And the Book Party Giveaway Winner is ...

Happy Tuesday, my friends! And Happy March! Rabbit-rabbit and all that! :)

Today (as you probably guessed from the post title) I am here to announce the winner of my Book Party giveaway, and I'm very happy to report that the winner is ...

DENISE!

Congratulations, Denise! I have a little "pre-spring" package to send you and I will be in touch soon to arrange mailing details. :)

And thank you to everyone who participated in the Book Party - it was such a fun project made all the more interesting and enjoyable thanks to your thoughts and pictures. I am grateful for your support!

I have so much to post about this week, but it's a busy one, so I hope to be back again soon! But for now, thanks for stopping by and enjoy your Tuesday, my friends!

Book Party: More Books & Nooks!

Happy Monday, my friends! I'm a bit behind on things, so here is the post that was meant for the weekend and tomorrow I'll report in on Downton. I will be studiously avoiding Facebook today lest I be spoiled! ;)

Now, today we will visit two friends and their own lovely book nooks ... please welcome Denise and Valerie to our party! Many thanks to both ladies for joining in the fun! Remember friends, all are welcome to share their pictures and thoughts here (via drhanigan AT gmail DOT com) and you have another week to do it! Next Monday is the Book Party deadline, and on Tuesday (March 1st) I'll announce a winner of my giveaway, a pretty little package filled with some pre-spring goodies. :)

But, without further ado, here are more books and nooks for you to peruse!

*❤*

First we hear from Denise!

Dawn, What a wonderful party to host! I have enjoyed seeing the posts thus far! I wish I could just visit each one personally & peruse, visit, read, sip tea!! This is a great way to share though, and is most enjoyable!

I have always enjoyed reading, since I was a young girl. It is a favorite pastime of mine. You could say I'm addicted. My husband would definitely say I'm addicted. I suppose my favorite series as a child was The Boxcar Children series. :-) I have tried to share my love with my children, grands, nieces, nephews, great-nieces, nephews, etc! Curling up in our big chair, with a read aloud, and some of my grands around - one of my favorite things. Much harder to do now that I don't see them on a daily basis. My standard baby shower gift is: books. :-) (And baby nightgowns, boy or girl, makes night time changes so much easier!)

I have a homeschool bookshelf, it is tall and has a 'ledge' about 24" from the ground. This set up is actually a shelf that sits on a cupboard. (Homemade by a friend of my brother-in-law.) I usually have several kids' books laid out on that ledge! I put seasonal books on our table in the sitting area. I didn't take a picture of that because it is *full* of the
winter village (that will be taken down soon) that a certain, dear grandtwin girl (10) loves to play with! It is a disaster right now because I am not homeschooling this year and so I didn't do the summer clean & clear of the shelf unit!  I am procrastinating on addressing it, it seems, probably because I don't want to admit that season is over. :-)

Above is a picture of books at my bedside, this changes. The Bible remains, but other books change. :-) (The cute little snowman is supposed to be a hanging but the dowel I hang it on broke, so ...) These sit on a sewing machine (my first, at age 17) cabinet Dad built me! I love that piece!

I have a short bookshelf that is dedicated to fiction books. It is also in my bedroom, in a little nook. I have a rocking chair (my Mom's chair she used to rock her babies, and I used to rock my grands!). I pretty much stash books wherever I can. I didn't take pictures of my many stashes, the ones by my "nest" (as we shared a while ago) which changes with my current reads. I'm actually looking at flea markets (one of Mom's favorite things to do, about the only thing I get her to do these days ~smile~) for an old magazine rack, which is wooden & has a handle. Then I can put all my current reads (books, magazines, articles people give me) in it & tote it with me to wherever I want!

The shelf in my office, I have sent a picture before, I'm sure. It holds my current journals. Some favorite books, books I keep on hand to give away. As I look over at it right now it has numerous titles relating to prayer, which happens to be my Lenten focus! I need to select a couple to move out to my current stash, I see!!

Thank you for opening your blog for this wonderful party! Happy reading, friends!
~ Denise

Wonderful post, Denise! I love hearing about your book traditions and how you share your love of reading with your family. Those dear children are certainly blessed (in many ways) to have you in their lives! I smiled when I read of your flea market hunts - Bill and I adore combing through "antiques" found at flea markets. An excellent source of book displays (and books!) of all kinds. We have a great big rambling market up here in the next town over that runs from April through December ... I have quite a wish list tucked in my purse - things to "look for" when we're there. :)

Thanks so much for joining us, Denise and sharing your books and nooks with us!

*❤*

And now, we'll hear from Valerie!

Hi Dawn!
You inspired me to go snap some pics with my phone. I may even tidy up!

A favorite sight - a boy reading on the couch. These shelves were built for us by my father in law and were originally more for display, but as our book collection grew, well, you know! Among the books and photos are my dad's baby shoes and my great grandmother's Bible.

In the same room, a rather messy book shelf - but well used! The corner cupboard was originally home to a collection of Victorian mustache cups but I'd rather let my kids play nerf basketball in that room now.

Oh my! I can't believe I didn't tidy this one up before taking the picture. 😀 This is directly behind my desk and houses a lot of our homeschool books. (Believe me, we have more!)

My older son's school work area on the other side of my desk. Books they use every day stay in the red baskets. 

And lastly, a closer view of the living room shelves. Our wedding picture and me with each of my boys on the first day I was able to go out after breast cancer surgery. Reminders of God's great blessings!!
~ Valerie

Oh, Valerie, this was a fantastic post! I love all your book nooks ... and I know exactly what you mean about shelves meant for display being filled up with books! I am always thinking, "Well, I could arrange a few pretty/meaningful items here on this (or that) shelf ... " but then I find I rather prefer using the space for more books! I think you've created a nice blend of both here, between the beautiful photos and beloved objects. I really like those red baskets, too - the ones holding the resources your children need everyday. I use a similar approach, with large tote bags. :) Thank you so much for taking the time to photograph these lovely corners of your home ... it was so fun to "visit!"

*❤*

Well friends, I hope you'll drop a note below for Denise and Valerie - how nice to see how they encourage an atmosphere of reading in their homes! I hope you enjoyed our post today and I also hope you might consider adding a post of your own too! You send me your pics and thoughts and I'll do the rest ... :)

I will be off for now, but as always, thanks to all for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your Monday - hope your week gets off to a great start!

See you here again very soon ...

 

Book Party: Dawn's Books & Nooks

Hello again, my friends! It's time for another Book Party post! I've had such fun reading all the posts so far, and today I'm excited to share a few of my own book-filled nooks ... :)

*❤*

Like many of you, I have books all over my house - beside my bed, in the kids' rooms, on the family room shelves, stored away in basement bins - but the best reading spots can be found in the library. Now, one might call this a living room, or even a parlor, but we are optimistically coining it "the library" because we hope to have lots and lots books stored in here one day! And by "stored" I mean - arranged in a way that is well organized and inviting. I want this to be a room that celebrates books and encourages hours spent in joyful reading, whatever the season or time of day. This room is on the west side of the house so it gets fair natural light (as well as a nice view of the sun setting behind the woods), but good lamps and overhead lighting are important! As, of course, is comfortable seating ...

SO here we go!

These are the two larger bookcases in the room and they are situated to the left of my writing desk. They belonged to my husband's dear grandmother and we have beautiful glass doors for the front of each - something for the future when our littlest is no longer little! The one on the left holds books we use for homeschooling: history/geography, science/nature study, myths/legends, picture books and classic literature, poetry/fingerplays and some of my general homeschooling resources (Charlotte Mason and Waldorf, for the most part).

A closer look at the shelves (which, it should be noted, were neatened specifically for the purposes of this post):

The bookcase on the right is known as "Mama's," and holds books about homekeeping, seasons, crafts, nature, New England, Tasha Tudor, gardens, vintage style and, well ... many of my favorite things! My novels, however, live elsewhere: (most) in storage and (some) in a basket at the foot of our bed.

A closer look at these shelves:

The bottom shelf holds my most current issues of Martha Stewart Living (I have all of them actually, going back to her premiere in 1990!) as well as an assortment of favorite magazines I'm keeping (rather than clipping).

I have to share a couple of pictures of the "nest I built" under the south-facing window. The foundation is a rather large beanbag type of chair that is actually meant for the family room (where the tv is) but for various reasons we moved it out here. The gray suede-like cover was not a good fit for this room so I covered it with a beloved afghan in the coziest of colors. To make it even more enticing, I placed a pillow and a couple of Little Bear's soft toys here as well. Crawling into this nest - which easily fits two of us - is a joy! All the books are at our disposal, and there is such nice light ...

This is not the most flattering of pictures, lol - but I had to share it. It was snapped this morning by my Crackerjack, as I read to Little Bear in our nest. It's such a snuggly space ... ❤

Now, in the center of the room, on the coffee table, I have my personal reading basket:

I've always had a reading basket for current magazines and books I'm trying to spend time with ... if not everyday, then at least a few times a week when I find a little downtime. On Sundays I clean it out a bit and refresh the selections if necessary. Not shown is the book I'm reading in bite-size pieces each night before falling asleep - the one I wrote all about in this post. That book I keep on my bedside table.

Now here is our Catholic bookcase on the other wall ...

The bottom shelf is for display, set behind these lovely sheers which I change up according to season (purple for Lent at present). The two bookshelves above contain my liturgical resources - the very top shelf contains books for grown up use, while the next shelf down holds books for the younger children. To the right of the tiny tote bag are the story books that we use throughout the year (after year) - for feast days and such. I try to keep them organized by date.

Now, below you see Little Bear's main book basket - which is now at the perfect height that he may peruse and decide which book he'd like read. Most often these days it's a book about trucks. :)

There are even more books on the other side of the chair!

In the smaller basket in front of the curtain I have our various field guides. The larger basket under the table holds oversized picture books. And the very small basket near my mug has LB's most requested reads. :)

(Different day, different mug!)

On the opposite wall from "my" chair is the fireplace, and in front of it we have our nature puppet collection, our peace basket (slowly filling up) and the seasonal board books basket. 

Tucked behind the loveseat is the larger seasonal book basket ... these are titles for January through March. I use these books with our weekly seasonal themes, pulling out what I need when I do my weekly planning ...

Fyi this week's theme is "windowsill gardens" and the books I'm using, Linnea's Windowsill Garden and Linnea's Almanac, are actually not in our basket - but on request from the library! :)

We've collected a lot of wonderful books through the years and I find it very helpful to organize them, as much as possible, by season. Off-season baskets are kept downstairs in the basement. Books are often set up on display in the front windowsill, or perhaps on the top of a table ... 

Oh, and before I go, here are my cookbooks - kept in the kitchen!

I keep my favorites here, and I will confess, I often read them more for pleasure than practice! (I use Pinterest for recipes nowadays.) There are more cookbooks in storage downstairs ... in fact, there are quite a lot of books still in storage downstairs! It will be three years since we moved here this June and it really is getting ridiculous that we still have boxes to unpack!

*❤*

Well, my friends, as usual I've gone on longer than I intended, but I hope you enjoyed seeing all (or most) of my books in their special nooks today! I would love to see yours - to hear about where you keep your books, how you encourage your family to read and make time for reading yourself! If you'd like to join our Book Party, please send me your thoughts/pics at ...

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

I'll pick one of the party guests to win a little Pre-Spring Giveaway (just a package of goodies I'm putting together). I'll draw a name randomly and announce a winner on Tuesday, March 1st ... So there is plenty of time left to join in our Book Party. I do hope to hear from you!

But for now, thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day ...

I will see you here again very soon!

Book Party: Marianna's Books & Nooks

Happy Friday, my friends! Who's ready for the (long, holiday) weekend? :)

I am so pleased to bring you another Book Party post today, and this one is from Marianna. But before we get to her lovely photos, I'd like to announce that I am extending the giveaway deadline to Monday, February 29th! (Winner to be announced March 1st!) I've heard from a few folks who'd like to participate but could use a little more time, and that is fine - boy, do I hear ya! ;) I truly would love to hear from more of you (I know we all would, because isn't this fun?), and all the Party details can be found here. Please send me your book love (thoughts, pictures, a link to your blog?) whenever it's convenient, here:

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

*❤*

Now, let's hear from Marianna!

Books are a major part of my home. They are in pretty much every room! 

Main bookshelves. I love the way the light hits them in the afternoon. 

A little bookshelf at the end of a hallway. 

The kitchen shelf. 

Books in baskets. 

Books under lamps. 

Magazines! 

A basket for the coloring books! 

Library books stay on the coffee table. 

*❤*

I love all of your pictures, Marianna, but that first one - with the sunlight hitting all those shelves, is just beautiful! This is a perfect example of what I meant when I asked, how are we creating an atmosphere of joyful reading? By thinking about where we store and display our books, how we arrange them - in which materials and in what lighting - so as to only further increase our enjoyment ...  as well as to entice those around us to settle in and join us. I mean, I could (and pretty much do) put books in any room of the house, but there is something special about books that are organized into an especially inviting nook. And you have created several, Marianna!

My friends, this is such fun, seeing each other's book collections and cozy corners. I think one of the things I like best about these Book Party posts is that they connect us to each other in such a comforting and happy way. Our book pictures are so intimate - this is where we live and learn and let ourselves ... well, be ourselves! So when we get to peek into someone else's baskets and bookcases, it's just such a privilege. I feel as though we've been treated to a glimpse into a very personal part of each other ... so I thank each of you who have taken the time to share your books so far. And I hope more of you feel encouraged to do the same!

 Do you love books, too? Is reading a hobby you try to cultivate - for yourself and your children? How do you do that? Where do you do that? Would you tell us ... or perhaps show us in a future post?

All mail can be sent here - bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com - and I will share your thoughts (however lengthy or brief) and pictures (as many as you care to send) in a future Book Party Post. :)

Speaking of, I have just taken a real slew of library pictures this week so my own Book Party post is coming up, too!

But for now, and as always, I thank you so much for stopping by ... enjoy your evening and do have a nice weekend. I will see you here again very soon!

Book Party: Cath's Books & Nooks

Good Tuesday evening, everyone! It's time for another Book Party post! Hooray for books - those steadfast friends who keep us company on stormy days ... sunny days ... whatever the weather, we can always count on our books. All we need is a little light to read by - be it sun, lamp or candle - and our books are always good to go; they never "power down." ;)

Well, Cath has sent us some lovely pictures of her own book collection, and I'm so happy to share them with you all here. I've been working on my own bookshelves - mess that they are - and took some pictures today ... hope to get a post up in another day or two. But for now ...

Enjoy, my friends! :)

❤

From Cath ...

"My books need much attention and are a bit scattered at this moment.....  I am planning on moving a lot of furniture in the near future from room to room ... I dread the idea of moving all these books but it would be nice to give them all a home once again."

Goodness, I loved seeing your pictures, cath - all so cozy and softly lit. And bursting with books, which is as it should be! (Says one book lover to another ... ) I can imagine it must be a real joy to peruse your shelves, to sit down in your nest and dig in. I see a lot of wonderful titles here, too ... and I know just what you mean about giving them a home. That's where I'm at right now - trying to create dedicated spaces for the many "kinds" of reading materials we own. It's a challenge!

 Well, I thank you cath, for sharing your books at our Party! And friends, there is still time to jump in and join us ... remember, all you need do is comment, or email me some thoughts and pics on reading (full details here) and you will be part of the pre-spring giveaway. I may even extend the deadline a bit ... more on that in my own Book Party post coming up in a few days!

Enjoy your Tuesday evening, everyone ... see you here again very soon!

Book Party: Kelly's Books & Nooks ...

Happy Wednesday, my friends! How's your week going so far? :)

I am so pleased to bring you our second Book Party post today! This one is from Kelly and she has lots of creative book spaces to show us, along with wonderful notes on how books play a part in her family's life. I do hope you'll join in our party - we're discussing how we share our love for reading with our families and create (convenient, interesting) spaces where our books may live alongside us. Or maybe you - like me - are in a state of disarray. Too many books and not enough space! However big or small - a few words, a couple of pictures, or something even more - all party "submissions" are welcome. :) 

Remember, I'm collecting Book Party contributions by comment box or email or a link to your blog - and everyone who participates will be entered in a little pre-spring giveaway. (And that sounds cryptic, I know - but I'm still collecting things for the package: a few pretty magazines, some note-paper, spring stickers, etc.!) A name will be drawn on Monday, February 15th so there is plenty of time to add your two cents on the beloved subject of books ...

You can reach me here:

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

But enough from me ... now let's hear now from Kelly!

*❤*

Hi Dawn,

In our home, books are top priority. About three years ago, I became intentional about building up a large home library. I have it in the back of my mind that maybe some day I will have a homeschool lending library, but only God knows if or when that will happen. In the meantime, I love to provide great books for my boys, 10 and 7! 

We use all available wall space in our two main living spaces for bookshelves. All of the books are in a database - around 4,500 or so - and they are all labeled based loosely on the Dewey 100s.

I am in the process of adding special labels for some of the seasons and holidays, but I do keep our large collection of Advent/Christmas books in tubs. Even if I had the shelf space for them, I would keep them put away so they are a surprise for the season. :)

 

I am pretty picky about books for my kids; our collection allows them a lot of variety but I am able to make sure the books meet a certain standard. I have acquired most of these used and it has taken awhile! I am still adding books but at a much slower pace than the last few years. 

 I just created this area (below) over the weekend - the basket holds our seasonal books and the shelves hold beginning reader books (for easy access - my son put them there!) and our oversize atlases and coffee table books.

Below is my personal reading basket. I keep it on my desk during the day and try to grab snippets of reading time, even just a page or two! It then goes upstairs with me at night for reading before sleep. I am currently reading: The Mysteries of Life in Children’s Literature by Mitchell Kalpagian; The How-To Book of the Mass by Michael Dubruiel; Home Education Volume I by Charlotte Mason; and I just chose The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot for my next fiction read. I don’t read on the Kindle normally, but have found it to be a great way to read on the treadmill - I am reading G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. (Behind the basket is our collection of Beatrix Potter tales - we are reading through them all in order!)

These are some of our current read-alouds and lesson books, kept on the mantle:

This cabinet houses lesson books read a bit less often, as well as some of my seasonal planning resources. The basket holds my boys’ daily individual lesson materials.

This bookshelf is under the counter in my kitchen! It holds my cookbooks and binders (in need of some re-organization), and many of my planning binders.

And these are some shelves in a cabinet next to my desk. They house some of my personal reading (when I get some extended time for study), my commonplace book and books awaiting entry. I also have an extensive collection of books about books (I just love booklists!).

 

Thank you for letting me share!

 Take care,

Kelly

*❤*

Thank YOU, Kelly, for sharing with us! I so enjoyed seeing all your books and how you organize your vast collection! I think it is wonderful how you have them all cataloged and that you may one day offer a lending library to your homeschooling community. What a terrific and generous service that would be!

I like how - and I try to do this, too - you have dedicated spaces for the many categories of reading resources. I think when one's book collection is quite large, it's easy to lose track of what books we actually own and what's being read - or unfortunately, overlooked. Too often I'll find a bunch of books stashed somewhere (in the basement, since our move) and there will be titles I wish I had pulled out sooner ... it would be a huge undertaking (as I'm sure Kelly knows) but I would love to index all our titles someday!

Kelly, this was such a wonderful tour of your home and the books you love - thank you for taking the time to put it together! Dear readers, I hope you will leave a comment if you have time ... do you have any questions for Kelly? Do you have some ideas or strategies to share? Please let us know in any of the ways described at the top of this post.

In the meantime, I will wish you all a very pleasant day and hope to see you here again very soon! I will be posting about our Lenten cross  (the purple post-its project) in another day or two. :)

Be well and blessed, my friends!

Book Party: Gill's Books & Nooks ...

Happy Monday, my friends! I am SO excited to kick off our Book Party today! This morning I have some pictures and thoughts to share from a lovely friend and longtime reader, Gill. I loved seeing how Gill has her books displayed in her home, and I know you will too! Such wonderful inspiration here ... Bill peeked over my shoulder as I was reading her email and said, "Would you like me to build some shelves like that?" I almost fainted, lol. We NEED more bookshelves, that is certain. Where to put them though ... ? That is the question.

Now, remember, Book Party is running all month and you can read all the details here. All submissions - thoughts, ideas, pics - are welcome, and will be included in my pre-spring giveaway ... so I hope you'll join us!

*From Gill*

Books ... How do I love thee? Let me count the ways ...

Books have travelled the world with me as essential companions and have been carefully inscribed with my name, date and place of abode upon acquisition. I have always bought fiction written in or about the place I am living if possible, and with the cookery books and nonfiction, my books tell the story of my life and of my family. Raising my children, I found that Charlotte Mason's "living books" added many volumes and filled gaps in my library. I liked Ambleside Online's suggested reading list.

Books I "need" - that would be my Desert Island books in addition to the Bible and the Complete works of Shakespeare- would be those that tell of everyday family life in a small community ... I seem to have several sets of the Anne of Green Gables series!

In our home there are books in every room! My husband has built bookcases for me in the schoolroom and in the hall that take most of the nonfiction and I have a special bookcase for seasonal/holiday books so that they are easy to find.

One day(!) I might find that I alphabetise my fiction, but I can generally put my hand on a book if I want it; mostly it is double shelved, jammed in, and lucky not to slide off a too tall pile! More and more I find that I purchase an ebook or even audio if it is a new "paperback" kind of novel, but I definitely prefer a vintage hardback for any other kind of book! 

The schoolroom is gradually becoming a sewing room for me now!

My eldest son is a book addict just like me, but as he is severely dyslexic we have done a huge amount of reading aloud and audio books together. (Boy was I told off 😉 for not getting the Harry Potter voices just like Stephen Fry's when he couldn't wait for the last epic book 7 to come out on audio! And goodness, have I struggled with Ancient Greek in Percy Jackson!)

My daughter has filled notebooks, and now data files, with her ideas for writing her own stories, and my 12 yr old son has finally taken off into reading and is now devouring books hungrily to seemingly catch up on the long years he resisted even listening to stories!

We (I) have just as much an addiction to magazines too, and the children have each enjoyed their own subscriptions, from My Big Backyard and Aquila to Donald Duck! Whatever would get them eagerly turning the pages!

So my children do seem to have absorbed my love of books. I make them part of our everyday life; whatever we are interested in, doing or learning about, I try to find books about it to extend the subject. At the moment I have out books on winter cookery in the kitchen, snow and winter wildlife on the nature table and a variety of bird books for the annual garden bird count this weekend. I am just starting to put out books for Shrove Tuesday and Lent, too. 

What am I reading this month?

A Redbird Christmas by Fanny Farmer, the Thrush Green books by Miss Read, The Edwardian Lady (a biography of Edith Holden) by Ina Taylor, The Dawkins Letters by David Robertson, In the Palace of the Khans by Peter Dickinson, Acts and Omissions by Catherine Fox and the Collected poems of Rupert Brooke.

And here is the waiting pile for next month!

Happy Reading 😀
Gill

*❤*

What an absolutely wonderful, cozy, and joyful atmosphere you have in your home, Gill! I could pore over each photo (and have done so) to see all the lovely details. I agree so much with what you said about making books an extension of our everyday life - setting apart those books that reflect the current season or domestic "goings on." I also enjoyed hearing about how your children each followed their own path to love reading as well as the books you yourself enjoy most!

I spent a good amount of time in our own library yesterday, attempting to clean out and reorganize bookshelves. It will not be a quick job, I'm thinking - as I took books out and made tidy (ish) piles all about me, the younger boys kept diving in to check things out. But that's a good thing I suppose - there was a definite atmosphere of "excitement" about the project and I hope they are equally eager to delve in once I get them arranged as I'd like them. 

But the bottom line seems to be that we do actually need more shelves. I have so many books still in tubs down in the basement and though I think cycling books in and out of rotation is a good idea, it seems that is a task that does not happen often enough. Children grow so fast and windows of opportunity - when books are just the right size/shape/subject - open and close so fast!

Well my friends, I hope you enjoyed this first Book Party post! Many thanks to Gill for taking the time to show us how she enjoys books in her home ... I can't wait to take some of these ideas and run with them in my own home!

Remember, if you'd like to join in the Book Party fun, please send me an email at your earliest convenience:

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

And thanks so much for stopping by everyone, I will see you here tomorrow with a Downton Abbey recap - I did not catch the episode last night but will plan to do so tonight, for sure. (I'm getting spoiled on Facebook, I'm afraid!)

See you all again very soon ...

It's a Book Party (with a Giveaway!) & You're Invited ...

Hello my friends, and Happy Sunday! :)

This past week has found me in the midst of my mid-year homeschool review, an annual event which generally panics me spurs me into reorganizing our home library, so currently I find I'm in the mood to talk about books! And since there's so much to SAY about books, I thought this would make for a fun posting series, much like my Planner Party last fall. So I'd love to have some input from all of you! Or most of you, or some of you - as many as can join us, anyway! :)

Here are the details ...

Please send me your thoughts on the topic of storing, displaying, and/or sharing books - in other words, how do you live with books at home and encourage your children to enjoy them? Oh, and please send pictures too, if you have them! Visuals are so helpful and fun. If you have a blog, I'd love to have you post about this and link up with me, or perhaps send me a link to an older post you've written about books and/or joyful reading. That would be lovely and you are welcome to use the "baskets" graphic I have at the top of the page if you'd like.

My email:

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

(Be sure to leave off the "light" ... that handle was already taken!)

I will share everyone's input - however brief or comprehensive - as "guest posts" as I receive them, and at some point I will also share my own library pics. And just to make it a little more interesting, I have a little giveaway in mind for one of you, a kind of pre-spring "goodie" package will be sent off to one of my readers later in the month ...

All you have to do is join our book party and your name will be part of the drawing. I will draw a winner on Monday, Febuary 15th ... so that's two weeks from tomorrow! Plenty of time to join in the fun ... and please help spread the word if you have a moment. Thanks!

So I will see you tomorrow with our first guest post which is FULL of awesome book pictures, but for now I wish you well and I do hope to hear from you soon!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my friends ... see you here again very soon ...

❤