More Book Spine Poetry and Happy New Year

Poetry 0

Happy New Year!

I like to post my Sonderbooks Stand-outs for the previous year on New Year’s Day. However, this year I went to California to see my family on New Year’s Day, so I’m not sure how soon I’ll get to post them.

You’ve probably also noticed that I haven’t posted any reviews for a couple weeks. Chalk it up to the holiday! I did manage to get reviews written for every book I read in 2013! But I didn’t manage to post them all, and now have 35 reviews written and waiting to be posted. Oh well!

Last year, I kept careful track of all the books I read, whether I reviewed them or not, because statistics are fun. So here are my 2013 statistics:

I read 299 picture books, (Ah! If I’d but realized, I would have read one more!)
59 books of children’s fiction,
33 books of teen fiction,
24 books of fiction for adults,
73 books of children’s nonfiction,
47 books of nonfiction for adults,
and reread 13 books for various levels.

That’s a grand total of 548 books read in 2013! Not bad!

But to tide my readers over before I get a chance to post more reviews, here are more Book Spine Poems we posted at the City of Fairfax Regional Library in the month of December:

Here’s the one by Carla Pruefer that I promised to get a picture of:

Board Stiff
A Dying Fall
Look Around
Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales

Here’s one in the spirit of the season by Karen Jakl:

When Elves Attack
All Through the Night
On Christmas Eve
Christmas, Present
The Last Noel

And here’s a lovely one by a library volunteer, Lynn Nutwell:

Sailing Alone Around the World
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Beyond the Blue Horizon
Distant Shores
A Stranger in a Strange Land
Unlikely Friendships
Unexpected Blessings

Here’s one I made when the title book was staring at me from a juvenile nonfiction display:

What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You?
Run for Your Life
How High Can We Climb?
Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree
Climb or Die
Don’t Look Down
Trust Me on This
Perfect Escape

And if I remember right, this next one was written by Lisa Treichler:

Winter
A Glancing Light
Snow Falling on Cedars
All Quiet on the Western Front
Ice Cold

And finally, one I made for my own amusement and wasn’t going to post until our Branch Manager urged me to:

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Monsters Eat Whiny Children

Happy 2014!

Book Spine Poetry at City of Fairfax Regional Library

Library Links, Poetry 0

This month, the person who had reserved the display case had to cancel, so my co-worker Lynne Imre used an idea that Suzanne Levy had suggested from seeing Travis Jonker’s 100 Scope Notes blog: Book Spine Poetry!

Lynne started off the display case with this poem about poetry (with the beginning borrowed from one on Travis’s blog):

How to Write Poetry
Brainstorm!
Where Yesterday Lives
Where Dreams Begin
Where the Heart Leads
Where Wonders Prevail
Poetry Matters

Here’s my contribution, with the last line suggested by my co-worker, Karen Jakl:

Oh, Look!
Snow Day!
Let’s Go Nuts!
You Can Do Anything, Daddy!
Red Sled
All Aboard!
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Here’s another poem I wrote, feeling a little cynical — but it ends happy!

The Liar in Your Life
Lies! Lies!! LIES!!!
Deep Deception 2
Pack of Lies
“I Love You But I Don’t Trust You”
You Don’t Have to Take It Anymore
Breaking Free
Free from Lies
It’s My Life Now

And one more by me:

Why I Wake Early
The Rooster Crows
The Dogs Bark
Baby Says “Moo!”

Now come more by Lynne Imre. I especially like this next one:

Cinderella
Four Past Midnight
Runaway
Sweet Dreams
If the Shoe Fits
Now We Can Have a Wedding!

Where the Wild Things Are
Beside a Burning Sea
Under the Volcano
Beneath Blue Waters
Around the Next Corner
Right Here with You
RUN

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Outside Your Window
Waiting for Wings
A Home for Bird

Have You Seen Bugs?
What’s That Bug?
Insects
The Beatles
Hooray for Fly Guy!
Spider-Man The Venom Factor
Spider Web
I Love Bugs!

What’s the Big Idea, Molly?
Think Big
Big Plans
The Big Game
The Big Leap
The Big Bang
The Big Kerplop!

And here’s one by Lisa Treichler. It’s a conversation, so I’ll use italics for the second speaker.

Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Going to Sleep?
When the Library Lights Go Out
Absolutely Not
I Don’t Want to Go to Bed!
There’s a Monster Under my Bed
Monsters Are Afraid of the Moon
When the Moon Is Full
Take Another Look
I See the Moon
Go Away, Big Green Monster!
“I’m Not Scared!”
I Am So Strong.

Another co-worker, Carla Pruefer, made one, but I didn’t get a picture. Here are the words:

Board Stiff
A Dying Fall
Look Around
Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales

These are such fun once you get started! We are hoping some library patrons will catch the bug and write some more poems for us to display. Come to City of Fairfax Regional Library and write your own!