A Book So Good It Gave Me Chills

I just finished (as in, closed the cover 30 seconds ago) a truly great book. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski. It made me laugh out loud, it made me sob and it gave me chills on more than one occasion. Seriously, read this book. Especially if you are a pet owner. This is an amazing novel about a boy who is born mute, living on a farm in rural Wisconsin in the 1950's. His family has a kennel where they raise their own fictional breed of dog. Edgar trains the dogs using sign language and teaches them to do amazing things but the crux of this story is really relationships--between Edgar and his parents and shadey uncle Claude, between Edgar and the dogs, relationships among the dogs, relationships with nature and the list goes on. The last two days I've gotten so caught up in the story I nearly missed my bus stop! Just read it. It's 560 pages of fabulous story-telling and I think it could become a classic (it was an Oprah's Book Club book, afterall :)).

Why Wasn't I Shown This in High School?

Check out this video from 1946 which describes what a librarian does. We've sure come a long way...

Swapping Out Presidents and Yarny Goodness!

Wow, what an amazing day! I watched the swearing-in and speech in my office's kitchen with a handful of my coworkers--all trying to hide the tears in our eyes. Does anyone else feel buoyed with hope today? I know things are bad in this country but I just feel better, reassured that things will get better from here on out...

And then I came home and found a package waiting for me from my swap partner. I'm part of the Mystery Book Talk Group on Ravelry and we are doing a round robin mystery book swap--mystery novel, knitting pattern, yarn and other goodies tied (at least loosely) to the book or to the knitter recipient's interests. This was my first time participating in a swap so I wasn't really sure what to expect.

First, here's what I sent my partner:
The first novel in the Aunt Dimity series--Aunt Dimity's Death which features a ghost who communicates by writing to the living in a periwinkle blue journal--another item I threw in. The pattern is Boo! Toe-Up-Socks available on Ravelry and I added some beautiful purple yarn called "cosmos" for the socks. Added some tea to accompany this mystery set in England. Threw in some candy from the UK, or so I thought. Turns out Cadbury has been licensed to Hershey so the candy bar I sent my swap partner was made about an hour from her Pennsylvania home and not across the pond. Also included some Milky Ways which my swappee added as a favorite treat.


And here's what my swap partner, Moonchick, sent me--I was blow away with all this wonderful stuff! Beautiful sock yarns, a cute sock pattern, knitter's balm, two mysteries & a "book thong" bookmark, chai tea, Godiva chocolates & coffee--how did I not know Godiva made coffee? And two of my favorite fruity candies--starbursts and skittles! And a raven which the lovely purple card said would make sense once I started reading one of the books--for now the cats find it extremely interesting! Thanks again Cindy/Moonchick!