bookstore!

I know it's late. We're trying to do Christmas stuff and can't do much until the kids are all sacked out. We went to Idaho Falls tonight to see what we could get without having to ship it, and now we're trying to fill in the rest via the internet. I have to say, Idaho Falls's population of 50,000 might feel small to some of you, but compared to where we live, it's New York City. Neither I nor my husband like to shop and we are not much for malls, but the mall there has a ginormous Barnes and Noble! And that is one kind of shopping I do like. It was full of people and there was some music event going on in the children's department and there were just So. Many. Books! Our last B&N was smallish and had a limited selection, but this had quite the variety (especially in the MG section--the teen section was still largely on a theme of Which Supernatural Boyfriend Am I Really in Love With, Anyway? And Which One Will Kill Me?) I just wanted to lie down and wrap the bookshelves around me like blankets. The only thing we ended up getting was Little Sweetie's gift certificate (from winning the children's photo division at the library)--she really does need to see the actual books before picking one out. But we came home with a list to peruse after the 2YO went inactive. :)

Ooh--if you're looking for a new baby book, I saw the most wonderful one! It's by John Birmingham and Helen Oxenbury. (Are they married? I want to say they are--or some combination of famous pb authors/illustrators is.) The pictures were so, so, so wonderful, and the text went well with them. I know it's not the first book on that topic, but it was so well done that I just wanted to look at it and just keep looking. Helen Oxenbury and Marla Frazee both have this life to their illustration that I could look at all day.

Okay, I really do have to go to bed now. Night, all!

December Lights project

If any of you haven't checked out the December Lights project, you really should stop by. It's a group of YA writers who are putting up several short stories a week throughout December. No dead dogs, no dead moms, just light entertainment. Good stuff!