Wednesday, November 27, 2013

This Turkey Is Thankful for Great Guys and Gals!

Yes, guys, this blog has a lot of great and good people who've supported us over the years but I'd like to highlight three in particular. The first is Michael, who has been telling about terrific books for--well, it's been a very long time!! He's been sending first-rate reviews for so long that I've lost count of the years. He always finds the coolest books and gives us the straight scoop about what he's read, not being afraid to say if a book's good or not. Thanks, Michael!!!

The second is Sammer. You may have seen his recent interview with author T. A. Barron. That was truly a great achievement! He has also told us about good reads for a long time and we really appreciate it.

The third is the wonderful Ms. Yingling.  She's a middle school librarian who runs the Ms. Yingling Reads bog and has written back and forth to us for many, many years, supported guy reading with a weekly Guy Friday section on her blog and even let me interview her earlier this year. Many, many thanks!!

And to all the 110 followers of this blog, to all the great Charlotte Mecklenburg Library staff who support this blog, my friends Bill in Columbia, SC and Fred in Lynchburg, VA, the people at Eastover Elementary School who work with the Read to Achieve club and to all the authors who give us these terrific books I say-----

Thanks
Thanks
Thanks!!!

Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone.



Tuesday, November 26, 2013

This Turkey is Thankful For...

It's that time of year when the Iron Guy stops to think about all the many things to thankful for. There are indeed many reasons to give thanks this 2013:


The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, like the pilgrims of old, has survived a long hard season. Like the pilgrims, we often wondered if we would make it over the last three years but, thanks to some very wise leadership, we've come through it and are in much better shape. The economy in Charlotte has stabilized and the library is on much better ground. We have hired more people and expanded our hours. We are still not up to our old levels of funding and staffing, of course, and I am still so busy that I don't much time for blogging but things are a LOT better than they were three years ago. And we've got a truly cool new logo.

 The Carolina Panthers are now 7--3!!! Woo-hoo!!!!! Who would have ever believed it, especially after their pitiful beginning back in September?



The Iron Guy shows his Panthers Pride







 And there are so many good new books that I can hardly tell where to start. Well, how about one that's right for the season? It's What Was the First Thanksgiving by Joan Holub. This is one of the Who Was... or What Was...? series of books. The Who Was...are biographies and the What Was... are histories. This is the first one I've read and it was good. Have you ever really read the story of the first Thanksgiving? It's adventure--storms at sea, starving in the cold, Native Americans appearing out of nowhere and the settlers not knowing if they will attack or be friendly. And you'll learn about interesting people--Squanto, Massasoit, William Bradford and Sarah Hale. And you'll learn more things--what did the ships look like? What did they really have for that first meal? (did you it lasted three days??)And it's a Good Quick Read. I read the whole thing in less than an hour and enjoyed it. You will too. If you need info for a report, want to learn something for yourself or just want a good  read, this book is for you.


OK, I hope to post about some more good books this week. But if I do or don't, have a GREAT THANKSGIVING!