Orem Reads: Fahrenheit 451

I enjoyed Orem Reads so much last year when we read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I enjoyed the kickoff, the Chat & Snacks, the finale. 

This year I looked forward to participating again. This year's book? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I had never read it before this program. It's not one I would have just picked up on my own. I'm glad I was able to read it for Orem Reads. It was interesting and definitely made me think.

The kickoff had a presentation by Shannon Hale. Before it started, they were playing music that had to do with fire or books. "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys. "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles. I got a kick out of that. I also enjoyed what Shannon Hale had to say about book banning.

This year they had something new during Orem Reads. A murder mystery date night. Stephanie Blanchard wrote a murder mystery for the library to use for this event. It was a potluck so Jeremy and I brought rolls and got to enjoy some yummy food while trying to figure out whodunnit. It was my first murder mystery dinner and I enjoyed it.

Before we left, we made sure to feed the boys. What they ate? Dino nuggets because October 16 was National Fossil Day. Teehee. It was also World Food Day so that fit with both chicken nuggets and potluck.

The next day I went to the only Chat & Snack I was able to go to for Fahrenheit 451 because of other commitments. It was another good discussion with mostly librarians and a few others. Since it was a lunchtime Chat & Snack, I brought cucumber sandwiches... and Peppermint Patties because I know Amy Sorenson (in charge of programming) likes them.

Speaking of Amy, she once again did a great job with this program, along with the other librarians who helped. Have I mentioned I love the librarians at Orem Library?

The day I went to the Chat & Snack, October 17, was also National Pasta Day. Nichole made cheeseburger pasta and sent me a picture, then she and I met at the Bean Museum for a UCB meeting about Boreal Owls. Jeremy watched most of it online when he got home from work. 

Nichole drew these while we were there. "If you give Nichole a medium." This medium was... "Inktober"... sort of.

The Orem Reads Finale was a Titles & Treats Gala. It was like trick or treating but with books. Tables were set up with librarians to give recommendations of books. We were also given a little treat bag to get candy at each table. So not just trick or treating with books but with candy, too.

I loved chatting with the librarians (some of it wasn't even book related). Costumes were welcomed so I dressed up as a birder with camera, binoculars, hat, and field guide. 

I also made sure to get a picture with Amy and her fun "book fairy" costume.

Besides the book recommendation tables, there was also a book craft and Fall treats. 

Mmmm, hot chocolate.

I am again grateful I got to participate in Orem Reads this year. I let the kids know this is my October thing and I appreciate them helping with their little brother so I can go to these events.

Once again it was a great program from kickoff to finale and I'm grateful for my participation in it.

Orem Reads: Frankenstein

I decided to do something for myself again in October... all month long. My family was good to support me in it.

I participated in Orem Reads. This year the theme was based on the book, "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley. I got a free copy of the book, read it, participated in several library events and other activities for it, and earned my way to the finale.

The kickoff event was a one woman production of "Mary's Monster," about the life of Mary Shelley and her inspiration for the book. Jeremy was able to go to that with me.

 

I took time to be creative with my reading (and shared about it on Instagram).

I even celebrated some holidays with it. October 6 was Mad Hatter Day and National Noodle Day.

They had two events of Orem Reads: Chat and Snack and I was able to go to both. Basically bring a snack to share and have a discussion about Frankenstein. I loved it.

This is what I wrote about Orem Reads in an Instagram post:

I enjoyed participating in Orem Reads this month reading Frankenstein. The events and book discussions I went to were great. It was nice to get together with other people who love books.

The Finale tonight was a book tasting. We spent five minutes at each table getting to know a genre and seeing samples of books in that genre. 11 tables. 11 genres. There were also snacks and fun decorations. 

I want to give a shout-out to Amy Sorensen and other staff members of Orem Public Library. A lot was put into this throughout the month and that effort is appreciated. Thank you, Amy. From the kickoff to the finale, it turned out great. 

Taco Tuesday

Tuesday, October 4, was National Taco Day. I hadn't gone shopping yet after Shelftember so I didn't have any taco shells and we ate up all the tortilla chips with Conference Nachos so in true shelf cooking fashion (use what you have), we had taco pasta.

 

Then I went to yet another Orem Reads event at the Orem Library that night and listened to Sarah M. Eden again. She read the first chapter of one of her new books coming out next year then answered some questions.

It was so nice to hear her praising libraries and what her local library did for her when she was young because all of my children (and my husband and I) love the library.

Family Movie at the Library

I went to Orem Reads: Romance Con by myself. I took the kids to another event for Orem Reads. September 26 was National Family Day. We went to watch a family movie at the Orem Library- The Princess Bride. Still my favorite movie. It was fun to watch it on a big screen. 

While we waited for them to open the doors to the auditorium, Jet got some of his energy out running around the storytelling wing of the library. He was only a little wiggly at the beginning of the movie before he decided to fall asleep and slept through the rest of the movie.

It was a nice bonding activity with family.

That day was also National Pancake Day and Johnny Appleseed Day so we had pancakes and apple cider at home.

When we got back from the library, my sister reminded my mom, my other sister, and me that Jupiter was the closest it had been to Earth in 69 years. She also told us we could see some of its moons. My sisters, my mom, and I all went outside to look at it from our different locations and were texting back and forth about it. I had several of my immediate family members come out to look at it as well as some of the neighbors (came to look at it, my immediate family didn't come out to look at the neighbors).

That was a nice "family" activity, too.

Romance Con

Orem Library is holding events for Orem Reads. The theme of it this time is Romance.

Their kickoff event was an all day Romance Con with panels and presentations from several artists/authors.

I'm a fan of "clean" romance so it was nice to be able to go for a few hours to hear from and meet some authors of books I would actually read.

It was like when I went to hear from Sarah M. Eden the beginning of September at the Provo Library.

I even made a new friend at Romance Con. Author Kate Condie also grew up in Oregon so she and I spent some time chatting about "back home." It was fun to hear her use the term "the coast" when some other people would use the term "the beach." Western Oregonians know what I'm talking about. And her books are clean.

The keynote speaker was Josi Kilpack. She shared some great words of wisdom about how to find and hold on to what makes us better, not just in our writing, but in our lives as well. I took some good notes.

I'm glad I went to this event. I learned some pretty cool things.