside the books!

Take a look and a swoon at these libraries of the rich and famous. Maybe you'll be motivated to create or modify your own (less elaborate and less expensive) home library.