She is too fond of books...

Every year around this time, a library near my house has a used book sale that I absolutely love. I've been known to buy way too many books (is that possible?) at this sale, so when I headed over this morning, I only took 20 dollars with me.

I had lots of fun looking through the stacks of books. There was so much I wanted, but I had to be choosy. When I left I had 15 books and 3 dollars in my pocket - they gave me a deal at the checkout. Otherwise I wouldn't have had any money left.

Here is what I ended up with. From the top of the stack down.

- A nice paperback copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Now I can carry it around with me and get serious about memorizing Jabberwocky.

- Three Roald Dahl books to add to my Roald Dahl book collection: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The Magic Finger, and The Enormous Crocodile.

- The Happy Hocky Family by Lane Smith. This is possibly the funniest children's book I have ever read. I hadn't thought of it for a long time, but now I own my own copy!

- An ugly on the outside, but pretty on the inside copy of A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.

- Susanna Clarke's massive novel Jonathan Strange  & Mr Norrell.

- The Host by Stepehnie Meyer. Lame, I know, but I've wanted to read it for awhile, and it was only a buck.

- One Thousand Poems for Children - I might find a few things to memorize from this one, too.

- Biscuits, Spoonbread, and Sweet Potato Pie by Bill Neal - Obviously a cookbook. I plan on trying all the biscuit recipes ASAP.

- The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook. This is an old one and will be fun to read, but I think I won't be making much from it. Just flipping through one section, I see recipes called: A Squid Dish for Days of Abstinence, Fish Pie, Veal Toots, Frog Legs, and Duck with Cabbage...anyone hungry yet?

- Another cookbook called Capital Classics put out by the Junior League of Washington. It is full of beautiful photography, but a lot the recipes seem kind of hoity toity. I guess that's the way they eat in Washington D.C.

- I found 2 music books. A piano/songbook with all the songs from Mary Poppins and a song cycle by Leonard Bernstein called I Hate Music! Fun.

- Lastly is a book called Christmas From the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch which is full of recipes and festive ideas for Christmas.

I think I did pretty well with my selections. Now I'm off to stick my nose in a book. Happy reading!

Late Have I Loved You

~ from St. Augustine's Confessions.

 

Late have I loved you,

O Beauty ever ancient,

ever new,

late have I loved you! 

 

You were within me,

but I was outside,

and it was there

that I searched for you. 

 

In my unloveliness

I plunged into the lovely things

which you created. 

You were with me,

but I was not with you. 

 

Created things kept me from you;

yet if they had not been in you

they would not have been at all. 

 

You called,

you shouted,

and you broke through my deafness. 

 

You flashed,

you shone,

and you dispelled my blindness. 

 

You breathed your fragrance on me;

I drew in breath

and now I pant for you. 

I have tasted you,

now I hunger and thirst for more. 

 

You touched me,

and I burned for your peace.

Chocolate Chip Bars

I've never been a huge fan of baking bar cookies, mostly because you get so many more if you drop them instead, and as you can see from the picture, I have a really hard time cutting them evenly.

However, I came across this recipe and wanted to give it a try. I was a bit intrigued by it since there is no baking soda or eggs or any other type of leavening.

It's a super easy and quick recipe to make, and I was happy with the results. So happy, in fact, that I had one for breakfast everyday last week. The texture of the bars ended up being like a sandie or shortbread. The recipe is definitely a keeper.

Chocolate Chip Bars

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt (this wasn't in the original recipe, but I thought it would be better with a little salt)

1-2 cups chocolate chips

Mix everything together. Press into a greased 12x8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool before cutting into squares. Makes approximately 24 bars.

Two by Lesley M. M. Blume

I recently read two young adult books by Lesley M. M.  Blume. The first was so enjoyable, that I promptly headed down to the library after finishing it to see what else I could find by her.

The first one I read is called Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters. It is the story of Cornelia Street Englehart, a lonely and misunderstood 11-year old, who lives in Greenwich Village. Her mother and father are divorced and are also both world-class concert pianists, which leaves Cornelia to be raised by a housekeeper, feeling left out and alone.

One day someone new moves Cornelia's building, and through a series of events, she meets and befriends the new tenants: an elderly woman named Virginia Sommerset, her servant/companion Patel, and a French bulldog called Mr. Kinyatta.

Virginia is a writer by trade and she regales Cornelia with stories from her past - describing the wild adventures she and her three sisters had together while traveling around the world to exotic places like Morocco and India when they were young.

Because of their friendship, Cornelia begins to come out of her shell, make friends, and become closer with her mother. A very sweet book.

The second book I read is called The Rising Star of Rusty Nail. This one takes place in the early 1950s in the small, sleepy town of Rusty Nail, Minnesota.

10-year old Franny Hansen is somewhat of a piano prodigy. Unfortunately, she has learned all she can from the town's only piano teacher, but her parents can't afford to send her out of town for lessons. Then, seemingly out of the blue, a Russian woman arrives in town, and Franny soon discovers that she knows a lot about music. In fact, she is the famed Russian pianist Madame Malenkov.

Franny is able to talk Madame Malenkov into giving her piano lessons in exchange for doing chores around the house, but this is met with opposition from the townspeople who see her [Madame Malenkov] as a "commie" and even start a club denouncing her around town.

Franny and Madame Malenkov hold their heads high, and eventually they are able to overcome the town's prejudices and rivalries and follow their individual dreams. This one is not quite as good as Cornelia, but enjoyable all the same. I look forward to reading more from this author.