I get some fantastic recommendations from you, my blog readers, and they can be found on the Reader Rec’s tab. It’s updated once a year (thanks to my right hand gal, Alison), and with the latest additions there are about 130 books on the list. I have also added links to my blog posts if I’ve read a book on the list. And after going through that exercise it’s clear that I have a lot more reading to do!

Hope you find it to be a handy tool for picking out your next great read! You might even want to bookmark it. 😉

There is no shortage of book and reading related articles on the internet, and I have no shortage of free time, so occasionally I like to see what interesting articles I can dig up. These five caught my eye and range from what to do with old books to the sad tale of how a Twitter mob managed to censor a book before it was even published. Continue reading →

Happy New Year, everyone!

Have you ever seen those reading lists “52 Categories of Books to Read this Year”? They are populated with categories like “Read a book that takes place in China” and “Read a book published in the 1800s”, and then the idea is to tick one category off each week of the year. They are fun to look at, but maybe a little too restrictive to follow. And a book a week is an ambitious pace. Continue reading →

Dear Readers,

Many of you know that I have been fighting ALS since 2011. The name of my blog, Book Thoughts from Bed, alludes to the fact that I’ve been mostly confined to a hospital bed for the last 4 1/2 years due to the fact that ALS has taken away my ability to move. Yeah, it sucks, but I’m well cared for thanks to family, friends and the Veterans Administration. Unfortunately, not all people with ALS can say the same. That’s where the ALS Association comes in. ALSA provides much needed services, care and research. Their biggest fundraiser is their local walks. The one in my area is coming up and I really need to step up my fundraising.

Please consider donating to the walk. You can do that by clicking on this link: http://web.alsa.org/site/TR?fr_id=13240&pg=personal&px=3278042&s_hasSecureSession=true

Thank you!
Michelle

I was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) six years ago. It’s been a hard road. It started as a little bit of weakness in my foot and within three and a half years I was paralyzed and on a ventilator. I need 24/7 care but private insurance and Medicare don’t cover that. But there are patients in worse situations than me. Thankfully, we have the ALS Association to fill some of that support gap. Continue reading →

It’s not breaking news that not enough Americans read books. According to commonly cited statistics, 33% of US high school graduates will never read a book after graduation. Even if everyone was inclined to read, only 50% of US adults can do so at or above an 8th grade level. And 60% of inmates can’t read at all, so read between the lines about the effects of being illiterate. Continue reading →

Well, the monthly group read hasn’t been very successful, so I’m going to tweak the process and go to every other month. That will give everyone two months to read the book. Hopefully, more people will be able to participate this way.

February’s book is “A Gentleman in Moscow”, by Amor Towles. Continue reading →