Perfect Weather for a Carnival!

It is a breezy 72 degrees in my part of NC. I would say that this is a perfect day for a carnival. Unfortunately, I don't see any Ferris wheels around here, so I would suggest that you go visit the blog carnival at Mysteries in Paradise. If you aren't familiar with a blog carnival, it is regularly scheduled post that shows up on a different blog each month and it points to cool links that other bloggers submit. Blog carnivals usually revolve around a certain subject; I used to participate in one about games over on my other blog. It is a fun way to learn about blogs you've never heard of, and I've submitted a post for this one. Do you need any more reasons to go visit?

Attack of the Zombie Chickens

Michael over at A Few Minutes With Michael sent me this Zombie Chicken Award. I'm not used to be singled out for these bloggy recognitions, so I'm touched.

Here is the description of the award:

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken– excellence, grace, and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all.

Now it is my job as a Zombie Chicken Award recipient to pass the fun along to five other bloggers, but I could only come up with four. I really had to stretch because I don't read a lot of blogs regularly and the ones that come to mind have already gotten the award. Anyway, here are my choices:

Kelly at Yannabe
Rachael at Yarn-a-Go-Go
Protecting Your Crown and Glory
Nora at Whopping Cornbread

The last two are not book blogs, but they are fun to read, anyway. Enjoy!

Daily Lit

Have you guys heard about Daily Lit? It is a site that sends excerpts of a book to your email address each day. Of course, there is a charge for the majority of the newer books; the average price appears to be about $4.95. However, there is a nice-sized collection of classics you can subscribe to for free. I plan to check it out soon. I'm hoping that receiving a small section of a book each day will take away the intimidation factor in tackling a book like Moby Dick or War and Peace. Yes, I could do the same thing myself, but something about only having that one section in front of me to read is less daunting that having the whole book sitting on my bedside table. If any of you have tried Daily Lit already, let me know what you think.

One more thing before I go

The online 'zine Estella's Revenge has published an article about the seven deadly reading sins. It is a hoot. As we all know, I am not the avid reader that I once was. Still I recognized myself in at least one of the sin descriptions. Go check it out!

Couldn't help myself

After I posted about wanting some light reading yesterday, I spent several hours on the internet researching series books from the 1960s and earlier. The good news is that there are companies reprinting many of these books. I found several interesting sites that list information about these books, including titles, author biographies, and things to look for as a collector. I discovered several authors that I didn't know about before. The bad news is that very few of these books are available at my local library. I could buy them, but I am not one who buys many books.

Anyway, here are a few links in case you are interested:

The Cherry Ames Page: One of the more popular nurse series.

Carlytown: This page is about modern books but she does have a section called the Malt Shop where she talks about books from the 1950s.

The Abbey Girls: A series whose first book was released in 1914 and continued to cover the lives of the original characters' children.

Image Cascade Publishing: A company that is reprinting many of the series from the 1940s - 1960s. Even if you don't buy from them, the site is a good place to find complete series title lists and see the original cover art.

Something to read while you are waiting for me

I have a stack of books on my desk, but I haven't finished any of them yet. While you are waiting for me to review something, why don't you nip over to Pick the Brain and read this post about reading the classics to improve your mind. My main reason for reading the classics is #7 on the list, but all of the reasons are good ones.