Books Are Cool, Reading Is Cool

Monday, June 8, was Name Your Poison Day.

At one point, Lucky looked at the calendar and called out, "Name your poison, Nichole!"

Without missing a beat, Nichole called back, "Ricin!" 

 

I told her the Daisy Dalrymple books I've been reading have had poison used several times. Mystery books are cool. I like that we've got generational mystery readers. My mom introduced me to Agatha Christie books when I was younger and I got into them. I introduced Nichole to Agatha Christie books when she was younger and she got into them.

 

For the Orem Library Adult Reading Challenge this year, I needed a book recommendation from a friend. Nichole recommended a mystery book for me. She's my friend.

It is fun to have book discussions with my children. I love that books and reading are one thing we all have in common in our family. We may have differences in tastes. I wouldn't recommend my "kissing books" to everybody in the family. I did make everyone watch the movie, Seeking Persephone, but only a couple of us have or will read the book. It doesn't stop me from sharing with Jeremy when I'm really enjoying parts of those books, though. 

We do all enjoy similar books from time to time, though. I've taken book recommendations from Lucky before who reads more junior fiction books than I do generally. We all like Terry Pratchett books on some level. Audiobooks on car trips can be fun. We went through the whole (original) Fablehaven series on audiobooks a while back when we were traveling more. 

 

Isn't this funny? I just wanted to mention the funny interaction that happened on Name Your Poison Day then I kept going about mystery books then books in general and... blah blah blah blah blah.

Books are cool. Mystery books are cool.

Here is a picture I made three of my children pose for so I could put it on this blog post.

Oh, look. Jr. Jr. is reading a Fablehaven book. Lucky is reading a Terry Pratchett book. Nichole is reading a mystery. I did not tell them what books to grab. I just told them to grab a book. Ha Ha.

Why Did I Take This Picture?

You know how sometimes you're looking through pictures and you're like, "Why did I take this picture?" Sometimes you remember. Sometimes you don't.

While preparing to blog, I was transferring pictures from my phone and I got a glimpse of one of me with Christmas lights in the background. 

I looked at the date. It was January 22. That was a Thursday. I know the kids had school that day. How would I have gotten a morning walk picture that day at City Center Park? 

Then I remembered. That night, as part of the Orem Library Adult Reading Challenge, I went to an event- Favorites of 2025 Book Club Night. A big group of us sat around sharing our favorite reads from 2025. It was nice. I got some ideas of books that I wouldn't think to pick myself. I got a sticker for my junk journal. I got some refreshments. 

On the way out, I took a picture of me with lights near the entrance to the library. Ah ha. Because not only are the lights on at the park in the morning and at night, they are outside the library as well.

Mystery solved.

By the way, January 22 was also Polka Dot Day and National Hot Sauce Day so I went around wishing people Happy Polka Dot Day and I made pasta and encouraged family members to eat pasta with rotisserie chicken and hot sauce.

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.

A May Weekend

Still working on catching up. Let me tell you about one of the last weekends in May.

 

Friday, May 21, the elementary school had their dance festival outside. It rained just a little. Jet and I went to watch. He's not used to going places where he has to be still so some of my videos of the boys are a bit shaky with me trying to keep Jet with me. Overall he did a pretty good job, though. Yay for snacks! The boys also did a good job with their dances.

That day was also Pizza Party Day. We had individual pizzas like we had last year for that holiday.

We were also going to have a balloon quad party to help Jeremy with a balloon arch, but Jr. ended up putting together all the quads himself which was a big help. Thanks, Jr.

Even though Jeremy had so much going on, he brought me home some flowers. Aww. He's a sweetie.

Saturday, May 22, Nichole and Jr. went with Jeremy to finish putting together and setting up the balloon arch.

Jeremy also helped out at the Create fair at Thanksgiving Point that day. It's like the maker fair he did before.

The kids and I waited for a delivery and while we were outside, we got out my unicycle and Jr. had some fun trying it out. It's been so many years but I did a little, too. 

That evening, I went to help Jeremy take the arch down, leaving the kids to make "mystery meat" pizza muffins since it was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday and he wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories. There were several different kinds of meat and I told the kids to put different meats in different muffins so nobody would know what they were eating until they bit into them.

May 22 was also Maritime Day so we had orange jello with "navel" oranges in it. Get it? Get it? Jr.'s idea. It was also Vanilla Pudding Day so we had vanilla pudding. 

And it was Solitaire Day. It would have been fun to go out birding looking for solitaires (yes, they are birds) but we didn't. But Jr. Jr. and Lucky did play some solitaire that day (just not together- tee hee).

 

Lucky wanted to learn how to make chicken cordon bleu casserole so Sunday, May 23, he learned. He did a good job following the recipe and putting ingredients in. He had a little help with mixing from Mom because when you have a big bowlful of stuff, it can sometimes be hard. I am glad my kids are interested in learning cooking skills that will be a big help for them in the future.

Another Mystery is History

January 6 is Sherlock Holmes' Birthday.  To celebrate, we solved a 7 or 8 year old mystery.
Nichole was missing a book and she remembers being on the couch while reading it.  Our couch eats things.  So Jeremy checked back and inside the couch as much as he could (and found some things), but if you really want to find things, you have to use Mommy's small hands.  So I started looking... or feeling.  I pulled out crayons, pens, and pencils.  I pulled out numerous balloons (obviously).  I pulled out a toy ring, a snap bracelet, a plastic plug for some toy, a bow tie, a calculator, and some other things I can't remember.  At one point Jeremy told me, "Kristin, stop looking."  He had in his hand Nichole's book which was over on a table near the computer.
However, he did not stop me before I pulled out of the couch a My Friends Tigger and Pooh toy figurine of Tigger.  We lost that toy years ago- 7 or 8 years ago, before we moved to where we are now.  We looked everywhere for that toy, even in the couch.  I guess I just didn't go that deep when I looked before. 

We found it funny that on Sherlock Holmes' Birthday, we found something we'd been missing for years, something that happened to go along with a set of toys including "Super Sleuths" from My Friends Tigger and Pooh.